The Blue Purse

The Blue Purse

By JM. Blondin

July 19, 2015

The James E. Brown office building, thirty-four floors of concrete and steel wrapped in shimmering glass from top to bottom reflecting all the buildings around it. Standing on the sidewalk Jason is looking up at the heat waves that are causing the windows to seem to shimmer and move.

            Up the eight marble steps and into the air conditioning the sweat on his face starts drying almost instantly. He removes his sunglasses with the ease of a much-practiced flair and starts scanning the large room. The lobby is modern with very stylish furnishings, many plants in large pots, and a small fountain of to the right with statues of nude nymphs seemingly playing in the fountains spray.

            The reception desk is to his left and what looks like a small bar and reception area to the right of the fountain. Twenty or so well dressed people are milling about talking in groups forming and dissolving like a school of baitfish. Probably some convention, he thinks.          

            Jason switches the small thin brown case to his left hand and runs his right hand nervous down his shirtfront checking for moisture. The beads of sweat that were forming on his face during the short walk from the parking lot to the building are nearly gone; having been sucked off by the moving currents of cold air. He reaches up; he straightens his tie, and looks around again for the elevators. Looking up to the large ornate clock on the wall and then glancing at his watch he sees that his appointment is in thirty-four minutes. I’ve got plenty of time he thinks.

            Getting here was most of the battle so far. After packing everything he owned into the old beat up Ford he had headed out. The trip would take two full days so he had decided to stop each night to rest so that he would arrive here this morning of the third day refreshed and ready to impress.

The first night was at a cheap motel right along the highway. He hadn’t planned to stay there but he was so involved in the drive he did not realize how tired he had become until it was very late in the afternoon.

            By the time he pulled in he had been on the road for almost eleven hours and he was beat.  Jason pulled into the driveway that he thought was for the motel but it turned out to be a gas station. Looking down to the gauge he told the car, “well we do need gas so might as well get it tonight huh?’

Pulling up to the pump and shutting off the car Jason gets out and without taking a step stretches. The air is warm and humid; there is a buzzing sound from all the insects flying around the canopy lights. The air smells of cooling asphalt, gasoline fumes, and the soft scent of flowers. Turning to the pump he inserts his credit card, selects the grade of fuel, then removes the nozzle. Turning back to the car movement near the front catches his attention.

Walking in front of the car towards the store is a short woman in a dark outfit. She is moving briskly towards the front door. What grabs Jason’s eye is the huge blue purse that hangs from her shoulder by a strap. The color is a bright blue and the purse is nearly as big as she is. She disappears into the store and Jason inserts the nozzle and begins filling the car with fuel. Once done he hangs up the nozzle removes the receipt and heads to the store to use the restroom.

As he pushes his way into the store he is forced stop and step aside because of a large woman carrying a small baby dressed only in a flowered diaper and dragging another child by the arm. She pushes her way out the door saying, “cuse me, I gotta get these young’uns out to the car.” Pulling the door back so she can get out the small child collides with his legs she is not looking anywhere but down as her mother virtually drags her out.

“Damn it Gracie watch the hell out, you just ran into the man” she scolds in a loud angry voice,”Now you get to the car!” Pushing the child in front of her she starts mumbling. “God damn ungrateful shits…” it is the last thing he hears from her as the door closes behind him.

The cool air inside feels great after standing out there pumping gas, he gratefully sucks in a great lung full. He is thinking as he looks around for the bathroom, “God I’m tired.” He spies the RESTROOM sign at the back of the store between the beer and soda coolers.

Walking around a pyramid of square cases of beer in blue boxes Jason sees the woman with the purse the front counter. She is pulling things out of the purse and laying them on the counter next to a soda and a small bag of nuts.

            “Hold on, I know it’s in here someplace.” The woman with the blue purse says to the clerk who is watching her with a look of awe on his young face. She has pilled some of the strangest thing that Jason has ever seen come out of a woman’s purse, he stops and stares, most of the things are unrecognizable from here but he can see bottles of water, rope, and a round ball. There’s something that looks like a wrench as well as various small colored things. There are some twenty items already pilled there and she is digging still deeper. Her arm is in the bag to the elbow as she is digging around smiling to the clerk. Jason cannot help but smile at the sight as he heads to the back of the store.

When Jason finishes in the bathroom he comes out between the coolers stops and looks around. Seeing what he wants he heads down the chip isle, grabs a bag of chips and moves toward the front counter. As it comes into view the woman is packing things back into the purse hastily. When there are only a few things left she swings the purse to the edge of the counter top and with a sweeping motion brushes the last of the things in.

“Thank you sir,” she says with a soft purr of a voice. Turns and heads to the door. With the door partly open she looks back and says, “Jason, you will do fine in the interview.” Then steps out and is gone.

Shocked Jason drops the chip bag on the counter saying to the clerk, “I’ve changed my mind, thanks” and rushes to the door.

“Who is that woman?” he thinks as he is pushing the door open “and how does she know that I have an interview?” Looking left and right she is nowhere to be seen. Looking back into the store he says to the clerk, “she could not have gotten to a car and drove off, I would’ve seen her through the glass.” The clerk merely shrugs and scooping up the bag of chips off the front counter turns and sets it on the back counter without comment.

Jason walks out to his car all the while looking around for the woman. She has vanished as if she was never there.

He pulls away from the pumps and into the next driveway not worrying about the look of the place, he does note that it is a national  motel chain name although one known as having not so nice but cheap rooms. All I need is a place to sleep he thinks pulling into the parking area at the office.

            Having filled out the paper work and paid for the room he was handed the key over a large piece of paper crooked and badly taped with a great deal of tape on top of the counter. It’s a large hand written sign stated NO REFUND  is still legible through the fingerprints, spilled who knows what and scribbled notes on the sides. There is a twin of the sign on the wall over the desk. He was directed by a very bored clerk around the building, down the drive, around another building where he was instructed to park in the lot.

The lot which turns out to be dirt parking lot which is filled with potholes some the size of a small pond most had water in them. Parking at the edge of the dirt close to the small amount of grass at the end of the building he walks down the sidewalk to the third room balancing his lime green shaving kit, his pillow in its black case, and the laptop case strap over his shoulder. He inserts the electronic key; the light on the lock turns green so he pushes down the handle.

