Chapter 12
Hannah and Russell walked into the small restaurant overlooking the bay, looking out at the sun shining overhead and the boats moving in and out of New York harbor. The restaurant, featuring a beautiful patio that looked out at the ships, provided a great spot for Hannah to meet up with Alexis to figure out what was going on. She sat down outside the restaurant with Russell. She looked out of place, though fashionable with sunglasses resting on her head, and wearing a pink sun dress, something she would never wear in public except for the fact that it was clean and everything else wasn’t. Russell was just as put together, wearing a white button up shirt and khakis, appearing to be more in his natural state than Hannah.
Alexis walked around the corner with Nathanial in tow, holding his hand as they approached the table where Hannah and Russell were awaiting their arrival. She walked up first wearing a teal sun dress that came down to her knees, white sun glasses across her face with her hair flowing freely behind her, and open toed sandals that exposed her perfectly manicured toes. She led Nathanial to the table with her, with him looking almost exactly like Russell in his clothes. “Clearly, we missed the memo,” announced Alexis as she reached the table, and found Russell looking awkwardly similar to Nathanial. “Perhaps we should go home and change?”
“I’m too hungry for that,” said Hannah as she looked over Alexis’s attire. “You look cute. I love that dress.”
“And you’re wearing a dress,” noticed Alexis as she removed the sunglasses and placed them up in her hair. “How did he convince you to wear a pink dress to brunch?”
“I didn’t convince her to do anything,” said Russell with a smile. “She put it on of her own volition.”
Hannah shook her head. “It was clean and I didn’t feel like wearing pants,” she said with a very harsh, blunt tone. “This was the best option for me.”
“Hannah, I’ve never in my life seen you voluntarily wear a dress,” explained Alexis. “Has this man changed you that much that you’re willing to be seen in public in this?” She paused and looked over at Russell as Nathanial pulled the chair out for her at the table. “Last night, you did wear a dress to dinner.”
“I went home and changed!” exclaimed Hannah defensively.
“But you still wore a dress and were stressing over your appearance,” continued Alexis. “It’s ok to want to look pretty. I do it all the time.”
“You do it well too,” said Nathanial in a soft tone, taking the harshness out of Alexis’s voice as she sat down at the table. “How are you two this morning, by the way?” asked Nathanial politely.
“About as well as can be expected,” replied Russell with a yawn, stretching his arms over his head while looking forward at Nathanial. “Last night was a lot of fun.”
“Yes, it really was,” replied Nathanial. “Hopefully we get some time today to get to know each other,” he continued as he reached forward and grabbed the mug of coffee the waitress sat down before his arrival. “I remember you from Sydney.”
Russell nodded. “That’s right,” he said confidently. “I was the attorney who assisted in your selling of the company.”
“Dark day for me,” said Nathanial with a smile. “Glad I’ve moved past it.”
“I can imagine,” replied Russell. “But, if you’ve move past it and gotten on with your life, then I suppose everything can be right with the world again.”
“And it is!” said Nathanial as he placed his arm around Alexis. “I just had to remind myself of the things that matter the most to me and to work at those instead of worrying about the scoreboard so much.”
Russell nodded. “Do you like to win?”
“I don’t like to win,” replied Nathanial. “I love to win and I live to win. It is part of who I am, but in this instance, I had to decide which game I’d rather win. Would I rather keep my company and my pride, or move on and get the bigger prize? There will always be other companies out there for me to acquire and other ways for me to grow my wealth. But there will never be another girl out there for me like this one.”
“Aww, that was sweet,” said Hannah as she inserted her way into the conversation. “I didn’t know you had that in you.”
“There is a lot to me that you are still learning about, Ms. Burchfield,” replied Nathanial.
“And I’m sure in due time, I will learn it all,” she replied as she turned and faced Alexis. She reached forward and grabbed her coffee and brought it up to her lips. “I spoke with Sulagna this morning and she said we could stay in New York for another week before we have to head to Dubai,” said Hannah as she sipped on her coffee.
“Only a week?” whined Alexis. “I was really hoping we would get a month home before we got shipped back out.”
Nathanial shook his head as he reached forward and grabbed his coffee. “I wouldn’t sweat it,” he said as he took a sip. “The two of you are welcome to stay with me at my place while I get it ready to sell.”
“You’re selling your home in Dubai?” asked Hannah.
“Yeah, I think I’m going to move back here to the United States,” he answered softly. “With the way my investments are trending, both personally and professionally, I think it’d be wise if I move back to this hemisphere.”
