The little black notebook

As Sara stood in The Bank of America's safety deposit vault, she barely heard the teller say, “Take all the time you need” as she shut Sara inside it. She was relieved to see that the vault had a small desk she could sit at. This box was considerably larger than most of the others in the room. She opened it to find a letter set on top off a number of small jewelry boxes, which in turn, were sitting on a stack of papers. She set the letter aside for a moment. Sara didn’t feel ready to read a hand-written letter just yet. She felt a small lump gather in her throat as she opened the first jewelry box. Sara allowed the tears stinging her eyes to fall for the first time since she had heard the news. She couldn’t help but think about William now and she let the tears fall.

Sara had met William shortly after graduating college. His brown eyes had met her green ones when she had dropped her coffee cup directly onto his cowboy boots. She had been so embarrassed; but he made no fuss. He took out the handkerchief that had been stuffed into his back pocket and wiped them off while she frantically started picking up the broken shards of glass. Sara kept apologizing until William took her face gently into his giant hand and said, “Darlin' if I was worried about it any, I’d say so.”. She had been taken back by the unknown man touching her but the deepness and slight southern draw in his voice instantly calmed her. Sara slowly stood herself up and found herself dwarfed by a burly man who was easily six feet tall. He had the widest shoulders she had ever seen, hazelnut eyes, hair darker than the blackest coal, and a slightly squared jaw with a small dimple in the middle. After tossing her shattered mug into the trash can behind her, she spun back around and reached out her hand to shake his but he was nowhere to be found. It was like he had vanished into thin air. She did a scan of the entire office but she couldn’t see him.

Sara spent her morning thinking about the mystery man. At lunch, she decided to ask her coworkers about him. Sam was the one to answer; he said, “His name is William, nobody knows a whole lot about him other than he comes in once a week, talks to John for about five minutes, takes some notes in this super small black notebook that he keeps in his breast pocket, and then he’s gone.”. John was the head of the company and it was rare for him to take personal appointments himself.

Sara went about her business until the following week when she heard a familiar voice yell to hold the elevator. When the doors closed, she found herself alone with William. She tucked her shoulder-length hair behind her ears before turning toward him. She reached out her right hand, look up at his face, and said, “You probably don’t remember me, but I’m Sara, sorry again about the coffee.” “How could I forget those green eyes with that red hair of yours?” he asked. She felt herself blush a bit and the smile spread across her face. He then smiled a half-crooked grin as he shook her hand and stated “Name’s William, sorry I rushed off. I had a meetin' with John, you get yourself a new mug yet?”. “Not yet”, Sara heard herself say; almost a whisper. “How's about we fix that?” he asked. Sara shook her head no. “I couldn’t let you do that. Not after I ruined your boots!” she exclaimed. “A little coffee didn’t hurt them none; see?” he held up his foot so she could see he was indeed wearing the same boots. “Please, let me getcha a new one?” he asked again. There was a small coffee shop that sold mugs upstairs a block away from the office where they agreed to meet.

Sara had heard the shop sold mugs upstairs but she hadn’t gotten a chance to checked it out for herself yet. She had just moved to Stoneham two weeks ago. She hadn’t really explored the town much but she had been in the coffee shop once with a coworker for lunch. As she stood in line waiting to order William walked in. His head almost grazed the top of the door frame. He walked up to Sara and when they got to the front of the line, he placed his order immediately after she placed hers and then paid for both. She tried to hand him her cash but he had insisted she keep it. They headed up the narrow staircase and William basically had to walk sideways to climb the stairs. Her eyes were a bit overwhelmed when they reached the top of the stairs. There were mugs in many different colors, shapes, sizes, and styles. There were tourist mugs that had a picture of the town sign. There were mugs for every popular show, movie, music style, sport team, and occupation.

She browsed the shelves; looking at each mug, still in awe at how many different ones there were. William had drifted off a bit and Sarah walked up to stand next to him and found him reading one to himself. “Found one you like?” she asked. William smiled that half crooked grin and said, “Actually I was thinking this one would be perfect for you.” The cup was black but the words were written in a silver fancy script and there was a picture of a pile of different gemstones on the other side. Sara had taken the cup and read it for herself. ‘Hair as red as rubies, eyes as green as emeralds, a smile brighter than any diamond, a body smoother than an ocean pearl. You are so incredibly rare and I’m glad you’re here.’ Sara glanced up from the cup to see William still grinning. She allowed William to purchase the cup and walk her home.

