Wednesday 19 April 2017

Remnants


“He told me about his brother,” Megan said.  When Andy nodded, she asked him, “Did you know what was going on?”

“Not until the Bergens.  Even then we didn’t know it was him until someone tipped us off that what happened wasn’t some random thing.  But I thought he’d come after me—I never thought in a million years that he’d go after you.”

“Well, he didn’t really.  He was just confused.  He said good henchmen were hard to find.”

Andy laughed bitterly.  “I guess so.”

“It’s not like you can advertise for them.”

“No.”

“But are you going to be all right about the Bergens?  Because it wasn’t your fault.”

Andy’s smile faded.

“Don’t let it ruin your life,” Megan told him.  “They wouldn’t have wanted that.”

“Yeah,” Andy said.  His eyes darted around the room.  “Anyway, don’t worry about me.  You just worry about yourself.”  He paused, jingled his car keys.  “I guess you’ll sell the house.”

“Yeah, but it was time, anyway.  Hopefully it won’t take too long.  A friend of mine who’s an agent says that everything that happened will only make it more attractive to potential buyers.  I guess there are people out there who like houses with a back story.”

Andy shook his head.  “People are strange.”

“Sometimes.”

“Will you stay in town, though?”

“I don’t know.  I have a friend who’s a principal in Madison and they just had a teacher suddenly retire due to illness, so she’s offered me the job.  I think I might take it.”

“Really?”

“That’s right.  Moving forward—it’s the only way.”

Andy shared a halfhearted laugh with her.  “Well, good for you.  I hope it works out.”

“Me, too.”

In the silence that followed Megan wondered again about the cat that Andy had released all of those years ago.  She wondered if he even remembered it now, or if he had moved forward from those memories, too.  “So, anyway,” Andy said, breaking into her reverie, “I just wanted to stop by, because I’ll be heading off to Chicago tomorrow.”

“Does that you mean you’ve made a decision about your job?”

“I talked to my boss when he was here.  We have everything worked out.”

“That’s great,” Meg said warmly.  “I’m sure you did the right thing.”

“Thanks."  He gave his car keys another shake.  "I wish it could have been under different circumstances, but--it was good to see you again.”

“You, too.”

Andy turned for the door.  When he didn't move, Megan waited. “So I guess you’re going to hate me forever, huh?” he said to the wall.

“Oh, no.  Not at all.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“You’ll let me know if you ever need something?”

“Definitely.”

“Good,” Andy said.  He then strode briskly to the door and let himself out of the hotel room.

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