            The door will not open. Juggling the bag and laptop with the pillow now under his arm he attempts the key again, the light again turns green and again the door will not open. Jason puts down his bags and tries it again for the third time thinking, “I hope I don’t have to go all the way back up there to that office.” Pulling up on the handle the door finally opened. Shouldering it the rest of the way open he scoops up his bags and steps in.

            Throwing the bags on the small love seat size couch, he flips the pillow over to the bed, then  he looks around the room.

            “I can see why the sign says NO REFUNDS.” He says to the room. In one corner by the window stands a lamp on a post, the shade is cockeyed. The cadenza where the TV sets is out away from the wall on one end and tight on the other and the cable for the television has apparently been added recently. The cable and its mate for the room upstairs are nailed to the wall near the ceiling. One runs down the wall behind the TV perched on the cadenza and the other is punched through a rough hole to the ceiling for the upper room.

            The bed is huge and takes up a very large part of the room. Aloud he says as he walks around it, “Hum… must be a no tell motel, oh the stories these walls could tell.” Heading into the bathroom to use the toilet he stops. Something just does not look right. Fumbling for the light switch and flicking it on he see what is wrong.

The toilet is sitting beside the tub and looks as if it is trying to fall in. A marble laid on the top would roll by itself towards the tub and probably fall in because the toilet and tub are so close together. The floor slopes towards the tub and the toilet is on the same slope. Stepping in the small crowded room he bumps something with his foot. Looking down he sees the wall near the floor at the door is budging out and is water stained. Finished taking a leak he flushes and is amazed to watch the water swirl around at an angle in the bowl.

            Stepping back to the small offset area between the bed and the bath he reaches to the sink which is built into a long shelve below a large mirror. He turns on the water to wash his hands and jumps back. Even though he had only turned the water on a little bit the water comes out with so much force that it splashes all over the counter and on to the mirror, the water unable to drain as fast as it is coming in pushing up the side of the sink, which is also at an angle, like a tsunami. Slapping the handle off and reaching for the towel on the rack he tries to dry his hands but the towel is as stiff as a sheet of cardboard.  He gives up and shaking his hands to dry them Jason turns back to the main room, his eyes are drawn to the front door.

            “Oh my God.” He says looking at the door. There is light coming in around the top, bottom, and the latching side. The only place where there is no gap is where the backwards functioning handle is and where the hinges are. On the back of the door are the normal signs found in almost any motel room plus a hand written sign  taped with silver duct tape stating, NO REFUNDS. Shaking his head at that Jason thinks, NO SHIT and walks into the bedroom.

            Walking to the bed he pulls back the sheets on the left side and sits down. Bouncing a little he thinks, “Not bad.” Laying back he is delighted to discover that the bed is firm and comfortable. Laying back he closes his eyes and sighs.

            After about fifteen minutes he gets back up, grabs his keys off the nightstand, and heads out to get the rest of the stuff out of the car. As he approaches the last door before the parking lot the door swings opens abruptly and a tall skinny man with striking blue eyes quickly comes out then stops. Still half in the room he says to Jason,

 “Hey man does she keep you up, can you hear her in here?” looking back into the room he is still partly in. Jason glances into the room in the direction the man is indicating.

            “No I just got here; I haven’t heard a thing.” Jason says. In the light from the doorway Jason does not see anyone but he can see a big blue purse hung from the chair pushed in under the desk.

            “OK” says the man pulling the door closed behind him. He steps across the sidewalk in front of Jason and joins another man standing smoking in the grass a few feet away.

            Jason continues to his car while the men move to an old beat up Chevy pickup truck. Starting it the truck roars with a bad muffler. They back out and leave with a spray of gravel. The sound of country music booming from the open windows fades as they round the corner of the building.

“OK that was weird, that purse must be very popular,” he thinks as he opens the car. Back in the room he checks his email and sends a message to a friend, The bed in this room is so big that I could lay in any direction and my feet would not hang over. There is room enough for four people. The response he gets back immediately is HA, and you are there alone, too bad!

Powering down the laptop and putting it on the couch he starts watching TV. Jumping channel to channel but finding nothing good he thumbs the remote turning off the TV then lays the remote on the beat up nightstand, picks up his phone and sets the alarm for six then goes to sleep. At five am the next morning he wakes up. Looking to the clock he decides that he will heads out. He resumes his journey after grabbing coffee and a sandwich at a fast food joint across from the motel.

           

            Nine hours of climbing up and down mountains the second day, the old Ford started making strange sounds. At first he thought it was the noise from the tires on the uneven pavement but soon realized that was not the case. The first clue was the shaking, slight at first but progressively got worse. Then the noise ramped up in volume as he continued to drive. The engine light blinked on and off as he tried to nurse the car down the highway hoping to make it to a service station. Pulling off on an exit he barely made it to the end of the off ramp before the car’s engine made a rude sound, spit smoke, and died. He coasted to a stop alongside the road still on the exit where he tried to restart it. The old car tried but with a final shudder the engine died with a thud.

            Climbing out Jason moved to the front and opened the hood. Acrid blue grey smoke billowed out from the engine compartment causing him to step back waving his hand in front of his face to clear the air.

“Oh shit!” he said, again stepping back up to the grill and peering into the engine compartment when the air had mostly cleared. He waved his hand back and forth attempting to clear some of the lingering smoke.

“What the hell am I going to do now?” he says to the car.  Leaning in, mindful of the heat, he pokes at this and pulled on that.” I don’t know shit about this thing,” he thinks while pulling on a wire.

            Getting back into the driver’s seat he sits hunched forward gripping the wheel. Quietly he says a payer and grabs the key.

            “Ok,” he says to the car, “Let’s try this again.” Turning the key there is the slight click of the tumblers then nothing. The engine light comes on but nothing else, he turns off the key.  Reaching up Jason pats the dash with a word of affection and tries again. Still nothing, not even the engine light this time. Sitting back in the seat he lets out a sigh and drops his hands to his lap.

            “This is not starting out well, “he says shaking his head. “Not well at all”. Looking at his watch he notes that it is nearly six and the sky is getting dark. Still not sure what to do Jason looks first left. There is nothing there but a stretch of grass and the interstate with cars and trucks zooming past.

“Must be nice,” he says loudly to the road. Turning and looking to the right he sees the beckoning lights of a motel.

