Abbie Andrews (Always, Abbie)

NOTE: Abbie Andrews comes from the story Always, Abbie.

Fridays were always challenging for Abbie. With the weekend approaching and Abbie's adventurous plans for whatever might be in store, she could never stay fully focused on work. By about 3pm, if something wasn't done, it probably wouldn't get done until Monday.

On this particular Friday, she was trying desperately to finish a frustrating email to a vendor in Canada. The Canada part wasn't the problem, of course, it was the vendor. He just didn't understand the boundaries of his job, the boundaries of her job, and he seemed to have more interest (in their irregular email exchanges) in making weird jokes than actually getting the work done.

Abbie sat in her office, half glaring at her computer screen wishing the email would write itself, and half eyeballing the clock on the wall as the second hand creeped slowly around, time appearing to resist getting to 5:00 when she could finally go home.

The email did not end up writing itself, but Abbie managed to grind through it. She decided to stop pretending to enjoy the vendor's jokes, and just cut to the chase. We need 25 cases of product in two weeks' time. Thank you. Sincerely, Abbie Andrews, etc., etc. Click send. Done.

The weekend was going to be great. She had plans with her roommate Rachel to go sailing (which neither of them knew much about), and a tentative date with Jake either see a movie or go bowling or maybe both. She and Jake were both so agreeable with each other that sometimes they couldn't arrive on a chosen activity because they each just wanted to do whatever the other suggested.

She thought about dropping by Jake's cluster out in the main room to confirm their plans, but before she got past the initial thought, there was a knock at the door.

"Mail."

Abbie scrunched up her face. Mail never came around this late, certainly not on a Friday.

"Really?" she asked.

The courier didn't have his usual wagon with him -- instead, he had just one cardboard box. "Are you Abbie Andrews?" he said, looking at the label.

"Yes."

"Then this is for you. Sign here." He held out a clipboard and a pen.

Abbie scrawled her name on the page, and took the cardboard box. "What is it?" she asked, knowing full well that the courier either didn't know or wouldn't say. He just shrugged and walked back out of sight.

Abbie peered at the box. It was unmarked, except for the label with her name and work address on it. It wasn't unusual for Abbie to get random mail from time to time, but the late Friday delivery and the almost aggressive neutrality of the box had her curious.

She used a small retractable knife to cut into the tape along the edges of the box. She opened the flaps, and looked inside.

Sitting at the bottom of the box was ... another box. This one was small, red, square, and with a ribbon wrapped around it. She lifted the red box from the larger contained, moved the outer cardboard to the floor, and placed the smaller box on her desk. She sat in her chair and stared at the little red box.

This is not my typical random mail, she thought. This isn't promotional merchandise or sample sales or budget proposals. This is a gift. She looked from all angles, confirming that there was no tag or label anywhere on it. But who is it from?

She touched the box gingerly, her fingers tracing the ribbon. It was a fancy box. Maybe it was from Jake? Maybe it was jewelry. Or a small figurine made of crystal. Something about the box gave her reason to resist opening it. For the moment, floating in a stasis of not-yet-satisfied curiosity was the most appealing choice.

Abbie lost track of time, which wasn't new (especially on Fridays). When she looked back at the clock, it shows 4:58 -- she had been staring at the box for nearly twenty minutes! She shook her head, freeing her mind from her daydream. Glancing back at the box, she eyed the ribbon with more scrutiny than before.

It was a red ribbon with gold edges and a small detail decoration of hearts running the length of it. It was tied in a simple bow, and for the first time since the box's arrival, Abbie was compelled to pull the ribbon and open it.

Why not? she thought. What could I possibly need to wait for?

She grabbed hold of the two loose ends of the ribbon and pulled the bow, untying it. She loosened its grip on the box itself, and set the ribbon aside. With one hand, she held the top lid of the box, and with the other, the base. It was a tight fit, but she felt the lid giving way as she pulled. She had to wiggle the top of the box a bit to get it loose, but then again, the longer it took to open the box, the greater the sense of anticipation.

Finally, just as the second hand on the clock had swung fully around to the top again, just as it was exactly 5:00pm, Abbie pulled the lid free from the rest of the box. In that instant, a blinding flash burst forth from the box, forcing Abbie to squint her eyes shut. The light was so ****, so blinding that Abbie had no other thoughts beyond what the hell is that? She tried to open her eyes to see what was going on, but it was too bright. She thought she heard a noise as well, but couldn't identify what it was. Eventually, she managed to guide the box's lid back onto the box again, stifling the light, and giving her space for her eyes to recover.