“And where does Vestibule fit into all that?”
“She’s just a friend, as you already know.”
“So why are the gossip pages referring to you as her new beau?”
“Because they’re trying to sell newspapers,” I blurted out matter-of-factly. “But I don’t understand why you’re getting wound up about this. I didn’t say anything when Dynamo escorted you to that debutante ball.”
“That’s different, and you know it. Dynamo and I are just friends.”
“Well, you said that you and I are still friends, even though we broke up. Why couldn’t I take you?”
“You know why,” she said flatly. “If we start hanging out and doing things like a couple, then we’ll fall back into the old habit of being a couple, and I can’t have that. I need you to fix this thing with Myshtal first.”
“But in the meantime, it’s fine for you to date other guys.”
“I’m not dating other guys!” she insisted. “But I occasionally have social events where I’m expected to have an escort.”
“So it’s okay for a male friend to be your date for a ball or a dance, but I can’t do the same for a female friend of mine?”
“Ha!” Electra practically barked. “Are you honestly telling me that Vestibule has trouble getting dates?”
“Maybe, like you, she’s only looking to hang out with someone platonically.”
Electra didn’t immediately respond. Of course, she wasn’t close enough for me to get a read on her empathically, but I got the impression that I’d struck a nerve.
“Look,” she finally said, “I get that you have female friends, and maybe you’ll go to dinner with them or a movie or something else like that, and it’ll all be purely platonic – just like it is on my end. But not her, okay?”
Shaking my head in anger and frustration, I tersely stated, “I gotta go,” and hung up.
I tossed my phone back onto the nightstand and lay back on the bed, trying to go back to sleep. It was a waste of time; the conversation with Electra had gotten me too worked up.
Truth be told, I didn’t think she was out of line for breaking up with me. It was obviously a complicated situation, and she had handled it well. Moreover, I understood that ending our relationship was intended to motivate me to end my engagement with Myshtal.
At the same time, however, I didn’t think she was being quite fair. You don’t get to play the jealous girlfriend card if you aren’t actually the girlfriend, and she had freely passed on the role. More to the point, she knew I wanted her back. That admittedly gave her some degree of power in the relationship, but didn’t give her the right to make unreasonable demands (such as telling me who I could hang out with).
After about ten minutes of brooding on the situation, I threw in the towel on getting any more sleep and decided to start my day. Decision made, I quickly showered and went through my usual morning routine before quickly getting dressed.
It was still early, but I thought that if I hurried I could catch the sun coming up. People always talk about how beautiful sunsets are, but sunrises are just as spectacular in my book, and the roof of the penthouse provided an amazing view.
Once I was ready, I phased, becoming insubstantial, and then flew up through the ceiling and onto the roof. I then became substantial again.
The top of the penthouse had been constructed as an elaborate rooftop deck, with an outdoor kitchen, a lounge area, and a pergola, among other things. It was obviously designed for entertaining, and I could easily imagine the place full of people, casually drinking wine and enjoying themselves.
Looking around now, I was surprised to find that I wasn’t alone; my cousin Avis was nearby. A beautiful young woman with dark, wavy hair, she was currently dressed in a pair of black yoga pants with a matching top that left her midriff bare. She was sitting at a dining table, eating a box of assorted donuts.
“Morning,” I muttered, wandering over.
“Morning, cuz,” she replied as I sat down across from her. Gesturing towards the box, she said, “Have some. They’re the best donuts in the city.”
“Thanks,” I said, then took her up on her offer, selecting a chocolate-covered donut. “Wow – they’re still warm.”
She nodded. “Even cold they’re awesome, but they’re best if you can get them fresh out of the oven. But they make the day’s supply in the morning, so you have to get there early if you want them hot.”
Rather than reply, I took a bite out of my donut. It was very good – so good in fact that I found myself making a yummy noise, which made my cousin laugh. I was tempted to say something, but held my tongue as I noticed the sky beginning to lighten.
We both became silent then, watching in awe as the sun came up, spreading color and light across the sky. It was a wondrous display of the beauty and majesty of nature, and in truth, it was almost spellbinding. Sadly, it only lasted a few minutes, and when the spell was finally broken I heard Avis sigh.
“No matter how many times I witness it,” she stated, “I never get tired of seeing that.”
I nodded. Like me, Avis had come to the roof to view the sunrise. Seeing her now, it was hard to reconcile the person in front of me with Avis’s renown for being a party girl (which was only slightly less than her reputation for being a super).
“Anyway,” she continued. “How was your night?”
“Pretty good,” I said, then gave her a quick summary of the highlights, including the run-in with the Biolithic Colossus.
“Glad you had fun,” she remarked when I was done. “Sorry about Bee-Cee, though. He’s not really a bad guy – just immature in a lot of ways.”
“So says the woman who
