The Feeling I've Been Here With you Before Prologue A
Present
Shirley Bennett was in her kitchen humming to herself while frosting some brownies that she was planning to sell at her shop. Life had never been better for Shirley. She had a beautiful family, a great group of friends, her sandwich shop was booming and her brownies were voted best in the greater Denver area. Things were even looking up at church; they had 20 new people at their last service.
But the cherry on top of her life sunday was her new house. Things were getting tight in her small three bedroom, two bath, ranch-style home. Her boys were getting too big to share a room; Jordan seemed to be growing taller every day and now at twelve was taller than Annie. Shirley was also having to use her kitchen as an office because of the success of her business. After a several long talks, she and Andre decided it was time to upgrade.
***
Two Months Earlier
“Andre, Sweetie, I think you may have missed a turn,” Shirley said nervously. They were driving to meet their realtor, Roseanne, in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Greendale, but for the past six minutes they could see nothing but trees.
“Babe, I’m not lost,” Andre sighed.
“I wasn’t saying you were lost.”
“You were implying it.”
“Maybe we should turn back and look for that turn you missed.”
“Shirley, I haven’t missed the turn. I’m following the directions that Roseanne gave us perfectly.”
“There’s no shame in being wrong, Sugarboots. Let’s turn around, just to be sure.”
“No. We’re not lost, I didn’t miss the turn, and man I miss your tom tom,” Andre snapped back.
“Poor little guy, he didn’t stand a chance!” Shirley said dryly and gave her husband a sad little laugh.
Andre smiled lightly back at her. “Troy and Abed “borrowed” it for one of Abed’s film projects, and the darn thing hasn’t worked right since!”
“I’m going to call Roseanne,” Shirley said, offhandedly.
“Babe, that’s not necessary,” Andre said in a frustrated sigh.
Shirley ignored her husband and called their realtor anyway.
“Hi Roseanne, it’s Shirley Bennett. We’re on Karloff Street and I think we may have missed the turn. We’ve seen nothing but trees for about a mile.”
“No, no, no-you’re going the right way. You should see the turn any minute now,” Roseanne assured her.
And sure enough, as Roseanne said it, they saw their turn: Vincent Drive.
Vincent Drive turned onto a bridge. The bridge was small but sturdy and hung over a quiet brook. Shirley couldn’t believe that this place was only twenty minutes away from Greendale Community College.
Once over the bridge, they could see the place off in the distance. It was breath-taking. It was huge, more like a mansion than a house. It looked like something out of one of those romantic old movies that her mom used to watch. The house was made of small blue-gray stones and on the right side of there was a tall cylindrical tower that was linking it and the garage. Andre pulled up in front of the residence and parked the car. Shirley got out of the car and observed more of the details of the house. It was large and square with the first floor being longer than the second and third.
The yard surrounding the house was lush, green, and seemed well-maintained. Leading up to the house was a red brick path, which turned into a small staircase. The staircase had an iron railing that continued along the patio. The patio seemed small for the place, only about two feet longer than the door on each side. The entryway boasted huge mahogany double doors. Both doors were intricately carved, and at about head level on each door was a large blue-green stained glass circle. There were three narrow windows on each side of the doors.
“Awww, it’s nice,” Shirley said in awe.
“Yeah, but it might be a little far though, Babe,” Andre said, trying to remain logical despite his wife’s glee. “The kids will probably have to change schools.”
Andre knocked at the door.
“Sweetie, don’t worry. We’re just looking. It’s not like the house is going to magically have everything we want and we will just totally fall in love with the place,” she said, her enthusiasm having died down a little. “And even if it did… there’s no way it’s within our budget.”
“Yeah, the chances of that happening are like a million to one.”
Shirley giggled. “Billion to one.”
Andre laughed. “No, no-trillion to one.”
The happy couple laughed as the front door opened, revealing a smiling Roseanne.
“Oh, hi you guys. How was the drive up?”
Roseanne Perry was a tall, blonde, hippie-ish woman in her late 50’s. She was a bit of an airhead, but she was a decent enough realtor.
“It was fine! So, tell us about the house,” Shirley said excitedly.
”Of course! Come on in, and we’ll get started.”
The Bennett’s followed her around the main floor, listening excitedly as Roseanne began detailing all that the home had to offer.
“It’s a five bedroom, five bathroom, with a basement and attic. The house was built in 1903 by General Guntram “Butch” Swanson as a wedding present to his favorite daughter Belzora. Many of the structures he hand carved himself, in fact. The front doors were carved from mahogany that he chopped down himself while traveling in South America, and for the glass, he went to Tiffany Studios in New York to commission the shade of blue to match his daughter’s eyes.”
