Hours had passed, and Abby was officially an employee of the Barbourville College for the second time in her life.
Dr. Bowman gave her a briefing on her job duties and her first assignment of typing a letter.
At her desk, Abby struggled to type on that Royal manual typewriter. Her fingers painfully slipped between the keys while she typed a letter with three carbon copies. But she felt it was a little easier since she had practice on Michael's typewriter.
The door of the office area opened, and Kenneth poked his head inside. He was in love in the second he saw Abby at the typewriter. He stepped inside wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black tie and his black Fedora hat.
Abby was too frustrated with her typing to notice Kenneth walking up to her desk.
"Hi Abby," Kenneth said the second he walked up to her desk.
Abby looked up and was not happy with the sight of Kenneth standing by her desk. "Hi."
"So, this is where you work?" he said with a smile.
Abby nodded and struggled to type.
"I'm lousy at typing the reports I have to complete for the police department," Kenneth said while he felt her frustration.
"That's nice," Abby replied, not really paying attention to him.
"I stopped by to ask you out to lunch," Kenneth asked with hopeful eyes.
Abby stopped typing and looked up at Kenneth.
"I'm too busy for lunch. This is my first day, and I want to make a good impression," she said and looked sincere. "Maybe some other time," she added then returned to her typing.
Kenneth hung around by her desk for a few seconds.
Abby ignored him and continued typing her letter.
Kenneth frowned and walked away to the door.
When he got to the door, then turned around and glanced at Abby. He was a little mad while he watched Abby type and ignore him.
He opened the door and left the office area.
Out in the hallway, Kenneth looked angry while he walked down the hall. Getting constant rejection by women was starting to eat away at him.
The afternoon flew by, and Michael headed out of the Science Department building.
He walked off down the sidewalk and headed to the employee parking lot.
Michael walked through the parking lot and over to his car.
He saw Abby leaning against the front end. She looked exhausted.
"A birdie told me that Doctor Bowman hired you," Michael said with a smile.
"He did and thank you for highly recommending me," she said with a smile.
He saw a black smudge on the right side of her chin.
"You have an ink smudge on your chin," he said then walked over to her and rubbed her chin with his right thumb.
She accepted his touch with a warm smile.
"Hello," Jennifer said while she walked up to Michael and Abby.
Michael quickly removed his thumb off of Abby's cheek, afraid Jennifer might think they were fooling around.
"Hi Jennifer, I was," he paused for a few seconds as he felt Jennifer was mad. "I was trying to remove an ink smudge off of Abby's cheek.
Jennifer looked and saw some of the black smudges still on Abby's chin. "I looked like that when I learned how to type in high school," Jennifer said then she opened her purse and removed a white handkerchief. She used the handkerchief and wiped the rest of that black smudge off Abby's chin.
"Thanks, Abby said while Jennifer shoved the handkerchief back into her purse.
"So, I take it by that black smudge that you got the job?" Jennifer asked while she closed her purse.
"Yes, I did."
"Congratulations," Jennifer said then gave Abby a little hug.
Michael walked around and opened up the front passenger door.
Jennifer got inside the car, followed by Abby, then Michael closed the door.
Michael rushed around and got behind the wheel.
He started up his car, backed out of the parking spot, and drove off through the lot.
Michael pulled his car left onto Shady Hill Avenue, out from the college parking lot.
"Oh, Jennifer, mom wants you to come over for dinner. Then after that, we can go with mom and dad to the church for a meeting with Pastor Kane later tonight," Michael said.
Abby looked over at Michael. "I'll be home alone, is that okay?"
"Sure. You're like family now. You can watch TV. Father Knows Best is on at eight then The Joey Bishop is on after that. Or you can watch Wagon Train and let dad know what happened. That's his favorite show," Michael said.
Abby thought about his response for a few seconds. "I do love the Father Knows Best, but I've never seen Wagon Train."
"Jennifer and I always watched it. But they're nothing but repeats this year."
Abby smiled then she glanced out her door window to take in 1961 Barbourville.
A little while later, Michael parked his car in his driveway.
He got out and walked over to the passenger side of the car.
"Does he always open the door for you?"
"Ever since he started to drive. Something his father instilled in him," Jennifer replied.
"The guys back home are not gentlemen like up here," Abby replied.
"That's a shame," Jennifer said while Michael opened up the passenger door.
