Chapter 27

The new school week became a blur to Selena before she could focus. Lucy's car broke down Monday afternoon and she had to work a night shift. Not knowing if she would need her car she was hesitant to let Lucy borrow hers but volunteered to drive her to and from work. It was the least she could do after all the rides and car loans Lucy had given her. Between school, practice, games and Jeromy, Lucy was pulled to the limit. On Wednesday when Selena finished class at 2:00 she planned to drive Lucy to her late afternoon shift with the promise that Jeromy could pick her up, but a check of her voice mail changed her plans.

BEEP "Hello lover, I've got to skip out of town today. Jim Dorn called me just as he was leaving on his vacation and said they had 2 job sites they wanted us to bid on. His back up is bringing me and few other engineers around today and tomorrow, maybe Friday too. Once Aaron finishes up classes he will be able to go on these things and spec out things for us until the design engineer is able to travel. I love you and I'll try to call, but study hard and I'll see you Friday night. If you don't hear from me I'll see you at the house. I know you have a lot of studying to do, but I really hope you can spend the weekend.

BEEP "Hello Miss Hanson. This is Ross Curran of Wall Street Global. I'm not sure if we totally discussed it when you were last here, but we would like you to come our offices this summer for a paid internship to familiarize yourself with our way of business. It might also give our clients a preview of the new outlook you're going to provide. I'm guessing about a 3-week stay between your finish of classes and the last week in August would serve our purposes. I'm not sure of the rules at PolyTech, but any pay could either be deferred or expensed, as clothing and lodging allowances if paid internships are not allowed. We can work all of that out when you call me back.

Selena listened to her messages twice and plopped down on her bed think. Both messages were both good and bad news for her depending on how she looked at them. She was just beginning to sort things out when the door flew open and Lucy burst in.

"Oh do I envy you that you have time to lay down on the bed. If I get 4 hours of sleep before classes tomorrow it will be a lot. Luckily I'll be able to study a lot at work tonight. I've only had to actually go out on the warehouse floor twice in the last 2 nights. I have enough of a crew to plot the manifests on the computer and they do everything else putting things away. I give out the breaks and lunches and I can cruise." Lucy said without pausing as she came in to get her backpack and fly out the door.

"I'm not as carefree and cheery as I look. I just lost Joe for a few days and I lost 3 weeks of summer as well. I won't need the car tonight, you can take it." Selena said as she flipped her the keys.

"Nothing serious is there?" Lucy asked as she took the keys and headed for the door.

"No, not really. Joe's out getting specs on a 4 million dollar deal, and I'm interning in Manhattan for a couple grand a week plus expenses. Things could be worse." Selena smiled at her.

"Watch the intern pay; they have rules in certain situations." Lucy said pausing as she opened the door.

"Clothing allowance and meal money, then." Selena said with a laugh as the door closed and Lucy was off.

Selena laughed and talked out loud to herself.

"How can someone so fucked up in her head be so together that she can balance a schedule at PolyTech, a sports team with 2 practices and a game every week, a 30 hour part time job as a supervisor, no less, and STILL balance starting a relationship with a new boyfriend?" She said amazed and proud of her friend at the same time.

She called Ross Curran and he spoke with her as if she were an old friend and confidant. She was on a plane that few others understood financially when it came to Globals business and it was apparent the Ross Curran knew it already. The Five wanting her to come spend 3 weeks in the trenches was a metaphor for pinching themselves over a prodigy. After speaking with him and realizing the what, and why of her requested appearance she swelled with pride and wished she could tell Joe right now. Instead she called her Dad. After explaining the internship and being away the 3 weeks she decided to lay the bomb now while his front was vulnerable.

"Daddy, when school finishes this month, I'm going to move in with Joe for the summer. We have a couple little vacations planned and it just makes more sense for me. I'm going to be his wife and partner and I really WANT to be with him I know you'll be mad and don't approve but you'll have to trust me on this one. It's not like staying at home will keep me a virgin. You know we sleep together. I don't want to be a burden on you, always waiting up for me or wondering where I am. Daddy, he's a wonderful man and I love him so much. Please don't fight with me on this... " She said apologetically to her father, knowing that she was breaking his heart deep down.

