Short Story: Losing It

Short Story: Losing It

This night started out like any other night. Who would have thought it would turn out to be a race against time to save my ass from getting thrown in jail? It’s almost midnight, it’s early May, and one can feel the chill in the air...but not if you’re running. Marie, one of my best friends is running, huffing and puffing along side me. We look at each other and start to laugh. And then I start to cough.

“Wait, I have to catch my breath,” I say, in between heavy breathing, coughing and laughing.

“C’mon we’re almost there. Just a few more blocks… I think.” Marie tries to encourage me. I look around quickly. We’re at Pitt Street Mall Parramatta, near the fountain; we just ran past Town Hall. A few more quick breaths and we are off again running as if our lives depend on it. Well it did… sort of.

****

It’s 6:30pm on Saturday and I’m getting ready to go out to dinner with my three best friends. I look at my wardrobe, “hmm what will I wear… jeans or skirt?” I choose jeans and a black top. The weatherman said it would be cool tonight so I’m wearing my favourite brown Steve Madden boots and my brown leather jacket. I check my bag to make sure that my wallet and phone are in there. I’m all set.

I am the designated driver tonight and by7.30 pm I’m arriving at Marie’s place at Parramatta. Just in time. Therese, Donna, and Marie are already waiting for me. From Marie’s place, we head off to the local Thai restaurant at Pitt Street. None of us have been at the restaurant before but someone from my work said the food there is really nice. Considering it’s a Saturday night, we are lucky to find parking just a block away from the restaurant. I’m glad I’m wearing my leather jacket, the air is getting chilly.

Garlic, ginger and other aromatic spices fills the air. There are probably about fifteen tables in the restaurant, you know the ones that seat two people comfortably, but restaurant owners try to squeeze four people in. There are cheap hanging lamps on the one side and there are little vases with floating candles on every table. You can hear the faint Thai music playing in the background and the waitresses are wearing cheap replicas of traditional Thai clothing; a red shiny dress with a bright gold sash. “Perfect,” says Donna. It doesn’t take much to please her. Its one of the things I like about her.

A middle aged Asian man comes over to greet us. “Sa-wat-dee kraup”; he says “hello” in Thai. He seats us at a table near the window. So there we are, four women in their early twenties eating pad Thai, hot beef green curry, Thai fish cakes and fried quails. Donna, our resident news reporter, (that’s what we call her because she always has news to tell), is talking about this new guy at her work. She thinks he’s cute but he seems to be aloof, like he’s hiding something. “Maybe he’s gay,” says Therese. We all laugh. Therese is the funny one, Marie is the fashionista and me - my name’s Madison by the way, I guess I’m the normal one, whatever that means.

Amidst all the chatter, I look around our table and suddenly feel sentimental. The four of us have been friends since year 11. We’ve gone through quite a lot- from first break ups, to losing our virginity. Parent troubles, workmate troubles, we’ve pretty much helped each other through everything. And tonight is turning out to be one of those great nights. Here we are, four friends just being ourselves; not worrying about impressing any guys, complement that with great food- what more can a girl ask for? By the time we finish our meal it’s past ten o’clock. It seems that everyone else is also enjoying this, ‘all girl night out’ because we decide to finish the night at Max Brenner. Max Brenner is a haven for chocolate lovers and probably the perfect place to end a great night out with your best friends.

Donna tells our waitress that we are ready for our bill. We divide it four ways like we always do. I take my wallet from my bag and give my share of the bill, and then Marie asks me if I want to go to the toilet with her. I nod. Beats me why women go to the toilet in pairs. When we get back to the table, everyone is ready to go, so we grab our bags and say goodbye to the nice Asian gentleman and to our waitress. As we walk out of the restaurant, it is definitely getting chilly. I zip up and start to walk towards where we’d parked the car. “Wait, why don’t we just walk to Max Brenner” says Donna. “Yeh, it will help us digest the food we just ate,” Therese added. So I turn around and followed the girls towards Argyle Street.

Twenty minutes later we reach Max Brenner. The sweet aroma of chocolate and soft murmuring voices greets us as we enter the restaurant and find ourselves a corner booth. “I hope that cute guy serves us” Donna hisses. And true enough he comes over with four menus. We order two mochas and two hot chocolates and chocolate pancakes to share. We were enjoying our dessert when Therese mumbles in a dream like state; as she savours each spoonful of heavenly chocolate, “What could be better than this?” As if on queue, I remembered something that might just top off our night.

“Hey girls guess what I have?” I say with a hint of excitement.

“What?” they chorused.

“I have a joint in my wallet. My cousin Marlowe gave it to me.”

“What?! Are you serious? Are you a druggo now?” Marie said in her usual exaggerated way.

“No! Don’t tell me you’ve never had one before. Hey I’m not pressuring anyone to smoke it with me.”

“I’m in,” Donna says quickly;

“Me too,” says Therese.

We all look at Marie, “Well you don’t have to…” I start to say.

“Are you kidding?!” she interrupts. We all laugh.

“Okay we’ll go to Marie’s place after we finish here.”

Not willing to let it go, Marie whispers, “so where is it?”

“It’s in my wallet,” I whisper back.

“Show me,” she hisses.

“What?”

“Show me!” she insists.

“Fine,” I say. Grabbing my bag and fumbling around for my wallet. I look inside my bag. No wallet.

“What’s wrong?” Donna asks.

“I can’t find my wallet.” I start to take the stuff out of my bag- my iPhone, make-up bag, tissues, work ID, more tissues. I was beginning to panic.

