Looking for Love (3 page)

“
Maybe there’s some money in them,” Carol said with her husky
voice, her eyes alight.

“
Yeah, right. I don’t see any
value in old books. Last month, I tried to sell—”

“
Just open the books, for
goodness’ sake, will you?” Andrea tapped her heels like tap shoes
on the tiles, showing her impatience.

They must be
seriously starved for entertainment.

So was she
, actually.

She took out
the first book and held it up for display. “It’s quite beautiful in
its ancientness. It has a key.”

Holding up the rusty, curvy,
metal thing, she unlocked the little padlock on the side of the
embossed, blotchy leather cover and opened it. Empty pages greeted
her—almost like a scrap book. The front cover carried the
indentation of a very simple yet ancient writing saying
The
Album
,
flourished with a paisley-type pattern around it.

“
The Album,” Andrea said with an
echoey voice. “Sounds mysterious and magical.”

Ella paged through and frowned. “It’s only
got an empty frame on the first two pages, probably to stick a
photo on, with an empty line at the bottom to write a caption. They
haven’t even bothered to fill up the rest of the pages. Almost like
an ancient scrapbook with yellowed, thick pages and covered in
dust.”

“
Well, what are the other books?”
Carol asked, her voice soft with awe.

Ella took out several old books with plain
bottle-green, leather covers and more yellowed pages. She gave her
friends each one to leaf through.

“
Looks like short romance stories
from centuries ago,” Pauline said. “I’d kind of like to read one
just to see how people thought in those days.”

“
Be my guest. What am I going to
do with them?” Ella’s flustered tone revealed her
disappointment.

“
Give me the album, sweetie.” Carol stretched out her manicured
fingers, concern in her gaze.

She handed her
the antique book.

“
Wonder how old it is. Maybe you could sell it and make
something. Possibly you could sell all the books at a handsome
price.”

Ella stared at her friends. She’d never
known her great-uncle—maybe met him once at a funeral when she was
about ten. All she remembered was that he sported an untamed beard
of mottled colours. Now, his sister was a different story—she’d
corresponded with her gran quite often during the last few years.
Despite hardly knowing him, she couldn’t just sell her inheritance.
“No, it’s not right.”

“
Are you crazy?” Andrea peered
over Carol’s shoulder at the album. “Give here.” She tried to
snatch the book. Typical impatient Andrea.

“
Hey, look after it. It’s my only memory of my
great-uncle.”

They all
stared at her.

“
Okay, I didn’t really know him,
but I know his sister. Anyway, so what? It’s the first time I’ve
ever inherited anything from anyone.”

Andrea tugged on the album and nearly
dropped it. A white envelope fluttered to the ground. Like a rugby
team tackling the ball, the girls dived after it, but Ella scored
first.

“
Hands off. This…here…it’s mine!”
She pressed it into her chest. “I get to read it first. Sit down
now.” She tried to sound gruff.

Groaning and whining, they sat down
eventually but craned their necks toward the envelope.

“
Read it aloud,” Pauline begged
while she leaned forward in her seat, her embroidered blouse
further highlighting her bohemian style.

“
Okay, okay, if you insist.”

Her fingers trembled as she
tried to open the envelope. It wasn’t sealed
, the flap merely tucked into the
folds. She pulled out a yellowed letter several pages
long.

“
Whoa! Your relative had a lot to
say.”

Even Carol had dropped
the
too-mature expression she’d developed over the last few
years from a broken heart battered by insensitive men. The same old
story they’d all experienced.

“
Well, what does it say?” Pauline
asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.

Ella cleared
her throat and read.

To The Next
Owner of The Album,

“
Sounds ominous.” Carol sat on the edge of her seat.

Ella’s heart rate accelerated. For some
reason, it felt like the next few words would change her life
forever. Goose bumps ran up her arms. Maybe now, she’d get out of
the doldrums and find something to wake up for every
morning.

If you have signed to take over
ownership of
The Album
, your life will never be the same again.

“
Signed? You didn’t sign
anything. Where are you supposed to sign?” Andrea asked.

“
Just wait.” Ella held up her hand. “Let me read on. Then we’ll
find out.”

You may never use
The Album
for your own
purposes. It is strictly for an unselfish service to your community
and the world. Now that you are the proud owner of this magical
book, you will possess powers undiscovered by the people around
you.

Now all this sounded quite
mysterious and mystical indeed.
She glanced up and smiled at the gaping
mouths of her friends. Things were picking up fast. Excitement, new
and thrilling, sent its tendrils through her being. Blood pumped in
her ears, and her fingers and toes wriggled.

You may only divest of these
powers when you sign off ownership of
The Album
to someone else. Please pay careful
attention to whom you sign off ownership. They must be a trusted
person whom you know very well. The very reason why you have been
chosen…

“
Huh?” Ella giggled. “Did Uncle Stan know me well?”

“
Maybe he didn’t know of any other relative he could trust,”
Pauline said.

Ella’s head
spun. She could think of many cousins more talented and responsible
than she. Successful, accomplished. With a life.

“
Go on, will you?” Andrea stood
up and knelt at her feet, her nose pressed in the air like an eager
child. Once again, she acted very different around the girly
group—not the usually poised, controlled career woman others knew
her to be. “Really, you get distracted way too easily.”

“
Okay, okay.”

