Creativity
by Tanya Reed
Somebody I know is having a birthday on November 15. You know who you are (Gem!) This is her birthday story. Happy Birthday!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Relic Hunter or any of its characters.
Author's Note: Hmmnnn...For some reason, I don't know if all of this story was showing or not. I checked just now and could only get half of it to load. Sorry to everyone who only got half a story and was confused because of it. I'm going to give it another go...
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Sydney came out of her office to see both Claudia and Nigel working diligently. The latter was grading essays with his fingers in his hair, his glasses at the end of his nose, and a look of frustration on his face. The former was sitting hunched over her computer, typing feverishly. The clack, clack, clack her hard fingernails made as they tapped the keys was loud in the quiet room.
"Claudia," Sydney said, "Could you...?"
Her young secretary didn't look up. She didn't even acknowledge that Sydney had spoken.
"Claudia?"
An intense expression came to the blond's face. It was one usually reserved for Tarot card reading and shoe shopping.
Sydney glanced at Nigel and saw him look up from his papers. When she lifted her eyebrows at him, he shrugged and shook his head. In response, she rolled her eyes.
Turning back to her secretary, in a sing song voice Sydney said, "Hello...Claudia..."
"Huh?" was the faint response.
"Okay, I know work can't be that interesting."
"In a minute, Syd," Claudia mumbled. "I have to finish this paragraph."
"Are you writing love letters again?" Nigel asked.
"Love letters...love letters...That's a great idea, Nigel." As she spoke, her fingers kept speeding over the keyboard.
"Claudia stop typing. I need you to do some work."
"I am working." Her blue eyes focused on Sydney's face for a fraction of a second before dropping back to the screen. "Do you think fifty thousand is easy?"
"Fifty thousand what?"
"Beetles?" Nigel offered. "Shoe straps?"
"Nigel."
"Sorry."
Claudia let out a heavy sigh. "I'm typing Nigel."
"And?"
"Yes, and?" Sydney echoed.
"Okay, pay attention. When you move your fingers on these little white things, letters appear on your screen. These letters group together to form words..."
"Claudia!" Sydney didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed.
"You know," Claudia's eyes dimmed, "that was pretty good. I should use that."
Very slowly, Sydney said, "Use that for what? What are you doing?"
Claudia blinked. "Nanowrimo, of course."
"Nano what?" Nigel's voice rose and he came over to stand beside Sydney. "Did you make that up?"
"No, I did not make that up, Nigel. Chris Baty did...at least, I think he did."
Sydney frowned. Nanowrimo. It sounded like something someone would name an elephant.
Claudia looked at both of her friends expectantly, waiting for them to connect the dots.
"All right, I give. What's Nanowrimo and what does it have to do with all your furious typing?"
"You mean you really don't know? I thought everyone knew. Todd, that guy I met at Krista Marryweather's party, he said this is his fifth year doing it. All you have to do is write a fifty thousand word novel or story in thirty days."
Nigel snorted. "You're writing a story?"
"Yes, and it's a good one!"
"Do you really think it's appropriate to be writing here?" Sydney asked.
"I have to get in my two thousand words a day somehow."
Sydney threw up her hands in defeat as Nigel said, "So, what is your novel about?"
She opened her mouth and then immediately closed it. Something flashed through her eyes before she said, "It's a secret."
"That sounds dodgy to me. Are you sure that's what you're doing?"
She smiled proudly. "I've got over twenty-five thousand words. I'm beating Todd."
"Well," Sydney broke into whatever Nigel was going to say to ask, "Do you suppose you could tear yourself away from your characters long enough to find me a file? Since you reorganized, I can't find anything."
"Sure, Syd."
Claudia carefully made a point of pushing the monitor's off button before getting to her feet.
"I also need you and Nigel to go down to the campus bookstore and pick up the copies of Traversing the Mummy's Tomb that I ordered for my class this afternoon. They aren't that heavy. I think the two of you should be able to handle them."
Claudia grimaced but didn't argue. "What file are you looking for?"
"The one on the Scepter of Iorek."
"Oh, that's in "W" in the purple folders."
"W?"
"Yeah, for weapon."
"A scepter is not exactly a weapon, Claudia," Nigel told her.
"It looks like one to me."
Sydney shook her head and went over to Claudia's filing cabinet. It took her a few tries to find the purple folders, and she didn't even want to know what the colors meant.
"Come on, Nigel," Claudia said, beckoning with a small white hand. "The sooner we get the books, the sooner I can get back to my novel."
Sydney looked up from the files. "I want you to do some actual work today."
A pout came to Claudia's face, making her look even younger. "But, Syd..."
"No buts." She took out the needed file and shook it at her friend. "If you focus on work for the next two hours, I'll let you go home early to work on your...What did you call it?"
"Nanowrimo."
"Right."
"Well, okay."
Without further discussion, she took hold of Nigel and started pushing him towards the door. Nigel went with the flow, and Sydney watched as the two of them disappeared through the door. Another slight smile danced across her lips.
