Excerpt
She came into my life via a small box under Dallass arm, which he quickly deposited with a soft thud onto his desk.
Dallas was returning late from lunch, and that was unusual for Mr. Punctuality, especially since he was due in court. As I sat typing in my cubicle outside his office, pondering Mounds or Snickers, I heard him gathering papers off his desk, then the snap of his briefcase being locked. My thoughts returned to the box he had carried in moments earlier. We frequently received gifts of expensive candy from satisfied clients, and if my instincts were correct, thats what he had dumped on his desk. Perfect. Just what I neededfancy chocolates to make my day.
He breezed past me a second time looking a tad bit pale with a light sheen of sweat on his forehead.
Maggie, call the courthouse and let Judge Pruetts bailiff know Im on my way, he mumbled as he headed back down the hallway.
I dialed the number, half hoping he wasnt having a coronary and half hoping he had done me the favor of opening that box.
Most lawyers in our office gave that gratuitous candy to their secretaries, but not mine. Oh, no. I would have to go through his desk while he was out and sneak a piece or two, then reshuffle the little paper cups so he couldnt tell anything was missing.
I sighed with disappointment that the box was still taped shut. I couldnt very well just open it. Then I noticed the outside was labeled with some sort of official-looking seal that read: Cremains: Katherine J. Konrad, D.O.B.: 8/19/40, D.O.D.: 2/26/83. Cremains? As in dead bodies and ashes? I carefully placed the box back onto Dallass desk, and backed slowly out of his office. And that was my brief introduction to Katherine.
Until she arrived, I had spent my first thirty-four years restlessly clinging to private aspirations that something better was coming my way. I still didnt know what I wanted to be when I grew up, though I was sure it would be as obvious as a razor-edged tornado, parting the cornstalks of the Ohio farmland where I lived. It would find me and carry me away to a place where I would find all the answers to lead a life of fulfillment.
While waiting for that moment, I worked my 9-to-5 job and I became addicted to collecting junk from estate sales, crazy enough to drive a hundred miles just to see what was for up for auction at some lonely, godforsaken farmhouse. I could have spent my time doing worse things.
After closing the door to Dallass office, I headed to the vending machine for my afternoon pick-me-up. I watched my selected candy bar thunk down from the wire circle of the machine, and wondered about Katherine Konrad and what her connection was to my boss. True enough, people frequently had their lawyers administer their estates, but to bequeath their ashes to their lawyer was, frankly, a little strange. Then again, maybe this woman had no family and Dallas was responsible for seeing to the burial of her remains. It seemed logical enough to me.
While I relished the sweet, empty calories, it occurred to me that our assumptions were often like staring at a surrealist painting or some other optical illusion. Sometimes a container held creamy, delicious candy, and sometimes it held the remains of a dead body. Getting to know more about her would make me realize I could never assume anything again. You see, Katherine was that tornado, and that afternoon was just the calm before the storm. Because of her I would lie, steal, fall in love, and cross an ocean, all within a year. But for the moment, I was satisfied with chocolate.
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