Hiding behind his words | Closed

Carly had been out of work sick for a few days, and while at home was going crazy wondering if thee was a letter waiting for her in work. When she finally got to read it she couldn't help but giggle as she read hisl ine on the internet being the 'in' thing. it seemed that he really was well and truly cut off from the world.

Ben,

I must admit your lack of awareness to social networking is refreshing, and I do have to admit it often gives me a giggle. I would be more than happy to screen them for you, The competition will be live in a week, so we should have some submissions by the end of the month! Only two months to go until the launch, isn't that exciting?

I have to admit I'm disappointed [;)], cover number three is the only one I had some input on, However it was incredibly minor, I left most of it to the graphics team.

I apologise if this is intrusive, But does it ever get lonely, being on one's own so often? I don't believe I could handle it. I'm also very sorry for how short this letter is, I've been poorly and have much to do to catch up with my work!

Your Carly.
P.S Respectable answer,You pass. I prefer English breakfast, Milk, no sugar with a biscuit to dunk.

Carly coated the letter in her perfume, She wanted him to know it had arrived before he even saw it. She really hoped that he trul.y did feel as happy as she did to be exchanging these letters, and hoped she wasn't disturbing his peaceful serenity of hermitage.

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin had begun working on his new book idea, as he waited for her to reply. His mail was dropped off again, with a comment from the postman that he must be popular. Benjamin nodded and tipped him again like always; before eagerly heading inside to read it. He penned a response.

Dear Carly,

I don't have a screen in my house at all, they're too much of a distraction. Thank you for being happy to screen the entries, I am certainly excited for the book to come out.

I hope this doesn't disappoint you, or cause too much issue. I have decided that since this is the first time I'm doing a signing for a book of mine, I think it would be best to stick to one event. Could you roll the interview event in with a book signing, with the same limited guest number?

It's perfectly fine, admittedly it does get lonely out here, but the isolation is good. The people of the village are lovely, and deliver me supplies as I need them.

You have my best wishes and prayers, I hope you get better. I'm working on a new book, if I decide to publish it, I'd love to have you help me work on that one too.

Your Ben.
P.S. It is my humble opinion that only savages have sugar in their tea.

Benjamin sealed the letter with his cologne once again. He was worried that she wouldn't catch that his P.S was meant as joke.

@ KhaleesE16

Dear Mr.Prescott,

It would greatly disappoint both myself and the staff here at Macmillan if the itinerary were to be cut down to only one event. We have worked tirelessly to pull these events together and feel it would be a disservice to the fans if a smaller number of guests should only get the chance to meet you. I would ask you to perhaps revisit the idea of a streamed interview? This way, all fans will have access to the content online, despite economic or graphic restriction that would otherwise limit them from being able to interact. Of course the final decision is yours as you are not contractually binded to attend any such events.

All of us here at the Macmillan team, myself included would be eager to work alongside you once again. Perhaps a rough excerpt of this book could be included at the end of a limited number of copies of this novel so as to entice fans and start hype building already.

Warmest regards.
Carly Rose
Editor in Chair, Macmillan.

Carly ensured to spray the letter with her perfume to ensure some form of personality was carried in it. Margo had seen the letter on her desk while she was in a meeting during the week and had warned Carly to upkeep a professional tone even if Benjamin did not. Terrified that Margo may screen her letter, she ensured that she remained strictly business throughout, even though it killed her. Carly was dismayed to have to ask him to include an excerpt of his book,it somehow felt personal, like it was only meant for her. She knew that including it was something Margo was heavy on, always building hype for the next project. She loved the bantering flirtations that her and Ben had begun to throw at one another. To try and add an extra little something. Carly drew a small doodle of a hedgehog, her favourite animal on the back of the envelope before posting.

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin was surprised to see the professional tone return to her letter. He felt bad that she may have gotten in trouble. The little doodle did cheer him up slightly.

Dear Ms. Rose

I appreciate you informing me some work has been done organising the events. My concern remains about my privacy, I am concerned that too much exposure of my image would cause me to be recognised on the streets.

I am still unsure about how the streamed interview will work, but would be willing to discuss it in person after the one event. If you can set it up that at a second signing event no photographs would be allowed, I may consider it.

