Annabel opened the front door and looked at a man in a well tailored suit, his short red hair covered by a small hat. He had a little cart with him that had tons of books on them, and he was reading a book. Annabel cleared her throat, “Jacob?”

“Oh, you finally opened your door, I was kind of lost in thought, in my book.”

Annabel beckoned him inside, “Come on in, excuse me for the mess, I kind of turned my house into a lab,” she wiped away more tears and kept the ones that wanted to stream down inside of her.

Jacob walked inside while pulling the cart with him, “I got the books you ordered, Oh my what is that for a device, are you working on something new?”

Annabel walked over to her quantum device, “It is nothing special, it just made a small hole in reality. Wait a minute, it worked. Huh, maybe that was the key after all, having the guts to turn on my machines.”

Jacob came closer, “Do you have notes on this, fabulous machine? I would love to read them,” he inspected it, “What are these mechanical parts inside it that looked like a doll?”

Annabel came over and quickly removed Jasper’s remains and put them in a drawer, “Nothing at all, I was just doing some experiments.”

Jacob nodded, “I see, there are numerous books around here, perhaps we can exchange some of them?”

Annabel grabbed a book and showed it to him, she even blushed a little, “This is a book I wrote on the study of dead people, it is a bit grotesque but, would you mind reading it?”

Jacob took the book, “You are offering me a book, you have known me for a while, dear Bel, since many of these books come from my storage, but where did you get these?” He gestured at a tower of scrolls.

Annabel chuckled awkwardly, “I might have bought them from the Mafia, they have plenty of scrolls and strange books.”

Jacob smirked, “Are you telling me, the little hermit skulks around in the shadows to make connections with the Mafia? Tell me, are you still working on this crazy idea of resurrecting the dead?”

Annabel let out a deep sigh, “You know, I have decided it is immoral to disturb the dead, I was thinking of bursting out of my shell, a good friend of mine said I should.”

“You have another friend besides me?”

“No, not anymore, he passed away, earlier today.”

Jacob hugged her, “I am sorry, I am awful at reading social cues.”

She chuckled, “Make that the both of us.” She looked at him, and she thought about her experience with Jasper, how he was her angel, how he believed in her. Could it have been, that the man who brought her books all these years, could he be, someone I can love?

Jacob was about to take a step back, Annabel grabbed him and kissed him, sparks ignited, he reciprocated and after a while he took a step back and cleared his throat, “What was that for?”

Annabel blushed, “Would you want to help me with some experiments to progress the technology in New Albion? A new power source, more machines. You can read all the notes you want.”

Jacob rubbed his shaved chin for a moment, “What happened to you, dear Bell?”

“What do you mean?”

“You seem, different, more open, more willing to change your ways. Did something drastic happen in your life? You know I am not good at reading changes, I rather vanish in my book, it is that I need money, or I would never come outside.”

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She took his hand, “I learned, I might have been an overachiever, I always felt I had to be number one, Annabel in number land, the best there is. My dad said I had to be a success, ignore other people, and look where it got me. Alone, shunned, but I have countless brilliant ideas brimming in this head of mine, ideas that can help New Albion.”

Jacob looked at his cart, “Are you asking me on a date? Is that what this is about? I’ve never really been with a woman, not in a relationship, not that I don’t I know how to do that” He awkwardly chuckled.

Annabel had to chuckle, “We are just, two awkward people, aren’t we? A date sounds good, there is a play in the theater tonight, I could, you know, be persuaded to come with you, if you’d ask me.”

He gave her a daring glance, “You would really go outside? With me? Do you want to be seen in the open?”

“Yes, but, do you know the woman named Sophia?”

“Yes, that, as I like to call her in the most disgraceful way, bitch, what about her?”

“She has a daughter, Fay, can she come with us to the play? Unless that bothers you, I promised a friend I would take care of her, it is a family play.”

Jacob grinned, “Something must have happened, not only, do you want to go to the play, you want to take someone else’s daughter, do you have an interest in having a child?”

She coughed a few times, “What, we are very far away from that conversation.”

“I know, but, if we pursue this, new change, I would like you to know, I always dreamed about having a child of my own. I never thought it would happen, no one cares for me. If you don’t want that, I will have to adjust my expectations.”

She smiled at him, “If we get there, I would love a child, imagine your book smarts, my lab smarts, our child could be an extreme success.”

Jacob smiled back at her, “I like where this is going, but let us start at the beginning, a play in the theater with Fay, a little girl who hates her mom. Your dear friend, was he Jasper, the man who died a few days ago?”

Annabel nodded, “Yes, his death opened my eyes. Thank you for these books.” She suddenly realized, she had told Jacob she succeeded in bringing back the dead, but he did not probe, she knew him, he would never assume something that bold without her giving him a hand.

“No, thank you, these scrolls, can I read them?”

“You know what, read all the scrolls and books you can find in my lab. I am going to find some books for you in my room.”

Jacob slightly nodded as he had already found a scroll to his liking and started reading. Annabel walked into her room and let out a few deep sighs, “Oh my god, I actually kissed him.”

She grabbed the pocket watch, “Jasper, I am sorry for what I did to you, as soon as I learned what I did wrong, I rectified my mistake. But you were my angel, you rescued me. Your time with me has given me the confidence to break free from my shell. I will take care of your daughter, I promise, and one day, we will meet in Elysium. Who knows, Jacob might be, the one.”

“Well, audience, here we have it, Annabel has found her man, she should have looked in front of her all this time. Because what she could have loved was closer than she had expected. Here she is, getting ready for the next part in her life, to become an item with Jacob, the book man.”

“You wonder, is this the end of our tale? How foolish of you because this is only the beginning. Yes, Jasper has been sent back to Elysium, where he is finally free. He managed to see his daughter one more time, he gave Annabel some much needed confidence. She goes on to fall deeper in love with Jacob in no time, then she becomes pregnant.”

“Before she gets married actually, she married him while pregnant, Fay was around a lot and Annabel kept her promise. She took good care of her, Jacob supported her, even though he loved to disappear in his books. Annabel loved to vanish in her lab, despite those absences, these two always got back together after they left the world for a moment and talked about their experiences.”

“It did not take long before Annabel had a son, she named this boy Edgar, as you have seen, Annabel is a warm and caring person. She loved Edgar with all her heart, but she did leave to do her experiments which she focused on the progress of New Albion. Edgar grew up to dislike his dad because he was a bit, dull and showed no initiative. He always kept on waiting for his mom to finish her latest experiment.”

“Before we go to see what the second generation brings us, we are going to look into a part of Edgar’s teenager years. He spent a lot of time with Fay as well. We are going to a dreadful day, the day that Annabel died when Edgar was only ten years old. Now, you wonder how did she die?”

“As I keep telling you, I could tell you, but why tell you, when I can show you exactly how things will go down? I will take us ten years into the future when Jacob was doing his day job, he had Edgar with him, who is now ten, and Fay, who is now fourteen. As for Annabel, she was in her lab working on a new power source for New Albion.”