August 2027: Happy Times, But New Worries.

The next day would dawn bright and sunny, which fitted in well with the plans that Drew had made for them that day, which started with a trip to the viewing level of the One World Observatory followed by the ferry across to Staten Island for a picnic lunch with a view towards the lower end of Manhattan. Ethan would not be joining them, as he had to go into the office; his time off to be with his parents when his father had been so ill had eaten into his holiday allocation, and although his employer had told him to take the time anyway, he had not wished to do so as he felt he would be taking advantage of the man's good nature. Being in the office was also a good excuse to spend a little less time with his mother…

As the little group of three headed out on their excursion they bumped into Mike, who was also heading for the subway, although he would be heading in the opposite direction to them once they arrived there. After the introductions were made, he was quite surprised to discover that Ethel had heard of him, but he would admit to Tina that night that the fact that he was known of in London made him feel even more of a success. He invited them all to come to the show that was taking place on Sunday afternoon at the climax of the Summer School program, and Drew tentatively agreed, as it was scheduled for 2pm, and that would fit in well with their plan to visit St Joseph's in the morning and hopefully let Ethel unknowingly get a glimpse of her grandson. The fact that Mike had hinted that he would be dancing himself as part of the show made it irresistible in any case.

They parted at the subway, with Mike heading down to the uptown platform as they headed to the downtown; there was a train pulling in as he ran down, and he was away by the time that the threesome reached their own. They did not have long to wait on their own train either; it would take them to Cortlandt Street, the station that was right at the heart of their first destination.

They stopped for a moment at the Memorial for those killed and stood watching the water flow down into the footprint of what had been one of the towers that had dominated the skyline of the city. "I remember that day vividly," said Ethel suddenly. "I was at home alone when it broke onto the screens of the BBC, just after the lunchtime news bulletins, taking a soap opera off the air. It remained live on air after that, and so we saw the moments when the second plane hit, and when they collapsed… They moved the children's television shows onto BBC2, which was a relief to parents I suppose. My husband came home from his office that evening, ranting and raving about how they should destroy all the Muslim countries in the world for the attack and then…"

She stopped, conscious of Evie, but Drew did not need her to carry on to know exactly what she had been about to say, because he had been in the same position with Lucy; if someone or something had upset her during the day, he would bear the brunt of it afterwards… He checked his watch, and saw that they were at risk of being late for their slot in the Observatory, so he guided the other two in his party towards the entrance…

Having checked in and passed through the security checks, they headed up in the elevator that rapidly took them up to the 102nd floor, where the windows gave a 360-degree view of the city below them. Ethel made her way over to them at once, mesmerised just as Evie had been the first time that she had been taken here, her face alight with wonder. All of the landmarks were now visible to her, including the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings up in Midtown, places that had defined the city back in the 1930s, when Midtown had been the home of the majority of the highest skyscrapers, the Woolworth Building almost an outlier down near the tip of the island. Now it was surrounded by others and dwarfed a little by them, despite the fact that once it had been the tallest building in the world…

They stayed there until Ethel had had her fill of the view, and many photos had been taken of her with the buildings in the backdrop, then headed back down to ground level to head southward, catching the subway the short distance to South Ferry station. From there it was a short stroll to the terminal of the ferry that would take them to the fifth borough of New York, a service that was free to all to compensate for the lack of a subway service to the island…

They ate their lunch in the small park that looked directly out towards the southern tip of Manhattan, with a view of the Statue of Liberty, the icon that they had passed close to on their way across. As they ate a liner came into port, heading for the piers on the west side of Manhattan; a quick check on his phone allowed Drew to inform the others that it was the Queen Mary II, arriving after her transatlantic voyage from Southampton.

Ethel smiled, and said, "There was a part of me when I first decided that I would like to come to this city that wanted to come across by ship, and relive the romance of the old days, but it is prohibitively expensive to do so, and it does take so long when compared to a flight. I guess it would be okay if you were travelling as a couple or part of a group, but a nightmare if you were alone. People would think you had to be lonely, and would try and include you in their conversations, and invite you to join them for meals and activities… Quite honestly, the very idea of that, although well intentioned, makes me shudder in horror."

