SKETTY24, ANGELICA, ROSEMEG = Thanks for the reviews =D!!! W00T!!! Here's the next chapter ;)! Once again, I apologize if this part of the story focuses more on Karen and William. It's just that I really want to justify what Stryker lost, before the event that caused him to turn psycho-evil-man in the movie x.x!

Chapter 61: Books

Karen smiled back at him and walked to the front of the counter. "Hi, Mr. Waldman!" She replied. She, too, seemed very happy to see Nathan. "Miss me?" She asked in a playful and friendly manner as she smiled at the older man.

"Of course I did!" He exclaimed. "It's been a long while since I last saw that smiling face of yours. You've been gone for almost a month. And that's rather surprising since you never fail to drop by at least once or twice a week." His voice was cheerful, yet curious at the same time. "I was starting to miss those homemade donuts you always bribe me with so that I'd give you discounts." He chuckled. "Especially since I've been getting some new books that I know you'd love." He said as he winked at her.

Then he folded his newspaper and placed it on the counter. "So, where you've been all this time? Been too busy with work perhaps?" He asked. "The last time we talked, the Calgary Herald's been dumping tons of research work on ya'."

Then he paused, arched an eyebrow, stroked his chin, and narrowed his eyes as he suspiciously looked at her. "You, uh, haven't been buying your books somewhere else, haven't you?" He asked in a joking manner. Then he snickered and placed an elbow on the counter. "Heh. Just kidding. So, seriously, where have you been all this time, Karen? That is, if you don't mind me asking of course."

Karen furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him curiously. She was looking at him as if she couldn't believe what he had just asked her. "You didn't know that what I was out of town for the past month?" She asked worriedly. "Sean didn't tell you?"

Sean was her older brother. He used to accompany her to the bookstore every once in a while, until he moved to an apartment that was a good hour's drive from the city.

Nathan arched an eyebrow and looked at her curiously. "Sean didn't tell me what?" He asked with an inquisitive tone in his voice.

Karen saw the curious, quizzical look in Nathan's eyes and instantly knew that he had no idea what she was asking about. Then she frustratingly groaned and rolled her eyes as she clenched her hands in frustration. "Ugh! I can't believe he forgot to tell you." She said as she looked back at him, her eyes wide with annoyance. She looked really irritated and worried about something.

"He forgot to tell me what?" He asked excitedly. "I'm dying of suspense here! You should at least tell me what I'm supposed to know!"

Karen sharply sighed as he looked back at the older man. "You see, I've been out of town for the past month because I visited my sister in New York. She moved there like six months ago and I hadn't seen her since. So I decided to take some time off work and visit her." Karen's hands moved in all sorts of directions as she talked. Her voice trailed quickly, one word after another. "And now you know why you haven't seen my face or my shadow for the past thirty days." She said matter-of-factly.

"And your donuts." Nathan added, shaking a finger at her.

Karen shrugged. "Yes. And my donuts." She said as she nodded her head. Then she suddenly slammed her hands palm-down on the counter, which almost caused Nathan to jump up in surprise. "But that's not the end of my story." She immediately added.

"Before I left, I told Sean to come here and reserve a book for me because I found out that it was going to be released this month. And from what I know, this book is rare and very much in demand. Trust me, when I was in New York, I visited some book shops to see if they had it, and only two out of five bookstores had it in stock. And guess what? They told me that their copies sold out as soon as they had them shipped because all of their customers had them pre-ordered." Then she breathed in, trying to catch her breath. "That's why I asked Sean, my good-for-nothing brother," She rolled her eyes as she mentioned his name. "...to come here and pay for it in advance so that you could save me a copy as soon as you had it with you. But from the looks of it, he forgot."

She tilted her head up yelped out in frustration. Then she crossed her arms on the counter and bowed her head down on them, grinding her forehead against them in frustration. "I can't believe he forgot." She whined. Her voice was somewhat muffled with her face down in her arms. "I really need that book for the article that I'm writing for the Herald! Without it, I'm dead!" She whined again. Then she looked up at Nathan. "Well, you still have it, right?" She asked with a worried, pitiful tone in her voice.

Stryker looked awestruck as he watched Karen. His mouth was half-open in wonder and his eyes looked at her with so much fascination. He watched her like an entranced spectator. He marveled at her sight. He could feel so many emotions coursing through his body as he looked at her...emotions of excitement, curiosity, anticipation, happiness, and a hint of fear. So many mixed emotions that he felt like he was going to explode.

