Chapter 12

March, 2039


"Jeremy," Rina said one day during her spring break while she was visiting the Summers home with Jaime; "I have something to tell you."

Jeremy was brushing Coltrane so that Rina could ride him; he said, "What is it, Rina?"

He noticed she looked nervous, as if what she was going to say would affect their relationship. He knew what it wasn't: she wasn't pregnant because they hadn't slept together yet.

"I don't know how you'll take this," Rina said; "It's not something that I just want anyone to know."

"It can't be that bad, Rina," Jeremy said; "Just tell me. It's probably not as big a deal as you make it out to be."

"You know about my family, right? My brother lives in Boston, and my mother lives in Italy," Rina began; Jeremy nodded and signalled her to continue.

"Well, my mother, as much as I despise her, is a Countess, or Contessa. I will inherit that title formally when I am twenty-one. She'll try to stop that because of who I'm seeing, or what I'm doing or some asinine excuse. But it is mandated that her first born daughter, me, will become Contessa at age twenty-one, regardless of where I live or whom I am with. With that title comes half of the d'Alessandro trust. That is, if my mother hasn't squandered it all on her toyboys."

"Let me get this straight," Jeremy said; "When you're 21, you'll inherit a title and any money that comes with it. So what does your brother become when he's 21?"

"The title of Conte d'Alessandro and the other half of the trust," Rina said; "If he marries Carrie like he says he might, she'll probably not have a title. If she does it might be Viscontessa."

"And this concerns me how, Rina?" asked Jeremy; "Because I really don't care if you're the Princess of Wales. All that stupid European royality garbage doesn't do anything for me. So you'll inherit money and some stupid title. So what?"

Rina looked truly surprised. All that had been drilled into her head since she was old enough to understand is that men who are not of royal lineage want to marry rich and titled girls for the money and the fame of being her consort. Jeremy just said he doesn't care about any of that, Rina thought.

"Rina, it's you and who you are that matters to me, not some title. Not money," said Jeremy; "I'm just a dumb kid from Florida who thought he'd take over the family business. I'm falling hard for a beautiful, intelligent, and somewhat sheltered girl. So you have money. Some have it and some don't. I work my ass off to make sure I have enough money to do the things I want to do. And what I want to do is to go to college and make something of myself, and maybe break down some of those walls you surround yourself with."

"Really?"

Jeremy put the brush down and walked over to where Rina stood. He took her into his arms and held her, saying, "Yes, my beautiful Audrina, really. I've really fallen hard for you, and to see you unhappy breaks my heart. No other girl has ever done to me what you have done. Maybe you're the one most men wait a lifetime for."

Then he kissed her and to her utter surprise, Rina responded. They'd never kissed before, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to her.

When it ended, Jeremy said, "Now, let's go ride so I can teach you how to be a real American cowgirl."

===


Ben and Sarah Walters had their hands full with their unexpectedly growing family. Since becoming the guardians for their deceased daughter's children, they've had to make some changes. One of those was that the kids had to help out around the ranch. The girls weren't too keen on mucking out horse stalls and such, so that job went to their brother Jeremy, who seemed to love being around the animals. Jackie and Jenna Schuylkill were put in charge of feeding the animals, along with Jared and his brother Jeff.

Sarah was the first to notice something new and refreshing about Jeremy. She had asked him about his friendship with the Italian girl who was Jaime Summers' suitemate.

"I like her, Gramma," Jeremy said; "Rina and I are kinda in the same situation.  Her father died almost five years ago, and her mother treats her like she's less than nothing. We talk about all kinds of things. She's really into horses, and rode in competitions in Europe until she was twelve. She gets along well with Coltrane."

"I take it that you and she get along a little more than just 'liking' each other," Sarah said; "Jenna saw you two kissing out in the stables and of course, she tattled to me. I told her that you were nearly grown and that you can do things like kiss a girl. I don't think she understands about how that feels. She's not had any experience with boys, has she?"

"Not really," Jeremy said; "there was this one boy she liked, but when we had to move, he pretty much gave up."

"Probably a little jealousy going on there," said Sarah; "because Jackie seems to keep up with the boy she likes through email."

"He's a jerk, and when he finds someone who's closer, he'll drop Jackie like a bad habit," Jeremy said; "I tried telling her that, but she doesn't believe me. And, she's made no effort to befriend any of the Summers kids, and thinks Jaime and her friends are stuck on themselves."

"Looks like she's jealous some as well," Sarah said; "I'll have a talk with them. It's probably hard for them with everything going on in your lives right now. You seem to have adjusted well."

"I know Mom and Dad are okay, they're together, and that they'd want me to live my life,"  Jeremy said; "I've had my time to mourn them, Gramma. No matter what I do or don't do, they're not going to come back. My future is up to me."

"That's very mature of you, Jeremy," Sarah said; "And now you've started something with Rina. She's a nice girl. I hope that you two can make a long distance relationship work."

"We're certainly going to try, Gramma," Jeremy replied.