"Selena, I won't fight you. I won't tell you I'm happy, but your mother and I sort of expected this. I really thought you would ask, instead of telling us." Her Dad said a bit disappointed.

"Daddy, if I asked you and you said No and I went anyway I would be breaking your heart twice. Look, you've raised a good girl and she has met a great man who treats me like a queen. He will never take the place of you. I love you and Mom more than ever for making me work hard and teaching me the value hard work. You know that Joe can retire right now, but he's putting it off until I finish my commitment to Wall Street Global. He could easily pay them back the scholarship money and I wouldn't be committed anymore. But, I have values you taught me. I made a commitment to them and my word means something. Before I call myself "retired" to be with Joe, I want to say I did something to make a difference. You know I got those values from you and I love you and thank you and Mom for them everyday, whether you know it or not. Joe has worked hard too and had some hard luck with life, but now he wants to enjoy the good luck he's had financially. He and I are so happy and content together. You know he's going to move to New York when I go to work there. We'll be together maybe even as husband and wife then. We have to sit down and talk with you and Mom about that. Please understand that I can make decisions and I'm willing to live with any mistakes I make. I'll take the responsibility. Even though I'll always be your little girl, I'm not a little girl anymore."

"What about children? You always wanted to be a Mommy before, isn't that in your plans?" Scott Hanson asked.

"Of course Daddy! We want at least one baby, and retired Joe can be a great Daddy. That's why we will stay here, so the baby can be near its grandparents. We want to move around a bit, but won't do that until our baby is adjusted in school and ready to begin becoming an adult. We've planned a lot Daddy and left a lot of options open, but the first order of business is Joe getting himself unfixed and we have scheduled a meeting with doctors who specialize in that. Come on Daddy, you know your little girl thinks things through better than that. I've measured, or I should say, WE'VE measured a lot of things out and know where we want to be at different stages of our lives. Daddy, my physical, emotional, and educational maturity have all come together and I am deeply in love with this man. I KNOW the consequences I may face with a man so much older than me, but Joe is so much younger than his years in so many ways and is in fantastic physical condition. I would love him any way that he was." She said, revealing plans.

"What about going to exotic places that you always talk about?" Her Dad asked.

"Daddy you can bring babies anywhere to visit or stay. When it starts school we will save those trips for the summer. If we ever want to get away alone I bet its grandparents would love chance to spend time with their grandchild." She mused.

Scott Hanson grew tired of his daughter always having the right answers.

"Selena! Living together is supposed to be a right of married couples. Whenever I think of you at his house all I think of is you two screwing!"

"Daddy! Number one, what we do alone together is our business and no one else's, not even my fathers. You know I love him and you should take my word on that. Number two, "screwing" is a nasty way of saying it. We prefer "making love" because that is what it is. Is that what you do to Mom? Screw her? To think of me and us that way is just wrong! You and Joe are about the same age, how many times a week or a day do you screw? Are you up to it?" She asked somewhat viciously.

"SELENA! Have a little respect!"

"You don't seem to have any respect for me in that way Daddy! You raised me to be a good girl and I am. I'm a woman now and things I do with the man I love are private. I gave you the respect I owe you by telling you what was going on from the start. You don't seem to take what we have seriously and that's just wrong!" Selena fired back.

"Do you really think he's going to marry you?" Her Dad said sarcastically.

"If it were up to him, we would be married already. It's me that wants to wait until after graduation. He even suggested a secret marriage ceremony in Jamaica while we were there, but I wouldn't do that either. Daddy you want to argue and I don't know why. I thought you had accepted Joe and now I'm finding out your real feelings. I'm surprised at you. How does Mom feel?" Selena insisted.

"Well, I guess she's right that you'll never live home again! She likes Joe and thinks I'm jealous of him because he stole you away. Ooops I guess I shouldn't have said that." Scott Hanson mis-spoke.

