New Beginnings, Chapter 55
by SIPort

Veronica Townsend was finishing up her research on Chad when the phone rang.

“ Hello?”

Eve was at her computer. She was googling the Townsends. She had let it slip with the girls earlier, but had covered it.

While it was true that she did follow slightly the comings and goings of ‘ the elite’, the truth was more close to home. Eve had known both of the Townsends. She grew up with them. She and the then Ainsley Wharton were rivals of sort, having spent many a summer at Camp Atwater, with other daughters of Black privilege. Eve was not surprised that Ainsley wound up with Forrest Townsend.

Forrest Winston Townsend. Even though he was part of their circle, he was always dynamic. He had a self-confidence that could overwhelm you. When he walked into the room, you had to notice him. He had a regal air about him. Even in their circle of ambitious Jack & Jill children, he was a superstar. So, when he wound up in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Fortune, Black Enterprise, no one was surprised. The year he initially made it onto the Forbes 400 list, Eve silently toasted him. Of all the guys in her former social set, Forrest actually had a personality. And Ainsley was the perfect trophy wife. Of course, that phrase was a bit too simplistic for someone who graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a double major and gotten a PhD from Oxford. But, Ainsley was always clear about her goals for herself. She was going to marry the best; have the best life; and join THE elites. She had accomplished all of that.

Eve looked at the picture of Veronica Townsend. Eve didn’t know her. She knew she was presuming a lot. It had been years since she’d known either of her parents, BUT….

Alistair brought her to Chad’s house, and that automatically made her suspect in Eve’s mind. Maybe she was a dupe; being used by him. She didn’t know, and part of her knew she was being unfair, but she didn’t care. She was Chad’s mother, and her instincts told her that something was shady here. She just hoped Julian lived up to his word and protected their son. It killed her that she wasn’t able to get more involved. Maybe this Veronica matter would be only business, and nothing personal would develop. She had that hope.

Forrest Winston Townsend stood at one of the huge windows in his office overlooking Central Park. He loved this view. It was the view bought by years of hard work and determination.

Born in New York, this city was his life’s blood. His parents, both trailblazers in their own right, were part of this city’s ambitious Black Elite. They had faced racism and discrimination  all their lives, but always found a way to work past it and succeed. His father was one of the first Blacks on Wall Street to do serious business. He had preached to Forrest from practically the day he was born that America was about money. And, he who had the gold could make his own rules. He wanted his children to be in that position – never be beholden to anyone White for their financial survival. That entrepreneurship was the way to a freedom most Blacks can’t even imagine exist.

Well, Forrest and his two younger sisters got the message absolutely clear. He began his own company when he was still an undergraduate at Harvard. His sisters, both Phi Beta Kappa graduates of Spelman College, like their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, both had gone into business for themselves. His sister Penelope was one of the top real estate developers in the South East. Not top Black real estate developer, but real estate developers period. She had convinced their father to buy her first property at age 13. Had a sales license at age 18, and a day after her 21^st birthday, she was a licensed broker. She worked for fun now, because her extensive portfolio contained commercial and residential properties on 3 continents. His youngest sister Alexandra got in early in the dot-com era, selling not one, but two start-ups for extreme profits. Fascinated with Asia since she was a child, she’s been on the cutting edge of business development in China, where she sold her third company. She’s holding onto business number four, and watching it multiply as the Chinese middle class grows by double digits annually.

He and his sisters had been model children. They were a parent’s wet dream. Of course, they weren’t the angels that their parents thought them to be, but considering the pitfalls of children of privilege, he knew that he and his siblings got off pretty unscathed. Forrest had only seen his parents succeed. In fact the only disappointment that his parents actually let him SEE was when they were denied entry into one of the premier apartment buildings on Fifth Avenue. His father had the bank account; he had the references – one from the Mayor of New York, the Governor of New York, and both sitting Senators of New York. Yet, they were denied, because the bigot living in the other apartment of that floor, ‘didn’t want Coloreds’. Rather than move into another building and risk the humiliating application process, his father bought the family’s estate in Westchester County, which once belonged to one of the original publishing fortunes of America.

