Serenity (Inevitable Book 5)

by Janet Nissenson

  The two friends walked out of the restaurant together, pausing when they reached the sidewalk outside. Ian clapped Matthew on the back reassuringly.

  “You’ll get through this,” assured Ian. “And you can always count on me for support, hmm? I’ll chat with Tessa this evening about having you over for dinner, and text you with a few different dates. Now, not to rub salt in the wound as you so wrongfully accused me of, but I - er, am rather anxious to head home.”

  Matthew laughed as they exchanged a hearty handshake. “You are a smug bastard, Ian! And one with an evil streak as well. Get along with you then. And thanks for being such a good sounding board.”

  He was still chuckling as he walked the three blocks back to his office building, his mood far better than it had been over the past few weeks. Actually, if he was being completely honest with himself, while he wouldn’t describe his mood as being actually happy right now, he did feel oddly content. He missed his kids something fierce, but was continually trying to assuage his guilt on that matter by keeping in frequent contact with them. At least he did with Casey, since Hayley didn’t seem particularly distressed at his absence. Nor could she bother to spend more than a couple of minutes chatting on the phone with him before ringing off to talk to one of her friends instead. Matthew wondered vaguely when his little girl - the one he’d taken to soccer matches and the playground and Disneyland - had morphed into the slightly sullen, completely disinterested teenager she was now. It had probably, he thought with a sigh of resignation, been around the same time that his marriage had started to crumble into tiny pieces.

  The executive floor was its usual beehive of activity as he walked briskly towards his private, expansive office suite, being stopped half a dozen times en route by one of the many employees who worked on this floor. MBI Solutions - an acronym for Matthew Bennett Incorporated - occupied an even dozen floors of this high-rise building in San Francisco’s trendy Mission Bay area. He liked the fact that the office wasn’t located in the claustrophobic Financial District, that he had an unobstructed view of the bay from his office, and that the company-owned condo that he was currently making his home was less than a ten minute walk from here.

  It took him a good twenty minutes to finally arrive at his office after all the interruptions, and he heaved a sigh of relief as he approached his PA’s desk. Elena had her own office situated just outside of his own space, perfectly situated so that no one dared to get past her unless they had both an appointment and her permission. One of his management staff had once groused that Elena was like a really scary combination of a dragon, a hellhound, and the school secretary. And while that description was definitely an exaggeration, there was no denying that she guarded him like a hawk, and kept everyone in this place - Matthew included - on the very tips of their toes on a consistent basis.

  The fiery, forty-something Latina was petite and full-figured, but rather than minimize her ample curves by wearing dark, conservative clothing, Elena could usually be found wearing bright, vivid colors, often in bold prints and patterns, and always wore four-inch heels, even on “casual Fridays”. Today’s outfit was one of her most eye-popping - a tomato red pencil skirt, yellow silk top, and a multi-hued, floral print jacket. The heels were of a shiny yellow patent leather, her chunky jewelry as flamboyant as the rest of her outfit.

  A couple of the more conservative board members had mentioned to Matthew on more than one occasion that perhaps his assistant should think about “toning down” her office wardrobe, and wearing more subdued outfits. But Matthew had very firmly set his foot down on that particular subject, declaring that he found his PA’s choice in clothing to be both cheerful and soothing, oftentimes the only bright spot in his otherwise hectic, stressful days. He hadn’t bothered to admit to the board members that the very thought of approaching his ferocious PA on the matter of her wardrobe was more than a little terrifying.

  Elena eyed him dubiously as he drew closer. “I see that you had lunch,” she commented. “I’d guess Manhattan clam chowder, something with a lot of grease, probably bacon, and apple - no, make that peach pie.”

  Matthew stared at her gap-jawed. “How the hell did you guess all of that? Are you calling restaurants now to make sure I ate all my food like a good little boy?”

  Elena snickered. “Even I’m not that anal. No, I can tell from the food stains on your shirt, tie, and lapel. And before you ask, the stain remover wipes are in your middle drawer, left hand side.”

  He grinned. “What the hell would I do without you, Elena?”

  She smirked knowingly. “Starve to death, forget to attend meetings, have no idea where to find anything, and work eighteen hours a day. So you’d better never fire my ass, boss, because you’d be up a creek without a paddle for damned sure.”

  “You know that’s never going to happen,” he assured her gently. “You’re of more value to this company than I am.”

  She gave a very unladylike snort. “You don’t need to lay on the BS this thick, boss. It doesn’t work with me, as you should have learned by now. Hey, it’s my job to look after you, a job I like and that you pay me really, really well for. And you’ve sort of grown on me after all this time. Not to mention the fact that I can’t abandon you now, can I? Not under the circumstances.”

  Matthew’s expression sobered. “No, that’s for sure. In fact, I don’t know how I would have coped these past few weeks without your help. Not just here at the office but with all the domestic stuff, too. I’m still not sure I know the difference between the washing machine and the dryer.”