Selena softened quickly at his admission.

"Daddy, I'll always be your little girl. Just because I fell in love with another man and he makes me happy it doesn't mean he won me away from you. I love my Daddy to bits and he doesn't need to compete with anyone. Just because your little girl is not a virgin anymore and has found the love of her life, something you knew would happen eventually, it doesn't mean she's replaced you. If you stop holding a grudge against Joe long enough to see what he is to me, what he does for me, and how happy he makes me it might make you happy that I'm so much in love. He was gone for almost 3 weeks and from when he got home on Friday night until I went back to class on Monday was one of the most beautiful times, and happiest times of my life. We are so much in love Daddy. Please be happy for us... and lets forget all the mean things we said to each other today. You know and I know we both didn't mean them. OK?"

"Ohhh alright Selena, I guess I was just being foolish and over reacting to your living arrangement and I am happy that you're happy. I just wish it hadn't happened so fast. I'm sorry for upsetting you so much, and PLEASE don't tell your mother." Scott apologized.

"Haha don't worry, I won't. This will be a Daddy-daughter thing, I promise." She vowed.

Although his reaction was not different than she had expected, it was not her intention to get into an argument and certainly not to talk about sex. She decided then and there that she had to plan more things with her parents and Joe outside of their house so they could see things as they were. She rifled her purse for the number of the travel agent she used for the Jamaica plans and called looking for a weekend trip to Cape Cod or Maine. When the agent, whom she suspected as an old girlfriend of Joe's, suggested a train trip to the rocky coast of Maine, staying in Ogunquit, she thought it would be perfect. She gave her several dates to work on and Selena would get back to her when she got her parents and Joe to agree on one.

Studies, classes, and the Wall Street Journal kept Selena busy for the next few days. She spoke with Joe at length each day going over stocks and trends she had noticed on their investments. Joe's Wall Street time was limited, but combined with her input they kept tabs. They worked smoothly as a team seamlessly keeping an eye on things when Joe could not spend full time. Joe was excited at spending 3 weeks in New York over the summer. He enjoyed summer in New York with baseball and the music scene flourishing. He couldn't have been more proud of Selena and was truly excited for her as well. He expected to be home by midday on Friday and knew Selena would come for the weekend as soon as her last class finished. Her first exams were coming next week and he knew that she would need her space, knowing that she would study much better at "home" rather than in the dorm.

Friday came quickly for Selena being so busy, but as soon as her last class for the year ended she made a bee-line to the dorm to pack her books for Mondays voluntary review sessions and the week's exams. She was hoping to run into Lucy to see if she would need her car if Lucy's were still in the shop. She didn't want to leave her high and dry after all the times she had taken Lucy's wheels. Just as she threw on her backpack to leave she noticed a note taped on the back of the door.

"Jeromy is bringing me to work and will pick me up in the morning. I'm coming here to sleep afterwards, figuring you will be at Joe's. Call me at work if these plans aren't good. I sooooo would like to go to Jeromy's to sleep, but I'll be in trouble for sure if I do. I'm going on over two weeks with no sex, am I revirginized yet? (I know you're laughing) HE IS SO SWEET!! (I'll call you at Joe's from work tonight. I have to talk, OK?)"

Selena laughed at her revirginized comment, happy that she was making an effort to make this relationship work. She hoped Jeromy would be a good lover once they finally got together. She didn't want Lucy to stray again.

Within minutes she was in the Mustang cruising to Joe's in the Spring air thinking how nice it would be to have exams in February, when the weather was lousy.

When she pulled up Joe's drive she was happy to see the garage open and he apparently home. In the back of her mind she worried that the 2 plus days in a van might have screwed up his back, not wanting to have to nurse Joe, at least in that way.

She made her way through the garage and up the stairs and threw open the door yelling, "Honey, I'm home!... and my Father knows it!"

"You told him you're moving in for the summer?" Joe said as he came out of his office in shorts and t-shirt with a hand full of faxes and overseas communiqués.