             BLUEBIRD MOTEL:CHEAP RATES: COLOR TV: KING SIZE BEDS says the sign and in smaller print below it states, Sorry No Internet. Resigned Jason gets out of the car, rounds the front closing the hood, and heads across the grass strip to the motel. Half way there he has to climb over a broken down fence being careful to not be caught up in the old rusty barbed wire at the top.

            As he approaches the glass enclosed cube attached to the front of the building with the OFFICE sign blinking in red neon above the door and a smaller blue neon sign saying VACANCIES Jason sees a woman sitting in a rocker in front of the window of a room with a large number six on the door. She is watching him as he crossed the old asphalt pavement that is covered in cracks with grass growing through in places. She is slowly rocking as she watches both hands clasps on her lap, legs crossed. Her top foot is taping in mid air a rhythm to the rocking.

            He cannot tell her age but she is not a kid. Her gray brown hair is about shoulder length and outlines her face. She is wearing what appears to be a light green dress that goes to down to her brown shoes.  He cannot see her face clearly because it is dark under the overhanging roof above her but she seems familiar to him. The yellow bug light beside the door is just bright enough to backlight her but not show her face. Beside her is a very large blue purse the strap over the arm of the chair. She is not smiling but rather seems to be studying him. “Another one of those damn blue purses,” he thinks.

            “Evening ma’am,” he says as he walks by. She says nothing but continues to watch as he passes tracking him with her head as he walks to the door to enter the office. As he starts to look away she nods her head slightly in acknowledgement.

             Once inside the office Jason walks up to the counter hearing a television blearing in the back of the office area. There is very little in the way of furniture in the reception area. A couple old brown leather straight back chairs with dark wood armrest, a stainless steel table with glass top ringed in the same stainless steel, a book, and a coaster on it. On the wall down from the desk was a tall long table of some kind of dark material. Sitting on it was a restaurant style coffee machine, cream and sugar containers and a small class thing holding wooden coffee stirs.

  Off to the side is the ubiquitous shelving unit holding all the local maps, flyers from attractions near and far and discount magazines.  On the left counter top is a silver bell like the ones you see so often in places like this. Half round with a knob on top that you smack, there is also a neat hand written sign proclaiming, RING FOR SERVICE. Taping the bell lightly he waits. After a bit he taps the bell again, a little harder this time, still nothing.

            “Hello….. HELLOOO.. ,” he says and hits the bell hard. A couple seconds later a smiling older woman peers around the door jam in the back of the little office area.

            “Hi there young man, you need a room?” The woman hobbles into the room and up to her side of the desk. She is wearing a baggy pair of jeans and a man’s button down shirt, top three buttons undone. There is a wad of Kleenex stuffed into the shirt pocket; her dark gray hair is tied in a loose ponytail and a bright yellow pen is sticking out of her hair by her ear. There is a nametag pined crookedly over the Kleenex filled pocket that says, HI, my name is Rose. There is a bluebird in the corner of the tag.

            Hands resting lightly on the counter top Jason nods. “Yes, for the night at least please while I figure out what to do. My car broke down just out there,” pointing behind him with his right hand over his shoulder. “I know it’s late but do you think that there might be a mechanic that could come and look at it? I don’t know anything about cars except to put gas in them.”

            “Sonny, this is a small town that rolls up its streets at five sharp, there won’t be anyone to come look till tomorrow at the earliest. I will call Joyce when we get down here and see if Wilbur can come by in the morning. How’s that” she said with a big smile. “Wilbur can fix about anything …that man can. Why I have him come over and fix the old toilets and anything else that doesn’t work around here. He even was able to fix the heater in here one time. He’s old but he can usually tinker with something and it will just start working again.  He seems to have the touch. Joyce and I have been friends forever, well I think that we might be cousins or something like that, you know how it is in these small towns every one related to everyone else.” She must not have much company thinks Jason; she is really doing a lot of talking.

            Pulling the pen out from behind her ear she grabs a printed form from below the counter top and lays it and the pen on the counter between his hands.

            “If you can just fill out those lines on the top for me we’ll get you all set up with a room.” She says pointing to the top of the form. “We have only one other guest tonight, got here a little while ago. She is in six so I will put you in eleven so if she was to run her TV loud you won’t be bothered. Eleven is at the end; we only got eleven rooms here. We’re not that big, more homey if you know what I mean. My daddy built this place a long time ago but we remodeled it just a couple years ago. I think that you’ll be really comfortable in eleven, it’s a nice room. Down on the end like I said.”

Jason slid the completed form back across the counter top and handed her the pen.

            “Don’t want to steal your pen.” He says with a lopsided grin, “It’s not like you don’t know where I will be tonight.”

            Smiling she picks up a pair of half glasses with flowery bows and puts them on. Looking up to him she says,

“Old age, eyes aren’t what they use to be.” She writes a few things on the paper and tells him it will be thirty-five dollars for the night. Jason pays with cash and she turns to the table beside her that runs along the side of the room and grabs a stack of towels. Placing them on the counter she writes him out a receipt and lays it and the keys on top of the towels. With a pleasant smile she says, “Goodnight.. “ Squinting down at the paper he filled out she looks up again and say, “Jason, good night Jason.”

            “Night.” He replies turning to leave the office.

 As he is leaving Jason looks to number six. The woman is no longer sitting in the chair but the light in the room is now on. “Funny” he thinks, “she has no car here unless maybe someone else is driving her and is out right now……. it sure seems like I’ve seen her before.”

                       

            Jason opens number eleven, turns on the light to see a clean room with dark maple wood furnishings. The bed is a double and made up with a light blue flowered bedspread. Walking to the bathroom and snapping on the light he puts the towels on the edge of the tub and uses the toilet. This room is so much nicer than the one on the first night he thinks reaching down to flush.

            Back out at the car he grabs his overnight bag off the floor of the back seat and his pillow from the seat, locks the car, and heads back to his room. Half way there he stops and turns around staring at the car for a long moment. With a shake of his head the resumes his walk to the room. Looking over to room six again he sees that the light is out as are the office lights including the neon signs. Smiling to himself he thinking two rooms and she is done for the night, must be nice.

