Beth barely had time to stow her handbag in her locker and clock in on the store computer before Jodi was all over her, explaining that Danny had called in to take her to lunch, and guessing that she was out with Ryan, Jodi had covered for her.
‘But I wasn’t out for lunch with Ryan; I told you I had an errand to do. I asked him to pick me up something from the deli when he going on his sandwich run.’
‘Oh. Well, I didn’t know that, did I? Especially as you two seem thick as thieves lately. I just didn’t expect to see Danny, so I was caught unawares. You guys only missed each other by like ten minutes.’
Really? Beth wondered why Danny had popped in to see her unannounced. She had no idea that, according to Jodi, he had an appointment in this part of town this morning. Would it have killed him to tell her about his plans earlier if he wanted to get together for lunch?
While she was feeling a little irritated, as well as jittery about all that had just happened at Tiffany’s, a little voice reminded her that maybe she shouldn’t be so hard on her boyfriend. He was being spontaneous, and wasn’t she always complaining that the spontaneity had disappeared from her relationship?
He was trying, she thought, softening inside and feeling her heart bloom ever so slightly. But there was no denying that lately she felt conflicted, torn, confused over her feelings and love for Danny, the evergreen emotions that seemed always to be there – even though she needed to be reminded of certain things lately – and the fact that there were, steadily increasing feelings for Ryan.
Feeling afraid and panicked at the thought, she quashed the admittance.
‘Beth, what’s going on?’ Jodi asked, looking at her shrewdly. ‘And where were you at lunchtime?’
Beth took a deep breath and, in between customers, tried to explain what had happened recently, from yesterday’s curious delivery to the even more curious events at Tiffany’s earlier.
As expected, Jodi met Beth’s tale with equal parts scepticism and sarcasm, as well as just a touch of paranoia. ‘So you are telling me that you are receiving weird, cryptic messages from some stranger, and now willingly intend on chasing down “clues”? Honestly, Beth, this is how most slasher movies begin. You automatically think this is a Nora Ephron-style romance, but in reality some psycho serial killer has other plans,’ her friend tsked.
‘It’s not some serial killer; what kind of deranged killer would arrange a meeting at Tiffany’s? For goodness’ sake, Jodi, why do you have to think so negatively all the time? It’s just fun. There doesn’t always have to be some dark ulterior motive to everything.’
‘Fun?’ Jodi said as she raised her eyebrows. ‘Honey, anonymous messages like that are not fun, they’re spooky. And if there are romantic undertones, that’s even more ominous to me. Who do you think might be behind all this? If it’s Danny, that’s one thing. He’s the only person that should be sending you romantic messages.’ She stared at Beth, who knew exactly what she was getting at.
Truth be told, save for that brief moment when the blue box first appeared, it hadn’t really crossed her mind that Danny might be behind the treasure hunt or adventure or whatever this was. It just wasn’t his sort of thing. Maybe he might have thought about doing something like this at one point four or five years ago, but sweeping romantic ‘nonsense’, as Jodi had called it, didn’t seem to be on her boyfriend’s radar these days.
She wanted to make sure Jodi’s attention was quickly deflected from Ryan, though – she didn’t need another lecture. So she simply shrugged and gave a little smile. ‘It must be Danny,’ she lied. ‘That’s likely why he came to see me today, to see if I’d made it to Tiffany’s, and found the next clue, as planned.’
Jodi studied her friend’s face for a second and then opened her mouth as if she was about to speak. But then she must have changed her mind, as she returned her attention to her work. ‘OK, so it looks like, regardless of what I say, you are going to continue on with this crazy scavenger hunt—’
‘Treasure hunt,’ Beth corrected.
‘Whatever. Anyway, so you are going to follow these … clues. I’m guessing you told me all this for a reason. Namely because you want help.’ She put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. ‘So, go on then, tell me more about the latest clue, the one you got at Tiffany’s. Maybe I can help you solve it. At the very least if I have some idea of where you are going I can point the police in the right direction to recover your mutilated corpse.’
Beth laughed. ‘You are unbelievable. You know, positive thinking can really make a different in a person’s love life, did you know that? I recently read that somewhere. Maybe that’s why you have issues with the opposite sex. You’re such a Negative Nancy.’
Jodi snorted. ‘Please, I’ll have you know I’m not having any issues with the opposite sex, or my sex life, for that matter. Beside the fact that they are useful for essentially only two things – reproduction and killing spiders – men are pointless.’
Beth rolled her eyes. ‘Not all men, Jodi. And since when did you have a sex life?’
‘You met him, actually,’ she said matter-of-factly.
Beth’s eyes widened, surprised by this abrupt turn in conversation. She searched the recesses of her mind. ‘Met who? And when did I meet him?’
‘I believe he was bachelor number two. That last time we went to happy hour at 123?’
‘No way.’ Beth thought hard but couldn’t conjure up Jodi’s mystery man from the weekend she and Danny had called off their Florida trip. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t remember. Was he the bond trader?’ she guessed, knowing that at least one of the guys that Jodi had met that night was a Wall Streeter.
Her friend shook her head. ‘No, wrong guy, but he does work on Wall Street – for a hedge fund. He’s a tax attorney.’
Beth raised her eyebrows. ‘A tax attorney? I bet your sex life is wild. Off the scale.’
‘Hey, don’t judge. His name is Trevor and he’s fun. And while tax law might sound like the epitome of boring, this guy certainly knows how to live. We’ve been having some good times lately. I mean, it’s probably nothing serious. But, you know, he, um – he’s nice and charming, and he seems to enjoy my sense of humour, which makes a nice change. It’s all been nice.’
