Chapter V: When Passion and Literature Collide

After their whirlwind weekend, it was nice to be back in the comforting space of the DLO on Monday morning.

"Hey there, Shane," Rita greeted her friend with her cheery smile and sunny disposition. "I figured it'd be a double shot skinny latte type of morning, so I got you one from the coffee cart."

"Awww, you're a lifesaver! That's exactly what I need."

Rita handed Shane her coffee and took a sip of her own. The two friends were alone in the DLO. Norman was over at internationals and Oliver had come in for an early department meeting. Shane had come into work by herself. That had given her a few minutes to talk Sharon off the ledge, since apparently, she had yet another spat with Walter. It was bewildering how they could bicker so, only to end up whispering words of affection to each other.

"It was a crazy weekend, wasn't it?" Rita asked.

"Crazy and then some! It was a weekend for the books! The dance showcase, the evening at the Divino Bocadito, Mom and Walter… That man has her in a complete tizzy! And please… let's not even talk about Ramon showing up at my house, uninvited…"

Biting her lower lip, Rita added worriedly, "I'm sorry about the part I played there, Shane. I had no idea what was going on between you and Ramon. I innocently told him about the barbecue-"

Cutting Rita off, Shane blurted, "And he started ranting and raving, I'm sure!" She rolled her eyes, her frustration evident.

"Nothing he said made sense! Something about unqualified yentas, no respect for his craft, and he mumbled something about lack of appreciation over me and Norman and you and Oliver." Rita added, still perplexed.

"Ughhhhhhhhh! Ramon is unbelievable!"

When Shane told Rita that Ramon credited himself as the mastermind behind ShOliver and NoRita, as he liked to call them, her friend's eyes widened in disbelief. However, her expression changed quickly, as she frowned and pursed her lips.

"I hate to play devil's advocate, but I do think Ramon might have had some influence in Norman finally noticing me…"

"Oh no, Rita. No. Let's not go there, ok!" Shane was starting to fume.

"And the monikers… well, they are quite catchy…"

Shane couldn't believe her ears. "Rita! Who's friend are you?!"

"Yours of course, Shane, yours!" She replied in a panic.

"Hmmmmpf!" Shane grunted, visibly frustrated, but immediately felt contrite. "I'm sorry, Rita!" Her issues with Ramon had nothing to do with her best friend. "I would never tell you who to be friends with. I just never thought I'd see the day when Ramon could unnerve me so much. But just you wait, I have an ace up my sleeve! I will win this yenta war if it's the last thing I do!"

Rita was baffled beyond belief. She'd never seen Shane so riled up. She was about to ask her about that ace but didn't get a chance. Norman came into the DLO lugging a heavy box that had him heaving and gasping for breath. Shane and Rita rushed to his side and helped him maneuver the bulky parcel to an empty table where it landed with a thud.

Norman hadn't quite evened out his breath when Oliver stepped into the office. "Good morning, colleagues! It's a beautiful morning, isn't it?"

"Well, aren't you the cheery one, Mr. O'Toole!" Shane greeted her husband with a kiss on the cheek. "How was the meeting?"

"Leadership wanted input on new commemorative stamps." Oliver said casually as he walked over to the box. "What have we here?"

"Norman just brought this over from internationals, right?"

"Yes, Shane, that's correct." Norman took a gulp of water from the bottle Rita gave him.

"It seems it's full of unattached items, and the box is dated six years ago. How did this happen?" Oliver asked, concerned.

"The box is from the old DLO office. Apparently, it got lost in the shuffle during our move, and it ended up on a far corner of the auction rack. It was left there forgotten, until an intern found it while reorganizing the racks. He sent it to Betsy at internationals, who then gave it back to us. She's mortified over this whole mix-up and figures we might not be able to do much with the contents, but protocol is protocol," Norman said, getting the gang up-to-speed.

"Let's see what can be done. Why don't we start by cataloguing?" Oliver directed.

The POstables gathered around while Oliver pulled items from the box. There was an engraved pewter pint glass from Oktoberfest in Munich. A beat-up teddy bear with a beret and the flag of France was next. Rita noticed an envelope full of postcards that had no recipient nor return address.