Drew nodded, but then thought how wonderful it had to be to arrive in the city on such a vessel. He surmised that the deck would be lined with people even now as they sailed past the Statue of Liberty, just as thousands of others had done in far less luxurious vessels over the decades; those immigrants heading for Ellis Island, fleeing persecution at home or just seeking a better life for themselves and their families in the New World. He realised that he knew the descendant of one such person, as Nick's great-grandfather had to have arrived on his way from Nazi Germany on a boat in the 1930s…

The vessel he had just seen would dock at the piers in Manhattan itself, and there might be cheering and ticker tape for their arrival, just as there had been in those days before reliable and convenient air travel across the Atlantic, when the stars of the day descended the gangways of those old liners amidst the flashbulbs of cameras and the press of the reporters…

After lunch they headed back to Manhattan, but stayed on the subway past 14th Street, eventually alighting at 34th Street, from where it was a short walk to Macy's, that great department store that dwarfed even the largest in London. Ethel was not fooled by Drew's claim that they had to pick up some new school clothes for Evie, even if they proceeded to do exactly that. She was happy enough to stroll through the various departments as they made their way through the store and a couple of items did catch our eye, ending up in the bag she had in her hand as they left the building.

They headed then for the Spotlight Diner, taking a bus down the length of Broadway, passing the Flatiron Building as they did so. Its distinctive shape was as intriguing as ever. "It must be so inconvenient to have one of the rooms at the narrow end; they must be more or less impossible to furnish," remarked Ethel as they passed.

"That is true, but the shape of the building was of course dictated by the unique status of Broadway as a street in this part of town; it is the only road that does not run either north-south or east-west, and the only one that does not meet other streets at a right angle. The Flatiron was a marvel when it was built, and is still an architectural icon today, even if it is dwarfed by the buildings around it," responded Drew.

They alighted from the bus close to The Strand bookstore, and the moment she saw it, Ethel wanted to head inside. Once in the store, she was soon walking up and down the narrow aisles with a look of concentration on her face, which was only broken when she eventually gasped and pulled out a volume from the shelves. "I have been looking for a copy of this book in England for twenty years; it is out of print there now. My husband knew that this was one of my favourite titles, and it was destroyed one day in an 'accident' by him," she said with a smile in her voice. "This will be taking pride of place in my bookcase when I get it home; it will be a pleasure to read it once more."

Drew offered to pay when they reached the counter, but Ethel insisted she would purchase it herself. As it happened, Dante was on the cash desk, and so Drew made the introductions; as he talked to Ethel, she was distracted enough not to notice that he had slipped his bank card onto the machine to pay for her book, and would not be aware until she reached home…


As the group of three headed on to the Spotlight for an early dinner, Ethan was making his way the few blocks from his office to that of the Mackenzie Trust, where his mother had asked him to meet her. She had supposedly come to the Trust offices to brief the staff on the plan to renovate the premises and take back control of the entire building for Mackenzie Inc as well. He did not anticipate too many complaints from the Trust staff, as there were to be no redundancies, and the new arrangements would give them more space from which to work, and better amenities too…

Ethan had already had a long conversation with David on how best to futureproof the building for upcoming technologies, and he had in return sent him a lot of information on what he could consider including. Ethan did not believe that there would be much of a role for either Artificial Intelligence or Virtual Reality in the day-to-day operation of the Mackenzie Trust, however, in all honesty. What he did want was a better and faster internal computer network, superfast broadband wi-fi, and a video conferencing facility that was world class; he needed them in place if his ambition of running the family business from Manhattan was to be achieved…

He walked in to find the reception staff locked in a discussion about the changes to the premises, and how much more work it would mean for them; he also overheard one of them express a wish for a particular improvement in the facilities that were provided for the staff's wellbeing. He decided that it might be beneficial to convene a staff council now so that they could have an input into what they did in terms of breakrooms, restrooms and other staff facilities when they took back the entire building; he knew that the comfort of the building was a key factor in making staff both happy and productive.

To that end he detoured briefly into his own office and sent a quick memo to the head of Human Resources to ask them to set that process in motion; then after a deep breath, he headed for the boardroom, where he knew that his mother would be waiting for him; she would be working on her latest reports and monitoring the general progress of Mackenzie Inc as she always did. He knew that she wasn't quite as ready as his father was to retire…

He knocked on the door as he always had done, but did not await a reply, heading straight in; technically he was now the senior member of the Mackenzie family on these premises now since his mother had passed control of the Trust to him. That fact did not stop her from interfering though, and it came as no surprise to him to walk in and find her looking through the decisions that had been taken by himself and the trustees at the last meeting to see if they met her approval.

