Changed by Time

by Zoe Matthews

  Megan thought for a second. “You’re absolutely right. I’m so glad you are doing things just for fun. You have always deserved to take care of yourself like this.”

  “Thanks, honey. That is sweet of you to say,” Barbara smiled. “Now, let’s get this shop opened.”

  They set to work and quickly finished getting the shop ready to open, chatting easily to each other while they worked. Megan asked questions about the salon and mentioned that she had made an appointment there for herself for the day before her wedding.

  The day passed quickly, Barbara’s cheerful mood carrying through the day without any negativity or self-doubt. Before she knew it, it was time for her to leave for her pottery class. She waved to Megan, who was busy with a customer at the register, and walked out the door to her car.

  The drive to the class was short, so she had enough time to stop and get a burrito for dinner before she arrived. She knew if she didn’t eat now, she would get hungry quickly during the two-hour class.

  As she pulled open the door to the art studio, she could instantly smell oil paints and clay in the air. A woman who introduced herself as the teacher greeted her and invited her to join the other women. Her confidence slowly seeped out of her as she realized that the other women had been attending the class for at least a few weeks, and already knew each other. All of them were talking as they got their supplies ready for the class. A few smiled at her, but none of them made an effort to talk to her.

  She gripped the locket around her neck tightly. The connection she felt with the locket somehow gave her courage, and she walked farther into the room to find a seat. The women were already setting up their tables with various objects, tools, and big blocks of clay. Barbara saw that some of these women were really good at what they did; one of the women had a tall vase in front of her and was scratching designs into the side of it. It was spectacular, and she hadn’t even painted it yet. Another woman had a set of plates in front of her. Barbara wondered if she had signed up for the right class.

  She took a deep breath, and found an empty seat, promising herself that she would have fun whether she made anything that looked good or not.

  After she sat in an empty chair, the teacher asked, “Are you Barbara Conway or Mary Anne Wilson? We have two new students starting this evening.”

  “I’m Barbara,” she replied, relieved that she wasn’t the only new person today.

  “Nice to meet you. My name is Joanna, but you can call me Jo. There should be one more woman on her way, so do you mind waiting a minute before I explain what you need to get started?” The teacher seemed fun, energetic, and kind.

  “No problem,” Barbara responded just as the door opened again and another woman walked in. This woman looked to be a few years younger than herself and seemed harried.

  “Sorry I’m late.” She sat down next to Barbara with a huff. “Traffic was worse than I thought it would be.”

  “No worries. You must be Mary Anne?” Jo asked.

  When the woman next to her nodded, Jo proceeded to hand out the basic tools and clay they would need to get started. She suggested they make small bowls or teacups today, just to get a feel for the clay.

  The two hours passed quickly and Barbara was very disappointed when it was time to clean up. She had enjoyed working with clay more than she’d thought she would. Jo had shown her how to make a bowl. Barbara had already decided that when she finished the bowl, if it looked decent enough, she would use it to hold fruit on her kitchen table.

  Most of the women were friendly, but Barbara spent most of her time talking to Mary Ann. She was also single, having gone through a divorce just a few months ago, and was raising two sons on her own. Her sons visited their father on Monday’s and Mary Anne had joined the class to give herself something to look forward to while her sons were gone for the evening.

  Very quickly, Barbara learned that Mary Anne did not enjoy her current job and was looking for a new one. Barbara made a spur of the moment decision and offered Mary Anne a job in her shop. She had been thinking about hiring someone to help out since Megan was getting married. Mary Anne was very interested and accepted Barbara’s card, promising to call her soon.

  ****

  Later that evening, Barbara opened a can of soup and poured it into a pot to heat up. The burrito she had bought hadn’t lasted long and she was still hungry. She smiled as she thought about her pottery class. It was nice to make a friend and try something new.

  Once the soup was warm enough, she poured it into a bowl and grabbed a slice of sourdough bread from her pantry. As she settled down to eat, her smile slowly faded. She had enjoyed meeting new people, but it still didn’t change the fact that she was alone. She ate alone, watched movies alone, and slept alone.

  She shook her head, determined not to feel too sorry for herself. Give it some time, she reminded herself.

  Once she had been to the class several times, maybe she could get to know Mary Anne well enough to go out to dinner together after the class was over.

  She finished her soup, and washed out her bowl before going to sit on her couch to read the book she had bought the other day. If anything could take her mind off of being lonely, it was a book. She loved to read and spent most of her free time with books. The book she was reading was a historical fiction about a young girl who left her family to become a Harvey Girl waitress at a restaurant along the Santa Fe Railroad in the late 1800s. Barbara loved how historical stories came to life with creative characters and enjoyed the romance in the book as well.

