These past few days have become routine. Each morning I would have breakfast with my fiancé in the lobby and by noon I'd be dressed and walking over to Celeste to meet Juliet's secretaries for another session of writing response letters. I enjoyed being in all of the ladies' company immensely, but I bonded more with Bella since we both tended to stay after hours.

Everyone successfully responded to the first batch of letters Bella collected earlier in the week, and I went with her to mail them. On our way back from the postal office, we decided to stop at Shakespeare's balcony to see if there were anymore letters for us to pick up this week. From our conversation, I learned that Bella normally visits the balcony on Mondays and Fridays, but she felt particularly drawn to the site on this late Wednesday afternoon.

"You know, you never told me why you came to Verona," Bella points out during our walk to the balcony.

I thought I could dodge her question by pretending I didn't hear her over the city noise, but Bella wasn't having it. She gently nudges my side with her elbow to coax me into talking, and I force a smile. I prepare to recite the same old story I told to my boss Jerry before allowing myself to speak.

"Well, Zayn and I wanted to go on a mini vacation before our wedding. He's closing a deal with a big client of his this Friday, and I'm hoping we'll be able to spend more time together afterwards. The next few months are supposed to be very hectic for us," I try my best to make it sound believable.

I'm happy sunshades are covering my eyes at the moment because people tell me I'm like an open book. I don't want Bella to be able to see how uncertain I'm feeling about my relationship deep down and ask me more questions. The silence lingers between us longer than it did the last time, so I was convinced that my response satisfied her.

"Hmm. That reminds me of something I meant to ask you before. Why aren't you wearing a ring?" Bella breaks the silence with another question once we walk under the arch leading to Shakespeare's balcony.

I fight the urge to laugh as I glance down at my left hand where one would expect my engagement ring to be. Zayn couldn't even wrap his head around my reason for not wanting one. I've just never been much of a material girl and believe the love two people share should be enough to signify their commitment to each other. I tell Bella those exact words and wait for her to laugh because that's normally the reaction I get.

"You know, I don't think I've ever met a woman quite like you before," Bella tells me while gazing straight ahead.

Her confession makes me smile, a real genuine smile.

"And what kind of woman do you see me as?" I inquire, hoping she'd elaborate.

"You're very thoughtful and humble. I don't know too many women like that," Bella says as she brings her hand to rest on my shoulder. She gives it a light squeeze before adding, "Still, I believe a pretty girl like you should have a ring."

My smile widens naturally because of her words. As we leave the arch and enter the courtyard, I notice a few letters are posted under the balcony and make sure to draw Bella's attention to it. She suggests that we divide the wall into two halves and retrieve letters from our individual sides.

"Okay, I'll take the left and you cover the right," I tell her before walking to the far left side of the wall.

Bella is carrying the basket, so I make small trips over to her side of the wall periodically and place my letters inside the basket. Within five minutes, my side of the wall is cleared, but I do one last inspection to make sure I haven't missed anything. I peak between the cracks of the stone wall and feel around a bit when a loose brick suddenly falls on the floor.

I jump back in time to prevent it from landing on my foot, but a cloud of dust hits my face which makes me sneeze. I wave my hand back and forth until the dust clears up, bend down to pick up the brick, and go to place it back where it used to be. As I stand up straight again, I see a wrinkled paper sticking out of the wall and pull it out while keeping the brick in place. I recognize that the paper is actually an envelope and flip it over to read the front.

Clarice Smith
Cambridge University
The Old Schools, Trinity Ln, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK

I turn the envelope to the back and carefully break the seal. Then, I pull out the piece of paper that's inside and read the date.

Verona 1957.

My mouth parts in a gasp. "Bella quick. Come here!" I call for my friend while skimming over the page.

The ink is slightly smudged, but it doesn't hinder my ability to be able to decipher the words if I look closely. When I look to my right, I see Bella walking toward me with a confused expression on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asks me once she gets closer.

"Just look," I tell her, pointing to the paper in my hand.

Bella peers over my shoulder so she can get a better look at the letter. Once her eyes read over the date, she stares at me with her mouth open in surprise.

"Oh my god. This letter is from sixty years ago!" Bella states with excitement.

I do some mental math before nodding my head. "Yeah, you're right," I agree with her. "But what do you think we should do with it?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

Bella pauses for a moment in deep thought. "Hmm. You know what. The rest of the ladies will know what to do," She finally assures me. "Add it to the batch."