***
She pushed open the back door and led them out onto a sprawling patio.
“And here we have the back yard,” Roseanne said as they stepped off the patio and into the yard.
The yard was perfect for them. First, there was a brick garden area, and past that was a big lush lawn. On the lawn there was a fancy tree house and a building that caught Shirley’s attention.
“Umm, excuse me, Roseanne, what is that building in the corner? Is that a greenhouse?” Shirley asked.
“Actually, it’s an indoor swimming pool,” Roseanne explained. “Would you like to take a look?”
“Oh, yes! We’d love to look at our pool!” Shirley said enthusiastically.
“Babe, we don’t own this place yet, and we may not even buy,” Andre reminded his wife.
“I know, Andre, but there’s just something about this place that feels like home,” Shirley said dreamily.
“I know what you mean, but we need to play it cool,” Andre whispered back, not wanting to tip Roseanne off as to the extent of their interest.
“Okay, I’m just excited.”
“You and me both, Babe. You and me both.”
So far the tour of the first floor had gone rather well. The house seemed to check off most of their needs. It was beautiful and spacious and had plenty of room for the family to grow into. It had the most charming details too, like the little flower lanterns in the foyer that Shirley just loved. The appliances and plumbing had seen better days, but it was nothing that Troy couldn’t fix. Besides, the appliances at their house weren’t bad, so they could just bring them along when they moved.
For Andre and Shirley, the rest of the day seemed to go by rather quickly, as they were already sold on the property before they even made it to the second floor, which held a massive master suite and two smaller bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. It also had an office that was just perfect for managing the business side of Shirley’s Sandwiches. Upstairs, on the third floor, there were two more bedrooms and another bathroom. The tower turned out to be an observatory with a large, old telescope.
While Shirley and Andre admired all that the home had to offer, Roseanne sighed in relief. She had purposely told the pair that the house was new on the market, when in fact she had been trying to sell it for more than 16 months. If they found out why the house was on the market for so long, they would never buy the place. It was all just rumors anyway. That story about the past owners couldn’t be true… there was no evidence. What good would it do to tell them some silly old gossip? They were a big family, they needed the space.
Following their tour, Shirley and Andre knew that they had to have this house. They enlisted Jeff to help them negotiate the price down to just under their budget, and Roseanne was all too happy to oblige if it meant getting rid of this property. Jeff was even able to talk the owner into buying all new utilities.
***
Present
Shirley smiled to herself as she frosted her brownies. The family had been living in their beautiful new home for about two months and had settled in comfortably. She had never felt so blessed.
Shirley’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.
She abandoned the brownies she was frosting to retrieve her cell phone from her purse. She didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
No response, but Shirley could hear a man heaving breaths on the other end.
“Hello? Who is this?” Shirley asked. She was starting to get a little uneasy.
The mystery man said nothing, just kept on breathing, in and out. Now Shirley was getting annoyed.
“I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing.”
Silence.
“Okay, this isn’t funny,” Shirley said, irritated. She was both creeped out and angry at this man. “I’m hanging up now,” she warned before finally ending the call.
Shirley just stood there for a good few seconds before shaking off her discomfort and returning to her brownies. She was shocked to see that someone had used their hands to scoop big chunks from the middle of several that she had already finished frosting.
“Oh, boys, seriously! Elijah, Jordan, come here NOW!”
The boys entered the kitchen.
“Boys, what have I told you about this?”
“About what, Mom?” Elijah questioned.
“Don’t play games with me. About my brownies, that’s what,” she grilled.
The boys looked at the pan of ruined brownies.
“I didn’t do that.” Jordan said.
“Neither did I,” added Elijah.
“Boys, what have I told you about lying? If you sin, it hurts Jesus and our souls.”
“But Mom, we’re not lying,” Jordan insisted.
“Really? Then who did it, the Invisible Man?” Shirley questioned.
“What’s this about the Invisible man?” Andre asked, entering the kitchen.
“Daddy, Mommy’s acting crazy,” Elijah said. Jordan whacked his brother. “Ow!”
”Jordan, don’t hit your brother,” Andre said in an authoritative tone. “Now what’s going on here?”
“Andre, look what the boys did,” Shirley showed her husband the tray of destroyed brownies.
“Mmm, cream cheese frosting,” Andre said sticking his finger in the frosting and licking it off.
“Andre!” Shirley said in horror. The boys took this opportunity to evacuate the kitchen. “Boys, get back here!” Shirley shouted after them.
“Let them go, babe. I need to talk to you about something and it would be a lot easier without the kids around,” Andre explained.
