The Envelope

There I sat, warming my hands with some tea and tapping my foot as I anxiously waited for my friends to show up. It was a cold day and as I watched people walking by hugging the lapels of their coats closed or rubbing their hands together and breathing into them to warm them. Each time the bell on the door clanged, signifying that someone entered I jumped up hoping it was a friend and sank disappointed when it turned out to be someone I did not know. After what felt like an eternity the first of my friends arrived.

"Kelsey, over here." I waived to her. She smiled and moved towards me. As she sat down across from me she unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and removed her gloves.

"Hi, sorry."

"It's fine, Declan isn't here either."

"Yeah, it is miserable out there. How are you?"

"I'm okay, I'm drinking tea."

"Oh, I should get some too." Kelsey turned and waved towards the counter. The same woman who waited on me came over and Kelsey ordered her drink. The server looked at me and I shook my head, saying no thank you to a refill. Once the server left Kelsey turned her attention back to me. "Okay, so what's this meeting? Something about an envelope?"

"I need to wait until Declan gets here, I don't want to tell the story twice."

"Okay, but I have an appointment at 4:30 to show a condo that I cannot be late to."

"We should be done by then."

"If it keeps snowing like this it might just get canceled by the buyer." Kelsey's tea arrived and then so did Declan. He made his way over, taking his coat off as he went.

"Sorry, getting a cab was a nightmare." He noticed Kelsey and then glared at me. "What is she doing here?"

"Hi, Declan, nice to see you haven't changed." Kelsey smiled and batted her eyelashes at him.

"Kelsey." He said, his tone clipped.

"Guys, cut it out. I trust both of you and I need your help. You can be civil for an hour can't you or are you children who need to be banished to separate corners?"

"Of course I can be civil," Kelsey assured me. Declan scoffed but nodded.

"I received this in my mailbox this morning." I opened my bag and pulled out a medium-sized yellow bubble mailer. "There was no writing on the outside and it was sealed, the seal of course broken when I opened it to see what was inside." I then pulled out a piece of ivory card stock folded very neatly in half, and a small black notebook with an elastic band meant to keep it closed.

"There was no address?" Kelsey asked, grabbing at the envelope.

"No, no address and it didn't have my name written on it," I told her.

"Does anyone else have access to your mailbox?" Declan asked, I shook my head no. Declan at that moment grabbed for the notebook. I slapped his hand and pulled it into my lap.

"Ouch! What was that for?" He said rubbing the back of his hand. Kelsey laughed and put her tea up to her mouth to hide her grin.

"There are very explicit instructions. That's what is written on the card." Declan reached for the card but hesitated. I nodded for him to continue. He grabbed it and read what was written.

"You may either open the notebook and learn the secret or you can keep the notebook closed and receive $20,000 in cash. But you cannot have both. You have 48 hours to decide. Choose wisely." Kelsey grabbed the note from him and looked it over herself.

"Choose wisely? That's not creepy or anything."

"Ok, hold on. What kind of secret?" I shrugged. "And we are just supposed to assume that what, the secret is worth more than $20,000? Like it is the winning lottery numbers?" Declan asked.

"I have no idea Declan, you have as much information as I do at this point. The question is, what do I do?"

"Have you talked to anyone else about this? Like the police?" Kelsey asked.

"And what would I say? Help, someone broke into my mailbox and is offering to pay me 20 grand if I don't open a notebook?" The server came back and asked us if we were ready to order. Declan and Kelsey ordered some food but I declined. I couldn't afford to get anything and I was too riled up for food. Once the server left we began talking about the mysterious envelope again.

"What if the secret is like where someone hid a dead body?" Kelsey made a face and I stared horrified at Declan for even bringing that up.

"Thanks, now I'm going to have nightmares," I said to him.

"You could use that money, Bex." I sighed. She was right. "I mean, you were only at that hotel for a few days. I told you that you could stay with me."

"Or me," Declan chimed in. Kelsey rolled her eyes.

"But I know you've got other problems besides being evicted. Have you found any leads on a job?" I shook my head. My job for the last 3 years was a contract job. Most contract jobs are 3-6 months and sometimes they renew and sometimes they don't. However, mine kept renewing and I got a little too comfortable. I never bothered looking for other jobs as a backup. So three months they let me know they would not be renewing my contract. The job ended and with it the paycheck. I had a small amount of savings but the rent on my apartment would deplete it. I had no choice but to skip rent and hedged my bets that I could get a job before there were any real problems But the bills piled up and the jobs eluded me. I was hoping to receive something in the mail about a fellowship I had applied for when I got the envelope.

