Kari stirred her pot of pasta one more time and then walked over to the center island, picked up her cellphone, and continued to stare at the photograph in front of her.  Natalie Corman.  A gorgeous redhead all the men in Hollywood supposedly wanted.  According to what Kari had been reading, this woman and Alex had been in what they called an on-again, off-again relationship for years.   Now it was apparently on again, if all of these stories were to be believed.  But Kari needed to hear it from Alex himself before she could become a true believer.

But what was bothering her even more was the why.  Not the why of any relationship he might or might not have with that actress.  But why would a man who had his pick of glamour girls like Natalie Corman decide to pitch his tent with a decidedly un-glamourous girl like Kari?  That woman undoubtedly spent her afternoons getting manicures and pedicures.  Kari spent her afternoon cleaning toilets!

But when Kari heard Jordan’s bedroom door open, she immediately closed the screen she had been viewing on her phone.  If Kari were perplexed by it all, Jordan was downright pissed.

He entered the kitchen, with his cellphone in hand, too, and sat at the center island.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Finished your homework?”

“Yeah.”

Kari stared at him.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Anything you needed me to help you with?”

“Why are you cooking for him?” Jordan asked.

Kari frowned.  “What?”

“Why are you cooking for him after what he’s done to you?”

“First of all, young man,” Kari said, “I’m not cooking for him.  I’m cooking for us.  I promised to fix you spaghetti tonight, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.  And second of all, Alex is going to be a guest in my home tonight.  He treated us well when we were in his house.  We will return the favor.  Especially you, buster.  He ain’t done shit to you!”

But Jordan was shaking his head.  “That’s not true,” he said.  “Anybody who hurts my mama, hurts me.”

Kari stared at him.

“We come as a package deal,” Jordan continued.  “They get one, they get the other one.  Whether they like it or not.”

Kari smiled.  And ruffled Jordan’s soft hair.  “You got that right,” she said.  “And don’t be upset by what’s going on, Jordan.”

“It’s not that I’m upset,” Jordan said.  “I’m just disappointed in Mr. Drakos.  I thought he . . .”

Kari nodded.  She thought so too.

“And don’t worry, Ma,” Jordan said, “he doesn’t have to take care of you.  Just wait until I get out of high school, and get out of college.  I’m gonna buy you the biggest house you ever seen before, and I’m gonna buy you a car, too.  And it ain’t gonna be no Toyota Tercel!”

Kari laughed.  “That’s a reliable car, boy,” she said.  “Don’t knock it!”

But Kari felt a great need to set Jordan straight.  “I appreciate how you feel, J,” she said.  “But here’s a novel idea.  Why don’t Alex take care of himself.  Why don’t you, when you’re grown, take care of yourself.  And I’ll take care of myself.  How’s that for a deal?”

But Jordan was shaking his head.  He was as stubborn as his mother.  “Nope,” he said.  “I’m taking care of you.”

Kari smiled again, but as soon as she did they both heard a car pull up on their driveway.

Jordan nervously looked at Kari.  Kari went over to her pot, removed it from the burner and turned the burner off, and then wiped her hands on the apron she wore.  Then she, followed by Jordan, went into the living room and looked out of the picture window.

Alex, this time, was driving a big Cadillac Escalade SUV, and was on his phone.

Jordan shook his head.  “He’s always on the phone,” he said.

“He has an empire to run,” Kari said.  “It’s amazing he’s even bothering to come and talk to us at all.”

But that didn’t sit right with Jordan.  He looked at his mother.  “Stop making excuses for him,” he said.  “I don’t want him to play you like that.”

Kari laughed.  “Play me?  Boy, please!  Nobody’s playing me.  I’m just pointing out the obvious.  Don’t you ever be so blinded by anger that you refuse to accept the truth.  I taught you that.  The man runs an empire.  That’s the truth.  The man took time out of his busy schedule to come see us about whatever it is he’s coming to see us about.  That’s the truth too.  Regardless of how we may feel about him right now, the truth is still the truth.  Got it?”

Jordan nodded his head.  “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Kari smiled.  She really didn’t deserve this kid!