"Oh wow! It seems like this person wanted to send all these together. Dates correlate, so most likely this was all from the same trip." Rita started flipping through the postcards. "This is so cool! What a dream vacation! Barcelona, Madrid, Oslo, Helsinki, Istanbul, Rome… Oh wow, even Greece! Didn't you mention you'd love to go to Santorini, Shane?" Rita rattled off excitedly.

"That I did. Take note, Mr. O'Toole!" Shane winked.

Oliver chuckled.

"Now, this is lovely." Everybody looked at Norman. He had been silent for a while. There was an antique cameo brooch in his hand. "This probably has a lot of sentimental value for someone. Not to mention it could be worth a lot, too."

While Oliver examined the brooch with Norman, Shane continued to inspect the items in the box when a worn copy of a book caught her attention.

Hopscotch. It was the English translation of Rayuela, the magnum opus by Argentinian author Julio Cortázar.

Without realizing it, Shane relayed this information out loud. Perplexed, Oliver commented, "How is it you know Argentinian novelists?"

"Oh!" Shane recovered quickly. "When we started our tango lessons, I wanted to immerse myself in all things Argentinian. So, I googled my little heart out… wanting to learn about art, literature, cuisine, music. Julio Cortázar is pretty famous."

"Hmmm… the book can't be 6 years old. There's the musty scent plus the pages have that yellowish hue," Oliver observed thoughtfully.

Shane gently flipped through it, noticing underlined passages and notes in the margins. She felt like she was holding a relic, since nobody read real books anymore. Well, no one except maybe her husband. People mostly downloaded ebooks onto their Kindle app to create their portable digital libraries.

"Oh wow," Shane said, wide-eyed. "This is dated 30 years ago, and there's an inscription!" Excited, she proceeded to read it out loud.

To my Buggy. I can only wish you the thrill of happiness and the remembrance of joys past, so you can live a life of purpose where the future shines bright. Love, M.

"That's gorgeous," Rita said wistfully.

"Yes, it is," Oliver commented blithely.

Shane noticed her husband's interest was practically non-existent. "Darling, this is something completely up your alley. Your lack of enthusiasm is underwhelming."

Oliver shrugged. "I do love challenges, but all of this here, except the postcards, seems like a dead end."

"Why don't I take care of this for the time being? I may surprise you just yet," she said with all the eagerness Oliver wasn't showing. "Can I take this on as a project?"

"Sure, Shane," he agreed. He tilted his head and gave her an indulgent smile. "Let me know any results your preliminary investigation might yield. Norman, you can tackle the brooch. Rita and I will work on the postcards and see if we can get those processed as quickly as possible."

Everyone went to work, and the hours flew by. Before they knew it, their workday was over, and Oliver and Shane had a date with Franco.

While Oliver was selecting some snacks at the vending machine, Shane stared at her desk. Should she violate protocol and take the book with her? It seemed like it was full of clues. She had spent the day racking her brain trying to figure out an intended addressee. Shane figured she needed to study those margin notes more closely. Without thinking about it further she grabbed the book and placed it within a plastic ziplock bag to protect it. She then put it inside her tote bag. If Oliver had a fit about it, she'd deal with it later. It was time for dance class!

XXXXXX

"Darling, are you alright? You were a bit withdrawn at work today." Shane looked at Oliver with concern as they made their way to the dance studio.

"I'm alright. Just concerned about Mom. I don't understand this love-hate dynamic she has with Walter," he pointed out, frowning.

"That is odd, isn't it?" Shane mused. "I don't get it either. Argh! If only Ramon hadn't meddled!"

Oliver raised an eyebrow. He didn't have to say anything. Shane immediately smirked and said, "Yes, yes, I know I like to meddle and play matchmaker, too. But it's Mom!"

"I guess we'll just have to see how this plays out, Shane. It's not like we can tell Mom what to do."

"I guess not." Shane sighed. "What a quandary."

"There's no dilemma, my love. It's all about trusting the timing. We certainly have experience with that, don't we?" Oliver held Shane's hand as they stepped into the elevator. He rubbed her knuckles and lifted them up to his lips.

"You can be so sweet, Oliver. And I agree, it's a matter of trusting the timing. I just hope the timing ends this relationship or whatever it is between Mom and Walter."