            With a shower done, teeth brushed and bed turned back Jason gets undressed and climbs in. Pulling one bed pillow atop his he props up his head and punches the remote turning on the television. There is the usual smattering of news programs, game shows, and commercials. Because of the time all the movies are already half way over with. Finding nothing interesting he turns off the TV, pulls out the bed pillow, and settles back on his. With a deep breath he closes his eyes.

            It is very quiet here with only the slight noise from the highway in the background. I hope that Wilbur can find out what is wrong with the car and fix it without a great deal of money involved and get me back on my way; I have an interview to go

to. If not then I guess that I will be hitchhiking the rest of the way. That is the last thing he thinks of as he drifts off to sleep.

            Waking up to the sound of a car’s engine revving Jason rubs the sleep from his eyes and stretches. Looking to the clock its seven after seven. Getting up he heads to the bathroom then pulls on his jeans and opens the front door. The old Ford is sitting in front of the room, engine purring like new. Looking around he can see no one. Stepping out so that he can see further down the row of rooms the only person that he sees is the woman with the blue purse again sitting in the chair in front of number six. She is looking at him and smiling. He gives a small wave and steps to the car.

            Jason moves to the driver’s side of the car, opens the door and reaches in to shut off the engine. As he removes the keys he can smell the faint aroma of flowers replacing the smell of a burnt engine that was in here yesterday.

            Moving back into the room he grabs his shirt and slips on his shoes then goes back out heading to the office. The woman is rocking slowly as he nears her. Today she is wearing a light yellow sundress. The blue purse is back in its place hanging from the chair. Jason stops in front of her stops and says, “Good morning. How are you today?”

            “Good morning,” she says cheerily, “I see your car is working again.”  Glancing back toward the Ford he says, “Yeah I am going to the office to see where the mechanic went so I can pay him and to find out what he found wrong.”

            Starting to turn away he stops and once again faces her.

            “I think that I know you from somewhere although I am not sure how you could be the same person.”

            “Why do you say that?” her brow furrowed and the smile is gone.

            “Because you don’t seem to have a car here and the person I saw that looks like you yesterday was many, many miles from here.”

            “Oh well maybe I have a twin out there that I don’t know about.” She responded again smiling cheerfully.

            Turning back towards the office Jason says,” I need to see Rose in here about the mechanic. You have a great day.”

            Getting up she reaches down hooks the strap of the purse in her right hand turns and reaches for the door behind her. She looks back to Jason and with a twinkle in her eye and a slight smile she says by way of a departing remark, “Good luck with the interview.”  Before Jason can react to the comment she is gone into the room, the door closing softly behind her.

            Raising his hand gesturing for her to stop but she does not see him. “How did she know about that, does everyone in the country know?” he thinks as he turns to finish his trip to the office.

            Entering the office he finds that Rose is busy with a coffee machine on the long table. This morning she’s dressed in light brown pants and matching shirt. She is bare foot and her toenails are painted bright red. She turns at the sound of the door and greets him.

            “Good morning Jason, I hope you slept well. It was so very nice that the traffic was light last night. Sometimes the trucks make so much noise that one can hardly sleep.” She has turned towards him with an empty cup extended in her hand.

“Coffee?”

            “Ah… yeah, yes thank you Rose.” He takes the cup and moves over to the coffee machine.

            “What time did Wilbur get here and did he tell you what was wrong with the car oh and who do I pay for the work?”

            Turning around stirring the coffee he sees a look of confusion on the old woman’s face. “I don’t understand sonny, I never did get a hold of Joyce or Wilbur last night and when I saw your car by your room this morning I just figured that you got it running.”

            Jason stopped stirring, his hand frozen as he took in what she just said,

“No I didn’t fix it.” He said slowly, “I have no idea how to fix a car. It was running when I came out this morning, actually that is what woke me, the sound of the car. I just assumed that Wilbur fixed it and did not want to wake me although it does seem very strange that he would have left it running.”

            Throwing the wooden coffee stir into the trash he sips the coffee. Looking back to the gray haired woman, he says absently “Maybe the woman in number six saw someone working on it or something, I’ll ask her. This coffee is really good.”

            “Oh the lady in six checked out last night and left. She said she had to be someplace to meet someone.. Just like that she said it,” looking towards number six through the office window. “Strange she would say it like that, be someplace to meet someone.” Turning back to Jason she shrugged and said, “oh well.. The world is full of strange things. So are you heading out young man?”

            Looking through the windows Jason can see that the door to six is open and a cleaning cart is in front of the door.

            Looking back to the woman he says a bit confused, “she was just there, I just talked to her on my way in here.”

            “You must have spoken to my niece; she is the housekeeper here, easy mistake, no bother. Are you heading out?” she asks again. 

            “Yes ma’am I will be leaving as soon as I get packed up. So who fixed the car?” Jason wonders aloud.

            Smiling and stepping behind the counter she said with a tight smile, “I am sure that I have no idea, maybe fairies or something like that.. Who knows, it’s fix so don’t worry about it.”

“By the way, did I mention to you last night that I was heading to Atlanta for an interview?” He asked.

            “No… No I don’t think that you did, why?” she replied rubbing her chin and pulling at a long gray hair growing there.

            “Not a big deal but the lady in six wished me luck on my interview and I thought I may have said something last night and then you had talked to her.”

            “Oh well that wouldn’t have happened, we never talked after she checked in and I did not see her leave. She just told me that she would be leaving early, told me that when she checked in. I think that she was actually gone shortly after you got here, but I am not sure. I am getting old and sometimes get forgetful.” She said shuffling some papers on the counter top.

            “Ok, no big deal. I will get packed up and leave the key on the night stand, is that ok?” he says reaching for the door.

            “Just fine and leave the door open.” Pointing towards number six she says, “The cleaning girl is my niece as I said, and she is already finishing up with six then she will go to your room. Have a safe trip and you said you’re going for an interview, well then good luck.”

            “Thank you Rose.” Opening the door and stepping out Jason moves off across the parking lot.

            Carrying his coffee in its white Styrofoam cup Jason heads back to his room. When he passes six he sees a young woman putting cleaning supplies back in the cart. She smiles at him as he passes. Smiling back he says,

 “Good morning.”  She looks nothing like the woman that was there before he notes. The housekeepers tall and slender with short cropped blond hair, very cute. The woman that was there the night before couldn’t have been over five and a half feet tall and was older.

