Shane was in one of those moods, you know? When you feel down and you long to listen to the saddest and most melancholic song you can think of… For Shane that song was Billy Joel's "And So it Goes". It was a song she kept on a loop in her single song playlist, but lately she really wanted to listen to her vinyl copy. She needed to hear the phonograph needle scratching the spiral grooves on the record to relive that moment in the DLO: an interrupted dance rehearsal and all those feelings that were so obvious to her now. Sadly, Shane had not been able to find the record. She was sure she brought it back home that day, but did she? She checked every record in her collection, searching through every album cover and sleeve, to no avail. Her frustration now knew ino bounds, as all the albums she had at home belonged to her father. They were the only things she chose to keep from his estate, as she felt they were something he loved and appreciated. It was a very well-preserved collection of records from the 60s, 70s and 80s. According to Sean McInerney, those were the last decades of good music.
She remembered her dad's collection as something he loved. It was one of the few items he took with him when he left the family home a week before Christmas when she was 10. She resented the collection for years, thinking he loved it more than he loved his family. She never knew why he left. Her mother never talked about it and she never got the chance to ask her father. He died before she could confront him. She was declared executor of his estate, as he never remarried and lived alone. Apparently, he was happy that way. He left everything to her and her sister Alex. Shane sold everything except the record collection and put her sister's proceeds in an account. Alex quickly gambled away her inheritance while Shane kept her portion in a savings account, along with the record collection.
She looked everywhere in the DLO. She asked Rita and Norman if they had seen it, but they had not. There was no way she would ask Oliver as she didn't want to broach the subject of their interrupted dance rehearsal. She didn't want to remember the way he looked at her and how his eyes shone with desire. She felt something else that night and she was sure he felt it too. As he was lifting her up from that dip, Shane was certain he was about to kiss her. They were so close to each other, sharing every molecule of oxygen between them, staring deeply into each other's eyes. The notes of the song filled the air, but all she could hear was the pounding of her heart. All she could smell was his masculine scent, which overloaded her senses. All she could feel was his hand on her back holding her close to him. Their bodies were closer together than they had ever been, sharing the same space and time, both trembling in the emotional whirlpool swirling around them. But suddenly, he broke his hold, tore his eyes away from her face and walked away. His beautiful face was far away now and the desire for the ungiven kiss remained. For the moment, that desire was squashed. It had to be squashed down because it was inappropriate. He stopped at the record player, picked up the needle from the record and the music stopped. He mumbled some excuse, she pretended she heard it and agreed. In a matter of seconds, she was left standing alone in the middle of the dead letter office, breathless, lonely, cold and rejected. The sole evidence of his presence was the scent he left in his wake. All she could do was grab her coat, head home, and fill the emptiness of her heart with a pint of decadent chocolate ice cream.
The next day they both did everything they could to keep their distance from each other. Shane, because she was angry and hurt, and Oliver because… did she really even know what his problem was (other than being married)? At lunch, she arranged the skype conversation with Sarah and Danny's dad, which was a success. Oliver approached her, first to congratulate her for doing a really wonderful thing and then to apologize for doubting her. Then, he took a deep breath and let her know he decided to end their participation in the dance showcase. The reason? He said he made a mistake, or in other words, an ill-advised decision to ask her to be his dance partner. He was a married man after all, and it was not appropriate for him to dance with a co-worker, as it may send the wrong message to others. The whole point of the dance lessons was to surprise his wife when she came back from Paris.
Shane felt used and she was fuming! All she could do was sit at Mailbox Grille and have an espresso, but she just ended playing absentmindedly with the rim of her coffee cup.
Much later, while at home, she thought much more about what happened. He should have considered appearances before dragging her into his dance lessons, Shane thought angrily, as she remembered her exchange with Oliver that afternoon! She grabbed her spoon, grabbed a big dollop of chocolate ice cream from the container and shoved it into her mouth. Note to self: stop at the grocery store to replenish her stock of serious premium chocolate ice cream which she reserved for heartbroken nights. And tonight, it was not only broken, it was shattered. She had a sad sense she would need LOTS of ice cream added to her freezer.
As if she didn't have enough troubling her, there was the mystery of the missing record. She never thought Billy Joel's Storm Front album would be of any interest to anyone else in the office. By now though, she was certain someone took it out of the office, but who? She asked the person in charge of office cleaning, she went to the lost and found office, she even hacked into the CCTV feed, but the camera pointed near the DLO was down and she couldn't tell them without revealing what she'd done. She probably would never know what happened to that record.