Suddenly, Beth realised that while Jodi was acting nonchalant, she was actually playing coy. She had just used the word ‘nice’ three times in quick succession. She was completely downplaying this crush. She liked this guy, certainly – and as such, Beth decided to quash the teasing. After all, if there was one thing she did know it was that her friend deserved a bit of happiness in the romance department. If this Trevor was making Jodi’s heart sing, even just a little, then he was OK in Beth’s book.
‘I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,’ she admonished, and her friend blushed.
‘I wasn’t going to, ’cos it’s still early days. And I’m not the only one who’s been keeping things under her hat, am I? Still, at least my admirer has a name,’ Jodi said, expertly turning the subject back onto Beth. ‘Let’s take a look at that clue and see if we can figure out yours.’
* * *
When Beth returned home from work later that evening, Danny could tell she was distracted. Yes, she had greeted him pleasantly enough on arrival, apologised about missing him at lunchtime earlier, and had even kissed him, but her mind was elsewhere, he could tell.
And when he casually suggested maybe sitting down and watching a movie together, Beth feigned tiredness, and said that she needed to get to bed – she had an early start the following day and she felt a headache coming on.
‘The last thing I need is to wake up with a migraine,’ she said. ‘I’m going to take some Excedrin and hit the sheets.’
Maybe she really did have a headache, he thought, maybe she really was tired. But it was strange for Beth to turn down the opportunity to watch a movie.
It was only after she retreated from the living room and shut the bedroom door behind her, that he realised that she hadn’t said one word about the so-called ‘errand’ she had been on.
* * *
Beth breathed a sigh of relief as she shut her bedroom door behind her. Truthfully, she had been tired, though not as tired as she claimed to Danny – and she certainly didn’t have a headache coming on. If anything, she knew that she would be lucky to sleep that night. She had so many thoughts rushing through her brain that her entire being was operating on overdrive.
Angelina … Sail away … around the world … I promise you.
What did it mean? And how could she find out? More to the point, what was it all about?
A treasure hunt – she knew that much – but what was the end goal? If it was Ryan who’d instigated this, it really was taking flirting to the next level after all their playful (but harmless) banter over the last couple of weeks.
Notwithstanding what or who was behind it, there was no denying Beth liked it. She enjoyed the mystery it presented. And was dying to figure out what would happen next or what she was supposed to find.
If Ryan had concocted this treasure hunt, then he certainly wasn’t acting like the friend he’d so innocently proclaimed himself to be. And what’s more, if Beth decided to continue on this little adventure, she was condoning it – almost giving the green light to take things further, so to speak.
She swallowed hard. Of course, there was always the option to completely abandon this entire crazy thing. She could ignore the new clue; after all, there wasn’t anything saying that she had to play this game. She could voluntarily opt out.
And that’s all it was, a game. So if she just ignored this – maybe went back to Tiffany’s tomorrow and told the salesperson to pass on the message that she wasn’t going to pursue the clue – then she would have a clear conscience. There would be no secrets, nothing to worry about, and definitely nothing to lie about as far as Danny was concerned.
But …
Beth knew that it was dangerous and that clearly she wasn’t thinking correctly, but she didn’t want to do that. This was intriguing, challenging … it was daring, almost. She wanted to keep going with the hunt. She hadn’t had this much fun in ages.
She loved the adventure and the mystery – and OK, yes – the movie-like drama of it all. She had a mystery to solve, and she was pretty sure she’d be able to understand the clues. She’d cracked the first one, after all. She almost owed it to herself to continue on. It was a test of knowledge of sorts.
And at the end of the day, what was wrong with having a little fun?
Beth smiled to herself as she made up her mind. She would continue on the treasure hunt for as long as she could. No harm, no foul.
Having made her decision, she settled back against her pillows, turned the light off, pulled her computer closer and started a new search.
Angelina. Sail away. Around the world. I promise you.
Tens of thousands of different results came back.
Beth was sure that the clue didn’t have anything to do with Angelina Jolie, The Amazing Race TV show, or purity rings for teenagers.
‘Weird what Google thinks you might be looking for,’ she said under her breath. But then she realised the folly of her words. She was being too obtuse, too vague. And Google didn’t have a human brain or the ability to know the context of the search.
‘I need to be more specific,’ she muttered, and racked her brains, wondering how she was supposed to narrow it down. Then in a flash, it came to her and Beth typed one more word into the search bar.
Movie.
Since Breakfast at Tiffany’s had provided the context for the first clue, she guessed that this treasure hunt, if it had been created and devised by someone who knew her well, might centre around one of her favourite passions. The romance of the silver screen.
And based upon what Google was showing her now, Beth guessed that she just might be right in her assumption. Scanning over the latest results, she considered the chances.
The first movie listed was indeed a classic – she even owned it on DVD. It was a bit trickier to decipher than the Breakfast at Tiffany’s clue, though, because that movie had her intended destination right in the title of the film.
But at least she had a movie in mind. Now she just had to figure out what she was supposed to do with that information, or how the clue was connected to a local destination in the here and now.
She furrowed her brow, thinking hard. This movie, she thought, might be the one she was looking for. Well, it only had a few scenes set in New York, if she recalled correctly. So where was she supposed to go next? She needed to get her thinking cap on, that’s for sure. Once again she summoned up her grandmother’s spirit. Bridie would know immediately. Her grandmother’s movie knowledge had been almost encyclopaedic. Google had nothing on her.
But right now, Beth’s brain felt muddled, and it was true that she was tired. Maybe she should give in to the sandman – after all, she had made a bit of a stride in understanding this next clue. The rest could wait.
She set the computer aside, realizing her eyelids were growing heavy and that maybe – just maybe – sleeping on this puzzle might give her the clarity that she needed in the morning to solve it.