Three Deep Breaths

7892 Sylvester Street, 12:30 AM OR I’LL TELL THEM.

That’s all the paper read when Sheldon received it three hours ago. No instructions. He could only assume he was supposed to just show up at the specified address, and subsequent specified time. He looked down at his watch. 12:22 AM. Eight minutes. He took three deep breaths and began tapping his foot on the floor of the bus, feeling himself grow impatient. He looked around and wished he was one of the other few people on the bus, probably all of them sitting here, without a care in the world.

The sweat building up on the back of his neck made it harder and harder to resist yelling at the bus driver to hurry the hell up. He closed his eyes and wished it was yesterday. He knew he was being paranoid. The note was left in his mailbox at work, it could be about anything. Yet still, the word ‘them’ stood out to him. He only has one boss, so it couldn’t be referring to him. No, Sheldon knew his deepest fear was on the line. He couldn’t possibly know how someone at work found out about his double life. He was very careful, he only mentioned Shannon and their three kids. As far as Shannon and anyone else was concerned, Ella and their daughter Lily didn’t exist.

The bus rolled over a speed bump and Sheldon snapped his eyes open. He looked down at his phone and watched the blue dot on his maps jump closer to the destination. The bus announced Sylvester Street as the next stop and Sheldon hammered down the yellow stop string. The bus slowed down and Sheldon thanked the bus driver before stepping on the sidewalk. The map said it was only a hundred metres away. He turned left and walked down Sylvester street, the houses in this neighbourhood were all stacked close together, with only street parking. Sheldon couldn’t imagine getting an ounce of privacy living around here.

He found the house from the paper. 7892. It was a skinny home, with black trim and a bright red door. Nothing intimidating to be seen. Sheldon’s pulse grew rapidly the closer he walked to the door. He walked up the steps and made three loud knocks. No answer. Sheldon grew worried. He looked at his watch again. It read 12:30 AM. He knocked one more time. Still no answer. Sheldon let out a breath of relief. He knew it was just a dumb prank. No one knows anything still. He turned around to leave and he saw a box beside the stairs, hiding behind the railing when he walked up. It had a large piece of paper lying on top with SHELDON written on it in black ink. Sheldon removed the paper and picked up the box. It was very light, and only about the size of a shoebox. It was wrapped in brown paper with two pieces of twine up all four sides, tied into a neat bow on the top. There was a post it stuck to the strange package. Sheldon had to squint to make out the tiny writing.

DO NOT OPEN ME. BRING TO 2342 First Avenue.

Sheldon sighed. Another address? He shook the package slightly. It didn’t make much noise, just some muffled packing peanuts being moved. He thought about leaving it. He could put the package down right now and go home. Shannon and the kids don’t even know he’s gone yet, he could return without them knowing he left. Something kept his hands glued to the box. He knew if there was even a tiny chance of this being a real threat, he couldn’t risk it. He loved both his families very much. He knew they loved him too. He didn’t want to hurt them. It was just one more address. Big deal.

Sheldon tucked the package under his arm and hurried down the steps, walking back towards the bus stop. As much as he didn’t want to take the bus again, he didn’t want an outgoing call to anyone. He was still holding out hope that he would be home before Shannon suspected a thing. It was very difficult to juggle two separate families, and Sheldon knew it relied heavily on complete trust from both parties. Not an ounce of suspicion was allowed in his life. He checked at what time the next bus was due to come. 1:45AM. That was so late. He wanted to be home by then. First Avenue wasn’t too far away. Sheldon reckoned he could walk there faster. He kept up a brisk pace towards the address.

It took him only ten minutes to walk to First avenue. He began glancing around confused. There were no houses on this road. Just a bunch of closed stores and restaurants. He looked on his maps. The exact address was two buildings down. He came up to a bank, with an outdoor ATM.

Sheldon’s phone buzzed in his pocket. His heart lurched. Oh no, Shannon couldn’t have woken up now? He pulled his phone out and he had a text from an unknown number.

GOOD JOB. NOW WITHDRAW 5,000$

Sheldon frowned. He looked around anxiously. Was someone following him? How could he even take out that much money? His daily limit was 1,500$. He let the strange number know.

FIGURE IT OUT OR I’LL TELL THEM BOTH

Sheldon locked his phone, his heart racing. He had a few other cards he could pull from, his head spun with the thought of how much the cost of the cash advances from his credit cards were going to cost him. He needed to finish this and get home. He pulled out 1,500 from his main account, and then used a smattering of credit cards and another bank account to pull the rest. He kept looking over his shoulder as he counted his money. He didn’t like being in town this late at night, holding a wad of cash. It was dangerous. A blue Volkswagen pulled up the curb and the window rolled down.

The gentleman in the driver’s seat called out. “Hey! You are Sheldon?”

