The ROSES Card

This story begins on a Wednesday with the return of a woman to Rochester from a business trip in Tampa.

Following her return, she notices her daily movements intersecting with those of the same plain-looking man with medium-length brown hair for eleven consecutive days: every single day, once per day, her life crosses paths with his by way of a seemingly coincidental encounter.

On the first day, she sees him at a gas station. She stops to get gasoline on the way to her office in the morning and notices the brown-haired man for the first time. He’s filling up on the other side of the same pump she’s using. Despite his unremarkable appearance, she notices him thanks to the red shoes he wears, which catch her attention. She stops at the same station many mornings but has never seen him before, there or anywhere else.

On the second day, she sees him at a bagel shop. Roughly once per week she buys a bagel for lunch from the same small store located in a strip plaza exactly one-quarter mile away from her office. While there, she notices him for the second time, standing in the queue for the register as she passes by it on her way out the door and back to her car. Despite how often she patronizes the establishment, she’s never seen him there before either.

On the third day, she sees him in traffic. She’s waiting to turn left through a busy intersection at a blinking yellow arrow. Naturally, as she waits for a break in the stream of the oncoming lane, several cars come to a stop behind her as they wait to turn as well. When the opportunity finally arrives, she turns through the intersection swiftly but notices him driving the car two vehicles behind hers in the line that follows. She can see his face and brown hair in her mirrors and knows with certainty that it’s the same man. Miles down the road, she realizes that he’s not behind her anymore though she’s unsure of when or where he turned off.

Inconsequential but consistent run-ins like these continue for eight more days.

In enough time, the events no longer feel coincidental. Even so, she doesn’t know what to make of them. Is it possible that he's following her? If so, then why? Is he dangerous? Should she be afraid? Despite the strangeness of their repeated comings-together, neither of them ever acknowledges the other. They never speak, or even make eye contact. But she notices his presence each time he's near. She wonders if he notices when she's near too.

. . .

On the twelfth day, she buys another bagel. However, instead of driving back to her office and eating it at her desk like she usually does, she decides to drive to a small park that’s nearby. She goes there for lunch sometimes when the weather’s nice. The park she chooses has a pond with a walking path to it from the parking lot. She follows the path to an empty bench in front of the water and sits down to eat. For almost thirty minutes, she enjoys it. She likes the privacy and the quiet. It feels good to see the sun and the grass and to be comfortable. During those minutes, it’s altogether peaceful. But at what seems like a pinnacle, she hears footsteps walking along the stone path which brought her to the bench where she sits.

Looking up, she sees Red Shoes advancing towards her along the path. He moves normally, approaching at a comfortable pace. He appears relaxed as he grows nearer. Reaching the bench, he sits down next to her. His demeanor radiates a solace which casts a sort of calming effect over her. After several moments of silence, he finally acknowledges her, speaking for the first time across all their convergences. Looking towards her at last, he confirms that he has in fact been following her for many days and even concedes that he's suspected for nearly a week that his cover is blown.

He reveals that he’s a private investigator working for the Monroe County District Attorney's office. He explains that the D.A.'s office has hired him to follow a specific (unnamed) individual of interest whom it’s actively building a criminal case against.

He further reveals that during the course of his tailing the Individual, he's grown concerned at the frequency with which the Individual is placing himself in unnatural proximity to her. Because of this, he’s come to believe with high conviction that the Individual is following her. In light of this conclusion and in the interest of her safety, he’s made the executive decision to formally abandon whatever’s left of his cover, intercept her movements, and officially inform her of the situation and its details.

As he speaks, he discreetly slides what looks like a business card towards her across the space between them on the bench. She picks it up and examines it. It’s proportional to a standard business card but scaled down and feels more akin to a credit card with respect to weight. It’s cut from a thick cover stock which is off-white in color. On one side of the card, a street address is written in all black lowercase letters. She notices that the whole address is printed on just one line, not split across multiple lines the way one would see on the front of an envelope. On the other side of the card, only one word is printed. In all black capital letters it reads: ROSES.

He explains that the address on the card is that of an active (but undisclosed) safe house in Rochester: an unassuming yellow, two-story, single-family home with white shutters and a red mailbox. He claims that his agency has labeled her an at-risk person in the wake of his most recent briefing concerning the Individual.

He tells her that if she goes to the location on the card and gives the card to the man that answers the door, she will be offered entry into an unnamed, government-funded program which exists to protect the whereabouts and well-being of at-risk persons like herself. He explains that the man at the safe house is his associate, a Documents Specialist whose role is to usher new members into the program. He tells her that if she chooses to accept the program’s protections, the Specialist will provide her with the necessary paperwork to prove her membership in the program and confirm her assumed identity.

He adds that while his and his associate's agency has determined that her circumstances more than qualify her for admission into the program, ultimately, entry is entirely voluntary and thus the decision is hers alone to make.

This story ends with the woman, unsure of Red Shoes' motives, looking down at the ROSES card in her hands as she ponders what to do next.