            “You have a nice day sir,” was her reply.

            Loading the car Jason then pops open the hood to examine the engine. He is greeted with a clean very new looking engine. New paint, new hoses, and wires, gone is the grease and grime of years of driving, the burnt looking wires and badly worn hoses. The greenish colored radiator is replaced with a shiny new one. The engine looks brand new. He closes the hood and climbs in behind the wheel, puts the key in, turns it and the car’s engine purrs to life. The engine light is off, all the gauges seem to be where they are suppose to be, and the radio comes on playing a soft relaxing song.

            “Unfucking believable” he mutters looking up through the windshield, “the gas tank is full and even the damn windows are cleaned.”

            Pulling out onto the highway Jason smiles as the car accelerates smoothly to the high-speed lane. Tapping his finger on the top of the wheel to the beat of the music he heads south.

           

            Weeks of emails and calls have lead him here. Hundreds of hours of research to find the right company to apply to and four phone interviews, the last being with the president of the company himself has brought him to this place and time.

            He straightens his shoulders then rotates his head cracking his neck. Reaches up and combs what little hair he has with a palm patting it down he heads to the reception desk. The desk is wrapped in curved mirrors that have a brass color to them. The reflection is muted by the color and the curve of the surface. Walking up behind a short woman who is waiting in front of him Jason steps to the side just enough to catch his reflection. Tie looks good, pants crease is straight shirt is not showing where it was wet just moments ago, all good.

            Looking down he see his shoe is untied. Damn it he thinks as he bent down to secure the runaway lace.  With one knee on the red patterned carped he bends to retie the offending shoe. At the same time the woman in front of him abruptly turns smacking him in the head with the very large blue purse that she has slung over her tiny shoulder.

            Jason is so startled the weight of the blue mountain contacting his head that he jerks back and in the process breaks the shoelace off at the eye loses his balance and lands on his ass. Looking up he sees a very small woman looking down at him the blue mountain sized purse now clutched against her breast. It is the same woman from the motel and the gas station. She is dressed different but everything else is the same. Shoulder length gray brown hair framing her face, the same dark eyes, and the same gigantic blue purse.

            She has a look of surprise mixed with humor on her face as she looks down at Jason. Jason can see her face clearly framed by her hair that she has nicely done up. He has a very clear view of her this time because she is only about four and a half feet above him. She is wearing a brown gray outfit and has a cream-colored scarf wrapped around her neck, black shoes with two-inch heels.

            “Oh my God!” she says. “I am so sorry sir; I did not see you down there when I turned. I must have looked right over your head, are you alright?’

            She is in her middle late fifties with shining brown eyes. The corners of her mouth are twitching because she is holding back a laugh.

            “No… I mean yes I’m fine, no I’m not hurt, broke my shoe lace though” says Jason as he pushes his six foot three frame up from the floor. He is dangling the broken lace limply in his hand.

            “My fault, I was trying to tie my shoe but not to worry now,” he says with a half grin extending the shoelace out to be inspected. “Looks like I am going to my interview with one shoe tied and one not.”

            Smiling still she says, “Wait a minute I think that I may have laces here in my purse.” With that she steps over and sets the blue mountain of a purse on a nearby table, opens the top flap and plunges her hand in clear to the elbow. She looks back up at him as her hand is seeking to find its way around within the cavernous regions of the purse. She is still smiling but there is a bit of a lost look as her fingers skip back and forth touching and releasing items within the depts. A large grin springs to her face as her hand comes out of the top of the purse.

“Found it” she says triumphantly extending her small hand up towards him.

“Oh.. oops” he hears as he looks down to her open palm to see shoe laces in their tight little plastic wrapper proclaiming the company and the length of the laces and noting that the laces she is so proudly offering are iridescent pink.

With a giggle she says,

“These will not do.” With that she clutches them into a fist and plunges her hand back in the purse.

            Jason notes that she has a southern drawl to her voice, a voice that is low and a bit dark in a good way. As she is digging like a rat terrier he cannot see her face because her hair has fallen down to cover it. She is mumbling into the purse as she digs.

“Where are you damn it I just know I put a pair of brown shoe laces in here.” There are little sounds being generated by her digging, little clinks of metal, and the rustle of paper and scraps of things hitting the sides of the purse.

            “Ah ha” she exclaims jerking her hand out and extends to him a neatly wrapped new looking pair of brown shoelaces.

            “I told you I had laces in here, just had to find them.” She has a twinkle in her eyes and a broad smile on her face.

            “Here ya go, now you just go over there.” points to a chair, “and fix that shoe. We cannot have the new executive showing up to his interview with one shoe tied and the other hanging on by shear desperation now cans we?”  As she turned away she stopped, “And again Jason, I am very sorry to have knocked you down.” Patting her blue bag she continues, “Literally my whole life is in this bag.”

            Jason looks towards the chair and then back to the little woman with the blue bag. “I was wondering…..” he trails off because she was no longer there. Looking around he could not spot her anywhere. There were several people in the lobby but not so many that he should not be able to see her and because of his height he could see over everyone else. Slowly he turns in a circle but she is not in the lobby any longer.

            “Well I’ll be damned.” He says as he sits down the starts removing the broken shoelace. “Just like the woman at the gas station.”

Jason is back at the reception desk and the blonde woman in the light pink suit looks up with a big smile.

            “Can I help you sir?” she says. Jason looks down for the twentieth time at the paper in his hand.

            “Yes, I have a two o’clock appointment with Mr. George DeTeko, can you direct me to him please?”

            “Yes sir.” Without turning her head she points to the right. “Take those elevators there to the thirty-fourth floor. When you leave the elevator there will be a reception desk directly ahead of you, check in there.” Beautiful green eyes Jason thinks, after the interview I just might have to ask her out. Glancing down he sees that she is not wearing a wedding ring.

            Smiling broadly and turning to his left Jason says, “Thank you very much.”

            “No problem sir, you have a great day.” Turning she looks to the next person in line. “How may I help you sir?”

            Heading in the direction that the woman had indicated Jason works around a small group of men in business suits seemingly having a meeting in the middle of the lobby. Five of the men are smiling and nodding in unison as the sixth man talks, gesturing wildly with both hands. As Jason passes he hears the speaker say, “….and then I kissed her right on her sweet little ass…” the other men break out in raucous laughter.

