9 h 58 AM

Clark’s monologue is interrupted by his cellphone ringing. Inner thoughts become out loud reprimands when he sees Jano’s calling him. Clark picks up his device with a sudden fervor in his voice, forgetting that he’s at work for a moment and putting his phone on speaker, screaming:

“What’s the meaning of this !? I told you to not call me while I’m at work you sack of shit!”

The pure unadulterated violence bursting out of this now iconic two-liner startles every employees in the vicinity. His coworkers look at their demure man, sometimes too serious and gullible, going feral with who they believe is a stranger.

To add but a cup of zany to the situation, Jano starts to chuckle at the other end of the line, live on speaker for everybody to hear.

Clark then snaps back to the reality of his profession, looks around to see EVERYONE is confused and for the first time in a while, his two personalities are playing tug of war.

“Look, sorry for calling you a sack of shit, I had a bad day. Just…what do you want?”

Jano keeps laughing, which tears Clark further.

“Man you sure are easy to push to the edge!” replies Jano.

“Dude, tell me why you’re calling me.” orders the young black man, pissed off.

“Well, I need to know if there’s something in this library of yours that I would like!”

Clark sighs in annoyance.

“Look, some wild shit just happened today at Vil de Ville so I don’t-.”

“Oh, does this shit come in a sack? Genuine question.”

“Jano I’m gonna choke you.”

“Don’t think you’d be able to”, responds Jano. Clark can feel him grinning like a child and it irritates him.

“Doesn’t matter dude! The point is, some stuff happened and we think it’s not normal… stuff that we can’t disclose to the public! Make your request, but I can’t promise I’ll deliver it today because I'm busy!”

“No stress, I’m good at waiting for my Jano the Adventurer litterature!”

Silence.

When Clark thinks he can breathe a sigh or relief, in a conversation with his bombastic enigma of a housemate going normal for once, that’s when a neuron is about to pop out of his skull.

“Jano this is the fucking Vil de Ville archives library. There’s the word archive in there!”

“Clark, have you bothered asking yourself why is this place called an "archive" library? Why the heck is it both? A library remains a library, no matter what fancy words you backflip on top of it.”

“Again, emphasis on ARCHIVE here! We don’t have no Jano the adventurers books here! I’m not entertaining it just cause you got the same name as your childhood hero!” Screams Clark.

His professional self lost the tug of war on that one.

“Ain't cool man!” bounces back Jano. “Look, at least ask a couple of people if they got the books or something! Let them know I’m looking for the 4th installment on the Northern territories. Pretty please with a cherry on top of a sunday?”

From a distance, Geneviève assists to this sudden revelation of a double life, stunned and admittedly a bit worried to see her prince charming this angry. Whoever is behind that call is clearly someone Clark doesn’t like. At least it seems that way.

There have been key moments in the past three years where Clark didn't look like he should be approached. These moments we’re filled with quiet anger, a spark that rarely kindled into something more dangerous, but it was there. It’s still there, moments where it seems like things are this close to come to a boiling point with Clark. It never stopped her to ponder when he would finally ask her out, but she keeps this in the back of her head, just in case...

This is different. She can’t discern why.

This anger sounds performative, like he’s letting out dust particles of rage. There’s another feeling spitting the smoke out.

“Yo, Genny!” says a male voice behind Geneviève that takes her by surprise. “Is it the day where Clark finally retires from the pedestal of godhood you put him on?”

That cheeky man, ordinary looking with his short brown hair and him being barely an inch taller than Geneviève, is named Alex. Another employee of Vil de Ville, a tour guide that works alongside Geneviève.

“Very funny, you jerk. I’m just not used to seeing him be this…overwhelmed. He’s the one who’s overwhelming most of the time”, explains Geneviève.

“Oh so you liked overwhelming?”

“Alex shut up! You know what I mean!”

“Alex I got a request”, demands Clark, embarrassed, now in front of both without warning them.

Alex is taken aback by this jump.

“Oh my goodness, dude don’t just teleport in front of people!”

“Right, hum, look I’ll cut to the chase, do we even have-?”

“Volume four up to twelve of Jano The Adventurer? Yes we do baby, in the entertainment industry section, B-48!”

Clark grimaces in faint disgust.

“Of course it’s in the section I never visit. Thank you. Also thank you too Geneviève, Tayla said she was going to look into your notes. I really appreciate your help out there.”

Geneviève blushes while chuckling out of excitement, to Alex’s unimpressed doubt broadcasted on his facial expression.

“So, who’s the person on the phone?” Alex simply asks. “You never did tell us about the neighbour. Is he cool, smart, collected?”

Clark turns his back and is already in motion to go to the entertainment district of Vil de Ville, leaving his fellow employees behind.

“He’s a neighbour” is the only thing Clark leaves them with. 

Geneviève's a bit confused by this. If this neighbour is that bold against Clark, then she feels a bad aftertaste about the man behind the phone. Alex, looking a bit annoyed by everything, simply smirks while snapping Geneviève out of her thought process.

“Gotta get back to work girl”, states the fellow employee.

Geneviève goes back to work, looking a tad embarrassed as usual.

Alex then looks at Clark in the distance.

His stance appears, even for a brief second, menacing, cold, before he sighs and joins Geneviève in the archives room.

…

11 h 39 AM

At the entrance of the Vil de Ville library, a citizen, a young woman, climbs the steps with a measured cadence. Her demeanor takes by surprise the three police officers from earlier. Her long hair reminds them the vibrance of healthy fields of nature, brimming with abundance. Her yellow shirt, pale and sleeveless gives this sense of ease that flows beautifully with her lime-green long skirt. Her presence alone is refreshing. Her high heels adds to her elegance and confidence.

The three officers look lost in their own territory. They weren’t expecting such a gorgeous woman in front of THAT library this morning. They successfully stopped anybody else from entering since the Clark fiasco. The talkative cop couldn’t explain why, but her aura told on an individual harder to convince the benefits of her not being here. He does his best to not let this woman’s immense beauty distract him from his work.

“Good morning. Unfortunately, we cannot let people come in before this afternoon. Please come back later”, the cop says with a serious tone.

“W-Well, I’m here out of curiosity. Do you perhaps know a certain…hum, Tania McKenzie? I’m not sure I pronounced her name right.”

The lady nervously giggles, like a reflex of hers. 

Her soft voice breaks the illusion of confidence she wears without disrupting the effects her looks have on the officers, in fact adding to her aesthetic, a light that embraces those around her. The officers look at her and her purple eyes that remind of a glistening crystal bathing under the full moon.

The officers are entranced by this human being they pedestalize, unconscious in their state of awe.

“Listen, there’s no need to apologize my dear-I mean lady”, reassures the talkative cop, as his two proteges would bend backwards to polish her heels.

The mysterious woman continues to laugh softly, as if she’s herself unconscious of her own effect on others.