It rang. And rang. Nine, ten, eleven times it rang. Veronica drummed her fingers impatiently against the glass walls of the booth. On the fifteenth ring she hung up. She looked around, wondering what to do. She looked back at the number pad, the metallic squares taunting her. And then an idea suddenly popped into her head.
Veronica picked up the phone and dialed "0", listening to the phone ring once before being picked up.
"Operator, how can I assist you?" a man said.
"Hi," Veronica said to the stranger on the other end, "Um, I'm looking to find someone and I was hoping you could help me."
"Okay, do you have their name?"
"I ... yes, but I only know his first name and phone number. Is there any way you could do a search for his address, or something, please?"
"You only know his first name?" the man asked.
"And his phone number."
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we can't divulge that type of information. I'll need the person's full name."
"But I know his phone number! And I've spoken to him before!"
"I'm sorry ma'am. I could give you his phone number and address if you knew his full name, but that's all I can do. Unless you can prove to me that you know this person, I can't give out their information."
Veronica wracked her brain, trying to think of a solution.
"Look," she said frantically, "I ... I love this man, okay? I love him and I don't even know his last name and I know how stupid that sounds but if you can help me out it would change everything in my life because I've lost him and I don't know if I can get him back. Please, I just need to find him and tell him how sorry I am and how much he means to me, and if you could just please help me out it would … it would mean so much … to me."
Veronica's throat tightened up as she listened closely to the silence on the other end. The phone was pressed painfully against her ear, and for a terrible moment she thought that the operator had hung up. But suddenly his voice appeared again:
"What's his number?"
Excitement filled Veronica's chest.
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much," she said, and she read off his number slowly. "His name is Jason," she finished.
"One second," the man said, and Veronica was put on hold. She listened to the tinny music, her heart in her throat. After about 30 seconds the operator came back on.
"Jason Reeves?" he asked. Veronica'd never heard his last name before.
"Um, yes," she said.
"457 Parkfield Crescent," the operator said. "Do you need me to repeat that information?"
"No," Veronica replied. "457 Parkfield Crescent, I've got it. Thank you so, so much."
"You're welcome, ma'am," the operator said. "Have a wonderful day."
Veronica heard a click and hung up the receiver. 457 Parkfield Crescent. She didn't need it repeated. Anyone who'd ever watched or heard the local news before knew where Parkfield Crescent was. She got back into her car and turned it on, pulling out into the street.
~~~
Veronica drove down Aberfoyle Street, trying not to stare at any one thing for too long. She had locked the doors of her car 10 minutes ago. Outside in the streets several homeless men, their clothes frayed, looking as though they hadn't eaten in a week, were standing around a fire burning in a garbage can. They turned to follow Veronica's car as she drove past them, and when she was gone they all turned back to the fire.
Veronica was in the slum neighbourhood, the bad part of town that she and all the other well-to-do people talked about but had never been to. The buildings around her were dilapidated, the windows either broken or boarded up. Adults leaned out of the broken ones, folded blankets over the frames, staring out into the street. Dirty-looking children ran and played among the garbage, hiding and seeking in an abandoned lot that housed at least one scrap car.
Veronica turned onto Parkfield Crescent, one of the more notorious of streets in this neighbourhood. It seemed like every day that drug busts and gang wars were happening here, people getting arrested or killed. Veronica slowly past the numbered houses, all of them in a sad state. A lot of the windows had bars over them, with several of the driveways having cars that had recently been broken into.
She counted the numbers going down as she drove. 463 ... 461 ... 459 ... 457. There it was. She pulled up to the sidewalk and parked her car, turning it off and putting the keys in her purse. She stayed sitting, staring at the house. It looked as bad as the rest. Jason's home. She felt sorry for him, sorry that he couldn't be in a better place.
Jason's car was in the driveway, which hopefully meant he was home. She thought over what she was going to say, how she was going to tell him what had just happened between her and Greg. As she sat in the car thinking, the front door of his house opened. Veronica snapped out of her thoughts as she watched a woman dressed very provocatively walk out onto the front step. A second later Jason followed her, stretching his arms up into the air and yawning.
The two talked for half a minute, not aware of Veronica sitting in her car across the street. She watched their lips move soundlessly. Jason leaned forward to say something and the woman laughed, putting a hand on his chest. He laughed too, she said something else, and they wrapped their arms around one another and hugged. Veronica watched in horror as Jason planted a kiss on the woman's cheek, holding her tight as they said goodbye.
Veronica's heart dropped in her chest. Was this how important she was to Jason? That he could sleep with another woman so soon after getting into a fight with her husband? After crying on her shoulder? Veronica began to hyperventilate. She didn't want to see this anymore. She didn't want to be here. She had made a mistake and she needed to leave. Now.
She reached into her purse to grab her keys, but it slipped out of her hands and fell onto the floor by her feet. Veronica swore to herself and leaned down to grab it, but as she did her head hit the horn on the steering wheel, making it honk. She sat bolt upright and saw both Jason and his new woman looking over at her car. The woman said something and Jason shielded his eyes from the sun, trying to see more clearly.