            The elevators are located in a small alcove where the walls, including the elevator doors, are covered in the same brass colored mirrors as the reception desk. As Jason pushes the call button he once again checks out his reflection. Reaching up he readjusts his tie, again smoothes down his hair and looks down at his shoes both tied with new laces. The floor is a highly polished marble, cream colored with white grout lines. It is so shiny that he can see a muted reflection of himself. The overhead lights making starburst patterns in the floor surface.

The elevator door opens with a soft musical ding and three people get out. They are having a hushed but intense conversation and don’t even see Jason standing there waiting. Stepping in as they leave Jason pushes the button for thirty-four, waiting for a moment then the door start to close. At the last second a hand reaches in and the doors retract once again. In steps two men from the joke-telling group. The first man turns and leans in front of Jason pushes the button for seven, nods and steps over to stand beside his companion. The door closes and the elevator starts up. The two men exchange a few words as the mirrored box rises to the seventh floor.

            Jason realizes with a start that the music playing softly is the same that was playing on his car radio when he first got in this morning. Must be a very popular station he thinks as the bell chimes again and a soft female voice says SEVEN as the doors open. The two men exit and the doors start to close. Just before they close a small hand reaches in and the doors retract. “Not again” he thinks.

            In steps the woman with the blue purse slung over her shoulder. Without a word she steps to the back and turns to face the door which is now rapidly closing. Not knowing what to say Jason stares at her reflection in the mirrored door. She now is wearing blue jeans and a loose blouse, the blouse being just a shade or two lighter than the purse slung at her side. She looks up at him in the same mirror and smiles a big smile. Her hair is made up the same way as before. This time she is wearing white tennis shoes.

            Turning to her Jason points his finger at her emphasizing each point he makes as he says, “You are the lady from the motel and the gas station and the lady that knocked me down in the lobby; you gave me a pair of shoelaces from that bag, pointing to the bag. She just keeps smiling without saying anything. “You had no car at the motel that I could see how did you get here?” Again she said nothing, just smiles still facing the doors and watching his reflection. “In the lobby you seemed to just vanish when I looked away and the same at the gas station. Who are you?”

            Finally she turns and faces him. “Just a friend looking out for a friend, did the car work OK for you?  I did the best I could do with the time I had.”

            Stepping back in surprise Jason said,

“You fixed the car?! How did you do that?” She smiled and patted the blue purse with affection.

”I got all kinds of goodies in here.” Mind racing Jason could not think of what to ask first, a friend? Who was she? He had never seen her before a couple days ago. Goodies in the purse? Well it’s without a doubt big enough but not for a car engine or tools to fix one besides she would not be able to carry it anyway if she did have those kind of things in there.

“Who are you” he questions in a low voice locking eyes with her, “How is that you have been at every places I have and then you seem to vanish like smoke and now you are here?”

            As he opened his mouth for the next question the elevator groaned and shuddered. The lights flickered then went out.

                        The lights flickered again then came on with a dim glow of the emergency lights. Jason found himself jammed against the wall of the car with the woman leaning on him. She smelled faintly of flowers like the smell of his car at the motel when he left.

            “Who I am does not really matter,” she said just inches from his face. Maybe it’s just by chance that we keep meeting.”

            “Are you OK” he asked gently helping her move off him. She shakes her head yes while picking up the blue purse that had slid off her shoulder. Grabbing the side handles she flips the shoulder strap over her head. The car was tilted at a bit of an angle to the side; the line down the middle of the doors where they opened was open slightly at the bottom. Kneeling down peering into the crack between doors Jason sees concrete. Looking up to the woman he said, “I think that we are caught between floors.” Standing he grasp each side of the opening where it was widest wedging his fingers in he pulled without moving the doors.

            Looking up to the woman again he said with a shake of his head, “I can’t move them. I am going to try something else.” Changing position he sits down and put one foot on the lower edge of the door. With both hands on the other side he once again forced his fingers into the crack then pushed with his feet and pulled with his hands. The doors moved slightly then stopped. He tried again but this time nothing moves.

            Jason looked up at the woman. She was standing there in the middle of the car very calmly holding the blue purse in front of her with both hands, the strap still around her neck.

            “I can’t move it any more, it moved a little the first time but now nothing.” He said getting up and looking up.

“Some elevators have an escape hatch in the ceiling but this one does not seem to have one.” Walking all around the car, around the unmoving woman he said pointing down below the floor bottons,

 “I’ll try the phone that’s is there.”

            Bending down and pulling open the small door that has a telephone symbol on it, Jason pulls out the old style handset and placing it to his ear he listens. Pulling it away from his head he shook the handset and placed it back to his ear. Looking to the woman shaking his head,

“ Nothing, no dial tone.” He said as he squatted down and looked into the phone box. There was nothing there except the hangar for the handset. He placed his finger on the bracket and jogged it up and down a few times with the phone back up to his ear.

            Looking over his shoulder he said glumly, “nothing still. I think that this is broken like the elevator.” He hangs up the phone, closed the door, and stands up facing her.

            Reaching out his hand he offers to shake hands with the small woman quietly watching him.

 “Hello, my name is Jason Ward, you are..?”

             Letting go of the purse allowing it to hand from the neck strap she takes his hand in both of hers and holds it.

 “My name is Linda, hello Jason,” she said softly.

            Jason was thrown to the right where he slammed into the wall. The lights went out and blinked on for a second reveling the Linda also against the wall still facing him. She is frantically digging in her purse. Glancing up she says,

 “This was not supposed to happen just yet!” Looking back down into the throat of the purse she shifts herself so her back is against the wall, reaches in with the other hand, now both hands are deep within the purse where she is frantically digging. There is a burst of light from top of the purse then with both hands she pulls out a flashlight that is already on in one hand and a small coil of red stripped rope in the other. Flicking the rope out like a bullwhip she reaches behind her and loops one end through the rail that runs around the inside of the car. Handing the other end to Jason she says,

            “Wrap this around your waist and tie it!” The flashlight she tosses up toward the ceiling where it sticks lighting the car. Looking up he can see that it is not a flashlight in the normal sense of the word but rather a ball of light, not overly bright but over powering the emergency light and lighting up the entire car. Jason just stands there staring at her unable to understand what is happening. The elevator groans again and tilts a little more.