“But Andre, my brownies,” Shirley said frustrated.
“The boys and I will help you make another batch of brownies to sell at the shop and we’ll eat this batch for dessert tonight. Babe. What’s wrong? You don’t usually get this upset over brownies,” Andre questioned, worried for his wife.
“I don’t know,” Shirley sighed. “I got this weird call earlier, and now I’m all agitated.”
“A weird call? Do you want to talk about it?” Andre offered, concerned.
“No,” Shirley said adamantly, not want to think about it anymore.
“Are you sure?” Andre questioned.
“Yes, what did you want to talk to me about?” Shirley said, changing the subject.
“Oh yeah, um, they’re changing the location of the family reunion again,” Andre said calmly.
“Where now, Durango? Lord help me, if I have to drive those kids to Durango, I won’t be responsible for my actions,” Shirley only half joked.
“No, it’s not in Durango.”
‘Thank God,” Shirley sighed in relief.
“It’s in San Diego,” Andre said, cringing.
“WHAT?!” Shirley yelled. “As in California?”
“Yeah,” Andre said, uncomfortably.
“How do they expect us find a hotel? To book a flight? The reunion is less than a week away!”
“Well, apparently they changed the reunion to San Diego weeks ago, but forgot to tell us.”
“Of course they did,” Shirley grumbled, knowing full well it was no mistake.
“My Aunt Amy said she is happy to let as stay with her and Uncle Ralph in a beach house they rented.” Amy and Ralph were the kindest people Shirley had ever met, and she knew that they weren’t lying when they said they’d be happy to have them, but she still didn’t feel right about accepting such a generous offer.
“We couldn’t do that,” Shirley said. “I don’t want to intrude on Amy and Ralph’s space.”
“That’s what I said, but Amy insists we stay with them and that they have more than enough space for all of us,” Andre insisted. “I think Amy may want to kidnap Ben,” he joked with a small laugh.
“Well, I guess if they the space…” Shirley finally allowed, deciding it pointless to argue when it was clear that Amy would not take no for an answer. Shirley smiled.“Honey?”
“Yes, Babe?” Andre said sweetly back.
“We’re going to San Diego!” she squeaked.
“I know!” Andre said enthusiastically.
Then Shirley sobered up a little bit. “We’re going to have to get a house sitter.”
Prologue B
Shirley Bennett was in her kitchen humming to herself while frosting some brownies that she was planning to sell at her shop. Life had never been better for Shirley. She had a beautiful family, a great group of friends, her sandwich shop was booming and her brownies were voted best in the greater Denver area. Things were even looking up at church; they had 20 new people at their last service.
But the cherry on top of her life sunday was her new house. Things were getting tight in her small three bedroom, two bath, ranch-style home. Her boys were getting too big to share a room; Jordan seemed to be growing taller every day and now at twelve was taller than Annie. Shirley was also having to use her kitchen as an office because of the success of her business. After a several long talks, she and Andre decided it was time to upgrade.
***
Two Months Earlier
“Andre, Sweetie, I think you may have missed a turn,” Shirley said nervously. They were driving to meet their realtor, Roseanne, in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Greendale, but for the past six minutes they could see nothing but trees.
“Babe, I’m not lost,” Andre sighed.
“I wasn’t saying you were lost.”
“You were implying it.”
“Maybe we should turn back and look for that turn you missed.”
“Shirley, I haven’t missed the turn. I’m following the directions that Roseanne gave us perfectly.”
“There’s no shame in being wrong, Sugarboots. Let’s turn around, just to be sure.”
“No. We’re not lost, I didn’t miss the turn, and man I miss your tom tom,” Andre snapped back.
“Poor little guy, he didn’t stand a chance!” Shirley said dryly and gave her husband a sad little laugh.
Andre smiled lightly back at her. “Troy and Abed “borrowed” it for one of Abed’s film projects, and the darn thing hasn’t worked right since!”
“I’m going to call Roseanne,” Shirley said, offhandedly.
“Babe, that’s not necessary,” Andre said in a frustrated sigh.
Shirley ignored her husband and called their realtor anyway.
“Hi Roseanne, it’s Shirley Bennett. We’re on Karloff Street and I think we may have missed the turn. We’ve seen nothing but trees for about a mile.”
“No, no, no-you’re going the right way. You should see the turn any minute now,” Roseanne assured her.
And sure enough, as Roseanne said it, they saw their turn: Vincent Drive.
Vincent Drive turned onto a bridge. The bridge was small but sturdy and hung over a quiet brook. Shirley couldn’t believe that this place was only twenty minutes away from Greendale Community College.
