~Henry Doyle"
Jamison couldn't understand. His father finally sobered up and just left? Where did he go?
"What does this mean?" Jamison asked.
"You now control all of Henry's assets." Paul explained with a slight grin.
Jamison nearly fell to the floor, but Novellana caught him.
"Aren't you going to read the other letter?" Novellana asked.
Jamison stared at it, still in a slight daze from the idea that his father was suddenly gone and he now owned everything. He frowned at the curly script on the envelope.
"I don't think I will." He said.
Paul nodded. "Henry's letter haunted him for years. She didn't really explain anything. If you want, I'll put it in the study with the rest of these." He offered.
Jamison nodded and handed Paul both letters from his parents.
While Paul took everything up to the study, Novellana put a hand on Jamison's shoulder.
"What am I going to do?" He asked her.
"Whatever you want to do. You don't have to decide tonight."
"We can talk it ove---" Jamison stopped mid-sentence. He remembered the idea he wanted to talk to Novellana about and suddenly he had another idea. "The company!" Jamison said, getting excited.
"Yeah?" Novellana asked.
"I was thinking. Paul knows practically everything about business. We could have him run things from that standpoint so we can focus on the research. He's a Jochawk grad, too."
"What did we need to talk about?" Novellana said. "That would be perfect, assuming Paul wants to do it."
"I'd love to." Paul said, returning from the study.
Jamison grinned in satisfaction. "And that gave me another idea."
"Yeah?" Novellana asked.
"We can use the property here as our headquarters. I mean, if we want to expand, we'll have to buy other properties, but to start off--"
"Actually," Paul interrupted, "By inheriting your father's assets, you now own several properties across the country."
Jamison's jaw dropped. He turned to Novellana. "I think we need to let someone in lab know we won't be in tomorrow. We have some planning to do."
Novellana was dialing Olivia before Jamison even finished the sentence.
NOVELLANA
Late in the afternoon the next day, they finally decided to take a break. They had barely slept the night before and with pages upon pages of sketches, notes, and plans piled all over the kitchen table, they felt as if a break had been earned.
Paul leaned back in his favorite living room chair with a cup of tea, while Novellana and Jamison took a walk outside. Novellana breathed in the chill air of winter and snuggled closer to Jamison as they lazily strolled across the grounds. Her mind was so full of numbers and sketches, she could barely see the ground in front of her. They came to a stop by one of the smaller ponds and she closed her eyes, relaxing in the stillness around them.
Suddenly her phone rang, making her jump. It was Melonie.
"Hello?"
"Where have you been?" She demanded. "I came to see you before lab this morning and Olivia said you and Jamison weren't coming in. Where are you?"
"We're at Jamison's house. We've had a lot of planning to do."
"For the wedding?" Melonie asked.
"What? No. For the company."
"What company? Oh, yeah, you told me about that. You're starting a company at the end of the year. Well how much planning could that take?"
"You'd be surprised." Novellana told her friend.
"Well just wait until you plan your wedding."
"Thanks." Novellana said. "Did you need something?"
"Not really," Melonie said, "Just wanted to see where you were. Why are you at Jamison's house, anyway?"
"I'll fill you in later."
"Okay. Coffee tomorrow?"
"See you then." Novellana agreed.
When she hung up she turned back to Jamison.
"You know," He said, "She has a point."
"That I should always alert her when I won't be around for coffee in the morning?"
"About how much planning a wedding takes. And we're planning this whole company at the same time."
"Yeah?" Novellana couldn't tell where he was going with this.
"What if we combine the two? We could have our wedding at our grand opening."
Novellana thought about it. "I like it." She smiled.
JAMISON
Jamison smiled at his soon-to-be wife as she addressed the crowd before them. He knew she was still uncomfortable being the focus of so much media attention, but she performed well for them.
"This company," She said, "Will change lives. The technology we've developed, the people we will help, the example we will set. For the first time in two decades, the research done a the Jochawk Institute will begin to be released to the public. Today will be a day marked in the history books as the beginning of a revolution in both science and business. So explain to me why all the calls I've been getting for the last few months were asking about my wedding."
