...BBzzzzzz
One day in Chicago, Spring of 1918...
When all cleared up, Neal heard James' voice.
"Mr. Leagan, Ms. Candy is here," said James.
James, Neal thought. He nodded dismissing James.
Neal then looked at the surrounding which he recognized as one of the Leagan's empty mansions. He also noticed he's wearing his usual immaculate white shirt, dark blue suite, and the matching tie. He noticed how clean his hands were, too.
I am back to be the real me. I am back in the empty mansion just before I went to the past! * Candy should come here at any moment!
Almost immediately, then, Neal was thinking of his parents in the past. Great grandma Martha and great grandpa Aaron, I will not disappoint you. I will make you proud of me. I will continue the work of your son, grandpa Neal Leagan and will be a worthy man carrying his name. I promise you all, he sincerely thought of them. He almost cried as he emotionally thought of them when he heard footsteps of someone coming.
Candy entered.
"Terry?" Neal heard Candy's voice.
"Candy, oh Candy," shouted Neal excitedly and ran to kiss her. But, Candy pushed him with all energy she had and ran outside. Unexpected to the push, Neal lost his balance and fell.
"You lied to me, the driver said I'd meet Terry not you," Candy shouted angrily.
Suddenly Neal remembered what's written in the book, "Only one person remembers about the time travel..."
He thought, Oh my gosh, that's right, only one person remembers. Since I remember, it means she forgot!
While Neal tried to get up, Candy used the opportunity to run fast outside.
Neal grabbed one light and hurriedly went outside to chase her. He's worried he couldn't catch her in time. He only had five minutes to remind her about their love in the past. He hurriedly went to search for Candy outside. Too bad, even with a full moon and light in his hand, it's still hard to look for Candy in the dark. He was so panicked, he tried to listen to her footstep but he couldn't hear anything either.
Meanwhile, Candy was very terror-stricken. She tried to make her move as quiet as possible so Neal couldn't hear her. After a while she stopped walking to study her whereabouts. She stood silently in the dark feeling terrified. Then, she saw a shadow of a man coming closer. She was so scared and tried to run away. Unfortunately, she stumbled on one tree's big root and fell. She saw the shadow kept coming closer and finally she saw the man. It's Neal! She was so frightened that she felt too weak to get up. She scrambled her way to get away from him.
"Get away from me. Get away from me !" she screamed in horror. She was frightened to what he'd do to her especially that she's alone, far away from anyone.
Unexpectedly, she saw Neal stopped walking. She saw him drop down on his knees.
"Candy, please give me two minutes, just two minutes. I will kneel right here unmoved. But, let me talk to you uninterruptedly for two minutes, please," begged Neal.
He was desperate. The clock kept ticking and he had not made any improvement.
Candy looked at his face. Strangely, unlike usually when she'd just ignore him, this time like being held by an invincible hand, she didn't feel like running away. Something within her made her feel touched to see his frantic desperate face and agree to listen as he said. She sat silently in the dark, listening.
"We traveled back in time and we fell in love. You agreed to be my wife," Neal said. His voice was trembling fearing so much of losing her. He tried hard to remain calm and to deliver his words clearly to her.
Candy was astounded. She thought he's going crazy. Going back in time? I agreed to be your wife?! This man never stops to surprise me.
"I only have five minutes to read you a poem and if your love were a true love, you'd remember about our trip and that I was the love of your life. Please listen to this poem carefully," begged Neal.
"I met you in the past and I loved you,
I meet you now and I still love you.
I will love you again if we ever meet in the future,
I love you forever."
He looked at her desperately and his voice broke as he said, "I love you Candy, please come back to me."
Candy was silent for a moment which seemed like hours to Neal. As soon as he finished talking, a train of images suddenly passed trough her brain, everything spinned, ..., Bbzz-ed..., finally she felt she'd just woken up from a deep long sleep.
"Neal?" said Candy. "Neal! Yes, you are my Neal, my dear bookseller! I remember!" She ran to hug him.
"Candy!" Neal shouted happily as he received her in his arms. "You remember, you remember! "
The joy was almost unbearable. The poem worked! She remembered! That also meant, her love to him was indeed a real true love!
"You really do love me!" he said happily.
"I told you but you didn't believe me," said Candy wrapped up in his arms.
They kissed, laughed and cheered merrily to celebrate their triumphal return. The experience was surreal and just like a fiction.
"Candy, I will not disappoint you. Let me say this again, marry me please. I promise I will love you always and take care of you," Neal said affectionately after they cooled down. "I will be good to you and be a worthy person just like grandpa Neal." Neal added very seriously.
Unexpected to him, Candy bursted to laughter. "Ha ha," she laughed out loud.
