Chapter 9: And… Happy Clinic
Neal was waiting for Candy outside her school gate.
Surprise her with kindness… Don't be mad at her. If needed, take a deep breath and count to ten... Neal re-read Alden's letter to make sure he didn't forget any of her important tips.
Earlier, he had looked for Candy in the Andrew mansion. A staff said she's in school. Neal went to ask George about her class schedule. Looking at him suspiciously, George told him about her today's schedule and where she usually parked her car. Neal went there as instructed.
Neal checked his watch and yawned. For the umpteenth time, he stretched out his arms, read Alden's letter again and impatiently paced back and forth. Then, he saw a crowd of students coming. Neal looked up looking for Candy, paced some more,… repeated… until finally he saw her.
"Candy!" Neal waved. He folded Alden's letter, stuck it in his suit inner pocket and walked to her.
Candy was with her best friend, Natalie. They just finished their class. She saw Neal, too. His towering figure and impeccable suit stood out in a large crowd.
"It's him…," Candy choked. She abruptly stopped walking and pinched her arm to make sure she's not dreaming. "Finally… he shows up!"
"He-" Before Natalie could react Candy had stormed after Neal.
"How dare you!" Candy grabbed the collar of Neal's suit and shook him. "YOU HAVE TURNED ONE HAPPY PLACE TO A DESSERTED WASTE!"
"Candy!" Natalie rushed herself between the two and pushed Candy away from Neal. "Calm down."
"He is the one who wrecked Happy Clinic!" Candy struggled to spring back at Neal. A few head turned from passerby. Natalie grabbed Candy's arms and gripped them.
"Candy please," implored Natalie. "Calm-"
"Calm? I will break his neck!" screamed Candy, her face flushed red. "You have one big gut to show up here, Neal!"
"Sheesh," said Neal. He strengthened his suit and adjusted his tie. "You seriously need to learn to chill out!"
"Not to a piece of s-!"
Neal didn't want to hear it. Following Alden's advice, he took a deep breath and counted to ten until she finished cursing to control himself.
"Why you always have to start a fight?" asked Neal, tightly.
"Only to you who always screws up my things!"
"Because you who always make things difficult!"
"That's because you always try to hurt me!" Candy roared.
"And you don't?" New bellowed. "Do you even care what things was like after the -" he stopped just in time before blurted out to say how in wrecked he was after she refused to marry him.
Natalie watched them. In bewilderment, she noticed how Neal looked at Candy. She always truthfully answered she's not sure whenever Candy asked her opinion about what Albert, Terry, or others might feel of her. But not after she saw Neal… His affection to Candy was clearly plastered all over his attitude. Suddenly Natalie felt she shouldn't be there. Quietly she retreated and stood behind one big streetlight.
"I don't care!" screeched Candy, shaking her head. "All I want is to have Happy Clinic back!"
"That's why I came here for if you want to stop yelling and let me speak!"
"Oh, bluffing oaf."
Neal studied Candy's face. She was so defiant and annoying. He could try to follow Alden's advice and faced it or he could just give up and learn to live without her. Weighing the two equally unfavorable options, he decided to give Alden's advice a try.
"I'm not lying," said Neal through clenched teeth, trying not to burst. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket. "Recognize this?"
Candy looked up. They looked familiar.
"Take them, I am returning them back to you," said Neal.
Quickly, Candy snatched the keys out of his hand and examined them closer. They were indeed the keys to Happy Clinic!
Candy inhaled sharply. "At what cost?" she demanded.
"Why would you think there's 'cost'?"
"I just know you!" said Candy. Her eyes narrowed, suspiciously imagining ugly possibilities. "Don't fuck with Dr. Martin's life, Neal! You gave him those perks and now you will take them back to torture him! Is that what you have in mind?"
"He can keep everything I promised him," answered Neal calmly.
Candy's heart almost jumped out of her chest. She looked at Neal ever apprehensively.
"Because the building is collapsing? You know that we have to halt the Happy Clinic operation and have it shut down soon!"
"He can renovate the place however he likes," Neal said smoothly.
"Right!" Candy snorted sarcastically. "Dr Martin said you made him sign an agreement to never touch that building or else lengthy legal disputed would follow."
Neal pulled a piece of paper from one folder he put on top of his car. "This is our written agreement." Neal pulled a pen from his suit pocket, made a big cross mark on it, signed his name, and dated it. "The place is his now. He can do whatever he wants with it." He grinned.
While Candy still gasped, Neal picked up another envelope. "Inside is the articles pertaining to Happy Clinic ownership. I return them back to him, too. If there's something else that he needs, he can contact Dayna, my assistant."
Candy almost choked. Neal was agreeing so easily. It's so unrealistic that it couldn't be trusted.
"You think I am a brainless fool?" Candy mocked and cursed some more. She threw the keys harshly at him.
Neal groaned impatiently. Alden sucks. Candy is hopelessly irreversible.
"Fine, forget it then," snapped Neal. He tossed back the key set and envelopes onto his back seat and banged the door closed. "It was a joke, I am not returning the damn clinic back."
Natalie who heard it decided it's time for her to interfere.
"Candy…" Natalie approached her and dragged her away from Neal. "What are you doing?" she whispered once they were out of earshot of Neal. "He was returning the Happy Clinic back to Dr. Martin. Why kept arguing!"
"I don't believe any of it. They must be fake," said Candy, feverishly.
"But Candy should you accept it first? We bring them to Dr. Martin, let him examine and decide. What if it's a real deal?"
Natalie's reasoning seemed plausible. After some consideration, Candy nodded and approached Neal again.
