Lex and Lu (21 page)

The excitement and uncertainty of Willa’s visit had begun to fade and life began to retreat into a normal pattern. School seemed to agree with Nina although, much like her father, her constant need to move had resulted in a few phone calls to Lu. Here she balked. How did she include Lex? She found no answers in her super brain and also found that she had no one to talk to about the situation. Everyone in her life was too involved and too jaded. It seemed as if suddenly the issue of Nina had divided their two families. She still spoke to everyone, reluctant to let Nina’s relationships with them waver. But when looking for direction on how to include a parent who had been deliberately excluded for nine years, she found herself whipping in the wind. This was the only negative in her new life.

The approach of Christmas found Lu preparing for her transatlantic trip home to receive her degree. She had to finish packing Nina so that she could begin on her stuff. The mindless task allowed her thoughts to wander. With all that had been happening, it seemed inconsequential to go back for her graduation, but she knew that she’d worked hard and should enjoy the sense of accomplishment. Her PhD at twenty-seven seemed to say that she had lived up to the promises of her youth. Even her teenage pregnancy hadn’t held her back from potentially achieving greatness. There was part of her—and if she was honest, she would admit it was a large part of her—that wanted to take her diploma and rub it in her mother’s face. But the parent side of her recognized the immaturity of that sentiment.

After a long, arduous discussion with Lex’s lawyers, an agreement was worked out for Christmas. Lex wanted to take Nina on one of his trips so she could see some of England and watch him play. Lex’s nanny would chaperone her during practice and games. It made Lu nervous, but she didn’t think she could hold him back from taking her. He’d patiently waited for her to have a break from school. It had come time for him to have her for an extended period. With their very separate lives, Lu still felt as though she were parenting alone. She envisioned a time in the near future when she would have to discuss it with Lex—not his lawyers—but she continued to give him the space he desired. On her return from the States, Nina would begin a two-week stint with him.

There were times when Lu questioned her own cooperative attitude. She found herself wanting to demand more, but she would work herself up for it and all the bluster would fade away. So much for that doctorate in psychology, she thought. She knew she felt guilty for keeping Nina from Lex and for not avoiding intimacy with him. But at some point, being a parent had to outweigh being a woman, right? That’s what she was banking on—for this primal maternal feeling to kick in so that she could kick some English attorney ass. It almost made her laugh that she could continue to be pissed at her mom but couldn’t work up the energy to fight Lex. Perhaps because she wasn’t sure what she’d be fighting for.

Finished with Nina’s bag, Lu moved into her room to get her things together. As she dragged her suitcase off the top shelf in her closet, her phone rang. She raced for it because in the middle of the day, the possibility of a call from Nina’s school loomed large. Skidding to a halt in front of her desk, she picked it up but didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello,” she answered.

“May I speak with Dr. Knight?” said the voice on the other end of the phone.

“Either you’re looking for my mother or you are a week early.”

“Ah, a week early?” he paused. “I was hoping to speak with Louisa Knight.”

She laughed, “This is Louisa Knight.”

“Good. Louisa, I am calling from the EPL.”

Lu paused. “EPL?” she questioned.

“The English Premier League.”

“Oh,” Lu answered. She should have known those initials. “How can I help you?”

“I should probably introduce myself. My name is Malcolm Helms. I happen to know Michael Ziegler,” he said, matter-of-factly.

“Ah,” Lu responded. “He told me that he’d passed my name along to a couple of people. He just didn’t tell me who.”

“He pointed me in your direction and after reading some of your papers, I’m interested in your work. I was hoping that we could meet so that I can discuss it with you.”

“Mr. Helms, I’m flattered, but if you are familiar with my work then you know that it is specific to football,” Lu explained patiently, “American football.”

“Yes, yes, I understand. But I had assumed that you would want to continue your work. And there is no American football here in England,” he pointed out.

Lu paused, suddenly struck by that statement. Was this how Dorothy felt? She wasn’t in Kansas anymore. How long was she going to be here? She hadn’t even thought about that. Did Lex think that they would stay here forever? It was at that precise moment that she finally felt all of the indignation that Willa had expected of her six months ago. She had uprooted her entire life without so much as a peep. It was fucking amazing what good sex could do to your brain.

“Miss Knight?” Mr. Helms said, bringing her out of her stupor.

“Yes. Um, I am headed to the States on Friday for my graduation. Why don’t we plan on lunch sometime next week?”

“You’ll be back so quickly?”

“Yes, sir. We’ll be back on Monday evening.”

“Let’s say Tuesday, then, shall we?”

“Perfect. Where would you like for me to meet you?” Her phone beeped, indicating she had another call. Pulling it away from her face, she saw the number for Nina’s school. “Hold on one moment, please. I have a call coming in.” But as she went to make her pick between her three iPhone options, she hit the wrong one and ended up hanging up on the school.

“Mr. Helms, I apologize, but I have to go. Can you email me the arrangements and I will make sure that I am there.”

“Yes, that works well. What is your email?”

“It’s
[email protected]
.”

“I will get that to you promptly.”

“Thank you,” Lu said before disconnecting. She wasn’t sure if it was the accent, but it all seemed so proper to her. Who used the word
promptly
in everyday conversation?

Quickly dialing the school, Lu waited to be able to talk to someone, her stomach in knots. Immediately, she was put on hold. Finally, after waiting for five minutes, her call was answered.

“This is Louisa Knight,” she said. She’d long ago learned that in any nonsocial situation, her full name got her places that her nickname just couldn’t reach.

“Oh, Miss Knight, please hold. Our headmaster has been trying to contact you.”

Again she waited, but this time, her nerves made her rusty mother’s intuition sharpen. In her mind, her daughter had been seriously injured. She’d never had the headmaster call her.