At this stage I do not have an excerpt of the new story I am happy with. In any respect it will be vastly different to my previous work. Feel free however to include a note in the back of the current book that I am working on a new story.

Yours truly,
Benjamin Prescott
Author.

Ben put the letter in the envelope and got ready to send it. Sadly it didn't say what he felt he needed to say. He quickly penned another letter.

C.

I hope our correspondence has not gotten you in trouble. I was hoping to ask whether you would be okay with me adapting those excerpts I sent you and including them in the new book, or whether by doing that I'd cheapen their value to you.

I hope this letter was still sealed when you received it, if not I might have to consider whether I trust Macmillan anymore. Thank you for the lovely drawing. Please include another in the next letter if I should trust Macmillan.

B.

Benjamin sighed, he hoped that the letter weren't being screened. He folded the letter, and seal it with wax and his family seal. He slipped it into the other envelope, before sending them off.

@ KhaleesE16

Carly sighed as his next letter arrived on her desk. She wasn't as excited as usual, knowing it was all business. She hoped she hadn't offended him with her reverting to the formal tone, and hoped he understood it was not to do with him at all.

Dear Mr.Prescott,

We are incredibly grateful for your continued co-operation regarding our events. With some more hard work from the entire team, we could certainly ensure that the second event is a press free area. If perhaps you would feel more comfortable meeting one a one on one persoanal basis with any of our staff to discuss these events in detail, Macmillan would be more than willing to front your travel costs.

Would you perhaps like to supply us with a personal statement to include within the book regarding your new work? We can begin to add it to the novels now as a last minute change to layout.

yours,
Carly Rose.

Carly sighed as she penned her name on the reply, the words didn't even feel like hers on the paper. It was not until Carly was gathering the paper to place it in the envelope when she noticed a second envelope slip out of Benjamin's parcel. She could see it was securely sealed with a wax stamp, and she wondered what the sigil imprinted upon it stood for. Reading over it shedecided to risk attaching her own reply. I f margo were to catch her she would just come clean and hope for the best.

Ben,
Thank you for your concern, as of yet I have not been reprimanded, however my supervisor saw a letter of yours on my desk and questioned the informal tone, I was worried she may screen our further correspondence but this does not seem to be tampered with.

I am flattered that you would respect me enough to ask my permission to adapt the previous excerpts, They are your intellectual property please use them as you would like, I am merely grateful to be part of the process.

C.

At first she had felt unsure about the adaptation of the excerpts,they felt so personal... but on the realistic side, they had been based off of the scent of a perfume that 100's of women in the world owned, she had no write to stop him from using his own material. She seawled the envelope, and this time drew a small hedghog, looking at a cartoonish wise owl, it was almost how she imagined herself and ben in cartoon caricatures.

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin was pleased to see that he had two letters from her when he opened the parcel. He smiled lightly as he read over the first one.

Dear Ms. Rose,

Thank you for your offer to speak in person, but I do not feel that is necessary at this stage. It appears you have things in hand, I will be in London a couple weeks early and we can discuss the details then.

My only statement for the new book is; I want to try something a little different. Keeping all the intrigue and suspense but leaving behind the violence. I hope my fans will give it a chance if I finish it.

Yours,
Benjamin Prescott.

Ben sent the first letter off quickly, wanting to give them time to add the statement to print. He sat back down an read over Carly's second letter. He smiled softly seeing the doodle.

Carly,
I am glad to hear you didn't get in trouble. I apologise that I let formal correspondence morph so far into the informal. I have just been enjoying writing to you, and getting to know you. I am glad to hear the letter was still sealed.

I remain conflicted about using those paragraphs in my new work; I had intended them to be just for you. I will work on the new story without using them at this stage, and perhaps when I'm in London we can discuss it in person. I am sorry to tell you that I will stop sending these letters, until our professional correspondence is completed, but I would very much like to start them back up once that is all dealt with.

Thinking of you,
Benjamin.

@ KhaleesE16

Carly was disappointed to see only one letter return in the post from Benjamin, and she worried that perhaps Margo had taken her reply out of the last one. Sighing, she tossed the letter on to her "To do" pile and went about her day, returning to the letter the following day. As she sat to begin writing she realised there was a second letter placed on her desk in the same familiar writing. She read it quickly, growing upset as he stated that for now he would like to cancel their informal letters.

