Rude Awakening - Final

The doorbell rang again. 

“Is that Claudia already?” Stacy questioned. 

“Not likely. She’s a psychic, not a magician.” I went to the door. “I’ve got it.”

When I opened the door, Stan held up a six-pack. “It’s a new craft beer I found. Monkey’s Breath. I couldn’t pass it up.”

“Well, of course not. Come on in. I’ll get the mugs.”

Stan stepped into the family room and held up the beer. “Monkey’s Breath.”

“Oh! You sweet talker.” Stacy sipped her coffee. “No thanks, I’ll stick with my dark roast coffee.” 

“Anybody?” Stan set the six-pack on the table. “It’s cold…and there’s no warning label.”

“Oh! Well in that case how can I refuse.” Rocco grabbed a can and pulled it out.

I walked in holding three mugs. “Let’s keep it classy. Here you go.”  I handed one to Stan and another to Rocco. I kept the third knowing Stacy wouldn’t be interested.

“Thanks.” Stan popped open the top and poured the mug full. “A good craft beer always taste better in a mug.” 

“No question about that.” Rocco wiped his lips. “The flavor is bold and it opens up nicely.” 

Stan, Rocco and I relaxed, enjoying the rustic taste of Monkey’s Breath, when the doorbell rang for a third time. We all knew what that meant. Claudia was here.

I rolled the 8-Ball across the floor. Twitch chased it down and brought it back and dropped it at my feet. It was covered with dog drool, so I let it lie. 

Just then Stacy walked in with Claudia. “Hi. It’s nice to see everyone. I hope I can help solve the puzzle.” 

In unison without any planning, we held up our mugs and yelled, “Monkey’s Breath.”

“Well, that’s a greeting I’ve never heard before.”

“Claudia, please ignore them. Men can be such idiots sometimes.”

Stan smiled. “Sorry, we’re just having a little fun.” 

I set my mug down. “Let’s get serious about the puzzle. So, now we have a detective, a writer, a psychic and—"

Stacy laughed, “An irrational anxious paranoid.”

“That’s not fair.” 

“Probably not, but it’s accurate.” 

“Enough. So far, we haven’t solved anything.” I took another swig of my beer. “Mmm, yummy. Stacy and I looked at Waldo but couldn’t come up with anything. Rocco helped us understand the connection between the book and the other items, but without a clear resolution.”

Stacy jumped in. “What about the Magic 8-Ball? Maybe Claudia can help.”

 “Good idea,” I piped up. “Claudia, do you ever use the 8-Ball to make predictions?” 

Stacy put her hands on her hips. “Ben, stop it. Just stop it. Claudia’s here to help.”

“Well, actually I have all sorts of tools.”

“See, I told you.” I picked the ball up gingerly and tossed the toy to Claudia. “Do your thing.”

Claudia caught the ball but quickly dropped it. “Thanks a lot, Ben.” She quickly grabbed  a napkin and cleaned off the saliva. “It doesn’t work quite like that.” Claudia shook the 8-Ball. “But I’ll give it a try.” She held the ball, just above her head and said, “Does Ben sabotage his life by imagining problems when there are none?” 

Claudia flipped over the 8-Ball and it read, “Without a doubt.” She laid the ball on the floor next to Twitch. 

“Hey, I’m not the culprit here,” I explained. “It’s the person that sent the email and package.”

“That’s partially true, but you always have a target on your back,” Stacy said. “You make yourself vulnerable because of your anxiety.”

“I’m not sure you’re right about that.”

Stan weighed in. “You might be missing the obvious, like Waldo. He’s right in front of us but we don’t see him.”

“Yes, it’s hard to see the problem when it’s you.” Rocco walked to the bar and picked up the bourbon. He poured a glass of Rude Awakening and brought it over to Ben. “I wrote the book Head Games under a pen name.”

Stan held up the Where’s Waldo puzzle. “And I spent many years hunting people down, only to find out they were hiding from their self. Finding Waldo got me started finding people.”

Claudia took the 8-Ball from Twitch, “This will never give you the answers you need,” and handed it to me. 

It was covered with drool. “Augh,” I dropped it.

“Payback.” Claudia smiled.

            “Did you plan this?  Everyone seems to be playing a part.” I looked at Stacy. “It feels like an intervention.” 

“Yes, it is and everyone agreed to help. I wanted to do something that would get you to pay attention. Was this a rude awakening?” Stacy picked up her coffee. “Just one thing left, the seminar, Finding Yourself. ”

 “Funny, I see what you did.” I shook my head. “So this is all a trick. No stalkers just . . . my friends. “Claudia, you predicted all this. None of it was a surprise, even the drool.”

“Well, of course not . . . I am a psychic.”