Lovely – Chapter 2

Almost every morning since the end of the affair, if she wasn't bicycling, meditating or doing yoga, Abby was running. Today was no different as she pushed herself to run more than the five miles she had run two days before. In black yoga Capri tights with a black and yellow sports bra with matching athletic shoes, Abby rounded the corner, running full speed. She was cutting through the park heading to Sweet Bea's Yogurt Shop, connected to The Coffee Bean, which had her favorite health smoothie.

She had slowed and began to powerwalk as she entered Horton town square. Abby looked down at her watch to check the time since she didn't want to be late to her last day of class at Salem U. She was graduating with her bachelors in journalism like she had told her father she would in that elevator before he lost his life saving hers. Her career was one of many realizations Abby had after her whirlwind affair with EJ DiMera. She felt she wasn't doing enough with her life. She was stuck in neutral at a job she liked but did not love and she wanted to follow her passion. Abby, like her father, had dreams of cracking the biggest stories all around the world so she reenrolled at Salem U. It was a start since last time she dropped out one semester short of graduating and got caught up with her job as her mother's assistant in public relations. Abby's life was in order now. She was exercising her mind and her body and no man was going to get in her head with a bunch of smooth words and bad intentions and stir her away from her goals. This time, if a man told her he was bad she would take him at his word.

Opening the door, she stepped in as someone stepped out, their bodies colliding. "I'm sorry," they said simultaneously. She looked up as the person she collided with looked down.

"EJ," said Abby. "I'm…sorry. I got sweat all over you."

He nodded. "It's okay. I was going to change once I got home anyway."

"Excuse me," said a woman behind EJ. Abby quickly backed out of the doorway as EJ followed her, placing his hand on the small on her back. The woman exited with her daughter holding their respective smoothies. Abby and EJ watched them leave before turning back to one another; his chocolate brown eyes watching hers as hers watched his. Slowly Abby broke the moment placing her hand on his arm, removing it from the small of her back which EJ didn't seem to realize was there.

"If you'll excuse me," said Abby before approaching the door.

"Abigail," said EJ. In that moment she wanted to stop like she always had when he wanted to have the last word. Instead she continued on and walked inside.

Professor Tyler Dawkins walked the class into a room in the media center at Salem U. Abby remembered when she first walked down the hall of the media center and saw her father's picture hanging on the wall amongst other journalists. It sent a chill down her spine. Her father had never seen the picture since it was set up in his honor after his passing. She now tried to ignore the picture since it only reminded her that he was no longer with his family. It didn't help that professors and students also took to reminding Abby that her father would be so proud of her continuing with the Deveraux name in the field of journalism. The pressure to be nothing less than perfect was like two ton weights strapped around her ankles.

In this media room set up like a newsroom with film majors manning the cameras and sound board, Professor Dawkins called names at random to sit behind the newsroom desk. Two students would present their stories which they went out in the field and researched and filmed with a film crew. The class had been building up to it the entire semester along with teaching the students how to write great articles, report their stories, and keep up with the ever-changing media environment.

"Abby Deveraux and Mark Goodman," called Professor Dawkins. Smoothing out her skirt, she walked with Mark toward the desk until they went in their opposite directions toward their chairs. As she finally walked around the desk, Abby saw her classmates, the cameramen, and her professor all staring at her. The bright overhead lights pouring down on her and Mark, who was shaking, Abby felt the palm of her hands get moist as she placed them on her skirt as she sat in her chair.

"We're going to start with you Abby. Look at camera one for your queue," said Professor Dawkins. Abby nodded and turned in camera one's direction. He began to count down. In five, four, three, two, one…

"With the debate of whether or not minimum wage should increase from nine to eleven dollars for the ninety-nine percent. An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute reveals the one percent has continued to see a rise of over twenty percent in capital due to stock-related gains."