  She jumped when she heard a knock on the door. Her heart pounded, and she tried to laugh at herself. No one ever knocked on her door unless it was a salesman. She glanced at the clock as she stood up and saw that it was after ten. It was too late for salesmen to be out.

  She looked through to peephole in her door, but didn’t see anyone. That’s strange, she thought to herself.

  She cracked the door open to see if someone was there, but standing out of sight. When she didn’t see anyone, she started to shut the door, but stopped short when she saw a sealed manila envelope with her name scrawled on the front on the ground in front of her door. A sinking feeling settled at the bottom of her stomach.

  This couldn’t be good.

  Nervous that someone was waiting for her to step out of her condo, she just reached an arm through the door and snatched the envelope. She closed and locked the door quickly before she walked over to the table to open the envelope. A pile of photos fell to the table. They were all of her. Her hand shook as she looked them.

  There were pictures of her at the grocery store and getting in and out of her car outside of her condo. She saw some of her going into the art studio she’d had her class at just that evening, and one of her having lunch with Megan just a few days ago.

  The room started to spin around her, so she sat down in a chair. Who would do something like this? She had a sneaking suspicion that she knew, but she wanted to find proof.

  She looked in the envelope again, checking to see if there was anything else inside, like a note, but it was now empty. She looked more closely at the pictures, even as they made her stomach heave. She could see the corner of every picture was signed G.M. in black marker. It didn’t surprise her to see the initials. George Manning. It wasn’t the first time she had received messages from that man, although none had felt as threatening as these pictures did.

  She knew George hadn’t been happy with her when she’d refused his offer, or more like demand, of marriage. But he had backed off. After she had moved her shop out of his building, she thought she had seen the last of him. Then the night before her new shop opened, he had left her a threatening note on the porch letting her know that “it wasn’t over.” Ever since then, she would receive a similarly vague, yet threatening note from him every couple of weeks. Most of them just let her know he hadn’t forgotten about her. Sometimes they would hint that he was going to find her parents, or Megan’s father and tell them where she was. One o
f the notes threatened that he was going to talk to Megan herself, but she knew George hadn’t contacted her daughter. Megan would have told Barbara if she had heard from him.

  Barbara saved all the notes, but had done her best to stop worrying about them. She didn’t think George would be able to find out who her parents were or who Megan’s father was. When she left Texas all those years ago, she had legally changed her name. She never told anyone what her birth name was or where she grew up. She had never actually seen Mr. Manning when he delivered the notes, and she had finally decided that he was just a deranged, lonely man. Most likely he would eventually forget about her.

  She had started feeling like nothing would come of it. After all, it had been almost six months since she had moved her shop from his building to Keegan’s home. She figured he would have followed through with his threats by now if he had wanted to. Now she realized how naive she had been. George had been watching her, taking pictures of her, for months.

  She looked at the clock, surprised that it was almost eleven o’clock. How long had she been sitting here staring at the photos? She shoved the pictures back in the envelope. She went into her bedroom and found the stack of notes from him she had been saving and put those inside the envelope as well. Then she put it in her bag. It was time to do something about George’s harassment. She would go to the police tomorrow.

  She tried to calm herself down by taking a hot shower, but she was still shaking by the time she got out. She climbed into bed, only to stare wide-eyed at the ceiling. Was George Manning outside of her condo now? What was he planning? Surely if he was going to follow through with his threats, he would have done so by now. She didn’t know what he had in mind for her. All she knew was that it wasn’t going to be good.

  Chapter 5

  Weary-eyed and tired, Barbara cleaned her breakfast dishes in the sink. She hadn’t slept much the night before. She hadn’t been able to stop imagining whatever George Manning had planned for her. As the night wore on, the images in her head had only grown more gruesome and terrifying. She didn’t think George had it in his heart to do anything truly horrific; however, she didn’t want to take any chances. She knew she had to report everything to the police. In her mind, George was stalking her. She only hoped the police would take her seriously and not treat her like she was overreacting.

  Looking around her apartment, she tried to think of anything else she should do before she left. She admitted she was stalling; she didn’t want to leave her condo when George was likely outside, watching from some hidden spot. She sighed as she realized her apartment was spotless and she had everything she needed for the day.

  She gripped the locket again for courage, as she had been doing all morning, and turned the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, she allowed the light of the morning sun make her feel better. She locked the door behind her and tried not to run to her car. She didn’t want to give George the satisfaction of knowing he had frightened her, even if it was true.

  She started to breathe a little easier as she drove to work. She would soon be with Megan and Keegan in her shop that had the calmest atmosphere she knew. She would be safe there.

  The rest of the morning passed quickly. She knew Megan could tell she was acting odd, but knew better than to push her mother for answers. Barbara was a very introverted person and only talked to Megan about things that were bothering her after she’d had several days to process them herself.