Dear Benjamin,

That is no problem, I look forward to seeing you in London when the Time comes. I shall pass the statement along to printing and ensure it is included. I look forward to reading more about it in the coming future.

Yours,
Carly.

It hurt her to be putting such a short, impersonal letter in to the envelope to be sent to him. She found herself counting down the days to the release so they could return to speaking to one another.

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin set in and continued work on his new story. He wanted to get some of it completed to share with Carly when he went to London. He read the letter response and didn't feel he needed to respond.

When the time came, he organised his things and packed for London. He bound up the first couple chapters of the new story and put it in his bag. He penned a letter.

Dear Ms Rose,

Sorry for not responding to the last letter, I didn't feel it necessary to add anything more. I have packed for London, and have organised travel. I will be staying at a hotel, so please send response there.

I look forward to meeting with you in a few days.

Yours Benjamin.
P.S. I will have a phone in my hotel room, I can get you the number when I know it.

@ KhaleesE16

Carly had eagerly awaited a reply for weeks, but none ever came. She was beginning to wonder had she been truly stupid for thinking a man like Benjamin Prescott would actually want to keep in contact with a girl like Carly? She had begun to forget about the whole ordeal, until one day she walked in to her office, and could smell a feint smell of the same cologne she had remembered from before. Her stomach in knots, Carly picked up the letter and read it. He was in London, already? Her entire body was filling with giddy anticipation as she sat to write her reply.

Dear Mr.Prescott,

I am pleased to hear you will be joining us in London shortly and I look forward to hearing from you.

Please do not refrain from getting in touch if you believe I or any of the Macmillan staff can assist you in any way throughout your stay.

Yours with great excitement, Carly.
P.S Wonderful, I look forward to hearing your voice, and do hope the task is not too daunting.

She thoroughly hoped he would understand that she was teasing in the final line. She could not believe she was finally going to meet one of her heroes.

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin made it to London, and had booked a reasonable hotel room. He spent a few hours settling in. He finally wondered down to see if there was a letter waiting for him. He headed upstairs to read it.

Dear Ms. Rose,

Thank you for offering any help, I will get in touch if I need it.

It has slipped my mind, but please send over the short list of competition winners, I want to have them picked before we meet on Monday. Hopefully there will be enough time for the winners to organise making it.

Yours Mr Prescott.

He also included a small note just for Carly.

Dear Carly,

The phone number for my room is as follows. [phone number].

Feel free to call, any time

Your Ben.

@ KhaleesE16

Carly had one of the interns deliver the shortlisted entries over to the hotel directly to avoid any breach of copyright. She had loads of work to get done but all she could focus on was the fact she had Ben Prescott's phone number in her office. She would actually get to speak to him. A part of her was nervous to call, at least with the letters she was able to restart if she needed to, with a phonecall, anything she said was just out there.

She waited a number of hours, but as the office was beginning to empty that evening she sat at her desk and pulled out the number. For several moments she just stared at the phone, taking deep breaths as seh tried to psych herself up. eventually she did it, dialling the number and sat in wait of an answer.

The voice that answered was different than she had been expecting, even better than she had hoped. "Hello... Benjamin?" she asked softly, barely ale to get her words out she was so ecstatic to be speaking to him.

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin had spent some time sight seeing around the city. He brought some books to pass his time while he was here. He wanted to spend a decent amount of time in the city.

It was early afternoon when he received the entries, and he spent some time combing through them. He set aside some of his favourite ones. That's when his phone rang, it took him a moment to stand up and reach the phone. He answered it with a simple 'Hello,"

The voice on the other end was beautiful, "Yes, Is this Carly?" he asked lightly.

@ KhaleesE16

Carly thought her heart was actually going to explode out of her chest as she held the phone close to her ear, adamant not to miss a single world. "Yes, this is Carly... How are you Ben?" she asked through a a nervous giggle. His voice sounded quintessentially British.. and he even sounded intelligent when he wasn't trying to be.

I'm kind of stunned to be hearing your voice.. I didn't know what to expect" she told him, crossing and uncrossing jher legs under her desk trying the remain calm. "How have you been finding london?"

