Patiently I Wait

by J. W. Stephens

  Regardless of what the explanation was, there had to be one that was logical, so Shannon decided it was time to hit the bed and get ready for whatever Julie had in store for her tomorrow. It was Christmas Eve the night before and now at nearly 5 am, Christmas Day was here and she felt she needed as much rest as possible considering Julie had big events planned.

  When Shannon returned to the living area, nearly everyone was gone, likely back to their own homes. The only ones left were Matt and Julie, sitting on the couch watching TV together silently.

  “Where did everyone go?” Shannon asked.

  “It’s Christmas,” Julie replied, “They had to get home and get some sleep.”

  Shannon could understand this as she was running on fumes herself and couldn’t wait to hit the bed.

  “Well, I think I am done for the night Julie, can you show me to my room?”

  Julie told Matt that she would be right back and led Shannon down the hallway she had walked through earlier in the dark. She walked into one of the rooms and flipped the light on, revealing a beautiful bedroom suite that looked brand new.

  “Wow, this looks nice!”

  “Yeah, I had to prepare for when my sister came into town,” Julie responded, flashing Shannon a huge grin as she closed the door behind her on the way out.

  As Shannon took her pants off and laid them at the foot of the bed she seemed to fall into the mattress in almost the same motion. As she drifted off to sleep she thought about the picture in the bathroom again and how odd that situation was altogether. When did Julie make a copy of that picture and why would she change it? Maybe it was merely her only caring about Shannon and not wanting to display an ex-boyfriend in a photo of her best friend. Yes, that had to be the case. Shannon always over thought everything and made it much more complicated than it was. Julie wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt her, but not knowing she had done it at all had left her a bit perplexed. She would just ask her in the morning and find out what happened just to ease her mind a little bit more. For now, it was time to sleep and as Shannon closed her eyes, she drifted into a deep sleep in mere seconds.

  CHAPTER THREE: BREAKFAST IS SERVED

  At nine in the morning, only four hours after falling into a deep sleep, Shannon awoke to Julie yelling something from the other room. She cracked her eyes, only to reveal the bright light of morning. Immediately her head started throbbing with an intense pain. Shannon had only been hung over two times in her life and Christmas morning wasn’t the ideal time to have a third but it was a little late for that. She threw on some pajama pants Julie had laid out on the bed and made her way slowly to the door. She opened it and knew what was happening in no time. The aroma coming from the kitchen suggested that Julie had created one of her beloved breakfast meals that Shannon had missed for some time now.

  Every time they would stay together when they were younger, Julie would wake Shannon up to what seemed like a five course meal for ten people, just because she loved to cook. When Shannon walked into the kitchen she saw that this time was no different. There were eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and gravy sitting on the table waiting for Shannon to eat while Julie was putting away the dishes that were already washed and dried from the cooking she had just done.

  “How long have you been up Julie?” Shannon asked and wondered, as it must have taken hours to fix all of this delicious food, while also seeing the kitchen looking spotless again.

  “Well, I got up around seven or so, but it’s not a big deal at all; I feel great.”

  Shannon chuckled at Julie’s sarcasm, knowing that she couldn’t feel that well after only a few hours of sleep. They were both so intoxicated the night before; it was a surprise they weren’t still slurring their words to one another. As they sat down to eat, they discussed how fun the night before had been. They had both caught up with old friends and Shannon had met some new guys that she hoped she wouldn’t have to see again on account of how stupid she probably sounded because of the whiskey. They talked about each person at the party and gossiped about what they were doing today in their lives. It was like old times when Shannon and Julie would sit for hours on end and listen to each other blabber about things that weren’t important in the least bit. They loved every second of it, however, and wouldn’t change their relationship for anything. As they were talking about Sarah, one of the girls at the party that practically ignored Shannon the entire night because of a dispute they had in high school, Julie remembered something slightly more important.

  “Oh no! We are supposed to be at my parents’ house in twenty minutes, I can’t believe I forgot!”

  “Well, that’s fine, we will just get ready and go really quick,” said Shannon, trying to help the situation and not make Julie feel bad for sitting and talking with her.

  Julie’s parents live about an hour and a half from Ann Arbor so Julie called them explaining that they would be there as soon as they could. They didn’t mind, knowing that Shannon had arrived into town the night before and they probably had been up all night catching up with each other.

  The two girls rushed to get ready to go to Julie’s parents and were both ready in under an hour. Usually it took hours to fully prep for an outing like this but they didn’t seem to mind slacking off a bit in this situation. During the ride in the cab back to their cars they laughed the entire way about how drunk they had gotten and the way they both looked at the time. As they pulled into the parking lot of the bar, Shannon told Julie she would just keep her car there until they got back later that night. Before hand, she grabbed her charger for her phone that was in the passenger seat of her car.

