The Gift of Time
Today is January the 5th and it’s my birthday. I know birthdays are for kids, only if someone could explain this to my wife. Since morning she has been complaining that I have to go to work today. She is not happy about that. Even during lunch she hardly spoke to me, I told her it’s just for an hour I have a conference call with our New York client but Carol won’t listen, she says I love my work more than her and our little girl Abby. That’s not true I love them more than anything else. But making this conference call successful is important for our future. So I kissed Abby and Carol goodbye and left for work. There was a lot of traffic on the way to work but somehow I managed to reach on time. My assistant Sarah was on her desk when she saw me. She stood up and said Happy Birthday Mr. Brooks. I smiled back and said Sarah you know you can call me John. She nodded and smiled. I went to my cabin and Sarah followed me there and said Sorry Mr. Brooks I tried calling you, the conference call have been rescheduled for tomorrow morning. I looked at her and said you should have started with that, I am out of here. Bye Sarah, she smiled and said bye Mr. Brooks and enjoy your birthday.
On my way back I was thinking about Carol and how she wanted to throw me a party. I suggested that we spend my birthday at home I didn’t feel like partying; all I felt like doing was to sit at home with my family and have a glass of wine. When I reached home the lights were off I unlocked the door and walked in to see the dining table was set up for two with a candle light dinner. Carol was sitting there in her red dress oh how beautiful she looked in that dress. She came to me, kissed me and said happy birthday darling then she handed me a gift. I said thank you, baby, but you didn’t need to. She said open it and see I am sure you would love it. I opened it and love it I did. It was an antique looking table clock, it looked amazing. I kissed and thanked her. I took the table clock and kept it on the table near our bed. I went back to the dining table and sat with Carol. I asked her if Abby was asleep and Carol said, yes just tucked her in.
We opened the bottle of wine and began to drink and talk, we spoke about everything right from the day we met and how Abby changed our lives for the better. The bottle finished and we opened another and then another after that. Soon I realized and I couldn’t drink like before and was really sleepy. So carol and I decide to call it a night but before going into our bedroom I went to Abby’s room. She was fast asleep, she is my angel said, Carol. I looked at her and replied our angel. I bent over and kissed Abby on her nose I loved doing that. Her small sock was there on her bed it was so cute, so I picked it up and kept it in my jacket pocket. Then we went into our bedroom and we started to kiss, as we lay down I took off my blue jacket and threw it towards the table next to our bed, I heard something fall but I was too caught up in the moment to check what it was.
Next morning I woke by sunlight on my face as I opened my eyes I remembered that I have a conference call today so I turned towards the table clock and it was almost 9 am. I looked towards my left but Carol was not there so I called out Carol why didn’t you wake me up, but she did not reply. So I got up; I had this bad headache, it must have been all the wine from last night. I went to the kitchen and I saw a note on the Fridge. It said, “Have your breakfast before going to work, love C”. I do remember carol saying something about taking Abby out this morning. Anyway, I was late already so I rushed and got dressed. It was almost 9:30 am now, so I locked the house and went towards my car, it was not there. There was a black car in my parking spot. I thought carol must have taken the car and that these neighbors should at least ask before using our parking spot. Just then I saw a taxi so I got in and left for work.
