7New York
As she walked back toward her room, she
encountered Scott in the courtyard. “I was looking for you, Babe. We’ve got to
go. The car is already here to pick us up,” he said. “Oh, ok. My stuff is all
ready, I was just mailing a letter,” she replied. They said their good-byes to
the staff of HtW and went out to the street. Rachel was surprised to see a
black sedan waiting for them. Scott seemed a little nervous about what was
ahead of him. “Are you ok?” she asked him. “Yeah, it’s just that it’s been
three years since I was home. I’m not super excited about going to work for my
dad again, but I know that it’s what I need to do,” he answered. She began to
notice that they were not going to the regular Miami airport, but decided not
to bug Scott about it. They eventually pulled into the same private airport
where Sam had his plane. Scott finally explained to her, “Dad sent his jet to
pick us up. He didn’t want me flying home commercial.” “Oh,” she said simply.
The small aircraft was even nicer than Sam’s plane and she was in awe. She had
wanted to read on the flight to New York, but kept getting distracted by the
opulence of the plane. Scott leaned over and said, “You know, we should be
enjoying this time alone.” He kissed her and stroked her face. She knew that as
soon as they arrived in New York their lives would be turned upside down. “We
will get you settled into your apartment first,” he said later. She started to
get anxious about meeting Scott’s dad. He sounded like such a formidable
character. She decided whatever he was like, it would be better than her
family. No sooner had she settled in, they began their decent to the private
airport where the Fillman plane was kept. A black suv was waiting for them near
the hangar. As they stepped off the plane, Spencer Fillman came out of the car.
He was handsome for his age and obviously wore a hand tailored suit that fit
him perfectly. “Don’t worry, I’ve told him everything about you,” he told her
as they approached him. Airport workers unloaded their luggage and brought them
to the back of the suv. He walked up to Rachel first as a gentleman would and
extended his hand. “Hello, you must be Rachel!” She was shocked to hear his
Australian accent since Scott didn’t have a drop of an accent. “Yes sir, you must
be Mr. Fillman,” she said nervously. “Please, call me Spencer. I’m so delighted
that my son found you,” he said. “Oh, thank you. We are glad we are going to be
with you now,” she said as politely as possible. Finally, Spencer turned to his
son and embraced him, “Welcome home, son. Well, shall we?” They loaded into the
suv and the driver moved briskly toward the city. “Dahling, I hope you find
your apartment to be satisfactory. I’ve done my best to prepare it for you and
anticipating what you will need,” he said to Rachel. “I’m sure it will be
wonderful,” she said.
Wonderful didn’t adequately describe
Spencer’s apartment. He had ordered it to be completely re-decorated in a
country style fitting for Rachel. He had installed a computer with internet and
also a laptop for her school work. The refrigerator and pantry were fully
stocked. The view from the windows was incredible. She knew this apartment
would cost a ton of money if it had been leased to someone else; but he was
letting her stay here free. “I...I don’t know how to thank you enough, Mr.
Fi……I mean Spencer,” she said. “Ah, but I’m not done. I’m on the board at NYU
and I’ve gotten you a scholarship. You start in the fall; if that is what you
want to do,” he said. She was shocked and stood there for a moment with her
mouth open. “That is amazing! Thank you so much! I don’t know how I can ever
repay you, but I hope to be a good wife to your son. Perhaps that will be a
good trade?” He smiled and nodded. “Well, you don’t owe me anything. I’m just happy
to have Scott and you here. Now, we are going to take his things back to my
home and then we will come and get you for dinner at seven.” There was no
negotiating with Spencer, so she just nodded. As they were going out the door,
she heard him say, “Son, I like her a lot. I see why you have fallen in love.”
She was relieved and felt that she could now relax for a moment. She took her
things to the bedroom. It had a king size bed with beautiful floral bedding.