"Good evening, dear," she said, glancing at her watch. "They certainly do make you work hard at that firm of yours. Can I just congratulate you on selecting an excellent group of charities to be recipients of our grants this month; all of them are more than worthy of receiving our aid and better still, they cover a wide cross-section of the charitable spectrum. I see that you are also intending to donate one of the now redundant buildings that we own in Brooklyn to be converted into a refuge for abused men, which I approve of wholeheartedly. We did have an offer on the premises from a construction firm, but they wished to demolish it and erect a block of apartments that was completely out of character with the neighborhood, so I am glad you have repurposed it instead."

"I just felt that it was a good use of the property, and our research shows that there is a lot of potential demand for it in that borough, unfortunately," Ethan answered. He took a seat then, and went on, "Now I do have some news to pass on to you; it will probably concern you at first and might even worry you. You are not the only visitor that we have in town this weekend, so you will not be able to have Evie to yourself for as long as you might have anticipated. Before you say it, it is not Drew's mom and dad. It is actually Lucy's grandmother…"

He had not been looking at his mother as he spoke, but he heard a gasp and the sound of her fountain pen dropping onto the desk; looking across, her face was a mix of shock and horror at the idea. "Now, before you overreact and say things you might regret, let me explain what is happening and why she is here…" Mrs Mackenzie sat back and for once did not interrupt her son as he spoke. Eventually he finished the whole story and then he sat back and waited for her judgement.

"I'm not sure if I entirely approve of you using the Trust's investigators to check out something so personal, but I think that in the circumstances I can let that slide. The first thing I will say is that we need to keep a very close eye on what is happening in the Middle East with Lucy; she may no longer legally be Drew's wife, but this case still has the potential to impact upon him. Those that have been entrusted with providing her defence over there do not know her as we do; in the worst-case scenario they might even call Drew as a witness to prove that she is not a murderer. They will use the fact that he is alive to illustrate that although she has a temper and lashes out at her husbands when they do something she regards as wrong, she does not kill them. Even if that doesn't happen, his name will be mentioned, as the trial of a female English doctor for murder in the Middle East will be of great interest to some of the tabloid press, particularly as she will be portrayed as a lifesaving angel…"

"And the sort of people that read those papers will believe every word, fuelled by their own islamophobia and general xenophobia."

"Exactly. Now, if Drew's name happens to reach those newspaper editors, and why wouldn't it, we have to accept that one of those media groups owns a similar style of newspaper here in New York; they will try and send a journalist out to interview him as her ex-husband. In that there lies the classic Catch 22. If he does an interview, tells the world how miserable his life was with her, then everyone will know what at the moment only those closest to him do; he will probably be targeted with abuse by some in society because of it. If he doesn't do the interview, then the same journalists will just make stuff up that shows him in a negative light. I think that in preparation for that I will have a quick word with our litigation lawyers to see what we can do, as I want his name protected at all costs. Even then, we need to have a Plan B, just in case it all comes out anyway…"

She paused, letting her words sink into Ethan's mind, and letting him realise that all she was saying was true. "Now, the second thing, namely the lady in question. I would like to meet Ethel Prescott, because I think that she has suffered greatly at the hands of her husband and bore it quietly as so many women of her generation did. It was an era in which the idea of divorce was anathema to them; it was still a time when some financial transactions could not be done by a woman without the counter signature of a man. The fact that happened in living memory appals me frankly. I believe that if her husband had not perished in that car crash, then she would either still be married to him, still suffering in silence, or to be perfectly frank, she would be dead."

"I agree, because although Drew never met the man, she always says that Lucy takes after her grandfather; I firmly believe that had Nick and Jeff not been in London, had Jeff not bumped into him that afternoon, then Drew would not be alive. I know that in my heart…"

Mrs Mackenzie saw the sadness on her son's face at that thought, and she smiled inwardly; in Drew, Ethan had found someone that he could love, even if he would never admit to that publicly. "Okay, so I have meetings scheduled all day tomorrow, but I have a completely free day on Saturday. Had you made plans?"