===


There were political rumblings going on in Washington. A new bill, sponsored by Senator Richard Pike of Connecticut, would require that all candidates for national office have an evaluation done to measure their mental fitness to perform the duties of the job they are hoping to be elected to perform. Many around the Beltway found it insulting and intrusive. Pike explained that it was only to weed out those individuals who have a specific agenda, such as attempting to overthrow the current government with Occupationist ideals: restrictions on who one can marry, have children with, isolating one segment of the population with the "Undesirable" designation; in short, the policies of Sarah Kathryn Hope and Carl Parks.

Much arguing went on in the subcommittee that Pike headed, saying such a law was unconstitutional, but Pike's stance could not be swayed: "I lived through the Occupation as many of you did. Do you really want to see that form of government come back into power? Do you want to be the one who is declared Undesirable through no fault of your own? Over something you have no choice in, such as what you look like or the racial or relgious make up of your parents?"

Many said, "Of course not!"

"That's all well and good, Rick," Senator Jeremiah Donovan said, "but if someone is not fit for public office because of their agenda or some sort of mental illness, they have no business running in the first place. Why subject potential candidates for national office to a battery of mental tests, when current members of the government have had no such testing. We could have a Carl Parks amongst us already. Should we also give mental acuity exams to the President and his staff? To the members of the House? To all of us?"

"Jere you have good points," Pike said, "and I agree that there may be someone who has Occupationist leanings already in office. But I know there are people out there that still want to see an Occupationist goverment. Some of them may want to run for office. Those are the people I'm concerned about."

"I still don't think it would do any good," Jeremiah said; "That almost like convicting someone now for a crime they may or may not commit in the future. We can't play God, or be the judge of people who may never have had any idea about bringing back a bad form of government. That is just as bad as what you're proposing, Rick."

"You, Senator, were one of the heroes of the Resistance," Pike said; "I thought, if anyone, you'd back me on this."

"There are ethical issues I just can't get past, Rick," said Jeremiah; "That's all I'm saying. Now if you can come up with something similar that doesn't break any laws, or is ethically or morally reprehensible, I'd be happy to back it up. In its present form, I just cannot."

Pike's bill died in Committee when he couldn't improve it to everyone's satisfaction. For that, he blamed Donovan. Though he would never give voice to it, it would lead to a threat on the life of the President of the United States several years in the future.

And he sat in the Senate Committee Room as the bill was shot down.


===

It was a free weekend where Helene didn't have any pressing assignments or rehearsals. March was almost over, spring break had come and gone, and Helene would be 17 in just a month.

She and Alexei were going to spend part of the weekend together. Alexei was going to take her to see a play that had been on Broadway and was making a tour stop in Chicago. Helene was excited to see the play, based on the popular biography of journalist Kit Crowley, who was percecuted during the Occupation for trying to inform people about the Occupational government. Jaime had told her that Kit Crowley was the grandmother of her sister Rachel's boyfriend Cole Nichols, so that gave Helene a personal perspective.

The play was quite good, and the actress playing Crowley was almost a dead ringer for the deceased journalist. After leaving the theatre, Alexei took Helene to a nice restaurant and they talked about the play, Helene's plans for the summer, and the fact that she and her suitemates were going to move out of Mathison Hall and rent a house off campus. Helene was especially excited about that. "I could ask for better housemates than Jaime and Rina!"  she said; "And Jaime's aunt Kimber Duncan owns the house, so we're getting a good deal."

"How big of a house is it?" asked Alexei.

"It has four bedrooms, a huge kitchen and living room, and a basement," Helene said; "And we can decorate it any way we want! Not like the suite at all. Jaime likes the big kitchen. The one in our suite isn't big enough to do much of anything. We all like to cook, so more space means maybe we can have people over for dinner on occasion. We can move in in June just after the semester ends."

"I hope I'm invited over, on occasion, of course," Alexei teased.

"I should hope so!" laughed Helene; "It's not that far from campus, and just a little bit of a drive from Chicago. We've all been itching to have people come over, since we can't do that where we are now."

"Speaking of coming over, Helene," Alexei said; "It's a little late to take you back to school before curfew, so why don't you just spend the night here? Igor is out of town for the week, and he said you could use his room if the need arose."

Helene thought about it and knew she would be staying. Curfew was at 11pm, and it was nearly that now. And that she could have a room to herself sealed her decision. Privately, she was hoping Alexei would try to seduce her. She thought she was ready to take that next step. She had recently had the dosage of her birth control increased because of her age, so she felt that if it had to happen, she could handle it.

"Okay, I'll stay," Helene said; "Just let me call Jaime and Rina to tell them where I am so they won't worry when I don't show up."

Alexei nodded and Helene called her suitemates to let them know not to expect her. Jaime said to be careful and Rina told her through Jaime to have fun. When she was through with her call, she and Alexei grabbed a cab back to his apartment, where Helene was about to experience a major milestone in her young life.


===


"I hope she's going to be okay," Rina said as Jaime hung up the phone; "She's never been intimate with Alexei before. I hope he doesn't hurt her."