She wanted to bounce on it, but thought that wouldn’t be a good idea. The
closet was the size of her whole room at HtW. She hung up her few belongings
and thought that they looked a bit pathetic in that enormous closet. She pulled
out one of the dresses that Sam had bought for her, found an iron, and pressed
it. She thought that she ought to dress up for Spencer. Since she had no idea
where they were going to eat, she could only picture the restaurants that Sam
had enjoyed. She picked out a pair of heels to match and then went in the
luxurious bathroom. There was a vanity with a cushioned chair where she could
do her hair. She had a few items of makeup and did her best to apply them. She
twisted her hair up into a neat bun and then put on a necklace. She looked at
herself in the full length mirror and thought, “My parents would never recognize me.” She went out to the living
area to look out the windows until Scott and Spencer returned. The busyness of
the city fascinated her and she thought she could watch people forever. After
just a few minutes, however, her door bell rang and the men were back to
collect her. She opened the door and Scott’s mouth dropped open. “Wow! You look
amazing!” he said. Spencer just smiled and then remembered something, “Oh Dahling,
I forgot to give you the keys! Here is your set. This one if for the door
downstairs and this one is for this door.” He handed her the keys and she
memorized them before sticking them in her purse. “Alrighty, then, let’s be on
our way,” he said as he walked at a good clip toward the elevator. Rachel
locked her door and then took Scott’s arm. They joined Spencer on the waiting
elevator and it tickled her tummy as it descended. The same suv was waiting out
on the street and it navigated the busy streets like an elephant in grassland.
She was relieved to see that she had guessed correctly at the proper attire for
their dinner. They were escorted to “his” table in the elegant, dimly lit
Italian restaurant. After they had ordered, Spencer cleared his throat and
pulled out his smart phone, “I want to get my calendar set up for the coming
year. So, now, have you two set a date for the wedding?” Scott said, “No, not
yet. We need to see how her schooling and my job acclimation go.” Spencer
smiled, “That’s wise, son. Good way to plan. Rachel will start in just a few
weeks. My assistant will take you there tomorrow for enrollment, by the way.
She can also take care of shopping for books, supplies, and clothes, and
anything else you might need. Don’t even think about objecting; you’re going to
be my daughter and I want to give you everything you need.” Their bread and
wine arrived at the table and briefly paused their conversation. Rachel had
never even tried wine before and was a bit reluctant. Scott whispered, “Just
sip a little. You kind of have to get used to it.” She was glad he was taking
care of her and she did as he said. After Spencer’s thirst was sated he
continued with his speech, “Scott you will start work on Monday. I’ve cleared
out the office next to mine and my assistant has lined up some jobs for you to
do. Oh, and your brother will be getting out of the army in September. He
thinks he can just do free lance photography and journalism when he returns,
but I’m sure he will have a rude awakening. Let’s see, we also have a fund
raiser dinner in November, but we can talk about that later.” He finished and
dug into a piece of bread and the salad that was put in front of him. Rachel
stared at her plate feeling like she had been kicked in the chest. “How on earth could he have not told me he
has a brother?” she thought. She didn’t want to look at either of the men
and show them her shock. After a few moments of silence, Spencer’s phone rang.
“Excuse me, I need to get this,” he said as he rose from his chair and went to
the front of the restaurant. Rachel looked at Scott and asked him, “Why is it
you didn’t tell me you had a brother?” “Gosh, sweetie, it’s a long story. Can I
please tell you about it after dinner?” he pled. She nodded and he was glad she
agreed because Spencer was back at the table in less than two minutes. They
finished eating quickly since there wasn’t much talking going on. Scott asked
to be dropped off with Rachel because he wanted to spend some time with her.
They went up to her apartment and she took off her uncomfortable shoes. She was
trying to make herself busy to avoid feeling like Scott had betrayed her. He
finally took her in his arms and led her to the couch. He sighed deeply and
then began his story. “My love, I know this will probably sound like I’m being
childish, but I want you to hear my whole story before you judge me. My older
brother Danny was born competitive. He thinks that I was born just so he could
have someone to beat at everything. He took my toys when I was a kid; he competed
with my accomplishments and took my girlfriends when I was in high school. I
went to a different university just to get away from him and he transferred! He
is the popular guy that everybody likes and nobody knows. A year before I left
for HtW, I told dad and Danny about it. Dad was impressed that I was going to
“save the world.” Danny couldn’t stand it that Dad was pleased with me. He went
out a month later and joined the army. Now, I’ve come home and look, he is
coming home, too. And, I’d bet my life he is going to try to steal you away
from me. It won’t matter that we are engaged. God knows why he has to beat his
little brother at everything, but I just wish he would get a new life purpose.
