Before Now

by Hope E. Davis

  Grady doesn’t bother slipping on gloves. Instead, she turns to Rayna. “I’m not going to lie to you, we probably can’t get anything from this room. We need your boyfriend to come home so we can interview him about what the room looked like before he tore it apart.”

  Rayna nods.

  “Does anything in this mess look like it belongs to Remi?” Detective Brown asks as he tiptoes over the clutter on the floor. Rayna looks around.

  She often keeps her off-season clothes in the spare closet in order to keep the main closet in the master bedroom more open. All the clothes tossed on the floor appear to be hers, but honestly, Rayna has so many clothes she can’t be certain. She kneels down to inspect a dark blue hoodie on the floor.

  “Don’t touch anything!” Detective Brown shouts, crossing the room quickly and using his gloved hand to push Rayna’s hand away from the hoodie. Rayna shakes her head.

  “It’s mine. I thought I’d take a closer look.” She sighs. “Honestly, my sister and I are so identical we wear so many of the same clothes—” Rayna’s mind comes to a dead stop.

  Remi’s shoes.

  She was wearing Remi’s shoes.

  Her mouth is so dry she can’t even find the words to tell the cops where she’s going, she just turns and runs down the hall to the master. She opens the door and flips on the light, pointing to the shoes haphazardly tossed at the end of the bed.

  Detective Brown steps into the room and picks up one of the wedged sandals with a gloved hand. Both detectives look at her expectantly.

  Rayna collapses to the ground before either detective can catch her. Tears slide down her cheeks at the site of the shoes.

  “They’re Remi’s,” she whispers. “I woke up wearing Remi’s shoes.”

  Detective Grady kneels down next to Rayna. “And why were you wearing her shoes?”

  “I don’t know,” she answers honestly. “Remi and I wear the same size, so in the past we’d switch clothes all the time. Back when we lived together.” She wracks her brain for a reason, but comes up empty. “I can’t for the life of me imagine why we switched shoes last night.”

  Detective Brown pulls a plastic bag out of his pocket and places the shoes inside. “What shoes were you wearing when you left the house?” he asks.

  Rayna scratches her head. She has so many pairs of shoes. She furiously wipes the tears from her eyes and walks over to the closet, surveying her shoe organizer. These are just the closet shoes, she has another organizer down by the front door. There are no shoes missing from here.

  Still unable to communicate fully, Rayna stumbles through her sentence and motions to the door. “I have to, check…by the front door,” she musters. Both detectives follow her.

  As she surveys her collection of shoes, she’s shocked she didn’t notice it before. Her favorite pair of gold sparkly slide on sandals is indeed missing.

  “Size eight gold sparkly slide on sandals. They’re the shoes I was wearing. And I think I know why we switched.”

  Both detectives look at her expectantly, not saying a word.

  “My shoes were flats. Remi’s were wedge sandals. She got too drunk to walk in heels, so I probably switched out our shoes so she wouldn’t fall flat on her face.”

  Detective Grady jots down notes while Detective Brown types something in his phone. Just as they look up to ask her more questions, the sound of the garage door opening reaches their ears.

  Zeki is home.

  REMI

  NOW

  When she opens her eyes again, Zoza is there.

  “Zoza, I didn’t know you were still around,” Remi whispers as her oldest friend leans down to run her hand over Remi’s hair. It’s a comforting gesture.

  Zoza doesn’t say anything, she simply sits next to Remi in silence.

  “How long have I been here?” Remi asks.

  Zoza shakes her head, she doesn’t know either.

  It’s still pitch black in the room, but for some reason Remi can see her childhood friend with ease.

  “Do you think Rayna’s looking for me?”

  Her friend shrugs again.

  “I hope she is,” Remi mumbles. Everything seems surreal all of a sudden. Maybe this is a bad dream she’ll soon wake up from.

  Remi sits up and picks up the two empty water bottles still situated near her feet. She hasn’t been given another one. Maybe she should pray to God again.

