The Event

by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

  "It appears so."

  A man in black pants and a blue tee shirt walking up to the café's entrance caught my eye. We made eye contact, and I straightened in my seat. He slowed his speed, and then glanced away as he walked through the door. I shifted in my seat to watch him enter the café.

  Mel coughed. "You're not listening again, are you?"

  I swiveled her direction. "I am now."

  She tapped her fingers on the table and stared at me.

  "What?"

  "I'm just waiting for you to answer my question."

  Oh. "Yes."

  "Yes?"

  "Yes." I had a feeling that wasn't the right answer.

  "It wasn't a yes or no question."

  I laid my forearms on the table and leaned toward her. "I'm sorry."

  "I said, maybe he's a figment of your imagination. Like your subconscious trying to tell you something."

  "Because an Italian, German woman would have a leprechaun to represent her subconscious?"

  "It just went with the theme of the moment. We were in the throes of green dress hell, so maybe it just figured it was something you could relate to?"

  "I don't think so."

  She leaned back in her seat. "Well then, I got nothing."

  "Yeah, right there with you."

  The same man walked out of the café, and as he walked by, we made eye contact once again.

  Mel shook her cup of ice to get my attention. "What's up with you?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You're giving that poor guy the evil eye. He probably has to go home and take meds to deaden the migraine you gave him."

  I giggled. "I didn't do any such thing. I just made sure he knew I saw him, that I was paying attention."

  "Trust me; everyone knows you're paying attention. You've mastered the resting biatch face for sure."

  I didn't have a problem with that. "Thank you."

  "It wasn't a compliment." She stood and switched to the chair next to me. "Listen, I know you're struggling, and I totally get that, but you can't go on like this. You have to do something."

  I intended to do what I'd just done to that man. "I am doing something."

  "Living in fear isn't doing something. Not everyone in the world wants to kill you."

  "I'm not living in fear, and I don't think everyone in the world wants to kill me."

  "Well, your actions say something different."

  "I'm acting aware of my surroundings, and there's nothing wrong with that." I relaxed the tension pushing on my ribcage. I'd made it through most of the day without any sharp pains, and I didn't want them to start. "Ask your fiancé. He'll tell you the same thing."

  "He's a cop. He has to say that, but it doesn't mean it's true all the time. You really need to find a way to get over this."

  And there it was again.

  I glanced at my iWatch, another gift from Jake after the incident. "Oh, look. It's time for me to go." I stood and gathered my things.

  "Ang, wait. Don't leave mad."

  I dropped back into the chair. "I'm not mad. I'm just tired of being told I have to get over what happened. You can't possibly understand what I'm going through or why I feel the way I do, so please stop acting like you do."

  She blinked. "Okay. You're right, but you won't talk about it, so how am I supposed to understand? Explain it to me."

  "It's not something I can explain, but please, stop telling me to get over it. I am over it, but it changed me. The Angela you knew is gone. This is me now, take me or leave me." We stared at each other for a moment and then I stood again. "I need to go."

  Mel jumped from her chair. "Ang, wait. I…I…" She hugged me. "I'm sorry. I just wish I could do something, anything, to make you feel better."

  I held her shoulders. "I don't need you to fix me." I tear fell from her left eye, and I wiped it away. "I need you to be my best friend again."

  "I've never stopped."

  Sometimes it didn't feel that way.

  * * *

  Mr. Green Suit hung out in the passenger's seat. "Tick tock. Tick tock."

  I upped the volume on my radio and sung along to Brooks and Dunn.

  "The offer won't last long."

  I twisted the volume knob all the way to the right, and Mr. Green Suit disappeared.

  When I got home, Aaron and Josh were in the driveway.

  I pulled around them and into the garage, and then met them outside. "What brings you here?"

  "Green dye? Nice one."

  "You deserved it. She'd practically planned the whole ridiculous theme only to find out it was a joke?" I winked at him. "That's cause for canceling the whole thing if you ask me."

  "Thankfully, no one did."

