It was either that or we'd be living in Europe somewhere close to Darmstadt, Germany, where the European Space Agency had their mission control. That would depend on where Alexa wanted to work. She had a dream of working for the UN, either in New York or one of the European capitals. That meant Vienna, Austria or Geneva, Switzerland or The Hauge, Netherlands.
It was a good problem to have and I knew I was lucky.
While I was contemplating my and Alexa's futures, my cell dinged to indicate an incoming text.
I removed my cell and read the message.
MOTHER: Where are you, dear? I called you three times this week and you didn't answer. Your father and I were expecting to have you over for dinner when you arrived back home. We've hardly spoken since you left on your trip. Are you coming to the Marshall Family Gala at Cipriani's on the weekend? As one of the two heirs, people expect to see you.
I had seen my mother's number come up on my missed calls but hadn't called her back yet. That was one part of my life in Manhattan I didn't look forward to starting again. For the eight months, I'd mostly been free of her machinations and hadn't felt deprived. Now, I'd have to maneuver life with her and my father. Even though I was a grown man, I had responsibilities to them and the Foundation in my parents' names. The Marshall Family Foundation, worth several billion dollars, which was known for its support of medical and scientific research. Dana and I were the only children my adoptive parents had, and we were set to inherit their money when they died.
So as much as my adoptive parents drove me crazy at times, they had provided us both with a safe, more-than comfortable family life with the best educations and upbringing money could buy after my real parents died.
I owed it to the foundation to make a show of support now and then.
LUKE: I'd be happy to come and make an appearance at the gala but just so you know, I'll be bringing Alexa with me, so no trying to match me with the latest debutante, okay. So, no Felicia or Jenna.
MOM: Luke, I know that. I've long since given up finding you a suitable wife. As long as you show up for a while so people can see you and be glad that the Marshall Family Foundation is still continuing. There's a dinner and then the annual presentations to staff. It would be wonderful if you could make a presentation. I'll send you the list of awards and you can decide which one you want to do. Love you!
It wasn't lost on me that she said suitable wife. That was, no doubt, a direct reference to Alexa. Of course, my mother wouldn't approve of Alexa as my wife. She wasn't from money, like the Marshall Family. She also didn't yet know that I was engaged to Alexa. I could almost see her face when I told her. In fact, while I had been thinking of ways to bow out of attending, the occasion gave me an idea. The event would give me the chance to officially announce that I was engaged to be married to Alexandria Marie Dixon. That would be a good reason to attend. It would put to rest all the scheming and planning attempts of my mother and Felicia's mother and Jenna's mother about getting me back together with their respective daughters.
In fact, Cipriani's would be the perfect opportunity and venue.
It was where I met Alexa...
LUKE: I would love to attend. See you Saturday.
I didn't respond with a 'Love you!' like I knew she wanted. Did I love her? Not the way I loved my biological mother, but she did her best by me and Dana and I appreciated that. If she hadn't been such a social butterfly, so much a busybody, and so conscious of appearances, I might have loved her, but she was. She was totally about appearances.
The one saving grace was that at least she wasn't my blood relative.
I pulled open my calendar and wrote in:
Marshall Family Foundation Dinner 7:00 p.m. Cipriani's.
I smiled to myself as I thought about what I'd say and how my parents would respond. I could see my mother's expression of shock. I could see my father's attempt to squelch his smile. I knew that he didn't care about such things and would appreciate my announcing it that way. No doubt, he'd have been deluged with comments about what woman she could match me with over the past year and a half since Jenna and I broke off our engagement and since the potential relationship with Felicia failed to materialize.
He'd probably be pleased that it would all end.
While I would have wished I could refuse my mother's request to attend the dinner, now I couldn't wait to go with Alexa on my arm.
Chapter Seven
Alexa
I spent the day on campus, wishing Candace was better and could be there with me. For the past four years, we'd been partners in crime at Columbia, and I missed having her with me. She had arranged with one of her profs to take an online class that she could do completely at home, so she didn't lose her standing in the program and could keep her scholarship. It would be purely research of existing work in her area, but it would move her forward in her Master's. After that was done, she'd have only one more class to take, which would involve fieldwork, and that would be in the spring semester the following year. After that, it would be her writing a thesis and moving to the PhD.
As for me, I had a year of coursework, and then a couple of years doing research and writing my dissertation. Once the coursework was out of the way, I could do the research from anywhere, and I thought that maybe Luke and I could live in Westhampton at the beach house. As long as I had an internet connection, I could do my research and writing from the patio, or the beach. Hell, I could do it from The Phoenix if I wanted.
When I was done filling out forms and buying texts for my courses, I grabbed a coffee and bagel and then took the train to our old apartment to visit Candace and try to cheer her up.
I approached the building and it was only then I remembered that there had been a strange man hanging around on the streets. It was pretty busy in the neighborhood, so I stopped for a moment across the street and at the corner, watching to see if there was anyone suspicious but I saw nothing that raised alarm bells. People walked by, on their way to their destinations. No one was hanging out looking suspicious. There was only one homeless man sitting on the sidewalk beside a trash can, an empty cup in hand, his hat pulled low over a grizzled chin.
Feeling relieved, I walked across the street and entered the building, using the new code Candace told me she'd created in order to get in the new security system. So that she knew I was on my way up, I buzzed her twice and then once, which was our signal. I took the elevator up to the floor and then went to the door, using the spare key she'd given me so I cou
ld pop in any time I was free.
"Hey, bestie," I said when I entered the apartment and placed my backpack on the bench by the front entry. "How are you today?"