"No, it isn't," he replied, his tone firm. "I don't feel bad at all. Frankly, I've grown sick of her meddling in my life. Good riddance."
I nodded, glad she wouldn't be invited. I still wasn't completely over the nasty things she'd said about me and how she was willing to show those photos of me being sexually assaulted by Blaine to Luke to convince him to leave me.
Still, it had to be painful for Luke, even if he didn't admit it. She was the only mother he'd had for most of his life. Not having her support had to be hard.
I hoped my love for him would make up for it.
Correction: I would do everything in my power to make up for it.
Chapter Two
Luke
Something wasn't right.
I didn't know what it was, but something in the way Jonathan Randall listened to my final pitch told me that he never intended to invest in the joint venture I was proposing. He had the bearing of a man who could not be convinced, no matter how good the deal and no matter how much money he could possibly make.
"So," I said when I'd finished the pitch, a sense of futility building inside of me. "What are your thoughts? Do you have any questions?"
Randall shrugged, noncommittally. "Not really. Like I said, I'll have to think about it for a while. It's a big risk, investing in the space race."
"Big risk, but big reward," I said, pointing to the chart on the wall, showing how much the space industry and associated technologies had grown in the past decade.
We spoke for another ten minutes about our plans for the future and then he said goodbye, shaking my hand and assuring me he would be in touch, but I distinctly got the feeling it was one of those 'Don't call us, we'll call you' situations.
In other words, he was not going to join Astra Investments and invest in the project.
Once he left on the elevator, I returned to the boardroom where John and two of our technical experts were gathering up the presentation materials.
"What did you think?" John asked as I slipped my files back into my briefcase.
I sighed. "I don't think he ever seriously intended to invest," I said, keeping my tone measured, despite the sense of dejection I felt. "I think he was just scoping us out, see what we were planning."
"His loss," John said and shrugged. "We have two other partners. We'll find someone else."
"We have to," I replied and left the boardroom, heading down the hall to the coffee room for a much-needed coffee. I checked my watch. It was almost five thirty. If I left Manhattan now, I would get back to the beach house in Westhampton by six thirty. John followed me and waited while I stared at the empty coffee pot, deciding whether to fix another pot and stay to work late, or go home to Alexa.
It was an easy decision.
I put the coffee pot back onto the burner and turned to John. "I'm going home," I said and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I have a beautiful loving wife waiting for me, who probably spent all morning puking and all afternoon teaching first year students about international relations."
"How is Alexa doing? Is she coping?"
"She's a trouper," I said and together, we walked back to my office. "Remember -- it's my birthday tomorrow. The party at the beach house starts at six-thirty. You promised you and Felicia are coming. Jim Thorpe will be there so we can pick his brain for people to contact."
"Tomorrow?" John asked, frowning. "I'll have to check our plans. I don't know..."
I made a face at the thought that John forgot about our plans and wouldn't come to the party. Then I saw the sly grin on his face. He was joking of course.
"You bastard," I said and threw a piece of paper I'd crunched up into a ball at him instead of the wastepaper basket beside the door.
I closed my laptop, then I went to the door, briefcase still in hand.
"Bring Felicia. Be there or be square."
"Wouldn't miss it," he said with a grin. "You really don't mind if I bring Felicia? No awkward silences?"
"None whatsoever. If you two are happy, which you seem to be, I'm happy."