"Fine, I want those documents and keys," said Candy.
"Get them yourself," Neal snorted. He opened back his car back door and stood right in the middle of the threshold.
Candy stepped forward. "Move away, please!" She frowned, pointing at the doorway that's blocked by him.
Neal moved but only slightly, Candy had to squeeze her side against his chest to reach for the document. The contact shot spark down his skin. It was only a second but it's enough to send his pulse racing.
Without breathing, Neal stared at Candy's face who's flipping some pages of the documents. Would she appreciate his effort like what Alden said? Would she smile, jump to hug him and, perhaps, let him kiss her? He's been wanting to kiss her since -
"Fine!" Candy looked up and gave him a chilly glare. "But, let me warn you, Neal! Don't you dare to trick me!" She jabbed his chest hard with the folder. "If you ever mess around with me again, I will kick your ass!" Candy lifted her head high, and marched away.
Rage surged inside him like never before. No one had tried his patience this much. Neal closed his eyes, and counted to twenty. Candy was so unappreciative. He's a dope for following the advice of an unknown pen pal!
In anger, Neal opened back his eyes. He would take the documents and keys back…!
Then, unexpectedly, he saw Candy turn and come back. This time, she stopped and stood in front of him with a wide friendly smile stretched across her face.
"Neal…" She wrinkled her freckled nose shyly. "If this were real, thank you." He thought that's what she said, but he's not sure. His brain was too fuzzy. Never before he saw her face smiling this close before. "Happy Clinic is very important to many of us."
"You're welcome," said Neal trying to stay cool, to look cool at least, although the excitement inside him was welling like a volcano that almost burst.
She didn't hug him but surely they're in good terms now. Neal lifted up his hand to give a handshake but a glance at her simmering green eyes made him think that's too formal. He used his already lifted hand to pretend adjusting his silver cuff-link when he remembered Alden's advice to give compliment. You could say: your dress is nice, she wrote.
"Uhm your dress is nice," said Neal quickly without thinking. His heart was too blooming to think properly.
Candy was taken aback. She stared down at the white lab coat she's wearing for her last experiment class. "This lab coat?" she frowned.
She heard Natalie giggle.
"I - I mean your scarf," Neal added quickly. "Said it wrong…" He gave a short chuckle.
"Albert picked this scarf when we went to a night market." Candy beamed.
Neal wanted to slap himself, his blood boiled instantly with jealousy at that name but before he could express himself Candy rewarded him with another breathtaking smile, silenced him. That made it twice in a row.
"Now I must leave. We will bring these back to Dr. Martin." Candy smiled again. "Bye!"
Five minutes later, Candy and Natalie were inside the car, set off for Dr. martin's house.
"Neal said your lab coat is nice." Natalie burst out laughing. "I say, Candy, I think he likes you. What if he proposed to you again before Albert came back?"
"It will not happen. And if it does, I will reject him again," Candy laughed too.
oOo
Neal was sitting on his desk with heart thumping hard still full of Candy. She smiled!
Everything would have been perfect if it weren't compromised by her mentioning wretched William. Having a half plate of steak was better than no steak but he wouldn't be satisfied until Candy was all his. She has to forget William! He would find a way.
With gratitude, Neal thought of Alden who made this happiness happen. Generous Alden… With guilt, he remembered how he distrusted her and almost threw her letter away. He promised to be careful with Alden's heart from now on and never hurt her.
Mindlessly, Neal opened the box where he kept Alden's letter. He picked one dry flower and inhaled its lovely fragrance. Alden… He felt something enormously deep. Candy is beautiful but Alden is so caring and kind. Suddenly he felt something so strong, it's terrifying. How could he feel this way to someone he had not even met!
The phone rang.
Thinking it's his father who would ask him to work, Neal sluggishly answered, "Hello."
"Neal? This is Jack."
"Hi Jack. What's up?"
"About Ms. Helina. My staffs have completed their investigation."
"You know whether or not Candice Andrew and Sir William Albert Andrew are cousins?"
"Yeah… It's not that hard really-," said Jack.
"Does Madam Elroy know?" cut Neal.
"Not yet. I was thinking to tell you first."
"Good. Tell me all about it and mention no word about it to others," said Neal.
-To be continued-
Jack: Neal's detective.
Neal sent his detective to investigate Helina: implied in chapter 4
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Thanks for reading. Bowing.
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We'll shift gear starting the next chapter.
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oOo
THANKS for showing me a written support:
Sabrina: Hello! Thanks again for being here. Yes, Albert is in business trip. We will talk briefly about it later. They're friends now because of Alden. Good he didn't discard the letter :D We stop with this teenager topic. Next time we'll talk about something else.
ELSA: Sorry for the mistake. Absolutely! You're NOT Neal's mom. BAD Bad comment from me. HaHa for your comment about Terry. I hope updating in 7 days is not too slow for you. Thanks for waiting.
MoRiTA: thanks for reading and showing excitement. Really appreciate it Alden guides Neal here. Later, of course, they will know who Neo and Alden are. There's a way… ;) Hope you keep reading. Thanks.
Kikita7R: thanks for reading as soon as your Internet was running. I have been thinking about you too. You usually wrote me a review once in a while. Neal isn't an enemy of Candy anymore here. Thanks again. I will update around 7 days usually. Take it easy with your computer. Good luck.
Jharolay Rosie: Thank you for the support as always. About the cousin thing, I hope it's exciting. Anyway, I read the message you wrote me in your story! Thank you! I sent you a PM too about that. I like the suspense in your story, Cantarella. Wonderful!