The Little Black Book

Natasha Raymond walked along the boardwalk outside the restaurant she worked at and sighed to herself. The water was so beautiful at sunset, it always stunned her into silence. That evening, however, it simply made her sad. Her mother had always loved the way the water looked during the sunset and she had taught her daughter to love it as well. Natasha looked down at her funeral blacks and sighed again. She wished her mother was at her side, making her laugh with stories about her time as a maid for a rich family.

Natasha looked over at her place of employment. La Richie Von Buns was a joke started by the owner and her sister. Something to do with a french bunny rabbit. It had evolved into a large and relatively well-known restaurant on the boardwalk of Miami. Natasha had been working there for three years now and she loved it, but she secretly wished for more. She had never been promoted from waitress like she had been promised so many times. She was always dealing with difficult customers who either expected discounts because they were well known or “Karens” who wished to speak to her manager about some imagined wrong. Natasha herself had never even gotten to eat the food from the restaurant, it was too pricy for someone on a waitress’s salary.

Natasha turned away from the ocean and began her long trek home. She lived far away from the shining lights of downtown Miami and even farther from the beauty that was the ocean. She had always envied those that could afford homes closer to the water that her mother had loved so much. However, her dreams of affording the apartments that sat next to the water would never be realized with the way her life was going. Natasha paid little attention to her surroundings as she contemplated the difference between her yearly wages and those of the luckier citizens of the city. Due to her inattention, she bumped into a man in a neat black suit that had been walking past her.

“I’m so sorry,” she sputtered as she picked up the briefcase that he had dropped. “I was too lost in my thoughts to realize another person was nearby. I’ll be more careful from now on, I promise. I didn’t scratch the briefcase did I?” She prayed to any higher beings that she hadn’t. She didn’t have the money to replace an expensive briefcase.

“No worries,” the man rumbled in his deep but pleasant voice. “No scratches on the case or me. Though I do believe I’m entitled to an explanation of what was plaguing your mind.”

Natasha raised her eyebrow at his comment but decided it wasn’t worth arguing. “I was contemplating the difference between how much I earn and how much the people who live by the sea earn. I know it makes me sad and yet I still do it. I still hope that one day, I can be one of them. If only I had the money to live by the ocean, that would be a dream.” She sighed and looked up at the gentleman.

“The difference is much smaller than you would think. The apartments themselves cost less than most people believe. Most of the money they say you’ll spend living there is actually on buying groceries nearby and eating at the restaurants. But I didn’t tell you that,” he said with a wink. “What’s your name miss?”

“Natasha Raymonds, sir.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Natasha. My name is Daniel Brig and I hope we can meet again when I am not in a rush.” With those words, the man hurried on his way.

“What a strange person,” Natasha mumbled as she turned to head back home. She stopped when she kicked a small black notebook lying on the ground. Had the man dropped it and forgotten it? She picked it up and opened it to see if there was an address she could return it to. Inside was what appeared to be a short story about a girl that rose from the ashes of her poor origins and became the wife of a billionaire. Natasha laughed at the stupidity of the notion and continued flipping through the book. Every few pages, a new story began. One about a dog that wished he could fly until his owner took him up in a rented helicopter. Another was about an old man that spent his last few years of life trying to discover why his college roommate had once stolen his favorite pillow. The stories became more absurd as she got deeper into the book and Natasha decided that she could find the owner another day after she had read them all. She stowed the notebook in her purse and headed home to get some much-needed rest.

The next day, Natasha awoke to her roommate shouting about some weird guy at the door asking to see her. Natasha rolled out of bed and threw on the first thing her hand touched. It was too early to pick out a proper outfit and whoever this was would just have to deal with her disheveled appearance. She walked to the front door and peered outside at an elderly gentleman wearing a nice plaid shirt and a pair of slacks. “May I help you?” she asked him.

“Are you Natasha Raymond?” he asked her in return. When she nodded that she was, he held up an envelope and stated that he was there on behalf of his employer. “You must have impressed him upon your meeting for him to have sent you this. Have a nice day ma’am.” At that, he tipped his fedora and left.

“What the?” Natasha muttered as she closed the door and ripped the envelope open. Inside was a large wad of cash and a small note. “You have probably read my stories by now and while this isn’t the same as marrying a billionaire, I hope it helps you achieve your goals. What is going on?” Natasha pulled out the cash and counted it quickly, then sat down hard on the floor.

“Nat?” her roommate, Stacey, asked. “Are you alright?”

“$20,000. He sent me $20,000 to achieve my goals?” Natasha asked. “Why would he do that? Why would anyone do that? No, no this has to be a mistake. He has to have meant to send this to someone else. I’m not going to believe this until he comes here and tells me himself that this is mine to spend.” With her decision made, Natasha stood and headed to her room to get ready for work, leaving her flabbergasted roommate behind.

Weeks passed and soon Natasha stopped thinking about the envelope of cash sitting in her bedside drawer. She still believed that it couldn’t be meant for her, despite no signs to the contrary. She wouldn’t spend it until she knew for sure that there would be no retribution for it. After a long day at work, Natasha headed home her usual way and found herself face to face with Daniel Brig. “You!” she hollered at the sight of him. “Did you send me $20,000?”

“Yes, I did. Have you used it to get the apartment of your dreams?” he asked her.

“No. I thought it was a mistake of some sort. You can’t possibly understand how much money that is for someone like me.”

“I understand well enough. Use it however you see fit, I’m not going to take it back. Not after everything you’ve done for me.”

“Everything I’ve done for you?”

“Yes, you accidentally reading my stories gave me the confidence to publish the children’s book I always wanted to. You already have a copy, but I can send you an official one if you wish.”

“No thank you, sir. I think this has been all too strange for me already. I’m going to head home and sleep for a long long time.”

The next and time Natasha saw Daniel, she was moving her belongings into her new apartment. He greeted her and explained how he was her neighbor, just as he had hoped he would be. The longer they talked, the more they realized that as absurd as their circumstances were, they made a good pair of friends.

They’ve been married for ten years now and they still like to tell the tale of how one coincidental meeting right after Daniel wrote the story of a woman marrying a billionaire, caused them to make the best decisions of their lives. Daniel is now a very successful children’s author and Natasha is the proud owner of a restaurant on the banks of the ocean. They have three beautiful children together and they have instilled the mantra of always helping others into them. Their whole lives changed due to a little black book and $20,000.