  "Get wrecked," Josh said.

  Aaron laughed.

  "You don't even know what that means," I said.

  "I used my detective skills and figured out it means I roasted you."

  Josh shook his head. "No one says roasted anymore."

  I pointed at Aaron. "Get wrecked."

  He stretched out his arms. "I came here to check on you not get a verbal beating. That hurts."

  I crooked my finger. "Come on in. I think Jake's got a beer or two in the ‘fridge."

  "Thanks, I'd love one."

  Josh hung outside. "Nice seeing you Detective Banner. Mom, Turner's picking me up, and we're going to practice."

  "Gotcha." It freaked me out that my baby's friends were old enough to drive.

  Aaron sat at the kitchen counter while I grabbed him a beer and me a flavored water.

  I slid the beer can across the counter. "So, what's up?"

  He popped the top and took a swig. "Not much, just wanted to come by and check on you."

  I narrowed my eyes. "Mel asked you to come by, didn't she?"

  "Nope." His lip didn't twitch, and he didn't blink, so he wasn't lying.

  "Hmm. If you're here for a case, you know I'm not doing that anymore."

  He smiled. "I'm not here about a case. Can't a guy just check on his friend?"

  Aaron and I were friends, and I appreciated his concern, but he wasn't the kind of guy that just ambled over for a beer and a chat. At least not with me. "Is something wrong between you and Mel?"

  His eyes widened. "What? No. Why? Do you know something I don't?"

  I shook my head. "Not a thing." I poured my water over a glass full of ice. "But you're here for a reason, so come on, tell me."

  He clasped his beer can with both hands. "My department is assisting the Georgia Bureau of Investigations on a human trafficking case."

  "Price. Damn it. He promised."

  Aaron nodded. "If it means anything, it wasn't on purpose."

  I ran my hand through my hair. "I'm sure." The snark in my tone surprised both of us.

  "Price isn't the kind of guy to betray a confidence, and you know that."

  "So, what was it then? Verbal diarrhea? It just accidentally spewed from his mouth? Oh, Banner, that Angela is whacked. She needs help. Something like that?"

  I watched Aaron's chest rise and fall, but he didn't have a right to be frustrated. I owned that. "Actually, he said your strength, both emotionally and physically, amazes him." He let the words float through the air for a moment. "But he wishes you'd dial it down a bit."

  I didn't know what to say. "He really said that?"

  He nodded. "Told me you've got a solid kick."

  The corner of my mouth twitched. "Poor guy. I felt kind of bad about that."

  Aaron chuckled. "Liar."

  "Maybe a little."

  "He did ask me to talk to you though. Said you need time to heal."

  "You're not here to talk about my physical recovery though, are you?"

  His chest heaved again. "I ever tell you about Jimmy Bellam?"

  "Who's Jimmy Bellam?"

  "A twenty-five-year-old husband and father down on his luck. Robbed a QuikTrip seven years ago and took off into the woods. Found him down in an abandoned trailer about two blocks fro
m the station. He came at me, and we fought. He got free and pulled his gun, but I pulled faster." He dragged his fingers down his goatee. "His son was four months old."

  I twisted the charm on my necklace, my heart sad for my friend. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

  He dipped his head. "Not something I like to talk about. I know it's different, but I have a sense of what you're feeling, so…"

  "Thank you."

  He nodded again. "So, promise me something."

  "Okay?"

  "Promise me you and my fiancé aren't going to show up at the ceremony in green dresses."

  I laughed. "You are so lucky we didn't buy anything. That saleswoman had some truly horrific shades of green in her store."

  "People actually buy green dresses?"

  "I know, right? Granted, there were some beautiful shades of green there, but apparently, none of those matched my skin color because she didn't show me any of them. But the racks were a virtual rainbow of dresses." Something inside me caught what I said and tucked it away for later. "Every color you could imagine."

  "I seriously thought she knew I was kidding."

  "She wanted to please you. She's been down this road before, and she thinks, since you haven't, you should have the wedding you deserve." I refilled my empty glass.

