The Stanger in the Back Alley

I needed a change of scenery; it was my time to explore the possibilities that this life could offer me. I thought to myself, I would dream big, I would take myself on a unique journey just made for me! How long would I be gone? A year, two, or longer? I was not for sure. It was really going to depend on what job I was able to find. I was searching for an adventure!

I set my sights on France! I have always wanted to go to France, and I thought this was my time to explore and go to wine country! As I was surfing online for job postings in France, I came across this cute little town, called Eguisheim. In this village, they are known for their popular vineyards and it just so happened there was a job opportunity for a financial manager for a prestigious vineyard! “Perfect!” I thought to myself because I happened to have my degree in Finance and have been an accountant for over 20 years! So, I took the leap of faith and I applied!

The leap of faith that I took turned into a Zoom interview, that turned into a job offer, that turned into me getting on a plane flying for 8 hours to change my life! As the plane finally landed, I went to the baggage claim and grabbed my luggage, and hailed for a cab. A short drive later, there she was, the beautiful Village of Eguisheim, I have finally arrived!

Prior to me flying to France, once I had accepted the job position, I started looking for housing. I came across a cute flat that was connected to one of the local bakeries. So as the cab pulled into the village, I had him drop me off at the little bakery shop where the owner had a flat for rent.

I walked into the bakery shop and introduced myself to the owner. With a big smile on her face, she said “Hi, welcome to Eguisheim.” “Thank you,” I said, “Happy to be here and cannot wait to see the flat that you have for rent that I will be making as my new home here in your beautiful village.” With smiles and giggles, we made our conquest to the back area of the bakery shop, and there we were standing in a narrow alley. The bakery owner said “Ok, here it is” “What” I said, “What do you mean”. “This door right here leads into the flat.” The bakery owner said. “Oh, I am so sorry, so this is where I would enter and exit out of the flat each day.” “That is correct, shall we go inside?” “Sure, I can’t wait to see it,” I said.

As we entered the flat, it was so cute, freshly painted, and the décor was up to date. I felt lucky because this two-bedroom flat was completely furnished, so all I had to do was unpack my bags and I would be all moved in! “Perfect, I love it here!” “This place is so cute!” I said as I smiled at the Bakery owner. “Oh glad, I am so happy this is to your taste,” “Now, if you are ready, we can draw up the rental agreement and we can settle your first month and deposit.” “Excellent, I am ready to get this rental agreement signed and funds handed right over to you,” I said, as we were exiting out of the flat and into the narrow alleyway, that later would turn into the adventure that I had no idea was waiting for me.

After signing the rental agreement, I took a little stroll through the village, taking in the sights and making sure that I brought home some fresh pasta and bread, and of course a bottle of wine! With bags of groceries in my hands, I walked into the back alleyway and unlocked the door that led into the newly rented flat that I was going to call home. I walked into the kitchen area and put away the groceries, poured a glass of wine, and turned on some French music. I sat back in the overstuffed chair and took in a deep breath. “Wow,” I thought to myself, “I actually did it, I actually made a crazy move in my life.” “I am totally in France right now.” “I love it!”

As I rose up out of the overstuffed chair, I walked into the front bedroom and started to unpack my things. I opened the walk-in closet door and proceeded to hang up my clothes. As I accidentally dropped one of my shirts on the floor, I noticed that at the back of the closet there was this shelf that was built in to place your shoes, handbags, or purses on it and inside of it. As I bent down to pick up my shirt, I noticed on the side of that shelf there was a little etched out cubby. I thought, “what is this all about, I wonder if anything is in there?”

I stood up and hung my shirt, and then I walked out of the closet and sat on the bed. I left the door open but just sat there starring at the shelf, wondering if there was anything in the cubby. After what seems like hours, I finally left the bed and walked into the closet, bent down, and reached into the side of the cubby. I felt something, and it was solid. I was nervous because I was hoping it was not like a dead animal or moldy food.

What I proceeded to pull out was absolutely beautiful in its own right. It was this well-kept classic black leather notebook. It just wasn’t any classic black notebook, it was a Moleskine! Smooth Italian leather, with nicely rounded corners, with a matching bookmark ribbon to ensure you would never lose your place of where you began and ended with your journaling. This notebook is timeless, a real treasure to behold, what was even more fascinating was that there was a personalized inscription towards the middle of the front cover.

