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"Why?"
"He comes from one of the richest families in England. The press here is obsessed with them."
"How come? I bet there are plenty other rich families."
Dani hesitates, and slides under her covers before answering. "Well, last year his brother had some major problems with his business. And Parker's dad died when Parker was seven, in a hunting accident."
"Oh, that is very unfortunate,” I barely manage to say, shaken. “I’ll let you sleep. Do you want me to turn off your light?"
"Sure, thanks," Dani says, eyeing me closely.
"Good night."
I turn off her light and then walk to my room, suddenly feeling dizzy. My laptop is next to my bed, and I stare at it for a few minutes from the doorway.
Then I grab it, and sit on my bed cross-legged, trying to ignore my rumbling stomach. It takes some time for my ancient laptop to start. I look for an ashtray in the meantime and light up a cigarette. I almost decide to give up on the whole thing, because it still feels wrong. Just typing his name in Google feels like I'm breaking some unseen barrier. As Google lists the first results, I realize I don't even know what I'm looking for. Not anything about his family history, really. As far as I'm concerned, memories about family bullshit belong buried somewhere deep, deep inside one's brain, where no one ever has access. Hell, I wish I didn't have access to all my memories. I can only imagine how Parker feels about his. No, I'm not looking for anything about his family. I'm looking for something that tells me Parker is the passionate yet tender man I came to know tonight. But Google, my faithful companion when it came to assignments during my college years, disappoints.
I get page after page of info on Parker's brother, Robert. I skip most of them, but can't help noticing the headlines seem to be more than six months old, nothing very recent. What I find is mostly gossip about Robert hooking up with one socialite or other. What little I find about Parker concerns business, mostly. He’s thirty-one years old, which I knew.
He's not only involved in James's businesses, but also several others here
in England. I don't really understand what his involvement is, but I make a mental note to ask him the next time I see him. I stop for a second, wondering how he could just leave everything behind and move to California for six months. One article states that Parker recently took over Blakesley Enterprises, a mining equipment company that belongs to his family, which his brother had been running for years before Parker took over.
There's almost nothing about Parker's private life. There is virtually nothing about him during his college years. There are some pictures of Parker in recent years, attending various public events. He's never photographed alone, but the two or three women who appear in rotation by his side are always the same. Two of them his cousins, and I learn one is an old friend. No socialites like his brother. No scandals. One article actually says, "Give us something worth writing about for once, Parker." Another calls him Britain's mystery man.
I close my laptop. Parker is as much a mystery as he was before. I grab my phone to set the alarm, which is when I notice a message from him.
Parker: Asleep?
He sent it fifteen minutes ago, but I reply anyway.
Jess: No.
I expect him to type back, but he calls instead.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hey. How come you’re not sleeping?”
“Dani and I started chatting, and then...I googled you.”
“Find anything interesting?”
“Nope. You’re just as mysterious as ever.”
He laughs softly. “I like keeping you on your toes.”
“Were you really eight when you were sent to boarding school?”
“Yes... it’s quite common here. In my family at least.” He sounds a little sad all of a sudden, and I don’t want that, so I switch the subject.
“So...what’s it going to take to make you less of a mystery?”
“Seeing me more often would be a start.”
“You...you want that?”
“I’m a stick-in-the-mud, order-obsessed guy and you’re the opposite, and I have no clue what I’m doing here. But I like being around you, and you like being around me.”
