The Stacks

Chapter 38: The Box

Song: "Tears In Heaven" by Eric Clapton

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One thing often occupied my brain and that was Harry's keepsake box. In the dream, Cathryn said it was hers and that I should return it, but Harry said it was both of theirs. How would I return it to a dead person anyway?

My first day back at work after the New Year, before Harry had gotten the offer on his house and moved in with me, I had scoured the shelves in the third floor stacks, hoping to find some kind of explanation for Cathryn's dream message about having left the lotus box there. I found nothing, obviously. Of course, after Harry moved in and I found the box with his belongings, I finally decided that I must have seen the box somewhere in his house and not made a conscious note of it and that was why it appeared in my dreams. The idea of Cathryn sending me an email, for heaven's sake, bordered on ludicrous.

The Sunday after Harry moved in, we informed both sets of parents of our new living arrangements. Harry's parents were thrilled, albeit understandably cautious. My parents were outright floored, considering I was usually the most level-headed in our family, but my whole whirlwind relationship with Harry had taken everyone by surprise, even me. Ultimately they gave us their respective blessings and told us to let them know if we needed anything. We reiterated that Harry's parents were more than welcome to stay at my place when they came for Harry's birthday since we had the sofa sleeper, but they said they would give it some thought and let us know.

As I laid out my clothes for the following work day and started to get ready for bed, Harry launched another surprise at me. "So, I'm going to start working on something."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Like a job," he answered casually.

I looked up and screamed happily. "You got a job!? When? Where?" I jumped on his lap and kissed him.

"Will you trust me if I tell you I can't share a lot of the details yet? I don't want you to think I'm keeping something from you. I just want to wait to tell you about it in more detail. Later. I promise."

That sounded odd, but I decided it wasn't a big deal, as long as he was happy with what he was doing. "Okay, just don't keep me in the dark too long. I'm excited to know what it is."

"I'll tell you more about it when the time is right," he assured me. "And one more thing. I'm going to finish law school in the fall. What my stepdad said made sense - I've already come so far, I might as well get the degree."

"Will you have to pay for it, though?" I asked, pushing him back on the bed because I felt like I was going to fall off his lap. I climbed on again, facing him and listening intently. Harry looped his arms around my back to keep me balanced.

"No, it's a done deal. I spoke with Mr. Metler again and he said it was already paid for. He also bought me some time on the finish date because I've been away for so long. It was really good of him to do that for me. I owe him that much at least."

"Just so you're not doing it only because you owe him. You should be doing it for yourself," I said.

"I am," he assured me. "I am, really. It's an exceptional opportunity and I realized that I would be foolish to walk away from it."

"Okay, I trust you," I said, kissing him squarely on his beautiful mouth. "And I'm proud of you."

Harry and I fell into a comfortable routine in just a few days' time. He was out most of the day while I was at work, but he was usually home by the time I was, so I assumed his job kept approximately the same hours. I was continually curious about what kind of job would have to be kept a secret and I spent considerable time racking my brain to come up with possibilities. I couldn't figure it out, so I kept reminding myself to be patient and he would tell me, as he said, "when the time was right."