The Key

Miranda accepted the tiny slip of paper, placing it inside her jacket pocket. Once again she turned towards him prepared to slide down into the seat of her car. Brad looked towards her intently, hopefully. The smoldering heated passion that had been with her all evening long suddenly emerged. Before she knew it, she was kissing him, urgently, needfully. The kiss seemed to have lasted an eternity, and it was she who was surprised when it was he that actually, finally broke it. He held the door open a bit wider so that she could sit down, closing it when she did. Miranda inserted her key, rolling down the window.

"I hope you really will call," he told her.

"I hope that I will too," she thought to herself, only smiling back towards him with a hint of a suggestion that she might.

She drove the rest of the way home in a euphoric mood, aroused more than she'd been or had found herself feeling in months. She laughed outwardly, wondering to herself if she dared share this interesting piece of "dessert-gossip" with her friends when next they joined one another at the café.

"Well, Darlene maybe," she reconsidered, not quite sure that she as yet share such an intimate encounter as this with Silvia, though she trusted both of them sufficiently enough, she wasn't as confident that Silvia might not mention something to someone else where this might eventually find its way back to her husband. Though the likelihood of that ever happening was a near impossibility.

"Still..." she considered. "Perhaps Darlene," who she would indeed get a kick out of surprising, if not down right shocking her friend that she'd been as bold as she'd actually been with a man whom she'd only really just met.

Miranda arrived home to discover that her husband still wasn't home as yet. She hurriedly prepared for bed, safe in the certain knowledge that she'd hear the garage door opening upon her husband's arrival. Miranda quickly reached into the secreted compartment where she now kept that same sweet silver colored toy that Darlene had long ago given her. She felt the device come alive in her hand, purring contentedly as she closed her eyes, allowing the sensation of pleasure to finally release as she fixed the image of Brad firmly within her mind.

#

Miranda doubted she could wait clear until the following Friday to mention anything to Darlene. And besides, she still hadn't made up her mind as to what she might say regarding anything to Silvia as yet. Excitedly, she called Darlene inviting her over to "brunch" as she called it on Sunday morning. Bill would be off with the 'guys' for their weekly golf round as he was every Sunday morning, leaving the time for she and Darlene to sit and visit for nearly as long as they desired without fear of being overheard. For the first time in a long time, she found herself anxiously peering out between the blinds for the sound of her dear friends car and arrival. When she finally did, Miranda met her at the door long before she'd had time to even ring the doorbell.

"Well, so what's so exciting that you just had to get me over here to tell me about?" Darlene asked brushing past Miranda heading towards the kitchen where she knew Miranda would already have a cup of coffee waiting for her.

"What makes you think that?" Miranda asked trying to mask her excitement.

Darlene shot her a knowing look. "Well for one, you waited until today to invite me over, which tells me that you didn't want Bill hovering around for one thing. And for another, you have that same look on your face as the night you told me you'd lost your virginity!"

Miranda blushed turning away to freshen up her own cup of coffee buying some time to compose herself and turn the tables on her friend to some extent. This was part of the game they had enjoyed with one another throughout the years, anxious to tell, but even more excited to see if they could get the other to plead or beg for whatever news there really was.

Darlene seated herself at the kitchen table snatching a banana from the fruit bowl, quietly peeling it. Miranda was too excited to play the game any longer, so she caved.

"You're not going to believe this!" she began, only then watching as Darlene sat the half peeled banana back down giving her, her full undivided attention.

For the first time in recent memory, Darlene neither interrupted nor commented on anything Miranda told her until she'd finally recounted their entire evening together. Occasionally, Darlene's eyebrows did lift in abject surprise, but beyond that, she waited patiently for her friend to actually finish relating her story. Only then did she lean back in her chair once again retrieving the half-peeled banana while she sat silently peeling it before taking a bite.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Darlene said with a mouth half full of the squishy fruit.

"You know damn well what I mean Darlene, tell me...what do you think?"

"What I think is girl friend, that it's been a while since you've had sex is all, and basically, you're simply horny. It sounds to me like all this guy really wants to do is get inside your pants."