Veronica's heart began to hammer. She leaned down, avoiding the wheel this time, and grabbed her purse. Pulling the keys out of it, she stuck them in the ignition but when she looked up again she saw Jason walking over to her.
She turned the keys but the engine wouldn't start. She tried again but only a whining noise came out. She was almost panicking now as Jason crossed to her door and approached the window. He knocked three times on the glass. Veronica let go of the key and gave up starting the car. She slumped down in her seat and reached down, rolling down the window.
Jason leaned down so he could see into the car.
"Veronica?" he asked, sounding surprised. "How did ... what are you doing here?"
Veronica sighed.
"I came to see you," she said. "But I didn't know you had another woman over. I'll leave, I'm sorry."
Jason looked over at the house where the woman was still standing there, watching the two.
"You mean Alexis?" he asked.
"Sure, Alexis, whatever."
"Alexis is my sister," Jason told her. Veronica turned to stare at him.
"What?" she asked.
"Alexis is my sister. She came over to help me with my painting."
Veronica was at a loss for words.
"Here, come on, I'll introduce you two," he said, taking a step back from the car. "But ... roll up your window first. And lock your doors."
Veronica took a second before nodding mutely and rolling up the window like he said. She unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her purse, taking the keys with her. Opening the car door she got out, locked it, and shut it behind her. When she turned to face Jason they locked eyes for a moment before he spoke.
"Come on inside," he said, and he lead the way to his house. Veronica followed as they approached the woman -- Alexis -- still waiting on the front step.
"Who's this?" Alexis asked before Veronica could say anything.
"Alexis, this is Veronica. Veronica, Alexis."
Veronica held out her hand, but Jason's sister didn't take it. Instead her eyes went wide as her eyebrows raised.
"So you're Veronica?" she asked.
Veronica felt her face go red as she slowly lowered her hand.
"Um, yes," she said.
"Well, you've got some nerve showing your face around here!" Alexis yelled, and she stepped forward as though she were about to attack Veronica. Jason, however, stopped her before she could.
"Whoa, sis," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder and holding her back, "it's all right. I'll take care of it. You'd better get going anyway. You don't want to piss off Dominic."
Alexis stared hard at Veronica for a second longer, but soon she relaxed. She turned to look at her brother.
"Yeah, you're right. You're gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Get going, huh?"
"Okay, okay," she said, and she turned back to face Veronica, who took a half-step backwards. "You'd better just watch it, Missy. My brother's a great guy, okay?"
Veronica nodded mutely and watched as Alexis walked past her off the front step and down the sidewalk.
"Come on," she heard Jason say, bringing her back to where she was. She turned and saw that the front door was open. Jason was looking at her. She walked into the house and he followed her inside.
Jason's place was, at first glance, not at all what Veronica was expecting. Given the state of the neighbourhood she thought that it would have been run down inside, with a greasy-looking kitchen and maybe some peeling wallpaper from the 70's. It looked, however, like some real effort had been put into making it look good. Everything was clean and shining bright, the walls were painted, things were organized. There wasn't a mess in sight.
And on the walls were many different drawings and paintings. Veronica saw some that looked like as though child had made them, but scattered throughout were better-looking ones, done by what she would have thought was a professional. In the kitchen, on the table, was a large notepad with sketches in it, and beside the table was an artist's easel, a half-finished painting of the kitchen on it.
"Have a seat," Jason said. Veronica sat down at the table, still looking around. She watched him go to the counter and grab the electric kettle, filling it with water from the tap. "Do you want some tea?" he asked.
"Sure, thanks," she said. "Did you do all these paintings?"
"Yeah, Alexis has been helping me get better," he said with his back turned. "She did a lot of art in high school before she dropped out, so she knows her shit."
He put the kettle on and grabbed two mugs from the cupboard, putting a teabag in each and turning back around to face Veronica.
"What ... does Alexis do now?" Veronica asked.
"She turns tricks," he said. "Over on Washington."
"Oh," Veronica said, feeling embarrassed, like she had asked something she shouldn't have. "I'm sorry."
Jason shrugged. "Don't be. It's not ideal, but it's work. Besides, she's safe, and that's what's important. Dominic is a really great guy."
The kettle whistled and Jason turned it off. He poured the steaming water into both mugs and brought them over, setting one in front of Veronica before sitting down in another chair, facing her.
"So what're you doing here, Veronica?" he asked. "How did you find me?"
Veronica stared at the tea as she spoke.
"Well, at first I tried calling you but you didn't pick up. And then I called the operator and was able to get them to tell me your address, which I'm pretty sure was illegal but …"
She took a sip of her tea. Jason said nothing.
"And the reason I came here," she continued, "is because ... because I want to make things right between us. What happened at the park that day was so messed up, I didn't mean for anything like that to happen to either of you."
"Yeah, well," Jason said, "Greg was pretty pissed off. Is he okay?"
"He had a get a few stitches but other than that he's all right."
Jason nodded.