  "That's what she doesn't understand. She's never been down this road with me. It's our wedding, not hers."

  My heart skipped a beat for my best friend. "Aw, you're a big sucker for her, aren't you?"

  He winked. "Don't tell her. I don't want to ruin my rep."

  "Your secret's safe with me."

  Aaron finished his beer. "It gets easier."

  We weren't discussing the wedding anymore. "When?"

  He shrugged. "In time. But you'll never be the person you used to be."

  "I don't want to be."

  "I know."

  I offered him another beer, but he declined. "I need to run. We're addressing invitations. Mel's mother doesn't want her to use labels, so we have to write them all by hand." He dragged his hand down his goatee again. "All sixty of them."

  "Proper wedding etiquette is important. Old school, but important." I smiled. "I had three hundred people at my wedding."

  "Jesus. That's a lot of envelopes."

  "Don't forget the thank you cards. Those're coming soon."

  His hand went back to his goatee again. Poor guy was out of his element. He walked to my side of the counter and hugged me, not a strong manly hug, but a gentle, affectionate one. "When you feel like talking, I'm here."

  The lump in my throat made it hard to speak. "Thank you."

  * * *

  I poured myself a glass of red wine and sat on my deck. I did my best thinking there, and before being grounded from visiting, where I'd chat with my mother.

  I first discovered my gift after my mother died and came back in spirit form. At first, I thought I'd imagined her, but she confessed she'd known about my gift when I was a kid and had chosen to let it fade to black. She wanted me to have a normal life, and I understood. I struggled to accept it, but when I finally did, I rocked it. It hadn't destroyed my family like I feared, and my fifteen minutes of fame publicly ended up only about five minutes. I loved working with Aaron…loved helping spirits with their unfinished business.

  I still wanted to help them. It wasn't about them, really. I just didn't want to do the Universe any favors. Their rules no longer applied to me, at least that's how I felt about them.

  Helping Sandy and her mother felt good, even though I played it off differently to Mel. Helping them though, was what the Universe expected of me, and I hated doing what it wanted. My choices were limited. I could help and feel like I'd betrayed myself, or not help, and be pond scum.

  Not the best choices.

  I glanced toward the fading sun. "What would you do, Ma?"

  I heard her voice inside my head. "Well, for one thing, I wouldn't stare at the sun because I don't wanna end up blind."

  I laughed. "You would have said something like that, wouldn't you?"

  God, I missed her.

  What if Mr. Green Suit could really give me back my mother? I searched leprechauns on Google, and what I discovered wasn't good. I knew the little boogers were mischievous, but according to folklore, they offered three wishes to humans who trapped them. The problem was, those wishes often came with consequences.

  I hadn't trapped Mr. Green Suit, and he'd only given me one wish. Though technically it was something I wished for, I hadn't done so with him. He’d just offered. So, his leprechaun-ness didn't match up to folklore, and that piqued my curiosity. A lot.

  I sent Mel a text. "Did you know leprechauns grant wishes to humans?"

  Her response came in seconds. "Did you know they're not real?"

  "I'm talking about in folklore."

  "Stop googling. It always gets me in trouble when you do."

  She had a point, but I ignored it. "I'm educating myself. I can't get to the bottom of this without knowledge."

  "And everything you read on the Internet is true, right?"

  Sometimes Mel was like my kids, using my words against me. "You googled them first."

  "That's different. You're the smart, calm friend in this relationship. I'm the crazy, paranoid one."

  "There is that," I added a laughing emoji. "Here's the thing though. They grant wishes when a human has them trapped, so they can be released. Three wishes."

  "Are you trapping creepy little men in green suits and not telling me? That's a sick fetish. I kinda like it."

  "Trust me; if you could see this guy, you wouldn't. Seriously though, none of what's going on fits the folklore."

  "Because leprechauns aren't real."

  I thought about that for a second. "I think you're right."

  "???"

  I needed to spend more time thinking about things, and I knew Aaron was there, so I told her I'd fill her in later.