            “Jason!” she shouts. “Move back to that wall behind you! Take the rope, loop it around the rail and tie it around yourself now! Trust me on this,” he reaches out but stops midway his actions stalled by confusion and fear. Linda reaches backing into her purse without taking her eyes off Jason. Out comes her hand holding a Styrofoam cup like the one he had coffee in the morning. She dashes it towards his face and Jason is hit with extremely cold water, he snaps his head back yelling.

 “What the hell!” Shaking his head to clear his eyes of the cold water he refocuses and grabs the rope doing as instructed.The elevator car drops a few feet then stops again with a bang. Jason has just finished tying the rope to the rail when part of the floor in the middle section falls away sucking air out with a whoosh. Looking down through the hole Jason can see all the way to the bottom of the shaft many floors below. He watches as his brown satchel falls, slowly spinning all the way to the bottom. Some small pieces are drifting down slowly showing up in the emergency lights as they fall ever deeper.

 Looking back to the woman she is shimming her way along what is left of the edge of the floor to a section directly across from him where there is room to sit down, which is what she does.

“Sit down Jason.” She says as she does likewise. “We’re going to be here for awhile.”Jason did as she suggested. He had to untie the rope to sit but she told him to re-tie it after he sat down. There was enough floor space that he could sit with his back to the wall as she is doing and stretch out his legs although his feet were over the opening of the hole. In the quiet after all the noise of the breaking up of the elevator Jason can hear beeping sounds of alarms, slight groans from the building and clinks as the remaining debris finally hit the bottom of the shaft seventy plus feet below.

            He looked at her for a long moment without saying anything. She just sat there with a slight smile on her face. Reaching both hands into the blue purse that now sat on her lap she pulled out two bottles of water, glistening with sweat in this now damp humid, slightly smoky air.

            “Thirsty?” she asked holding up one of the bottles.

“I sure am.” He says nodding and she tossed him the bottle.  As it spun in the air little droplets of water fly off catching the light and making small smears on the dusty floor where they landed, one fat drop hitting Jason squarely between the eyes. Catching the bottle he holds it up reading the label. Certified Clean H2O, and below that, To Cool Push Blue Tab. In the middle of the bottle below the label is a blue spot. Looking up to her with a question on his face she said,

“I already pushed it, that’s why it’s already cold.”

            The top, when he tried to remove it, would not budge so again he looked to her holding the bottle up questioningly.

“I’m sorry.” She says as she points to the top. “This is not really a cap as you understand it but rather like a gateway. Just take a drink like this.” She puts the bottle to her mouth and Jason can see water moving from the bottle to her mouth as she swallows. Pulling it down she says to him,

“Just like that, try it. The water will flow when it knows your mouth is on it. Pesky problem when you just want to pour it into a cup but there is a way around that too.”

He follows her example and much to his surprise as soon as the “cap” hits his lips cold water flows. After a few drinks he pulls the bottle away, shakes it a couple times, and then turns it over as if to pour the contents out. Nothing happens except the water flows to the top as it should but it does not come out of the bottle.

Settling the bottle in his lap he again looks across the gaping hole to the woman. Taking a deep breath he starts.

“OK ….. so you just apparently save my life and you knew that this was going to happen or from what you said it would happen but it was happening to soon. I have seen you many times over the last few days with that blue purse. Somehow you always seem to appear and then disappear. Can you please tell me what is going on, who you are and why are you following me? You said a friend helping a friend but I don’t know you.”

                        Jason had drifted from job to job like most young kids after high school not really knowing for sure what he wanted to do. He knew that he wanted to work in the medical field like his friends dad and he had found that research was something that he liked to do.  Digging into something to find out all the information that he could was very satisfying. One day he noted a want ad in the on-line job search page he was reading and it caught his eye. It was for a research assistant in the medical field. The short bio for the job read like an invitation to him, it screamed out, JASON YOU NEED THIS JOB.

He started researching the company, found out that it was new but growing fast, and seemed to have great reviews. Jason knew, as do most that the write-ups, the testimonies, and the hype could very well be written by the company’s PR department but he liked what he saw. The company specialized in research in extending the life span of humans and they had some unique ideas for doing that. Their method was a bit controversial but intriguing. They were researching tampering with the DNA of people to while they were still alive, instead of in the egg stage prior to conception. The tampering was designed to enhance the ability of the body to repair any damage that occurred to it instead of using drugs and the like to attempt to combat what was killing the person.

The conversation with his dad prior to leaving though had left a bad taste in his mouth though. His father had been adamantly opposed to Jason trying for or working for a company that “Challenged what God had deemed right!”  His dad had yelled. Dad had even refused to even get up the morning Jason left. Mom had been there though, she handed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich wrapped in wax paper just as she did when he was a kid and a thermos of coffee. “It has cream and sugar just the way you like it”, she said when he took it.

“Your father cannot help what he believes and his vision is myopic because of it. He loves you Jason, as I do. Just give him some time and he will come around.” She said quietly standing rigidly refusing to cry.

            With that she hugged him fiercely and watched as he drove away. At the end of the drive he looked back at her and waved. She was waving with one hand and wiping the tears away with the other.

Helping the body fight its own battles is what the company slogan said. The conversations that Jason had with the personnel manager, the hiring manager and then the president of the company had all been good and reinforced his desire to become part of this project. He had arranged a face-to-face interview with the president and that is why he was on this trip.

            Jason was so confident that he would land the job that he had in fact packed everything in the old Ford that he would need to start a new life here. Not having much of résumé he was going to rely on his excitement and desire plus his computer skills to join in the search that this company was embarked on to land the job.

            “No you don’t know me yet.” She said leaning back and resting her head on the wall. “I am someone that you will know in the future, I will actually be your, as you would call it, your supervisor. You are going to find something that will change the course of human existence on this planet as well as all the others we will inhabit.” Setting up straighter she continues,

“Some friends and I were doing what you do so well, researching but we were looking into your life and how you got to where we knew you when our AI, Artificial Intelligence, realized there was a new conflict in the time line and if the new line was allow to continue that you… well all of us, would not exist. We never found out what was the cause of the change but we knew that we had to do something.”

