“Did I ever mistreat you?” Alpha Prime angrily blurted out. “Misuse you in some way? Put pressure on you to do anything you didn’t want to do?”
Capri crossed her arms and gave him a smoldering look. Rather than answer, she said, “We were talking about the boy. Go on.”
My father let out a deep breath. “The way I understand it, he’s been spending a bit of time with your daughter.”
He didn’t explain anything further, but he seemed to be implying something that Capri took offense to.
“And?” she asked.
“Well, isn’t she…?” He looked down, unable to go on.
I wasn’t sure what he was suggesting, but several things came to mind that left a bad taste in my mouth.
“Isn’t she what? Yours?” Capri barked, then laughed in a way that was almost a cackle. “Can you even count? My daughter came along way after you and I were done.”
“I realize that,” my father said in annoyance. “I can do the math. What I was trying to ask is if she’s like you.”
Capri gave him a knowing smile and declared, “One hundred percent.” She then placed a hand on her hip and thrust it out to the side tantalizingly. “With genes like these, the arrow don’t miss the mark.”
Alpha Prime frowned. “Don’t you think that’s a problem?”
“I don’t recall you voicing many complaints,” Capri retorted.
A little red-faced, my father said, “Again, Jim’s not me. He’s still a kid. He’s–”
“Do not tell me you’re about to play the he’s-too-young card!” Capri forcefully interjected. “To hell with being the world’s greatest superhero – that would make you the biggest hypocrite on the planet! How many parents, siblings, friends, etcetera made that argument to you about some girl you were dating, and how many times did you listen?”
“Can you stop making this about me for two seconds?” my father asked in irritation. “This is about our kids – my son and your daughter – and right now, he doesn’t know what she is.”
“Oh, yeah,” she said sarcastically, “because it made all the difference in the world when you found out about me. I mean, you stepped off – stopped calling, stopped asking me out, stopped sending me flowers. Oh, wait” – she put a finger to her chin and stared off into space, as if reflecting on something of deep import – “you didn’t stop doing any of that.”
Alpha Prime didn’t say anything, just stared at her expectantly.
After a moment, she sighed and said, “Look, let’s not blow this out of proportion. They’re just friends. Maybe that’s news to you, but people of the opposite sex can have platonic relationships. If it starts looking like it’s more than that, somebody may have to say something, but until then let’s not make things awkward with a conversation that may never need to happen.”
My father seemed to contemplate for a second, then nodded. “All right, that seems fair.”
“Great,” Capri said. “Now that that’s out of the way, tell me the truth. Did you really only come here to talk about your son, or is there something else you wanted to do?”
She asked her question in a husky, alluring tone and raised an eyebrow teasingly. A knowing glance passed between them and they both smiled. Sensing an unexpected, but similar, flurry of emotions arising simultaneously in the two of them, I practically fled the room, going through walls and hallways as fast as I could without making my presence known.
Once at the front door, I became visible and solid again before stepping outside. Ignoring the comments and questions as to whether I had “fallen in,” I slipped into the front passenger seat. A moment later, we were on our way.
Chapter 14
The yacht party took place on a one-hundred-foot vessel that was docked at a local marina. We had to get past security to get on board (fortunately, we were on the list), but after that, it was pretty much what you’d expect on a floating mansion: lots of opulence in terms of layout, design, and so forth.
We weren’t the first to arrive and were far from the last, so in that regard we had good timing. I didn’t have a lot of experience with boats, but it didn’t take much expertise to recognize that this was a craft built for leisure and pleasure, and therefore perfectly suited for the day’s activities.
At some point, we pulled away from the dock and headed out to the ocean. At that juncture, there were at least a hundred people on board – probably more. At a glance, I would have pegged most of the guests as being in their early twenties. Dressed mostly in bikinis and swimming trunks, they all seemed to be in full party mode. Helping add to that mood was the fact that there was a healthy spread in terms of food, a live DJ, and an open bar. (That last had a bartender who seemed less than thorough in carding those who might be underage.) All in all, the scene on the yacht was reminiscent of images I’d seen in a hundred music videos.
Unfortunately, the change in venue did nothing to alter my disposition. I still couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened with Cat and trying to figure out what it meant. (Not helping matters was the conversation I’d eavesdropped on between my father and Capri, which only seemed to highlight the fact that whatever I’d sensed when Cat touched me was important in some way.)
Recognizing that I was raining on their parade to a certain extent, I pretended to take a call and told Smokey and the girls I’d find them when I was done. Instead, I simply meandered until I came across a quiet spot near the railing at the back of the boat and sort of camped out there, alone with my thoughts. I was still there when Vestibule found me around an hour later.
She didn’t say anything initially, just stood
