November 2, 1989
At the bar in McSorley's, Alexis Davis sipped a mug of dark ale and reflected on the history that surrounded her. If one of her colleagues were to ask, she could wax about Faith Seidenberg and Karen DeCrow, the National Organization for Women attorneys, who sued for discrimination and won the right for women to be served August 10, 1970. McSorley's was also the bar where her first true love had had his first drink at eighteen.
He had shared that story in 1982 when he had bought her a drink at Republic Gardens to celebrate her own eighteenth birthday. They had both been students at Georgetown University then. She had been about to finish her freshman year and he was a year away from a PhD in Government. He had never finished his doctoral degree. Less than month before her nineteenth birthday his older brother had disappeared and then been presumed dead. He had left Georgetown to attend to family responsibilities.
That had been the end of their relationship. That had been the end of his political aspirations. She had graduated from Georgetown in 1985, gone on to law school at Yale University, and then taken an associate position at Whitter, Whitaker, and Holmes. He had worked with his father to learn the family business and, when his father was convicted of Duke Lavery's murder the previous June, he had ascended to head the Jerome Crime Family.
Alexis had no idea if Julian had given her so much as a passing thought since their painful goodbye six years earlier. She wanted to believe that the bottle of Cristal, delivered to her suite on the morning she had graduated at the top of her Georgetown class; and scales of justice, delivered to her law firm the day after the announcement that she had passed the New York State Bar, were both gifts from him. The scales adorned the bookshelf in her upper east side office. The champagne sat at home in a cupboard waiting for a real celebration. She hadn't had such a moment since Julian had gone back to his family in New York.
Alexis liked to believe that she had accepted the offer at Whitter, Whitaker, and Holmes because it was a good offer. It was a good offer, and she was on the fast track to making partner. It also put her in the same city as the man she loved. No matter how much Julian had explained that he loved her too much to bring her into his world she was afraid she loved him too much to truly let go. She supposed that was why she was standing at the bar in McSorley's drinking ale on the day Julian had buried his father.
Others might have sent flowers to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Alexis had considered that. With further reflection, she had decided that Julian wouldn't want any traceable connection between them. He had explained all of that six years earlier. With a wistful gulp Alexis drained her mug, allowed herself one final moment of reflective nostalgia, and then turned to leave.
The bar was full as Alexis navigated her egress across the sawdust covered floor. She weaved her way through the throng of people, along with a few adopted stray cats, and then she found herself face to face with the familiar rugged, yet charming, features and black eyes. In that moment, Alexis followed her heart, wrapped her arms around his neck, and brought her lips to his.