Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them...Continued.

24:Almost Completely Gone

JACOB
    Life couldn't get better than this.
    The magic world he'd encountered; the wizards, witches, beasts, poitions, and everything else--it was all back in his life, this time, Queenie had promised, to stay.
     She was another thing he was happy to have back in his life. He didn't realize how much he missed her until she showed up again. She was...amazing. A woman who loved him a lot, who HE loved a lot. Love and his bakery was all he needed, yet he had so much more.
     Newt was back; he could hardly wait to see him tomorrow. It seemed so surreal that everything was coming full circle, and he had a chance to pay Newt back for the silver he gave him for his bakery. Happiness filled him at the very thought.
   Jacob swung his feet off the bed, landing them on the cold hardwood floor. He shuffled around, getting dressed and making coffee. It didn't take him ten minutes to drink his coffee, wash his face, and get dressed before he was out of the door. He may sleep in this apartment, but Jacob's bakery was his real home. Quickly locking the door behind him, he walked to the bakery, the stinging cold wind whipping around his face.

     As he tied his apron around his waist and turned the ovens on to preheat, Jacob's assistant, Henry, came in, flanked by the first costumer of the day.
"Good morning!" Jacob said cheerfully as Henry tied on his apron and went back into the kitchen. "What can I help you with-oh! Tina! I didn't recognize you!"
   The woman had on a winter hat and scarf wrapped around her face to block the cold, but when she stepped in, the scarf fell around her neck.
"Morning, Jacob," Tina said, her teeth chattering. "Can I get a pecan sticky roll? I'm running late for work, so I didn't have time to eat breakfast when I woke up."
"Sure!" Jacob said amiably. "Want a little pecan pie instead? They're not as sticky and easier to eat on the go."
"Huh? Oh, sure," Tina said, distracted. She gazed at the road outside, her brown eyes reflecting the grey street and lightly falling snowflakes. Jacob wondered what she was thinking about; some magic crime case at work she was just about to crack, her crazy past, or Newt's back. It was clear she had wanted to help him, and it bugged her that he was in pain. Even Jacob could see that.
"How's Newt's burns?" He asked her.
"What? Oh, they're great! The ointment helped a lot," Tina said, taking the paper-wrapped pie from him and handing him some money. "Almost gone completely. Well, I'd better go. See you, Jacob!" She flashed him a quick smile, then rushed out the door, her face returning to its thoughtfully distracted state. He didn't even have time to offer her her money back.
   When she had said 'Almost gone completely', Jacob had to wonder for a second whether she meant Newt's burns or her train of thought. There was a possibility it could be both.
   Then the other Goldstein sister walked in, emitting waves heat. Or at least, that's what it felt like, because when Queenie smiled at Jacob, his heart warmed ten degrees.
"Good morning, doll," he said cheerfully.
"Morning, puddin'," Queenie said, sipping coffee from a paper cup. "Newt's behind me. He said something about his needing some tea and stopped at a coffee shop. He told me to go on without him."
"Ah," Jacob said. "Tina said his back is better because of his ointment?"
"Oh, yeah!" Queenie confirmed with a smile. "He said it's a little raw, but everything's healed up for the most part, now."
"That's great news!" Jacob said. He wondered for a second whether or not to ask if Newt and Tina had something going on, but he decided it wasn't any of his business. "Do you think I should make orange or strawberry sticky rolls? I can't make up my mind."
"Yeah, they have a thing for each other. And strawberry," Queenie said, finishing her coffee and throwing the cup away.
"....Okay," Jacob said, deciding not to acknowledge what she said, or think about it too much. It was hard, though; as he chopped up strawberries and lopped them into a pot, he couldn't help thinking of Newt, resigned, shy, and lowkey, and Tina, who was also resigned, shy, and lowkey. Tina may not have been as timid as Newt, but they seemed good for each other, now that he thought about it.
"Don't they!" Queenie swooned as Jacob spooned sugar into the strawberry pot. "The way Tina was worried about his burns...oh, it was intense. Anyway, what can I do to help?"
   There was a knock on the door frame, and Newt walked in, his blue coat clinging to him and his hands clutching a paper cup that smelled like lemons.
"Good morning, Jacob," he smiled and took a drink, steam blowing around his brown sugar-colored hair. Seeing him standing there, Jacob could fully imagine Tina standing next to him, with Newt's hand in hers, brushing a little strand of hair out of his face. Queenie grinned at his thought.
"Mornin'!" Jacob said cheerfully, putting the starwberries on the stove. "Sweetheart, can you get some flour? And Newt, hand me that bowl, there, behind you? It's time to get this bakery into full swing for the day."
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     I really need to post more chapters of this, I know. I've been writing on a lot of other stories, though, one of which is a Magnus Chase fanfiction. Magnus Chase is one of my absolute favorites by Uncle Rick, so I've been lost in Asgard ever since Ship of the Dead came out. But someone got me a plunger because I'm finally pulling my head out of my a$$ and getting back on the story I know you all care about. I'll try to post more often! Love from
LunaPage💛