Welcome to my first installment that will include TWO possible endings! You can pick which one you want to view, or try both if you're really dying for more #POstable magic! Enjoy the first of three (or 4) chapters! Return each day for a new one-or maybe sooner if I'm feeling ambitious! :)
Also, most of this got written before all the previews arrived, so this Holly is a lot different than the ones you see in the promos. But don't worry, I'm going to write some stuff about her, too, in some other pieces up my sleeve!
The air had literally been sucked out of the room. Her heart had stopped beating for a second, which felt like minutes, which felt like hours, until her lungs cried out for air. She had never felt so distressed—and all she had done is cross the threshold into the DLO-she, Rita and Norman.
His back was to them, but when he turned to acknowledge that his colleagues had arrived, it became apparent he wasn't alone.
"Holly!" Rita exclaimed, embodying the surprise, and perhaps even confusion, they all collectively shared in that moment.
Holly was nothing like Shane expected. She was tall, confident, and while Shane would have expected her to look as if she's stepped off a Parisian runway, Holly's choice of dress was demure, but with a modern edge. Her hair was auburn with a gentle wave about it that fell long past her shoulder. She was pretty.
"Oh, my goodness, Rita!" Holly replied, as if seeing an old friend for the first time in years, one she didn't hesitate to approach, taking both Rita's hands in hers.
"You look so different-and those bangs, they are absolutely adorable!" She cried.
"Well I'm Miss Special Delivery now. I have been encouraged to try new things…"
Shane could hardly process what was taking place in front of her.
This was not the woman who left Oliver standing alone in the National Postal Museum in front of the Pony Express exhibit. It couldn't be. She wasn't a villain; no amount of wanderlust could have taken the woman standing in front of her half a world away from a husband who so desperately missed her for all this time. This couldn't be that woman.
But it was this woman, this Holly O'Toole, who had done just that.
"Norman, it's been a while," she greeted with a smile. He nodded the shy way he always does and smiled. He put up a hand to say hello.
And then it was Shane's turn.
Out of an inexplicable urge, Shane looked back to Oliver, and though their eyes only met for a second, the conversation that took place there could have lasted hours. He was only 200 feet away, but suddenly it felt like 2000 miles.
Moments, memories, all the conversations, dances- they cut across both their minds, forcing everything else out, even words. Neither one of them had any idea why it happened, what it meant, or what to do about it.
And then he spoke.
"Holly, this is Ms. McInerney, she joined our team over a year ago now," Oliver explained.
To anyone else he would have seemed normal. But to Shane, knowing what she knew, seeing what she had seen, having been through what she'd been through with him, she could tell that Oliver was anything but alright. In fact, he even seemed a little apologetic for calling her Ms. McInerney.
Shane could feel the energy in the room shift. She could feel Rita and Norman wanting to be anywhere but in the DLO at that exact moment. She wondered if Oliver could feel it too. But, most importantly, she wondered if Holly felt it.
They had to know it was ok. He had to know that it was ok-that she was ok.
"Shane," she corrected gently, extending her hand, "You can just call me Shane."
Holly's eyes were warm, as if she was sincerely happy to meet her, even if, just for a second, Shane detected a bit of uneasiness about the obvious similarities between their height and style of dress. It was if, for a moment, she may have thought "replacement," but she somehow pushed past it. Or maybe it was just Shane's imagination.
"Nice to meet you, Shane."
Her handshake was gentle, but firm.
"Well, I should probably get going-let you and your team get back to work," Holly admitted, turning her attention back to Oliver, whose face had a melancholic expression that his smile was doing a considerable amount of work to erase all on its own, but was unsuccessful.
"See you tonight," she said to Oliver, laying a hand gently on his arm before leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.
The unfamiliar display of affection caused Rita, Norman and Shane to avert their eyes, all of them opting for the floor.
For Shane, the moment caused her to flash back to before the Christmas pageant, remembering her lips brush across that same warm and soft cheek. It caused a twinge of jealousy, but even more so regret within her. If that moment had never happened, she wouldn't have had the experience to compare it to now.
"See you all," she said, addressing the three before taking her leave.
With her exit, a million questions flooded the room, but not a single word left any of their lips. How could they?
The silence persisted between the four of them for a moment longer.
"I, um, will need to excuse myself for a bit," Oliver finally said, circumventing any questions from being answered even if they had managed to find their voices again. The shock of everything was written all over his face, so much so it drowned out any other emotions that might have found expression there.
Shane noticed Rita and Norman dispersing to their workstations even as Oliver prepared to leave. Where he was going, no one knew-but no one dared ask, either.
Shane had half the mind to follow him. As much as she was sure he needed his space, she was so curious as to how Holly had managed to magically appear in the DLO. She, Rita and Norman had only been gone for a little while. What could have possibly transpired between Oliver and Holly during that time? They had managed to make dinner plans for goodness sake! Why hadn't Oliver appeared overjoyed to see her? He should have been glowing. Instead, he seemed deeply conflicted and confused. How could Holly have been so calm and collected and fine? Didn't she see Oliver's distress?
Instead of following him, Shane simply followed suit, putting herself, and her curiosity, behind a computer to not wonder about the drama unfolding before her.
Stay tuned for the next chapter tomorrow...or maybe sooner!