Mr. Big Shot (Mr. Big 1)

It was something I could talk to her about. She was a student in international relations and would know her way around that kind of issue.

So, I took out my cell and texted her.

LUKE: Hey, what do you know about ethical investing?"

I sent the text and sat back on my sofa, half my concentration on the game and the other on my cell, hoping that Alexa would respond. I wanted to talk to her about ethical investments.

Hell, who was I kidding? I wanted to talk to her.

Period.

She texted back in a few minutes while I was flipping through an edition of the Wall Street Journal.

ALEXA: I know next to nothing. Are there investments that are ethical?

LUKE: Haha. You're not serious are you? If so, you must think I'm a total creep because I plan on being an angel investor.

ALEXA: No, it's not that. I wish I had money to invest. Honestly, I don't have any money for investments and I can barely afford tuition and the cost of living. There’s nothing left over. A beer or three on the weekend. Maybe someday when I'm older and I'm actually working, I’ll have time to think of what I could invest in and what might be ethical. Right now, not so much.

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; I smiled when I saw her text. Of course, she was a student. She barely could afford to spend money on entertainment, let alone investments. I'd been lucky all my life and had never been without money. I was lucky that my father and then adoptive father ingrained in me a respect for creating a budget and sticking to it, even if it was a pretty generous budget. I loved playing the stock market when I was growing up, and had a practice account when I turned fourteen under his tutelage, and when I turned eighteen, I invested one hundred grand, which turned into two hundred, and then half a million.

What can I say? I inherited a fortune and a knack for numbers. From the time I was a kid, I loved math, computers and coding. I loved buying and selling stocks. I loved to watch investments grow and then reinvest to build a bigger better portfolio.

LUKE: Do you know about anything international labor legislation? Trade?

ALEXA: Zip. Zilch. Nada. I specialize in war and peace rather than international trade. Although the two are connected, but that's a very long discussion.

LUKE: I have time.

ALEXA: LOL Maybe for another night. Right now, my eyes are almost crossed from studying. My comp is tomorrow.

LUKE: Oh, yeah. I won't bother you. We can talk when you come to Westhampton with me. We can sit on the beach and drink beer and talk international relations.

ALEXA: Sounds riveting. ;)

LUKE: You know you want to…

ALEXA: You really want me to come?

LUKE: I need you to come. Mrs. B and Felicia will be there. If I don’t have you at my side, Dragon Lady and Mrs. B will conspire to push poor Felicia next to me every opportunity they can find. It would be hell. You must rescue me.

There was a pause and I wondered if she'd pull out or still agree to come with me.

ALEXA: If you really think you need me there, okay. But it's all a performance. No a la carte ordering.

LUKE: I'll be the perfect gentleman. Scout's Honor.

ALEXA: Okay. I'll probably really need the escape after my comp is done. I've been studying straight for weeks now.

LUKE: You deserve a break. Our beach house is nice, very comfortable, the ocean is right there, a nice beach, all the amenities.

ALEXA: Sounds wonderful. Welp, I gotta go and finish reading my journal article on the ICBM Treaty and the Iran Deal.

LUKE: SNORE…

ALEXA: No, seriously, it's very good. Very exciting.