I’ve told Dad about it, but he won’t say anything. Equality and all that.
Anyway, that’s why I didn’t tell you about him. It’s a rather sore spot for me
and I think I would just lose it if he stole you from me.” He searched her face
for a moment. She thought for a few minutes and then replied, “Scott, I love you
more than anyone I’ve ever loved in my life. This will not come between us, but
next time, just tell me about it anyway. I will feel more prepared to face this
with you. He sounds exactly like the kind of guy that I don’t like.” Tears of
relief rolled down his cheeks and he held her tight for a long time that night.
The next day she woke up early and got
ready to go meet NYU. She had just eaten some toast when the door bell rang. A
lovely woman in her forties stood at the door with her hand extended, “Hello,
I’m Kathryn. I’m Spencer’s assistant and I will be taking you to NYU today.
It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve known Scott since he was young.” “Yeah, it’s
nice to meet you, too. I’m sure that I will really appreciate knowing you in
this family,” Rachel replied. Kathryn smiled and then hurried Rachel out the
door. There was a dark blue sedan with tinted windows waiting for them out
front. “Washington Square,” Kathryn said as soon as they were seated. Rachel
thought she would go crazy and start dancing when she saw the university. She
felt that she was entering a time machine that would take her from the last
century, where she had lived her whole life, to the present day. Kathryn was
all business at the school and acted as though she had done a good deal of
research for her role as Rachel’s guardian through the enrollment process. They
were finished in a couple of hours and went to find their driver. They did a
little shopping, went for lunch, and then went shopping some more. Rachel
really liked Kathryn and could see why Spencer had kept her for so many years. She
took Rachel back to her apartment and helped Rachel program her phone number,
as well as Scott and Spencer, into her phone. Rachel sat reading over her
classes and schedule for a while. She felt like a little girl who had been
given the best doll in the world. As the sun started to set, her door bell
rang. She dropped her books and schedules and went to answer the door. Scott
was there with a big smile. “Hello, Babe, I hear you are a full-fledged college
student. I think I need to kiss the new student.” He came through the door and
swooped her up in her arms. She let him kiss her for a few minutes, and then
drug him to the couch excited to show him her class schedule. He programmed her
schedule into his phone and then asked if he could continue his former pursuits.
“Well, do we need to talk about our wedding?” she asked. He raked his hand
across the back of his neck and sighed, “Sweetie, I think we need to wait until
we know what your classes are going to require of you and I haven’t even
started back to work with Dad yet. I’m going to need time to settle in there.
Let’s just wait until we can see some light at the end of the tunnel. Ok?” She
smiled and nodded, but inwardly was beginning to worry that their wedding would
be put off indefinitely. He was starting to kiss her again, when his phone
rang. “Ugh, it’s Dad,” he said. After a lot of “uhuh” and “ok,” he hung up.
“Dad wants us to meet him for dinner at our house,” he explained.
Finally, Rachel got to ride in a yellow
cab. Scott didn’t like to use the family drivers and believed in supporting the
New York City icon. Rachel was excited and disappointed when they arrived at
Spencer’s home in just a few minutes. He owned a super pricey brownstone and
Rachel tried hard not to gawk. Spencer wanted to know all about her classes and
schedule and her general thoughts on NYU. Once that was thoroughly discussed,
they really had nothing else to talk about. She was bored and hated the way
Scott was so uncomfortable around his father. True to herself, she stayed smiley
and polite the whole evening. He accompanied her home, but was very grave and
silent. “Do you want me to walk you up?” he asked. “Oh, no, that’s alright. You
look tired and I’ll be fine,” she answered. He gave her a little kiss and she
got out of the car. “Wow, I hope I don’t
have to do that often!” she thought.
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