Robert Trousseau 3

"Dad?"
"What?"
"Are you angry with me?"

Robert looked at Trisha. He smiled. He gray-silvered beard felt comfortable.

"It's been a long time. How have you been?"
"I'm studying semiotics under Grey Nagy."
"Still in college?"
"No. I've moved over to level 2 in the CIA. I'm an information specialist."

The CIA. When did a Jew ever want to join the CIA? Oh, that's right. She was an American Jew.

"Do you find it challenging," he asked.
"It's OK."

He remembered reading an Amos Oz novel about a spy. He remembered that certain messages from the Media were supposed to be decoded by this spy. What a job. These people could not even decode the signs and signatures of women, of their own wives, but they could decode things as long as they were given the answer.

"Actually, I'm thinking about marrying Percy," she blurted out.
"And who is Percy?"

Who was anyone? What made a person special? Did the Renaissance really come from the rebirth of ancient Greek humanism or was it born from the suffering and pain of the Dark Ages.

"I think I love him," Trisha blurted out again.
"You love him? Why don't you introduce him to Vivien."
"There's no point in being rude, Bob."

Vivien came into the room and gave Trisha a nice, warm hug.

"When are you going to bring him over?" she asked.

Trisha wanted to cry for some reason. She had never really loved her parents. In fact, she had never kept any of the 10 commandments. But now, she wanted to cry.

"So what does Percy do?"
"He is a coordinator for the CIA."
"Coordinator," Vivien asked.
"He organizes the cells with operatives, information specialists, and directives."
"Sounds very important," Vivien commented.

She wanted to tell them that his father was a giant in the business world, but she didn't bother. None of that mattered to her parents.

"So when's the marriage date?" Vivien asked.

But did she really want to marry him or did she still love Gabriel? He loves me. He loves me not. What was the point of marrying a man anyway? They were so weak.