"You can't place conditions on the timing, Shane," Oliver said sternly. Yet, his expression softened as he continued, "Whatever must happen will happen, because it'll be God's will. It does not matter if you or Ramon have a knack for bringing people together. If it's meant to be, it will be."

"Hmm…. Talk about if it's meant to be… Look at that!" Shane exclaimed in a whisper as she pointed through the glass doors to the dance studio.

Beyond the doors Oliver and Shane could see Juliette and Franco were having their own dance session. He was gliding her perfectly across the floor, and what Juliette lacked in experience and technique, she made up in chemistry with her partner.

"Oh my goodness! If they exude this much heat at this distance and through the doors, I can't even imagine being up close!" Shane couldn't contain her excitement.

"My love, you must get a grip. This is not becoming." Oliver tried to keep a straight face while stifling a laugh. How could he not enjoy seeing the love of his life so happy?

Upon glancing at Juliette and Franco once again, their jaws fell to the floor. Franco deftly maneuvered Juliette into what they now knew was the "classic dip", the one they learned when they first started dancing together. As Franco pulled Juliette up, they stilled and were so enthralled with each other, Oliver couldn't help but say, "If that's how we looked once upon a time…" His words trailed off, not finishing his thought.

"Oliver, I know that's how we looked and how we will continue to look when we dance," Shane commented cheekily.

Shaking his head and sneaking a quick kiss, Oliver wondered how they could walk in without obviously disrupting Juliette and Franco. "It seems like we're always catching someone in a clinch, or they're surprising us. This is ridiculous."

"Oh, Oliver, it's not a big deal. Here, let me!" Shane made a production of noisily opening the studio door, while making sure the click of her heels on the floor made a loud sound.

Realizing they were not alone, Juliette jumped like a nervous cat, and immediately disengaged herself from Franco's grip. Shane had to hide her smug smile. These two were like the classic cartoon skunk and cat. Pepe Le Pew, was it? Juliette could be as skittish as she'd like, but that man was going to be all over her soon!

"Shane! Ovileery! You're late."

"It seems like you were too well entertained to notice, Franco," Oliver said snidely.

"I will choose to ignore that, Ovileery," Franco contorted his face into his most menacing glare.

"Are you two going to get your boxers in a bunch?" Shane asked angelically.

"I don't wear boxers, Shane. It's thongs or commando for me," Franco shot back, a slow grin spreading on his ridiculously handsome face.

Juliette turned beet red, Shane was gobsmacked, and Oliver bolted to the restroom.

"Dear Lord, Franco. You win by way of the shock factor." Shane said after getting her bearings. "Juliette, I didn't even say hello. How are you?" she asked as she gave her a huge hug.

"I'm good," she responded breathlessly. "Franco invited me for a dance lesson. Mom urged me to accept. It's been… fun." Juliette attempted to keep her tone light, but Shane could feel the underlying excitement.

"That's wonderful," Shane said good-naturedly. "Why don't you stick around for our class? We could go out and grab something to eat afterwards." She had the feeling that Juliette might feel more at ease if it was a double-date kind of scenario. "Franco? Would that be agreeable?"

"That would be perfection, Shane." And then Franco smiled. His smile could be declared an event since he was such a big fan of the smoldering scowl. Shane heard Juliette's subtle intake of breath, and immediately felt all the feels. Yes, this yenta situation was her thing!

Seeing Oliver's head peeking out from the restroom door, Shane rolled her eyes. "You can come back out, Oliver. It's safe."

"Yes Ovileery, there will be no more talk of underwear or lack thereof." Franco simply enjoyed seeing Oliver lose his cool. However, much to his chagrin, Oliver took a mollifying breath, and walked into the studio with regal poise. He wasn't going to let Franco get the best of him again!

"Are we ready to train for the Denver Starlite Ball competition?" Franco directed the question to his favorite students, not that he'd let them know that any time soon!

A succinct "yes" was their reply. Oliver had talked it over with Shane over the weekend, and he wanted to check off learning the foxtrot from his bucket list. His only condition was he wanted to dance to a Frank Sinatra song and wondered if Franco would be agreeable to that request.