Once I reached, I went straight to my cabin I did not see Sarah on my way in. When I stepped into my office I saw that it looked different, I called out to Sarah, but she did not reply, I went towards her desk and there was this blonde girl sitting in Sarah’s place, so I asked her where is Sarah. The girl responded by saying: I am sorry Sir, who is Sarah; are you her to see Mr. Gibson? I said what.. She again asked me are you here to see Mr. Gibson. I said no, what is going on this is my office and who are you? The girl responded by saying that her name was Bethany and that she is Mr. Gibson’s assistant. She also said that this is Mr. Gibson’s office and I may have come to the wrong floor. I was sure I was in the right place but I still asked her again which floor is this, and she said it was the 12th floor, I looked at her and said then this is not Mr. Gibson’s office its mine and told her that if she does not leave I will call security. While I was stilling saying this she picked up the telecom and called for security herself. I was surprised but thought well at least I can get this over with. Soon security arrived but they did not look familiar, they came and went straight to the blonde and asked her: Mam what is the problem. She told them that I was an intruder trying to enter Mr. Gibson’s office. So I jumped in and said this is my office, look at the name on the door, what does it say JOHN FUCKING BROOKS doesn’t it? The security guards looked at me in disbelief I turned around and looked at the door and it said “Harvey Gibson”. I was stunned I did not know what to say, the security guys asked me to leave but I did not respond as I was in shock of what just happened. So they asked me if I was ok. I said I was fine and walked out of the office. Outside I stood and looked around, everything looked similar but different at the same time. Like the ice cream parlor across the street. The name on the board looked different. I didn’t believe what I was seeing; I thought that I better get home. I took out my cell and called Carol but I couldn’t get through, the message I was hearing said: “You seem to have dialed a disconnected or wrong number”. I dialed our landline number it rang but nobody answered. So I got into a taxi and left for home. On the way, I was thinking of what just happened I was sweating and breathing hard. The driver asked me if I was ok, I told him that I was fine, just in a hurry to get home.
When I reached home I could see from the window that the lights were on. I was relieved to see that Carol and Abby were back so I rushed in shouting “Carol, Carol come here soon” From the kitchen, I woman came out she looked about Carol’s age she had a knife in her hand. She came out smiling and said you are home early and who is Carol is it another role play name for me. I looked at her in shock and said where is Carol, where is my wife. She looked at me, smiled and said stop joking come here and help me with the chicken and she went back into the kitchen. I went into the other room looking for Carol but she was not in our bedroom, I rushed to Abby’s room neither Carol or Abby was there. I rushed back to the kitchen and said where is my family where is my daughter. This woman turned around and said, Josh, it’s not funny anymore, stop joking. I saw the knife kept on the slab so I picked it up and shouted. WHERE IS MY FAMILY, WHO ARE YOU, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE. Now this woman looked scared and said, Josh, what’s wrong, are you ok, which daughter are you talking about you don’t have any children. I shouted and said my name is not Josh its John and who the hell are you, tell me before I… She started to cry and said don’t you remember me Josh, what’s wrong I am Cathy we have been together for 3 years now. I said look lady for the last time my name I not josh and I don’t know who you are; now don't move I am calling the cops. She stood there, tears rolling down her cheeks while I called the cops and told them there was an intruder in my house. While we waited for the cops to arrive I kept asking her where my family was but all she did was stand there and cry.
Soon I heard the doorbell; I shouted in here, she is in the kitchen. Two cops walked in; one with a gun in his hand, they asked me to keep the knife down. As I kept the knife down and the woman ran towards the cops they caught her and asked me what happened. I told them that my wife and kid were not home when I came in and I saw this stranger in my house. One of the cops asked the woman who she was and what s
he was doing here. The woman still crying said her name was Cathy Robinson, and that she was my girlfriend, and that we were living together for the last 3 years… I jumped in calling her a liar. The second cop asked me to keep quiet for a minute while they speak to her. Then he turned to her and asked if she can prove what she is saying is true, she said yes. I have my ID the she picked up a handbag kept on the dining table and gave them her id. Then she continued and said, you can look around there are plenty of pictures of me and Josh together kept in the house. The cops looked around and so did I, and to my disbelief, I saw pictures of her and me all over in the house. She looked at me and said to the cops that Josh always likes taking pictures and putting them up. I jumped in and said I don’t know how you have done this but this is not me I don’t even know you and my name is not Josh it's John, John Brooks. I took out my wallet and handed over my driver’s license to one of the cops. He looked at the ID and asked me to sit down and relax; he said he will take care