  Megan walked into the shop after driving to a nearby deli for sandwiches. “I have lunch,” she informed Barbara and Keegan as she smiled at her mother.

  Keegan came in from the other room where he had been bagging herbs for various teas. “Great, I am starving. There aren’t any customers at the moment. Barbara, why don’t you eat lunch with us, too?”

  Usually, they ate lunch in shifts. Keegan had been a doctor in his time. He couldn’t have his own practice in 2016 because he didn’t have the correct schooling, so he helped Barbara with the herbs in the shop. He also took care of the entire Victorian home, including the landscape around the yard.

  Barbara smiled. She really was so glad Megan had met Keegan. He was such a good man; he always made sure those around him were happy and felt included. “That would be wonderful. Thank you, Keegan.”

  Barbara grabbed her bag from under her desk so she could check her phone for messages. Megan smiled at the sight of her bag. It was a large bag that could hold almost anything she could think of. Megan had always teased her that she could be stranded on an island with her purse and survive comfortably with everything she kept in there. Not only did Barbara keep everyday items in it, like makeup, lip balm, and her wallet, but she also kept a backup battery for her phone and tablet, a small solar panel to charge the battery if needed, a small flashlight, a package of dried fruit and jerky, a water bottle, and even a change of clothing. Of course, Megan didn’t know the real reason Barbara felt the need to keep so many things with her. But it was a practice Barbara had started after she’d been left on the side of the road by Megan’s father. She never wanted to be in a position where she couldn’t take care of herself or of Megan.

  “Keegan, did I tell you Mom’s idea for wedding decorations?” Megan asked, smiling as she described Barbara’s idea of fabric and lights.

  Keegan listened politely; Barbara knew he respected Megan enough to humor her in her excitement, but he didn’t really care about any of it. He wouldn’t care if they just went to a courthouse, or if they had a huge expensive wedding. All he really cared about was getting married to her.

  They all settled at a table in their cafe for lunch. Barbara enjoying listening to Megan and Keegan talk easily to each other about their plans for the wedding. She took a bite of her ham sandwich, not expecting to eat much of it. She was still nervous about George and did not have much of an appetite.

  “Mom, you never told me how your pottery class went yesterday,” Megan said after a lull in the conversation.

  Barbara stiffened. She had loved the class itself, but now felt uncomfortable knowing that George had been close by the entire time. “Oh, it was fine. I’m not very good at it.” Barbara tried to laugh.

  “It was only your first class; I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it. I still think it’s great you are finally taking some time to yourself.” Megan smiled at her.

  Barbara smiled back, but didn’t say anything else. Instead, she reached into her bag to get her phone since she had heard it ping that she had received a text. Somehow, when she was pulling her hand out, the envelope of notes and pictures fell out. The envelope hadn’t been sealed, and the contents scattered across the floor.

  The atmosphere in the room became tense as Megan saw them. She got down on her hand and knees to start looking through them. “Mom, what are these?” Her voice was quiet.

  Barbara didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to worry her daughter right before her wedding, but didn’t know if Megan would believe anything but the truth. Plus, since she was planning on going to the police, Megan and Keegan needed to know.

  “They are from George Manning.” She started shaking again as all of her fears came rushing back, though she tried to hide it.

  “‘Don’t think this is over?’ ‘You’d better not forget where you came from?’” Megan’s voice grew louder with every note she read. “And all of these pictures? Mom, why didn’t you tell me he was stalking you?”

  “I didn’t realize it was this serious until last night,” Barbara admitted.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “Ever since we opened this new shop. He had only left vague threats until now, and I didn’t think he would actually follow through with any of them.” Barbara tried to defend herself, but she knew she should have taken them more seriously from the start. “Last night, he left those pictures outside of my door. I am taking everything to the police today to file a report.”

  “Good. You should have filed a report months ago. Have you seen him at all?” Megan asked, moving
back to the chair next to Barbara, and grabbed her hand. Her eyes were tense with worry.

  “Megan, I don’t want you to worry about this. I haven’t seen him and he hasn’t called. I don’t think he even knows how to follow through on these threats. You remember how he was.”

  Megan just looked at her incredulously.

  Keegan cleared his throat. “If I’m remembering right, Mr. Manning was your landlord at your last location?” he asked looking at the two women.

  Barbara nodded. “Yes. He tried to force me into a marriage by threatening me with a much higher rent if I didn’t. When I found a new location, and didn’t have to stay in his building, he was upset. I just didn’t realize how upset he actually was.”

  “I think you should stay here in one of the spare bedrooms for the time being,” Keegan responded after a moment of thought. “Since I’m still living here, you won’t be alone. You shouldn’t be alone at night with this man following you around.”

  Megan practically melted with relief. “Yes, that would be perfect. We can go pick up all of your things today after we close up. I will come with you.”