Chapter 237: Getting Over Hurdles
Marcella was uncomfortable traveling to a high-risk country without much protection. At that time, they had three sons and that country was known for taking political prisoners for ransom. Five tourists from their country were held captives in that country. Getting them back was part of their negotiation deal.
Tony tried to leave Marcella home sensing her discomfort although he knew she would be an asset. But the other country wanted a couple to visit their country. They demanded it; or so said the foreign affairs department.
Marcella had prepared herself to go with Tony by then. By getting prepared, she went an extra mile. Not only did she research the culture and traditions of the country along with the history, but also learned the language. I was a variant of the Scandinavian language and she learned enough to understand and form a pretty good sentence.
Tony tried to learn some, but he failed. He learned some words and phrases, but he was not confident that he’d remember them all. He was amazed by Marcella’s capability to learn languages. She must have a special part in her brain that held all the genius that he missed in his brain.
Marcella was very particular about leaving their kids with her uncle during their visit. She didn’t trust anyone else with the safety of their kids. Tony agreed with her. He didn’t like how he was forced to leave the country with his wife when they had three young children. They are their everything and needed to be protected at all costs.
He would have thrown that opportunity away. But he needed it. If he wanted to be the leader of the free world, he needed to rise up to the challenges in front of him. With Marcella by his side, he knew he could overcome any hurdles his way.
When they reached that country, however, Marcella pretended that she didn’t know the language. They had a translator. In the state dinner and other ceremonies, Marcella followed Tony one step behind, as it was considered "proper" in that country.
A wife was not equal to the husband.
Although the men there heard of the activism Marcella did, they treated her as sub-human. Tony almost snapped and Marcella had to calm him down.
They were not there to change their country. They had a different purpose. They needed to be diplomatic and finish their task.