“Miss Knight, this is Mr. Seddon. Nina is fine.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, she responded, “Hello, Mr. Seddon.”

“I’m afraid I am going to need you to come in and collect her from school today.”

“I thought you said she was fine,” Lu said, confused.

“She is physically fine. Are you able to come now?” he asked, his tone rather short.

“Yes, sir. I can be there in twenty minutes.”

“Wonderful. Mr. Pellitteri said the same.”

“Ah, Mr. Pellitteri?” she asked apprehensively.

“Yes. When I was unable to reach you, I called her emergency contact. So I’ll see you shortly?”

“Yes, sir. Thanks so much.” Lu disconnected the phone and fell heavily into her desk chair. Without realizing it, she took inventory of what she was wearing and tried to remember if she’d put on any makeup or done her hair. Realizing the foolishness of the sentiment, she stood up, gathered her coat and purse, and headed out the door. The rolling that had started in her stomach the moment the school called churned up so that she could almost feel the acid sneak its way into her throat. Her newfound hostility chose that moment to lodge itself, right alongside her worry over Nina. Aside from her daughter having to be picked up in the middle of the day, she was about to see Lex for the first time in seven months.

Lex had just finished showering after practice when his phone rang. He’d never received a phone call from Nina’s school, but he had long ago programmed the number into his phone. Glancing at the name lighting up the screen, he answered without hesitation.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Knight?”

Smiling, he said, “No, Pellitteri.”

“Ah,” said the voice, as if suddenly everything made sense. “Mr. Pellitteri, this is Mr. Seddon, the headmaster at Nina’s school.”

“Yes?”

“Well, I’m afraid I have to have someone come pick her up, and I was unable to reach Ms. Knight.”

Suddenly alarmed, Lex said, “Is everything OK?”

“Yes, everything is fine. Are you able to come collect her?”

“Of course. I can be there soon.”

“Great. If you could just ask for me in the main office, I’ll be waiting.”

“OK,” Lex said. He grabbed his bag and headed for his car.

On the way there, thoughts flew at him like the oncoming traffic. He suddenly found himself thrust into being a father for the first time. Although the reason for the phone call remained a mystery, he was the second phone call. When Lu couldn’t be reached, they’d called him. It astounded him, this feeling of responsibility. Such an inconsequential action, one that no one at Nina’s school had given a second thought to, had for the first time made him feel like he was actually her father. Why this of all things?

She’d called him Dad from the start. He thought he probably owed that to his father, not to any action that he had taken that made her feel like he was really her dad. He could tell that she had been conditioned to accept him. His dad had taken care of him from the grave, it seemed. Somehow his father knew that his ego needed for her to just accept him. He didn’t mind working for every bit that came after that, but to have to win her over from the start, when she had a nine-year headstart on him, would have crushed him.

So as he made his way into the school, he felt a myriad of things. Pride because someone other than himself recognized him as Nina’s dad—even if that recognition had only been granted because of a form that said he was the emergency contact. Apprehension over why he was there—he wasn’t used to walking into situations he hadn’t been apprised of or orchestrated himself. And, he had to admit, anticipation because, after seven months of self-imposed absence, he might see Lu.

Lex had never been sent to the principal’s office, which tended to surprise people who knew him. School had been a pleasant, albeit short, experience for him. By the time he was fourteen, he had missed great chunks of time from school for training camps and tournaments. When he was at school, he spent a lot of time charming his teachers, who in turn spent time catching him up. His mother didn’t believe in home schooling, which meant he’d had to do a lot to meet the requirements for the hours he spent at his desk. Walking into Nina’s school now felt foreign to him.

He was immediately shown into the outer office, adjacent to the headmaster’s. Sitting in a chair, with a look of defiance plastered across her face, was Nina. When she saw him, she merely glared, offering no smile. Lex didn’t have long to contemplate his reception, because Lu entered the room immediately after he did. Watching the scene unfold, he noted that Lu returned Nina’s glare. He realized in that moment that he had never seen them interact. He’d be so hurt at the funeral that he’d avoided all interaction with Lu. And since then, everything had been accomplished by his lawyers. As Lu and Nina faced off in front of him, he felt awestruck.

Lu looked like she was fifteen years old again. In jeans, fluffy UGG boots, and a big purple cable-knit sweater, she had a gray scarf tied around her neck. Her black hair was pulled back in a haphazard ponytail and a smudge of lip gloss coated her full lips. This is the girl I fell in love with, he thought. But she was all woman and indignant mother right now, scowling at Nina, which she had a right to. I don’t have that right, he acknowledged to himself. Once Lu made sure that Nina knew she was angry, she walked over to her and dropped a kiss on her head. Lu was just about to sit down when the door to the headmaster’s office opened and Mr. Seddon invited Lex and Lu inside.

“Nina, please wait while I talk to your parents.”

Zing, right through his heart. He was her parent. He looked back at Nina, winked at her, and followed the adults into the room.

“Mr. Pellitteri, Miss Knight, please take a seat.”

The office looked like Lex would have thought it was supposed to look. A big oak desk was situated in front of a window and two chairs sat directly in front of the desk. Lex had to remember for a split second that he wasn’t the one in trouble here.

Lex waited for Lu to pick a chair and then sat. He felt he needed to portray the image of a concerned parent, so he made sure to sit on the front of the chair, alert and rigid. Fake it till I make it, he thought.

“I have to say that my phone call to Mr. Pellitteri explained some of the questions that I was going to ask you, Miss Knight,” Mr. Seddon began.

Lu glanced in Lex’s direction but not at him directly. He didn’t blame her. He wasn’t ready to fall into those cornflower depths just yet.