The Dynastic Plan

He went to California to start a new life. It was what he needed, to be somewhere where no one knew him. He left behind him a bevy of disappointments: bad business ventures, family strife, and broken promises of love. California was the place to get lost.

And lost he got. For the next three years, it was nothing but work. 12-18 hour days in the office punctuated with excursions seeking California/West Coast adventures. Hiking and biking the mountains, surfing the ocean, weekend skiing trips to Canada, sojourns to the desert. All along he made good friends, excellent business contacts, and most importantly, he was able to find some solid footing again.

The 2008 mortgage crisis hit the economy hard. Everyone was suffering, including the once untouchable Silicon Valley. He felt lucky finding a business venture that was a niche, rendering his work immune from the meltdown going on around him. E-books/e-readers were the "it" thing in the publishing world, and delivering the printed word in a new way was game to be played. Going into business with developers and engineers who had ideas on ways to build platforms that could deliver multimedia e-books to the masses seemed like fate, a venture he seemed to be preparing for from birth. Thanks to his ability to source revenue and charm the publishing world with their product's potential, they soon became one of the most sought-after companies for acquisition. While many larger entities were interested, none was more interesting than The Huntzberger Media Group.

He remembers the phone call. His father put on his usual bravado, that kind of tone and language that sounds like a compliment, but really is a put-down. Nevertheless, he arranged a meeting. Their people met his people. There were expensive dinner meetings and late nights smoking cigars and drinking very very expensive scotch, golf games, deep-sea fishing trips, and tickets to sporting events. Finally, an offer was made to which he formally (and with quiet glee) rejected. "Sorry Dad", he said, "But Google just made a better offer."

There was swearing, promises of revenge, humiliation, and questions of family loyalty. Then about a week later a phone call, congratulating him a job well done. " You really stuck it to me didn't you son." His father declared with pride. All was forgiven. Business is business after all.

With the thrill of victory and the hunger to do it again (not to mention a large payout that would keep a person of lesser means comfortable for the rest of his/her natural life), he sought out new adventures, and while there were many who would have been more than happy to have him to his surprise, the venture that made the most sense was the one waiting for him with his family's company back home.

The return of the prodigal son meant settling back into familiar territory, London. The European division of The Huntzberger Group needed an infusion of new blood and Logan was ready for the challenge. He dove in headfirst. While the work was intense he was surprised at how much he enjoyed it.

Yet, all the professional success was not enough, or at least that what others believed. Now that he was back and heading down the "correct path", questions arose about his personal life. "Are you seeing anyone special?" His nosey relatives would ask at family gatherings. "When are you going to settle down?" others would ask. "I would like to see you with someone who will

understand you and our family, like that Fallon girl." His mother would say over and over again. Young, handsome, and wealthy made for a busy social calendar, and while he did not live like a monk, he had no desire to commit either.

They met at Wimbledon the year Marion Bartoli won the Ladies Singles. She was the stepdaughter of this woman, who was a friend of some friend. They ended up talking after being forced to sit next to each other on a crowded car ride to dinner. He was initially impressed by her knowledge of the mechanics and nuances of Tennis, she was impressed that he wasn't an arrogant ass like he initially came off. She had a wicked sense of humor; he had a sincerity that was genuine and heartfelt. They went on their first date a month after the tournament when he called on her while on business in Paris. Children of privilege (her father was a Swiss-French banker, while her mother came from old Parisian money) they found they had similar childhoods including the tendency to burn through au pairs and nannies and getting kicked out of prep schools.

While their early years were similar, their post-secondary education lives couldn't have been more different. He went to Yale, where partying was interrupted by the occasional paper and test, only to have him pulled into the family business where initially tried and failed to succeed. She, on the other hand, found a more subversive way to rebel. After completing Lycee and her parents' messy divorce, she went to nursing school, eschewing high society life to work in a charity hospital and living off the salary that she made working rather than that of her large trust fund. In 2010 her work eventually led her to Haiti where she served as an aid worker following the earthquake. She returned home the following year to take care of her mother, who was diagnosed with Lymphoma and was there holding her mother's hand when she succumbed to the disease two and a half years later. Attending Wimbledon was her first social activity after her losing her mother.

She decided to take up her mother's charity work, particularly with raising money for medical research. When they met she was in the throes of setting up her foundation. She exploded into the charity social scene and soon her calendar filled. He supported her work, escorting her to as many events as he could, participating in crazy fundraising stunts, lobbying for donations whenever possible. They discovered that they both liked adventure; rafting down fast rivers, skiing in uncharted territory, eating seemingly inedible exotic food when dared (and drunk.) They talked, laughed a lot, and developed a genuine affection, dare they thought, love for each other.

A year into the relationship, questions started to arise. "So when are you two going to make it official?" 'You know, she is a catch, you must let her get away", "He is perfect for you, and you're not getting any younger." While his affection for her was genuine and sincere, there was a pang in his core that something was missing. He longed for that feeling, the sense of being home. He felt that way once, but she turned him down saying that she was not ready. He convinced himself that capturing that feeling again was unreasonable; emotions felt with one's first love is always more intense than what follows because after all, it was the first.

He believed he would find no one better than her. She realized she has never been in love before and is happy to have found it the first time around. He proposed to her on the balcony of his friend Colin's Villa located on the cliffs of southern Italy the evening Serena Williams won the French Open. Upon hearing the news their parents rejoiced in excitement and relief.

Plans began in earnest. They initially wanted to get married that December; Christmas season wedding because her mother loved Christmas. Yet, the small intimate Paris wedding they desired soon grew into an unruly social event thanks to his mother and her stepmother, who in her opinion, the most odious woman alive. Schedule conflicts, venue availability, and other matters pushed the wedding out to the following December, specifically, December 3, 2016. Calls from organizers and maternal entities with requests to add to the guest list were made daily. Ideas for themes were floated and scrapped, and showdowns over flower arrangements and hor d'erves selections became a weekly rite. Whenever ideas were challenged, parental, familial, and societal expectations and obligations were always there to counter, until at last, they lost control.

Seeing as weddings were seen primarily as a "bridal" event, she bore the brunt of the planning. Because she abhorred certain kinds of attention, the event became a source of conflict. But she had no choice seeing that he was in London and she was in Paris, where the event would take place. They agreed to pick their battles, promising each other that the "Dynastic Plan" as they privately began to refer to their wedding, would be the last. Individually they ask themselves as to what they look forward to the most, the wedding day itself, or the day after when it is over.

Along with the event came the questions about married life; where would they live (NOT in the US.) How many kids to have (no more than 4), how to strike balance between their busy schedules. What would marriage and family life look like day to day? It was decided that they would start out in London, as business obligations were not as flexible, and that she would commute as needed. She determined that she would have her dealings at her Paris base wrapped up for her move to London in the Fall. Everything was falling into place. The future was set...

...and then he went to Hamburg.