And Despite the fact that this was all happening in his mind, and that she was nothing but an illusion of his memories, she still looked and sounded so unbelievably real to him. She looked so real, so vivid, so physically existent, that she stood out from everything else like the subject of a painting. She was like the flower in a sea of grass, the moon in a sea of stars. And he couldn't deny how happy he was to see her again like this, even if this was all just a dream that he would soon wake up from. He felt as if he hadn't seen her for a very, very, very long time.

Where had she been all these years?

Where had she disappeared to? If she was the love of his life and if she was the woman he couldn't live without, then why wasn't she there when he woke up by that snowy lake two days ago? Why did he find Yuriko instead of her?

But he didn't want to think about that right now. The right time will come for such questions. As of this moment, he just wanted to enjoy this memory of her.

A gentle smile curled up his lips as he looked at her, the woman he could barely remember but he loved nonetheless. Then he breathed and slowly walked towards her. He wanted to see her so close. He wanted to see her face and remember it and memorize it in his mind. And as he walked towards her, each step made his heart beat faster and harder in his chest. He felt like a love struck fool who was on his way to ask a high school crush out on a date. He found it quite ridiculous that he felt this way towards a woman whom he knew almost nothing about. But that was why he was here...so that he could remember her, and rediscover himself in the process.

He stopped and stood right next to her in front of the counter. She was still busy talking to Nathan about a certain book. And even if she looked quite agitated at the moment, she still looked so beautiful. In fact, she looked more beautiful to him now that he had a clearer view of her face. And he watched her every move. He observed the different expressions of her face, the gestures of her hands and he listened to each and every one of her words. He never missed a second of her. He didn't even blink. While her eyes were focused on Nathan, his blue eyes were focused on her, and nothing but.

Stryker smiled and gently reached out to touch her face. But his fingers just passed through her cheek as if she wasn't even there. He didn't even feel her. He couldn't even touch her. Then he remembered that this was all just an illusion. And no matter how close he got to her, he wouldn't be able to feel her against his skin. She was nothing but a product of his mind. But that didn't mean that he would just let this moment slip away.

He moved his face close to hers and looked deeply into her eyes. "God, you're so beautiful." He whispered as if she could hear him. He hovered his fingers over her lips and traced its outline. "It's me, Karen. It's your William. I'm standing right here." He whispered again. A faint smile curled up his lips as he looked at her.

He ran his fingers over her chin and moved his face even closer to hers. "I know you can't hear me," He whispered to her ear. "...and we probably haven't even met yet. I know because you've never mentioned my name." Then he took a quick glance at her hands and smiled. "And you don't have our wedding ring on your finger yet." He continued. "But I, I just --- I just want to tell you that ---" He could hear his own voice slightly shaking. He knew she couldn't hear him, but he wanted to take this opportunity to tell her what he knew he would never have the chance to say to her again.

"I just want to tell you that I love you. I know this is not making any sense right now, and if you could hear me, you might even think that I'm a fool. But someday, somehow, some time in the near future, I know you're going to find me and you're going to fall in love with me too." His eyes never moved away from her face.

"I, I just know it." He said with a hopeful tone in his voice. "I know that someday you're going to fall in love with me, and I'm going to love you so much more than I've ever loved anyone in my life. I really don't remember much about us, but that's why I'm here...because I want to remember you. Because deep inside I know that we had something special. I know that we once had something, you and I." He said as he looked deeply into her eyes. He felt like a fool talking to someone who couldn't hear him, someone who wasn't even paying any attention to him, but he didn't care.

"I don't even know how we'll meet or when you're going to fall in love with me or why you're going to fall in love with me," He said with a faint smile on his lips. "But I am sure of one thing. I'm sure that when that time comes, I will love you, and I will spend the rest of my life loving you. And there won't be a day in my life when I wish I would be away from you. I promise I will love you without doubt, without hesitation, with condition, until the day that I draw my last breath." Then he gasped and tightened his jaw. He clenched his hands into tight fists as he looked deeply into her eyes. "And I'll never let anyone take you away from me. I promise you that, Karen. I'll never let anyone tear us apart." He said through clenched teeth.

