Chapter 16: Jeanne

“So, Alex,” my dad started. “What’s this about me becoming a grandfather?”

We were all sitting around the family room discussing my family’s vacation and all that they had done. Cynthiana’s eyes sprang open as she sat up straight in her chair at my dad’s question.

“This may not be good!” I thought to myself as everyone looked first at Cynthiana, and then at me. I had forgotten that Cynthiana had not been there when we discussed this on the yacht.

“What?” my dad said “Was I not supposed to mention it? Is it a secret?”

“Not a secret, necessarily,” I replied. “It’s just that some of us were not present the last time we discussed it.”

“Well, don’t you think it’s about time we discussed it with EVERYBODY?” Cynthiana asked.

“Mom, Carina is resigning at the clinic, and since she didn’t get the chance to enjoy being a mother with Mischa and Phillipe because of med school, she decided she wants to be a mother again. And you know that I have been fixed. So she has asked Alex to do the honors. Of course, we will raise the child as our own with my name on the certificate of birth and they will bear the Rappeneau name. But Alex will be the real father and be part of the child’s life. We have yet to work out all the details, but there’s time,” he explained to his mother.

“But I’m too young to be a grandmother!” Cynthiana wailed and then laughed. It took a minute for everyone else to get it.

“What’s the schedule like for tomorrow?” I asked, intentionally changing the subject.

“Your family will leave for the airport by six-thirty. I understand they have a nine-fifteen flight. Your new instructor will be here at nine to begin your lessons,” Cynthiana said.

“My instructor?” I asked.

“Dance lessons. For the ball,” Cynthiana replied. “I’m not sure how much they can do in a week, but we’ll do our best.”

“Alex took ballroom dancing when he was in the eighth grade. Or was it ninth?” my mom said. “He thought it would help him play golf better. If I remember correctly, he did okay. The dance teacher said that he was awkward because of his growth spurt, but she thought he’d grow out of it.”

“Well, then this might be a refresher, but these are skills he will always be able to use whether he plays golf or not. After his dance lessons, his sailing tutor will be here to help him study for his certificates. I think it’s ‘First Aid’ tomorrow.”

“Does he study like that all the time? When we’re not here, I mean?” my mom asked.

“For half million a year, he’d better study his ass off,” my dad quipped.

“Alex has already proven to be a good student. I explained to him that the next five years was going to be like going to university. Only with a very specially designed curriculum. I want him to be prepared for running the Foundation when I finally retire and there is much he needs to learn.”

“But sailing? And golf?” my mom asked, obviously confused.

“The more well-known he is, and the more successful he is, the better-connected he will become and hence the more valuable he’ll be to the Foundation. The Foundation employees a large number of people with very special and specific skills. It is my dream that Alex will exemplify a lot of those special skills as he learns to lead them.”

“Well just don’t get too busy to remember to come home from time to time,” she said as she smiled weakly. Mommas just hate to lose their babies.

Jenna came to my room one last time. She was a mixture of excited and sad. Excited to get back to the states and get ready for school. Like me, she loved learning. But she was sad to be leaving me. In truth, I was sad she was leaving as well. I almost asked her to stay, but I knew that wouldn’t be fair to her considering how much I would be gone this spring. I did remind her that we were going on the catamaran again in March.

“I know. I can hardly wait,” she said. “I’ve been texting Anna and she says we’re going to have a blast in the southern Caribbean.”

“Jenna, you do know that you can call me anytime. I’ll be carrying that satellite phone with me from now on,” I told her.

“I know. And if you ever get a smart phone we can text each other,” she half-smiled.

“Goodbye, big sister,” I said as I kissed her. She was six minutes older than me.

“Goodbye, little brother,” she said as she closed the door.

I was up early to see them off, then I went in search of Roland. I had an idea I wanted to try.

Later, I was back in the ballroom, the chairs were all stacked against the wall and a small table held a pair of small speakers and an iPhone cradle.

“Alex, this is Mademoiselle Mauresmo,” Cynthiana said.

“Jeanne, please. You make me feel so old calling me Mademoiselle Mauresmo,” she told Cynthiana.

For just a moment, the whole world shifted on it’s axis and I saw a glimpse of ... something. It wasn’t like traveling through space when I kissed someone. But I was certain that I saw a lush tropical island with a tall mountain. On the side of the mountain was a cave. Then I became aware of the warning bells going off in my head as I bid my heart goodbye.

Jeanne Mauresmo wasn’t old by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I wondered if she was as old as me. She was tall and slender. Not necessarily skinny, but like her body was waiting on her to mature some more before it blossomed. Everything about the woman/child screamed grace. Every limb she moved, every turn of her nubile body, even her smile was graceful.

She was dressed in a cropped top that exposed the ring in her pierced bellybutton, and cutoff jeans that had been frayed so much, her tiny butt cheeks showed when she moved. She wore sandals, but I noticed she laid a pair of low-heeled pumps on the table beside her iPhone.

I couldn’t find my tongue as I just stood there and stared like a little boy.

“Okay, Jeanne, this is Alex. He’s the one I have selected,” she said. They must have known each other fairly well for her to assume Jeanne knew what I had been selected for.

“Have you ever danced” she asked me.

It caught me off guard. “Wha...?” I stammered.

“I asked you if you have you ever danced,” she repeated.

“I took a few lessons in junior high,” I replied, nervously.

“Oh, last year?” she quipped.

“Uh, oh! This girl had wit,” I thought to myself.

“Just kidding!” she laughed. “Why don’t we start with a waltz?” she said as she struck the pose without turning on any music. She wanted to see how much I knew.

I stumbled through an elementary box step for a few minutes as my memory and my skills returned. Jeanne didn’t say anything when we stopped. She just slipped on her heels and placed her iPhone in the slot. Strauss’ Blue Danube started playing and she resumed her pose.

I took a few steps and felt myself dropping into the zone, just like when I played golf. Suddenly, we were dancing around the empty room. When the music ended, she walked over to the table and stopped her smartphone.

“What was that?” she asked.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I replied helplessly.

Jeanne turned and stomped out of the room. I decide to wait her out, so I helped myself to one of the bottled waters and sat down on the floor.

Less than five minutes later, Jeanne was back with Cynthiana soothingly patting her on the shoulder.

“Now you see why I selected Alex. He just keeps surprising me,” she told the girl.

“He does?”

“Oh, yes. Get Sofía to tell you about the bright light sometime. Talk about a shock,” she told her. Then to me she said, “Alex, why don’t you explain to Jeanne what happened?”

“All of it?”

“Well, she’s only here until her father sends the car for her,” Cynthiana said as she went back the way she came.