"What?" he asked curiously. "Do you disagree? Do you prefer the naughty Neal?"
"I want to marry you." She giggled. "I am laughing at your face and suite which remind me of that naughty Neal, but now is a different person." She laughed out loud. "The past few months I have been seeing you in a totally different attire." She grinned really widely and tried so much to stop laughing.
Neal grinned seeing her face.
"You don't even have your sexy beard anymore," said Candy touching his smooth face.
"If you want, I can grow it for you," Neal said. He looked at her tenderly and put his hands around her neck gently caressing her.
"Your hands are much softer, too."
"Which one do you like better?" he asked.
"I love you however you are. But, I probably love your working shirt in the past world better because I could touch your chest," she grinned naughtily then added, "Oh my, I love the smell of your cologne." She pulled him and kissed him hungrily.
Before Neal could respond, they heard someone calling, "Candy! Candy."
"Oh, it's Albert," said Candy. "Albert, I am here!"
"Candy, are you alright?" asked Albert. He looked at Neal suspiciously.
"Albert, this is Neal." This was the first time they met. Candy introduced the two men formally, they shook hands.
"He proposed to me. I am getting married!" said Candy beaming.
What? Proposed to you in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night? You two undoubtedly belong to each other, Albert thought.
Albert tried hard to suppress his surprise and looked natural. "Oh, congratulations," he said hurriedly. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but you were not home until late and a neighbor said you went out with an unknown man, so I was looking for you."
"How did you get here?" asked Candy.
"With my car, but it broke down now," said Albert.
"James can take us home," said Neal cutting into the conversation.
"Okay thanks," said Albert. "Let me get some my stuffs first from my car."
When Albert was far enough from hearing them, Neal whispered, "Don't you think he is strikingly similar to that of Sir William, your father in the past?"
"I have thought so, too. I noticed that since the first time I saw Sir William," whispered Candy back.
In the car, Albert couldn't help to examine the pair. He found it amusing seeing Candy sat so closed to Neal. Although it's his first time meeting with Neal, he learned a lot about his infamousness from his cousins and Candy herself. It was just last night that she was complaining about the man. But personally, Albert didn't find anything wrong with Neal unlike all the complains he had been hearing. He looked like a serious type of person. Albert giggled gleefully in his heart. He never thought that Candy liked a thinker type of guy! Albert also found Neal to be pleasant, courteous, made the person he talked to feel appreciated, and other top notch characters totally the opposite of what he had been hearing. Above all, he seemed to be so much in love to Candy. Under the dim street lights, Albert could see him often looked at her and at that moment his serious air changed to a smitten look. His hand never lost a strong grip on hers.
Neal took them home. He said good night to Albert cordially. He then hugged Candy and gave her a deep passionate kiss in her lips saying gently, "Good night. Have a good rest, we had quite a trip today."
"You, too," said Candy. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back. "I miss you already."
Seeing the two, Albert decided to enter the house first to give them privacy.
"I will miss you so much, but we will get married soon," Neal said and kissed her again. "After that we will always be together. We will start another brand new life again tomorrow. How exciting!"
Candy laughed...
-0-0-0-0
Candy felt very excited with Neal. She closed the door behind her and leaned on it with a bright smile thinking about her man. After a while she noticed Albert was staring at her. He leaned at the doorway with arms folded in font of him.
"Neal, eh?" Albert said seriously with a little smile, "Since when?"
"Yes, Neal. Suddenly I just saw him differently," answered Candy avoiding to mention the going-back-in-time story. "O! I can't wait for our honeymoon," said Candy over the moon.
Albert couldn't contain his laugh.
"I love him, Albert. This is it. I am done looking for a man."
"More than Terry?" teased Alert.
"Terry who?" joked Candy. "Yes, more than Terry. Not even one hundred Terrys can be compared to one Neal," Candy laughed.
Albert laughed. "Now that you meet someone you love and will be married soon, I think it's time for me to go and let that man take care of you," said Albert.
"What do you mean? Will you go traveling again?" asked Candy.
"Not exactly, but, I want to tell you the truth, Candy. I am the so called uncle William."
Candy was surprised, but unexpectedly to him she said, "No wonder! I won't be surprised." Then she added hurriedly, "Uhm I mean you have all the marvelous characters of that great man. You and your ancestors all are always so nice to me."
Albert looked at her confused but Candy only smiled at him and hugged him. "Thanks for all you do to me uncle William or should I call you father?"
"Call me Albert," said Albert with a smile. "You can live with me in the mansion until you get married, dear daughter." He teased her.
"Thanks, I'd love to live with you in the mansion! But for the moment, I think I have had enough of living in a mansion, I miss living in this small apartment," said Candy with a meaningful smile.