I comply with her request and carefully set the letter on top of the others. My mind was still in a state of shock over the fact that I had discovered a sixty year old letter addressed to Juliet. I couldn't help but compare this to the discovery I made about the World War II Kiss story I fact-checked. If the story behind the letter to Juliet was as interesting as its discovery, I had no doubt it would take the news by storm.

•

The ladies unanimously decided in a vote that one of us should write a response to the author. While I was uncertain as to whether or not she was alive, the secretaries of Juliet said that didn't matter since they had taken an oath to respond to each letter addressed to Juliet. The only question remaining was who was fit to complete the task.

"I think I should be the one to write the response since the letter doesn't fit into our usual categories," Maria announces to group. "After all, I do write about whatever I want."

"Well, I think I should be the one to write the response because the letter clearly has to do with relationships, and I'm an expert on them," Donatella proudly states.

Maria rolls her eyes before saying, "Yeah, but not every man is as boring as your husband Donatella."

While Maria and Donatella bicker back and forth over who should respond to the letter, I take out my phone and text Zayn. Midway through telling Zayn that I'll be back at the hotel soon, I hear Bella mention my name.

"You know, I think Sofia should be the one to write the letter because she found it," Bella interrupts Maria and Donatella.

The two women fall silent and exchange looks before glancing at me. Their gazes make me feel uncomfortable, and I swallow the lump in my throat before releasing a deep breath.

"Me?" I repeat, sounding dumbfounded.

"Yes, it's only fair," Bella concludes while grabbing the letter from the pile, "Since you found the letter, you should be the one to respond to it."

I hesitate to reach out and accept it just in case anyone wants to object, but no one says anything. A minute later I nod my head and take the letter from Bella.

"Okay then. I'm writing it, I guess," I tell the rest of group with a nervous smile.

They all nod their heads, seemingly content, and go about dividing the rest of the letters in the basket quietly. I set Clarice's letter face down in front of me and quickly finish typing  my message to Zayn before hitting send.

After putting my phone away in my purse, I flip the letter over and read it slowly.

Verona 1957

Dear Juliet,

Angelo is waiting for me. We were supposed to meet under our favorite Cypress tree in Siena and run away together. My parents don't approve of our relationship, but I was willing to defy their wishes just to be with him. I didn't go through with our plans in the end because I was scared of losing everything I had ever known. I'm caught between choosing the man I love or living out the life my parents had planned for me. I return to England in three days to go back to university. Tell me what you think I should do Juliet.

Love,
Clarice

When I finished reading Clarice's letter, I envisioned a young woman who was afraid of the unknown. I think that's what gave me the confidence I needed to write back to her in the first place. I could relate to doing things in my life just to play it safe.

I know six decades have passed since Clarice wrote this letter to Juliet, but true love has no expiration date. She deserved a response, and I was happy that I got to be the one to give it to her.

•

"Zayn, you won't believe the day I had," I say with an excited smile as soon as I enter our hotel room. "Where are you babe?"

I toss my keys and purse onto the coffee table and walk into the bedroom in my search of my fiancé. A frown replaces the smile on my face when I crack open the bedroom door and see Zayn passed out on the bed with his laptop beside him. I quietly make my way over to him and grab the laptop from his side before setting it on the night table. All I've ever seen him do since we've arrived at Verona is type away on that damn computer, and it irks me.

A part of me is tempted to go as far as to hide it, so I can force him to spend time with me, but I decide against it. I'd feel guilty if I interfered with his work and got him in trouble for it but just wished he would take a break and vacation with me.

Feeling defeated, I discard my clothing and walk into the bathroom to take a quick shower before bed. It's a quarter to midnight when I re-emerge from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my torso. After I finish drying off and changing into my night gown, I join Zayn under the covers. I scoot closer toward him and wrap my arm around his torso. He shifts a little in his sleep before adjusting to my touch, and I press a kiss to his bare shoulder before shutting my eyes.

That night I dream of Clarice and Angelo reuniting under their favorite tree and pray someday it becomes a reality someday.

A/N

Hello my beautiful wattpad readers. I hope you all enjoyed this update. As usual, feel free to vote, comment, follow me on wattpad, or share this story with a friend. I'd very much appreciate it! A big thanks to @leaving_forever for the amazing cover she created for this story.

Fun fact about myself: I'm a huge natural hair enthusiast. I went natural the summer of 2013 and would only straighten my hair on special occasions. However, I haven't touched a flat iron to my hair since the spring of 2015. For my 17th birthday, I got a tapered cut and am considering chopping all of my hair off for my 18th birthday.

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Kaylandia