"Yes, I laid it on the line, we argued, but I got through to him. You know he just hates to give up his little girl. He's cute and I understand where he's coming from but I can't patronize him anymore. He was a little shocked I stood up to him, but it reinforces that I'm a woman, not a girl." She said as she slid her arms inside of his and hugged, then kissed him deeply.

"I'm just going over some of the things in the Japanese portfolio, they lost 2 percent of the market yesterday and it looks like we got hit." He said as he heard the front doorbell ring.

"I'll get that, probably Jehovah's Witnesses, I saw them on the street." Selena said as she headed toward the door. "You aren't talking about the McKinney stock are you?" She hollered back as she got to the door.

She unlocked the door and there stood her father.

"Yes, the McKinney! It dived, and it wasn't exactly a penny stock. It was a bad hunch." Joe hollered back.

Selena smiled at her Dad and motioned him in, holding a finger up in a "wait a moment" motion.

"I SOLD McKinney last night, I saw that one coming, and uhh... Joe? My Dad is here!" She shouted back as Joe headed up the hall.

"What did you sell it at and what made you move on it? Oh Hi, Scott."

"Excuse me Daddy, Joe thinks he lost a quarter million bucks and he didn't.

Joe, that McKinney was the provision supplier for overseas McDonalds and they had a recall scare on pork in Germany just when they were launching that pork sandwich. I heard that on a market report thursday morning but they didn't name a name. I knew we paid over 5 for that and was closing in on 6, since we already made something on it and the risk was too blurry to hang on." Selena said smiling.

"Do you see how smart she is Scott? McKinney is at one and a half and dropping right now. We had 50K of those on spec." Joe said as he walked up and shook Scott's hand and kissed his daughter.

"You can toss that kind of money around?" Scott asked.

"It's what I do Scott, or I should say WE, it's what we do. I'm playing with their money now, but whenever McDonalds puts a new menu item out, especially overseas I look for the core of the item and try to buy into it a bit, a quick buy and sell. McKinney is a meatpacker with a big operation in Germany and they sell to the McDonalds chain. Only beef in most places, but they are the exclusive on pork because they own the process to make that boneless rib sandwich. She heard there was a pork recall imminent and sold before word hit all the markets. Truthfully I usually don't mess with stocks or futures in that price league, but I've killed with this sort of thing before.

So, what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Joe finally asked after blathering on to explain his business.

"I came up to apologize to you and my daughter for not trusting her to have good judgment and to you for not thinking your intentions were honorable. Just these last 5 minutes have opened my eyes a lot to what a team you two are. I have to say that I thought no one would answer the door, figuring you would be busy with each other already. I'm kind of ashamed. I wanted to give Selena an "I told you so" and I was wrong, way wrong. I'll make it up to both of you, I promise." Her Daddy said as he turned to walk out the door.

"Daddy, you don't have anything to make up to us. Just respect us as a couple, like I respect you as a father, and Oh, Mom won't hear about this either hehehe."

Scott Hanson smiled back and left the two of them alone, going away like a dog with it's tail between its legs...

Selena turned to Joe with tears in her eyes.

"I think he finally let go today, finally figured out we are in it for the long haul." She said as Joe enveloped her in his arms.

"It's gotta be tough on a father, I bet, to see his little girl grow up and not need his constant protection." Joe whispered.

"Or see that duty switched over to another man, like you." She whispered back.

Joe looked her in the eye and said, "Is that what I'm doing? Protecting you?"

"Yes, against all the monsters that used to hide under my bed." She laughed.

"How about the monster that's IN your bed?" He laughed.

"You mean this one?" She asked as she reached out and cupped his package with a squeeze.

"I wouldn't tease that monster. He's been looking for you for a week now and he's getting REAL hungry!" Joe said as a double entendre.

"I've fought off that monster every way I can think of and I'm always the last one standing." She countered.

"Want to try a battle now?" He said as his hand covered hers on his pants.