Exasperated, Miranda twirled heading back over to the kitchen counter to pour herself yet another cup of coffee, already her forth one for the morning. "It wasn't like that, not like that at all!" she countered indignantly.

"Oh no? Didn't you just finish telling me a few minutes ago that if he'd even suggested getting a room, that you might have actually considered it?"

Miranda set her coffee cup back down on the counter before she dropped it. "The point is, he didn't do that even if I might have entertained the idea. He was a perfect gentleman Darlene."

"And my point is kiddo, that he sounds just a little bit too perfect. It's those kind of men that would have me running off screaming into the night. I'd rather one be up front and honest with me about his feelings or desires, perhaps trying to seduce me subtly yes, but still giving me the chance and opportunity to tell him to fuck off or not."

Miranda sighed. One of the things she'd always loved about her friend was Darlene's sometimes twisted sense of humor. This however was not one of those times.

"Don't you see Darlene? Don't you find it kind of interesting on the very day that I buy this key," she'd already reached up to finger it, "that I see him that very morning in the café? Then later, after that crazy old lady tells me that it will be my guide to unlocking the desires of my heart? I run into him at the restaurant?"

"I think you're reading too much into that Miranda," Darlene stated cautiously. The fact that he ran into you actually, seems a lot more like simple coincidence rather than any kind of cosmic fate."

"You really think it's mere coincidence?" Miranda pressed.

"After one chance meeting, yes I do."

"It wasn't just the one, you forget I saw him that very morning."

"That one doesn't count, you just saw one another, you really didn't meet. Now, if you happen to bump into one another again without telling him where you'll be or what your schedule is, I might start to consider the possibility, though I'd be more inclined to believe he was actually stalking you as opposed to being some kind of 'love destiny' or something."

Frustrated, Miranda returned to the sink and began rinsing out her cup. "I thought you'd be excited to hear all this," she said with her back still facing her friend.

"Trust me kiddo, I am excited. Though to be honest, it would have been a lot more exciting to have actually heard you'd gone and gotten a room with him."

Miranda actually spun away from the sink facing Darlene. "It's not just about sex Darlene, you know damn good and well I don't need a man in order to get off!" she exclaimed indignantly.

"I know that M.J.," Darlene responded attempting to put things back on a more friendly level. "I probably know that a lot more than you are even fully aware of. None of us need a man to have a really nice orgasm necessarily, but it is nice after having had one to feel a pair of arms holding you close afterwards. And until someone invents some sort of vibrating robot, then the likelihood of ever having that without a man isn't very damn likely. All I'm saying is this, be careful with your emotions. You're feeling pretty vulnerable at the moment. You know I told you a long time ago that you should perhaps consider leaving Bill, moving out on your own. Then see what happens. If all you want is sexual gratification, there's enough nice guys out there who are willing to share that with you without all the emotional entanglements that go along with it. At least then you get a few sweet kisses, some cuddling, and maybe a real good orgasm or two along the way without suffering the possibility of heartbreak before you actually get to really know the person you're interested in."

Miranda slumped down onto one of the kitchen chairs beside her friend.

"Just don't go rushing into anything," Darlene warned her. "At least, don't go leading with your heart anyway. Keep an open mind to the possibilities yes, but don't be so taken in by his charismatic charm or boyish grin. You want to simply fuck him, then go for it. You want to fall in love again, then that's something else entirely."

Once again, this was not one of her better days that she'd ever spent with Darlene.

"So...you going to call him?"

"I don't know," Miranda answered honestly. "Maybe."

#

Miranda had agreed with Darlene on one point. If she did decide to ever call him, she'd at least give it a week. It would give her time to actually think about it before jumping into something she wasn't sure she was really prepared for. And she was also curious about the other thing. "Was it fate?" she asked herself. Wondering if she would indeed 'bump' into him again. Perhaps he really was stalking her like Darlene suggested.

