Diana rushed up the steps of the staircase, she reached the first floor. Looking for Theodore, she knew he'd be in his room.
Knocking, she called out his name. Hearing no response, she knocked once more before opening up the door.
And there, looking to her right, she saw Theodore. He was propped up on his bed, sleeping.
Knowing the task she set out for him had to wait till later due to him sleeping, she was about to turn and leave. But just as she began to turn around, her eyes were met by his workplace. Pieces upon pieces of paper were all over the polished, wooden tabletop.
Without thinking, she began to walk toward them. 'Perhaps, a little clean up might be appreciated when he wakes up later...' was Diana's first thought when she reached his messy desk.
Picking up the pages, she noticed that the ink on the very first sheet had dried out. Meaning he wrote this a little bit ago.
Turning and facing him once more, she saw he was still sound asleep. He had one of his hands over his head, close to his headboard with the other being laid by his side.
With her eyes returning back to the first page of the bunch of pages she tucked up, she tucked them all into a since file before allowing them to rest back on the table.
Something else she noticed about him is that he has long writing sessions. 'With so many ideas always written down on pages upon pages, I wonder... would he ever run out of them?' Diana thought to herself. 'What does he write about so he gathers so many thoughts?'.
Not wanting to pry on his privacy, but also wanting to fulfil her curiosity, she allowed her eyes to scan through a page or two.
She picked up his descriptions to be of a person, and then descriptions of this person being in a few random scenes.
The characteristics of whom he wrote about struck her. Theodore always paid special attention to detail, and this project of his was no exception whatsoever.
Something else she couldn't quite shake off her back was the fact that his descriptions resembled someone she knew. But she couldn't pinpoint who it reminded her of.
Raising her eyes to the window that was right by his desk, she looked outside at the snow that fell. The recent days brought with them more and more snowfall, and only more is forecasted to come which will only make commuting harder. But that wasn't what was on Diana's mind right then and there.
'With you describing them like this, Theodore... You must see them a different way than I do,' Diana further added to her bank of thoughts as a small smile grew on her lips.
Tiding the pile once more and leaving the pages down, for the final time, she turned around to him. 'But who is it?'. With such a question, the smile that was on her lips - with it already being small - disappeared a bit. 'You haven't told me anything about it, Theodore. Should I be worried?... Perhaps not. I might be overthinking, or maybe getting ahead of myself.'.
Deciding to cut her thoughts short, she quietly let herself out of his room. Aside from tidying his desk a little, Diana left everything as it was just like when she first entered his room.
Downstairs, Elisabeth and Victoria were in the dining room, by the table, a cup in front of each woman.
"I haven't seen her around here lately," Victoria stated to Elisabeth. She knew exactly who she was talking about. "Besides she has no place here anyway...".
Elisabeth giggled at Victoria's words. "That much is true. We can't have the mixing of classes.".
Victoria took a sip of her drink, her eyes remaining on Elisabeth. "While on that, I've been thinking..." Victoria began.
"Yes, Ms Victoria?" Elisabeth prompted Victoria to continue.
"I want you to do me a favour, Elisabeth. And a big one.".
"Yes, Ms Victoria. What is it that I must do?".
"I need you to keep an eye on her for me. I need you to see what she is up to.". Victoria paused. "I don't feel good about her. I have a feeling that she is up to something with Theodore.".
Elisabeth paused for a second. "Keeping an eye on her?" She questioned her assigned task.
"Yes, Elisabeth. I thought my words were clear enough.".
"T-they were, Ms Victoria-".
"Then why question me, dear child?...". She took another pause. "I want you to be in her vicinity. Be around her, lead her on to think you two will be friends. Do whatever you must, just make sure you find out what that little rat is up to. At the end of the day, it's your man that's at stake.".
"Yes, Ms Victoria. I'll be more than happy to do that for you. I'll not let her take my man away from me," Elisabeth replied as a small smile of devilment grew on her lips.
"Good. At last, we have that settled.".
---
*Ms Tamara*
Eileen and Tamara were in Tamara's room, continuously working through their redraft. Day in, day out, they wanted to finish it so it can be sent to Mr Tippe as soon as possible.
Working full steam, Eileen and Tamara managed to finalise their draft within a few days.
Compiling the pages all into one, Eileen and Tamara looked at the project, mesmerised.
"We did it..." Eileen muttered.
"Yes, we did..." Tamara responded.
"And soon, we'll send it to Mr Tippe, hopefully, this time all will go well!" Eileen spoke out as she took hold of their redrafted story. Pulling it to herself, she noticed the pile of paper won't budge. Tamara held it back.
When Eileen looked at her sister's face, that was when she noticed the slight frown on Tamara's lips. "What... what if it's not good enough just like last time?".
Eileen let out a slight exhale. "Tamara, did you see how much we corrected?". Taking a slight pause to swallow the slight lump that was in her throat, she continued, "We've improved the storyline. Though it was good initially, I feel as though it's now even better!".
Tamara remained silent, she shifted her gaze between Eileen and their work that they both held.