Once over the bridge, they could see the place off in the distance. It was breath-taking. It was huge, more like a mansion than a house. It looked like something out of one of those romantic old movies that her mom used to watch. The house was made of small blue-gray stones and on the right side of there was a tall cylindrical tower that was linking it and the garage. Andre pulled up in front of the residence and parked the car. Shirley got out of the car and observed more of the details of the house. It was large and square with the first floor being longer than the second and third.
The yard surrounding the house was lush, green, and seemed well-maintained. Leading up to the house was a red brick path, which turned into a small staircase. The staircase had an iron railing that continued along the patio. The patio seemed small for the place, only about two feet longer than the door on each side. The entryway boasted huge mahogany double doors. Both doors were intricately carved, and at about head level on each door was a large blue-green stained glass circle. There were three narrow windows on each side of the doors.
“Awww, it’s nice,” Shirley said in awe.
“Yeah, but it might be a little far though, Babe,” Andre said, trying to remain logical despite his wife’s glee. “The kids will probably have to change schools.”
Andre knocked at the door.
“Sweetie, don’t worry. We’re just looking. It’s not like the house is going to magically have everything we want and we will just totally fall in love with the place,” she said, her enthusiasm having died down a little. “And even if it did… there’s no way it’s within our budget.”
“Yeah, the chances of that happening are like a million to one.”
Shirley giggled. “Billion to one.”
Andre laughed. “No, no-trillion to one.”
The happy couple laughed as the front door opened, revealing a smiling Roseanne.
“Oh, hi you guys. How was the drive up?”
Roseanne Perry was a tall, blonde, hippie-ish woman in her late 50’s. She was a bit of an airhead, but she was a decent enough realtor.
“It was fine! So, tell us about the house,” Shirley said excitedly.
”Of course! Come on in, and we’ll get started.”
The Bennett’s followed her around the main floor, listening excitedly as Roseanne began detailing all that the home had to offer.
“It’s a five bedroom, five bathroom, with a basement and attic. The house was built in 1903 by General Guntram “Butch” Swanson as a wedding present to his favorite daughter Belzora. Many of the structures he hand carved himself, in fact. The front doors were carved from mahogany that he chopped down himself while traveling in South America, and for the glass, he went to Tiffany Studios in New York to commission the shade of blue to match his daughter’s eyes.”
***
She pushed open the back door and led them out onto a sprawling patio.
“And here we have the back yard,” Roseanne said as they stepped off the patio and into the yard.
The yard was perfect for them. First, there was a brick garden area, and past that was a big lush lawn. On the lawn there was a fancy tree house and a building that caught Shirley’s attention.
“Umm, excuse me, Roseanne, what is that building in the corner? Is that a greenhouse?” Shirley asked.
“Actually, it’s an indoor swimming pool,” Roseanne explained. “Would you like to take a look?”
“Oh, yes! We’d love to look at our pool!” Shirley said enthusiastically.
“Babe, we don’t own this place yet, and we may not even buy,” Andre reminded his wife.
“I know, Andre, but there’s just something about this place that feels like home,” Shirley said dreamily.
“I know what you mean, but we need to play it cool,” Andre whispered back, not wanting to tip Roseanne off as to the extent of their interest.
“Okay, I’m just excited.”
“You and me both, Babe. You and me both.”
So far the tour of the first floor had gone rather well. The house seemed to check off most of their needs. It was beautiful and spacious and had plenty of room for the family to grow into. It had the most charming details too, like the little flower lanterns in the foyer that Shirley just loved. The appliances and plumbing had seen better days, but it was nothing that Troy couldn’t fix. Besides, the appliances at their house weren’t bad, so they could just bring them along when they moved.
For Andre and Shirley, the rest of the day seemed to go by rather quickly, as they were already sold on the property before they even made it to the second floor, which held a massive master suite and two smaller bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. It also had an office that was just perfect for managing the business side of Shirley’s Sandwiches. Upstairs, on the third floor, there were two more bedrooms and another bathroom. The tower turned out to be an observatory with a large, old telescope.
While Shirley and Andre admired all that the home had to offer, Roseanne sighed in relief. She had purposely told the pair that the house was new on the market, when in fact she had been trying to sell it for more than 16 months. If they found out why the house was on the market for so long, they would never buy the place. It was all just rumors anyway. That story about the past owners couldn’t be true… there was no evidence. What good would it do to tell them some silly old gossip? They were a big family, they needed the space.
Following their tour, Shirley and Andre knew that they had to have this house. They enlisted Jeff to help them negotiate the price down to just under their budget, and Roseanne was all too happy to oblige if it meant getting rid of this property. Jeff was even able to talk the owner into buying all new utilities.