"We had intended to go to the Natural History Museum then on to Central Park, but we…"

"That sounds perfect, so the only alteration to make to the plan is for me to join you on the day. The weather is supposed to be fine, and I will make arrangements for lunch; you were probably intending a picnic, but we will see… Now, if you wished to take Ethel to see the Met, I could spend the afternoon alone with Evie, because I know that she isn't very taken with a walk around the art collections…"

Ethan smiled, chuckling inside at how his mother had used her knowledge to get alone time with the girl she saw as a granddaughter. "Yeah, we had considered that, but we know it isn't Evie's favourite place, so in principle your idea could work out well. I will of course need to speak to Drew, but I can't imagine that he will have any objections."

His mother smiled, then said, "Right, just now we should go and have a nice mother son dinner. I have booked a table at a new French inspired restaurant in Midtown that has been highly praised in multiple reviews in the media…" Ethan nodded and rose from his seat to follow her. It would be a formal meal, but he was used to that; he just hoped that over at the Spotlight, Drew, Evie and Ethel were enjoying a much less formal dinner…


At first, Ethel Prescott had not known quite what to make of the diner; she had to admit though that the wait staff were not only highly efficient and competent, but also excellent singers. She had been introduced to Elliott as soon as they had entered the venue and he had found them a table that had both the privacy they wished for and an excellent view of the stage. He had left them with menus, before heading off to greet more customers. Turning to Drew, Ethel asked, "So that is your upstairs neighbour? He seems like a very nice young man."

"He is, and he is also married to an old school friend of mine; they never had any intention of marrying, content just to live together as boyfriends, but they had fostered a teenage boy called Dante. His only living relative passed away, and the city decided they wanted to move him elsewhere so he could be adopted. At that time, only heterosexual couples were permitted to adopt; the three did not want to be parted, so Elliott and my friend Beats decided to fight the city to have the law changed. It took a while, but in the end the city agreed to allow same-sex couples to adopt but made a qualification; they had to be married."

"That does not seem entirely fair, particularly if unmarried heterosexual couples were allowed to adopt," said Ethel, shaking her head.

"I believe that was allowed, yes, but the committee that had been challenged wanted to hold some victory of their own. However, their lawyer was ahead of them. She is actually Nick's older sister, an expert in family law, and therefore she knew how the city could behave. In anticipation of just such a decision, she had actually booked them a slot to marry on the same day as the decision was due to be made. They did exactly that, and handed in the papers to adopt Dante as a married couple minutes after that; the city had to allow him to officially become their son…"

"And I, for one, am really pleased that they did!" came a voice, and Drew laughed.

"Edith Prescott, may I introduce you to Lachlan Rosenfeld, the boyfriend of the said Dante and a part-time waiter here at the Spotlight," he said, and Ethel shook the young man's hand, before he asked if they were ready to order. "I should say that the special lasagne this evening, made with the turkey mince, is not only low in fat but to die for; a great healthy option if you don't order extra garlic bread. When Elliott first created it for the menu, none of us were really too sure that it would work, but it is really delicious, and I have placed dibs on two portions for myself and Dante when he joins me for dinner later."

"Well, I was once told that the best dish on the menu at any restaurant was the one that the staff were eating, so I will have that, without any additional garlic bread," replied Ethel.

"It does sound good, but I see that there is chicken pot pie on the specials board tonight too, and that is my go-to," Drew said with a smile.

"I will have the lasagne too," added Evie, "but I'd like ordinary bread with it, not the garlic one."

"I will go and get that sorted, and we can talk about dessert later, although I should mention that Michelle has prepared her peach cobbler…"

"Three portions of that to follow!" snapped Drew, which made Lachlan laugh. Drew turned to Ethel, and said, "It is the best dessert that they serve here, and you have to fight to get some most of the time as a result. I am certain that you will love it…" She nodded not quite sure what else she could say after he had ordered it so vehemently.