Sheldon nodded slowly.

“Okay, backseat.”

Sheldon saw the Uber sticker on the front windshield of the car. His feet stayed glued. His phone buzzed again.

GET IN

Sheldon locked his eyes on the Uber driver’s hands. They hadn’t moved from the top of the steering wheel. It couldn’t be him texting. Red flags were going off in Sheldon’s head. Getting in that Uber sounded nothing but bad. Somehow his legs got him into the car because bad was nothing compared to the truth coming out.

Sheldon shut the door and the Uber began driving away. It was quiet.

“Hey, man. You mind telling me where we’re going?” Sheldon asked.

“I don’t know. I'm just following the instructions,” the driver said.

Sheldon slumped back in his seat. He had the wad of cash balled up in his fist and the box was still under his arm.

The Uber pulled up to another storefront.

“Where are we?” Sheldon asked.

“This is where I’m supposed to drop you off. Looks like a flower shop.”

Sheldon’s phone buzzed.

GIVE HIM THE MONEY

Sheldon peeled the money off his sweaty hand. He reached over and held the wad of money to the side of the driver.

“Here, man,” said Sheldon.

The driver took the cash and began counting it. He didn’t even seem surprised to be handed five-thousand dollars. Sheldon squinted his eyes.

“You know something, don’t you?”

The driver stopped counting and looked at Sheldon through the rear-view mirror. “I don’t. I was only given a few clear instructions.” He finished counting and pocketed the cash. “All good. Here.” He reached into his bag and pulled out an axe. He passed it to Sheldon.

“What!? What’s this for?”

The driver shrugged. “Beats me. I’m sure he’ll tell you. Now get out of my car because I need to deliver this money or else, I’ll lose my daughter.”

Sheldon took the axe from the driver and clutched the strange package between his arm and body. What the hell is going on? He got out of the Uber and was standing in front of La Salle’s Flower Shop.

His phone buzzed again.

GET A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS

The shop was closed. It was 1:23 AM. What was he supposed to do? Wait here until it opens?

THE AXE

Sheldon looked the axe. He looked at the flower shop. Oh no. It was made up of a bunch of glass walls so you could see the beautiful bouquets of flowers. He couldn’t just smash the glass, surely the alarm will ring?

NOW. GET READY TO RUN.

Sheldon took the axe in his right hand and took three deep breaths. He ran towards the shop with his arm lifted, bringing the axe down on the glass. it shattered the first panel and sure enough, an alarm sounded. It was an awful ringing sound. Anyone in the next five neighbouring streets was sure to hear it. He brought the axe down again to clear some of the shards sticking out so there was enough room to grab a bouquet. He grabbed the first one within reach, wrapped nicely in blue and green paper. He dropped the axe and clutched the bouquet to his chest, beside the package and ran. He ran as fast as his legs would let him. The adrenaline pumping through his veins helped him not tire out and make it up a street. He took a few moments to catch his breath until he heard sirens in the distance.

RUN

He pulled himself out if the alley and ran up two streets to try and hide from the police. He checked the bouquet. It was still all intact apart from one flower that was hanging on its stem for dear life. Sheldon thought it must bear a striking resemblance to himself right now.

His back was pressed against a large green dumpster. He could tell by the putrid smell entering his nostrils. He put the package on the ground and looked at the time. 1:35 AM. He was getting increasingly anxious being out so late. He shut his eyes and began taking a deep breath until a coughing fit came upon him. Breathing next to the dumpster was probably not the best idea. He didn’t know what else to do, breathing is what helped calm him down. Should he start walking away? Would the person get mad at him?

Sheldon looked at his legs and noticed they were shaking. He had never felt fear like this in his life. He was always in control. He had become a master at manipulating people for his personal gain. Now someone was doing it to him. He started to feel angry. He stared at his phone and wanted to slam it on the pavement and stomp it until it was barely identifiable. He held it up in the air, whoever this person was, they were taking away the only thing in life that gave him purpose. His hand clenched around the phone and shook.

“ARRGGGGGHHH,” he yelled. “I can’t do it.”

It was like placing a loaded gun into your mouth; he couldn’t pull the trigger. A flash of red and blue light appeared from the neighbouring street and Sheldon clamped his back against the dumpster. His heartrate picked up and he peeked over his shoulder, the light was fading. He needed to get out of here. Holding this bouquet of flowers was a giant target for the police. He might as well have been carrying a giant sign that read: 'it was me!'

He picked up the package and started jogging out the end of the alley that he came from, looking both ways to make sure no one was nearby and let out a sigh. He jogged towards a walkway that was a shortcut to the street above. It was lined with trees and a chain-link fence. As he began walking through, he realized he could barely see where he was stepping; the enclosing trees made it so dark. Halfway to the other side he felt a thump on his head.

