Head On Over!

If you're in my town, you know our only appeal is a huge candy factory right outside of town. Big, bright, cheery, gag. But even I'll admit they make some good candy bars, but their best product is by far the Brain Busters. They're somewhat sour candy bars. Literally, a bar of candy. It weighs a solid pound. And they're dirt cheap. Basically any weird, wonky candy, you'll find it's made by Ahead of Its Time. Those assholes are the ones who- ah sorry, no spoilers. The big man in charge has always been quite the.... character. He's not secretive, he always makes public appearances. People are even invited into his factory to tour. So it's not sketchy, right? Yeah okay. There's always been speculation of something not being right. People who visit the factory never EVER say what they saw. They don't even remember what they saw. It's like they were never there. There's billboards and commercials everywhere. All with the same slogan, "Head On Over! Sweets and goodies galore, enough to leave you wanting more!" How stupidly cheesy, like blegh! Yeah, the candy is good but honestly, how dumb. Every day of my ever so eventful life, I drive twenty minutes to the barely surviving newspaper station to write some pointless articles. Anyone with common sense would've left this job before even starting it. But no, I decided to be a trooper and stick it out. My 3.0 GPA never said I was smart. Pulling into the parking lot, I saw the familiar Ahead of Its Time candy truck. They had hundreds of those things driving around, finding any suckers they could to sell their candy too. Surrendering to the pressure, I quickly walked over and bought a couple Brain Busters. My work office was grungy and there was a mice infestation. This place would give Home and Garden editors an aneurysm. Every once in a while, mold sprinkles would fall and coat your food if you were unlucky. After 10 years, I learned where to hold my food to avoid the nasty surprise. However, that didn't always stop the times when I open my lunch and see a rodent taking a nap on my sandwich. I plopped on the rolling chair at my desk, eyeing the stack of ideas I've been toying around with writing. This dead end town had absolutely nothing going on with it. Ever. We had a total collective population of maybe 500 people. Booting up my computer, I noticed my top idea involved something new. Frowning, I pulled the folder off the pile and opened it up. There was no hint of who left it there, but I knew for damn sure it wasn't mine. There were several papers and articles all revolving around the candy factor. I rolled my eyes and tossed the folder to the side, no sense in beating the dead horse. The candy factory has been written about hundreds of times, there was nothing that I could possibly dig up that isn't already published.

"Hey asshat, wanna hit up the bar tonight?" A voice startled me. I turned to see my coworker, Finn, and probably best friend leaning over my table.

"Seriously? Is alcohol all you can think about?" I scoffed. He winked and flashed his flask from his jacket pocket.

"Yes or no. I'm inviting some girls from the local college. They're all old enough," he grinned.

"You're disgusting. I'm not cheating on Isabella," I focused back on my work.

"Dude, when are you going to accept that she left your ass?" He grumbled.

"When are you going to accept that you're going to end up alone, and probably with an STD?" I snapped.

"Alright, alright! Chill dude. I'm just saying.it's been weeks and not a single word from her," Finn pointed out. I shot him a death glare and he put his hands up and walked away. I sighed and reached into my pocket to pull out the little black box. Ever since she disappeared, I carried about the ring that I was preparing to give her. I put it back in my pocket and stood to walk to my bosses office. I could hear him yelling on the phone through his door, and I fought a smirk as I walked in.

"Chris! Just the man I needed. How's the story of the old lady and the puppy?" Gerlan asked.

"Over. She kicked the bucket last week, the dog was sent to the pound," I sat in front of him.

"Well shit. Can't publish that. What else ya got?" he slammed his phone down, causing it to break in half. My boss was a big, beefy man. Sausage fingers and veins in the neck. He looked like a pig about to pop with a fine line moustache across his face.

"It's funny, you can grow facial hair but not hair on your head," I commented. Normally people wouldn't speak to their bosses that way but my boss and I were tight knit. We enjoyed a good roast session.

"Hardy har har. Might wanna go catch your soul, Gingersnap," he gestured to my unruly ginger hair. I came from a long line of Scottish lads, with the mop of fire colored hair, hazel eyes, and pale skin. It made me very popular in high school, breaking the norms and being 'attractive.' Finn was jealous of my ability to draw in females even though my eyes were only for Isabella.

"Hey, were you the one who left the folder about the candy factor on my desk?" I asked.

"Can't say that I did. Story's been done to death. Can't imagine why anyone would want to read about it again," he leaned on his hands.

"I'll throw it out. I have a list of potential leads, something has to be worth the ink," I propped my feet on his desk.

"Harvey called. Old bastards got a bone to pick with us about publishing an article on his cheating wife," Gerlan chuckled.

"She cheated with a female, him with a male. I think they were both confused" I cocked my head to the side. Gerlan blinked before busting out laughing and I joined in, pulling my feet off the desk. After a minute, Gerlan's second phone started ringing and I popped out and headed back to my station. Finn was staring intently at some internet sites that would get him smacked by any decent human being. I swung my chair around to my computer and looked at my stack of ideas. Right on top, the candy factory folder sat, with a sticky note on it. I peeled the note off and read it.

'Trust me, you'll want to see this.'

I glanced around for a sign of any sort, but everyone was busy doing their work. I knew everyone here well enough, no one had handwriting that nice. Pursing my lips, I put the folder into my satchel bag and went back to staring at my blank computer screen.

I could feel the minutes drag into hours of my mindless typing and the chattering around me picked up as the clock neared five. It was a breath of relief when I left the building and hopped into my can opener car to go home. I noticed there was still a candy van in the lot, and it was just as busy as it was this morning. I shook my head and started down the road. Who would've left such an ominous note? Why do I have to be in the center of this? I hated being the one to get all the attention. My eyes glanced at the picture of Isabella I kept on my dash. Her beautiful smile lit up the entire photo. Her blonde hair was waving in the wind. The one vacation we took together, to the beach in Maryland. I couldn't afford much, but there was nothing I wouldn't get for her. She was the love of my life and more. We met at my work, seven years ago. She was an intern there from the local college. The moment I saw her, I felt my heart float. I knew I had to talk to her. I didn't know that she had felt the same way. We didn't take long to move in together and begin living as a married couple, I have been saving up for five years to get her the perfect engagement ring. All the workers at the jeweler were blown away as I chose the most elegant, most expensive ring in their selection. They all said the same thing.

"She is so lucky!"

"That girl must be something!"

"I wish my husband spent that much on me!"

But for her, price was no object. My Isabella would only get the best, nothing less. But of course, all good things must come to an end. I came home from work, with dinner reservations made, ring ready, and my words chosen. I arrived and she wasn't there, and there was no trace of her leaving. No note, no text, no phone call. It was if she just disappeared into the wind that once disheveled her hair on the beach. I came back to my senses as I slammed my brakes down and heard a car horn. In front of my on the intersection, was a candy van, inside, the driver was hidden. A pair of red eyes glared at me and he sped off quickly. My eyes widened and I drove off, death gripping the steering wheel as my heart slowed. What did I just see? I pulled into my apartment lot and opened my bag to pull out the folder. I looked at the folder, felt how full it was and sighed.

'Trust me, you'll want to see this.'