It read:

To My Beloved Christopher,

May your writings be a classic of our time.

Love you Always and Forever,

Katarina

“Woah,” I thought, this is highly intriguing, inquiring minds want to know, what is inside this Moleskine classic black Italian leather notebook. As I was on my bended knees, I was so tempted to open it, and see what timeless writings Christopher wrote, and did he write them for Katarina? Who were these people? Were they romantic lovers? Were they married? Were they just friends? I wanted to know so badly, but my conscience led me to put the classic black notebook back in the cubby where I found it. After my good deed was finalized, I got ready for bed, I was so tired from the long day. A good night’s rest was calling my name and I totally needed it.

It was shortly after midnight, and there was pounding on the door. I quickly jumped out of bed, startled that someone would be knocking on my door when I do not know of anyone in town. I ran to the door and peered through the looking glass that was etched in the door. I could tell even through the dim lighting in the alleyway it was a woman standing there. She looked horrified and was crying. I felt she was of no threat to me, so I immediately opened the door.

“Hey, are you alright?” I said as I answered the door. The woman standing in front of me was injured. She had a tear-stained face, her hair was a mess, she had bruising on her face, and a split lip, and her clothes were dirty and her tights were torn. “No, help me, please.” She answered me in a French accent. I said “sure, come on in, how can I help you this evening?” She said, “I need to go to your closet, there is something there for me that I need to retrieve." "This used to be my boyfriend’s flat, up till two weeks ago.” I looked at her for a moment, and then I said, “Was his name Christopher?” she said, “Yes.”, then I said, “Are you Katarina?” she said, “How do you know my name? Are you working with them?” “I will have you know, that Christopher is now dead!” “One of your terrible men ran his car off the road, and we hit a tree head-on, and he was thrown from the car, and instantly died.” “You goons were not expecting me to be in the car!” “I am not dead, and Christopher’s vision and work will live on!”. "You will not stop me!"

She raised her hand to slap me, and I grabbed it in mid-air. I said, “Katarina, I am an American if you have not figured this out by now, and I rented this flat, today.” I only know your name because I found a Moleskine black leather notebook in the closet.” As I let her go, she put her hand down, and said, “Did you take the notebook?” I said, “No, I saw it in the cubby, and pulled it out and read the inscription that was on it, and then I put it back. I never opened it, I did not want to invade Christopher’s privacy.” She said, “Good, thank you.” “It is best that you don’t know what is in there, it is life-threatening, to say the least.” “May I please go and get it now?” “My time is running out to find a safe place to be.”

I stepped to the side, and Katarina went to the closet and bent down, and pulled the black notebook out of the cubby. Then I saw her lean over to the other side of the shelf and pop it forward. There was a hidden safe in there, and she took out a large manila sealed envelope. She closed the safe and put the shelf back in place and walked out of the closet.

“Thank you, Miss, I will leave your home now.” “If anyone stops by, please tell them you have not seen me,” she said, as she hung head down low. “Katarina, I am so sorry for your loss.” “Good luck to you, I hope you are safe,” I said, as I gave a gentle smile. “I will be,” she said, as she shut the door.

I barely slept that night, with thoughts running through my head like, what about if I am in danger now, and I was worried about Katarina. As I tried to set myself up in bed thinking about getting a coffee, there was a knock at my door. I thought, who in the world could this be? It is 8:00 am on a Saturday morning. I walked to the door and peered through the etched looking glass and it was Katarina.

I opened the door, and there she stood, well dressed, dark sunglasses on, and hair in perfect place. “Here,” she said, as she handed me a sealed envelope. “What is this?” I asked with confusion on my face. “This is for keeping our secret.” “Thank you for helping me last night.” “I want to express my gratitude to you.” As I took the envelope from her, she walked away and disappeared into the narrow alleyway.

I closed the door and opened the envelope. There were $20,000.00 dollars in there with a note that read: Christopher and I will always thank you for your discreetness.

“Wow!” I thought $20,000.00. My life has now just changed forever! The possibilities are now endless. Maybe it will be an accounting firm I open, or maybe I will invest in wine! Maybe I will just hold onto it for a while!