"That can be arranged," Franco said after considering Oliver's proposal. "Fly me to the moon" was actually the perfect song choice. However, he would never share that with Oliver. Franco grinned to himself. Oliver was an outstanding man. He'd learned as much from Ramon, and from his demeanor during lessons. It was obvious he was rapturously in love with Shane and his gentlemanly ways were a breath of fresh air. He could learn a thing or two from Oliver. But alas, yet again, he wouldn't admit it. Franco did love to push his buttons, though. Who knew? Maybe Oliver could bring out the gentleman in him, while he encouraged Oliver's inner Latin lover to bubble to the surface. He certainly did show promise after the passion he put into the tango.

Class went by quickly with Shane and Oliver learning basic steps and spins while keeping the proper foxtrot hold. It was a dance that suited them both perfectly. Franco was already seeing Shane as a blonde Audrey Hepburn and Oliver as a much more handsome Fred Astaire in Funny Face.

Dinner was at Donatello's, and it was a lighthearted affair. Conversation was light and fun as they all learned more about each other. It was a pleasure saying hello to Joey and Caitlin once again. She fawned over the foursome, saying she had never had as much fun as she'd had over at the Divino Bocadito the previous Friday. She couldn't wait to hang out with all of them again.

"Well, Dr. Dupont did invite everyone gathered to a party she's having over at Moonrise Ranch," Joey pointed out.

"There's a party at Moonrise?" Oliver and Shane asked in unison with equally surprised looks.

"Oh, yes! I know Mom was going to call you about that, Shane. She knows Joe and Oliver have birthdays coming up soon and she wanted to throw a party for both of them," Juliette shared excitedly.

"Am I invited?" Franco asked Juliette, while taking her hand in his and rubbing her knuckles.

Shane had to give Juliette credit. She quickly covered her obvious physical reaction to Franco. Still, she didn't remove her hand from his. "Of course," she replied briefly, her smile transforming her face.

"Everyone, it's been a wonderful evening, but tomorrow's another workday. We should be heading home." Oliver said.

All of them agreed, and as they got up and gathered their belongings, Shane's tote bag fell on the floor. As Oliver crouched down to help her with the bag, he noticed the copy of Hopscotch inside.

"Shane, what in the world am I going to do with you? Violating postal protocol, again? Why do you have this with you?" Oliver asked, unnerved.

She didn't have a chance to answer. Franco interrupted. "Oh wow. That's a copy of Rayuela!"

Her interest piqued, Juliette asked, "Is that the English translation?"

"You guys know this book?" Oliver couldn't hide his surprise.

"You can't be born in Argentina and not know Julio Cortazar. Although that book is not for the faint-hearted. It's a dense piece of literature," Franco shared.

"I read the English translation in college, so I know a bit of the background. But the true expert is Gabriela. She has a degree in comparative literature and wrote her thesis on Cortázar," Juliette added.

"Gabriela? Franco's sister?" Shane asked.

Juliette nodded in answer to her question. "Is this book part of one of your postal investigations?"

Shane looked briefly at Oliver. He wordlessly nodded his agreement to share the information they had, since it seemed like Juliette and Franco might be of some help. Shane immediately told them what she'd learned that afternoon, which wasn't much unfortunately.

"Gabriela is traveling to Denver soon. We haven't seen each other in a while, and we try to reconnect at least once a year. I'm sure she'll love to talk about this," Franco said.

"That's wonderful! I'd love to meet your sister and pick her brain," Shane said animatedly. "Wait a second, isn't Gabriela Ramon's ex?" She thought out loud.

Franco smirked. "Yes, that she is."

Shane smiled deviously. Not only did she have a chance to continue the book investigation, but she had the heads-up on Gabriela's arrival in Denver. Oh, Ramon… you have no idea what's coming your way!

My dearest gentle reader, like Shane, this Author is quite intrigued over the book mystery that has fallen into the POstables lap. I wonder…why is Oliver so withdrawn, when once upon a time he would've been all over this type of investigation? Literature is his thing, so the least we would expect from him would be he'd want to read said novel.

Oh, and the matchmaker saga continues! What will happen when Gabriela arrives in Denver? Only time will tell… and this Author simply can't wait!