Alice has been very understanding of Nick’s job and life through all that time. But just like everyone, she surely missed her boyfriend in many situations, such as cold nights, beautiful sunsets, and walks on the beach. Alice was pretty lucky to have found someone as special as Nick, but she did feel upset at times like these.
A few days after Nick had left for Europe for a 10 show tour, Alice was invited to give a series of lectures at UCLA on international literature. She was so excite with this new opportunity that she felt like exploding with pride. She wanted to sit with her boyfriend and tell him all about the invitation and the preparation procedures, and also how each lecture was. Of course she talked to him, but either on the phone or on the webcam; nothing like she imagined it would be. She could picture them laying on each other in the middle of the living room while she told him all the details. But she didn’t have it. She was all alone in one end and so was he in the other, in a hotel room.
Alice wished so much to share these feelings with someone that she started confiding with Mark Stevens, an old friend. They have always been pretty close, but lately Mark has been Alice’s all time companion. They work together – which explains why they spend so much time with each other – and they do everything together – lunch, shopping, movies… Alice tells him everything. When she found out she was doing the lecture sessions they had a long talk.
“Why have you been smiling all day, Ali? Mark asked over lunch.
“You won’t believe it! I got it! I got it! I got it!”She replied, almost screaming.
“Wow! Easy, girl! What are you talking about?”
“The lectures at UCLA! I got it!” She couldn’t help a broad, proud smile.
“That’s awesome! When are you doing it? I wanna be there and sit in the first row!”
“It’s a series of 6 lectures and they start in two weeks. Every week is a different topic.”
“That rocks! And what’s your first topic? Have you decided yet?”
“Well, not really. I’m between Shakespeare and some great poets in Latin Literature. What do you think?”
They kept talking and sharing ideas. During that whole week, Mark and Alice talked about the lectures. They were even closer than usual.
When the day of the first lecture came, Alice had to control herself. She went through her speech over and over again. Mark kept his word and was sitting in the first row, right in front of her. He was really proud of his friend and she was relieved that she saw a friendly face in the crowd.