His eyes looked intensely into hers, as if he was waiting for her to react, but she never once looked back at him. Not even a glance. Not even a word of response. He felt so powerless, so voiceless, and it hurt him that she never even heard a word that he had spoken. It was as if he had been talking to nothing but thin air.

A sad sighed escaped from his lips as he looked away from her. He couldn't bear to look at her anymore. What use would it be to stare at her face and to look into her eyes, if she would never look back? To look at her would just taunt him, tease him, make him yearn for something he would never have again.

But perhaps, that was meant to be...because this wasn't his time. This wasn't his place. This time, this place, and this event in his life belonged to that young man who currently had his nose between those bookshelves.

Then Stryker's head suddenly perked up and his eyes opened wide as he realized something. Why didn't he think of it before? He should have known it from the moment he saw her walk through that door. He quickly took a few steps away from the counter and looked at his younger counterpart. The young Will was still busy browsing through the books in the sci-fi section. Then he turned his head to look at Karen on the counter. Could this be it? Could this have been the time and the place where they first met?

Yes...this was it. This was the moment. This was when he was going to meet her for very the first time. He knew it. He could feel it. This was it!

He turned his head towards his younger counterpart again. The young William was now reading a book that he just picked off the shelf. Karen, on the other hand, was still busy talking to Nathan about some things. So, what the heck was younger self still standing there for?! Karen was there by the counter! She was there, standing in the same room as him! His Karen! He should be out there talking to her! He shouldn't be hiding between those shelves, reading a book that he could buy at any time.

He looked at Karen and then he looked at William again. Then he breathed in and marched towards the young man. He knew he had no control over this illusion, but he couldn't help but feel affected by the current scenario. The love of his life was right there, standing just a dozen or so paces away from his younger self, she was right under his nose, and the young fool didn't even know it. Well, not yet anyway, because he knew that he soon would. After all, his and Karen's fate was ready sealed decades ago. Whatever happened between them was going to happen, and they were going to be together whether he did something or not. But still...

Stryker stood beside William and looked firmly at the young man. He looked like a father who was about to scold his younger son. William, then again, continued to read the book in his hand. "Now you listen to me, William." Said Stryker imposingly. If he could touch anything in this illusion, he would have already snatched the book from his hand. "The girl that you're going to marry is right there," He pointed towards the counter. "...so you better get your ass out there and make her fall in love with you." He said with a commanding tone in his voice.

William raised his eyebrows and smirked as he read the current page that he was looking at. "Huh...so that's what's gonna happen." He whispered as he slightly nodded his head. Then he shrugged and turned to the next page and continued to read.

Stryker rolled his eyes and groaned in frustration. He placed his hand over his face and sighed. If only he could, he would grab his younger self and haul him to the counter. Then he breathed in and looked at William again. "Look, this isn't a library!" He shouted into the young man's ear. "This is a damn bookstore! If you want to read that thing, then go buy it and take it home!" He shouted again. Then he walked away from the bookshelf and looked at Karen. He felt relieved when he saw her still standing by the counter. He quickly made his way back to William's side again. "She's not going to stand there forever, you know. Who knows when you'll see her again? A year? A decade?! So go there and talk to her before she leaves!" He commanded.

Stryker knew he looked stupid, talking to someone who couldn't hear him. But what made the situation more awkward was the fact that he was technically talking to himself.

William furrowed his eyebrows and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he took one last look at the books lined up on the shelves. Then he looked at the open book in his hand, and he closed it and placed it under his arm.

"Finally!" Stryker exclaimed as he saw him take the book. Then he moved closer to him, excitement emanating from his old blue eyes. "Okay. Now that you have what you want, go to the counter, pay for it, and meet her! Talk to her! Get her attention!" He said enthusiastically. He found it quite ironic and rather funny that he, not his younger self, was the one excited about meeting the girl.

He was now expecting William to walk to the counter to pay for the book, but instead, the young man turned and walked further into the aisle to look for more books to buy.

Stryker's eyes suddenly opened wide with outrage and his jaw dropped as he saw William walk deeper into the aisle. "What do you think you're doing?!" He shouted at him. "You're not supposed to go there! You're supposed to be out there with her!" He said as he pointed to the direction of the counter. Then he sighed in annoyance and marched towards his stubborn counterpart. This was getting ridiculous.