“OUCH!” He yelped. He jerked around and brought a hand to the back of his head. “Who’s there?!” He kept spinning around, but no one was near him. He could hear something fly towards him again and he ducked. Air swished past his face, and he looked in the direction it was heading.

It was an owl. A barn owl had perched itself on a branch just above his head and he realized that it must have a nest nearby. He felt a little bit of pride run through him as he stared at the owl.

She’s protecting her babies, just like I am.

Sheldon squeezed the package between his arm and his torso harder. He gripped the flower bouquet stronger.

I’m doing this for my families. There’s nothing to fear.

He took his three deep breaths and trudged onwards, hurrying his pace as the owl called after him, in case it was trying to strike again. Sheldon’s phone buzzed.

TWO STREETS UP

That aggravating feeling of being out of control crept back through him and he texted back: WHO IS THIS!?

NOT IMPORTANT. GO

IT IS IMPORTANT! IM SORRY FOR WHATEVER I DID TO YOU, JUST TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!? MAYBE WE CAN WORK SOMETHING OUT?

Sheldon willed for the other person to give up sending him on this wild goose chase. He felt tears tug at his eyes. He was exhausted and just wanted to go home. He willed it so much he looked up at the sky and began to pray, which was something he didn’t believe in. If there was a God out there, he needed him now more than ever.

His phone buzzed and sent to him was a picture of him with his other wife Ella and their daughter Lily. Sent after that was a phone number. Shannon’s phone number.

IF YOU DON’T FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS, I WILL HIT SEND. YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES

Sheldon dropped his head, defeated. He didn’t want that at all. He made sure he had a firm hold of the bouquet and package and ran up two more streets until he reached Rosewood.

YELLOW HOUSE ON THE LEFT

Sheldon walked down the block until he came across a large yellow house.

KNOCK

Sheldon climbed the steps. The house was eerily familiar. A chill ran through him. He had been here before, but when? He racked his brain and couldn’t remember. There was a white rocking chair beside the door with a little blue pillow, the letters embroidered on it spelled out family.

His palms rife with sweat he balled his fist and reached up to knock. As his knuckled began to contact the door, he froze. There was movement inside. He could hear people laughing.

KNOCK!

He knocked sporadically, matching the tempo if his heartbeat and the door swung open. Ella was standing on the other side.

“Ella?” Sheldon said surprised. His heart dropped in his stomach. "How are you- why are y-”

“Hey, baby!” Ella cut him off. She hugged him and gave him a kiss. She was expecting him?

“H-hi? Wha- What are you doing here? It’s so late?”

Ella looked confused. “What do you mean? Didn’t you want me here?”

His phone buzzed.

PLAY ALONG

Sheldon shook his head. “Oh yeah, of course! I'm just pullin' your leg!”

Ella opened the door wider. “Here, come in, it’s so cold out there!”

Sheldon stepped inside and he looked around. Still faintly familiar, and still, he didn’t know why.

“So!” Ella said, beaming. “Are you excited or what!”

Sheldon cleared his throat. “Oh, y-yeah, so excited.” He did his best fake smile. He saw her suitcase by the stairs and frowned. His phone buzzed.

GIVE HER THE PACKAGE AND FLOWERS. SHE OPENS IT.

“Ah, these are for you.” He handed over the package and flowers.

Ella sniffed them. “Damn, these are beautiful. And what’s this?” she smiled.

“Open it.”

Another buzz.

AND SHELDON, YOU BETTER TAKE THOSE DEEP BREATHS OF YOURS

Ella pulled the twine bow and unwrapped the package, revealing a plain box.

Someone walked into the room, a short, stout woman, holding a glass of wine.

Ella looked back. “Oh Sheldon, do you remember Katie? She’s Jessa’s mom, remember? Lily’s old friend.”

Katie came over and shook Sheldon’s hand. “Sheldon!” She said. “Good to see you, it’s been so long.”

As their hands dropped Sheldon’s eyes widened. He remembered. Lily’s old friend from camp. He wouldn’t let her visit anymore because she lived too close to Shannon and the kids.

He turned to Ella, and she had the box open and pulled out a picture frame. Her jaw dropped.

“What?” Sheldon said, his heart thumped against his chest.

She turned it over. It was a framed picture of him with Shannon and his three other kids.

His felt like he was going to faint.

Steps descended from the stairs. Lily came up behind her mom and flashed her phone screen at Sheldon, giving him a mischievous smile. It was a picture of a thumbs up. He looked at her, like he didn't recognize her at all. No longer was she his sweet, baby girl. Sheldon had always thought she looked so much younger than her age. Not anymore. The way she was staring at him, she looked mature, older. Her face showed content, almost like she had been waiting for this moment for a long, long time.

His phone buzzed.

GOOD JOB, DAD 😊