Here is the next part to The Unexpected Guests
Sitting in her cubicle at work she replayed the events of Sunday night once more. Jordan, the man who outbid her had taken her out on a date.
Belinda had been full of high hopes for the date, but things hadn’t gone as planned. Now she wanted to crawl in a hole, at least until work was over.
She had been such a blatherskite telling everyone the story of how she had met Jordan and their upcoming hot date.
MaryBeth and Angela had already been trying to ask her for details about the date and she kept excusing herself saying how busy she was. But she knew she could only avoid them for so long.
Finally, tbe time came to go home. She was ready to dash out the door before anyone could stop her. As she was running down the stairs she didn’t see Angela or MaryBeth. Taking that as a good sign that she was ahead of them she breathed a little easier.
Yes! She exited the building into the parking lot. The coast was …. OH NO! Her relief quickly drained away.
“Here comes the hardworking girl. We figured since we hadn’t been able to talk to you all day, we would wait by your car. Now spill the beans. We are dying to hear what Mr. Handsome and Wealthy was like.”
Angela and MaryBeth were grinning like Cheshire cats, their eyes held a teasing glint.
“There really isn’t much to tell.”
“Riiight! We weren’t just born yesterday.”
It was useless, when MaryBeth and Angela were set on something, they didn’t give up easily.
“Sorry to disappoint he may be wealthy. handsome and have a precious grandmother, but, he has to be one of the most boring men that I ever met! He talked all night about himself. Talk about egotistical!”
Her co-workers looked so disappointed. “So, back to square one in the search for Mr Right.” Belinda said.
“Don’t worry, he is coming, but he may be riding a slow turtle instead of a white horse. Thats the cause for the delay.”
Laughing, Belinda opened up her car door. “Thanks for that reassurance. Have a good night, see you both tomorrow.”
They said goodbye and headed for their cars. Belinda was ready for a relaxing evening at home. Driving home she saw that the new thrift store in town was open. Pulling into a parking space she decided to check it out. Sometimes treasures could be found where one least expects.
She wasn’t in the thrift shop for more than five minutes when she saw it! It was stunning.

Belinda was so excited she didn’t look for anything else. She got in line at the register and was back out to her car in a jiffy.
She would put the painting over her fireplace. Driving home, there was a song in her heart. She had a peacock painting! Sometimes the simplest things could make her happy. She studied the painting for a little, admiring it once more. Wait, what was that on the painting?
There appeared to be something that wasn’t quite right. A bump in the painting. Belinda ran her hand down it and then cried out. It was a little white pocket in the painting and something was inside!
She pulled out a hand drawn treasure map. There was much detail and an X marked the spot!
Feeling intrigued she looked closely at the names of places on the map and they weren’t far. Within a couple hours drive. Suddenly she knew how she would spend her Saturday. Yes, it could be a fake treasure map, but what if it wasn’t???
(To be continued… on Saturday)