But when Alex got out of the SUV, and began heading toward the house, all smiles were gone.   He was casually dressed, in slacks and a V-neck pullover knit shirt, and Kari’s heart began to hammer.  She cared so deeply for him!

Then the doorbell rang.  Kari was about to answer it, but Jordan pulled her back.  “You sit down,” he said.  “He doesn’t need to think you’re all anxious to see him again.  I’ll answer it.”

Kari felt odd taking direction from her fourteen-year-old son, but he had a point.  She went over to the sofa and sat down.  Jordan went to the front door, and opened it.

Alex smiled when he saw his favorite teenager.  “Hey, Jordan!  How are you?” he asked.

Jordan, however, couldn’t muster the same enthusiasm he usually had whenever he saw Mr. Drakos.  “I’m okay,” he said.

Alex felt the chill.  He understood why.  But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.  “Good,” he said.

And he walked on in.

Kari was seated on the sofa.  Her hair was in a messy ponytail where some of the strands had escaped the enclosure.  She wore an apron around her small waist, and a pair of jeans beneath it.  And unlike all the women he’d ever dated, she was the only one who didn’t go out of her way to impress him with clothes and jewelry and all manner of style and sophistication just to eat dinner at home.  But it was Kari, above all those other women, who impressed him the most.

“Hello,” he said to her as he walked toward her.

“Hey,” she responded.

But when he leaned down, to kiss her on the lips, he fully expected her to recoil.  Any other woman in her circumstance would.  Besides, if Jordan was the barometer, he was certain she was the reason.

But Kari, to his inward delight, didn’t recoil at all.  She accepted his kiss.  She, at least, was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  And if he wanted anybody on the face of this earth to give him that benefit, it was Kari.

And when their lips met, it was Alex who closed his eyes tightly and felt that sweetness she always gave to him.  The fact that she was hurting angered him.  He had to make this right!

His plan was to sit beside her, and hold her, but Jordan came up while they were kissing and sat beside Kari himself.  He was highly protective of his mother, especially when he felt she was vulnerable.  Alex appreciated that.  When he wasn’t around, he knew he was going to be able to depend on Jordan.  He was counting on it!

He sat in the chair that flanked the sofa, while mother and son stared at him.  He got to it.  “I’ve got to make a trip to Fiskardo,” he said.

Jordan frowned.  “To where?”

“His hometown,” Kari said. “It’s in Greece.”

Jordan and Alex both looked at her.

“I read that much in that unauthorized biography,” Kari said.

Alex smiled.  “It was about the only thing in that entire book that lady got right,” he said.

But then there was a pause.  A very tense, awkward pause.

It was Kari who decided to get on with it.  “Why are you here, Alex?” she asked him pointblank.

“I heard you’ve heard some things,” he said.

“Such as?” Kari asked.

“About myself and Natalie Corman.”

Kari nodded.  Now they were getting down to it, she thought.  “Yes.  I’ve heard.”

“So have I,” said Jordan.

“I think you need to go to your room, Jordan,” Alex began saying.

But Jordan looked at his mother, ready to object.

“But,” Alex continued, “given that it’s apparently the juicy topic of conversation all over this town, I think you need to hear this, too.  Agreed?”

Jordan nodded his head.  “Yeah,” he said.

But Kari hit him upside his head.  Jordan looked at her. “I don’t care how upset you are, boy,” she said firmly, “we will not do that.  Not today.  Not ever.”

Jordan, knowing exactly what she meant even if Alex wasn’t quite sure, looked at Alex.  “I meant yes, sir,” he said.

Alex understood.  Despite her pain, Kari was teaching her son a lesson: respect his elders, even if he thought them to be a pile of shit.

Alex leaned forward, as if the closer he was to the two people who were quickly becoming the two most important people in his life, the more they would believe him.  “Here’s the story,” he said.  “I went out on two dates with Natalie Corman.  The first one was at a dinner party in Manhattan.  The second one was at some other public function that I can’t even remember the name of or what it entailed.  I slept with her both times,” he said.