  Elena gave him a severe look. “You sound just like my boys did when I shipped them off to college for the first time. I’ll tell you the same thing I told them - you’re smart boys, smart enough to get into a good college. And if you can figure out stuff like calculus and physics you can damned sure learn how to operate a washing machine or an oven. And since you’re supposed to be some sort of genius with - how high is your I.Q.?”

  He shrugged. “Depends what sort of scale or test you’re referring to. On the Stanford-Binet scale, I’m a 150. But if you use a different method, then the numbers could range anywhere from - ”

  Elena waved a hand impatiently in dismissal. “Yeah, yeah. You’re super smart, I get that. My point is if you’re that smart you ought to be able to operate something as simple as a microwave or a coffeemaker.”

  He grinned. “You’d think so, huh? But some wise-ass Latina once told me that brain smarts doesn’t always mean common sense smarts.”

  “And she was right. As always,” retorted Elena. “Now, quit wasting my time, boss, and let me get back to work. You’ve got a conference call in twenty minutes, so you’d better get ready for it.”

  “I’m on it.” He paused before heading inside his office, gazing down fondly at the fiercely efficient woman who more than earned her very generous salary keeping him organized. “I really did mean what I said before, Elena. I’m not sure how I’d be getting through everything right now without your help.”

  “I’m happy to do it,” she assured him somberly. “I’ve been through a divorce myself, you know, and it was pure hell. Which is exactly where I hope that bastardo ex of mine is rotting at this very moment.”

  She didn’t add that in her opinion Lindsey should be residing in the same location as her despised ex-husband. Elena was probably the most candid, outspoken person Matthew had ever met, but she had just enough diplomacy to know when to keep her mouth shut. In the years she’d been working for Matthew, Elena had never once badmouthed or complained about Lindsey, even though he was convinced his wife had frequently treated his PA like she was the hired help.

  But Elena had never needed to come right out and say anything after she’d taken a phone call from Lindsey, or left Matthew a message from her. It had been very obvious from the scowl on her face or the ferocious expression in her dark eyes that she was good and pissed off. And when he had confided in Elena about his separation and imminen
t divorce from Lindsey, the fiery Latina had nodded and mumbled something in Spanish that he was pretty sure meant “well, it’s about fucking time”.

  As he went over his scribbled, barely decipherable notes for his upcoming conference call, Matthew heaved a disgruntled sigh, wondering for at least the tenth time since he’d tossed Lindsey out of the condo where and when everything had started falling apart so epically.

  Chapter Three

  His brother Patrick had often liked to joke that the two of them - along with their younger sister Jackie - had been destined even before they were born to become nerds. After all, both of their parents had chosen career paths that were generally considered to be on the nerdish side - their father Wade was a tenured, highly regarded professor of advanced mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, while their mother Maureen also worked at the university as a research scientist in Biophysics. With both parents possessing IQ’s in the highest levels, the likelihood of all three Bennett children also having the potential to be geniuses had been exceptionally high.

  And while attention to their studies had certainly been a requirement in the Bennett household, Wade and Maureen had also recognized the need for their children to have interests outside of the classroom. Growing up in Wisconsin had provided a variety of outdoor activities - sailing and swimming during the summer months, hiking in the fall and spring, skiing and snow shoeing in the winter. But for Matthew at least that had pretty much been the extent of any physical activity, and it wasn’t until his freshman year at MIT that he’d ever completed a single chin-up or lifted anything heavier than his laptop.

  It had been his college roommate Jeff, a member of the university wrestling team, who’d more or less strong armed Matthew into the school’s fitness center for the first time. It had been Jeff’s rather twisted way of repaying Matthew for tutoring him in both math and science, classes he would have flunked out of otherwise and been kicked off the wrestling team as a result. Jeff had taken one look at Matthew’s tall but admittedly scrawny frame, and had vowed that by the end of the school year he would totally transform him.

  In the end, it had only taken a few months to see real results, and by that time Matthew had felt like gagging every time Jeff had forced him to down a protein shake, or eat half a dozen eggs for breakfast. Admittedly, though, eating the extra protein and committing to a regular weight lifting regime had done the trick in filling out his previously skinny body, and developing a bonafide six-pack. He’d started swimming laps on a regular basis as well, which had helped to add additional muscle to his six foot frame.

  And it had also been Jeff who’d dragged him away from his books and papers and computers once in awhile to go to a party or the movies or a campus event, declaring that all work and no play made Matt an even bigger nerd than he already was. Jeff was appalled to realize that Matthew was still a virgin, and had made it his mission to remedy that sad truth as quickly as possible. But after a few very awkward, uncomfortable sexual experiences, Matthew had shied away from any future hook-ups that Jeff tried to arrange for him, claiming that he was far too busy with his studies to deal with any sort of relationships at the moment. Jeff had eventually given up on him, and the following school year he’d decided to share a house off-campus with several of his wrestling teammates. Matthew’s new roommate was an organic chemistry major from India who was an even bigger nerd than he was.

