Cerpen: The Mysterious Briefcase

It was a breezy night. Only the sound of the grasshoppers was heard. There I was, sitting next to the window, trapped in a humongous boring room. I was wasting my time alone, observing and talking to the crescent moon. Suddenly, I heard a knock coming from outside. I quickly opened the door.

                A man who was wearing a black coat was standing in front of my room. He was a good-looking person. I called him dad. Dad asked me if I want to follow him to his friend’s party. Of course I want to go! Who wants to miss a party?

                After two hours, we finally arrived at the location. It was a double-storey house, but only Uncle Thomas and his wife lived there. There were so many people in the house. They all wore gorgeous and  elegant dresses for the party. I saw a waiter busy offering the guests for drinks. There was a woman in red hair, seemed to be looking for something. She must probably searching for a friend.

                I saw a teenager walking around and took some photographs of the house. This house is kind of cool and awesome. Two men, wearing black coats were walking towards us. They also wore sunglasses eventhough it was late at night. I wonder why, but I only kept that question in my mind.

                “Hey Mr. Smith, how are you? It has been a long time since we last met,” the man who held a briefcase asked. Dad smiled and talked with the men for a while. Meanwhile, my eyes kept wandering around. I walked towards the food table. They served mouth-watering meal. Steak, grilled chickens, pasta, you name it. I was thirsty at that moment, so my hands reached a glass and pour some cocktail into it.

                Without my expectations, I accidentally bumped into a guy and made his shirt wet because of the cocktail. I apologized several time. It was the guy whom I saw taking photographs just now.

                “It is nothing,” he smiled. He went to the toilet to change his attire and left me in guilt. A few moments later, he showed up.

                “So, you must be the daughter of Mr. Felix Smith, the famous author I guess?” he made an early assumption.

                “How did you know that?” I was shocked. The guy told me that he saw my dad and I just now. He also told his name, Leonardo.

                “Well then, I guess you already know my name, I am Nancy Smith.”

                We both started to talk about the house and its owner. Leo told me to be aware tonight because anything might happen. His warning was freaking me out.

                I excused him for a while to go to the ladies. It was located upstairs. While walking, I saw one of the rooms was opened. There was a noisy sound coming from the room. I heard a woman’s voice, scolding someone which I did not know who. I felt very curious. But of course, it was inappropriate for a teenager like me to be a busybody at Uncle Thomas’ house. I continued my walk.

                As I wanted to go downstairs, I passed by the room again. But this time, the door was closed. Suddenly, all of the lights turned off. I could not see my way. Luckily, I remembered my handphone which I kept in my handbag. I used it to get a source of light.

                Although it was dark, my pair of eyes still managed to capture the image of a woman running downstairs. I saw her red hair. it was obvious that she had just done something bad based on her face expression.

                “Miss, why are you running?” I asked. She was shocked to see me and told me to get out of her way. By that time, I was totally convinced that she had done something with the lights. She must had switched off the main system of the lights.

                Without wasting any time, the woman continued running to escape. I saw her holding a briefcase. Why did she ran? What briefcase was she holding? Those questions were dancing in my mind. I followed and tried to stop her, but there were too many people in the house.

                “Stop her!” I shouted. I did not even sure if anyone saw the woman. But whatever it was, she must be stopped. I heard dad’s voice calling my name. He must had been worried for me.

                The woman pushed all of the guests that blocked her way aside. I kept chasing her from behind. In a blink of an eye, the lights were turned on. So, I could see her clearly. Finally, after the chasing incident, Leo managed to stop her. Coincidently, there were two police officers in the house. I explained everything that I saw to them. A man who talked to my dad earlier approached. He quickly grabbed the briefcase from the woman’s hand.

                He finally explained everything. Uncle Thomas also approached. Actually, the two men which I saw when I first arrived here were Uncle Thomas’ bodyguards. They brought along some secret documents which contained information about Uncle Thomas’ latest project. Uncle Thomas was a successful inventor, so a lot of people tried to steal his inventions and ideas.

                The red hair woman forced the bodyguard to hand in the briefcase, but he would not listen. the small fight in the room ended up with the woman hit him with a steel on his neck. After that, she quickly went to the main switch to turn off the lights. She was afraid that the people would catch her. The woman turned panicked when she saw me and decided to run away.

              The police officers praised me for my fast action chasing the woman. Finally, Uncle Thomas’ project was safe. Dad hugged me and told how much he was proud for me. Uncle Thomas also thanked me and Leonardo for our help. At the end, everyone clapped and smiled.


More: Unexpected Life