  Julie got into her car and pulled around to where Shannon was parked to pick her up. She saw Shannon sitting in her front seat, staring down with a blank look on her face at something that was in her hands. As Shannon seated herself in Julie’s small SUV, she was still holding the item that had her at a loss for words. It was the picture from Julie’s bathroom she had seen the night before. It was lying on the floor board when she got into her car and she was truly confused, hoping Julie would chime in and let her know what was going on.

  “What is that?” Julie asked.

  “I was hoping you would be able to tell me,” Shannon said, looking up at Julie with a puzzled look.

  “Last night, when I went to the bathroom before bed I saw it on your shelf and was wondering why you had it.

  Julie was just as confused as Shannon.

  “I took that picture Shannon, but it’s never been in my house before.”

  Shannon didn’t know what to say. Was she crazy? Had she had it the whole time or was someone playing an odd joke on her that she couldn’t figure out?

  “Dan was there that day; why did you cut him out?” Julie asked.

  “Not only did I not change the picture, but it was at my place when I left yesterday,” exclaimed Shannon.

  The girls didn’t know what to think or what emotions should be linked to the picture at this point. Julie clearly seemed like she had no idea and Shannon was just as perplexed. They sat in the parking lot, staring at the picture and trying to make sense of it all.

  “Someone is messing with you Shannon and I promise that it isn’t me.”

  CHAPTER FOUR: QUESTIONS

  The situation was getting creepier than odd when it came to the picture. Yes, it was only a picture and nothing had happened to anyone because of it, but it just didn’t make sense at all. Not only did the picture show up at Julie’s house, but in Shannon’s car as well. This showed that whoever was poking fun at Shannon with this little prank knew that she would be at Julie’s that night as well as come back to her car after during the next morning. She was a little shook up, with little explanation as to what was happening. Who was following her? Who was taking their time to make sure that she saw this picture? So many questions ran through Shannon’s head about the picture and she couldn’t answer any of them.

  Shannon decided that she was going to keep a level head concerning t
he picture and go about her day the way that she and Julie had previously planned. She didn’t want to get stressed out on Christmas day with her best friend in the world by her side.

  “It will be okay,” Shannon said to Julie. “Let’s just not worry about all of this.”

  Julie nodded in agreement even though Shannon could tell she was shaken up as well. They had a pretty long drive ahead of them and didn’t want to think about the odd occurrence the entire time. So they tried to bring up other topics to take their minds off of it for the time being. Julie told Shannon how her parents had finally gotten everything squared away with money and were living the life they had always wanted. Her mom had been the manager at a tax preparation firm but got the chance to retire last year and took it without thinking twice. She had never enjoyed what she did at the firm but made the best of it for her family. She and Julie’s dad had always fought in the past because of the tension from work but Julie understood and didn’t hold anything against them. Shannon had actually first met Julie because she was upset at school and Shannon asked if she could do anything to help. It was then that Shannon learned what was going on in Julie’s home and never left her side again.

  Julie’s dad was still working at the factory that he had been working for 32 years, but his position now didn’t require the hard work and stress that the factory floor had required. He was the regional manager now and now approved projects for his team to work on without having to do the actual labor.

  They were much happier now and much less stressed about the monetary side of everything. Before hearing this Shannon was a little skittish about going over to Julie’s parents. Now that everything was out in the open about their situation it made everything seem better. The last few times Shannon had been over to their house it was very uncomfortable for her as Julie’s parents fought consistently, even in front of her friends.

  “So they don’t argue about everything any longer?” Shannon was trying to reconfirm everything before getting back into an uncomfortable situation.

  “No, they seem to be so much happier now.” Julie reassured Shannon.

  As they drove deep into Michigan’s beautiful countryside, the girls kept remembering back and talking about their childhood as if they were little kids all over again. Laughing at memories that only they shared, they had forgotten all about the odd events of the last two days.

  They were about twenty minutes away when Julie’s phone rang. She picked up quickly and started the conversation off with a quick, “Hello.”

  She seemed to be listening much more than talking and getting quite frustrated with the fact that it was a one-sided conversation.

  “Yes, I understand.” She said quickly, seeming to have to squeeze a word in before the person on the other end could get off another sentence.

  She hung up the phone without saying anything else and slammed her phone down into her lap, obviously frustrated about the way the conversation went.

  “What was all that about?” Shannon asked.

  “Well, just when I thought my parents were okay, they are fighting again.” Julie said with a disgusted look on her face.

  “We aren’t going over there anymore because my dad left the house earlier and won’t be back anytime soon most likely.”

  “I’m sorry Julie, I really hate when this happens to you; it breaks my heart to see you upset like this.”

  “Well, we can go over to my friend Megan’s for Christmas. She invited me over before I decided that I was going to attempt to see my parents.”

