Chapter-6

Miranda turned over the pink card and placed it on the kitchen counter. The very appearance of the dumb paper managed to send a chill down her spine.

Dina was staring at her, tapping a manicured finger on the black granite.

“Who in the world would send this? Not Michael, because he is pretty much dead. Not me, because if I can, I would delete everything that has got anything to do with him. Not your parents, of course. This is a stupid prank, Miranda.” She said as she picked up the card, tossing it about.

“I don’t know.” Miranda stared down at her hands, worried.

“Anyone from your office maybe?”

Kim. She was the only person from work who knew about Miranda’s past relationship. Kim’s recent behavior had got Miranda thinking of this as a possibility. Liam was most probably Kim’s former flame and she could have been well infuriated by the pace at which Miranda and Liam were becoming friends. Obviously, she could do such sort of a thing. But Kim was a pretty sensible woman. It was so unlike her.

“There is this girl, Kim.” Miranda started then bit her lips, wondering if her direction of suspicion was even valid.

She told Dina about Kim’s behavior and what she thought about her relationship with Liam.

“Maybe she wants you to stay away from her lover boy. Who knows, she might still be in love with him.” Dina shrugged and popped a gum into her mouth.

It still felt very much unlike Kim.

Miranda stared down at the card once more. The piece of paper was the exact replica of the first gift Michael ever gave her. It was one of those rare occasions when Michael would think of her. Michael had invited her with him to the Country Club Fair which was usually the largest fair in the town every year. He was supposed to go there with his high school friends but for some time clashing reasons, the plans got canceled. Miranda had agreed to come along and they had a very perfect evening, hunting the crowded stalls and the food and game counters. Later that evening, when they had sat down relaxing beside the lake, which was as crowded as the rest of the fair, Michael had brought out the gift for her.

“Pretty heavy.” Miranda had giggled as she weighed the wrapped cube on her hand.

“Open it. And ignore the wrapping, okay? It isn’t easy hiding, buying and wrapping a gift in a place like this, that too when you are around.” Michael seemed exhausted and enthusiastic at the same time.

“Of course.”

The wrapping came off easily; Michael had done such a bad job at it, and it made Miranda laugh so hard. She had found it excessively cute of him.

A tiny crystal globe lay on her lap, which enclosed two tiny teddy bears, one pink and one blue, looking at each other. A small pile of fine white balls laid at their feet, immobile. 

A pink card lay beside it: “WITH LOVE, MICHAEL.”

Michael had been searching the box for quite some time. Finally he came up with a tiny key.

“Watch this.” He had inserted the key into a keyhole at the base of the globe.

Miranda watched on as the bears moved in a circle over the rotating base, with the tiny balls blown around, imitating snowfall. A very soothing tune played from the speaker of her little gift, and she was well aware of the other couples staring at them both.

“Like it?” Michael had smiled, his gray eyes full of life.

“Love it.” Miranda had laughed.

The card now lay worthless on the kitchen counter, posing more as a threat than a good memory.

“Maybe someone picked it up from the trash where you threw all your old junk?” Dina suggested.

“That is the thing. I never threw that stuff away.”

Suddenly it clicked to her. Of course, she never threw that gift away! She remembered keeping both the card and the gift safely in her old case of toys from her baby years. She had been so fond of this one gift; she never even gave a thought about discarding it.

“I need to check.”

“Wait a second. You never ditched it? You crazy or what?” Dina called out but Miranda quickly got up and left the kitchen.

Once in her room, she opened her cupboard and started pulling out her old stuff. Pretty soon, the wooden brown box appeared underneath a pile of worn-out blankets. Quickly holding her breath and dropping herself on her knees on the carpet, she clawed at the rusted latch that held the box together. It opened up easily, which was unusual. The last time she had pulled out this box was almost three years ago and she had to practically get her dad’s screw driver to get the box open because it wouldn’t have bulged otherwise.

Shaking off her initial fears, she dived into what seemed like an easier way of finding out. The globe came out quick enough, still in an almost similar condition as she had last left it. The golden paint of the base though, had been chipped off and instead revealed the rusted metal underneath. After a few more attempts, she finally came up with the rusted key. Winding the key into the keyhole didn’t help at all; in fact it got stuck. The battery was dead.

She pulled out all her toys- a rabbit, the talking monkey, the video game she had made her father get her at the local book fair-and a lot more, but no card.

She had been so sure it was exactly at the same place as the gift. There was no way it would have got out, unless someone was so desperate that they would deliberately break into the house just to pull out the card.

Dina appeared at the door of her room just then, making a face at the mess on the floor.

“Found your ‘precious’ yet?” Dina rolled her eyes, her voice coated with sarcasm.

“It’s not here.” Miranda said, covering her mouth with the back of her hand nervously.

“Come on, babe. Stop stressing over minor things. It is just a stupid prank. The person probably has got a camera installed somewhere around here, and he must be laughing his head off right now.” Dina laughed.