"I'm sorry about that. I haven't been in a fight in years. It's good to know I can still hold my own, I guess."
"Greg … and I, we're … getting a divorce." Veronica said. "We had a talk this morning and he told me … he told me some things that really explained a lot. So we've decided to end our marriage, which I think is for the best."
She looked up and saw Jason watching her.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"It's for the best," she repeated. "It wasn't a good marriage. Besides ... my heart is with someone else."
She reached across the table and held onto Jason's hand, squeezing it. He kept looking at her, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Veronica," he said finally, "I feel like I need to tell you about what happened to me in the past, and how I got these scars. I think you should know, so that you know what you'd be getting yourself into if we stayed together."
He dropped his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking.
"I came from a pretty bad home growing up," he began. "I was born in a small town and didn't have many friends when I was a kid. It was just me and Alexis. Sometimes I would skip school to go fuck around, you know, breaking windows and stuff. Whenever my Dad caught me he would ... hurt me pretty badly. At first he used to just hit me, but soon he realized that hitting wasn't doing the trick, so he started using a kitchen knife."
"Oh, my God," Veronica said, bringing a hand up to her mouth. She squeezed Jason again and he waited a few seconds before talking again.
"That's where a lot of these scars came from. When I was 16 I ran away from home, and Alexis came with me. She was 17, and we were both in high school. We managed to get to the next town and stay with a guy we met at a bar. He and Alexis were ... sleeping together, and that's how she convinced him to let us stay. We were only there for a few months when he threw us out one night, after he got drunk and got into a fight with Alexis.
"I was working at a garage full-time, so I knew a lot about cars. We hot-wired the guy's Buick and drove to a new home, a couple towns over. We had to ditch the car because he reported it stolen. Since then we've been moving around a lot, never really staying in one place for more than a year.
"Every time we move it's the same story, too. Find a new place to live, get a new job, try to scrape by. Alexis usually gets into trouble with the cops because of her work, and I'm usually the one bailing her out. If things get too heated with her pimp, or something goes wrong with a client, I have to either get her out of the jam or we bail and move to a new town.
"But now we're here. And like I said, when I first moved here I didn't really think I was going to stay that long. But I signed up for that walking group and ... and I met you. And then everything changed. You aren't like any other woman I've been with, Veronica. You make me feel so ... alive. Like everything I've gone through, everything in my past, it was all worth it just so I could meet you."
He looked up into Veronica's eyes and found her crying. She sniffed as two fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. Jason smiled and she smiled back. She saw his eyes shimmer as well. Letting out a small laugh, Jason leaned forward, kissing her.
The two held together in sweet embrace. Their chairs scraped on the floor as they moved closer together, breaking off the kiss and pulling each other in for a hug. Veronica smelled his scent through his t-shirt, felt the rising and falling of his chest as tears dripped down off her nose.
"I love you, Veronica," she heard next to her ear. She squeezed Jason tighter.
"I love you too," she whispered. A shuddering breath, and she let it out. "I love you too."
Epilogue
"This one has kitchen stuff in it, right?"
Veronica struggled to keep a hold of the heavy box as Jason looked up from the trunk of his car.
"Yeah, kitchen stuff," he called back.
"Okay, I'll just put it inside and we can unpack it when we get everything else in."
She carried t
he box into the house and through into the kitchen. The place was looking significantly more sparse than before, half of its contents having been taken by Greg.
Veronica and Greg ended up getting the divorce. Considering all that they'd been through, the two were surprisingly civilized toward one another during the proceedings. Greg said that she could keep the house, and that he would find an apartment somewhere in town. They divided their belongings and when all was said and done, they gave each other one last hug before Greg left the house for good.
A few weeks later, Veronica had asked Jason to move in with her. There was more than enough space, and besides, the house felt lonely whenever he wasn't around. She had gotten herself a full-time job at the museum, at the ecology department. She loved sharing knowledge with school groups especially; seeing all the curious little kids always made her day.
Jason was still fixing up cars, and had begun teaching Veronica a thing or two as well. He'd developed a good reputation, and always charged a fair price for the work that he did. He had also helped to check Alexis in to a health awareness clinic. She was getting away from her previous life, and used painting as a way to deal with her emotions. Veronica's house had several of her pieces up on the walls already.
Veronica and Jason talked to Nancy at the next group meeting. Nancy confessed, tearfully, to tipping Greg off and Veronica forgave her, knowing that if that had never happened she wouldn't be in the place she was now. The two decided to stay friends and got together outside of the walks.
As Jason brought in the last of the boxes, Veronica looked around the house.
"Well, this'll fill the place up a bit more, I think," she said.
"For sure," Jason agreed. "Hey, I'm kind of hungry. How does pizza sound?"
"Perfect."
"Great, I'll go out and pick it up."
He gave Veronica a quick kiss before heading back out the door. Veronica walked into the living room and saw the novel she had been reading before. She'd picked away at it a bit while Greg was recovering from the fight, but had forgotten about it since then. Turning to her page, she sat down and finished the story.
Perfect Strangers Page 11
