Going Home

A black crow sat on the roof of an old Victorian house. The wind was blowing, while snow was drifting across the rooftop, and still the crow did not move. The old bird sensed someone, or something inside the house was still there, if not in body, but in spirit moving about, restless, refusing to leave.

Angie sighed, “I cannot find it. The box… where is it?” George’s present to her. She had misplaced it years ago. She longed to touch the necklace. It was the one thing he had left her when he had walked out the door, vowing never to return. She did not understand what she had done wrong. He had never told her. She sat down in a chair feeling defeated and stared in the dark somewhere ahead of her, certainly at nothing directly, but right through it.

Meanwhile, outside the house the crow cawed, as if to say, “It is not there. The necklace is long gone.”

When Angie had first met George, she was working in a department store in New York. He walked in the door and their eyes locked on one another. He was handsome. He wore a grey suit, a red tie, and had dark short brown hair. He smiled. “How can I help you?” Angie remembered saying.

“I’m looking for a gift for a beautiful young lady,” he said without making any kind of indication then it was for someone he truly was in love with. Angie sighed and wondered who had caught the handsome stranger’s eye.

“I have just the item you are looking for,” Angie smiled. She led him over to a necklace. The diamonds were small, but elegantly placed in a sequence of flowers, which cascaded down the neck of the display it was on. They glistened in the sunlight.

“Oh yes,” he smiled, “That will do. May I?”

“Yes, here, have a look see,” she smiled and handed him the jewelry.

The tall man turned the necklace over in his hand. He was looking at its quality and style. He knew what he was looking at. He handed it back to her, “That is perfect. I will take it.”

Angie placed the necklace in a velvet blue box and then into a small bag. She handed it to him after ringing up his total and receiving payment. She thanked him for his purchase, like a good salesperson. He smiled and walked out the door. At the time, Angie did not expect to see him again.

Six months later, the man in the gray suit returned to the department store. Angie accidentally bumped into him, as she was refolding shirts on table display. “Oh, I am sorry…” the words had barely left her mouth as she looked up and there he was.

The returning customer said, “Ah, nice to see you again. Can you help me find another item?”

“Yes, I can. What are you looking for this time?” Angie smiled.

“Well, I am looking for a bracelet to match the necklace I bought last,” he said with a smile on his face. Angie walked over to the jewelry counter and looked inside. The customer had followed her. He stared into the glass case. “Oh, that's beautiful. May I?”

Angie handed him the small bracelet that matched the necklace perfectly. She watched him, as he turned it over in his hands. “I’ll take this one too,” he looked up at her, “You have an eye for quality. Would you consider come working for me?”

Angie was not completely sure if she wanted to go to work for another company or not. She had been with the department store for ten years. She really loved working there. It was not only peaceful, but she knew her regular customers by name, and they liked her. “What is it that you do?” she asked out of curiosity.

“Well, I own a store down near the water. We sell jewelry too. I am always on the hunt for salespeople with the smarts and know how to get the job done.” The older man said further, “How about it? Surely, you are wasting your talent here in this place.”

Angie smiled and handed him his purchase, as she had already received his credit card while talking. She handed him the receipt and card back. “Actually, I am quite happy here. I have not thought about leaving at all. They treat me well here.”

“Well, if you change your mind, let me know. I can double your salary,” he smiled warmly. “I’ll let you think about it.”

Angie smiled back, “Thank you for the offer.” The tall handsome man walked out the door.

Angie had always been loyal to her employer, as they had paid her well, and she had no gripes about the hours she worked, or the other benefits. The employers had truly made a home for all their employees. They occasionally stopped by to work in the store themselves, because they were interested in their investments and in their effect on the community it serviced. The owners were part of that community and so their neighbors were often the store’s customers, and it was like a tight knit family.

George did not return to the store for another six months, but when he did, he looked for his favorite salesperson, but this time she was not there. He asked another person that worked in the store, and he learned that she was on vacation. Disappointed, he decided to leave. He had grown fond of her, but he had not let on that he was feeling this way. He had not told her that he did not need the jewelry he had bought, but he had told her that he had owned a jewelry store, surely that might have set up one or two “red flags” in her head. Maybe? He had been hoping she would jump at his job offer, but she had not. How to get her into his life, he wondered? All his plans seem to fall by the wayside. Into the New York gutter.

