Heart-Shaped Box

Lilly was grateful to finally see the edge of her driveway after another long, horrendous day at the office, and an equally miserable drive through the traffic nightmare known as Highway 11. It had been a week from hell, and the only thing delaying her from the sweet elixir of her favourite Moscato, was parking the car and getting in the house.

She heard the whirling buzz of delivery drones as she stepped out of her Camry onto the cobblestone driveway. It was a sound Lilly was very familiar with, especially since the onset of the pandemic. It seemed the entire neighborhood was doing all their shopping online, and with the appearance of the new transport companies that shipped exclusively via drone, every day looked like a scene from a futuristic cartoon with little flying objects buzzing all over the city.

It reminded her of a guy she knew in high school, Zachary. A nice guy, but a bit of a geek, Lilly had befriended him when most wouldn’t. While her girlfriends were hanging out on the sidelines at football practice, trying to catch the attention of one of beloved high school athletes; Lilly spent her afterschool time at Zach’s house, doing homework, playing video games, and watching him build little flying robots.

Though she found it silly and childish that Zach would be so interested in what she considered toys, she had to admit that she found some comfort in his boyish charm. He wasn’t the handsy type, never inappropriate with her like the other hormone ravaged teenage boys she knew.

Lilly had no interest in having sex back then. She felt she was too young and was not yet ready for any base beyond second. Unfortunately, sex seemed to be all the boys wanted from her. She discovered that truth when her boyfriend, the high school quarterback, dumped her when she refused. That’s when she started hanging out with Zach. He was trustworthy. He was dependable. He was safe – until he wasn’t.

Lilly was shocked the day Zach kissed her. She had no romantic interest in him whatsoever, and thought he felt the same. The look of disappointment in his blue eyes was evident even through his tinted, thick-rimmed glasses. He was upset, she could tell. He tried to hide it, insisted something weird came over him and he didn’t mean it, but Lilly knew better. She could see it in his eyes.

Their friendship was never the same. They continued hanging out after school sometimes, but not as often. It wasn’t comfortable anymore. By the time the school year ended, they saw each other only occasionally, and after high school, lost contact altogether.

Lilly was shaken from her reminiscence by the loud buzzing of a drone dropping a package on her doorstep. That was strange. She hadn’t ordered anything lately and couldn’t think of anyone who would be sending her a present. It wasn’t her birthday. It wasn’t Christmas.

Lilly picked the box up off the step, headed inside and placed it on the table. She would get to it later, she told herself. Right then she was much more interested in getting out of her work clothes, into her sweats, and relaxing with that much needed glass of wine she had been looking forward to.

After getting comfortable, tuning the radio to her favourite soft rock station, and finally pouring herself a glass, Lilly retrieved the box from the table and brought it with her to the living room.

It was a small box, big enough to fit a couple of hardcover books, or a camera, and it was exceptionally light. Lilly also found it curious that there was no address label. The box itself had an imprinted logo of Zadron Del. She assumed that was either the manufacturer or delivery company.

How did they know where to send it, she wondered? How did she know it was even meant for her? Lilly laid the box back on the table, deciding she’d figure it out over the weekend. She didn’t want to think about it right then. After her crazy work week of non-stop sales meetings and managers throwing a hissy fit every day over sinking profits, Lilly just needed to relax.

Besides, she assumed, it was probably from Mark. She hadn’t heard from him in a while, and for that she was grateful.

Lilly and Mark had split over a year ago. For months he harassed her, wanting to get back together, but she had no interest. She had wasted ten years of her life on him, trying to get him to change.

Lilly met Mark just after college graduation, during what was a free and exciting time in her life. She had just started her first full time job and spent most of the money she earned on parties, concerts, and vacations. She lived life without a care, and to Lilly, the future was something to worry about later. Mark fit her lifestyle perfectly. He was an even bigger party animal than she was. It was a passionate, whirlwind romance that brought the lovebirds down the aisle three months after they met.

Unfortunately for Lilly, the relationship never evolved past party animal stage for Mark. Ten years later, he was still living the new-graduate, lets-have-fun life. He never grew up. Lilly did. She settled down. She matured. Lilly had reached the point in her life where she was more interested in saving for their future and their future children. Mark didn’t even want to talk about children.

It seemed to Lilly that Mark never heard her pleas and didn’t care about her needs. He was always preparing for the next party, or the next vacation. He never heard her, even when she screamed. He never saw her tears, even when they flooded her cheeks with streaks of coal black eye liner. He never heard her, until the day she told him she was leaving.

He begged her not to go, swore he would change. It was too late for Lilly. She packed her bags and moved out that same weekend, never looking back.

