World of Make-Believe: Chelsea's Story

A Deal

The quiet scrape of claws skimmed over tiles as Chelsea, in her panic, dropped her keys. Screaming in frustration she knelt, pawing through the collecting of keys, jamming the right one into the lock, throwing her suitcase into the open door, her body following close behind. Without waiting she kicked her foot, slamming the door, ignoring the crash of something glass falling off the wall behind her with a crack. Exhaling slow she let her head sink back on her carpeted flooring, the metal divider between the laminate entryway digging into her shoulder blade uncomfortably. She had no idea what the creature she had just seen was, but she didn't want it following her in. The cool of the ground felt nice against the sweat of panic. She let her heart calm before she sat up, turning to her suitcase and carry on.

"Welcome home." She whispered, pushing the zipper open and the clothes aside, digging for a paper bag she'd wrapped the old horseshoe in.

Frustrated as she dug and came up empty she resorted to dumping the entire bag, letting her clothes and trinket spill out over her legs and the floor. A large plastic bag slumped over the unfolded shirts. Tossing the mostly empty suitcase aside she pulled it over and took the items out. A little copper Christmas ornament for each of the secretaries at work- including Sally- a little snow globe for Mr. Jones, and a very pretty gem from one of the mining tourist attractions, Virginia City. She mused for a moment, watching her living room lights reflect through the gem in rainbow hues, on how her home back in Montana had no special things. No mining memorabilia, no copper, no gems. Just cattle and farm animals all that entailed. She wrinkled her nose at the memory of the scent.

"Not here." She frowned. "I know I..." She shuffled through the clothes. "I know I packed it."

She knew she had. Purposefully she had grabbed the old iron horseshoe from the barn on her last afternoon, smuggling it away under her sweater where her mother wouldn't see it, slipping it into her checked luggage. Chelsea sighed as she lay back on the floor, holding the gem close to her chest.

"It's not here though."

She didn't understand. There'd been no way she could have forgotten it. Nothing else was missing. Chelsea tried to think if her flight companion had been odd, but nothing about him had seemed amiss aside from the leather gloves. She knew she was being paranoid after her argument with Devon. Not every flash of red was Robin, not every kid with green eyes was Devon.

"Besides," She poked at a rainbow on the carpet, "he could have been a germaphobe."

She turned on her side, grabbing her phone to pull up her messages, accidentally opening Alex's last text; the one that he had shot to her before her plane had taken off. The one she had stared at right after her plane had landed. It was mocking her, wrenching at her heart. Tormenting her.

Fly safe. I have some big news for you when you get back. Kisses.

She didn't know how to read that. What big news? Is he dumping Sally? Is he... leaving me? Is he done with me?

Chelsea truly felt pathetic then. He had been done with her. He was dating someone else far more publicly than he'd ever dated her. They were done... She looked at the message again. Weren't they?

The pain of that thought washed a few tears out of her. She sighed again as she rolled onto her side, letting the gem drop to the floor, listening to the light thuds as it bounced, finally landing slightly under her coffee table. Chelsea found some sense of metaphor in the fact that it was now hidden in darkness, no longer shining brightly like it had been.