"What about taking something small, like a customer service job or working at a bank? You know just until you found something else?" Declan asked.

"I'm overqualified for literally every job I apply to. Even Wal-mart wouldn't take me. Trust me, I tried. Which makes me think that whoever left this for me, knows about my situation. They know I need the money and they are teasing me."

"So you're going to take the money?" Kelsey asked.

"What do you guys think I should do?"

"I think you should let us open the little black book. We can see what the secret is and if it's worth more than $20,000 then you can keep it. If it isn't, then we will tell you and you can go for the $20,000." Declan says.

"Are you insane?" Kelsey asked Declan. "If we open the book and know the secret she won't be able to collect the money."

"But how would they know? They would have to be watching her. To see if it was opened. It isn't like it is sealed, it just has that elastic band on it." As Declan said this, I started to feel paranoid like I was being watched.

"Oh my god, what if they are watching me? Like right now? What if I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about this?" I started to panic.

"Calm down, it should have said that in the note." Declan, who was always so calm and nonchalant about everything, was what I needed him for here. Of all my friends, nothing ever really bothered him. He was a very even type of person. Kelsey on the other hand was my motherly friend. She was always so grown up and responsible, even when we were kids. She was the voice of reason when we wanted to skip school, telling us we would get caught and into trouble (and we did). She made sure that we never went home with weird guys while we were drunk in college and I knew even now that I could trust her to help me make the right decision. On the other hand, Declan made sure that I took chances and didn't play it safe. He would encourage me to go talk to guys that I was too shy to approach and to buy the revealing dress because it would boost my confidence. They were the perfect pair to play devil versus angel on my shoulder.

"Let's think about this rationally. Bex needs money. Whatever this secret is, there is no guarantee that it will give her money. The decision is a no brainer."

"What if the secret is the cure for cancer? She could make way more money than $20,000 by producing that and she would be famous."

"You think someone wrote down the secret to curing cancer in a little black notebook and sent it to a random stranger rather than publishing it themselves?"

"Ok, I see your point Kelsey, but that was just one example. It could be a ton of things." Declan said.

"Bex, what would you do with the $20,000?" Kelsey asked me. I began to think about it.

"Oh, you could buy us things. You could buy a new car." Declan said excitedly.

"I could get another apartment and be set for a few months," I said.

"Boring!" Declan said their food finally arrived. He offered me some fries and I passed.

"You could do that thing you talked about in college," Kelsey said in between bites of her sandwich.

"What thing?" Declan asked.

"Oh, I wanted to buy one of those VW Buses, fix it up to live in it like a camper, and do one of those epic road trips like they used to do in the '60s."

"You wanted to be homeless? Girl, you're already there."

"No, I wouldn't be homeless. The van would be my home. It's a thing now."

"She's right, there is this whole "vanlife movement" where everyone buys one of those creeper vans and put in like sinks and showers and stuff and they drive around to all the national parks and stay in them. Some of those things are nicer than the apartments you can rent." Kelsey opened up some app on her phone and handed it to Declan to see. He nodded and Kelsey put her phone down.

"I'm gonna do that. I'm going to take the money and finally write my 'On The Road,' while I live on the road." I said firmly with a nod and a smile on my face.

"Ok, so you just what, wait around for someone to leave you another envelope?" Declan asked.

"I think you're making the right choice Bex, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks and I don't know. The note didn't say anything about it, but I guess."

"So you'll call us when you get the money?" I nodded.

After a few more minutes Declan and Kelsey both left, going to their perspective places and I stayed and worked on my laptop to source the things I would need for my build, starting with a van. Two insane days later I went to my mailbox, but it was empty. Anxiety was building and I got the sinking feeling that someone had just played a cruel trick on me. As I went to leave, the person at the desk waved me over.

"Rebeckah Harmon?" I nodded. "This came for you. They said for you to take possession you would have to give me the book. Do you know what that means?"

"Yes, yes I have it," I said excitedly and handed them the little black book that was given to me two days ago. He handed me another envelope, this one very heavy and I signed for it. I quickly tore open the seal and peeked inside. I almost fainted. I didn't have to count it, I knew it would all be there; $20,000.