Sydney settled into Claudia's chair, the purple Scepter of Iorek file still in her hand. She opened the file and started sifting through the information, looking for the small tidbit she needed. As she thumbed through the papers, her thoughts went to the novel Claudia said she was writing. No matter how much she thought about it, Sydney could not connect Claudia and writing in her mind. And what kind of story would Claudia write? Would it be the flowery romantic kind, or would it be one full of bloody massacre?
Sydney's fingers stopped moving as she was suddenly gripped by curiosity. Putting the file on the desk, she glanced towards the door. Everything was quiet, and the door remained closed. She knew it was wrong, but she still leaned forward to turn on Claudia's screen. A screen saver of a shirtless man smiled at her vapidly. She studied him a minute, taking in the lines of his chest and the flatness of his belly.
"Not bad," she muttered.
A small touch of the mouse made the smiling man disappear and Microsoft Word come into view. Not yet reading, Sydney had to admit it certainly looked like a story. There were paragraphs and quotation marks and even ellipses. She was surprised that Claudia had even heard of ellipses.
Her eyes began scanning a few lines, and she had to admit that Claudia wasn't half bad. Who'd have guessed? Then, she frowned as she realized that one of the characters was named after her.
She scrolled backwards and started to read in earnest. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she felt a hot flush race over her face. Her eyes ran over the paragraph again.
"I'm going to kill her."
Despite the statement, Sydney got more comfortable in the chair and continued to read. Part of her couldn't believe what she was reading, but most of her wanted to know what would happen next—though the ending was quite obvious.
But why did it have to be Nigel?
The scene played itself out in her mind. She saw his hands caressing her skin, felt his lips nip the tender place at the base of her throat. The novel Sydney whispered endearments in his ear; the novel Nigel gently ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek.
Sydney was so entranced that the door banging open made her jump. She gasped and stared at Claudia as the blond came through with a box in her arms. When Sydney's gaze landed on Nigel, she felt another rush of blood come to her face.
"Hey, Syd," he said.
Claudia sat her box on Nigel's desk. From there, she could see that her computer screen was on.
"Syd! Were you reading my novel?"
"Yes," she answered slowly, still feeling slightly stunned. "What is the name of this novel of yours?"
"Passion's Heated Embrace...But you weren't supposed to read it!"
"I can see why."
Nigel put his box on top of Claudia's. "What's the problem?"
"You don't want to know."
"If you hadn't been nosy, you wouldn't know either," Claudia pouted.
Sydney sighed heavily. "I know, Claudia, and I'm sorry for that, but whatever possessed you...?"
"They say it's easiest to write what you see."
Sydney jumped to her feet. "You've never seen THAT."
"Don't be mad. I needed a couple of main characters, so I modeled them after you. It's not like it's really you. Besides, you should be flattered. You could be immortalized."
"That is not how I want to be immortalized!"
"But did you like it?"
"Did I...? Does it really matter?"
"Of course it does. I can't change the characters now, and I really want you to like them."
"Claudia, they've been having sex for the past five pages! How am I supposed to know if I like them?"
Nigel had settled behind his desk but at those words he straightened and exclaimed, "What?"
"It's an erotic novel, Syd. Of course they're having sex," Claudia protested.
"Excuse me, who is having sex?"
Sydney glanced at him. "Never mind, Nigel." He looked as if he was about to say something more, so she put up a hand. "So, Claudia, what do you get if you win this Nano thing?"
Claudia chewed on her lip and looked down at her hands. "A purple bar on the website and a printable certificate."
"What?"
Her eyes snapped back up to Sydney's face. "I know it's not much. I thought it was silly when Todd first told me. I was doing it just because he was, but now..."
Sydney softened slightly at the look on Claudia's face. "Now?"
"I'm doing it, Syd. I'm really doing it. Ten days in, and I'm way ahead of where I should be. I'm actually going to write fifty thousand words in thirty days. I've never even written a story before. It's great!"
As her speech went on, Claudia's eyes began to glow, and a smile lit her face. Her pride and self accomplishment made her seem more mature.
"You're truly doing this just to prove to yourself you can do it?"
"I know." She wrinkled her nose. "Isn't it crazy?"
"All right." Sydney put a hand on her friend's arm. "Let your Sydney and Nigel have their fun." She ignored Nigel's choking noise, even though it made her feel like laughing and blushing at the same time. "But don't show it to anyone, especially students...and don't ask me to read it!"
Claudia's smile widened. "I won't. Maybe you and Nigel can do Nano next year. It's a rush."
"We'll see. Now, why don't you take the afternoon off? Maybe you can get another five or six thousand words in by bed time."
"Really?"
"Sure. Why not?"
Claudia squealed and threw her arms around Sydney. "Thank you!"
She leaned over and closed her document before taking her memory stick out of the USB port. This caused a little tinkle as the computer protested her rough treatment. Her eyes already had the far away look they got when she was scheming something. She began mumbling and walked out of the office, forgetting her coat.
Sydney noticed Nigel staring at her. His eyes were wide and his glasses had slid down to the end of his nose. She raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged.
Pictures from Claudia's novel played through her mind as she turned and went into her office. Claudia really wasn't a bad author. Not bad at all.
The end