First of all, thank you all for welcoming Part 1.
I'll be off for a week, so I'm posting Part 2 today.
I hope you like this one too.
AnnaBtG.
TOC here From Part 1: She shook her head. What the hell was happening to her? Was *this* a natural reaction? When had she *ever* behaved like this?
Some time ago, if a new colleague called her ‘Lois’ from the first – well, the second - day, she’d get upset, she might even yell to them. Especially if it was a man.
But, if she was in love, she would’ve stopped and have a friendly chat with him.
What was *that*?
She knew. It was the stance she used to take when she was trying to cover her uneasiness. Like yesterday, let’s say, when Cat proudly announced her she was going to have a ‘chat’ with Clark.
<So much for ‘natural’…>
She smiled bitterly. Her mind was used to be controlled and would react as controlled even if it wasn’t.
<Oh, whatever…>
She turned on her computer, focusing on her next assignment: Solving the puzzle of the mysterious burglary in the Mayor’s house.
Part 2: A couple of hours later, Lois leaned back in her chair, sighing. She had read all of the evidence more than five times, and yet she couldn’t find any leads to anything. The Mayor and his wife had come back to their home, to find all of the windows opened, the lights turned on and a mess inside the house.
But nothing, *nothing*, was missing.
She shook her head.
Clark, from his desk, glanced to her and saw she wasn’t feeling so well. “Problem, Lois?”
She sighed again, and lazily turned to him. “Sort of,” she shortly replied and turned back, just to blankly stare at her computer’s screen.
“Maybe I could help…” he said, rising from his chair and stepping towards her desk. Lois could swear he was fighting a great deal of fear that she would reject his offer, in order to be helpful. He was covering it very well, but Lois felt it.
<What kind of investigative reporter am I, if I can’t figure *this* out?> a thought made her way through her mind and flew away, as Clark bent over her shoulder to see her screen.
“The burglary in the Mayor’s house?” he asked, judging by the last paragraph of her article, where she had scrolled.
“Yes…” she replied, boringly.
“You want to find what’s behind it?” he asked, turning to her.
Lois was feeling something heavy on her chest, something like boredom mixed with disappointment and laziness. She sighed again. “Clark, I really don’t feel like thinking any more. Why don’t you give me the piece you wrote yesterday? I’d like to have a break.”
“Sure thing,” he smiled. He walked to his desk, picked a paper and handed it to her. “Do you want me to take a look at your case, to see if I can’t find anything useful?”
<This guy wants to steal my story…>
<<Oh, come on, Lois, you *know* he doesn’t!>>
<I know… I was just trying to think normally.>
“Sure, no problem,” she answered his question. She gave him a few papers that were lying on her desk. “This is everything I have. What I have in my computer is my article on the burglary…”
“Oh, okay.” He walked to his desk, skeptically looking to the papers she had given him.
Lois, on the other hand, lied back on her chair more comfortably and began reading.
LET’S BREAK THE WALL BETWEEN US
by Clark KentGlory O’Gerald has managed, with her very first attempt to write, to create a special piece of work. ‘The Wall Between Us’ has been reviewed with the most flattering adjectives, such as ‘wonderful’, ‘excellent’, ‘perfect’, ‘brilliant’ and more, and has sold more than 15,000,000 copies, despite the fact that it’s out in stores for just one month. Foreign publishers are craving for the rights to translate it, and Glory herself has become a role model for the wanna-be writers.
But what separates ‘The Wall Between Us’ from the other novels? Why does it have such a remarkable success in all ages, in both sexes and in every social level?
The way it is written is surely a plus. Simple language without complexities, and deep analysis of the situations and the characters without difficult, boring and incomprehensible results.
The best thing about it, however, is the plot. A love story that takes place in today’s world, with today’s people. People who act as if in reality: They love, they fear, they hurt, they hide. And they win.
Glory hasn’t embellished situations. She writes the everyday truth. A young woman and a young man. Both in love with one another, both fearing to let themselves admit it, until one decides to take the first step, just to find out they didn’t have to wait so long.
And this is why everyone loves this book. Because it reflects actual experiences. No exaggerating, no romantically far fetched situations. Just the plain truth.
Haven’t we all felt something more than friendship for someone, once or more than once? Haven’t we all felt the fear of rejection and the doubt overflowing our hearts: ‘Does he/she love me, or not?’ Haven’t we all thought that backing off and forgetting was probably the right option, often just to discover that we were wrong after all? Haven’t we all felt the joy and happiness of finding out that the person we love loves us back?
Most people can recognize ourselves in Natalie’s or Peter’s persona. But even if we have been unlucky in love, or just so young to fall, we identified ourselves with the heroes and felt that ‘it might hurt at the beginning, but this is what I want to live’. Better than a fairy tale or a myth, which make us live in fantasies. Just a perfectly natural story. Why wait for the blue prince or the fairy princess, when we can find the love sitting at the next desk?
Yes, it may not be easy. Yes, it may hurt. Yes, it may not work.
But it is worth a try. Love is the most wonderful feeling. Instead of poisoning it with bitter thoughts and holding back, let’s free ourselves and give in to the sweet temptations.
Love is not simple. But when we commit ourselves into it, we gain something, even when everything seems to be lost.
And we just keep trying, until we reach the victory.
Natalie and Peter had been hurt. Still, they couldn’t help but falling in love again. And when they managed to put away the fears, they won.
Let’s let them guide us.
Lois finished reading the article, with a big grin on her face. Something was sitting on her chest, but it wasn’t that horrible, ugly feeling. It was something sweet.