She started hunting through various record shops and online sites, thinking she was going to find a copy of the album by Christmas. After looking, she realised it was going to take a miracle to find it. She vowed she would not give up.
After more months of looking for the record, she finally found it! It was a first edition; the sleeve was like new, protected with a plastic cover and it had Billy Joel's signature on it! It was a bit expensive but worth it, as she wasn't going to leave her father's collection incomplete. At this point, she let go of wondering who took it and hoped whoever had stolen her record was enjoying it.
In the end, there was a miracle that Christmas, but it had nothing to do with the album! A dead letter she had written to God when her dad had left was delivered to her by none other than Oliver himself. She had sent that letter when she was 10! It felt like a miracle to her, because with it, she embraced her new DLO family and her life in Denver. She also felt her friendship with Oliver was thriving again. If only he could finally fix his marital situation… That would be a dream come true!
Days came and went with the POstables falling into the routine of rerouting lost letters, finding writers and writees, and handling special packages. Every day brought a little bit of healing to her heart and her relationship with Oliver was healing too. The awkwardness was gone and their relationship continued to grow, until… a day came where an unexpected delivery arrived from Paris. It was none other than Holly! Oliver had sent her a letter many months ago and it got lost in the mail. It came back! Shane and Rita read it to confirm whose it was and then Norman accidentally mailed it (overnight). Oliver was mortified Shane read his letter to Holly, doing it behind his back! He was so angry that he needed space, so he went to his car to put distance between him and his meddling friends. Shane was worried about him, but they had work to do. They needed to figure out who should receive some old divorce papers. They had to resume their work and set aside their problems.
Holly's arrival was as silent as when she left him. She surprised them all, especially Oliver who had waited years for her to come back. Shane was floored! She never expected Holly's return. Shane thought Holly might just call or send divorce papers to Oliver. Why was Holly worried about Oliver's feelings now? She left him standing at the pony express exhibit at the postal museum in Washington DC and only cared enough to leave him a voicemail! And she had not been in contact with him since!
Upon Holly's arrival, Shane started to run a series of worst case scenarios in her head! Not only did Shane have an insatiable curiosity, she also had a very vivid imagination! Her head was filling with what ifs?... what if they fixed their marriage, what if they decided to live together again? Would she be able to continue being Oliver's friend? Would she be able to sit by and watch Oliver rekindle his marriage with Holly? NO, there was no way she could remain in the DLO or the postal service or Denver! She was going to have to resign! She knew her skills would serve her well in finding another position in a Cybersecurity company or maybe, she could go back to the arts she loved so much. She knew she had possibilities, but it broke her heart! She didn't want to go and leave her friends. She had grown to love Rita and Norman like family, but most of all it pained her to part from Oliver. She had to admit she had developed deep feelings for him. She had felt this way for some time now. She suspected he felt the same way, but he was too frozen up to sort himself out. Since their dance in the DLO that night, she felt his demeanour towards her change… she knew he was drawn to her but still kept a sort of formal distance. For Shane, she was still clinging to the bittersweet hope that he cared for her more than just a friend or co-worker. She was still convinced he had wanted to kiss her that night.. the night her record disappeared and the same night her heart was shattered.
Her substantial stash of chocolate ice cream was taking a hit this week with Holly's arrival. Shane was amazed at the emotional roller coaster she'd been on for the past few days, so she made a mental note to replenish her supply.
On the night Oliver excused himself from attending the comedy club show with the rest of the POstables, Shane had the unfortunate opportunity to witness Oliver kissing his wife over a romantic dinner he had planned down to the last detail; from food, to music, to privacy. Shane was certain now she needed to leave Denver as soon as possible! She headed to the DLO where she packed her office stuff into a box and left a note on Oliver's desk, saying her goodbyes. Unfortunately, a clean getaway was not meant to be. Rita and Norman caught her in the act! She tried to explain her reasons and hugged them goodbye before leaving. She was sad and crying as she walked out the door. By the time she arrived in her front yard, she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, just like Atlas… But life has a way of doing things, or maybe it was God after all. People were always telling her God works in mysterious ways! In this instance, the ways were certainly mysterious! Just minutes ago, she was thinking about what to do with her life outside of Denver and then, ZAP! Everything changed in an instant.
She was surprised to find Oliver on her porch, finishing the assembly of the most beautiful porch swing she had ever seen, even better than the one she had when she was a little girl, just like the one she told him about a few days ago.