  “Did you bring any water with you?” Remi asks.

  “No, I don’t drink water,” Zoza replies, in a voice unfamiliar to Remi. In fact, it sounds nothing like the voice of her childhood friend. Or maybe, has it been so long she’s forgotten what she sounds like? Remi shakes her head and pulls at the roots of her hair.

  “I’m not crazy,” she says out loud to herself.

  Zoza looks at her, her eyes unblinking.

  “You’re not real! Get out of here!” she shouts, pushing in the direction of her imaginary friend. She pushes so hard she loses her balance and falls. When she looks up again, she’s alone in the room.

  She puts her ear back to the wall, listening for the mouse family. But there’s no sound.

  Remi sits back on her heels wondering how long she can take this.

  Maybe being alone isn’t as great as she thought.

  “Zoza?” Remi calls out into the pitch black. Her friend doesn’t reappear.

  She climbs to her feet, intent on walking around the room to stretch her legs, when suddenly a square of light appears in the middle of the ceiling.

  Remi’s eyes burn, she’s been in the dark so long. She squints through her lashes to see what’s going on, just in time to see a what looks like a ladder being lowered into the room.

  And there’s a figure climbing down the ladder.

  REMI

  BEFORE

  Remi’s on cloud nine all weekend. It seems as if nothing can damage her elated mood.

  Until she walks into work on Monday morning.

  At first, everything seems normal. She checks in with the secretary up front, and heads to the break room to slip her packed lunch into the fridge.

  Then she heads for her desk. Immediately, she knows something is wrong. All of her drawers are open, and the large calendar that takes up most of the top of her desk is ripped up. As she inspects it more closely, she notices many of her pens and things littered about the floor.

  “What the…” she mutters as she leans down to inspect the extent of the damage.

  She hears a snicker and pops her head back up. Both Lyle and Jared are at their desks working quietly. Are they the ones that did this?

  Remi begins to gather all of the odds and ends littering the floor. Most of her pens are broken, or separated into pieces, the ink cartridges strewn about.

  As she pulls open her top drawer to put in the collection of pens she’s gathered, she notices with absolute horror that the desk is filled to the brim with shredded paper. All her documents have been shredded.

  She slams the pens down on the mess occupying the top of her desk and heads straight for Jonathon’s door, only to be stopped short by a note saying he’ll be out of the office on Monday and will return Tuesday. Figures.

  Remi turns and heads back to her desk, noting from afar that Lyle and Jared seem to be whispering something. She narrows her eyes.

  Picking up the trashcan that sits right next to her desk, Remi quickly sweeps her destroyed calendar into it. Even torn up, it fills the entire trash can. Without a thought, she reaches over and grabs Jared’s trashcan and dumps the mess of the top drawer into it, effectively filling it as well. She places it back in its place next to his desk. He watches in silence, his eyes narrowed.

  She narrows her eyes right back at him as she looks in her two other desk drawers. The top one, where she normally keeps pencils, pens, and her calculator, is empty. Mostly because the contents of this particular drawer now inhabit the floor. The calculator is alright and still functioning, but Remi will definitely need to buy some new pens and highlig
hters.

  As she leans down to check out the state of her last drawer, she distinctly sees a look pass between Jared and Lyle, followed by Lyle covering his mouth with his hand and stifling what’s probably a fake cough. They definitely seem guilty.

  She glances back down at the drawer, finding it, like the one above it, also empty. However, this is much more serious, as this is the drawer that holds all her files.

  The drawer is normally locked, with a key that only she and Jonathon have. She inspects the locking mechanism. It isn’t terribly fancy and appears to have been jimmied.

  Remi takes a deep breath and tries to not let it get to her. All her files are backed up on her work computer as well as her laptop. It will not take long to print out new hard copies. She’s fine.

