The Rhythm Of Rescue

004 | It's Theodore

The phone pressed cold against my ear.

"This is Michelle. May I take your order?"

I fiddled with the locket I'd found yesterday, its silver coolness a stark contrast to the warmth blooming in my apartment.

"Um.." I began, unsure how to explain, my thumb tracing the edges of the heart-shaped locket until it clicked open. "Actually, I'm not really calling to order anything..."

"Is this about a missing slice on your pizza yesterday?" she cut in, her tone surprisingly knowing.

A frown creased my forehead.

How'd she know about that missing slice? I hadn't called to complain..

"Hello? Still there?" Michelle's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Yeah," I replied. "What do you mean by missing slices?" I asked, playing dumb.

"We had a few complaints yesterday," she explained, a tone of annoyance wafting from the phone. "Customers who got their pizzas from Theodore, our new delivery guy...well, now ex-delivery guy. They all said they were missing two to three slices."

Oh..

His name is Theodore...

"Oh. How unfortunate... But no, that's not why I called. I..."

Trailing off, I thought: Michelle didn't sound like she was this guy's biggest fan. No need to mention the locket, or the fact that I kind of hoped to return it. Even if I did ask about his address, returning a random locket that probably didn't belong to him felt a little out of my comfort zone.

"You know what, forget it," I told her. "So sorry to bother you."

Hanging up the phone, I couldn't help but let out a little giggle, imagining the bewildered looks on customers' faces as they'd open their pizza boxes to find their orders like that, and the puzzled head-scratching that must've followed.

Gazing down at the paper in the locket, I studied the signature in fading black ink.

My eyes traced the elegant curves and loops that seemed to scream "maturity" and "sophistication". I wondered what the weird stain beneath the signature was, and my mind started to wander with all the possible stories behind it.

Just as I was getting lost in thought, Siri's robotic voice suddenly piped up from my phone, reminding me of my next task and snapping me back to reality.

I slipped the locket into my jacket pocket, deciding to hold onto it for the day as I shopped for groceries, and made a mental note to return it to where I'd found it, hoping its owner would eventually find it.

***

A FEW HOURS LATER.

When I saw Thomas standing in front of the apartment building with two other guys and a lady, giggling about something, my heart thumped in my chest.

It was a Sunday, and if he hadn't invited me out on Saturdays, he definitely did on Sundays.

My bag of excuses was practically empty, with nothing left but the tired 'I'm just not feeling it' or the classic 'I'm all good, thanks.'

I knew if I faced them, it'd be me against the three of them, and there was no way I'd wriggle out of joining their little adventure to who-knows-where.

As the cab rolled to a stop in front of the looming building, I crouched low in the backseat.

"We've arrived, Miss," the cab driver announced, and just as someone swung the door open from outside, I snapped it shut again and held on to the handle, my pulse racing.