Its definitely not here I thought. I’m definitely panicking now. My initial worry was not because there was a joint in there but because IVE LOST MY WALLET! My whole life is in my wallet- my license, my debit cards, my credit cards, my ID’s…and fifty dollars!

Donna asks when I had it last and I begin to trace back in my mind when and where. I only took it out when I paid for the bill at the Thai place. I put my wallet on the table then Marie asked if I wanted to go to the toilet.

“I must have left it at the restaurant!”

“Give them a call to find out if someone’s hand it in,” Donna suggests. Straight away, Therese is on her mobile dialling the directory assistance. She calls out the number while I punch them on my mobile.

“Hello, Thai Foon Restaurant,” a woman answers the phone.

“Ah yes hello, this is Madison Victoria, I was in there with my three friends tonight, we had dinner there, and I think I left my wallet on the table…”

“A-ha,” she says. I’m not sure if she is agreeing with me or not.

“Do you know if anyone found it or handed it in?” I continue.

“A-ha. We found wallet on the table. My husband is returning it.” The lady on the other line says.

“Returning it? What do you mean? I can come by and pick it up. I’m still in Parramatta.”

“No, he’s gone. He’s returning it to the police station,” the lady says, still calm.

“WHAT!!!” I gasp! I notice some heads look in our direction. “Is he still there? Did he return it already?”

“A-ha, he just left. He went to the Police Station.” The lady says in her annoyingly calm voice.

“Oh okay, okay. Is it possible to call him and tell him to come back, I can go there. I’m not far away from the restaurant”

“No, he has no phone. He forgot it here. It’s ok, everything still there. Just pick up from Parramatta Police Station,” she says matter-of-factly.

“Okay. Thank you. I will meet him there.” I hung up quickly and turn to the girls.

“The Asian guy is on his way now to Parramatta Police Station to hand my wallet in!”

“What?!....”

“Oh my God…”

“What the hell?!...”

I am not sure anymore who is saying what. My imagination is running wild. My ass is going to get thrown in jail if they find that joint in my wallet. I’m going to have a criminal record. No way!

“I think I can still stop him. The lady said he just left. Should I run there or should I run to the car and drive there. What do I do guys?!!!” I am definitely losing it.

Donna tries to get a hold of the situation but I can tell she is panicking too.

“Okay here’s the plan. You and I run to the Police station. Therese and Marie can go back to the car and drive there. Whoever gets there first will try to intercept the guy; he should be able to recognise all of us. I’m pretty sure he’ll give the wallet to any of us.” Sounds like a plan. Marie pays for our bill at the counter and we are practically running out of Max Brenner.

So here we are, four ladies sprinting down Argyle Street, Parramatta. It’s nearly midnight. We reach Westfield’s, and Therese and Donna takes off in the direction where we parked the car. Marie and I start running towards Pitt Street Mall. By the time we reach the fountain in front of Town Hall, I’m out of breath. Man I am so out of shape, I think to myself. I look at Marie and we both start laughing. “I have to stop, I can’t breath.” She is still laughing but she stops running. She’s also trying to catch her breath.

“We gotta go,” Marie says. “We’re almost there. Just a couple more blocks.”

“Okay” and we start to run again. After about a couple of minutes, I saw a flashing sign: ‘POLICE’. I stop dead in my tracks. Marie stops too, looking very confused.

“What am I gonna do if the Police already have my wallet?” I ask Marie as I start to walk again.

She thinks for a moment, “I guess you have to tell the truth. That you are a hard core druggie and you are running all over Parramatta tonight so you can have a puff from your last joint.” She is already laughing by the time she finishes her sentence. She seems to be amused at her own joke. I look at her, no smile on my face. “Be serious!”

“Well- you really have to tell the truth. Someone gave it to you just for fun and it’s actually been sitting in your wallet coz you’re not really a user and you are having second thoughts if you should have it or not. I seriously don’t think they will throw your ass in jail tonight,” Marie says reassuringly.

As we look up, we find ourselves standing in front of the Police Station. My heart is beating so fast, it’s like Phil Collins is in there playing drums. As I enter the glass doors, I mutter to myself: “Lord help me,” and as I look at the queue lining up at the counter, I see HIM, the Asian man from the restaurant, he is next in line to be serve and he IS holding my wallet!

I walk towards him.

“Hello. I was at your restaurant earlier; I think you have my wallet.” I say to him, trying to act cool.

“A-ha. Yes, yes here it is” the man said smiling. Then we are interrupted by the Policeman at the counter.

“Next,” the policeman says looking at the Asian guy and then me.

I look back at the Policeman; I swear my face must look so guilty. But before I can say anything, the man from the restaurant says to him, “Everything okay, she’s here now.” That is definitely the understatement of the year.

We both move to the side and Marie walk up to us. The man gives me my wallet and says, “A-ha, next time be careful.”

“Yes,” I nod back at him. I thank him over and over again as we walk out.

Therese and Donna are outside looking very flushed, they must have just arrived. I say thank you for the last time and I bow my head. He smiles then heads off in the opposite direction. Therese and Donna are dying to find out what happened and I am just about to open my mouth when someone taps my shoulder.

I look around and see the Asian man standing behind me. He hands me a little white folded paper and says “Ahh… I took this out of the wallet, I didn’t want you to get in trouble. Almost forgot to give it back.” Then he smiles, turns his back, and walks off before I have a chance to say anything more.

The four of us look at each other and bursts out laughing.