***
Present
Shirley smiled to herself as she frosted her brownies. The family had been living in their beautiful new home for about two months and had settled in comfortably. She had never felt so blessed.
Shirley’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.
She abandoned the brownies she was frosting to retrieve her cell phone from her purse. She didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
No response, but Shirley could hear a man heaving breaths on the other end.
“Hello? Who is this?” Shirley asked. She was starting to get a little uneasy.
The mystery man said nothing, just kept on breathing, in and out. Now Shirley was getting annoyed.
“I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing.”
Silence.
“Okay, this isn’t funny,” Shirley said, irritated. She was both creeped out and angry at this man. “I’m hanging up now,” she warned before finally ending the call.
Shirley just stood there for a good few seconds before shaking off her discomfort and returning to her brownies. She was shocked to see that someone had used their hands to scoop big chunks from the middle of several that she had already finished frosting.
“Oh, boys, seriously! Elijah, Jordan, come here NOW!”
The boys entered the kitchen.
“Boys, what have I told you about this?”
“About what, Mom?” Elijah questioned.
“Don’t play games with me. About my brownies, that’s what,” she grilled.
The boys looked at the pan of ruined brownies.
“I didn’t do that.” Jordan said.
“Neither did I,” added Elijah.
“Boys, what have I told you about lying? If you sin, it hurts Jesus and our souls.”
“But Mom, we’re not lying,” Jordan insisted.
“Really? Then who did it, the Invisible Man?” Shirley questioned.
“What’s this about the Invisible man?” Andre asked, entering the kitchen.
“Daddy, Mommy’s acting crazy,” Elijah said. Jordan whacked his brother. “Ow!”
”Jordan, don’t hit your brother,” Andre said in an authoritative tone. “Now what’s going on here?”
“Andre, look what the boys did,” Shirley showed her husband the tray of destroyed brownies.
“Mmm, cream cheese frosting,” Andre said sticking his finger in the frosting and licking it off.
“Andre!” Shirley said in horror. The boys took this opportunity to evacuate the kitchen. “Boys, get back here!” Shirley shouted after them.
“Let them go, babe. I need to talk to you about something and it would be a lot easier without the kids around,” Andre explained.
“But Andre, my brownies,” Shirley said frustrated.
“The boys and I will help you make another batch of brownies to sell at the shop and we’ll eat this batch for dessert tonight. Babe. What’s wrong? You don’t usually get this upset over brownies,” Andre questioned, worried for his wife.
“I don’t know,” Shirley sighed. “I got this weird call earlier, and now I’m all agitated.”
“A weird call? Do you want to talk about it?” Andre offered, concerned.
“No,” Shirley said adamantly, not want to think about it anymore.
“Are you sure?” Andre questioned.
“Yes, what did you want to talk to me about?” Shirley said, changing the subject.
“Oh yeah, um, they’re changing the location of the family reunion again,” Andre said calmly.
“Where now, Durango? Lord help me, if I have to drive those kids to Durango, I won’t be responsible for my actions,” Shirley only half joked.
“No, it’s not in Durango.”
‘Thank God,” Shirley sighed in relief.
“It’s in San Diego,” Andre said, cringing.
“WHAT?!” Shirley yelled. “As in California?”
“Yeah,” Andre said, uncomfortably.
“How do they expect us find a hotel? To book a flight? The reunion is less than a week away!”
“Well, apparently they changed the reunion to San Diego weeks ago, but forgot to tell us.”
“Of course they did,” Shirley grumbled, knowing full well it was no mistake.
“My Aunt Amy said she is happy to let as stay with her and Uncle Ralph in a beach house they rented.” Amy and Ralph were the kindest people Shirley had ever met, and she knew that they weren’t lying when they said they’d be happy to have them, but she still didn’t feel right about accepting such a generous offer.
“We couldn’t do that,” Shirley said. “I don’t want to intrude on Amy and Ralph’s space.”
“That’s what I said, but Amy insists we stay with them and that they have more than enough space for all of us,” Andre insisted. “I think Amy may want to kidnap Ben,” he joked with a small laugh.
“Well, I guess if they the space…” Shirley finally allowed, deciding it pointless to argue when it was clear that Amy would not take no for an answer. Shirley smiled.“Honey?”
“Yes, Babe?” Andre said sweetly back.
“We’re going to San Diego!” she squeaked.
“I know!” Andre said enthusiastically.
Then Shirley sobered up a little bit. “We’re going to have to get a house sitter.”
Prologue B