"Eileen, I am scared..." Tamara responded in a mere whisper.
Eileen's face softened when she comprehended that one, short sentence. Her lips curved into a slight frown before it was replaced with a sheepish smile. "It's only natural to feel scared, Tamara. We were rejected the first time, but what did you tell me Mr Tippe told you? He said to come back with a reworked version of our work.".
"And... and what if we get rejected once more?" Tamara inquired.
"Don't say that, Tamara..." Eileen began. "I mean... if we do, we'll go through our work again and tweak up more things until it eventually gets accepted. It will be a painstaking process, yes. But remember, nothing is too hard if it means working to make our dream come true!".
Such words caused a smile to break onto Tamara's face. "Eileen..." she let her voice trail off as she embraced her sister in a big hug. "Thank you, Eileen.".
"Of course, Silly. I am here for you. We're all here for each other. We're sisters for crying out loud... if we don't have each other, no one else will.".
Her sister's words caused tears, against Tamara's will, to accumulate in her eyes. "Thank you...". That was all she managed to mutter out before she dug her face into her sister's shoulder as tears ran from her eyes.
---
The next day, through the cold and snow, Tamara managed to reach Veurause town centre. Though there was a crowd of people out and about, it most certainly couldn't have compared to the last time she went to Mr Tippe.
Reaching the familiar building, she entered it before walking down the familiar hallway until she reached Mr Tippe's office.
Tamara was about to knock on the door when she heard chatter from the other side. Mr Tippe had a visitor. So as to not be intrusive, she took a step back before taking a seat on a chair parallel to the door.
Holding the manuscript in her hands, she couldn't help but tap her feet off the marble floor. She hoped her nerved would calm down, but she only got more wound up when realising that it did nothing.
The distorted silhouettes on the glass caught her attention as the person on the other side of the door approached the exit, meaning that the meeting has concluded to a finish.
Immediately, she stood up, ironing her outfit with her one, free hand.
When the door opened, that was when she took a deep breath. But her heart fell to the ground when she came face to face with no one other than Theodore.
"Mr Theodore?". Though unintentional, she allowed her confusion to be heard in her voice. Remembering she forgot to greet him with a curtsy, she did just that right after.
"Ms Tamara...". He replied with a curtsy too, bowing his head. "What brings you here?".
"I could ask you the same question-" but before she could finish her response, Mr Tippe peered by Theodore's broad frame.
"Well, would you look at that! I hope my eyes aren't deceiving me!". A big smile grew on Mr Tippe's face. "Ms Tamara Clarke...".
A moment of silence was shared amongst the three individuals before Mr Tippe broke it by speaking up once more. "I'll see you then in a week, Mr Baraville. Take care till then.". Sharing their goodbyes, that was when he allowed Tamara to enter his office.
Sitting down on his chair, his smile never failed to vanish. "I am very pleased to see you again, Ms Clarke. And I see you have something with you.".
"Yes," she began, hanging over the pile of pages. "Eileen and I have rewritten our work.".
With that, the smile on Mr Tippe's face reduced ever so slightly. He put on his glasses before taking the manuscript Tamara offered. "I see you kept the same name. Good.".
Then, he proceeded to turn the page and read the included synopsis. "But this is not the same, that's also good.". Once he read the whole paragraph, that was when he continued. "This description is an improvement, that's for sure. It's more captivating. It makes me want to read more and find out what's going to happen.".
Putting the pile of pages on his desk, he took off his glasses before his gaze returned to Tamara. "Like I said the last time you were here, it might take me a few days, maybe weeks. So, how about we set a meeting for this day, next week and we'll see where we can go from there then, okay?".
"Sounds good to me, Mr Tippe - granted, transportation is still operational from the snow," Tamara responded. "Thank you very much for your time.".
"Sorry for asking, Ms Clarke, but is Mr Baraville a close friend of yours?" Mr Tippe asked.
"Ermm, I wouldn't really say close, Mr Tippe. However, he is a family friend, yes," Tamara responded. "Why do you ask?".
"Just an observation I made from when he left. Your intrigue sounded as though you knew him, that's all.".
Tamara was about to stand up when she stopped. "Actually, Mr Tippe. Now I have a question for you too.".
"Yes?".
It took her a moment to think of how she was to form her question. "Why was Mr Theodore here?".
"The reason being the same as you, to give me his manuscript. Or, at least, part of his manuscript.".
"Mr Theodore publishes his writings?". Tamara's intrigue and surprise were, once again, hard to miss.
"Oh, yes, yes. Big time, Ms Clarke. You may even consider him a best-selling author.".
Tamara choked on her spit. "A-author?".
Mr Tippe nodded, ever so slightly confused by such a reaction. "I'd have expected he had told you this before. He's doing a good job with not giving it away then.".
"What do you mean by that, Mr Tippe?" Tamara inquired, her confusion growing.
"Mr Baraville goes under an alias, a pen name. You must have heard of him before," Mr Tippe responded.
"What is his pen name?" Tamara asked. And as soon as she did, she felt her stomach churn with anticipation.
"Matthew Brunswick.".