The Little Black Book

The bitter wind reached through the gap in my winter coat as I braced against it walking home from work. I sped up as the light faded and the winter chill kicked in, eager to be home in the warm.

In front of me the old man also pulled his coat tighter. Suddenly, he slipped and landed on the edge of the icy pavement. I rushed to him.

“Are you OK?” I asked.

“Yes dear, just this blasted wind and I lost my footing” he looked at me and smiled. “Could you help me up and I’ll be off again in no time?.” I held him under his arm and helped him stand back up.

“Do you live far away?” I asked, concerned as the fall was quite heavy.

“Just around the next corner dear” he responded.

“Ok then, let me walk you home. It’s cold and slippery and I can make sure you get there safely” I smiled at him.

“Thank you so much. You’re such a kind girl.” he said and looked at me with a puzzled look “I feel like I should know you.” I grasped his arm and we chatted as we walked towards his house. I walked him to the door and waited for him to let himself in. Satisfied he was safe my concern turned to getting me home as it had started to snow.

I looked to the sky and sighed. A slower walk home it would be, and the darkness was creeping up on me. I hurried on and in time reached my own door. Player, my cat, greeted me wanting food as soon as the door was shut.

In the kitchen, I stripped my coat and gloves and folded them over the chair. I would deal with those later. I fed Player and set about cooking dinner and making a pot of tea to warm me up. As I sat down with my tea, I reached for my phone. It wasn’t in my bag. That’s strange, I was sure I put it in there as I was leaving work. I picked up my coat and felt through the pockets. Found it!! As well as something else rectangular, the same size as my phone. I wonder what it could be?

I pulled the rectangle out of the coat pocket and found it was a little black notebook. I wondered if the old man had placed it in my pocket by accident. I would take it back to him in the morning.

Sipping my tea, curiosity got the better of me and I opened the cover. Inside was my name, address and phone number. It looked like the book belonged to me, but I had never seen it before. A sense of something not being quite right came over me. It was an address book and I flicked through the pages which were all empty, except one. On this page were my full initials and a code 7576483. What on earth was this all about?

I flicked through the book again and noticed a phone number on the back cover. I wonder if this would lead me to whoever owned this book. I had questions that I wanted answers to.

As I cooked dinner, I thought back over the last couple of months. This was definitely the oddest thing to happen, but there had been other small things I couldn’t explain. Were they connected?

At work two months ago, I arrived and was greeted by our security guy. He handed me a letter and said it was left by a gentleman. As I opened it at my desk, out flew an article about story writing. It was highlighted with the due date and someone had written ‘Enter this’ in highlighter in the margin. I’d made coffee and read the article again. Intrigued, as I love story writing, but too busy with work, I placed it in my top drawer and forgot about it.

About two weeks later, I got a phone call at work and the male voice said “You haven’t entered. You need to.”

“Who is this?” I demanded.

“Someone looking out for you” was the reply before they hung up. I pulled the article out of my drawer and studied it again. They weren’t asking for much. Just a short story. I was intrigued and annoyed that someone wasn’t being open and honest and asked around at work about the competition in the article. No one claimed to know anything about the article and who gave it to me. It was curious.

I had gone home that night and drafted a short story. It hadn’t taken me long as I loved to write. But that was as far as the story got. I lost interest when life got busy and threw myself into my work again.

Then last month, the article was emailed to me from an anonymous email address. The gift that keeps on giving!! Again, it said ‘Enter this’ on the email and nothing more. I was getting a bit creeped out by this stage and spoke to my best friend, Hannah, about it. She had laughed it off as a secret admirer trying to get my attention and reassured me it was probably nothing.

I revisited the short story draft and edited it to a final copy. The question was….would I enter it into the competition? It was a great short story. I would think on it.

The next few weeks were hell on wheels. My mother’s car had broken down and she couldn’t afford to replace it. Hannah, had been kicked out of her flat because she’d lost her job. My brother had his hours reduced at work, putting stress on him and his wife – especially with a baby on the way. I felt the pressure of being totally useless to them all. The only one I could really help was Hannah, who moved in with me. All in all, I forgot about the competition.

Then today, the little black notebook. I was a bit freaked out as I heard Hannah come in through the door.

“Hey” she said in greeting. “Gosh that snow’s getting heavier. Is the tea still hot?” she murmured as she got a cup and poured the tea.

