This is a sequel to Dear Diary, taking place roughly 10 years later.
"I lean around the corner and there he is. I'd probably die of embarrassment if he turned toward me at this moment. Just a silly girl quietly appreciating him from a distance, my almond eyes eager to gaze upon him.
"Sven's on the rugby field, stretching with his teammates and laughing at whoever's comment. I'm just the weird girl poking her head around the building. I'm too scared to just walk up and talk to him. Unfortunately Elizabeth isn't.
"She just strolls up and inserts herself into the conversation. Thankfully he brushes off this daily attempt and twists at his hips to loosen to stretch his muscles. He must have felt someone's eyes on him, because he suddenly had a laser beamed focused look straight at me. I immediately and unintentionally let out a small squeak and slam my back against the wall. Commence heart explosion."
Yumi read the first chapter of her newest book to a giggling crowd of young girls and a dozen older women. Her older fans said it made them feel nostalgic of their childhood. After reading the first chapter, the entire room became infectiously girly with squeals of excitement.
After a quick question and answer session, Yumi sat at a table where she autographed books and made small chit chat with her fans.
"Who is this for?" Yumi asked with a smile.
"Pauline," a young thirteen year old replied, unable to hide how excited she was.
"Do you go by Polly?"
"I do, yeah," She said with a large over exaggerated nod. Yumi signed and handed it back, "Thank you."
"You did great today," Yumi heard a voice say as a turned over her shoulder and saw her agent Monica, "Get ready though, Frankfurt's crowd is estimated to be twice this size."
Yumi saw a book land on the table from her peripheral and opened it without looking.
"Then I'll sign for longer...so who is this for?" Yumi asked, looking down at the book.
"The character basis for Sven," a male voice answered, and Yumi froze.
With the tip of of the pen on the back of the cover, she slowly lifted her head. Standing in front of her was a man with cropped brown hair. He was in a jeans and a shirt with a jacket on top with his hands in his pockets. He was tall and muscular with a broad shoudlers and large biceps.
"But I usually go by Ulrich," Ulrich said with a smile.
Yumi signed the last book and the crowd dissipated. Yumi left out the front doors ten minutes after it was clear and found Ulrich leaning against the wall of the building. They sat across from each other at a cafe around the corner where Yumi ordered a tea and Ulrich ordered a beer.
"You didn't really expect to be in my neck of woods and not see me?" Ulrich asked.
"I rarely see anyone anymore, but I'm glad you decided to pay me a visit. How long has it been?" Yumi asked and Ulrich thought.
"William's wedding I think," Ulrich said and Yumi shook her head.
"I missed their wedding, but I made New Years right after that."
"I'm just trying to think of when they got married."
"Eight years ago?" Yumi asked.
"That's Jeremie and Aelita, William got married after he graduated, so five years then? Either way it's been too long," Ulrich said, sipping his beer and placing it down on the table.
"Agreed," Yumi said with a smile, "How have you been?"
"Pretty good, I just finished school, so now I have a nice little MD next to my name," Ulrich said and Yumi smiled wider.
"Wow, congratulations Dr. Stern."
"Thank you, but that's nothing compared to three best sellers, a movie deal and a tween girl legion," Ulrich said and Yumi giggled.
"Didn't take you that long to realize who was who, huh?" Yumi asked and Ulrich shook his head.
"Only one problem, Sven's dumber than me," Ulrich said and Yumi laughed, "I mean, I can't see that guy being a doctor."
"Yeah, he wasn't in the original drafts. My editor thought he needed to be more of a lovable oaf. I wanted it published so I listened, but I've been gradually making him smarter than he appears."
"I've noticed. Is the editor the reason why Sven's older than Daisy?" Ulrich asked
"Apparently my target demographic doesn't fawn over younger boys," Yumi said with a smile, "And you play rugby because the boys are more masculine. And we don't practice martial arts, because it's hard to sell a PG book with Sven and Daisy banging on the mats."
"Maybe your editor was on to something. You've sold how many copies?" Ulrich asked and Yumi shrugged.
"I guess, but I wanted to say something different. Star athlete who's insecure and can't even approach a boy she knows full well how he feels. A popular girl who loves going to school because she can get away from her parents. That became dorky Daisy loves the athlete and blah blah blah," Yumi said while rolling her eyes, "Movie script will probably be more deluded when that starts going through drafts."
"I'm sure Aleta will drag uncle Ulrich to go see it," Ulrich said, Aleta being Jeremie and Aelita's oldest daughter.
"How old is she now?"
"She's seven. I went to see them last Christmas and they got their hands full."
"Four kids will do that," Yumi said and Ulrich held up his hand and extended all of his fingers, "Five?"
"She's seven months pregnant right now," Ulrich said and Yumi smiled, "You should check your emails."
"Now I'm afraid to, I'll have five hundred messages, finding out I missed births," Yumi said and Ulrich finished his beer.
"I'm going out there next month for a week. Jeremie is taking some time off and I'm going to help them get a few nights of romance in before the baby," Ulrich said.
"That sounds fun, but next month I'm in America for a bidding war. My publisher doesn't have a branch in North America, so we're looking for a publisher over there. Several have expressed interest, so we're rolling the dice and having them bid for publishing rights."
"Good luck, hope you get a ridiculous offer. I was hoping you'd go out to see them too, but I understand you're busy."
They both hugged each other and parted way, Ulrich walking down the street, Yumi taking two steps and watching him leave around the corner. Yumi looked down, and took in deep breathe to fuel a sigh. After a moment she turned and walked the other way.