Abby and Jennifer got out of the car.
"I'm going to freshen up. Then I'll be right over," Jennifer said then blew Michael a kiss.
She headed over to her house while Michael and Abby headed to the front door.
Dinner in the Osborne home was light tonight since they had to be at the church. Martha cooked some chicken noodle soup with ham and cheese sandwiches.
After dinner, Harry and Michael were dressed in their suits while Martha was dressed in a lovely dress.
After Jennifer came over in another dress, they all left in Harry's Bel-Air.
Abby sat alone in the living room and watched TV. She watched the opening credits to the Wagon Train show.
After Wagon Train was over, she watched The Joey Bishop show.
Nine o'clock rolled around, and Martha and Harry returned home from their meeting with Pastor Kane at the church.
Michael went over to Jennifer's house to watch The Dick Van Dyke Show, as it was part of their weekly ritual.
Martha and Harry retired to bed.
Abby stayed up and watched The Dick Van Dyke Show. She was not into this episode, as she saw numerous times on cable TV back in 2010.
Near the end of the show, Abby started thinking about that time machine and the possible dilemma that it came back early.
She got a little curious then got up off the couch.
She headed out of the living room and into the kitchen.
Abby took the garage key off its hook by the sliding glass door.
She opened the sliding glass door and stepped outside.
Abby rushed through the backyard and headed to the garage.
While she unlocked the garage door, she did not notice a back four-door 1960 Chevrolet Bel-Air that drove down Dorothy Avenue and headed down the street past Jennifer's house.
Abby walked over to the garage.
She unlocked the lock, swung opened the left garage door, and stepped inside.
The garage was dark inside when she stepped inside.
"Please don't be here. Please don't be here," she prayed in the dark. She flipped on the light switch. She looked, and that bare spot was still there. But she was relieved. Because if the machine suddenly reappeared in the garage and Harry found it, well, she would be forced to live in 1961.
"I'm so glad," she said then her eyes welled up when she thought about Jennifer. And she couldn't explain why that upset her.
"What are you glad about?" Michael's voice called out from the garage door.
Michael's voice startled Abby, and she jumped with a little scream when she saw Michael in the doorway.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," he said while he walked over to Abby.
He looked concerned when he saw tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Oh nothing," she said while she paused for an excuse of why she was in the garage at night. "Things have really changed for me. I was in Florida with a boyfriend. Then he died, and I was alone. Then I moved up here, and your mom and dad are making me feel part of your family. This has been so nice. It feels like home now. I'm so glad," she said.
He held her in his arms for comfort.
She glanced up and gazed in his eyes.
She moved toward his face. Their lips lightly touched. They kissed.
Kenneth peeked in garage window from the outside. He looked pissed with what he saw then moved away in the darkness.
Michael's eyes widened when it dawned on him he was kissing Abby. He pulled away in a panic. "I'm so sorry," he said, then stepped away and paced around a little. "What' have I done? I'm going to marry Jennifer."
Abby felt sorry for Michael while she rushed over to him. "Don't worry. It's just an innocent kiss. I'll never tell. I know you love Jennifer."
"For a second there, I actually thought you were Jennifer when I held you in my arms," he said and looked ashamed.
"It's okay. You were not cheating on Jennifer. I would never do anything to crush the love between you two," Abby told him.
"Okay. I better pick up what I came here to get," Michael said then walked over to the cases of beers by the door.
He picked up a six-pack of beer then walked out of the garage.
Abby walked over to the garage door, flicked off the light then stepped outside.
Outside the garage, Abby closed and locked the left garage door.
She glanced back at the house and saw Michael enter through the sliding glass door with the six-pack in hand. Since Michael kissed Abby, he forgot to ask her why she was in the garage in the first place.
Abby walked through the grass and headed to the house.
Kenneth stepped out of the shadows by the side of the garage wearing black pants and a black turtle neck sweater. He looked angry while he watched Abby head to the house. "I don't fucking understand it."
He glanced at Michael's house then over at Jennifer's house. He removed a flask from his back pants pocket and took a drink while he watched Abby go inside Michael's house.
He watched while the light to Michael's kitchen turned off.
He glanced back at Jennifer's house, where her bedroom light was turned off.
He waited in the darkness by the side of the garage and drank from his flask.
He saw the bedroom light turn on in Michel's bedroom.
He drank from his flask while he watched Jennifer's house.