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin smiled when it was confirmed it was Carly. Her voice was melodonic and lovely. He sat on the bed, "I've been good, trying to settle in," he said lightly.

"I am enjoying your voice, it is more lovely than I had hoped, I have been enjoying London a lot," he commented. He tried to get comfortable, "so why do I have the pleasure of this call?" he asked.

@ KhaleesE16

Carly smiled as he spoke, trying to conjure up an image in her head of what he might look like. "Very different to how your little village is I imagine" she commented, chewing gently on her finger nail as she spoke.

She shifted nervously as he asked why she was calling, her mind racing... had he only given her the number for business reasons/ was she completely overstepping a boundary? "Ahhhh, I just wanted to check that you received the short list?" she asked quickly. Carly found she could listen to his voice all day, she had so many questions, so many thing she wanted to know about him.

"I've missed your letters the past few weeks" she informed him boldly.

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin smiled softly, "It is very different, sort of overwhelming in fact," he admitted. He gently played with a thread that was hanging off his shirt.

He nodded lightly, listening to her reason, "I have received them thank you, I am actually considering doing something a little extra for some of the entrants, If I can work it," he said lightly.

He chuckled lightly, "Ah yes, the letters, I am sorry for stopping them I just thought that would be easiest," he explained. "I missed getting personal responses from you also, and truly hope you'd be willing to continue to write me after this all over with," he added. "I was meaning to ask, did you intentionally sign off one of the letters, Your Carly?" he boldly asked.

@ KhaleesE16

Carly leaned back in the desk chair to get comfortable. "Oh yeah.. what were you thinking of doing?" she asked intrigued. From what she had gathered he preferred as little contact between him and other people as possible, so she wondered what extra nicety he could possibly have planned.

Her stomach knotted further as he said he would like to continue writing to her after all of this. It calmed her nerves of thinking that he had wanted a strictly business relationship. "Yes i would like to continue very much. It was unusual, but I really enjoyed writing and receiving the letter" she smiled down the phone, falling silent as he asked about signing off.

she stared at the wall momentarily "Ahh.. I just did it in response to you I believe?" she told him softly, her cheeks flushing red... Had she made a mistake and sent it first? "How is the new book coming together?"

@ A Drop On the Window

Benjamin sat back, "I was thinking of writing a small short story for them, and maybe offering a free signed copy of any of my books they don't have a copy of," he said lightly. He wasn't sure whether that would be appropriate or not.

He chuckled lightly, "there is something different about having to wait for a response, rather than this instant messaging stuff right," he said.

He froze wondering whether he should tell her, "I'm afraid you said it first, Don't worry I didn't mind at all, it was quite heart warming to read," he told her. He sat back, "It's hard, I'm trying to figure things out," he admitted.

@ KhaleesE16

"Yeah I mean that sounds great if it's not too much work for you" Carly said honestly, she enjoyed seeing how much he valued his fans, unlike many of the other authors who had come through Macmillan since she started there, who only cared about money.

She nodded enthusiatically, before remembering he couldn't see her. "Yeah.. It's much more exciting waiting to get a letter back than just getting a text instantaneously" she admitted, twirling her light brown hair on her finger.

Her entire face flushed as she realised as she realised she had written "Your Carly" to an award winning author... she was just grateful that he didn't mind. "I did quite enjoy thinking you were my benjamin" she teased. "What is it you can't get figured out?" she asked him softly.

@ A Drop On the Window

"Good, I'm glad you like the idea. I'm sure I can get some done, maybe the top ten," Benjamin said honestly. He knew his fans were the reason he was able to spend his time doing what he loved, writing. So he had a deep respect for them.

He continued to fiddle with the thread on his top, "Also it has the advantage of being able to subtly pick up the scent around the letter, and communicate that to the reader," he added.

He blushed lightly, "I was hoping you would notice and bring it up," he admitted. He sat back, "You are the only woman writing to me at the moment, so presently I am yours," he teased. He sat for a moment, "I'm struggling because I want it to be romance, which I haven't really covered before, and I also don't want to use those pages I sent to you, those were for you," he admitted sheepishly.

@ KhaleesE16