Forrest had the last laugh though. His parents routinely visit them at that same apartment. Forrest never forgot his mother’s broken heart at the rejection, and made sure to keep tabs on that ‘neighbor’. When it became obvious that he had fallen on bad times, Forrest worked behind the scenes to make sure that bad times got worse. When it was clear that he would be forced to sell, Forrest’s application was at the top of the list. He not only bought the racist’s apartment for less than market value, he paid more for the apartment his parents had wanted all those years ago. He owns the entire two floors- a full sixteen thousand square feet. He chose his library from one of the rooms with the best view of Central Park. He and his father always smoked their cigars in that library, enjoying the view. Though he and his father had never spoken about the apartment incident, Forrest knew his father enjoyed how it all came full circle.

Forrest looked at the pictures on his desk. His hands runs over the one he loves the most – his beloved wife Ainsley. Just looking at her picture makes his heart skip a beat. Forrest knows he’s an attractive man, and every zero in his bank account multiplies his attractiveness to the opposite sex. If Ainsley only knew just HOW many ‘offers’ he’s had over the years, she’d probably never let him out of her sight. But, she never had to worry, because Forrest Townsend is hopelessly, head over heels in love with his wife. Has been since the moment he saw her, walking across the lawn at Harvard as she visited friends. He had never been shy with women before, but it seemed as if he couldn’t speak in her presence. He bungled their initial meetings so much so that she dismissed the ultimate BMOC. Forrest was determined. He found out who she was visiting, got her address from them, and then proceeded to write her. Though he was a senior, and she a freshman, he knew she was THE ONE for him. He graduated, went to work for a year, then onto Harvard Business School. He waited until her college graduation to ask her to marry him, and she declined, informing him that she couldn’t even think of marriage until her Masters Degree was in her hand. Forrest was sad, but not dejected. He poured himself into building his company while she was in England, taking trips across the ocean every eight weeks like clockwork. They married in the garden at his parent’s home one week after she received her Masters Degree. Since Forrest had always known he wanted to take his business international, he went back to England with his wife, and while she spent the last two years earning her PhD, he stepped up the next phase of growing his company. They would never forget the day that his wife successfully defended her dissertation, because 3 hours upon completing it, her water broke, and Ainsley Veronica Townsend was born just 2 hours after that.

Forrest’s eyes rest upon a picture of his only child. People wonder why she’s named after mother. People think Ainsley had done it, but actually Forrest insisted upon it. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen, aside from her mother. It just fit. Veronica was for his mother. Everyone called her “Little A” until she came home from her first day of kindergarten and declared that from now on, she’d go by the name of Veronica. She accepted the nickname of Ronnie begrudgingly. She was the most precious gift Ainsley had ever given him, and he worshipped his daughter. Of course she was spoiled rotten, but he couldn’t help himself. She had him wrapped around her little finger from 30 seconds after he held her for the first time.

He was a man who was satisfied with his life. The only dark spot is that Veronica was their only child. He had wanted a house full of children. Ainsley wanted more, but 3 horrible and gut wrenching miscarriages, the last of which landed Ainsley in a coma, told Forrest that enough was enough. The longest period of prolonged anger in their marriage occurred when Ainsley found out about his vasectomy. Forrest was clear – he could live without a son. He couldn’t live without HER, and if he had to make the decision for both of them, so be it. To punish him, Ainsley wouldn’t even consider adoption. Forrest made peace with it, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he couldn’t wait for Veronica to get married so that he could get a house full of grandchildren to spoil.

When the phone call came from Alistair Crane himself, Forrest had to admit that he had been curious. The man’s reputation was legendary, as was the travails of that family. A newly discovered Black Bastard grandson wasn’t exactly what Forrest had in mind for his daughter. But, he had resolved to let Veronica make up her own mind. He only wanted her happy. And, if happiness came in the form of Chad Harris Crane, then he’d accept it.

