Locked

The box was beautiful: dark lacquered wood with a red calla lily carved into the top. The lock was gold and shiny, and the tiny glistening key slid smoothly into it. She tried to turn it to the right, but it didn’t move. She flipped it to the left, sure that she had simply turned it the wrong way at first, but the key snapped, half of it lodged in the lock.

She froze.

Oh my God.

She stepped back from the nightstand. What did she do? And what would she do now? There’s no way that his wife would fail to notice the broken key.

Okay, I can figure this out. Try getting the key out of the lock.

Haley reached in the drawer for the box and tilted it so the lock faced down. Nothing fell out. She shook it carefully. Still nothing. Tilting it upright again, she peered into the lock, and then tried to stick a manicured fingernail into it, but the lock was too small to allow her nail in.

It’s not working. I can’t get the piece out!

Okay, okay. Let me think. What if I just left it there? How would she know I broke it? Maybe someone else did it, right?

Who? It’s just Mr. Pace and his wife. No kids. No one else could have done it. They’re going to know! He’s going to hate me!

Haley blinked back hot tears. She was more upset about Mr. Pace’s reaction than anything else. She had just gotten close enough to him to get this house sitting gig, and now this happened. He would never trust her again. What’s worse, he would never look at her the same way. Those gorgeous green eyes would now look at her with suspicion. With anger. With disappointment. She just didn’t think she could handle that every day in English class.

She should never have gone into their bedroom, let alone looked into the dresser and nightstands. It was none of her business. She placed the box back into the drawer, dropped the remaining half of the key in with it, and closed the drawer. She would accept her fate, whatever that was.

Hey, what about a nail file? I have one! Would that work?

She hurried out to the living room where she left her purse. She turned it upside down and dumped everything out. Scrambling through the pile, she found Q-tips, change, lip gloss, hair ties, body spray...Ah! There it was! She grabbed the file and started for the bedroom. Right before she got there, she heard a “click” from the living room. It sounded like the lock turning in the door.

“I know, I know. You’re always right, aren’t you?”

“No, not always, but this time I am!”

“Haley, we’re back.”

Haley stepped back into the living room to see Mr. and Mrs. Pace standing there. “Oh, hi. You’re early. I was just going to--” Haley looked down at the file in her hand. “--file my nails. They need some shaping.”

Mr. Pace barely glanced her way, dropping a suitcase on the floor and reaching for the one in his wife’s hand. She jerked it away from him and walked back toward the bedroom. Haley froze, wondering whether she shut the nightstand drawer.

“Haley, we’ll pay you for the full time. We just decided to come home a little early.”

“That’s okay, Mr. Pace. You can just pay me for part of it. Is everything okay?”

“Yes. It’s fine. Here you go,” he said, holding out a wad of cash.

Mrs. Pace came back out into the living room, holding the box. Haley felt her stomach drop, and her chest burned with the rapid beating of her heart. Oh no. Here it comes!

“Thank you, Haley. We appreciate you taking care of our house while we were gone,” Mrs. Pace said. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we would like to unpack and rest.”

Haley felt her face flush. “Oh, of course.” What was going on? Haley thought. Why isn’t she yelling at me?

“Thanks again, Haley. I’ll see you in class on Monday.”

“Sure, Mr. Pace.” Haley repacked her purse, slung it over her shoulder, and moved toward the door. She looked back, wondering what was going to happen next, if anything, and saw Mr. and Mrs. Pace glaring at each other. “Good night,” she said, and she stepped outside.

As soon as she closed the door, she heard Mr. Pace say loudly, “What are you doing with that?” Mrs. Pace shouted back, “This was a guilt gift, wasn’t it? You screwed around, and you felt bad, and you bought me this jewelry box. That’s what happened, didn’t it?” Haley felt briefly that she should leave. This wasn’t her business. But she had to know what would happen with the box.

“I did no such thing!”

“So explain that text you got tonight!”

“I’m telling you, it was nothing. It’s just a colleague asking for help with curriculum.”

“Right. When did ‘your kisses’ show up in the English curriculum?”

“It’s a joke, for Christ’s sake!”

There was silence for about thirty seconds, and then Haley heard a loud crunch.

“This doesn’t mean anything to me anymore,” Mrs. Pace said. “I’m throwing it away. Just like you’re throwing our marriage away.”

What was that crunch? Was that the box? Did she destroy the box? Oh my God, Haley thought.

“That was expensive!” Mr. Pace said.

“I’m sure it was.”

Haley’s phone chirped with some stupid notification, probably from TikTok. Oh, shit!

“What was that?” she heard Mrs. Pace ask.

The door opened and there stood Mr. Pace, red-faced and angry. “Haley, what are you doing here? I thought you left.”

“I- I thought I left my coat here, but I didn’t want to...bother you.”

Mr. Pace opened the door wider and turned to look in the living room. “I don’t see anything here, Haley.”

She peered around him. There on the floor was the box, splintered and broken. She did not see any sign of the piece of the key that had stuck in the lock. “Oh, okay. I must not have brought it, I guess. Sorry.”

“That’s fine, Haley. No problem. Bye.”

The door closed. Haley took a deep breath as she walked to her car parked on the street. She got into her car and took another deep breath. She was still wound up and couldn’t seem to catch her breath, but why? It looked like she was in the clear, but her heart was still racing, and her chest was beginning to throb. What was she missing?

The other half of the key. It’s still in the drawer, she thought suddenly. So many questions ran through her mind: Would Mrs. Pace find the rest of the key? Would she think anything of it if she did find it? Would she think of Haley if she did take note of its presence? Would she even care, considering that her marriage seemed to be coming unglued?

And who was Mr. Pace supposedly flirting with on the teaching staff? She ran through the list of female teachers in the English department. Ms. Steinman was married and way too old for him. Ms. Marin was young and cute, not to mention energetic and vivacious, which made her a favorite among the boys. She was a possibility. Ms. Sanderson was almost certainly a lesbian. Ms. Shoemaker was a raging feminist with a big nose, but Haley couldn’t rule her out. None of them were as perfect for Derek Pace as she was, however. Haley was certain that the long talks they had had about Fitzgerald and Hemingway signaled a closeness that was unique and special. She decided that she didn’t care if Mrs. Pace found the other half of the key as long as Mr. Pace didn’t discover that she had been in their bedroom. She couldn’t risk losing the ground she had made with him.

Haley started up the car. There was nothing she could do now except hope and pray that nothing would come of the broken key. And that everything would come of the broken marriage.