Her Last Stop

She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled.

Walking down the street, passing numerous people by as they hurried on with their lives, Mary found, for the first time ever in her thirty years of life, that she belonged. She could feel their energy in the air, giving her breathe. Now it seemed strange to her that she just sat in the background as a passive player. Just moving from one spot to the next in her family's list of goals for her. Go to school, get a boyfriend, get a parent-approved job, get married, retire from said job to become a stay-at-home mother to three little boys, grow old and die. To be fair, it isn't like Mary didn't want those things; well, at least some of those things. But, in the long run, this path wasn't what was making her happy.

If there was anything she could thank Roger for, it was that he opened her eyes to that.

Mary reached her destination. She looked up at the old brick building with metal bars over the windows. The freshly painted "David's Pawn Shop" on white wood with large blue letters was a nice touch, though. She thought it gave the place a nice touch. Taking in a deep breath as she smiled widely, she pushed the door open.

The sound of a bell was heard as she made her way in, looking at all the objects that surrounded her. Everything was nice and neat on beautiful dark wood shelves, though a bit disorganized in the manner of their layout. Computers, games, tvs, tools, blu-ray players...you named it, it was probably somewhere in this store. Focusing her attention forward, Mary saw an older man, somewhere in his mid-sixties, standing behind a counter that had a protective fence around it. He was a rounder sort of fellow, with a large smile and happy green eyes. His hair was nearly gone, and the clothes he wore were a bit outdated, but that didn't seem to matter much to Mary. Returning his smile, Mary walked up to the counter.

"Well, hello, miss! What can I help you with today?' the man cheerfully asked.

"I was wondering how much I could get for this?" Mary replied. Carefully she pulled the box out of her pocket. It was a small black box, velvety to the touch. Opening it up revealed a beautiful solitary diamond ring, set in a beautiful gold band.

"Oh, my! What a beautiful piece you have! You sure you want to pawn it off?"

"I'm actually looking to sell it outright," she said.

The man nodded his head slowly. "Ah, I get it. I get more of this than I care to admit. What the bastard do, cheat on you?"

Mary shook her head. "No, Rodger is too straight-laced for that. He tried to stop me from my dream."

"Tsk! Stupid fool, letting someone like you get away. Your face reminds me of my wife's....back when she was a few decades younger and a couple of pounds lighter!" he laughed at his own joke. "But selling, heh? I can get you a bit of a higher price for that then. Let me take a look at it so I can appraise it properly."

Mary slid the box through the hole in the gate so the man could examine the ring. He took out a eyeglass to see every little mark on it.

"So, what did he try to stop you from doing?" the pawn-man asked, still focused on the ring.

"Moving to Chicago. I worked as a editor for the local branch of Yesterday magazine. Our graphic designer suddenly quit on us one day, and I was the only one who knew anything about it, so I took over about seven months ago. One of the higher ups saw my work, really liked it, and wants me to move to the national branch."

"Now that sounds like an adventure! And your fiance didn't want to move?"

"More like he didn't want me to advance. He believed a higher position would make it harder for me to want to quit working when I have kids."

"Old fashion type, huh?"

"You have no idea."

The pawn broker pulled his attention away from the ring. "I'll never understand people like that. Even when I was younger, I liked a woman in charge. Knew what she was doing. My wife Lisa basically runs the entire Downtown branch of Country Bank. Gotta hand it to her, she is a woman who knows what she wants." He smiled a happy smile at that, thinking about his wife. Though she didn't know him at all, Mary was glad to know he was in such a caring relationship. "But you didn't come here to listen to me talk about her! Let's see what I can do you for."

He pulled out a faded pad of yellow paper and a classic number 2 pencil. He jot down a number and slid it under the opening. Mary gently picked up the pad, looked at the number, and nodded.

"This should be fine," she smiled.

"Really? No haggling?"

"I'm afraid I don't have much time for that," Mary replied. "I leave for Chicago at three today, so I need to head to the airport once I'm done here. And the amount you suggested is more than enough to cover me a month's rent at my new place. It's not so much the money I want, but the freedom."

The man nodded. "Very well then, miss, I'll go get your money."

He disappeared to the back room for a few minutes before returning with a large amount of cash. He carefully and professionally counted out the agreed amount before her and slid it to her.

"I hope you have a good time in Chicago, miss," he said. "Just look after yourself. A big city like that can be dangerous to a new person, especially a young woman."

"Thank you for your concern," Mary warmly smiled. "And I will."

She put the money in her wallet and walked out the door, making the bell ring once again. Stepping outside, she knew that there was nothing tying her down anymore, and she was ready to fly.