Dr. Ainsley Townsend had just finished a meeting at the United Nations. She had been asked by the President to be the United States’ Representative on a Commission overlooking the problem of debt relief to Third World Nations. Ainsley had made a not-so-small fortune over her career helping former communist countries and dictatorships shift their economies to market ones. She had thought this idea of debt relief was but a pipe dream, but intense meetings over the past few years with the singer Bono and others had convinced her that her talents could be used in this arena. The money’s not as plentiful, but Ainsley’s decided that since she got a second chance at life, she would help others.

She checked her messages. She smiled when she got to the one from her husband that simply, ‘ I love you.’ Fingering the huge emerald cut diamond on her wedding finger, she thought about her husband. She had thought him attractive when she met him, but bumbling. Then, she got the letter in the mail, and it was so thoughtful. To be honest, she had thought him to be a joke, because she was madly in love with someone else. He was a scholarship student, and her mother was outraged. When she found out that Forrest Townsend was interested in HER daughter, she made sure that Ainsley gave up the ‘inappropriate’ boy she loved. It had been drilled in her mind that she was to ‘marry well’, and Forrest was about as well as it got. Ainsley wasn’t so convinced, but since she had never gone against her mother’s wishes, why begin now? She thought by placing barriers in front of Forrest that he would give up. He would tire of her and move on. But, he never did. He met all her requirements, so one week after receiving her Masters, she was married. Her mother was over the moon. The wedding made it into Jet, Ebony, The New York Times, and they were one of the first Black couples to be put into Town and Country’s wedding section. When she gave birth to Veronica, Ainsley was pleased. She adored her daughter, but felt she had to fulfill her duty and give Forrest a son. That didn’t happen, and it was the greatest failure of Ainsley’s life. For a woman who expected nothing but perfection from herself – ALWAYS- the failure of fertility was a striking blow indeed.

But, she continued on. Being the perfect wife, perfect mother, consummate professional who built her own business all the while helping her husband achieve success beyond imagination. Then, she found a lump in her breast.

Cancer.

Death.

Veronica took a semester off from school the moment she found out about her mother’s illness. She researched treatments and therapies, calling all around the world for her mother. She was there for her mother, determined to see her through it.

And while Veronica’s support was wonderful, it’s Forrest who blew Ainsley away. From the moment of her diagnosis to her final treatment and every appointment since then for five years – he never left her side. When she went into treatment, his was the last familiar face she saw, and the first one coming out. He completely rearranged his schedule so that he would be there at every appointment. If there was an herbal tea or some foreign remedy that helped her get through chemotherapy, he flew it in from around the globe. When she became bald because of her treatments, he flew in the best wig designers in the country to help her find ones that she was comfortable. And, everyday, no matter how she looked or felt. No matter if she’d had a great day, or spent it vomiting after chemo – the look in his eyes was just the same. And, he told her the same thing – “ I love you, Beautiful.”

It was the day of her last radiation treatment, when she walked out of the treatment room, and into the waiting room, that Ainsley felt she had been struck by lightening. Her legs collapsed and she fell to the floor. She wasn’t ill; she had come to the biggest realization of her life.

That she truly loved Forrest.

It was as if she saw him for the first time, and said a prayer while on the ground that if God would forgive her, she’d make sure she’d devote the rest of her life appreciating this man the way she should have all those years.

When she cleared her first year cancer-free, Forrest had flown her to Paris  - her favorite town. On a romantic boatride, he presented her with the ring on her wedding finger. He said that it symbolized that she, them and their marriage were bigger and better than ever. She was so overwhelmed that it was her turn to be speechless.

She loved her husband, and her daughter. Though she has raised Veronica with a lot of the pressures that her mother put on her, she’s determined that her daughter marry for love and happiness. Ainsley won’t take chances on Veronica’s future. But, thinks that she should be open to anyone. Since she’s not seriously dating, Chad Harris Crane is as good a prospect as any. Who knows where it will go?

Ainsley pushed 1 on her speedial.

“ Hi honey. Does my fabulous husband want to play hookey with me?”

 

Chapter 56

Chapter 54

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