A little while later, having eaten her portion of the lasagne and decided that Lachlan was absolutely correct in his assertions, Ethel awaited her dessert whilst wondering if Elliott could be persuaded to give her his lasagne recipe. After all, she would be back in England, and it would pose no risk to the diner for her to have it. Then the peach cobbler arrived, and it too matched the rave review that Drew had given it. She savoured each spoonful as on the stage young Lachlan now sang, his voice so pure and wonderful. She had numerous friends back in Maidenhead that had ambitions of coming to the city, and now she knew exactly which restaurant she would recommend they eat at…

Ethan would arrive back at the West Village house that evening after Evie had gone to bed, exhausted after his dinner with his mother, a meal which was delicious, but had turned into a business meeting by the end, as the entire conversation was dominated by the latest events in the family business. What he had noticed was that whereas before his mother had summarised things, now she went into them with much more detail; he knew that was because his father had now taken a step back due to his ill health, and as a result, every talk they now had was going to have moments like this where she confided in him…

She did not ask him for his viewpoint on the developments though and as yet he did not feel able or indeed qualified to give them. Then she had surprised him by informing him that she was going to start having a lot more of the firm's confidential documents e-mailed to him on a secure account; that made him think that it would only be a matter of time before he found himself taking part in the board meetings that controlled Mackenzie Inc, even if it was only by a video link…

He told Drew and Ethel what his mother had proposed for Saturday, and they both agreed that it seemed fair. Shortly after that, they all headed for bed. It was as Ethan climbed into the bed beside him that Drew finally spoke. "I am actually a little surprised at how well your mother took the fact that Ethel was here. I was expecting an extremely negative response from her if I am being completely honest…"

"So did I, and maybe that is what she feels, but didn't want to add more worry to either of us. I think she was much more concerned about what could happen in connection with Lucy's court case. I don't want to worry you too much, but she is concerned that her lawyers, trying every possible trick in the book, might call you to be a witness for the defence at the actual trial…"

"Dear God, no! I would never agree to do that in a million years, for either the defence or the prosecution!"

"Trust me, I would not let it happen either. She is firmly in your past, and you have a new life here that I will not allow her to taint or destroy. My mother feels exactly the same way and she will do whatever she can to prevent it."

"Whilst I am not ungrateful for that, I think that I would like to get a lawyer of my own as a precaution against it, and not use the one that Mackenzie's do. I will have a quiet word with Nick, see if he can ask Grace if she knows someone that could handle this sort of thing…"

"That is a good idea, because then it is just us involved; but I would suggest going straight to Grace and minimise the number of people that have to know. I trust Nick and I know that he would not gossip but keeping him out of the equation altogether just simplifies it."

Drew nodded, and no more was said, but as he turned over to sleep, Ethan had a feeling that this was going to be a long and difficult night for his best friend…

It turned out to be the case; although Ethan slept, Drew did not. In the end, at around 4am, he gave up trying and decided to get up and make himself a cup of tea. He sighed as he reached the kitchen, frustrated that for once not even the presence of Ethan at his side had been able to calm his worst fears. He was certain that he was going to be forced to make the long trip to the Middle East and give evidence at Lucy's trial. Worse, he imagined that he might even be left alone with her at some point, and she would not be slow at taking all the anger and hatred she was feeling out on him.

Even with all that going through his head, he had managed for once to fool Ethan into believing that he was asleep. It was the one thing that he felt good about as he poured the boiling water into the teapot… Then he heard the kitchen door open, and he turned round to apologise to Ethan, and was startled to see Ethel standing there instead… She said nothing but walked over to the cupboard and brought out a second cup. When the tea was brewed, he poured two cups and then sat down at the kitchen table with her…

"I still have the odd nightmare about him even now," she said as he sat down. "I wake up in a cold sweat, and half expect to see him lying there beside me…"

"I can go for months on end now, but tonight…"

"I can only sympathise, my dear boy. I take it that Ethan is aware of it?"

"He is, and usually he has the ability to calm me down… He will get into bed with me and hold me in his arms until I feel safe and can get back to sleep. Tonight, however, it wasn't working, and I couldn't even sleep, so I just decided to fake it until I was sure he wouldn't wake up. Then I got up and came here…"

Ethel placed a hand on Drew's and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I used to do the same; get up and do something constructive… I used to bake, actually; shall we do that, make a cake between us? You can't ever have too much cake, I feel, and it would be a nice surprise for Ethan and Evie when they wake up…"