Little Black Book

Riley walked out the bank frustrated with how her meeting went. A small loan is all she needed to help get her bakery started. Collateral the rude man said, “We don’t just give out loans to anyone, we need collateral”. She would show him, she would show everyone in that fancy bank. Deep in thought Riley did not see the black book on the ground and stepped on it which caused her to slip and fall. Who left this here she asked herself; there was no name, no address, nothing to say who it belonged too. Riley sat on a bench in the park and flipped through the black book wondering what it was and how it ended up in the street. There was a string of numbers on the first page that read 89414; underneath the numbers was a location. That is odd Riley thought, must be some weird meeting. She stuffed the black book back into her bag and headed to the library.

“How did it go?” Adam asked as Riley walked in the library and put her bag behind the counter.

“Horrible”, Riley replied “they said I don’t have enough collateral, whatever that means. Plus they don’t know if I could handle a bakery seeing as the only place I have worked is here.”

“You know all you gotta do is ask and I will loan you the money”, Adam said with a grin. Adam came from wealthy family, but he didn’t show off his money or brag about it. He was humble, kind and Riley’s best friend since kindergarten. When he decided to open up a library his first thought was to hire Riley to help manage it. Riley enjoyed working in the library but wanted more. Baking was her passion and she enjoyed making new treats. She has always dreamed about opening a bakery with her Grandmother’s homemade desserts and her own creations. Adam had volunteered to help fund her dream but Riley couldn’t do that to a friend. She wanted to get it herself, earn it, and prove all the doubters wrong. With that in mind Riley got to work putting books back on shelves and organizing the new sections that arrived. Adam accidentally knocked over Riley’s purse and the black book fell out.

“What is this, Ri? I didn’t take you for the diary type”, Adam said.

“I don’t know what it is. I tripped over it coming out the bank. It has some weird numbers in it. See.” Riley showed Adam the book and he got excited.

“Maybe it’s a scavenger hunt, or it’s from a spy!”

“Yeah right”, Riley snickered.

“Well let’s go to the location and see what we find out. If its nothing, no harm done”, Adam grinned.

“Ok, ok. We could use a little adventure. But what about the library, no one will be here to watch it.”

“Girl, I own it. I can open and close whenever I want.”

“Ok then. Let’s get started. The location is the candy store across from the park but I wonder what the numbers mean.”

“Ok so we go to the candy store. The numbers I have no clue, maybe they are a clue inside of a clue!”

“Well Adam let’s get this scavenger hunt started.”

Twenty-Five minutes later Riley and Adam arrive at the candy store called Sweet Enough. A small shop with a bright pink front door, on the inside had walls of every candy imaginable. There were gummies, chocolates, lollipops and sour candies. The walls were colored with rainbow stripes that went up to the ceiling and connected into a cloud. In the middle of the store was a giant pot of gold filled with chocolate coins of different colors. Riley and Adam looked around trying to figure out what they were supposed to do next.

“Ok we are here. Now what”, Riley asked.

“Well let’s do some candy shopping! They have some yummy looking truffles over there. Oh, and over at the gummy station they have make your own flavors! How cool is that!”

“You are such a kid, Adam”, Riley laughed.

“I have and idea about he number. Maybe it’s an order number, go ask the cashier”, Adam said while mixing some gummy flavors.

Riley walked up to the counter gave the cashier the order number and got handed a white paper bag. Riley and Adam went outside and opened the bag. Inside there was about fifty chocolate coins of various colors.

“This has to be a joke right? Gold coins? Well looks like we found our treasure.” Riley said sarcastically.

“There has to be more too it. How about we grab some lunch, head back to the library and look into it”, Adam said.

Riley shook her head then started walking towards the diner that was up the path from the park. A few minutes later they had their food and headed towards Adams car. On the way to the library Adam talked about what the gold coins could mean. Riley just nodded along, anxious about whether this little black book could help her or not.

Once situated at the table in the break room with their chicken strips and fries Riley opened the black book and flipped through it. She was stunned, the next pages were empty.

