When we hung up, I sat there for a moment, not sure what to do. Then I started browsing the TV channels again. I found a show called 90-Day Fiancé. Apparently, it was some sort of reality show where people who never met before were engaged for ninety days and then they got married. It seemed like a ridiculous idea and then I realized that Ryan and I hadn’t been a couple for very long before he proposed. Definitely not ninety days. Not even sixty. Of course, I worked for him for over a year, so it wasn't like he was a total stranger.
Deciding my real life was already a crazy reality show, I changed the channel again. In fact, I flipped off the TV, closed my laptop, and lay back down on the couch, pulling the blanket over me. At this point the only thing I could do, the only thing that seemed to really make a difference, was sleep. So, I nestled down on the couch, under my blanket, closed my eyes, and willed sleep to come.
I was awoken by my phone ringing on the coffee table. I didn't recognize the ring tone so I was going to let it go to voicemail. But then I remembered Natalie was gone and she might've given my number as an emergency number. Someone could be calling me because there was something wrong with Nat. I reached over to the coffee table and picked up my phone.
"Hello?"
"Is this Ms. Nichols?” A man’s voice came over the line. I didn’t recognize it, but it had a professional quality to it.
"Yes, it is. Who is this?”
"My name is Captain Lawrence. I was on the yacht that you and Mr. Strong went out the other night.”
I swallowed hard as the reminder of that night hit me square in the heart again. I wondered if there would ever come a time that I would think about that night, or even think about Ryan, and not experience devastating pain. "Yes. Is there something I can help you with?"
"We have found some items that we believe are yours. We contacted Mr. Strong, but he's unavailable to come get them and we didn't want you to miss them. I wanted to let you know that they're here. Can you come get them?"
"Right now?"
"Well, yes, right now would be ideal. We are preparing the yacht to go out again. One of the Strongs is looking forward to a long tour on the boat and we need to get it ready."
There was no way I could go there, I thought. I couldn’t return to the one place where for a moment, I had everything I ever wanted and then in a split second, lost it all. I also didn’t look presentable. I was wearing stretched out yoga pants and a faded T-shirt.
"Can you hold them for me or send them to me?" I tried to scan my brain for some of the couriers that I knew who I might be able to pay to go get whatever it was I left behind. "What did you say they were?"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Nichols, but it really is important that you come get them. Can you be here in an hour?"
I shook my head. He sure was insistent. But since there wasn't anything else that I had to do, and perhaps getting out and seeing the ocean might help me feel better, I figured I’d go.
"I'll be there in an hour.” I hung up the phone and went to take a quick shower, pulling my wet hair back into a messy bun, throwing on jeans, and a casual top. I slipped my feet into some flip-flops. I didn't bother with makeup. Then I grabbed my purse and headed out the door, into my car and drove out toward the marina.
When I arrived at the marina, I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes as I worked up the courage to walk down to the boat. A part of me worried that Ryan was there, but another part of me hoped that he was. How much longer would I have to endure this crazy emotional roller coaster?
Finally, I got out of the car and walked down to the gate. I gave my name and the marina guy let me through, then I made my way down to the Strong family’s boat.
The captain met me as I walked up the ramp to the boat. I couldn't help but look around to see if anyone else was there…if Ryan was there…but I didn’t see anyone but the captain.
"Welcome aboard Ms. Nichols," the captain said, extending a hand to help me on to the deck.
"Thank you very much. Do you have those items you said I left?” I figured I could get the items and be back in my car in less than three minutes.
He extended his arm out the side as if he was suggesting that I move along toward the back of the boat.
&nb
sp; "Yes, right over here." He guided me toward the back of the boat where there was a small round table covered with a white table cloth. A face with a single rose in it sat next to a small box.
I looked at the captain in confusion.
He nodded to the box. “It’s in there.”
I picked up the box, removing the lid. Inside sat a charm. For a moment, I wondered if I’d lost one of mine, but this wasn’t a charm I owned. I bent over to look at it more closely. It looked like one of those long horns in the Alps. It made me think back to the time when Ryan and I went to dinner and I drank a little too much and blew the horn. It had been such a lovely night and despite all the sadness and pain, I would always remember it with happiness.
“There is another one over here miss," a woman's voice said. I lifted my head to look across the back of the boat. She pointed toward another small table with a rose and a box. I couldn't stop the hope that bloomed in my chest that perhaps all of this meant something. At the same time, I was too afraid to believe that Ryan was staging a reconciliation.
Tentatively, I walked over towards the woman and the table. I lifted the lid of the box and found a charm of a tulip, which of course was meant to represent our trip to Amsterdam.
“I love tulips," I said absently as I fingered the pretty little charm in the box.