"Reen, you worry too much," Jaime said. "I'm sure that Helene can handle herself with him by now. They've known each other a while. It's not like they're practically strangers. Besides, we don't know that's going to happen. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"I suppose you are right, James," Rina said; "Unlike Helene, I have projects to work on."

"You still working on that mysterious personal project?" asked Jaime.

"Yes, I am."

"You going to let us in on it some day?"

"It depends what I find out, Jaime," Rina said; "I don't want to say anything about it until I am sure of my facts. But, that's after my school assignments are done."

"Of course."

Jaime worried about Rina's "personal" project. Rina was known to spend long nights working on it. Jaime wondered what Rina was looking for so intently. She decided that if Rina wanted her and Helene to know about it, she'd tell them. Until then, both Helene and Jaime knew to not ask Rina about it.

I just hope it's not illegal, Jaime thought as she went into her room to get ready for bed.


===

Helene had not been to Alexei's apartment before, and was surprised how large it was. Almost as large as the suite she lived in at school.


"Wow, Alexei!" she said, surprised; "I had no idea your place is so big! It's just you and Igor living here?"

"There was another dancer, from Ukraine," Alexei said, "but he went home because his mother was dying. He's not expected back any time soon. His bedroom is still locked."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Helene said; "I can't imagine losing one of my parents."

Alexei took her into his arms and said, "Nor can I, even though my mother is herself ill, it's not a terminal illness. I want to try and bring her and my father and younger brother here to the U.S."

"This is the brother that was born since you've been here?" asked Helene; "The one you've never really met?"


"Yes, Ivan Aleksandrovich," Alexei said; "He's a little younger than your sister Lili."

They sat on the sofa as Helene asked, "Does Ivan dance, too?"

"No, he's more into science and geology and things like that," Alexei said; "He'll probably go to a pre-university, like the prep schools here. I want to get him here before he's 12 or 13, when he would be expected to go. I've got at least four years to work on it."

Helene shook her head. It would be nice to meet Alexei's family.

"So, Helene my dearest," Alexei said; "Why don't we get you settled in for the night. I'll be sure to get you up to go back to campus tomorrow morning, I promise."

"Okay," Helene said and followed Alexei to Igor's room.

She was kind of surprised that a guy's room was actually clean. But the posters on the walls screamed 'single male in search of female companionship'. There were the dance posters, sure; but also, models in very brief bikinis who were impossibly thin. She knew that she'd never look like that. She had her mother's curves and was proud of them, even if she was bigger than most of the dancers she'd ever worked with. She let her dancing speak for itself.

"Um, Alexei..." she began; "this room makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable."

"Ahh, it's all his damn sexy swimsuit models," he said; "I can see where that would make any girl uncomfortable. How about I sleep here and you sleep in my room? I don't have half naked girls pinned to my walls."

"Do you mind?" asked Helene; "I'm sure Igor is a nice guy, but his choice of, um, decor leaves a lot to be desired."

"Not at all," Alexei replied; "I'm sorry that it didn't occur to me that his, erm, decor would be offensive."

Igor was an equal opportunity offender as far as Alexei was concerned. No wonder the girls he brings back here never return! he thought. Those photoshop models are a bit much.

Alexei thought that maybe he'd sleep on the couch instead.

He took Helene to his room to find a tshirt for her to wear to bed.

He ended up not sleeping on the couch or in Igor's room.

All he had to do was kiss Helene goodnight. Suddenly he didn't want to leave. He took her into his arms and asked if she minded if they stay up and talk a while.


===


The phone in the suite rang at some ungodly hour.

It woke Rina up. She'd only been asleep for a couple of hours after working on what the other girls called her personal project.

First thing she thought of was Helene. What if she wanted to come back because something went wrong with Alexei?

Then Rina saw the number on the Caller ID and knew exactly who it was.

Her mother.

How in hell did she get this number? she thought. I know Vito didn't give it to her. She must have Giuseppe digging around in my business again.

Without answering the phone, Rina turned off the ringer. The bitch can leave a message, she thought.

She then turned on her heel and headed back to her room. Jaime intercepted her on the way.

"Who was calling? It wasn't Helene was it?" she asked.

"No," Rina said, "it was my mother. I turned off the ringer and let the machine pick up the call. I have no desire to speak with her after the crap she pulled in trying to get Vito to give her our number."

"That's probably a good idea, Reen," Jaime said, yawning. "What the hell time is it any way?"

Rina looked at the clock on the table where the phone sat silent. "It's 3:30," she replied.

"If I ever meet your mother, Reen, I swear I'm going to wring her neck before I even say hello," Jaime said. "Three thirty in the morning! Who the fuck does she think she is?"

"That's just the problem, James," Rina said; "She thinks that everyone should jump when she asks how high."

"That's not the way that phrase goes, Reen, but frankly, I'm too tired to care," Jaime said, laughing quietly.

"No problem," Rina said, "we'll talk about it at a more decent hour. Good night..."

"'Night Rina," Jaime said as she headed back to her room. Not that any more sleeping would get done, but it was Sunday after all.


===