  Keeping her face straight so Lyle and Jared won’t know how much they got to her, Remi opens her computer and logs in to her work email address. Quickly, before she can lose the nerve, she sends an email to Jonathon about the desk destruction, and sends a carbon copy to both herself and HR. She can’t wait to see what HR has to say about all this.

  After sending the email, Remi unlocks her phone and begins to type up a quick text to John. When she finishes reading the message, she reads it through and realizes how crazy she sounds. She can’t send that. She quickly deletes the text and sets her phone down again.

  She turns back to her computer and logs in to the assignment system they all work out of, checking the documents that need reviews or calculations. She selects a few and begins her work.

  It’s hard without a working pen, and after a few minutes of trying to process numbers without scribbling them down, Remi heads to the secretary to see if she can borrow some supplies.

  The young woman is on the phone when she arrives at the desk, and Remi waits patiently for her to finish.

  “How can I help you?” the woman asks as soon as she hangs up.

  Remi smiles. “Something happened to my desk, and I was wondering if you had a couple pens and a notepad I could borrow?”

  “Oh no!” The secretary immediately opens her desk drawer and rummages through. Handing Remi two pens and a stack of pink post-it notes. “What happened to your desk?”

  Remi shrugs. “I’m not sure, but it was rummaged through and a lot of my things were destroyed.”

  “Should I call security?” The young woman already has her hand on the phone.

  Remi shakes her head. “No, I think it was just a practical joke thanks to my desk mates. They think they’re so funny.”

  The secretary moves her hand away from the phone. “Who are your desk mates?”

  “Jared and Lyle.”

  “Ah, yes, Jared can be a joker sometimes.” The secretary smiles fondly as she says Jared’s name, leading Remi to believe she probably knows him outside of work to some degree.

  “Yes, he is,” she agrees, to keep the peace. The secretary is obviously on Jared’s side.

  “Well, let me know if you need anything else. I have a supply closet for general use. Not much in it besides pens and printer paper, but you’re welcome to whatever you find in there.”

  She smiles. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  “No problem.” The secretary smiles as Remi heads back to her desk with her newly acquired supplies. It’s nice of her to offer the supply closet, but the pens she gave Remi are the cheap ones that come in one hundred packs. Great for companies, but definitely not for Remi. She’ll hit the office supply store on her way home.

  The rest of the day passes uneventfully, and silently, as it seems no one in the office other than the secretary wants to talk to her. Remi has always been a loner, but people do usually say hello when she walks into the break room to take her lunch. Today, no one says a thing.

  Probably because they saw your desk and now think you’re nuts, her subconscious reminds her.

  Remi shakes the thought out of her head as she slides her messenger bag with her work laptop over her shoulder and heads for the door.

  As she steps in the elevator, her phone starts to ring. She glances at the screen to see who it is and sighs in dismay, as it’s “private caller” once again. Remi lets it go to voicemail. She doesn’t have time to deal with whatever idiot is prank calling her.

  She makes her way to the Office Max conveniently located only blocks from her office. She picks out new pens, pencils, highlighters, and a new calendar. She has to admit, as much as she hated having her desk vandalized, she absolutely adores picking out office supplies.

  Remi pays for her purchases, then rushes back over to the train station just in time to catch the last express train. If she took half an hour longer she would have to take the normal train, which has twice as many stops.

  She sits on the train in silence, looking out the window as the city speeds by. She thinks about texting Rayna, but she doesn’t know what she would say to her, either. They haven’t spoken in weeks, and Rayna would think she’s nuts to worry about a few prank calls. She does text John, though, and he says he’ll pick up dinner and be over in a bit. He’s such a great guy.

  Remi steps off the train at her stop, her messenger bag still over her shoulder and the giant bag of office supplies draped over her other arm. Perhaps buying the large desk calendar on her way home from work wasn’t the brightest idea after all.

  She lugs her stuff the couple blocks to her apartment, turning the corner just as John is stepping out of his car with a pizza in his hands.

  “Great timing,” she comments, lifting her heels so she can give him a peck on the lips.

