The next morning after a hearty breakfast, Elena found the card that the manager at Richland Industries had given her on her previous visit. It was in the folder with the pictures and other information she'd gotten. Once Vincent and Father had looked it over thoroughly, they gave it all back to her for safekeeping.
She couldn't remember his name, or even if he'd introduced himself, so she checked the card and found it at the bottom: Ron Hamilton. His number was next to his name, so she picked up the phone and dialed it. It took some time to persuade him to even see her, but she finally was able to convince him. He told her that there would be a higher-ranking manager joining them, and it was agreed that they would meet the following afternoon.
She hung up slightly frustrated that she wouldn't find out the answers she needed sooner, but remembered that she had a dinner date with Doris and her family. She considered her options: writing down her feelings and thoughts about the events of the last few days, shopping, playing tourist, or just being lazy. All of the options appealed to her, but the last one wasn't in her nature. So she decided to spend the rest of the morning writing, then she'd go out and check out the museum scene, doing some shopping on the way back.
The day whizzed by, and when she returned to the apartment building around 4 PM, she had two grocery bags and a museum bag, all full. She laughingly told the lobby guard who had opened the door for her, "It's a good thing I have an engagement this evening. Otherwise, I'd still be out there finding things I can't do without."
He grinned at her in reply, and hurried over to the elevator to summon a car for her. When it came, he punched the button for her floor. She smiled her thanks as she got in and the doors closed. When she was once again inside her apartment, she thankfully put her purchases down on the counter and breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly put her food purchases away and was on the way to the bedroom with the other bag, when she noticed her answering machine was blinking. She went over and hit the button, to find one message from Doris.
"Elena, hi. I hope you don't mind, but I mentioned to my boss that you were coming over for dinner tonight, and he said he wanted to meet you. Don't worry, he's not going to be there for the food, but plans to show up later. So consider yourself warned, okay? Okay. I'll see you later this evening. Bye."
Elena sighed and shook her head. "Well," she said to herself, "I guess I'd have to meet him sooner or later." She glanced at the clock and decided she had time for a relaxing bath before getting ready for her dinner engagement. She hurried into her bedroom, put the bag down on a chair, and started her preparations for the evening.
At 6:30, the car Doris hired to bring Elena to the house pulled into the driveway. Elena got out, after making arrangements with the driver to return at 10 to take her home, and went to the door. Before she could ring the bell, it opened. Doris and her husband, Patrick, were there ready to welcome her with open arms. They both hugged her.
As she stopped in the foyer to remove her coat, she handed Patrick a long cloth bag, saying, "I remembered two things about you when I was thinking about what to bring to give you two. One was that you were an amateur gardener, so flowers were out; and two, that neither of you was a teetotaler. So I got this. I hope you like it."
Patrick pulled the bottle out of the bag and looked at the label. "I've heard good things about this winery, but haven't tried any of their wines." He looked up at her and grinned. "I see you decided it would be better to give a New York wine instead of a California one."
Elena laughed as Doris took her coat and hung it up. "That was what the shopkeeper at the store told me I'd better get, 'to show support to the New York wineries'."
They turned to go into the living room and heard a young voice call out, "Mom? Which box is for the Tunnel People again?"A boy about eight years oldstopped at the entrance to the living room from the hallwhen hesaw Elena. "Uh oh."
Patrick hurried over to his son and they left, the boy protesting that he didn't mean to, but he hadn't known that she had arrived, and the dad soothing his son. Doris turned to Elena to try to explain away the remark, but was startled to see that Elena wasn't showing curiosity, but astonishment.
"Actually, my son was talking about some people –"
"Who live in tunnels under Manhattan."
It was Doris' turn to be surprised. "Like Father," she began carefully.
Elena turned to her, her surprise turning to relief. "And Vincent."