A Beautiful New Life (12 page)

She arrived early to complete the hiring packet
. When that was completed, she went to the
area she would be working. They walked through a door marked Office of Vital Statistics and to a cubicle with files piled high on the desk and surrounding floor.

“This is where you’ll be working. Edith
will be your
supervisor and will be in soon.
She’ll
do your training. You came at the perfect time. Of
course,
it’s
only temporary but you’ll be here for a while
;
there’s a lot to be done. If you prove to be a hard worker the job could
turn into a permanent position.”

“Thank you I’ll do my best.” She stood at the desk fidgeting with her hands when Edith came in and introduced herself to Megan. “We’re going paperless and need our paper copies scanned into the new computer system.”

“Sounds exciting.”
She said,
her voice show
ing
her true feelings.

             
“Oh it won’t be that bad. You
won’t
be just scanning but also categorizing and sorting.
You’ll
find out soon that nothing’s ever as easy as it seems. Poor planning is my thought on that.”

             
Edith
turned and walked down the hall
with Megan following
,
she led her to the file room. “These are all done alphabetically but you’ll need to enter them so we can cross reference by year of birth, marriage, death, etc. Do you understand so far?”

             
“Yes, I think so.” Megan was unsure if she was capable of doing this simple sounding task.

             
“Let’s grab a file and do the first one together.” They walked back to her desk and Edith showed her how to use the scanner and what data to put where in the computer.

             
“So when did you start using this system? It doesn’t look like there is much data in it.” She
said. Her voice now
calm,
as she
was getting more comfortable with the
task
.

             
“Well we fiddled with it for the last month or so but no one really had an idea on how to do it. That is why
you’re
here. You scored well on your aptitude test in database management so here you go. This is your baby now, do what you want.”

Megan was excited. She was so tired of learning what everyone else already knew, it did her ego good to know she could do something no one else wanted or knew how to do. She set to work scanning and entering the data. Most files she had to redo several times as she was getting familiar with the fields that required data and where that data was located in the files.
Nevertheless, b
efore she knew
it
Edith told her to pack it up
that
it was time to go home. Megan had not even taken a break for lunch. She had kept busy perfecting how she was going to complete this job. She logged out of the computer and shut it down as Edith had instructed and walked out the front door to find Michael waiting for her by his
truck
.

She grinned from ear to ear and had to restrain herself from running to him. She walked the short d
istance from the door to the truck
parked along the curb. He greeted her with a gentle
hug then helped her
get
in
the truck
.
She got in and watched as he glided around
the front of the truck
and got in beside her.

“
So how was your first day?”

“It was really good. Complicated at first but after entering a few files and making so
me changes I think I got it
.” She would rather be doing other things than talking right now but knew it would happen in time.

“So what is it that they have you doing?” He pulled away from the curb and
as the old truck chugged along
toward the center of town
,
Megan explained what they were having her do.

“Interesting.”
It w
as all he said as they pulled up to Patsy’s Diner for dinner. Megan was enjoying watching him and did not put much thought into why he thought it was interesting. They entered the restaurant and
Patsy immediately greeted Michael
. She walked with grace through the crowded tables. Some of the gray hair she had pulled back found their escape and she pulled them back again pinning them down
with a silver bobby pin
. She grabbed Michael into a big bear hug and then stepped back so he could make the introductions. She shook Megan’s hand and showed them to the best table in the house. Always reserved for him she had said. They ordered and while waiting for their food chatted about their day.

“So I’m glad you’re enjoying your new job. Do you think you’ll be there a while?” He chewed on some of the cheese biscuits Patsy brought them.

“I’m hoping so. I
don’t
like it at the dorm and would really like to find a place of my own.
So a permanent job would help with that.
” She took a sip of her water.

“Why don’t you like the dorm?” As soon as the question came
out,
he realized what the problem could be.
However,
the answer he got was not one he had expected.

“Well Mark gives me the creeps.” She shuddered at the memory from just this morning.

“What do you mean? What does he do?” He
set
the biscuit
down
and focused his attention on her.

“Well.” Patsy came now with their dinner and she paused until she had walked away. “He is always around
my room
. I come out of my room in the morning and he is there. I come home at night he is there.”

“He’s the manager.”

“I know but it’s not like that. When I say he is there, he is literally at my door when I walk out in the morning and I feel he is watching and waiting for me to come home and he greets me at the door and walks me to my room.” She took a sip of her water. “He stands real close and tries to put his arm around me.”

“Do you want me to say something to him?”

“Would you? I tried but he just isn’t getting the message.”

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Okay?” He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Everything will be okay.”

“Thanks.” She squeezed his hand back.
“Hey when you squeezed my hand did you feel this lump here.” She rubbed the spot between her thumb and index finger. “I don’t know what it is. Most days it doesn’t bug me but some days it feels really obvious.”

“Here, let me see.” He reached for her hand. He was sure that he knew what she was feeling. “I’m sure it is just some scar tissue. It’s not red or swollen so I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“Thanks, I just needed to make sure it wasn’t anything serious.”