  Jake came out and hung with me on the deck. I hadn't told him about Mr. Green Suit, so I gave him the run down. The beer can almost made it to his lips, but he froze. "A leprechaun?" The can finally made it to his mouth.

  "Sounds ridiculous, I know."

  "Babe, over the past few years I've realized when it comes to you, nothing is ridiculous."

  "Aw, I think that was a compliment, so, thank you."

  He winked. "You're welcome."

  "The thing is, he's not following folklore, so I'm not sure what to think." I explained what I'd read, and what Mr. Green Suit was doing.

  "So, he hasn't asked you for three wishes?"

  "Nope."

  "And I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but just in case, you don't have him trapped in a bottle or anything, right?"

  "Genie's get trapped in bottles. I don't know how leprechauns are trapped, actually."

  He nodded. "Well, seems you might have an imposter on your hands."

  I leaned forward and nodded. "Exactly. So, now I've got to figure out how to out him."

  Jake leaned toward me and smiled. "That's my girl." He kissed my forehead. "Glad to see that sparkle in your eye again. I've missed it."

  I kissed his lips. They were soft and mushy, just how I loved them. "You always make my eyes sparkle." I kissed him again, that time, deeper. "And make other parts of my body do things, too."

  A slow smile spread across his face. "I'd like to do some of that now."

  I took the beer can from his hand, placed it on the fire pit and then stood. I grabbed his hand. "I'd like you to, too."

  It was his eyes that sparkled next. "Hmm."

  I led him to the door. "Just watch my ribs."

  "I'll be gentle."

  "That's just how I love it."

  And he was. And I loved it.

  * * *

  I spent the next day at Mel's, counting out hundreds of green M&Ms® and stuffing them into little pink silk bags. "How many more of these do we have to make?"

  "I sent out two hundred invitations this mornin
g, and based on my estimate, probably about two hundred."

  "Two hundred invites? Aaron said you had sixty."

  She smirked. "He had sixty. I did the other hundred and forty. You gotta be literal when you talk to men, you know?"

  I laughed. "Good point." I pulled the string tabs on another bag. "You sent those out kind of late though, considering the wedding is in two weeks. Come to think of it; you're a little behind on everything."

  She tied a pink ribbon around the top of a bag. "I'm not late; I'm efficient. Besides, I'm secretly hoping most of the people can't make it."

  I snorted. "What? Why?"

  She set down the bag and looked me in the eye. "You know my mother. She gave me a list of relatives and friends I've never met. I don't want those people at my wedding, so I'm hoping with such late notice, they won't be able to make it."

  I raised my eyebrows. "Ah, you're not only pretty, but you're also smart, too."

  "Obviously. Only my mother's smarter. She's already called and emailed the details to everyone on the list two days after I told her the date and location."

  "You come by your deviousness naturally."

  "Unfortunately." She moved the box full of table treat bags aside and cut more ribbon. "God." She dropped the ribbon and scissors. "I'm getting married in two weeks. Can you believe it?"

  "You're going to be Mrs. Detective Aaron Banner. Is that how you say it?"

  "I don't know, but it sounds freaking awesome."

  "It does, doesn't it?" I brought an M&M up to my mouth out of habit but threw it in the bag before it made it inside. "You deserve happiness, and you definitely got a keeper this time."

  "I'm the luckiest woman alive."

  My mind went back to the night before and lying in Jake's arms after making love. The soft passion, his gentle touch, his sultry voice, and how he got up afterward to let Gracie out so I could stay in bed. "Me, too."

  Mel held my hands. "I'm so lucky to have you as my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without you." She squeezed my hands. "I'm sorry I upset you yesterday. You know I love you."

  "Don't worry about it. We're good. We'll always be good." I meant that, too. Mel and I were in it for the long haul, and I wanted her to know that. "We're not always going to agree, but that's okay. That's what family does, and you're family to me. That's why I can be pissed off at you one minute and laughing with you the next. That's not going to change, I promise."