When I opened it, there was an inscription inside:
What do you think was the deal with Ben and Virginia?
Okay, they had to be in college, right? Because nobody writes stuff like this after college... right? Sine Cera? Seriously? I had to look that up... it's Italian for "without wax". Sculptors might fill in their mistakes on a statue with wax, and if something was made without wax, it was the real deal. Barf.
So which do you think is the most likely?:
(a) Virginia and Ben met in an American Lit 1970 to the Present course, started sitting next to each other in class and talking about books after class. They had it bad for each other, but both were too shy to make a move. This is how Ben tried to get Virginia's attention. It worked, and they smooched big time on the quad, and were together for 4 years. Virginia had a hard time with the breakup, even though it was her idea. She wanted this act of selling Ben's book to not matter, but she knew she really meant it as a statement of disowning the relationship. Quickly after she got rid of it, she wished she hadn't. She really liked the book, and it wasn't like suitors went around inscribing books for her anymore. Especially in New York where it's impossible to date. Ugh. Why did she even move to New York? Dumb.
(b) Virginia and Ben had been dating, and dating fell into serious love quickly. This was one of Ben's many romantic gestures to Virginia. It was first love. It was college. Years after their relationship ended, Virginia would sometimes page through these tokens of Ben's love. She hadn't spoken to Ben in years. He was desperate for a Fulbright, and convincingly feigned interest in something obscure enough to secure one. They broke up shortly before he moved to Azerbaijan. It was surprisingly easy to get over him because his internet access was so spotty anyway, she didn't really get sucked into dialogues with him. And Ben was always his most attractive in the written word. Virginia got married a year ago. He's so different than Ben, but really, he's so great for her. As they were moving into their starter home together, she came across this book. How, she wondered, could 4 years feel so long ago? Ben seemed like a distant memory. Here, in this home, was where her life was. She smiled at the book. Not a sad smile, just an acknowledgement of a life that's passed. She put it in the "give away" pile, never thinking about it again. "Hey, hon," she called. "Do you want to go get some sushi?"
(c) Virginia and Ben were on the same floor in the dorms freshman year. Ben was kind of moody and brooding. He played violin and wore fedoras. For the first couple months of college, Virginia was intrigued. There weren't guys like that where she grew up. Sometimes she and her roommate would see Ben in the halls and tell him to come over -- they were blending up margaritas and made too much. As Virginia got to know him, she liked Ben fine, but would never like like him. He was honestly pretty weird, and she had met someone else recently, who she was really digging. Once, like, for a second, she and Ben talked about books. Virginia liked to read but wasn't, like, obsessed with reading. Ben knew a lot about books and recommended a book once. Virginia half heartedly said it sounded good. And then this book showed up in a manilla envelope outside her door. Whoa, she thought. Ben got the way wrong idea. She laughed about it with her roommate. Not in a mean-spirited way. Just in a nervous, uncomfortable way. He still lived 40' from her, so she'd have to set the record straight, without being mean about it. She sold it after spring semester ended. No way she was going to lug that book home for the summer. She never even read it.
What do you think, guys??
