The Little Black Book

She had been out the night before; some random guy had made his way home with her.

It was the next morning, he had already left hours before. She made herself a coffee and began cleaning her apartment from the night before. As she tidied the papers on her coffee table to sit and read her morning news. She discovered a leather-bound black book. She knew this was not hers and assumed it had been left by her one-night stand.

As she sat on her couch, comfy in her favorite spot with coffee in hand she looked at this little black book and wondered if this is where he kept the names of the women he had slept with as she had seen on all too many romantic comedies.

Her curiosity got the best of her; she opened the first page and wrote in ink, words she never thought she would read.

"To the most beautiful woman, I had ever had the pleasure of meeting, I give you a book of puzzles. This puzzle is just for you and can only be solved by you. This book will lead you to a reward that will allow your every desire to become a reality. Crazy as it sounds, this was done just for you Ivy"

Ivy nearly dropped her coffee and the book, as she took a deep breath and of course she wondered; "who? what? where? when? why? and of course How did this book end up on her coffee table. It was clear it was for her but how?"

She needed to stop questioning everything and finish reading the inside of this book;

"Did you take a deep breath? Okay good, yes this is real. As real as you and me, even if you don’t know who I am yet, you will! But before we get to that you have some work to do, there is some rules I need you to follow:

1) No reading ahead - everything will happen as it is supposed to happen and if you try and skip to the end NOTHING will make sense.

2) If you think you know who I am, all I ask is that you wait until the end, this took a lot of work and I did it just for you. I know how much you love scavenger hunts. I know how much you love Winnipeg, and I know that it’s worth the wait, just like you were for me.

3) You can only tell one friend, choose wisely!

So, here is your first clue:

If you want to meet in the middle of Winnipeg, go to the place where the two rivers meet and go to the terminal and get a coffee (since I know how much you love coffee!)"

Of Course Ivy knew she needed to go to the Johnston Terminal at the Forks, and whoever this was really did know her and knew how much she loved coffee.

Being that Ivy lived downtown anyways, she decided to walk to The Forks, to get her next clue.

When she arrived at the terminal she went straight to her favorite coffee place and as she placed her order she was handed an envelope. It said "Go sit by the river and enjoy your coffee, you can open the letter once you are there and relaxed"

As she sat by the water watching the ducks and geese as she had done so many times before she took a deep breath and prepared to open the letter.

"You didn't waste any time did you lol, you have always been so excited about life and adventures. This next task involves you going somewhere spooky, you may want to phone a friend. It’s Winter in Winnipeg so dress warm and check the book for your next clue"

Now Ivy was confused; confused but so intrigued. She went straight home but not before calling her best friend.

"Riley, you won’t believe what's going on..." said Ivy as soon as Riley picked up the phone

"What's going on? Are you alright? You sound... I don't know? Talk to me telling what's going on?" Riley replied.

"Okay so you remember the hottie from last night?"

"Yah?"

"Okay so this morning, after he left there was a black leather book, I totally thought it was a, you know, "Little black book". But it turns out it was meant for me, someone who knows me is sending me on a scavenger hunt, my next task is that I am supposed to go somewhere spooky and dress warm."

"Do you know where you have to go yet?

"No," Sigh "I left the book at home when I went to go grab the coffee that I was instructed to go get. Anyways, I do not want to do whatever is spooky alone and whoever this is said I could tell one friend about this, so of course, I’d call you. Can you come over?

"Of course hun, i’ll be over within 30 minutes, do whatever you need to get ready and I will be there will snow pants on and hand warmers in the glove box."

"Oh my god Riley, you are a god sent, thank you! See you soon"

Ivy would return home to pull out her heavy winter gear. She decided that she would wait for Riley to get there before checking the next clue.

It was 22 minutes since Ivy had hung up the phone with Riley, when Riley arrived with Tim Hortons in hand.

"Spooky and Winnipeg winter, I brought reinforcements. So what does the next clue say? Actually tell me all about everything"

Ivy told Riley as she had told her on the phone but showing her the black leather bound book. The page after telling her to go to the Forks was blank, but the page after had her next clue.

"Go to the cemetery that your grandfather is buried in, make sure to go say hello to him but then you need to find one of your favorite Canadian musicians who is also buried there and if you are wondering who I mean 'Kurt Winter - from your favorite band from Winnipeg; The Guess Who'

Ivy and Riley piled into Riley’s Saturn Astra and headed towards Brookside Cemetery. First they would head to Ivy’s grandfather's resting place, it was in the back with the rest of the World War II soldiers. Upon arriving at her Grandfather's tombstone, she noticed another envelope.

“The final resting place of Kurt Winters may or may not be in this cemetery, but I have the coordinates that you can follow and see for yourself. After you have said hello to your grandfather, you can follow the numbers OR you can go to St, Vital Park and go to the toboggan hill there”

“Ry, I am confused; why is he sending me to all these places? What do you think?”

“I think that either you need to follow the rules or what the books say will be true, and nothing will make sense.”

Ivy and Riley squished back into the tiny car; the snow had just begun to fall, seemed like a perfect early evening to go sledding. Riley had crazy carpets in her hatch and was always ready for a slide.

They headed to St. Vital park, a 40 minute drive from their current location.

When they arrived, the hill was busy with kids and parents; but they decided to give it a go.

First slide was a success, but on the second slide Ivy came down too quickly and bonked her head.

