A Room Full of Memories

Even as Charlotte Jensen tried to concentrate on entering the right numbers into her computer, she kept seeing the room full of photos. She saw pictures of herself riding her bike with training wheels, her dad running behind her; standing by her parents in her graduation gown; and sitting with gifts in her lap at her parents' house at Christmas.

Charlotte was sure the dream must have come about because of everything her family had been going through lately. Her father had died a few months ago, and just a couple of days ago her poor mother's house had been burglarized. Not only had the thieves stolen the computer and jewelry, they had left an enormous mess behind.

"Are you still coming to the barbecue?"

The sound of her co-worker's voice took her away from her thoughts. "What?" Charlotte said as it took a moment to sink in. "Oh, right. Sure I am, Bill."

Bill was planning a barbecue at his house. Charlotte usually tried to avoid these things. She didn't like to socialize with her co-workers much; she felt that she spent more than enough time with them at work. Bill had been persistent though and had kept saying how worried everyone was about her. Finally, she had given in. She figured she could survive one night with some of her co-workers. And she knew that she could leave early to help her mother go though everything and clean up.

"Great," he said with a smile. "I think it will be good for you to get out and spend some time with people."

"Mm-hmm." Charlotte absently twirled her dark hair around her fingers while looking back at the screen. After a few moments, she realized that Bill was still standing there. He looked down and pushed his glasses up his nose when Charlotte glanced back at him.

"Did you need something else?" she asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure you still had my address."

Charlotte fished through her purse and dug out the post-it note he had written it on. "Yep, I still have it."

"That's good," he said cheerfully. "A lot of people aren't going to make it, but I'm still hoping we'll have a good group. I know Lynn and Todd are coming, and possibly Kate."

She didn't know any of those people all that well, but maybe that was for the best. She hoped her more annoying co-workers were among those who couldn't make it.

"Anyway, I'll see you tonight then," he said, finally walking away.

Charlotte looked back at her screen and attempted to get back to work. She finished typing and brought the papers over to her supervisor, Jackie.

"Oh, I was just going to ask you for these," Jackie said. "I don't even remember telling you I needed them."

Charlotte wasn't the most friendly, outgoing person, but she had always been good at anticipating others' needs. Jackie thanked her, and Charlotte walked back to her desk. She hadn't bothered asking Jackie if she was going to Bill's barbecue. Managers usually weren't invited to these things. Actually, she wasn't completely sure who was invited. She hoped nobody too unpleasant would show up.

A couple of hours later, Charlotte was driving along the highway, attempting to follow Bill's directions. She was starting to wonder if she had gone too far. She hadn't realized that he lived so far from town.

Finally, she arrived at the address. She didn't see too many cars parked at the house so she figured she must be one of the first ones to arrive. She hoped that wouldn't be too awkward.

She rang the doorbell, and Bill answered it with a smile. She walked in the house and realized that no one was there but her and Bill.

"Am I the first one here?" she asked.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Oh," she said. She started looking around a bit and hoped that others would arrive soon.

"You have a nice house," she said, feeling a little awkward.

"Thank you," he said. "Why don't you let me give you a tour?"

They walked though the rooms of the old Victorian house. Charlotte hadn't really thought of Bill as an antique collector and was surprised at all the old furniture. But then, she didn't really know Bill that well.

Just then, she walked into a room that seemed a little too familiar. Her face was staring back at her from dozens of photos, just as it had in her dream. She looked back toward the entrance of the room, and Bill was standing there, once again smiling at her.

"Welcome to your new home, Charlotte."