The crowd laughed.
"And now I'd like to introduce our Chief Administrative Officer, Paul Foster." Everyone applauded.
Paul waved to the crowd and continued where Novellana left off. "All permanent employees will be Jochawk graduates, with the exceptions of our Tech Testers." He motioned to Jason and Melonie, who had excitedly agreed to the job of testing all the new inventions.
Paul went on to explain several details of the new company to the press, but Jamison zoned out. He kept getting bouts of nervousness about the wedding that afternoon. Novellana seemed to sense his feeling and took his hand in hers.
"Now, if there are any further questions," Paul finished, "They can be directed to our media liaison, Victor Scheinholtz."
Victor stepped up and fielded questions, some related to the company, many related to the wedding. He was excellent at taking all of them with an air of grace.
"He's finally using his powers for good." Jamison whispered to Novellana as they stepped off the stage.
The second they were down, Melonie rushed up and hurried them in the house. Jamison could see what Novellana meant when she compared Melonie to a drill sergeant. As soon as they were inside, Melonie started barking orders to all of them to get to their rooms and prepare for the wedding.
"Come on people! We start in two hours!"
Jamison and Paul went up to Jamison's room. It took him all of half an hour to get ready. He spent the next half hour getting nervous and it took Paul the rest of the hour to calm him down.
Jamison was taking deep breaths and practicing looking confident when Melonie knocked and poked her head in. "Show time." She said with a smile.
Paul patted Jamison on the back and said, "Come on, don't let your nerves make you miss one of the best days of your life."
Jamison nodded and they made their way out back. Melonie had done most of the planning and Novellana joked with her that if invention testing didn't work out she could always try wedding planning. Melonie was not amused.
Despite that, however, everything looked great. She'd had an awning set up near the larger pond, so that when Novellana and Jamison stood at the alter, they could see the spot where Novellana had fallen into the mud and Jamison had proposed. Everything was covered in hundreds of white tulips. The invitations, announcements and place settings were courtesy of Charles Wilde, The Write Place. Melonie's mother's friend Carol had hand-stitched all the dresses and was busy taking dozens of pictures.
Jamison stood at the alter and waited, until Melonie motioned for the band to start playing and Novellana appeared to the tune of Paccabel's Cannon. Everyone gasped at her beauty when she appeared. Jamison hadn't seen the dress yet, by Melonie's strict demand, and it was both modest and beautiful. The bodice, a white satin covered in flowery white lace reached her neck while leaving her arms and back bare, and her long waves of chocolate brown locks fell over her shoulders and down her back. The skirt began
at her waist and flowed elegantly to her feet, a modest train carried by two little flower girls. But Jamison hardly noticed the dress. All he could see was his future walking slowly down the aisle. He wished they would speed up the beat so he could have her in his arms, but soon enough there she was.
"You look beautiful." He told her.
"Not too bad yourself." She smiled.
The priest began, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."
NOVELLANA
Novellana Doyle fiddled with a physics problem as she waited restlessly for the mail to come. A lock of her long chocolate brown hair fell across the page and she sighed, as her husband, Jamison pushed it back behind her ear. She smiled as he wrapped his right arm around her and his left around their daughter, Natalie, who sighed as he did so.
"You two are such worriers." He told them. "There's nothing to worry about."
They both sighed again, which made Jamison smile. He always joked that Natalie was an echo of her mother. They both leaned on him and waited.
The sound of the mail truck rounding the corner made them both jump. Natalie rushed to the mailbox and waited patiently at the end of the driveway, taking the large stack of letters when the truck stopped at their mail box. She hurried back to her parents and sorted through it.
"So?" Now Jamison sounded nervous. "What did you get?"
"A letter from Grandpa." Natalie said as she sifted through it all. "Ads, ads. And..." She dropped everything else in her hands and envelopes scattered everywhere. She tore open the letter and Novellana could just see the words over her shoulder.
"To Ms. Natalie Doyle,
It is our great privilege to invite you to attend the Jochawk Institute..."
*****
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