The Album
enables you to help people from
all walks of life. It opens the door for you to see what suitable
mate they should choose for the rest of their existence upon the
earth.

Carol and
Pauline gasped.

Surely not! I must be
dreaming—projecting my inner desires into some fantasy.
Ella’s breathing
increased, her palms becoming sweaty.

“
Go on.” Andrea groaned.

All you need is a photo of the
couple and to place each photo in the frames in the first two pages
of
The
Album
. The
other pages will come to life with their story. You can then read
their story in images and work out for yourself if they make a
happy ending.

Wait, what?
For real?

The pregnant
silence echoed the hundreds of questions streaming through her
mind.

You can now
predict whether they have a good future with one another. You can
warn people of poisonous relationships.

Ella tried her
best not to look at Pauline and had a feeling the others were doing
the same. Who was she to judge? She’d stuck by difficult men for
many stupid reasons. The only man who’d ever treated her like a
true friend was Ross, but he was more like a brother to her. She’d
never desecrate what they had by… She’d gone through that in her
mind so many times. Yeah, she didn’t find him repulsive physically,
but neither did they share that spark—the intense need to touch and
kiss she’d had with her other relationships.

“
Earth to Ella,” Andrea
said.

She focused on
the swirly script, her eyes sharpening.

You can encourage others to
choose the partners who will provide them with years of joy and
happiness. It
is purely your choice. That is the power of this book in
your hands. You will possess a supernatural ability to look upon
the images of their future life without being biased by what you
see before you in the natural world. Outside stimuli and advice
that contradicts what you see will no longer sway you. Not to say
that the album will hypnotize you. No, it only shows truth.
Instead, life hypnotizes and deceives you. How often have you
fallen for someone who has only caused you pain?

A collective groan simmered through the
room before the girls burst out laughing.

“
That’s brilliant,” Andrea
shouted. “We have the perfect tool.”

“
We?” Ella smiled.
We.
She liked that. “Can
we all assume ownership together? Wouldn’t that be
cool?”

“
It’s the best thing I’ve ever
laid eyes upon.” Carol’s tired face transformed with childlike
excitement. “You are the luckiest girl in the whole world,
honey.”

Ella continued reading silently. “Whoa.
Don’t speak ahead of yourselves. I can’t use it for myself. If I
assume ownership.”

“
What?” Pauline walked toward
her. “Why not?”

If you assume ownership, you
cannot use
The Album
as your own seer. As soon as you put a photo of yourself in
the book, the powers will cease for you forever. If you wish to
transfer ownership, you may do so, but once you have transferred
ownership, you may never take it up again, ever, in your lifetime.
This is to ensure that the book is not abused, stolen, or used for
evil purposes. It is purely an altruistic book.

“
There’s nothing stopping you
from using it on your friends,” Andrea said.

Ella frowned
at her.

“
I’m serious. Pauline, do you have a photo of Roan
here?”

Pauline
glanced at everyone, hope and a bit of moisture in her eyes. “I
have one on my phone. But…I don’t know if I’d like to see…I wasn’t
planning on marrying him or anything.”

“
Aren’t you curious?” Andrea asked. “I mean, the chemistry’s
there.”

Ella squirmed.
Andrea probably wanted to prove to Pauline how badly she barrelled
down the wrong pathway. Not really the right way to do it.

“
I don’t know. I mean, I haven’t
even decided to take ownership. It’s a big respons—“

“
I’ll take ownership!” Carol raised her hand like an eager kid
in class. “If you don’t want to.”

Ella bit her
lip. “I didn’t say I don’t want to. I just need to read more—see
everything it entails. It means I can never use it for myself.
Quite a choice to make—to never make use of its powers.”

“
Not never.” Pauline smiled. “You could pass it on to one of
us.”

“
Read on.” Andrea sat up straight. All the snacks and drinks
were forgotten. Every gaze fixed on her.

“
We don’t even know if this is
some practical joke. I mean, what proof do we have that it works?”
Ella said.

Carol held up
one of the green books. “These are proof. Each of these stories has
a date. They’re not fiction—they’re real-life romances.”

She snatched the book from Carol
and paged through it, then gasped. It couldn’t be! Hands trembling,
she scanned through more stories while
her friends leafed through the books
on their laps. Ella could swear she soared up into the air in a hot
air balloon, floating on clouds. She entered into another plane,
taking the winds and currents of change, of excitement, and of new
opportunity. This inheritance felt to her much more valuable than
any amount of money. Now, she had a purpose in her life—she could
change other people’s lives for good. She could heal broken
hearts.

You may use
The Album
to make money. Although this is
not recommended, in some ways, it draws people and makes your
service more legitimate. For that reason, you may use it to provide
income. Your motive should not be to become wealthy, but the magic
has no wish to stifle you and leave you destitute. The magic shows
its gratefulness by prospering you.
The Album
also knows which persons can be trusted to
administer its magic soundly. That is why it has been sent to you.
Do not take your privilege lightly!

If you choose not to assume
ownership, you will in no way be harmed or discredited for your
decision for it is a choice which cannot be entered into lightly.
It may change your life forever.

“
How?” Ella pressed the letter against her chest. “In a good
way or a bad way?”

“
It must be a good way.” Carol stood up, her eyes bright. “It
has to be.”

Ella laughed.
“You just want me to assume ownership so you can make use of the
powers.”

“
Well, we have to test it,”
Andrea said, all seriousness and determination.