“We have reservations for two weeks stay in the Cayman Islands following the wedding.”
“Okay, that puts you four weeks out minimum. You’ll be back around the middle of July. You’ll need some time to find suitable housing so we’ll allow a couple of weeks for you to get settled. Why don’t we say you start on August the first? That way you won’t have to live together too long with mom and dad before starting your new lives together.”
“August first. I’ll be there.” He affirmed.
“I’ll have someone text you the particulars for your initial meeting to acquaint you with your new position.” She informed.
“Look” she digressed, “I know we got off on the wrong foot, and I realize we’ve made some progress today mitigating that to some extent, but I want you to know that I still don’t believe that you belong at DFSB. It’s not anything to do with your work or your attitude towards me. Lord knows, I’d be pissed off at me too if I was treated the way you were by me, so I don’t fault you for your attitude. I’m not at liberty to specifically say why right now, but I will say this much. It’s not WHO you are that I despise, it’s WHAT you are. That being said, if you complete your year of internship, then I assure you that ALL of your questions will be answered, including my name. You’ll understand when you find out. Until then, my benefactor has obligated me to say, “Welcome aboard sir, and good luck to you.” She once again offered her hand but this time didn’t seem quite as adversarial in doing so.
Chapter 6
The wedding went off without a hitch. Abby was attended by five bridesmaids plus her maid of honor, so Vance managed to finagle two of his homeboys who were longtime friends as well as three fraternity brothers, including Andrew to serve as his groomsmen. His dad, Carl served as his best man. Vance didn’t even need to give it a second thought. His dad was also his best friend. The event took place in a large Catholic Church in Columbus, Ohio. Even though Abby’s family were Baptist, the Catholic Church was more beautifully constructed and its facilities were better suited to host the large crowd in attendance. Most were from the bride’s side but that was to be expected. Several times Vance scanned the crowd looking for the blonde-headed nemesis, but she was nowhere to be found.
The idyllic honeymoon couldn’t have been more perfect. The constant urgent pace that he had become accustomed to for the past eight years was not missed at all. Peace and relaxation was the picture-perfect recipe for the newly bonded couple. They spent time exploring the many available excursions offered, including the turtle farm. Vance tried his first turtle burger but did not order another. Abby refused to kiss him until he was able to brush his teeth. They tried their hand at scuba diving. Abby was a bit frightened of drift diving so Vance always held her hand or stayed nearby so they’d never get separated. But they did enjoy exploring the submerged airplane near the shore left after the filming of a James Bond movie. There were no underwater currents there to carry them away.
Abby and Vance had asked both sets of parents to be looking online at available apartments within close proximity of Davenport Financial Services and Banking while they were on their honeymoon. Vance asked that the location be either within walking or bicycling distance from the office so that he would not be saddled with daily taxi fares. He had no idea what his salary would be yet, so he wanted to play it safe financially to begin with until the year had expired. Of course, no one was aware of his obligatory internship, other than his parents, but everyone was excited for him landing an entry level opportunity at such a prestigious institution. Abby was certain that she could find accounting work in the city, so she was only too happy to follow her husband as he pursued his career.
Upon return from their honeymoon, the couple had slightly less than three weeks to get settled into a place in New York City. They returned to Carl and Mary-Beth’s home to spend the first week with them, and while they were there, packed up a U-Haul with whatever clothing, personal items and few pieces of furniture Vance would be taking with them to their new place. They rented a car to drive to her parents’ home in Columbus. After saying their goodbyes to his folks, the newlyweds spent the next week in Columbus while renting a larger U-Haul up there to add her items and some of her furniture to take with them to New York. The apartment that the couple gravitated to was a one bedroom apartment, unfurnished. All utilities except for power were included in the $2,166.00 monthly rent. The high comparative costs shocked everyone learning the cost of living up there compared to both Ohio and North Carolina but they hoped their salaries would prove adequate for their needs.
Vance turned in the rental car and rented an SUV in Ohio to drive and tow the larger U-Haul to their new abode. Both sets of parents had chipped in and covered the deposit and the first two months’ rent in their new apartment to give them a jump start at their new location. They were exceptionally excited to embark on this new chapter in their married life facing together whatever the world would throw at them. They located the superintendent of their building upon their eventual arrival and secured a set of keys to their New York residence. It didn’t take them long to unpack and set up their clothing and furnishings. It was sparsely furnished but met all of their immediate meager needs.
They spent three days learning their new surroundings, finding a grocery store, and other places to meet their day to day needs. Things were very different than they were back home. It would take some adjustment, but once their cupboards were stocked and some cooking was underway, a palpable lifestyle that they could accept was presenting itself. They both had brought their childhood bicycles with locking chains and decided to venture out and locate Vance’s new office building so he could be prepared.
Vance did receive a text from a Steve Crenshaw indicating that he should report to work the following morning at eight o’clock and he encouraged him to bring his wife with him for this first day of orientation. There would be a lot of paperwork and documents to fill out and sign which could take several hours to get processed as well as setting him up in his office. He thought it might be good for her to be familiar with her husband’s employer.
Their apartment was only three blocks from his office building, so they left early enough to walk and still make it there in plenty of time. Once in the lobby, the receptionist paged Mr. Crenshaw who informed them that Albert Iddings would be right up to meet them and give them the grand tour. DFSB owned and operated the forty-two story building which was impeccably clean and furnished in a blended mix of both modern and art deco styles. It was an exceptionally impressive facility. They spent a fair amount of time in HR where he seemingly filled out his life story to get him entered into their system. He was issued an access key card and informed of all the areas he would have access to and other areas that, at his entry level position, would be off limits.