Albert looked at her again with a quizzical look. Candy just smiled and hugged him. "I should ask Neal to ask your permission to marry me," said Candy.
Albert nodded. "He should and he'd better do it right," he said with a very serious face before he smiled. They laughed.
"Since when did you gain your memory back?" asked Candy.
"A few weeks ago but too many thing were happening, I was waiting for the right moment to tell you and it' s now," said Albert. "Oh! One more thing, about your Prince of the Hill, I think the boy you saw in that hill was actually me..."
And so, as always Albert and Candy continued chatting for the rest of the night...
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
As soon as Neal came home, he immediately looked for his parents and sister. Much to their surprise, he hugged them. He missed them so much and was very happy to see them again. He then told them about his plan to marry Candy.
"You can't even work and you want to get married," sneered his father. "How will you feed your family?"
Eliza was very upset about his plan, too. "Are you out of your mind? With that Pony girl?"
Eliza left the room and slammed hard the door behind her. She should have been happy that her brother was getting married. But she couldn't help to feel hurt and jealous instead. He's her closest friend. She's worried that he'd be gone and wouldn't be there for her anymore.
His father shook his head and was about to continue with his reading when he noticed his son was still there. He expected his son to whine and cry to his mom begging to marry Candy. However, that didn't happen. Instead, much to his surprise, Neal stood straight calmly and apologized for his irresponsible behaviors.
"I have not been a good descendant of the Leagan. I didn't live to the expectation as someone who carries grandpa Neal's name. Please give me one more chance," Neal said seriously. "I'll do my best to be a worthy Leagan and be a good husband for Candy."
His father couldn't believe to see his son speak so eloquently and maturely with that much confidence. Unlike before where he looked downward or sideways to avoid people's eyes, this time he looked straight to his eyes. His composed behavior surprised him so much and made him not able to do anything but to nod. Neal's mother was surprised too but she's more captured by her husband's reaction than that of her son's. She tried so hard not to laugh. She promised Neal to talk about it to the Ardlay family. Neal thanked them.
"Thank you, Mom, Dad. Dad, I'll be in the office tomorrow at 8AM. From now on, I will learn diligently form you how to be a good business man," Neal said. He kissed his parents' cheeks and and went out to look for Eliza.
His father looked at his mother with a confused look of which she responded, "He is my son, as you said." She smiled with pride.
Neal knocked at Eliza's door and entered.
"Eliza," said Neal.
Eliza ignored him and pretending not hearing. Neal could understand what in his sister's mind was.
He came closer and said, "Eliza, you'll always be my beloved little sister. I'll always be here for you whenever you need me, just like before. The only thing different is I will be married."
He hugged her. Elisa appreciated his attention and smiled at him. She hugged him back. They then chatted merrily throughout the night like they used to do...
The following day, his father was so much in disbelief to see his son's manner to the clients. Not only that he came to the office early but also his business attitude changed so much that his father needed to make sure repeatedly that it's his son who's talking. He seemed to be a completely different person. He seriously treated his clients with the most courtesy and care! What his father didn't know was, fresh from the experience of the past, now he knew the importance of clients for the success of the company. Day after day afterward, nothing could beat his father's surprise to see how he was at work. Fresh from experience in the past, he now realized the importance of business strategy. His father couldn't believe that his son could even think not to mention conducting business operations with careful strategies and intuition. His business intuition was precise and accurate. None of the competitors knew that he first developed it as he sat on the street thinking how to earn more money with his books.
That evening, Neal came to meet Candy outside the hospital. He planned to give her the engagement ring. He got out from his car waiting for her when he saw a car coming and saw Archie, Stear and their girls in it.
Neal walked to meet and greeted them.
"Do you want to bug Candy again, Leagan?" asked Archie cynically.
"No, I come here to meet my fiance," said Neal calmly.
The four of them were looking at him surprise at the unexpected response. Seeing their faces, he grinned widely.
"Wow! Are you really engaged?" asked Stear. "Since when?"
"Is there someone who can bear you that much?" asked Archie surprised. " With whom?"
"Since yesterday. You'll see her soon. Let me give you a hint, she's a nurse," said Neal answering their questions one by one with a grin. "Why are you here?"
"Stear wants to show his latest invention to Candy," said Archie.
At this point they saw Candy walk outside the hospital. Archie was trying to stand between her and Neal but to his bewilderment, she ran passed him and went straight to Neal's arm.
"How's your work, Baby?" asked Neal softly but loud enough for the other four to hear.
"Fine, I miss you," said Candy back.
He hugged her and gave her a kiss.
The four of them watched with eyes as big as golf balls and jaws dropped so low they almost touched the ground, in shock. The last time they saw them, which was just the day before yesterday, they were still fighting like a dog and a cat! What could have happened? Neal and Candy gleefully watched their reaction.