It had been a whirlwind ever since that day. They began to see each other regularly after she got out of work and occasionally, he would take out his notebook to jot something down and then tuck it back into his breast pocket. Sara asked what the notebook was for one day. William suddenly became as still as stone and straightened himself up, carefully tucking the notebook into his pocket as he always did. “This notebook is my diary. It has important dates and memories I wish to hold onto and all of my important information; just in case I should fall ill or get hurt.” he stated. Sara almost choked on her sandwich at that last bit. She asked him if he thought that could happen for any particular reason.; after all they were both in their twenties. He had replied, “My Pa got hit by a car when I was seventeen. He never liked to carry nothin’ but his money, said it'd only weigh him down. It took them days to figure out who he was and who to reach out to. I want to make sure, if anything happens, they know exactly who I am and the person who gets this notebook is written on the inside cover.” William had gone back to eating and Sara hadn’t dared to ask any more questions.

A year later William knelt down and asked Sara to marry him. She had accepted and they set the wedding date for a year from that day. She sat in a hospital room holding his lifeless hand less than a month later. The doctor said it was quick, there was no way he had suffered any pain, the bus came around the corner way too fast as he had started to cross the street. The doctor held out the little black notebook after delivering the news. The doctor started, “We found this tuck” Sara interrupted, “tucked in his breast pocket, yeah I know.”. She had opened the notebook to find John Goodwin and her work number scribbled out and replaced with her name and number. The entries inside started about the time he has 17 which made sense but the entries were few and far between until about the time they had met. They suddenly picked up regularity, and had even the smallest of milestones. When they met...and how, the first time they held hands, the first time they kissed, among other things. In the back had his birthday, his blood type, a few medical facts such as the surgery he had on his knee, and his allergies. It also listed the Bank of America with their number, address, his account number, and a safety deposit number with a key taped to the back cover.

When she had arrived at the Bank of America, she asked for a financial counselor meeting. She figured she would need a loan to help her cover the funeral costs. The next one was available at four which was an hour away. She had decided to ask about the safety deposit box while she was waiting. The ruby was just the beginning. She opened each jewelry box to find small precious gemstones and a small piece of paper with a date taped to the inside top cover of each one. The dates were almost the same with the exception of the year. The date was their wedding day and the years were set in the future. She had received her ring in one of these boxes, they were exactly the same. He must have had it made from a raw stone for her. Looking for and mining these gems was something they often did together. She always wondered what he had done with his. As the tears began to fall, heavily now, she picked up the letter.

My dearest Sara,

If you are reading this it means my black book made it safely into your lovely hands. I’m so very sorry I had to be the first to heaven but I am waiting for you and while I hope you take your time getting here, I will be anxiously awaiting your arrival on the nearest bench to the gates. Remember any anniversary we’ve already seen and how you always got a precious gem necklace, ring, or earrings? This is where I had the stones for them and I hope you continue my tradition. I don’t want you to miss a single anniversary gift just because I kicked the bucket early on you. Under the gems are some bonds from the bank my Pa left me and stocks from your company. I’m not sure what they are worth now but it should be enough to put me in the ground and buy yourself a spot next to me.

Love always, William

Sara wiped her eyes quickly as she heard the squeal of the vault door opening. “I'm sorry to interrupt but it’s four o'clock ma’am and our financial counselor is ready for you.” the teller said. Sara quickly took out the papers and replaced the jewelry boxes back into the safety deposit box. She carefully slid it back into place. She headed off to the financial counselor and to her amazement not only did she have enough to cover the funeral there was just over $20,000 extra. The counselor helped Sara set an account up in her name and transferred everything over. When the counselor asked her, “Do you need anything else?” Sara asked if he happened to have a small notebook she could have. He reached into his bottom drawer and pulled out three colors gold, grey, and black. Sara took the black and smiled to herself as she thanked the man and left the bank.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed my story and best of luck to all the contestants.

Dannie