T
hey finished
their dinner and
said goodnight to Patsy
.
Micha
el drove Megan back to her room,
parked the
truck
,
and walked her to the door and as she had told
him,
there was Mark waiting for her.

“Well you’re out late on a weeknight.” He held the door open
for her to enter.

“I’m not sure if that is any of your
business.” She responded to him as she passed by him.

He ignored her response and turned to Michael. “Goodnight Michael.” He shut the door and turned to Megan. “Here let me walk you to your room.” He tried to take her arm but she pulled away and had to walk fast to keep a step ahead of him. She reached her room and
with her
shaky
hand unlocked the door. She entered the room
,
turned
,
and said goodnight to Mark. He held his arm out as she tried to shut him out.

“You know I have a master key to all the rooms.” He removed his arm and walked back down the hall toward the stairs. Megan shut the door and locked it, shaken by what he s
aid. She walked across the room, g
rabbed the chair from the desk
,
and jimmied it under the doorknob. She sat down on the bed watching the door.

Clink. Clink. What
is
that noise? Megan turned around and listened again. Clink. It was coming from outside. She walked over to the window and could make out the silhouette of someone in the trees. She pushed open the window and the smile on her face brightened the night. Michael climbed in and took Megan in his arms. She was happy to see him but Mark’s words where haunting her and she started to shake and then the tears came.

“Hey what’s wrong?” He pulled back keeping his arms on her shoulders. She told him what Mark said to her. He pulled her close. She felt so safe in his arms and the tears quickly dried up. They sat on her bed and decided on the best way to handle him. Michael wanted to go down to his office now and set him straight but he knew that would just cause more trouble for them than for Mark. The clock chimed ten and he got up to leave. They both agreed that their relationship
started
to
o
quick and decided it best to slow it
down.

She walked him to the window and kissed him goodnight. He climbed out and she watched until he was safely on the ground before closing the window. She climbed into bed and fell asleep thinking of him.

Chapter
Eleven

“Good morning Megan, do you want to grab some breakfast with me and then walk over to Genesee Mall and check out that new clothing store?” Gwen was ten years younger than Megan
was
. She was finishing her last year of college and had moved into the dorms two years earlier trying to escape her parents’ tight hold and always seeing eyes. Of course, the dorm had rules that the parents agreed with so they allowed her to move there, but she had big plans once she finished school. She wanted to get out of Genesee. Gwen lived in the room adjoined to Megan’s by the bathroom they shared. They became fast friends, with Megan thinking of her like a younger sister.

“I don’t know about this morning.” Megan put down the basket of laundry she was carrying.

“Wow you look like crap Megan.
What’s
going on with you? You feel okay?” Gwen came up to her and put her hand on her forehead.

“Yah, I’m okay.” She laughed but she could not hide the anxiety she was feeling.
“Just not getting a lot of sleep that’s all.”

“Is it the nightmares again?” She bent down and picked up the laundry basket. “Come on let me help you with your laundry and we can talk.” They walked down the stairs to the laundry room and while Megan threw a load of laundry into the washing machine, she told Gwen about some of the dreams she had been having.

“I just don’t know if they are just dreams or memories.” She poured the soap into the machine and shut the lid. “As much as I want to remember, I don’t want these to be them. They are frightening.”

“Do you see anyone in your dreams?” They both sat down on a nearby bench.

“No, it’s just a cold dark concrete cell.
I’m
dressed in gray sweatpants and a t-shirt. It just feels more like a memory than a dream.”

“Why do you say that?” Gwen was holding Megan’s shak
y
hand.

“Well I remember in the dream I was trying to rationalize where I was. But I wasn’t speaking in the dream; it was like I was in my head in the dream, remembering where I should have been opposed to where I was.”

“So what was it you remembered? In your dream, I mean.” Gwen believed in dreams. It was a particular dream of hers that set he
r rebellion against her parents,
a dream of tall buildings and an endless ocean. There were no such things here in Genesee and she was determined to leave to find this place.

“Jumping on a king size bed like a kid.” She smiled at the memory; the feeling of freedom was real.

“Well maybe you should go see your doctor. Maybe they can help you with either pulling these memories out of your head, if they are memories; or helping you with your nightmares if that is what in fact they are.” Gwen pulled Megan into a hug. “I hope you find out either way. I don’t like you looking this way.”

“Thanks Gwen, you’re a good friend.” Megan gave her a warm hug.
“How about lunch later?”

“Sounds good.”
Gwen said as she got up and left Megan to finish her laundry.  Megan thought about what Gwen said and went back up to her room to get the number to her doctor’s office. She hesitated in her room and wondered if she should wait until Monday to give him a call. It was not that it was the weekend, she knew he would be there; but that she would have to
use the phone in Mark’s office and she was not in t
he mood to deal with him today, b
ut the urge to know if these dreams where real or not was too great. She left her room to head downstairs and ran literally into Mark.