"This is my fiance, Candy, " said Neal beaming with happiness.
Candy blushed with pride. She's really with the man whom she's really proud of, loved, and adored. It seemed so surreal. With the brightest smile she put her head in Neal's shoulder and held Neal's hand tightly with one hand.
Archie's heart almost stopped beating seeing that tender episode. Neal then put his arm on Archie's shoulder and said, "Would you like to congratulate us, Cous?" with one hand still holding Candy's hand tightly.
Archie was so frozen. His heart was inundated with so many emotions from jealousy, exasperation to astonishment that made him so speechless.
What is it that he has? How come he can get her and I can't! Archie thought bitterly.
"Absolutely," said Stear answering for his brother. "We should go somewhere to celebrate this. By the way, this is my latest invention, I modified my car so the trunk can hold two more people. It's equipped with seat belt and other things. Would you and Candy like to try?"
"Yes," said Candy excitedly.
Seeing Candy agreed, Neal said, "Yes, we'd love to."
"You too?" asked Archie in disbelief. "Since when?"
"Since today," he grinned but his face bore seriousness they had never before seen in him. In fact, they were so astounded to see his overall attitude which changed so much overnight. He talked with eyes looking straight and with so much composed stature. He's calm full of confidence and had a commanding air in him.
Neal saw them staring and observing him as though they were watching an alien. Seeing them unmoved, Neal broke the ice and said, "Let's go and try Stear's invention."
Reminded about his invention made Stear come back to the real world. He proudly brought Candy and Neal to the modified seats in the back of the car. The girls were still speechless. They looked at one another and determined to have a private conversation with Candy to ask what happened. Stear drove the car and Patty sat next to him. Archie and Annie sat behind them followed by Neal and Candy in the modified trunk in the back. Sitting on the rear, they felt some privacy and Neal started to look at Candy deeply. He had been impatient to talk to Candy to know how she adapted in the new world.
He whispered, "How's your first day ?"
Candy whispered back at him assuring him everything was fine and asked how he's doing too. They were so happy that they were together and everything went fine and smoothly on the first day after they came back home. Without realizing it, they stared at one another and for a minute they totally forgot about their four friends.
Archie noticed Candy's unusual silence and looked at her. He saw her and Neal were staring at one another lovingly. It's so magical.
Archie then nudged hard Neal's leg and said, "Hi, Love Bird!" Referring to Neal who seemed to be so absorbed by Candy. "Maybe you should try your magic touch to Stear. Tell him not to go to war," Archie said quietly so Stear couldn't hear it.
"Yes, Neal, please do so," said Annie who overheard the conservation.
"Would you please do so, Dear?" ask Candy.
"As you wish, Baby," he kissed her. Then, he turned to Archie and Annie. He gave them a reassuring nod and said seriously, "I will, I promise I will talk to Stear."
"How's the modified seat back there?" Stear shouted from the front.
"Great, with this we all can go together," said Candy
Neal offered to drive so Stear and Patty could experience it too for a more objective opinion. Stear welcomed the idea excitedly. They exchanged seats and six of them had a pleasant time for the rest of the evening.
That night after the other four went home, Neal found a private moment to spend with Candy. He knelled down on his knee and gave the engagement ring to Candy. Then, he kissed her deeply...
Neal gave Candy a ring which was not less breathtaking than the one the Grandchester gave to her in their time travel. When looking at that ring, he thought about how closed he was to lose Candy just because he thought he couldn't buy her a decent ring. Back then, it looked so impossible to buy one. He treasured even more the work of grandpa Neal. How much wonder he did from his humble beginning. He thought highly of his father who followed his work successfully, too. Neal never forgot great grandparents Martha, Aaron and grandpa Neal Leagan. In fact, he often thought of them, especially when he encountered difficult challenges at work. He especially treasured the conversation he had with great grandma Martha that night +. Her confidence in him motivated him and completely changed the way he had lead his life.
Neal successfully brought the Leagan enterprise to its new glory. His father was very proud of him which he showed openly to everyone. Grandpa Neal would have been so proud to see the work of the man who's carrying his name.
Candy of course married to Neal. She's so proud of her husband's never ebbing love and support. Their love and devotion to each other got stronger each day. They lived happily ever after.
*THE END*
NOTE:
* This is the same scene as in chapter 1 just before they traveled to the past.
+ Chapter 2: Neal's talk with great grandma Martha changed him.
Thank you so much for reading. It's been a long journey (almost 1 month!). I truly enjoy it, hopefully you too. I deeply appreciate your effort, attention, and time to read this story.
Regards,
kellyelin.