Miranda glared at her best friend even though her mind still replayed her last lines.

“Just kidding, Miranda.”

But to Miranda, nothing felt like a joke right now. If anything, the card felt like the first clue- the very first reminder that the shadows of her past were still lurking in her present.

Chapter-5

Miranda was sitting with Kim Houston at the office cafeteria, a pair of untouched sandwiches lying on the table. Kim was busy typing on her calculator and noting it down on a notepad placed on the table while Miranda sat leaning back, devoid of any sort of appetite. She wiped her eyes with her palm, trying to wipe away the sleep off her eyes. The two consecutive sleepless nights hadn’t been too helpful.

“You okay?” Kim had asked once, trying to appear concerned but unfortunately the poor girl was so full of work, she had hardly any time to look up from her calculations. Being the accountant, Kim Houston had hardly much time for her colleagues.

“I am okay.” Miranda had smiled and gestured her to continue with her work.

That was when he walked in. Liam Hunter. Miranda had heard about him a few weeks ago already, when the guy joined the company but this was the first time she was seeing him in person. He seemed like an easy guy; everyone seemed to like him. Dark hair and light brown eyes with casual stubble, he had a certain grace about him that captured Miranda’s eyes in the first place. He wasn’t laughing or too expressional but his dimpled smile was too perfect to go unnoticed.

“Don’t waste your time on him, Miranda. He is not worth it.” Kim’s sudden voice startled her and Miranda turned to see she had Kim’s full attention.

“Sorry. What?”

“Have known him since I was eight. I won’t say he is bad, but he isn’t really into girls like us.” She said gesturing with her fingers at Miranda and herself.

It occurred to Miranda that Kim was hiding something, like some sort of broken relationship between her and Liam. But the girl had a poker face and it was hard to read her expressions.

“I will be careful.” Miranda smiled and nodded.

Two days later, she was sharing the same table with Liam, Kim and Carlos, another of her not-so-familiar colleagues.

It occurred to Miranda that Liam and she had a lot of things in common. He was an artist, just like her. The guy had an amazing taste in music; he practically knew all about her favourite singers and more. Liam was from the same town as her cousin Julie, so the conversation turned very homely because it seemed like he knew almost every member from her family.

“Julie and I are the bestest of friends, among the whole lot of best friends.” Liam laughed as he described her parents and even went as far as describing their dog Roger, quoting him as the ‘naughtiest dog he has ever met.’ He knew everything.

“Julie adores Roger, so as you know. She would be mad if she hears this.” Miranda laughed, shaking her head.

“Oh, I tell her this all the time. She doesn’t seem to mind anymore.”

Kim, on the other hand, seemed way too distant. She constantly avoided Liam’s friendly questions and diverted her attention to Carlos who seemed to enjoy it. It kept coming to Miranda that even though Liam pretended to look okay with it, he was actually getting cheesed off every time Kim succeeded in ignoring him.

After her work hours, Liam had walked her to her car and somehow she was starting to get comfortable in his presence. He seemed like an easy talker, and he knew how to converse without making it awkward. Miranda like the way he managed to carry the talk without excluding either of them in the conversation, and he had a sense of homeliness about him.

“So I will see you tomorrow?” Liam said, as Miranda got seated inside her car.

“Sure.” She smiled, full of hope.

Driving back home, she had a sense of feeling that what she was doing might not end well. Every action of hers reminded her of Michael. She couldn’t quite figure out why. Hers and Michael’s relationship had been on rocks after the first three or four months. Nothing about them had been romantic or worth thinking about, but she felt like a cheater. Not only that she didn’t regret Michael’s death, she was glad that she was seeing Liam. Not exactly seeing, no. But it seemed to her that maybe they had a chance together. And it was killing her.

When Michael first asked her out, she never thought it would ever ‘click’. Mike was too sophisticated for her. Or so she thought. He was cute, yes, but he had something unexplainable about him. Something really attractive. The trait seemed pretty close to a predator, luring his victim before finally hunting it down. She had regretted being with him but still had loved it when it all started. She had known about his anger issues from the start, but she had felt so confident back then. She had been so sure it won’t affect her, and Mike won’t even think about hurting her. She had been wrong all along.

Michael, Michael, Michael! That was all she had been thinking for a year. Even her parents’ divorce couldn’t affect her this way because she had been too busy covering her own bruises. At times, it had made her wonder what had she done to herself. Was it just Mike’s fault? Should she be held guilty for forgiving Michael when he first got the real guts to hit her?

Reaching home didn’t feel any safe either. Cutting off the engine she turned to pick her hand bag when the pink card tucked in her windshield caught her eye. How come she didn’t notice it before? How absorbed has she been lately?

She climbed out of her car, puzzled. It looked like a kid decided to pull some sort of dumb joke on her. Reaching out, she quickly pulled out the card. The breath knocked out of her lungs, she shakily dropped the card, bewildered.

It read : “WITH LOVE , MICHAEL.”