Mark spent the next few months calling Lilly almost daily, and almost always drunk. He pleaded with her to give him another chance. Each time, she said no. It was time to move on, she told him. He didn’t want to listen. He kept calling and showing up outside her home. He only stopped when she threatened to call the police.

That was six months prior, and Lilly hadn’t heard from him since. She turned her eyes toward the box on the table wondering if this was the day that changed. It can wait until tomorrow, she decided, before pouring another glass of wine and ordering her favourite pizza.

**

Lilly started the coffee pot and scooped the box off the table. She should have opened it when it arrived, she told herself. She got almost no sleep from thinking about Mark and that stupid package all night, and now she had a massive headache to boot.

After retrieving the box cutter from her junk drawer, Lilly sat on her couch and sliced open the package.

Amidst all the brown paper stuffing inside, she found another, smaller box; this one heart-shaped with a blue velvet covering. Lilly removed the noticeably lightweight blue box from the outside package and laid it on the coffee table. She searched through the remaining paper stuffing for a letter or card, but found nothing.

Curious that there was no indication who the sender was, she opened the heart-shaped box to discover, it also was empty of a card or letter, or anything else for that matter. The box was lined with blue satin and had a depression in the centre, as if whatever was inside had been removed.

Lilly was now convinced that Mark was pulling some kind a prank and grabbed her phone to give him a piece of her mind. She didn’t find this funny at all. What was he trying to prove with this silliness?

Taken aback by the sound of a female voice answering his phone, Lilly stumbled over her words as she informed the stranger who she was, and that she wanted to speak with Mark. When Mark answered, he seemed genuinely surprised to hear from Lilly.

He swore to her that it was not he who sent the package. He insisted he had no idea what she was talking about, and all but laughed at her when she accused him of trying to drive her crazy because she left him.

“Grow up, Lilly,” he snickered. “That’s what you always told me, remember?”

“You told me to move on, Lilly. I have," he continued, before insisting she not call him again and hanging up the phone.

Lilly didn’t know whether to cry or scream as she sat on her living room floor staring at the blue box on the coffee table. She also didn’t know whether to believe Mark was telling the truth. What she did know was that she was hurting.

She was one who dumped him, she reminded herself. It was true, she did tell him to move on. So why was she so upset that he did? And why did his dismissiveness hurt so much? Lilly spent the rest of the weekend crying over what could have been and drowning her sorrows in Moscato.

***

Monday morning at work, in between sales meetings and managers losing their shit yet again, Lilly told her closest co-workers the story of the mystery box. Nobody knew anything about it, and everyone she spoke with insisted it wasn’t sent from them. She had no reason not to believe them.

Lilly wondered if she should just throw the package out, as it was the catalyst that started what turned out to be a miserable weekend for her. She then decided to call some friends and family to inquire if the package was sent by any of them. All denied any knowledge of the box Lilly received.

As a last resort, Lilly googled Zadron Del, the name on the logo she saw imprinted on the box. When she gave her name and address to the receptionist, she was greeted warmly, then immediately asked to hold for transfer to another extension. That seemed odd to Lilly, as if they were expecting her call.

“Hello Lilly. How are you?”

The voice was familiar, but not recently heard, like a ghost from the past or an old favourite song not played in a decade.

“It’s been a long time,” he said, before asking if she recognized him.

“Zach,” Lilly questioned? “Is that you?”

It was indeed Zach, the friend from high school Lilly hadn’t seen in near twenty years, the same Zach she was thinking about the day the mysterious package was delivered. Lilly couldn’t help but giggle at the irony.

“Did you send me a gift,” she blurted, cutting Zach off mid-sentence?

“Yes, I did,” he replied. “Did you like it?”

Lilly laughed out loud at his ridiculous question. What was there to like? The box was empty, except for another box, she informed him; hoping he would also laugh at his obvious mistake and explain to her what the package was supposed to contain. Lilly was surprised when Zach informed her there was no mistake. The heart-shaped box was the gift, at least the first step.

“Oh, it’s a game is it,” Lilly asked?

“Well, you know I always loved playing games,” he answered with a familiar chuckle.

Lilly and Zach spent most of the evening chatting on the phone, catching up on each other’s lives and reminiscing about the times they spent together back in high school.

Like Lilly, Zach had also been in a recently failed marriage. He and his wife Marion split four months prior, and other than sending her his monthly alimony cheques, he had no contact with her since.

Zach and Lilly spoke with each other several times over the next couple of weeks, becoming more comfortable each time, like they never parted ways. The conversations were as smooth as if they’d spent every day together for the last twenty years.