Miranda shook her head as though clearing away cobwebs. "Don't be ridiculous!" she chided herself aloud. "The only place I might actually bump into him again is at the café. He knows I've been there, and I don't have any intentions of going back to the restaurant anytime soon either. So if we see one another before then, it either really is fate, or Darlene's right."

Miranda frowned; either choice wasn't necessarily a good one. If she allowed herself to pursue this particular path, it would mean a life-changing decision.

It hadn't been Miranda's initial intent to not meet her friends the following Friday. As it turned out, she was required to attend an early morning meeting at work and had to pass. She did however make arrangements to meet both Silvia and Darlene for an early dinner, especially as Bill would be out of town on business for the weekend. She really wasn't looking forward to spending the night alone, and as neither of her friends had dates either, it was a welcome relief to know she would still be spending some time with them. Perhaps after dinner, a movie, or if nothing else, window shopping which they always enjoyed doing together.

Oddly, she found herself curiously torn, wondering if Brad might indeed be at the café on Friday, something that Darlene assured her she would tell her if he did happen to be there. On the other hand, by her not showing up even if he was there, she would at least not seem too eager, willing or for that matter, available.

"Available," she thought. "Was she?" Or was she just needy? Or as Darlene would so aptly put it, "simply horny." Maybe she was, but she also knew she wasn't happy either. She hadn't been happy for a very long time. Miranda found herself fingering the tiny silver key around her neck. "Would it indeed unlock the pathway to her happiness? Was it indeed the actual key to her heart? Was Brad?"

She actually found herself questioning. Only time would tell.

#

She was to meet her friends at another one of their favorite hangouts, not too far away from the café though in the opposite direction. As she drove slowly down the main street preparing to turn at the next intersection, Miranda glanced over towards the strange little antique store as she began to pass by. Just as she did, she saw Brad emerge from the store walking up the street back towards the café. She nearly rear-ended the car in front of her barely glancing back in front long enough to lock up the brakes of her car, barely avoiding the collision. Even the near miss of that happening didn't fully register, as the thought of having just seen Brad emerge from "Vickie's Treasure Chest" really did seem more than simply coincidental this time.

"What the hell was he doing in there anyway?" she found herself asking until the sound of a blaring horn behind her told her the light had once again turned green. Glancing into her rear-view, she smiled waving, feeling a bit idiotic that she'd allowed her thoughts to cause her to totally forget what she was doing, nearly getting herself killed in the process.

By the time she'd parked the car and joined her two friends, she was visibly shaken and wondering all kinds of things.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost!" Darlene told her the moment she sat down at the table. Miranda threw her a look, whispering just low enough that so that even Silvia couldn't over hear her.

"I just may have...sort of," she told her. Then mouthed the words, "Meet me in the bathroom!"

Miranda sat her menu down on the table. "Silvia honey? Would you do me a big favor? I need to use the restroom really bad, would you mind ordering for me when the waitress comes over?"

"Sure honey, what do you want?"

"A glass of their best Merlot for starters, then the Ravioli, only with white sauce, oh...and Thousand Island dressing on my salad."

Miranda quickly stood at that point, heading off towards the restrooms.

"You know, I gotta go too," Darlene said standing. Order me the same, only I'll take Ranch dressing ok?"

Silvia shot her a curious semi-knowing look. "You know, one of these days the two of you might actually invite me into some of these little secrets you two have been sharing," she announced with a semi-hurtful smile.

Darlene laughed, shook her off. "It's not like that Sil, I really do need to pee." With that, Darlene headed off towards the bathrooms in search of her friend.

Darlene found Miranda inside the restroom nervously waiting for her. "Well? You want to explain to me what it is that you meant by that?"

"You're not going to believe this," Miranda excitedly began.

"Ok, even I have to admit that's a little weird," Darlene told her once Miranda had actually convinced her that it had been Brad she'd seen leaving the shop. "So, what do you want to do now?"

Miranda grinned, I have an idea, and I don't think it will be too terribly difficult convincing Silva to go along with it," she told Darlene. "After we finish eating, we're going to go back to that antique store!"