  “I know.” He smiles back, following her up the stairs to the apartment.

  They step inside quietly, just in case Daisy’s sleeping. Remi has yet to figure out her roommate’s hours, but they’re strange for sure.

  She sets her bag down on the kitchen table so she won’t forget to grab it when she heads into the office tomorrow. Then she goes to the cabinet to grab plates.

  She opens the wooden cabinet door, only to step back in surprise. The cabinet is empty.

  She closes it, and then opens it again. But nothing is there. All the different varieties of plates that usually inhabit the cabinet are gone.

  Remi turns and opens the cabinet next to the one that held the plates, to see it’s full of its usual contents, mugs and glasses.

  “That’s odd,” she whispers to herself. She just did the dishes last night. Maybe Daisy used all the plates today?

  The sink is empty. Remi leans down and slides open the dishwasher. Also empty. Where are all the plates?

  “John?” she calls over her shoulder, going back to stand in front of the empty cabinet.

  “What?” he calls back, walking into the kitchen behind her.

  “Did you move the plates?”

  He stops walking when he’s behind her, staring at the empty cabinet. “Um, I certainly didn’t move all of them,” he answers.

  He steps over to the side and does the same action Remi just did, opening the cabinet that holds the cups. Seeing that those are there, he takes it a step further and opens the next cabinet over, which usually holds Tupperware. That cabinet, too, is full to its normal capacity.

  Following her boyfriend’s lead, Remi reaches down and begins to open the lower set of cabinets, only to find them all full of their usual contents as well. How odd.

  “Let me go ask Daisy,” Remi mutters. She heads down the hall, leaving John to stand and stare at the empty cabinet.

  As she’s walking down the hall, her phone buzzes once more and Remi picks it up to see it’s once again listed as ‘private caller.’

  She huffs and presses talk. “Hello?” she grumbles into the mouthpiece.

  Once again, all she hears from the other side of the line is heavy breathing. Remi doesn’t even bother saying hello again, she just hangs up and knocks on her roommate’s door.

  “Daisy?” No answer. “Sorry to bother you.” She knocks again.

  Still no answer.

  Remi opens the door just
a smidge. Daisy’s room is empty. She opens the door a little further and glances around. Everything looks exactly as it did on the day Daisy moved in. In fact, it looks nearly undisturbed.

  “Daisy?” she tries once more, for reasons beyond her own understanding. But when there’s once again no response, she closes the door quietly and heads back down the hall.

  John is in the pantry grabbing paper plates.

  “What’d she say?”

  Remi shakes her head. “She wasn’t home.”

  John cocks an eyebrow. “That’s odd. Did she take all the plates with her?”

  She glances back at the empty cabinet again. Remi owns two full sets of dishes, each set is complete with eight salad, dinner, and dessert plates. It’d be pretty heavy to transport them all.

  “Maybe.” She sighs, giving up. “I’ll have to ask her later.”

  John slips an arm over her shoulder and leads her back to the living room. “Think of it this way, you won’t have to do dishes later.”

  Remi shrugs. “I guess you’re right, I just prefer to save the environment.”

  “Well guess what, we can watch Planet Earth, will that make you feel better?”

  She laughs. “I guess that’s fine.”

  John dishes them each up a slice of pizza and a breadstick, then they sit back on the couch eating in comfort. They end up watching Planet Earth until ten, when Remi’s eyes start to close of their own accord.

  “Guess I better head to bed.” She stands and gathers the trash, glancing at the front door, which has remained closed all night. “Guess I’ll have to ask Daisy about the plates tomorrow.”

  John nods and takes the trash and leftover pizza from Remi’s hands. “You go to bed, babe, I’ll clean up and be there in just a moment.” He leans over and gives her a kiss.

  Remi smiles and walks down the hall to bed, stopping only at the bathroom to briefly brush her teeth. When she arrives at her bedroom, John passes her as he heads to the bathroom, giving her another kiss on his way.