Patiently I Wait (3 page)

Julie’s dad was still working at the factory that he had been working for 32 years, but his position now didn’t require the hard work and stress that the factory floor had required. He was the regional manager now and now approved projects for his team to work on without having to do the actual labor.

They were much happier now and much less stressed about the monetary side of everything. Before hearing this Shannon was a little skittish about going over to Julie’s parents. Now that everything was out in the open about their situation it made everything seem better. The last few times Shannon had been over to their house it was very uncomfortable for her as Julie’s parents fought consistently, even in front of her friends.

“So they don’t argue about everything any longer?” Shannon was trying to reconfirm everything before getting back into an uncomfortable situation.

“No, they seem to be so much happier now.” Julie reassured Shannon.

As they drove deep into Michigan’s beautiful countryside, the girls kept remembering back and talking about their childhood as if they were little kids all over again. Laughing at memories that only they shared, they had forgotten all about the odd events of the last two days.

They were about twenty minutes away when Julie’s phone rang. She picked up quickly and started the conversation off with a quick, “Hello.”

She seemed to be listening much more than talking and getting quite frustrated with the fact that it was a one-sided conversation.

“Yes, I understand.” She said quickly, seeming to have to squeeze a word in before the person on the other end could get off another sentence.

She hung up the phone without saying anything else and slammed her phone down into her lap, obviously frustrated about the way the conversation went.

“What was all that about?” Shannon asked.

“Well, just when I thought my parents were okay, they are fighting again.” Julie said with a disgusted look on her face.

“We aren’t going over there anymore because my dad left the house earlier and won’t be back anytime soon most likely.”

“I’m sorry Julie, I really hate when this happens to you; it breaks my heart to see you upset like this.”

“Well, we can go over to my friend Megan’s for Christmas. She invited me over before I decided that I was going to attempt to see my parents.”

Shannon nodded, knowing that any place was probably better than their original destination. Since her parents are no longer in Michigan, there was no other choice in her mind.

It was only about ten minutes later that the girls pulled up to a massive white house with two driveways leading in, forming a circle in the front yard that was lit up with a sea of Christmas lights and decorations.

“Whose house is this again?” asked Shannon as she stared at the amazing home with fifteen or so cars parked along the beautiful front yard.

“I met this girl my first year in college.” Julie said, still with the sound of disappointment in her voice. “Her parents bought her this house when she graduated high school and it tends to be the hangout spot for all of my friends from here.”

Shannon could see why. A college student living in a house that looked like this wouldn’t have a hard time finding people to come over.

As they walked into the house, Shannon was even more astounded by the size of the house as it looked even bigger from the inside. The ceilings were at least twenty feet high and the walls were lined with expensive artwork. She could tell that Megan’s parents spoiled her quite a bit with almost unnecessary additions to the house. Julie closed the door behind them and picked her phone up to call Megan because in a house like this yelling might not even get her attention. She answered and directed them to go to the living room located in the back portion of the house.

Luckily Julie had been there before and knew her way around. Shannon would have gotten lost looking for anyone in the home if she made an attempt of her own. They made their way past the kitchen, four bedrooms, and an office type room before reaching the living room.

When they neared the area, Shannon was shocked at how many people were there. There were roughly thirty to forty people sitting in the living room eating and watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on a flat screen television. Shannon didn’t recognize anyone until she heard her name from behind her.

“Hey Shannon, it’s good to see you again!”

She spun around; wondering who it might have been.

The ability to speak literally left her as she saw the person that muttered the words.

It was Dan. Her ex-boyfriend that was taken out of the mysterious picture they kept seeing in odd places.

CHAPTER FIVE: CHRISTMAS GIFT

“What are you doing here Dan?” Shannon muttered, completely shocked to see him.

“Well, I am actually dating Megan now,” Dan confessed almost unwillingly it seemed.

They chatted for a moment, discussing how it was a small world that Dan was dating a girl that happens to be one of Julie’s good friends. Once Shannon understood he was in another relationship, it wasn’t as awkward as first thought. The only odd part about the situation was that he had shown up in a time where a picture that used to feature him was appearing in random places during the past few hours. She wanted to ask him if he remembered the picture, or had anything to do with the occurrences, but decided to keep things quiet in case he really had no idea. The likelihood that he was behind the whole ordeal was extremely unlikely anyhow as Dan was always calm, relaxed, and would never stir anything up like that. Their relationship had ended on a good note when she moved away for college. They parted ways simply because it wouldn’t be feasible to date any longer, not because they had a falling out or anything of the sort.

Upon seeing Dan, Shannon had tuned out the entire group of other people that were gathered in the living room for the occasion. She forgot anyone else was in the room until Julie pulled her over and introduced her to the crowd.

“This is my best friend Shannon everyone,” she said proudly. “We have been friends since I can remember and I want all of you guys to meet her.”

Shannon was slightly embarrassed about being the center of attention in a large crowd like this but smiled and waved to everyone as they greeted her. As they went back to watching television and eating, Julie came over to talk to Shannon.

“So, what do you think?” Julie asked.

“What do you mean?” Shannon said confused about Julie’s question. “What do I think about what?”

“The house, the people, and Dan…”

Shannon sort of chuckled as she answered, “It’s a little odd, but I don’t mind really. It’s very nice.”

Julie had known Dan was going to be there but kept that part of the scenario out of the discussion at first, knowing Shannon probably would have wanted to make other plans if she would have known. The fact that he was dating someone else in the house made it much less awkward since jealousy was not in Shannon’s heart to begin with.

“Have you thought anymore about the picture?” Julie asked, obviously a little worried about it still.

“Yes, and I just don’t understand who could be doing something like this,” uttered Shannon. “It was weird seeing Dan here after all of that happened, but there is no way he had anything to do with it.”