            He starts to interrupt but she holds up a hand to stop him. “Let me finish.  Where I come from computers are no longer a toy or a convenience. They are no longer just a tool to use to make our lives easier. The AI’s are an intrical part of our lives and frankly without them we would not be where we are now.”

            A beeping sound comes from her purse. Looking down she reaches in and removes a small device about the size and shape of an old time pager. Studying it for a moment she places her thumb on the little screen and then puts it away.

            “It seems that I do not have as much time as I thought that I would so here is the quick and dirty part. My job, if you call it that because I volunteered, is to come here making sure that you made it to the interview. To make sure that you do not fall down the elevator shaft when the floor falls out and that you do indeed make it to the interview. Late yes but you do make it. Sadly several people do not survive the elevators malfunction but that does in fact help you gain the job you want.” He furrows his brow and says,

“Elevators?”

“Yes, both elevators on this side crashed down. I could not stop both of them, I am sorry.” A sad look passes over her face. “I can only do so much with what is in here,” she pats the purse.

“You’re from my future.” Jason says in awe. “There are a lot of questions I want to ask but I bet you’re going to tell me that you can’t tell me.” Smiling again she says, “That’s correct.” The beeping comes from her purse again, more insistent and louder. “And I’m out of time, sounds funny doesn’t it I’ve time traveled but yet I am out of time. You will be here in this car for about two hours then the rescue personnel will reach you. Just sit tight.”

            She reaches into the purse again and standing she reaches over the hole and hands him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich wrapped in wax paper along with another bottle of water, the water is warm this time.

“You know how to chill the water right?” He nods, “push the blue tab,” pointing to the spot.

“The bottle, wax paper and the rope, all of it will all disintegrate about the same time that you are rescued so there will be no trace of me or anything I have left here.” She sets the blue purse on the floor beside her and bending opens the flap, pulling aside the two handle straps she looks back to Jason who is now standing holding the water and sandwich. Jason sees that the shoulder strap is missing; the silver ring where it uses to be hooked is now empty.

            “You will do great things Jason, great things and I will be very proud to work with you.” With that she steps into the purse facing him, grasping one handle in each hand she pulls them up. She slowly sinks into the purse all the while smiling broadly at him.

As her head sinks into the purse and the straps are pulled in he hears her say, “See you in the future.” The purse folds in upon itself and with a slight pop vanish from the car.

Jason awakes with a start by loud noises from the top of the elevator car he is trapped in. Sitting up he nearly falls into the gaping hole in the center of the floor but is stopped by a piece of red stripped rope. Standing he reaches to untie the rope but when he touches it, it falls away to dust around him and is sucked into the hole by the wind created when the rescue team rips open the top of the bent elevator door. The mirror shatters and rains down on the floor and into the hole. A very dirty but smiling face looks through the hole at him.

            “Sir.. we did not know if anyone was in here. Are you OK?” asks the fireman.

            “Yeah I’m good. Must have hit my head or something when this thing crashed, good thing I did not fall into that.” He says pointing to the gaping hole in the middle of the floor.

            “We’ll have you out of there in no time.” comes the reply as the firefighter’s face is replaced with the tips of the Jaws of Life. A short time later Jason is crawling out the hole forced open in the damaged doors into the helpful hands of the fire rescue team.

            “Were you the only one in there?” asks a man in a soiled white shirt with bars on the shoulders.

            “Yes. There were two men but they got out just before everything went to hell.” Taking an offered bottle of water Jason holds it up to examine it. There is something about the water bottle that looks familiar he thinks but he cannot place it.

“Thanks.” He says stepping away from the elevator doors. He notes that he is now on the fourth floor. I fell three floors he thinks looking around the lobby. Three floors, thirty feet I wonder why not all the way down he thinks as he turns back to the white shirted man.

            “Do you know what happened, why the elevator fell?” he asks

            “We are not sure yet but both elevators on this side fell. Yours stopped here but the other one plummeted to the bottom. There were some people killed.” The captain says.

            “Hey Captain!’  A man yells from the elevator while shining his light in. Turning Jason can see that the doors are now mostly open and there is a man pointing to the top of the car which is now exposed. Willy Willis is stenciled across his back.

            “Will you take a look at that,” says Willy pointing to the top of the car with his light. Everyone in the lobby moves over to the opening to see what the Willy is so excitingly point to. When Jason gets close enough to see the top of the car, there shining in the flashlights beam is a bright blue strap, like a leather purse strap, wrapped around a beam on the top of the car and the other end attached with a silver clip to the rail against the concrete wall of the shaft.

            The captain says,

“Now how do you think that got there?” The other men murmur to each other but Jason cannot hear them. He is focused on the bright blue strap that looks so very familiar to him. Where have I seen that before he thinks finally turning away but still looking at the strap. As if by magic the straps starts to become translucent and the car groans shifting in its concrete trap.

“Holey shit!” rings out a voice as all the men including Jason move back away from the doorway. The strap turns into dust and is sucked down as the unrestrained car finishes it death plummet to the bottom. There is a loud crash and dust, smoke, and debris blow out of the doorway covering the men.            Willy turns to Jason and says, “Man, we got you out just in time!”

           

Years later Jason Ward, Executive Vice President of DeTeko Medical Research and Development is waiting at the corner for the light to change and the WALK sign to light up. On his left stands a very short but neat woman. She looks up and smiles. She is nicely dressed and has a very big smile. The most remarkable thing about her is the huge blue purse that is nearly half as big as she is.

            “Beautiful day isn’t it?” she asks.

            “Yes.” Jason replies, hearing the chime indicating that it is safe to walk he adds, “every day is.”

            As he crosses the street he once again holds up and looks at envelope with his address handwritten on it. A smile touches his face as he remembers what his dad wrote in the enclosed letter.

            “…….. and as I have lost friends over the years to diseases that you now have found cures for I cannot help but swell with pride at all that you and your team have accomplished. Your mother and I are so very proud of you. I regret with all my heart the way I treated you when you left. I hope you can forgive me son. Your mother…….”

Forgive you Dad, hell I will hug you in six hours when I land at the airport. Arriving in the executive parking garage Jason opens the door to a very old Ford, climbs in and starts the engine. It purrs like new even after all these years and still smells like flowers inside. He drives out heading to the airport to catch the flight home.

 JMBlondin 7/19/2015