Angie’s vacation in Maine had gone well. She hiked. She sailed. She shopped. The food was great. Her cabin by the water was heavenly. The weather was fantastic. When she returned home to her Victorian house, she had three more days off leave, so she spent them tidying up and reading books. -She had wanted to be married and settled down by now, at the ripe age of twenty-seven, but somehow it had never happened.

Angie recalled the few last boyfriends she had. No one had been meant for her. Even while dating, she found them boring, or somehow lacking something. She was looking for someone who could let her be herself and could be their own self at the same time. Someone who liked adventure, but was not too wild, but did not want to sit still all the time, unless overly exhausted… and yet not be on the go so much, that he forgot about who she was. She had all sorts of quirks and she hunted for someone who would get her personality and her dreams and not squish them. It was a tall order, but she was willing to wait.

When the young lady returned to working at the department store, a co-worker said a certain tall customer had enquired about her. She wondered if it was the stranger, that she had helped twice so far, but then she let it slip her mind as she got more involved in her work as the days went on.

George soon got busy at his jewelry store. The holidays came. He found he could not get away from his work either. He had young men coming in to buy engagement rings. He had older men coming into to buy rings for their anniversary to their spouses. He had other customers coming in for various other reasons. His staff had grown since the last time he had talked to Angie, but he liked being in his office, if not out on the floor, looking after his business and making sure it ran like a well-oiled machine.

It was not until New Year’s Eve that he decided to go for a walk outside the store by the water. As he approached a grassy area under a streetlight, he saw her. Angie was standing there, looking out across the water. George stopped in his tracks and thought she was just as beautiful as ever. “Like a diamond.”

Just as George was deciding whether to go back to the office, or move towards her, she turned around.

Angie was quite surprised to see George. A little bubble of joy ran up through her heart and popped somewhere over her head. Figuratively of course. – Funny, the same thing seemed to happen to George.

George did not seem to wait. He casually walked towards her. “Did you change your mind?” He smiled.

Angie smiled back, “No, but I was wondering what your place looked like,” she smiled back.

George took the lead. “I can show you if you like?” And that was the start of Angie’s adventures with her future husband.

…Now, the old lady sat in her armchair, thinking of years she could not get back. They had married, they had three children. They had traveled to parts of the world. She had loved him with all her heart, but one day it had all ended.

…George looked at the bracelet in his pocket. He left the diamond necklace in the blue box for Angie to find. He had fallen in love with another woman. He made up an excuse to make Angie believe it was all her fault and walked out the door. -He had regretted his decision ever since that moment.

The other woman had gone back to his old house when George was at work, and Angie was working tirelessly at her old department store to raise the kids that he left behind and stolen the necklace out of the box. A real money digger that George had not seen coming. The other woman left him and New York, it was then George realized what he had done.

He did not return to Angie until years later, after they had both passed on.

She was sitting in that chair, now in fact, under the roof of the old Victorian with a crow on it, feeling exhausted, restless, and feeling spent. George lit up the corner where she was staring into oblivion. “I am so sorry dear,” he began, “Please forgive me. I made more than one mistake. I just lost track of us, “he called to her.

“The necklace,” she whispered, “I lost it,” she cried.

“No, no dear, your necklace was stolen,” he cried, “It’s all my fault.”

For the first time in years, Angie realized what he was saying. She looked up with clarity in her old eyes. She could have pushed him away and instead she said, “I forgive you.” 

George held out his hand to his wife. Angie took his hand, but then added,” There are things, or people in this world that are not for sale. I take it you learned your lesson, but I shall not forget. Do you understand me?”

The old man did. He realized all too well what he had done. He would love her the rest of time in the afterlife letting her know that it was she that was worthy of his love, and that now that she had accepted him back, he would never make the same mistake again. He was thankful for her love, and she was enough.

Angie and George disappeared from the old house.

The crow smiled and set off to fly to another destination.