As she'd expected, convincing Silvia to go back to the antique store once they were finished eating proved easier than she had hoped for.

"Cool! I've been wanting to go back there anyway. One of the paintings I spotted last time would go perfectly in my bedroom, and I want to see if its still available!" she announced excitedly. It was the fastest in recent memory that Miranda recalled any of them ever rushing through dinner. They didn't even order a second glass of wine as they normally would have, paying the check and heading out the door in less than a half an hour.

"I'll drive," Miranda volunteered, and though the store was well within reasonable walking distance, both Silvia as well as Darlene seemed elated to drive there as opposed to taking their time walking there instead.

They soon after entered the store, Silvia already making her way over towards the far wall where she'd spotted the particular painting she'd been interested in. Surprisingly, there were three other customers in the shop, two of which stood conversing with the strange old lady.

"What are you going to ask her?" Darlene questioned.

"I don't know yet, something," Miranda responded winging this as it was. She stepped over to a book shelf filled with a variety of knickknacks and began rummaging through them as though appearing interested until she could think up what it was she was going to say and do. While she did, she actually spotted something that caught her attention. A collection of small loaf-sized cedar keepsake boxes stood within the shelving. Miranda had always enjoyed intricate wooden collectables, especially hand-carved boxes like these. She picked one of them up and began toying with it, discovering while she did that it was locked. She briefly attempted to force the lid open wondering if it was just stuck, then gingerly replaced the box once she'd determined that it really was locked and didn't want to end up breaking it.

"Pretty isn't it?"

Miranda was startled, turning to see Mrs. Cravenstance standing beside her. She hadn't heard her come over, nor had been aware that she'd finished talking to the two customers she'd been with moments ago. Miranda looked briefly for Darlene, noticing that Silvia had come over to claim her upon finding the painting she'd come back to purchase.

"Yes, it is pretty," she told the woman reaching in to pick up another one, only this time when she lifted the lid, it opened. The smell of cedar still just as strong as it had probably been when new. "How much?" she asked, noticing that there were no visible price tags attached to the box she was holding.

Mrs. Cravenstance held out her hand, Miranda then giving the box to the old woman to look at. Perhaps there was some secret identifying mark indicating the cost. But rather than do anything like that, the old lady placed the box back onto the shelf, taking instead the first box that Miranda had chosen in the beginning.

"This one's much nicer looking," she said with a grin. "Look's more like something you'd be interested in anyway," she added.

"But it's still locked!"

"Many things are," the old woman told her. "Like I said before, we buy up a lot of estates, many things coming to us 'as is', and we pretty much sell everything 'as is' too. Which is one of the reasons I named this place the 'Treasure Chest'. Sometimes, you might actually find a treasure in one or two of these things. It's a part of what keeps people coming back here. I even had one woman that discovered a very valuable diamond ring in an old antique dresser she purchased. She's been a regular buying customer ever since!"

"This lady really is crazy!" Miranda thought to herself. To give away such a valuable item as a diamond ring without even giving any thought to it, or having remorse at not discovering the piece herself seemed oddly insane.

"Make me an offer," the old woman told her. Miranda laughed.

"Here we go again," she thought to herself, "Forty? Fifty?" she asked before allowing the old woman to even consider the first offer.

"Done! Here let me wrap that for you," she said taking back the box, heading back behind the counter. Silvia and Darlene were already headed that way as well with the two of them carrying the semi-large painting between them. Darlene looked towards her questioningly, reminding Miranda she still hadn't asked the old woman what she'd come here to ask her about in the first place.

"Ah by the way," she began as she stood next to the counter, "I think there may have been a gentleman that came in here earlier, perhaps a little more than an hour or so ago." Miranda described him briefly to the old lady who stood considering Miranda's description.

The old woman thought for a moment. "I don't know, maybe. But the shop's been pretty busy this past little while. I don't recall speaking to anyone that fits that description, but its not to say he wasn't here either. I just didn't speak to anyone that looked like that."

"Well ok, thank you for your time then, and for the box," she added accepting her package.