  Shannon nodded, knowing that any place was probably better than their original destination. Since her parents are no longer in Michigan, there was no other choice in her mind.

  It was only about ten minutes later that the girls pulled up to a massive white house with two driveways leading in, forming a circle in the front yard that was lit up with a sea of Christmas lights and decorations.

  “Whose house is this again?” asked Shannon as she stared at the amazing home with fifteen or so cars parked along the beautiful front yard.

  “I met this girl my first year in college.” Julie said, still with the sound of disappointment in her voice. “Her parents bought her this house when she graduated high school and it tends to be the hangout spot for all of my friends from here.”

  Shannon could see why. A college student living in a house that looked like this wouldn’t have a hard time finding people to come over.

  As they walked into the house, Shannon was even more astounded by the size of the house as it looked even bigger from the inside. The ceilings were at least twenty feet high and the walls were lined with expensive artwork. She could tell that Megan’s parents spoiled her quite a bit with almost unnecessary additions to the house. Julie closed the door behind them and picked her phone up to call Megan because in a house like this yelling might not even get her attention. She answered and directed them to go to the living room located in the back portion of the house.

  Luckily Julie had been there before and knew her way around. Shannon would have gotten lost looking for anyone in the home if she made an attempt of her own. They made their way past the kitchen, four bedrooms, and an office type room before reaching the living room.

  When they neared the area, Shannon was shocked at how many people were there. There were roughly thirty to forty people sitting in the living room eating and watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on a flat screen television. Shannon didn’t recognize anyone until she heard her name from behind her.

  “Hey Shannon, it’s good to see you again!”

  She spun around; wondering who it might have been.

  The ability to speak literally left her as she saw the person that muttered the words.

  It was Dan. Her ex-boyfriend that was taken out of the mysterious picture they kept seeing in odd places.

  CHAPTER FIVE: CHRISTMAS GIFT

  “What are you doing here Dan?” Shannon muttered, completely shocked to see him.

  “Well, I am actually dating Megan now,” Dan confessed almost unwillingly it seemed.

  They chatted for a moment, discussing how it was a small world that Dan was dating a girl that happens to be one of Julie’s good friends. Once Shannon understood he was in another relationship, it wasn’t as awkward as first thought. The only odd part about the situation was that he had shown up in a time where a picture that used to feature him was appearing in random places during the past few hours. She wanted to ask him if he remembered the picture, or had anything to do with the occurrences, but decided to keep things quiet in case he really had no idea. The likelihood that he was behind the whole ordeal was extremely unlikely anyhow as Dan was always calm, relaxed, and would never stir anything up like that. Their relationship had ended on a good note when she moved away for college. They parted ways simply because it wouldn’t be feasible to date any longer, not because they had a falling out or anything of the sort.

  Upon seeing Dan, Shannon had tuned out the entire group of other people that were gathered in the living room for the occasion. She forgot anyone else was in the room until Julie pulled her over and introduced her to the crowd.

  “This is my best friend Shannon everyone,” she said proudly. “We have been friends since I can remember and I want all of you guys to meet her.”

  Shannon was slightly embarrassed about being the center of attention in a large crowd like this but smiled and waved to everyone as they greeted her. As they went back to watching television and eating, Julie came over to talk to Shannon.

  “So, what do you think?” Julie asked.

  “What do you mean?” Shannon said confused about Julie’s question. “What do I think about what?”

  “The house, the people, and Dan…”

  Shannon sort of chuckled as she answered, “It’s a little odd, but I don’t mind really. It’s very nice.”

  Julie had known Dan was going to be there but kept that part of the scenario out of the discussion at first, knowing Shannon probably would have
wanted to make other plans if she would have known. The fact that he was dating someone else in the house made it much less awkward since jealousy was not in Shannon’s heart to begin with.

  “Have you thought anymore about the picture?” Julie asked, obviously a little worried about it still.

  “Yes, and I just don’t understand who could be doing something like this,” uttered Shannon. “It was weird seeing Dan here after all of that happened, but there is no way he had anything to do with it.”

  Before she headed back to North Carolina, Shannon was determined to prove that at the very least, someone was playing a joke on her. There were two parts of this that still didn’t make sense at all. The picture was in her house when she had left and she was positive she didn’t bring it with her, for there was no reason to do so. Julie was the only person she really knew still in Michigan and figured she couldn’t be pulling one over on her. It was scarier when she thought about it that way, but she needed to figure out what was going on before leaving.

  The owner of the house and now Dan’s girlfriend, Megan, finally came out of the kitchen where she had been finishing off a big meal for everyone.

  “Food’s ready!” Megan yelled.

  Everyone got up and made their way to a formal dining room that could sit fifty people if it needed to do so. Before they sat down to eat, Shannon introduced herself to Megan, thanking her for allowing her to take part in the occasion.