Jupiter's Day

Meredith set her bags down on the bench in front of the bus stand and began rummaging through her purse. Normally she would walk, however today she had stopped at the market and both she and the perishables she had purchased would appreciate the reprieve from the sun’s scorching rays.

She found her wallet and began counting out her fare. She noticed a gentleman had approached and had taken a seat on the bench. She looked over and smiled. He smiled and tipped his head in return. She finished counting her fare and put her wallet back in her purse. At that moment he got up and began walking in the direction of the downtown express.

Meredith gathered up her grocery bags and noticed a little black book with an envelope stuffed between its pages lying on the bench. She picked it up, made her way to the express to return it to the owner. After getting permission to board she scanned the faces on the bus only to find his wasn't among them. She thanked the driver and puzzled, stepped back onto the pavement and felt the full heat of the sun upon her face and yet inexplicably a sudden chill ran through her body.

She turned her head in all directions surveying the area around the bus stop. The road stretched on far into the distance as did the clearing in the park that ran alongside and the only people to be seen were a young mother walking with her toddler in tow.

Not a moment later her bus arrived and Meredith stepped aboard. The only other passenger was a teenage boy seated in the back row who sat bobbing to whatever was playing in his earbuds. She herself took a seat directly across from the rear exit and placed her bags on the empty seat beside her.

Meredith was already appreciating the air conditioning and swept her hair up so the cooler air could circulate underneath the heavy weight of her curls. She again rummaged through her purse this time in search of a hairband. Finding it, she deftly swept her hair into a ponytail, gathered the end, twisted it into a knot and secured it with the band. She instantly felt 10 degrees cooler and her spirits felt lighter too.

Several blocks later she rang the bell, gathered up her groceries and once again felt the sun's heat as she stepped out and hurried home.

After putting the groceries away and pouring herself a tall glass of lemon water, Meredith arranged herself comfortably on the sofa and removed the little black book and the thick letter sized envelope it contained and set about to find the owner.

Meredith noticed how soft and supple the cover felt in her hands as she carefully opened to the first page. No information had been filled in. She flipped through each page in turn, section by section, every page was blank until she had turned to the page that held the envelope. In the column marked with today's date was a large checkmark drawn in black ink. She flipped through the remaining pages of the little black book and found nothing, no names or dates, no appointments or notes, nothing except for that singular black checkmark.

The envelope itself was of a white legal letter size. The only writing on the outside were the words For You, written in black ink. She felt the weight of the bulging envelope as she held it in her hands.

She got up from the sofa and walked across the room to her desk, opened the right-side drawer, reached in and pulled out the letter opener then retraced her steps and sat back down on the sofa. She leaned over and picked up the envelope and mindful of the contents, slid the letter opener along the seam to reveal the contents inside.

Meredith's hands began to shake and her heart beat quickened when she saw the envelope contained a stack of money. No clue as to the owner just a stack of various notes.

With her hands still trembling, she took out the money, placed it in three piles of 20-, 50-, and 100-dollar denominations. She counted, recounted and counted a third time to be sure she hadn't made an error. Each time she had come up with the same sum, $20,000.

Meredith sat back on the sofa and let out a soft whistle. She had never before seen or touched that much money with her own hands, not even close. Her imagination was racing.

The envelope and its words For You stared up enigmatically at her.

Could it actually have been meant for me she questioned and quickly dismissed the thought with a swift shake of her head as she reminded herself that she did not know him and there was no reason she could think of, for him or anyone for that matter to just leave an envelope of cash for a stranger.

It wasn’t long before Meredith had set upon a course of action. First a call to the bus terminal to see if the gentleman had reported it missing and to leave her contact details, she would then write a lost and found message and post it on her social media. She also decided to return to the bus stop the following day at the same time to see if she could find the mystery man if nothing else worked.

She felt decidedly calmer now that she had a plan. She gathered up the money and placed it back into the envelope, tucked it once again in the pages of the little black book and took it along with her letter-opener back to her desk, returned the opener to its drawer and placed the little black book and its contents alongside her papers.

