The day arrived when Neal came to the Ardlays mansion to bring book and stationery supplies. He saw Candy again. He expressed his gratitude for the job opportunity with unparalleled respect. She took him to meet Sir William, too. Although he was excited to meet the famous uncle William's ancestor, he was nervous too to meet the big man. However, Sir William was very friendly to him which helped him to be at ease. Neal who now fully understood the importance of a client for business to success expressed his gratitude with the utmost respect. Candy laughed in her heart seeing his down to earth behavior. It's quite the opposite of the arrogant Neal she knew in their own world. She never heard him saying thank you let alone bow and be respectful to anyone.
After the little ceremony, Neal went back to work. He behaved extra gallantly to Candy. She sat there watching him unloading books and other stuffs from his carriage to the library. She waited for him to tease her as usual, but that never happened. He did his job seriously. He looked different with his serious face. After he finished his work, he said goodbye to Candy with full respect. She couldn't take it anymore. It's weird that he was so silent. She rather missed his annoying grin and stupid jokes. She picked up a little rock and hit him at the head.
"Ouch," Neal said. He looked at her direction. "What is it about?" he asked.
"How come you are so quiet?" she asked.
"You are a princess, I am a commoner, and you expect me to talk to you?" He bowed to bid good bye but again Candy knocked his head with a rock.
"Everything is mixed up in this world, isn't it? Now, you are the one who's teasing me!" he grinned.
"Stay with with me for a few more minute," requested Candy.
"Last time I was trying to pull your hair. I could do that again, who knows we'll go back to our own time tonight," he joked.
He ran and chased Candy. But this time, he didn't pull her hair, he caught her and said, "Gotcha." He carried her in the waist and turned around in a circle. Both giggled happily.
After chasing each other for a while they took a break, they sat on the grass and chatted telling each other's new experience in their current world.
"Now that we are poor, our house is very small. I spend so much time to talk and be with my parents. I never did that in our own time. We are so closed together," he laughed.
"Lucky you," said Candy. She too told him her story, "I think I can understand why you liked to tease me back then. It's boring to live alone in a mansion. This place is so big and I feel so alone. There's no one available but servants."
Neal nodded. He's happy that Candy always saw things in a positive way. But, she might be right.
Neal added, "Our house and the neighbors' houses are very closed to one another. I know so many of them now. I never have these many closed friends in my life"
He told her the close relationship they had with the neighbors. Everyone was a family. They came and went at any time, they helped one another with such an open arm. Such a thing was so unthinkable. In the past, he never even thought about neighbors. Once he needed to help to baby sit neighbors' baby since they had an emergency in the middle of the night and his parents were out helping them. Only he and the baby remained.
"There's no such things as a baby sleeps like a log," he said. "I ended up carrying her for hours until her parents came so she didn't wake up to cry."
Candy laughed hearing his baby sitting story.
"I love it, I think. I have a lot of friends. I often talk to my parents. I just love it," he said. "If we could ever go back to our time, I'd do my life differently."
She looked at him whose face looked more serious in contrast to Neal she knew in their own time. That Neal never seemed to be in focus.
"What are you thinking about? You look so thoughtful." She giggled. "I never saw you like that in the past, in our own world that is."
"I need to think how to make money seriously now," he sighed. "My family depends on me. You do us a great favor by recommending our service to Sir William. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Actually I like your serious face better," she said with a grin.
"Really?" he grinned back. Then went back to his serious air. "I really have no time to think or do something idiot these days."
She said. "But even busy Neal Leagan needs to take a break and have fun once in a while, correct?"
With that Candy pulled his hair and the two started to chase one another again. Candy was very happy that she had a familiar face as a friend and could freely be herself.
Suddenly they heard someone calling her," Candy, Candy!"
Neal hurriedly looked who's calling.
"Terry? Your boy friend is here," said Neal.
Candy shook her head. "He's handsome and we're childhood friends. He's especially closed to the Candy here. The Candy here loved him so much. But no, he's not my boyfriend yet," explained Candy. "I am still testing him," she added with a laugh.
"Is there anyone else except us? Anthony? Stear? Archie?"
"There is their version too, but they all are grown up and married," said Candy. "Anthony the gardener is dashing just the way I always imagined he'd be." She sighed.
Neal nodded silently. He knew how Candy and Antony were in the past Like everyone else, he regretted Anthony's early passing too.
Terry came and kissed Candy. He said, "How do you do, Candy?" He then turned around to face Neal.
"Who's this commoner?" asked Terry abruptly.
"He's my childhood friend, Neal," introduced Candy.
"Is he trying to be rude to you?" Terry looked at Neal in disgust. How dared such a commoner to touch his girl of interest?
He took Candy's arm and took her away.
"Don't be rude, he's my childhood friend." Neal heard Candy say to Terry.
"How did he get here?" asked Terry. "I should tell Sir William not to let him come ever again."
"If you dared to badmouth him, I'd not see you anymore," Neal heard Candy said to Terry.
Candy turned around to look at Neal one more time and give him a friendly wave.
"See you next week," she shouted ignoring Terry's annoyed look.