“What the heck?”

“What’s wrong?” Adam asked while munching on fries.

“There is nothing else. See look, blank, blank, blank.” Riley said as she flipped the pages. “I knew it, I knew this was too good to be true,” Riley tossed the book down on the table and took a big bite of her chicken.

“Wait a minute. Maybe the next clue comes from the coins we got at the candy store,” Adam said as he got up to retrieve the bag. He dumped the contents on the table and in the bottom was indeed a paper with instructions written on it. “See what did I tell you,” Adam beamed.

“What does it say? Is it another location?” asked Riley.

“Nope. It says ‘use the coins to find the next location’ whatever that means,” he said as he picked up a coin to examine it. “They look like normal chocolate coins,” he shrugged as he opened one and popped it into his mouth. “They taste great though”.

Riley rolled her eyes and looked at the coins closely. Adam was right; they were just normal chocolate coins. There has to be something more though Riley thought as she took Adams wrapper. Then she noticed something. The wrapper had writing on the inside!

“Eureka!” she screamed, “look Adam, it must be some kind of puzzle. Your candy addiction finally paid off,” she laughed and started opening more wrappers.

They laid out all the wrappers and the wrappers spelled out a new location: the post office on the corner of Ivy Road and Fern Lane.

“Ok, so we have our new location, but what are we suppose to do? At the candy store we had an order number in the book. So what to do?” Riley asked.

“Are you sure the book is completely empty?” Adam asked as he took the book and flipped it open. “Look here on the next page. It doesn’t have any visible writing but if you look closely there is an impression, like someone wrote on it”, Adam took a pencil and rubbed it against the page and two names showed up. “Janis and John Doly.”

“Guess we use those names at the post office, but what if they ask for ID? Hopefully they don’t. Lets move Adam, they close at four.”

“Hello. Pick up for Janis Doly please.” Riley said nervously. The service clerk went to the back and brought back a manila envelope and handed it to Riley. “Thank you”.

Riley took the package and waited for Adam, who came out empty handed. That was odd Riley thought as they headed back to the library, then again maybe only one envelope was to be given out. Once back at the library Riley took no time tearing into what they got at the post office. What she found shocked her.

“Oh my. Wow. This is.. This is crazy. Twenty thousand dollars! This little black book led me to twenty thousand dollars! Oh it came with a letter,” said Riley beaming with a smile.

“Hello Riley, My name is Janis and I am your Grandmother from your father’s side. As his only child and heir I am giving you part of your inheritance. Sorry for the mystery and adventure but your father loved a challenge and thought you would too. I am sorry you did not get to know him or meet him before his passing. I would really like to meet you and get to know you, as well as give you the rest of your money. This is a lot to take in so please take your time. Enclosed is a photo of him holding you as a newborn. Hope to hear from you soon.”

Riley put the letter down and took out the photo. Sure enough it was her and her dad. She didn’t know he had money or that her grandmother was still alive. How did she even process this? She had money for her bakery now, but according to the letter she had more coming and a grandmother too. This day had definitely been an adventure with a roller coaster of emotions.

Adam gave Riley a hug because he couldn’t imagine what she was going through but he was there for her no matter what.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, just a little shocked is all. And I have a lot of questions but at least I can get my bakery and tell that bank to shove it”, she laughed, “but I don’t understand how my grandmother knew I would be at that bank at that time. I understand the black book and the glues but….” Riley stared at Adam and gasped when it hit her. “You did this, didn’t you? You told her where I would be and when. You wanted to help me and I wouldn’t let you so when she came knocking you two came up with treasure hunt.”

“Yes and no. I did tell her that you would be at the bank but the treasure hunt was all her and your fathers’ idea. I was just going along for the adventure. I did not know any of the clues or where it would lead. She is super nice and really wants to meet you.”

Riley picked up the black book and laughed. This book gave her more than she could ask for. Not only does she get a chance to meet her grandmother but she also gets the money she needs for her dream, the bakery.