“Hey, you look totally pale” she said to me. “What’s happened?”

I told her about my trip home from work and the notebook and how I’d been thinking back on the last couple of months.

“What do you think it all means?” I asked as I got up and took dinner out of the oven.

“I think the Universe is conspiring to get you to enter that competition” she said.

I looked at her and smiled. She believed in energy, crystals and the universe bringing time and place into alignment for your highest good. I think she forgot what had happened over the last couple of weeks.

“Hmmm” I muttered.

“I know what you’re thinking” she said. “I know I lost my job and ended up living with you. But that is the best thing that could have happened to me.”

“How so?” I asked. Her never ending enthusiasm for positivity was uplifting and frustrating at the same time.

“Well, for one, I’m here with you and I couldn’t think of a better place to be. Plus, Player loves me too” she winked as Player had plonked himself onto her lap and gone to sleep.

“Traitor” I said to him. He flicked his tail and curled up more.

“And, the second reason is, after the interview, I was offered a job today!”

“Gosh, I had totally forgotten about that. How did it go?” Already forgetting today and what it might mean.

“It was great! I was offered the job of Area Manager, not the job I applied for at all. I start next week and have a fulltime job with great income”. By this time, she was bouncing out of her chair and Player was deposited neatly on the floor in her excitement and his disgust.

“That is fantastic news! Does that mean you’ll be moving out? I’ve kind of got used to you being here already” I asked. I was already sad about her leaving.

“Well, I hope not. I would love to share this house with you. It will help you with bills and mortgage repayments and leave you with some extra to help out your brother. I know you’re really keen to do that.”

“Oh gosh that would be fantastic.” My mind was doing leaps and bounds at how I could help my brother.

As I served dinner the little black book fell on the floor. Hannah picked it up and flicked through it.

“Why don’t you call the phone number in the morning?” she said. “I’ll stay with you so we can see what it’s all about. In the meantime, I read your final draft of your story last night. Why don’t you submit it now? You’ve got nothing to lose and did you see the prize money?”

“No, I didn’t see that!! Where is it?” I pulled out the article and read it….for the first time apparently. All I had really noticed was the highlighted words before. Now I read the article and felt a chill of excitement go through me. I could help my mum and my brother with $20,000.

Hannah’s positivity was infectious! She took over dinner and I opened my laptop and submitted my story. ‘Let’s see what the Universe is conspiring’ I thought as I confirmed my submission. It was just in time too as the closing date was today at midnight.

The next morning was Saturday. Hannah and I waited until 9am then I rang the number on speaker phone.

“Good morning, this is Payne & Sons solicitors. How may I direct your call?” a male voice said.

“Hi, I don’t know who I need to speak to, but I’ve been given this number and I know it sounds odd, but I don’t know why.” I knew I sounded crazy.

“Am I speaking with Elizabeth Barrett?” the voice asked.

“Um, yes you are” I said. “How did you know that?”

“We automatically cross reference phone numbers as calls come in. We deal with a large number of cases and this helps us help you more efficiently” he said.

“Oh, OK” I said, feeling totally confused.

“Elizabeth, do you have your code? I’m unable to give you more information without it? He asked.

“What code?” I asked. “I don’t have a code”. I was disappointed and confused about what was happening.

A voice piped up beside me “It’s 7576483” said Hannah.

“Thank you for your confirmation. Just transferring your call now. Hold the line please” he said.

Hannah and I both looked at each other. The hold music played in the background.

“Hello Elizabeth, this is Edwin Payne. We’ve been trying to track you down. You didn’t know your grandfather but he passed recently and left you money in his will. He left you…..let’s see here…..the sum of $1,000,000. Even though he was estranged from your family he wanted to provide for you. When you’ve had time to digest the news, come in and we can sign the papers. Oh, and can you bring the little black book with you?”

“Uh, yes, sure thing Mr Payne. Thank you for your time. I’ll give you a call back to make a time” I stammered.

I looked at Hannah across the table and laughed. “The Universe is definitely conspiring” I said to her. “There’s more to this story. I want to know all about the little black book and my grandfather….it sounds like the start of a new story”.

“As well as the competition and the article. Someone is behind that” Hannah said.

“Ok Universe, let’s see what else you’ve got” I said and Hannah and I headed out to lunch to celebrate my new found wealth and her new job. We are the luckiest girls alive.