Matt brought the package with him back to the car. The lady he had encountered was pretty rough. She acted like she’d seen his face a hundred times and had never approved once. Matt put her out of his mind. Matt pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his employer.
“This is Joanne. Who’s this?”
“This is Matt. I ..”
“You didn’t listen, did you?”
“Ah, no.” Matt was flustered at being found out.
“Do you have the instructions?” asked Joanne.
“No, I didn’t write them down. I thought ..”
“.. they were useless? I know. Everyone does.” Silence. “Fine, I’ll just walk you through it. I don’t want you coming back with the package.”
Matt took a deep breath. Relief. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah. First. Did you park in the back?”
“No, that would ..”
“.. make no sense, I know. Which is why you are in the wrong place.”
“Should I move?”
“Can you? Unless you’d like me to come out and hold your hand?”
“Okay, okay. I’m moving. Gimme a second.”
Matt drove his car around to the rear of the parking lot.
“Are you there yet?” asked Joanne. “Did you run into traffic or something?”
“Hold on, I’m here. Now, what? Can I deliver the package now?”
“You really are dense. No. You have to walk the pathway first.”
“The ..”
“.. pathway, yes. I don’t have time to give you a metaphysical lesson. Can you see the flag pole?”
“Yes.”
“Walk to it. Tell me before you reach it.”
Matt wove between cars and made his way to the flagpole. A small green flag hung from it.
“I’m near,” said Matt.
“Good. Walk around it. Counter-clockwise. Stay about two feet from it. Stop when you’re facing room 312.”
“Uh, okay. Done.”
“Now, the path is narrow here and doesn’t line up.”
“What does that mean?”
“You need to walk with your left foot on the curb and your right foot on the driveway.”
“Seriously?”
“Did you hear me laugh?”
“No, okay, got it.”
Matt started walking, as he was instructed. He felt like he should have reached the door fifty feet ago. Instead, he was still walking. The numbers on the doors started showing out of order. He paused. The doors were gray. Had they always been gray? He remembered blue.
Joanne said, “Right about now, you should be seeing weird shit.”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“Okay, don’t stop, keep walking. Just pay attention to the numbers. You’ll get to 312 eventually.”
“Okay, what the hell is happening?”
“I told you. You’re walking the pathway. There are more ways than one to get somewhere.”
312.
“I’m here.”
“Then I’m hanging up.”
Matt put his phone in his pocket, stepped up, and knocked on the door. He waited a minute before it opened. Joanne opened the door and smiled.
“You have the package?”
Matt stepped back involuntarily. Joanne closed the gap and took the package. Gently.
Matt whispered, “How do I get back?”
Joanne chuckled.