Before she headed back to North Carolina, Shannon was determined to prove that at the very least, someone was playing a joke on her. There were two parts of this that still didn’t make sense at all. The picture was in her house when she had left and she was positive she didn’t bring it with her, for there was no reason to do so. Julie was the only person she really knew still in Michigan and figured she couldn’t be pulling one over on her. It was scarier when she thought about it that way, but she needed to figure out what was going on before leaving.

The owner of the house and now Dan’s girlfriend, Megan, finally came out of the kitchen where she had been finishing off a big meal for everyone.

“Food’s ready!” Megan yelled.

Everyone got up and made their way to a formal dining room that could sit fifty people if it needed to do so. Before they sat down to eat, Shannon introduced herself to Megan, thanking her for allowing her to take part in the occasion.

“Any friend of Julie’s is a friend of mine,” Megan said politely, giving off a positive glow that Shannon loved.

She then reached her arms out to hug Shannon, pulling her in and giving her a hug that only friends give to others normally. Shannon did find it a little odd, but seeing how bubbly Megan was, it was really no surprise or anything to be alarmed about either.

The party of thirty or so sat down to a meal that must have taken hours to prepare. Dishes covered the massive table and anything you could think of was available. Everyone thanked Megan and began to eat quietly, occasionally bringing up a memory they all had shared to break the silence and get a laugh here and there. Shannon was slightly out of the loop and would chuckle along with everyone else just to stay in the picture. Megan kept looking up at her and smiling, knowing she must have felt awkward around so many people she didn’t know.

As everyone finished up their plates, Megan brought out a tray full of wine bottles to cap off the meal. They toasted to a good year so far and to what the next would bring. Shannon looked up at Megan as she finished the toast and nodded to her, showing that she agreed. Megan responded with a beautiful smile and a nod in return.

“Do you want to hang out here for a bit or go back to my place?” Julie asked while they were getting up from the table.

“We can stay here for a bit; there seems to be a good bit of wine that needs to be taken care of first,” Shannon responded with a chuckle.

The girls had always been pretty big into drinking and that didn’t seem like it wasn’t going to change anytime soon. So, they sat down with the rest of the crowd that was once again fixated on the television, and began to drink.

One thing that Shannon loved about drinking, wine specifically, was the openness she gained from it. Not being so reserved was easily accomplished after a few glasses of wine were consumed and she enjoyed the conversation it sparked.

“Does she always talk this much?” Megan asked, joking with Julie.

“Not at all,” She normally doesn’t say a word, but tonight is different for some reason. She seems to enjoy it here a lot more than anywhere I have seen her before. She just looks comfortable.”

“I really like her,” Megan said, “It is a little awkward that she dated Dan, but I can see why he liked her as well.”

“Yeah, they were pretty good together but they just had different goals in life, you know,” Julie stated.

Megan nodded as she said, “I totally understand that, and I am glad they were both mature about it.”

In the meantime, Shannon had drawn a crowd around her of about four young men, acting as if they were intently listening to Shannon ramble on about her life back in Durham. She failed to remember that boys of any type usually thought she was extremely attractive and didn’t really care about a thing she was saying. On the other end, Shannon didn’t really care. What the boys didn’t realize is that she had no interest in them and wasn’t going to be taken advantage of either. They got to sit and look at her as she talked about things that they didn’t care about. It was a win-win situation really.

As it neared midnight, people started to file out one by one, all wishing everyone happy holidays before disappearing out into the night.  With only six people left, including Megan, Dan, Julie, Shannon, and two college boys still drooling over Shannon, the night was coming to an end.

Megan walked over to the girls and sat down with them, pouring another glass of wine in each of their glasses.

“There are four extra bedrooms down stairs if you guys want to just stay here with me. This house gets lonely at night and having a sleepover would be fun. I don’t have to work tomorrow so we can stay up and continue this if you two want.”

Julie and Shannon were already quite drunk so the choice was easy for them.

“Sounds good to me,” said Shannon as she clinked her glass with Julie’s and then Megan’s.

“Girls night sounds like a lot of fun,” Julie added. “I’m in.”

Shannon realized that Megan had left a small detail out of the equation though and she felt a little awkward bringing it up.

“What about Dan?”

Megan giggled and whispered to Shannon, “He doesn’t stay here. We have only been dating for a couple weeks and it isn’t serious like that at all.”

Come to think of it, Shannon saw what Megan meant now that she mentioned it. They hadn’t really talked to each other, hugged, or kissed that she noticed. They went about their own ways and didn’t really acknowledge each other at all. She felt relieved in that aspect though, knowing Dan wouldn’t be there with the three girls the entire time. Not that Shannon didn’t like him, but it just wasn’t quite what she had bargained for when agreeing to stay at Megan’s house.

Just after midnight, the two young guys left the house and Dan followed short thereafter, giving Megan a peck on the cheek before heading out. After he walked out of the door, Megan turned to the girls and smiled, excited to have the rest of the night to themselves.

They spent the remainder of the night in front of the television in the living room watching Christmas movies, drinking wine, glass after glass, and talking about everything under the sun. Shannon saw why Julie had liked Megan. She was such a nice, down to Earth girl that shared many of the same interests that her and her best friend had in common.

It was nearing five in the morning and the girls were still chatting away when Julie said she was going to lie down. They had finished nearly two bottles of wine and the effects were starting to take their toll. Megan told Shannon she was okay to stay up a bit longer after she walked Julie to a room and would be back in a moment. Julie could hardly stand due to the effects of the alcohol so Shannon and Megan helped get her to the room that she would be in for the night. As they laid her down they both laughed as she was asleep before she even hit the bed. They quietly backed out of the room and walked back to the living room, laughing the entire time.