Alexis reached under the table and grabbed his hand, squeezing it softly while a small smile came across her face. “So, I guess that means we will have to stay in the company provided apartment when we’re in Dubai,” she laughed as she held onto his hand, using her other to reach forward and grab her cup of coffee. “It wasn’t bad accommodations.”
“Oh, of course not,” said Hannah. “They were incredible, but from what you’ve explained to me and the pictures he’s shown me, his place is much nicer.”
“Well, it’s on a manmade beach,” he elaborated. “And the views are second to none when it comes to homes there.”
Hannah sipped her coffee and set the cup down softly. “Now let’s not rub it in, Nathanial,” she said sternly as Russell chuckled next to her. “Not all of us here are fortunate enough to have a bank account that could purchase half of a country.”
Nathanial laughed. “Well, it depends on which country you’re talking about,” he bragged, joking about his financial position as he leaned forward. “The country that you would want to purchase is way too expensive. You’d end up with something in the third world and you’d have way too much debt to take over.”
Alexis turned and looked at Nathanial. “Have you thought about this?”
“Of course!” he replied with a hearty grin. “What billionaire hasn’t at least explored the option of purchasing something like this? Hell, people buy islands all the time. I think it’s more the thrill of seeing if you can purchase something instead of the actual act of purchasing it.”
Russell tilted his head slightly as he listened in to what Nathanial was saying. “Excuse me?” he asked with a confused tone. “Are you telling me that if you had the ability to purchase a country, you wouldn’t do it?”
“I don’t think I would,” said Nathanial in a contrite tone. “I can barely take care of myself sometimes. I don’t want to be responsible for an entire population of people” He paused briefly as he reached forward and grabbed his glass of water, wetting his throat so that he could continue the conversation. He exhaled slowly as he looked ahead as Russell anxiously anticipated the continuation of his answer. “For people like me, who happen to have more money than we know what to do with, it is our responsibility to ensure that our excess goes to good use. I would rather invest in companies that are looking into ways to purify water in the third world or create fertilizers that guarantee food growth without having to use genetically modified creations. I feel like it’s our responsibility to do what we can to help humanity. Yes, before you ask, I do have a few very nice, expensive cars and I have a lavish home in Dubai, my own private airplane and a massive yacht. However, after that, all of my excess money goes to investing in companies that are about benefiting the world.”
Russell nodded as he listened intently. “So, you would rather invest in a company that would, hypothetically, cure an infectious disease, than purchase an island for your own vanity?”
“Without a second thought,” he replied with a genuine grin. “There is nothing that owning my own country could give me that would make me want to own one. I mean, if there is a beautiful beach that I can visit, I’ll rent time on it or, at most, purchase a small tract of land on it. As for purchasing an entire country and becoming responsible for it, that’s not for me.”
“What if she wanted it?” he asked, pointing across the table at Alexis. “What if she wanted you to buy her a country? What would you do then?”
Nathanial looked down at the table and thought about his answer as he held onto Alexis’s hand. He looked up across the table at Russell as he composed himself. “I wouldn’t,” he said. “But I know she would never ask for that and that is the reason why I love her. That is one of the hundreds of reasons that I want to be with her.”
“Good answer,” said Hannah with a coy grin as she sipped on her coffee. “But, Alexis might want to own her own country one day.”
“No, I don’t,” said Alexis defensively. “I wouldn’t mind being able to go to a beach somewhere or up to the tip of a mountain, but I don’t have to own them. As long as I can visit, then I’m good.”
Russell laughed. “So, Nathanial, you got off easy. She just wants a few timeshares.”
“Ha!” exclaimed Nathanial as he reached for his coffee again. “I think we could pull that off.”
Alexis shook her head as she thought about what was just said. “Why would I want a timeshare?” she asked, confused as to why Russell went there.
“Honey, he was telling a joke,” patronized Hannah. “We know you don’t want a timeshare. Hell, the people who own timeshares probably don’t want timeshares.”
“Oh,” she said briefly, looking at the other three members at the table laughing at her inability to realize what was said.
“It’s ok,” comforted Nathanial as he squeezed her hand. “I know you don’t want to own a timeshare.” He smiled as he turned back to Hannah, holding his smile while doing his best to change the subject. “Have you spoken to your other friend today?”
“Who, Trisha?” asked Hannah.
“Yeah, her,” answered Nathanial. “Have you heard from her at all today?”
“We spoke earlier and she wanted to come join us for brunch, however, she decided to go eat with some of her new man’s friends and family.”
Nathanial nodded. “That’s unfortunate.”