Kari hated that Jordan had to hear that, and she glanced at him, but Jordan didn’t even seem fazed.  Because he didn’t care about any of that.  That all happened in the past, before Alex met his mother.  What Jordan wanted to know was in the here and now: the final verdict.  Was Alex going to marry that woman?

“After those two initial meetings, I never called her again.  Nor did I see her again.”

“You didn’t see her again?” Kari asked.  “But all those stories are saying you and she have been in an on-again, off-again relationship for years.”

“She’s been in an imaginary, for publicity reasons, on-and-off relationship with me.  Now she’s starting it back up again.”

“But why?” Kari asked, still confused.  “And why is she all over television and the internet claiming that you and she are engaged?  And why is she showing off this big rock you supposedly gave to her?”

“Because her career is waning again and she need some buzz to get back in the main.  What better way to do that than to claim an engagement to the billionaire playboy, that nonsense title they have bestowed upon me?”

Kari was feeling hopeful again.  So was Jordan.  “So you’re saying,” Kari asked him, “that this is all a publicity stunt?”

“Pure and simple,” Alex said.  “A stunt orchestrated by Natalie herself.  Normally, it would not faze me at all.  She’s not the only one who pulls that shit just to get a little buzz.  I’m used to it.  But I have you now, and Jordan, and the two of you to think about.  Your reputations.  My lawyers have contacted her lawyers to notify them of my intent to sue her for slander.”

“But can you win a case like that?” Kari asked.

“It’ll never go to court,” Alex said.  “But if she doesn’t want me to get on television and tell the truth about what she’s up to, she’ll get on TV herself and correct the record.  But trust me, if she continues to hold onto this charade, I will take her ass to court, and I will get on television myself and correct the record.  But either way, that will be the end of that.”

Jordan looked at Kari.  And they both smiled.  They believed Alex.  He could be lying his head off, but it didn’t feel like that to them.  It felt like it felt before this Natalie Corman drama.  It felt like Alex, and them, together again!

And Kari and Jordan both jumped up from the sofa and ran to Alex for a group embrace.  Alex felt such relief, and such happiness, that he pulled them both into more than an embrace.  It was more like a smothering bear hug.  It was the affection Alex was hoping for when he first arrived.  They were always so enthusiastic to see him.  It warmed his heart in ways they would never know.  Alex, in fact, never felt happier than when he was with them.

But although Jordan stood back up and managed to get out of the hug, Kari remained on Alex’s lap.

Kari stood up, and then Alex with her.  He looked at her.  “Why don’t we go for a little ride?” he asked.  He was going to take her to his rental house and fuck her brains out.  He’d do it right where they were, in Kari’s bedroom: that would be the fastest way.  But she didn’t want that around Jordan.

“A drive would be nice,” Kari said, “but I’ve got to finish Jordan’s spaghetti first.”

Jordan smiled.  His mother never kicked him to the curb to be with some man!  “That’s right,” he said.  “She promised me her world-famous spaghetti tonight.  Have you tried it yet, Mr. Drakos?”

“Not yet, no,” Alex said.  Then he smiled.  “But it looks like I’m going to be trying it tonight.”

Kari laughed, and headed for the kitchen.

But when Alex went to follow her, Jordan pulled him back.

“What is it, J?” Alex asked.

“Nobody’s ever treated my mom like a queen,” he said.  “If you do that; if you treat her right, then we’ll love you forever.”

Alex’s throat constricted.  He wished to God he was worthy of this wonderful young man and his mother.  And his look was as serious as if he had just landed a million-dollar deal.  He extended his hand.  “You have my word,” he said, and he and Jordan shook on it.

When their handshake agreement was completed, Jordan grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Now for the spaghetti,” he said.

“So your mom’s a world class cook, is she?”

“With spaghetti she is.”

“And with everything else?” Alex asked.

“She’s not the world’s best cook,” Jordan admitted, “but she’s better than nothing.”

Alex laughed a hearty laugh.  Jordan was as real as his mother.  Then Alex placed his hand on Jordan’s back, and followed him into the kitchen.