Penelope had passed months ago, and her parents had finally finished going through her things, bringing back items of Derek's she'd borrowed Mostly sweaters he had no idea were missing. He'd accepted these items, as some of them were trinkets of hers that she would have wanted him to have. But the most mysterious of the things came in the form of a brown cardboard shoe box that had large glitter letter stickers that spelled out "DEREK". If one didn't know better, they would have said Penelope knew she was going to pass, and saved these things for him. But that was impossible, she had passed after an accident on the road way. A drunk driver had plowed into her so hard that she died on impact, something none of them could have predicted. The driver was ordered to pay restitution to the family and was given a heavy jail sentence as justice. But Derek wondered, was it really justice? Could justice ever really be served for taking away the brightest light in someone's life. Was a jail sentence fair when he'd have to live with it every day and be told, eventually, to move on? He hoped the woman would live with it every day, knowing that she made the world a darker place by taking Penelope out of it because of her selfish decision to drive while intoxicated.
Derek touched the lettering on the box, tracing his name. "Penelope... What is this?" he asked, as he sat down on his couch with it, almost too scared to take off the lid. He reached for the lid and hesitantly pulled his hands away, standing up and walking away from it. "I can't." he said, running his hand over his head as he made his way to the kitchen, pulling down a bottle of wine from the top of the fridge. One of Penelope's, he kept it for when they'd have their little night-in date nights, he already missed the way she'd sip wine from one of his plain glass cups because he didn't keep any wine glasses. Derek grabbed one for himself and poured the wine into it, and took a wasn't his thing, he preferred stronger drinks. Maybe a shot of whiskey or bourbon. He knew he needed to open that box, and maybe if he could channel a little of Penelope into himself, he'd be able to get through it.
Returning to the couch he sat himself upon it and looked at the box, setting the cup of wine down on a coaster not far from it. Derek took a deep breath and lifted the lid of the box, only to discover polaroid photos of them glued to the inside of it, and a hodgepodge of things within. "Oh, Babygirl..." he said as he looked at the photos. They were of happier times, photos of them on dates or vacations. Landmark photos of their relationship, there were six in all.
Their first date.
The day they decided to become serious.
Their fifth year anniversary of them being a serious item.
Their first real vacation together.
The date he proposed to her on.
And finally a photo of them kissing under the mistletoe at a Christmas party.
Penelope's most cherished photos of them, and the bottom white borders all had the date and places written on them, but at the top of the photo she'd stuck a strip of washi tape to each and written "Derek & I" on them. Derek sighed and shook his head, running his finger over her writing.
In one corner he saw a stack of some more polaroids bound together by a rubber band, they were miscellaneous ones, taken at a birthday party here, and a holiday there, full of smiles and kisses. Derek felt his stomach flutter, he worried for a moment that he was going to get sick, but it was just butterflies, he took a deep breath to calm them as he shuffled through the photos, setting them aside. He took a moment to process the memories attached to them, all pleasant, all warm. Satisfying, honestly. "Damn, I thought this would hurt more..." he said, as he got back to it, pulling out another bundle secured by rubber bands, it was letters that he had written her while he was away with his family in Chicago after his mother suffered a heart attack, and asked him to stay for a while with her. He remembered them as he thumbed through the stack, she'd written back and fourth with him, his letters written on white legal pad papers and hers written on some hand made stationary she'd done up, some of which was saved in that bundle, the leftover ones she didn't get to use before he came home. He set that bundle aside, and saw a rubber stamp sitting next to an ink pad. The stamp was just the letters S.W.A.K.. Sealed With A Kiss. He remembered the back of the envelopes she'd send. The corner of the part where she sealed the envelope would be kissed, and this would be stamped underneath it. Out of curiosity he opened the ink pad and pressed the stamp onto it, before stamping it on his hand. Leaving a nice, red S.W.A.K. on his hand where he pressed it. Derek sighed and set them aside, his eyes drawn next to a tube of lipstick, he picked it up and investigated the tube. At the bottom the sticker telling the name and number of the color had been worn off, and when he opened it and twisted it out, there was barely even a nub of product left. But he recognized it as not only the shade she wore when he proposed to her, but the shade she used when she kissed the envelopes she would send to him. He smiled softly and closed the lipstick container after twisting it back down. He set it aside with the stamp and ink pad."Sealed with a kiss indeed, Babygirl." he said.
Derek paused to take a deep drink from the cup of wine before moving on. The next thing to catch his eyes was a nail polish bottle, the product inside as solid, she'd let it dry to preserve what was left of it. It was the nail polish she wore on every date, a simple glitter coat she put over whatever shade she had on to freshen it up. He chuckled and set it aside with the rest of the things. The next thing to grab his attention was a small plain paper packet the bulged at the bottom. He picked it out and opened it, dumping the contents into his hand. It was large table confetti in the shape of hearts in two colors, pink and red. They were from a super special Valentines day dinner that they went to. He'd taken her to a nice restaurant, that had their tables set with these large pieces of glitter on them. He remembered her tearing off a square shaped corner of the paper table cloth as they waited for their dessert, folding it into a small envelope, and putting a bunch of the confetti shapes inside of it. Derek had thought it silly at the time, but was glad now that she did it, it was a pleasant memory.
Derek put the table confetti hearts back into the small folded envelope and set it aside,the last thing in the box was a folded up silk scarf. He recognized it as something she had worn on a vacation they took. A romantic little getaway to a cabin in the mountains near a lake they would swim in. He grabbed it and pulled it out, causing it to unfold and spill out an extra surprise, Penelope was always one for surprises. He slowly pulled up a silver chain, on it was a clear resin ring with tiny dried flowers encased within, and a small bottle filled with water and large grains of sand, the bottom the the cork was sealed so none of the water would evaporate or be absorbed into the cork. He closed his eyes and remembered the cabin getaway, the flowers were ones that had surrounded the cabin, she must have picked them and preserved them before they left. And the sand and water must have been from the lake. The large multi colored grains, and the crystal clear water brought back memories of the days they spent swimming, and the late night skinny dipping they indulged in. He could feel the memory of the sand on his feet, and remembered the fresh scent of the air on the lake. He remembered her body glowing in the moonlight as she bathed in the still waters of the mountain lake, she was like a goddess in that moment, powerful and sensual.
Derek pulled himself out the memory and shook his head, putting the necklace back with the scarf. He tossed back the rest of the wine from his glass and wiped his lips on his forearm as he relaxed back into his couch and stared at the ceiling. Penelope wouldn't want him to wallow in the sadness like this, it wasn't respectful to her memory. She was such a happy, bubbly, and loving person, and Derek needed to celebrate her life for what it was, and it was one hell of an adventure full of friendship and love. Derek took one more look at the contents of the box before placing them back in, and putting the lid on it. He stood up and took the box to a book shelf, and displayed it on its side so the big glitter letters that spelled out his name were proudly displayed. This box of memories were his and his alone now, and he was going to cherish them for the rest of his life.