Each time they spoke, Lilly asked Zach about the blue heart-shaped box, and each time, Zach put her off, telling her it was a surprise and that she would receive her gift when the time was right.

Three weeks after that first contact, Lilly received a card in the mail from Zach. It was an invitation to their twenty-year high school reunion. The note suggested that they could go as friends, since both were without their plus ones at the time. Lilly agreed eagerly, anticipating that would be the night she would finally find out the meaning of the blue box.

****

On the day of the reunion, Lilly was as nervous as a teenage girl on her first date, and she didn’t understand why. It wasn’t even a date really, just an evening out with an old friend. Still, she felt the butterflies of a young girl’s first kiss.

Lilly bought a new dress and had her makeup professionally applied for the occasion. She had people to impress. Not just Zach, but everyone; most especially Joe, that quarterback who dumped her when she wasn’t willing to screw him. Lilly laughed to herself when envisioning him as fat, balding middle-aged man with a nagging wife and a dead-end job.

She would be looking fine in her designer clothes, with the owner and CEO of Zadron Delivery Incorporated, the number one drone transport company in the world, on her arm. Zach had done well for himself since high school. The geeky nerd who loved to play with toys and build flying robots was now one of the richest men in the country.

****

Lilly was awestruck when the limo pulled in front of her driveway, and even more so by the man she saw exiting the vehicle. It was Zach. Not the geeky, messy-haired, coke-bottle glasses wearing nerd she knew in high school, but a tall, well-groomed, handsome man with a sparkling smile and eyes as blue as the sky.

Those eyes, Lilly never forgot those eyes. No longer hidden behind the thick tinted glasses, they shone like speckles of sunshine on a warm summer day. His greeting was equally warm as he kissed Lilly’s hand and led her to the limo.

The evening was a rousing success. Lilly never imagined how much fun she could have reuniting with people she didn't really spend much time with to begin. She thoroughly enjoyed the reunion, making plans to stay connected with several friends she hadn’t seen in years. Most importantly to her, she also made plans to see Zach again.

Lilly and Zach spent a lot of time together over the next few weeks. They attended concerts, dinner parties, galleries and took exotic excursions to places Lilly had only dreamt of. Finding each other again as friends, and getting to know each other as lovers, they spent all their free time together and missed each other when they were apart.

Lilly was so wrapped up in her new relationship with Zach that she forgot about the blue velvet box. She hadn’t mentioned it in weeks and was surprised when Zach did. He was planning a weekend getaway for them at his cottage. He told her now is the time, and suggested she bring the box with them.

******

When they arrived at Zach’s cottage, the scene was as beautiful as Lilly imagined. Maples proudly displaying their red and orange hues competing with tall, vibrant pines preening themselves for the upcoming holiday season, lined the driveway. The rustic log cabin, deceivingly simple from the outside, expertly hid the grandeur that would be found within.

Zach prepared a meal of lake-caught trout, fingerling potatoes and honey carrots followed by tangy cloudberry cheesecake for dessert – Lilly’s favourite, then suggested they take a sunset stroll along the lake.

As they were preparing for their walk, Zach placed a warm kiss on Lilly’s mouth and told her he loved her. It was the first time he said those words to her. She didn’t know how to react.

Lilly was sure she felt the same. She was happy with Zach. She tried to say the same words to him, but what came out sounded more like a bumbling apology than a heartfelt confession.

Zach blushed when he noticed Lilly stumble over her words. She tried to make him feel better, to assure him that she did have strong feelings for him. She just wasn’t ready to say those words yet. She thought he was okay.

On their walk near the lake, she would discover that he wasn’t.

“Will you ever love me, Lilly?”

Zach’s question took her by surprise. They just had this conversation in the cottage, and he seemed fine with her answer. Why was he bringing it up again, she wondered?

“I think so, Zach,” she replied. “Like I told you earlier, I’m just not ready to say the words. Why are we talking about this again?”

“Because I don’t believe you,” Zach shouted in her face.

His azure, sunshine speckled eyes had turned a cold steel blue; as cold as the chill running through Lilly’s spine, as steel as the blade penetrating her chest, and as blue as the veins throbbing in her neck as she choked on her own blood.

She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t scream. She could only ask through dying eyes, why?

“Because you never loved me, Lilly,” came Zach’s cold, condescending reply. “Not in high school and not now.

“You said you wanted my love, but you lied. You only want my money.

“You said I could have your heart, Lilly. Now I will, and it will fit perfectly inside your blue velvet box, just as Marion’s did in hers.”