Neal waved back at her and nodded his head.
Neal was touched deeply by Candy. He remembered in the past he used to insult her badly because she came from Pony's home while just now she's defending him from Terry. He wondered what got into his brain in the past that made him spend endless time mercilessly bullying her. But even after all he had done to her, she forgave him and reached out to him. She's such a nice person. She's an aristocrat yet she wasn't embarrassed to spend time with him and be his friend. She's always generous, kind, and sweet. For the first time, he thought how lovely Candy was as a woman. She's beautiful and had such a noble heart, she must be the goddess of mercy herself. Her sweetness was beyond...
"Neal, you haven't touched your food. Are you alright?" Suddenly Neal felt someone tapped his arm and heard his mother's voice cut his musing about Candy.
Neal saw his mother's eyes watching him sharply in concerned. With his mind constantly immersed in Candy, he barely noticed that he was having dinner with his parents and had food served in front of him.
Hurriedly he ate, grinned clumsily and said, "It's delicious."
"Did anything happen today?" his mother asked worriedly.
The thought of Candy appeared again briefly in his mind. He blushed lightly and felt lucky that his mother didn't see it because his father started to talk. His father had been very proud of his son who earned real money. He talked highly about his son to everyone he met. Soon, Neal became very famous in his village. Everyone was impressed to see Aaron's hardworking son. His tall and handsome features help to accentuate his popularity too. Every day they saw him going to work the earliest and came back home the latest. Many parents with daughters were interested to get to know him better.
"Our neighbor's daughter is interested in you. Do you think you'd want to marry her?" his father Aaron asked bluntly.
Neal was dumbfounded. He almost got choked by a piece of carrot he had not finished chewing. "Marry who?" he asked absolutely flabbergasted."Her father is my closed friend since we were young. He's the one who took me to see a doctor. He said that she often sees you everyday when you go to work and she'll be thrilled to meet you," his father said, looking at his son proudly.
Neal was speechless and thought, Oh not again, matchmaking! They surely have one thing in common with my own parents.
Neal said, "I don't really know who she is. I am busy, I don't pay attention."
His parents looked at each other and laughed. They told him about the habit in the village to match their children with their best friends' children. In his heart suddenly he was thinking of Candy. Unconsciously he imagined what happened if Candy requested to marry him. He then waived the thought quickly. He was shocked to even think about Candy. He saw his parents were closely looking at him, suddenly he felt uneasy. He hurriedly finished his food and washed the dishes as an excuse to leave the table. He felt suffocated, his brain seemed to stop working clouded by the thought of Candy. He needed some space to be alone and remove the thought of Candy which had been constantly occupying his mind.
That night the neighbor's family came to introduce the daughter, Hilda. She's pretty and charming. He recognized her too. He saw her often in the market when he's selling his books.
Neal was clearly the center of attention that night. He noticed how his parents, her parents, and Hilda kept staring at him. He felt very uncomfortable. Hilda smiled glowingly at the man whom she believed to be the most capable and handsome young man out there. He was so relieved when finally they finished chatting. Hurriedly he went outside to feed the horse. Unexpectedly, Hilda kept following him and lent her hand to help. She did her job well too! While working they had a chat.
"I am the eldest in the family. My brothers are too young so I cover many of their works," she said.
Hilda often went to the street to deliver food for her parents or to cover their work. She was four years younger than Neal but she had earned money for the family. Hilda was fun and hardworking. Neal thought highly of her, he felt ashamed thinking how useless he was when he was at her age.
No matter how impressive Hilda was, that night Neal lied down on his bed thinking about Candy. Now he understood why his cousins, Anthony, Archie, and Stear, were so into her. In the past, he used to hear them laughing and giggling talking about Candy. He didn't understand what the fuss was back then. It took him that long, but now, he understood. She's beautiful and had the sweetest of smile. But to him, her vibrant personality and big heart were her brightest accessories.
Ever since that day, Neal was very happy every time he came to deliver books to the Ardlay mansion. He always hoped to be able to see Candy. Candy didn't disappoint him either. She always showed up and they had such a good time together. Since his mother Martha was an excellent cook, Neal would save some food and took it with him to share with Candy. Candy really appreciated his kind gesture. After a while, he stayed and had lunch together with her outdoor. He refused to do it indoor. Knowing his position, he really didn't want to take advantage of her.
Without Neal knowing it, Candy had been anticipated his weekly visit too. She started to realize that without his obnoxious behavior, the serious Neal was not less desirable than his cousins. Like them, he's tall and handsome in addition to that hot chest which always be exposed partially in his partly opened working clothes. She enjoyed looking at his serious face, seeing him work hard and behaving like a responsible man. In addition, she knew him better than all other people around her. She liked to spend time with him. She always looked forward to meeting him whenever he came to deliver books and library supplies.
-TO BE CONTINUED-
Thank you so much for reading.
Summary: Candy and Neal went back in time.
Sir William here was Albert's ancestor. Happened to be Candy's adopter father again in the past.
Terry: Terry here was actually Terry's ancestor. He liked Candy.
Hilda: Neal's neighbor. She liked Neal.