  Matthew had devoted himself to his studies, taking on a heavier than usual course load, and had obtained both his bachelors and Masters degrees in computer science by the ripe old age of twenty-three. After being accepted into the highly competitive doctorate program at Stanford, he’d moved out to California and had become instantly enamored of the area. He enjoyed the mild winters, warm summers, and the close proximity to the booming Silicon Valley. During his spare time - which didn’t amount to a whole lot - he’d continued to design software programs, and dream of the day when he would start his own company.

  The demands of the PhD program left precious little time to socialize or relax, and Matthew’s small circle of friends seemed to consist largely of his fellow doctoral candidates. Every so often, though, the stress of the program got to be more than even a dedicated scholar like himself could handle, and he allowed himself to be persuaded into going out to dinner or to a bar for a few beers.

  It was on one of those rare occasions when he’d seen Lindsey for the first time, and he had been instantly and surprisingly attracted. She certainly hadn’t been his usual type - though, technically, he hadn’t really had a type, given his rather pathetic dating record. But Lindsey had definitely been the prettiest, sexiest, and most vivacious girl he’d ever met, and shockingly enough she seemed to take an instant liking to him. Several beers and a couple of hours later, they’d wound up in bed at his studio apartment, and what he had lacked in experience and technique he’d more than made up for in enthusiasm.

  Despite the fact that they were polar opposites in so many ways - he was introverted, brainy, destined to remain a hopeless nerd, while Lindsey was flitting her way through community college, outgoing, and an admitted party girl - they nonetheless seemed to click in an odd sort of way. They dated casually for several months, though most of their time together seemed to be spent in bed. And while Lindsey was always quick to assure him that she understood his doctoral studies had to take precedence over his personal life, and that she really didn’t mind when he couldn’t see her as often as he would have liked, Matthew always wondered if she was telling the truth. After all, it was hard to imagine a pretty, fun-loving girl like Lindsey just staying at home on a Saturday night. And as much as she enjoyed sex, he wasn’t quite certain she was remaining celibate during the days and sometimes weeks in between their dates.

  But she was certainly the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him, and he enjoyed the distraction she provided from the tedious hours of studying and doing research for his dissertation. He was probably still a few years away from even thinking about getting married, settling down, starting a family, and it was a relief that Lindsey seemed more than content with the casual, no-strings-attached relationship that they enjoyed.

  It was a huge shock, therefore, when she showed up at his apartment one evening in tears, nearly hysterical as she told him about her unplanned pregnancy. He had been relieved to leave the matter of birth control up to Lindsey, who was admittedly far more experienced with such things than he was. She’d confessed to having missed several days of birth control pills last month when she’d had a bad cold, and been too strung out on Nyquil to remember to take them.

  And despite the fact that he had no real financial means to support a wife and baby, no way to afford anything bigger than the studio apartment he was currently living in, Matthew had found himself asking Lindsey to marry him, and vowing to raise their unborn child together. Lindsey had resisted at first - for a couple of weeks, actually - not at all sure she wanted to settle down just yet, and definitely not sure she wanted to become a mother at this stage of her life. And when she’d fully realized what a limited budget they would have to live on until Matthew finished his PhD and got a full time job, she balked even more at the idea of getting married and having the baby.

  But the more Matthew thought about it the more he knew he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he’d allowed Lindsey to terminate the pregnancy. His family had never been especially religious, but they had certainly been very morally upright, and responsible for their actions. And while he had always viewed the idea of abortion from a somewhat scientific, clinical perspective, he found when it came to his own child that his point of view was definitely skewed in the opposite direction.

  So he’d put the pressure on Lindsey to go through with the pregnancy and marry him, vowing that he would be finished with his dissertation in just over a year’s time. After that, he’d more or less have his pick of good, high-paying jobs in Silicon Valley, and would be able to provide her and their child with a muc
h better lifestyle than what he could offer now.

  His parents - God bless them - had insisted on not only throwing them a small wedding, but also loaning them the money to move into a larger apartment and buy the things they would need for the baby. And for the next year they’d continued to send him some money each month to help pay the bills, since Matthew’s stipend would only stretch so far. Lindsey hadn’t returned to work, since what she’d be able to earn waiting tables or being a sales clerk - the only sort of jobs she’d really been qualified for at the time - would more than be eaten up paying for childcare.

  And he’d learned, somewhat after the fact, that Lindsey certainly wouldn’t be able to count on her own family for any sort of support - financial or otherwise - since she was estranged from both her mother and her sister. Her father had died when she’d been in high school, and from that point on her relationships with other family members had begun to fracture and disintegrate.

  Matthew had known without having to ask that his parents weren’t particularly happy about the situation he’d landed himself in. It hadn’t been about the money, especially since they could easily afford what they insisted on giving him, and since Matthew had initially resisted their efforts to help as a matter of pride. Instead, it had been about wanting to see him in a better set of circumstances - his PhD complete, gainfully employed in a solid, well-paying job, dating a woman who had more in common with him, and was of a similar intellect and background. Wade and Maureen weren’t snobs, not by a long shot, and while they were comfortably off now both had come from distinctly middle class upbringings.