She turned her head to Clark, to see him concentrating on the notes she’d given him. “Nice work.”
He looked at her. “Really? Thanks.”
She rotated her chair 90 degrees, put her right hand on the back of her chair, rested her chin on her hand and brought Clark’s article in front of her with the other hand. She took a very brief look at it and said, with a pleasant smile on her face:
“Yeah, it’s very good. You believe in love, don’t you?”
Clark, who had turned back to the notes, looked at her again. “Of course,” he replied, with a ‘don’t you?’ question in his eyes.
“It’s great to believe in love,” she said, skeptically. “Many people don’t, nowadays. But this article is like telling you ‘Hey, you, go fall in love right now!’ ”
“It *is*,” Clark replied, puzzled. “I think that *this* is the book’s meaning.”
“Are you sure?” she raised her eyebrows to him.
“What would *you* write?” he asked her, not ironically, but with curiosity.
“I don’t know what I’d write,” she replied, after a moment of thinking. “But it wouldn’t be like this. This is too emotional for me.”
“Don’t you ever write emotional pieces?”
“I do, but not *so* emotional. Besides, there are many kinds of emotion. Isn’t putting all of my heart in a story emotional? Even if it is a murder case?”
“It is,” he simply answered her question, while taking another look at the notes. “This time,” he continued after a moment, without turning back to Lois, “I let myself write what I felt when I read the book, and this was the result.”
“Did Perry like your article?” There was interest in her voice.
“Yes.” He gave her a little smile. “He said he’d never read anything so romantic.”
“…And written by a man?” Lois playfully asked.
“Yeah, I guess…” He avoided her gaze, in an attempt not to blush. “He didn’t say that, of course.” He stared back at her, with a playful look like hers on his face.
“You are indeed too romantic to be a man. Are you a man?” she asked, something teasingly evil in her tone.
“I think so,” he said, grinning.
“I want proof,” she said in the same tone as before.
“Sorry, proof not available.”
Lois grinned, but something clouded her. She wasn’t challenging him in any way, right? She hadn’t let him believe she… um, *wanted* any ‘proof’, right?
Oh, no, of course not. They were just teasing each other, just kidding. She could see in his face that his grin was natural and not forced. He hadn’t been offended, nor had he felt uncomfortably, nor was he excited.
*Excited*?
He’d take a good kick if he dared be excited.
Despite her thoughts, the grin was still on her face. And, since they were obviously enjoying talking to each other, she thought she could go on.
“So, did you identify yourself with Peter Jameson?” she asked, now seriously.
“Yes, I did,” he replied, also leaving the kidding tone behind.
“Have you been unlucky in love?” Something beautiful was making her eyes shine.
<<Hey, Lane, you’re pushing it.>>
<I know, but now it’s been said.>
He hesitated for a second, then shook his head. “No, not really. I just haven’t found the right one yet.”
“Looking for the fairy princess?” she said, half-seriously, half-jokingly.
“No… I’m exploring the nearby desks.”
-----
Clark tried to look normal as he was thinking over what he had just said.
<<Great, Kent, nicely done,>> the voice in his head mocked him.
He saw her expression getting uncomfortably serious and understood what she was thinking, but he hadn’t meant it that way.
He should’ve thought it twice before saying it…
But was it his fault if she occupied a nearby desk?
Well, Lois Lane was indeed attractive, but he wasn’t talking about *her* right now.
<<Oh, please!>>
He ignored the voice. He knew he was just generally speaking.
<<Generally speaking, yes. So what’s wrong if you ‘explore’ hers, too? You’re not doing anything wrong.>>
Right…
But now he had to say something to relieve her from the thought that he might be implying… more.
“I’ve just found nothing so far.”
<<Great, Kent, now *here*’s something flattering.>>
He had to come up with something. And he had to do it now, for she still had that uncomfortably serious look in her face, and that couldn’t be good.
“But who knows?” he said, forcing a smile, but his heart was looping. “I may have to do a more meticulous research…”
<<Oh, buddy, just forget it.>>
He was feeling really uneasy, and silently wished she’d turn back to her work.
He saw her forcing a smile too, but either she wasn’t trying hard enough or she was feeling an even bigger uneasiness than the one he was feeling, because her smile wasn’t comforting at all. “Yes, that may be it…” She made a move towards her desk, but instantly changed her mind and turned back to him. “So, what’s with the burglary at the Mayor’s house?”
Clark felt really relieved that she changed subject. “The way I see it, there are three options: Either something’s missing and the Mayor and his wife haven’t noticed yet, or the burglar was searching for something he didn’t find, or he was just trying to threaten the Mayor.”
“Or the Mayor and his wife *know* something is missing, but they won’t tell the police,” Lois skeptically added.
“Right… But what could that be?”
Lois raised her eyebrows in question. “It could be anything. Maybe we should pay a visit to the Mayor.”
“When?”
“Now,” she proposed.
“All right,” Clark agreed. “Do you know where the house is?”
“Yes,” she said with an air of confidence, rising and grabbing her purse. “We’ll take my car.”
“All right,” he agreed again, rising. “I don’t have one anyway,” he added, in a lower voice.
“What?” Lois asked, thinking she had misheard.
“I said I don’t have a car.”
She gave him a disbelieving look. “And how do you move?”
“On foot,” he said, naturally. “Or I take the bus.”
Lois shook her head, unable to believe that someone living in Metropolis didn’t have a car. “Ok, whatever. Let’s go.”
She waved to him to follow her and they both headed to the elevator.
-End of part 2-
