You Have Mail

[misoshiru]

Victoria Grey, better known as Tory by everyone in the middle and lower classes, and few in the upper class, entered the lobby of The Villa as she liked to call it, and shook out her umbrella onto the welcome mat.
Sheets and sheets of rain battered down on New York City, rendering everything more than five metres away a mere shadow in the mist.
Tory herself had just finished work, and had caught a taxi from Lady Cooper's manor, so she was not as wet as some of the other poor souls in the lower class, who could not afford taxis, or even umbrellas.
Tory went to the stacks of letter boxes in the corner of the lobby, and opened up her personal one. Discarding the usual department store advertisements, of which she had no interest in, Tory looked at the two letters remaining.
The thickest one was from her brother James - probably a very long, detailed letter about how his life is going, how their parents' lives were going, and how Lucy was coping without her big sister. Probably fine. Tory's younger sister turned 16 a month ago, she'd be coping fine without her. She hoped.
Tory looked at the other letter. It was official looking, and was sent from an upper class suburb of New York City.
She was about to open the letter, curious as to what was in it, when she felt someone come up behind her, and she turned to stare them blankly in the eyes.

[Turkey-san]

"Oh I'm sorry. I could've sworn I've left my pen here." Virginia said when the girl turned to look at her. She had been looking around the other chairs in the lobby, but still hadn't found her pen. The pen was one her father had gotten for her before she left for New York so she could write home. In her left hand was a well-used yellow notebook, which was about half finished and had her story written inside it.

[misoshiru]

Tory shook her head nonchalantly, indicating she didn't mind, but didn't say anything. She looked around and saw an expensive-looking pen on top of a letterbox a few down from hers.
"Is this it?" she asked, picking it up and offering it to the woman.

[Turkey-san]

Virginia picked it up and squinted at it. Sure enough, it had a little sticker with the initials "VL" written. "Yes, thank you." she said with a smile. "My father got it for me before I left home, so it's really special." she said. She sat down in a chair nearby and opened her notebook. Where had she left off? She went flipping through it and once she got there, read the entire last page she wrote. She always did this before writing more, in case she wanted to edit or forgot what had just happened in the story.

[misoshiru]

"It's no problem," Tory replied, smiling politely at Virginia.
But the way Virginia just left and started flipping through her book bothered Tory. That was rather rude.
She was about to say something, but then stopped, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Forgive me for interrupting," she said, "But what are you writing?"

[Turkey-san]

Virginia looked up. "A story, actually. One I plan on publishing someday." she said with a small smile. She rolled her pen back and forth between her thumb and forefinger as she spoke.

[misoshiru]

"Ooh, that's nice," Tory said, sitting down on the chair next to Viriginia. "Can you tell me what it is about, or am I not allowed to know? I could do the cover art for you, if you would like."

[Turkey-san]

Virginia smiled. "Well it's about a girl with a little-known genetic disease. She never knew her parents very well, so she and her sister are trying to find them, especially since the girl's sister doesn't have the disease and they want to find out why. At the same time they're looking for answers to find out the name of the mysterious person who's after them and knows about these voices that tell the main character what to do. It seems rather complicated at first, but I hope it'll turn out well." she summarized.
Her eyes lit up when the girl offered to do the cover art. "Really? I've been looking for someone for that, but haven't managed to find anyone." she said.

[[This is a story I've actually started writing But unfortunately haven't had enough time to get too far :/ ]]

[misoshiru]

"I'd be glad to," Tory said with a nod. "It's not everyday that I get to paint covers for books. Just tell me what you want for it and I'll draw up some drafts. But I'm bad at the abstract style, so if you wanted that, I could refer you to another artist I know."

[Turkey-san]

Virginia shook her head. "No, no abstract. And I'm not sure what I want for a cover yet, but when I know, I'll tell you, alright?" she asked with a small smile. Honestly, she wasn't much of a visual visionary. She came up with more ideas than mental images.

[misoshiru]

"Sure. I'm up on the third floor. Room 306," Tory told Virginia. "I'm home most evenings, so drop by any time. But for now, I'll let you get on with your writing. It was nice meeting you."
And with that, Tory stood, smiled at Virginia, and headed towards the stairs.

[Turkey-san]

"Thanks, it was nice to meet you, too." Virginia said with a small smile. It was nice to meet someone who wasn't like the other New Yorkers [aka polite and kind].
She got back to her writing, trying to think of ideas for cover art.

[misoshiru]

Tory opened the official looking letter as she walked up the stairs, and read it.
Inwardly she smiled. It was an invitation for her to display some of her art in a high profile cafe in Manhattan. She was going to have to call the cafe and arrange a meeting.
She opened the door of her apartment, and closed and locked it behind her.