Riley first thought they should take Ivy to the hospital just in case but Ivy said she was fine, they went over to the open fire pit to warm up a bit and a man who looked very familiar came over to Ivy; she couldn't place the face but knew that she knew it. He said nothing and handed her a piece of paper.

“I am so proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone, your next task is in the book… Hope you brought it with you.”

Of course after the first clue, Ivy was not going to leave anything up to chance.

Ivy and Riley headed back to the car to warm up and read the next clue.

“It was your favorite mall growing up, now it holds your favorite book store, go see Richard (you might remember him from high school, and yes you have known me that long)”

Ivy knew that meant she needed to go to Grant Park Shopping Centre. It also meant that she needed to go to McNally Robinson Book Store, but why she needed to go find Richard was not something that made sense to her.

Ivy and Riley had known each other for years; since grade 10, when Riley read the name Richard she knew it was her old buddy Richard B. Could that have been who wrote this whole thing? Riley had her guesses but Richard was not one of them.

When they arrived at McNally Robinson, Ivy went straight to the front counter and asked for Richard.

“Richard is working in the travel section tonight, just head to the front of the store near the mall entrance” said the girl at the front desk

Ivy and Riley now excited with what could be next; hurried to find Richard.

“Oh my Richard, is that you?” Asked Riley

Feeling like it had been years since the two had seen each other.

“Hey Riley, ohhh your here with Ivy; Hey Ivy!”

“I believe I am suppose to come see you tonight Richard?” said Ivy

“Yes, yes you are and no I cannot tell you anything more than I am allowed.”

“Well, what are you allowed to tell me?”

“I am to give you these 5 books, tell you to go home and after you have read all 5 books then you are to read the very last page of the binder? Book? Oh geez I cannot remember the exact word”

“Its a book, a little black leather-bound book”

“Well here you go, they are already paid for all you need to do now is go home and read some books”

Ivy took the bookbag with the 5 books inside.

When Riley dropped off Ivy she asked if she needed her to come inside, Ivy declined. She was so excited to read the books that had been picked for her.

The first book was The Secret. She thought it was kind of strange but she read the whole book that night.

The next book was The Notebook which she found cute, it was one of her favorite movies, yet somehow had never read the book.

The third book was titled Stop Overthinking. Wow did this person know her or what?

The 4th book was called Cuba: A Jake Grafton Novel. Okay now Ivy was confused about everything, up until this point seemed like books that were geared towards her in some way, but this book was barely in her wheelhouse.

Ivy was so confused but she needed to keep going, she had spent all of Monday reading books so she could get to the 5th and final book so she could see what her final clue was.

The fifth book was titled Everything you need to know before you go to Cuba… This was a quick read and still she felt more confused than she did the morning before.

She went to the little black book and did exactly what she was told…

“How many days did this take you? I bet one knowing you. If you haven't figured out who I am yet, don't worry you will; but first, I need you to pack everything you would bring if you were going somewhere warm for 7 days, then you need to go to the airport (maybe get a friend to drive you) You are going to go to the Sunwing booth and tell the person your name and give them your passport, everything is booked and when you arrive at your destination, I will be there with a pineapple in my hand, because why give a girl a flower when you can give her fruit”

Ivy was now excited and still nervous but whoever this was knew she didn't like flowers and how she used to joke about how she would rather get a pineapple then a flower.

She packed her suitcase and called Riley.

“OH MY GOD - I think I am going to Cuba”

“Are you serious?”

“Yah the last clue told me to go to the airport and I would meet mystery man when I landed”

“Oh my - wow so are you going? When? Do you need my help?”

“Yes I am going, when? As soon as I finish packing my suitcase. And Yes I need your help to drive me to the airport”

“Im on my way, coffee?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

“I'll see you in 20 minutes”

Riley arrived just as she had said in 20 minutes, Ivy was nervous and excited.

“Am I really about to jet off somewhere to meet someone I don’t know?” Ivy asked outloud

“If I tell you something can you promise not to get upset?”

“Well, now you have to tell me…”

“I know who you are meeting and I was the one who put the book on your coffee table but, even though I know, I still cannot tell you. But know this, when he said it was worth the wait...trust me it is”

Ivy was dumbfounded, Okay so Ry knows who this is, and this person knows who I am, maybe I should stop and trust, i've always been so bad with trusting.

Riley dropped Ivy off at the Richardson International Airport. Ivy went in to find the Sunwing booth. She did just as she was told and just as expected was handed a boarding pass that stated she was going to Veradora, Cuba. She had been many places hot but Cuba had always been on her bucket list.

Her flight took 6 hours all together and as she came through the customs doors, standing before her was a man she hadnt seen for 5 years. The love of her life Mickey, holding a pineapple in his hands.

Ivy nearly squealed with delight but as she came to him she couldnt help but wonder…

“Why all the mystery Mickey?”

“Its Mick now, and the reason for the mystery was that I won the LottoMax last Friday and when I won, I knew there was only one person I wanted to share this with… You Ivy, its always been you.” Mick replied

“So you’re telling me that the 60 Million dollar pot that was won by someone in Winnipeg was you? Why the games?”

“You always said you wished your life was like the movies, I wanted to give you a little taste of what you have always wanted… how did I do?”

“I am at a loss for words, I really don't know what to say”

“How about say nothing and lets get on our tour bus that is going to take us to the resort, just because we are worth 60 million dollars doesnt mean it has to go to our heads. I know you have always had big dreams for if and when it ever happened to you and I want to watch your magic happen.”

Ivy was in a bit of shock; Who would have thought this little black book would have been the start to my next chapter.