“Yeah, but it’s really good for her,” continued Hannah. “She is someone that we hope to become close to again. We used to be very close but we fell out over time. Hopefully, in time, we can be that close again.”
“Did she talk about last night any?” asked Alexis, turning her attention toward Hannah and thankful that the conversation changed in a more positive manner, away from her previous mental gaffe.
“She mentioned that she had a great time with us and that she enjoyed the time she spent with Davis after she left,” explained Hannah. “She was talking about all of the ornate wood work and other things she found in Davis’s apartment. It really sounded like she was incredibly impressed with him.”
“She’s been talking to him for a while,” exclaimed Alexis. “I know they had a fling, but they actually kept it going. I was really impressed with how she was able to stick to it for as long as she had been without actually seeing him in person.”
Hannah nodded while giggling under her breath. “Are you saying she’s incapable of having a sustained relationship?”
“She’s about as capable as you are,” Alexis quipped quickly, prompting a look of shock on the face of Hannah, catching her off guard with her sarcasm.
“Alexis, are we really going to go there today?” she asked rhetorically as Alexis possessed a devilish grin. “That was a bit uncalled for.” She placed her hand on Russell’s knee as she leaned in and gave him a light peck on the lips before turning back to see Alexis and Nathanial doing the same. “So, Nathanial, are you going to relocate to here in the city?”
Nathanial looked over at Alexis and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think I’m going to live in Manhattan,” he said softly, keeping his eyes affixed on Alexis so that he could gauge her reaction. “I don’t think I would do well or be happy here.”
“Really?” asked Alexis as she looked up at him. “You don’t think you could be happy in Manhattan?”
“Yeah, there is just too much going on here and I really enjoy driving my fast cars and living in a space that has a bit of land to it,” he explained as he sat up in his chair. “I may look just outside of New York, possibly into Connecticut. I don’t want to be far from the city but I also want to make sure I can get what I need in life.”
Alexis nodded. “I think I’d be ok with that,” she said. “I know moving here is not something you’re totally sold on, but completely throwing yourself into frying pan and moving into the heart of the city might not be the best call at all.”
Nathanial nodded slowly. “I think if I could be close enough to the city to be near you, it would be optimal, though far enough where I could still enjoy a lot of the comforts I’ve grown accustomed to would be ideal.”
Hannah smirked. “Do they have snow storms in Dubai?” she joked.
He turned and looked across the table with a hint of scorn. “No, and that is not something I’m looking forward to either.”
“No one ever does,” continued Hannah with the wry grin. “It’s one of those things that you just have to deal with it when it comes and pray it never comes often.”
“I’ll have to find someone to shovel the sidewalks,” he said softly as the realization hit him that the weather would be incredibly different from what he was accustomed to. “In Dubai, we are a bit too sandy and too close to the equator to have to worry about such things.”
Russell smirked. “I grew up in Wales. Don’t talk to me about your disheartening weather conditions. It rains more than the sun comes out there.”
“Sounds tragic,” said Hannah as she tilted her head back to look at him. “Why do you like to return home so much?”
“If my family wasn’t there, I wouldn’t,” he affirmed as he looked forward. “The weather in New York City isn’t bad because of all of the traffic. They take care of the roads fairly well too so you don’t have to worry about some idiots riding the brakes and running into a building during an ice storm.”
Nathanial chuckled. “If it’s snowing or if there is ice on the ground, my sports cars will stay in the garage.”
“I can’t say I blame you there, sir,” continued Russell. “You might want to invest in a large sport utility vehicle with ice tires just in case. One of my clients lives north of the city and he swears by it. No matter the weather, he can get into the city and take care of his business.”
“That’s not a terrible idea,” remarked Nathanial as he reached forward and grabbed his coffee. “I already have a Range Rover back in Dubai. I can get it equipped with tires to handle the snow.”
“See, a solution,” said Russell with a cheeky grin as the sound of a large yacht took came into the harbor. “What I wouldn’t give to be on one of those today.”
“I’ll have to get a docking space for mine when I move here,” said Nathanial. “Maybe I could just ride it all the way here from Dubai?”
Alexis turned and looked at Nathanial. “Is that possible?”
“As long as I’m coming here to you, anything is possible,” he answered with a smile, thinking of the great times he was going to experience with Alexis. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead as the four of them looked out at the boats moving in and out of the harbor. “As long as you are here waiting for me, I’ll move heaven and Earth to make it back.”
“And as long as you’re willing to keep loving me, I’ll always be here waiting for you,” replied Alexis as she looked into his eyes, brushing the side of his face with her hand. “I’ll always be here for you.”