When Meredith’s alarm went off the next morning, she was surprised that she had actually been able to sleep. It had taken her longer than she liked to finally drift off and she had tossed and turned so often through the night that she had awoken several times. Images of the man, the little black book with the envelope of cash and the mysterious checkmark and several fantastical scenarios surrounding its origins had been her dreams throughout the night.

Even so, she smiled and thought happily to herself T.G.I.F. She got up out of bed, dressed for her morning run and headed downstairs. She finished tying her shoes, put in her ear buds, turned on her playlist and headed out the front door.

She was met with loud mewing when she returned an hour later. Pekoe, her orange tabby was ready for her breakfast. She leaned down scooping Pekoe into her into her arms and nuzzled her neck as she walked to the kitchen.

Meredith finished clearing her breakfast dishes, poured some coffee into her favorite mug and began to think of the mysterious man and the contents of the little black book again. She felt at once both nervous and giddy. So many thoughts, ideas and questions kept bubbling to the surface and running through her head.

She glanced at her watch and gulped down the last of her coffee as she saw it was time to head for the office.

“Wish me luck, Pekoe.” she said as she gathered the little black book and its contents and placed them in her purse and headed out the door.

At 3:00 she put her desk in order, left the office and headed out to the bus stop. Before the office door had even closed behind her she could feel the nervous, giddiness returning. A flurry of thoughts swirled in her head and only came to a sudden stop when Meredith saw him in the distance.

She began to run towards him waving her arms in the air and calling out. He didn’t appear to notice or hear her. The bus pulled up and before Meredith was near enough to stop him, he boarded the bus. Meredith slowed her pace, defeated. She checked her watch and saw that the bus had arrived seven minutes early. She sighed as she watched the bus pull away from the stop. There were no other buses and no other passengers. Meredith turned and headed for home.

Along with the disappointment she also felt a sense of elation. He had actually been there; she almost had her answers. She decided to try again on Monday only this time, she would leave the money at home as she didn’t think it wise to walk about with that large a sum. If she saw him again, she would simply invite him to accompany her home and return it to him there. Satisfied and buoyed with hope at seeing him today, she set her sights on Monday.

Monday afternoon, Meredith once again set out for the bus stop after work. He wasn’t there. She stayed for the next two bus times and still he wasn’t there. She stopped at the bus stop every day that week at the usual time and each day there was no sign of him. She continued to look for him every day but her hope in finding him was all but gone as the weeks turned into months.

One Thursday morning as Meredith was about to leave for her morning run, she suddenly felt an icy chill run through her body and her muscles weaken. She reached out to steady herself against the wall. Her heart was racing and there was a loud, buzzing and humming noise inside of her. After a few moments everything subsided but she decided it best to forgo the run and went back upstairs to shower and get ready for the office.

The shower had worked it’s magic and Meredith felt like herself as she gathered her coat, purse and keys and headed out the door. She was halfway down the walkway when she turned around abruptly and went back inside. A few moments later she emerged with her satchel in hand and went on her way.

Three blocks later, tucked in behind the library, a lovely city park came into view. A beautiful oasis that all but obscured and drowned out the noise of the busy thoroughfare 150 meters to the southeast. She enjoyed the winding path through the various trees and flower gardens, past the pond where ducks, geese and swans paddled leisurely. She was nearing the bend in the path that marked the final 10 meters where suddenly the city would come back into its full, noisy view and it was there on a park bench where she saw him, he was still a distance away but she knew it

was him. This time she didn’t run towards him or wave her arms or call out. When she got to the bench she sat down, reached into her satchel, pulled out the little black book and envelope, turned towards him extending her hand and said simply, “I believe this is yours.”

Only then did she notice he held a large manila envelope in his hands. As he took the little black book from her, he handed her his envelope.

She saw the words For You written upon it. She ran her fingernail along the edge and opened it up. Inside was a little black book with an envelope tucked inside it. Curiously, she looked up to ask him about it, but when she did, the man was gone. She felt like jumping up and running after him but she could not, she was rooted to the spot. A few moments later with trembling hands, Meredith opened the envelope and saw a stack of notes. She didn't count it but knew when she did, she would find $20,000. A smile spread across her face as she looked into the little black book and saw in the column marked with today's date a large checkmark drawn in black ink.