11. Genetics
1938 Words
Ann walks with me until we get to a door. There's a guy standing there.
"Are you good?"
"I need a second." I'm not joking. I need to stop walking with her. I can't keep up in these shoes.
"Of course. Right through the door when you're ready. It's the formal dining room. I don't know how many people Jack invited, but I'm assuming it's the four alumni who live closest. You'll be fine. Take a breath and tell Al when you're ready."
"Thank you."
She runs in and I fall into a chair.
The guy standing by the door smiles. "I'm Al."
"Hi Al. I'm Aurora." I watch out the window. It's beautiful here. "Do you think they'd notice if I ran away?"
"Yes. And this is an island. You wouldn't get anywhere." He sits in the chair beside me. "Why would you want to run?"
"This isn't me. I wear a tee-shirt and garden. I sew sometimes. Everything I've ever owned fits in a closet here. Actually, living in one of these closets would be an upgrade for me. I've never seen the beach until today. And now I'm supposed to go to a formal dinner? I didn't even know those existed."
He chuckles. "It's just dinner with some fancy clothes. Almost everyone in there are family of Jack. Then he invited a few alumni who wanted to meet you. You'll be fine. It's one dinner. Say hello, give a few fake smiles and it's over."
"I can do that."
"Good. Use the rail when you go down the stairs."
"There's stairs?"
"Only six. Hold the rail and you'll be fine."
"Ok." I grab my red purse that has nothing in it and stand up.
He opens the door, and it's now or never. One foot in front of the other.
People are standing around talking and don't even notice me. This is the perfect entrance.
I reach for the rail and a man comes up the steps. "Allow me, miss."
My eyes stick to him. He is sexy with soft dark hair. I can almost see his muscles under the black suit he's wearing.
He is looking at me just as hard. Our eyes meet and he smirks. "May I?"
"Thank you. I'm not good with heels."
"You're doing better than I would be." He helps me down the steps.
"THERE SHE IS. DANTE FOUND HER."
I smile as everyone turns to us.
He puts his hand on mine and whispers in my ear, "You just went from one night stand to wife in my head."
I pull my hand away and whisper. "I'm 17. I've never done either of those things. Not sure if I want to."
He smirks as Jack comes up to us. "Aurora, this is Dante. He graduated last year. He's new to the area."
"Don't ask him for directions, but I suppose he's family none the less. I'm Frank." A man takes my hand and kisses it. "I'll have a dinner party while you're on the islands. I'll send my yacht for you. It's nice. You won't have to worry about falling overboard."
Jack crosses his arms. "My yacht is only one year older than yours."
"Mine has all the upgrades, and it's newer."
"ANOTHER GIRL." I get hugged out of nowhere. Then she hops. "I'm so happy to meet you. My name is Cassie. I was in the engineering department. Jack wasn't sure about your major."
"Astrophysics."
"Damn."
"Ignore Dante. He's jealous. He was in the computer science department."
Dante winks. "You like computers?"
"I can't even get the school laptop to turn on."
"Was it charged?"
"I don't know. It wouldn't turn on."
"She has a point. How is she supposed to check if it won't turn on." Cassie gives him a dirty look. "Stop trying to steal her attention."
"I was just asking."
"Lovely to meet you, Ms. Aurora." An old guy takes my hand. "Are you excited about BlackRock?"
"I am. I can't wait to see it for real. I can't believe I got picked for a spot. It means so much to me. And I love Astrophysics. The counselor at my school had me go through each school that gave me an offer and pick out my favorite major. BlackRock won in all of them. It's the major I would have picked for myself. I'm rambling. Sorry."
He gives me a warm smile and chuckles. "That's fine. I'm glad you think this way. I'm Superintendent Wallace. Your scores were among the highest we've ever seen straight out of high school. I'm expecting great things from you."
"I won't let you down."
"I don't doubt it for a second." He kisses my hand and walks off.
I turn to Cassie and my eye twitches.
"I'm sorry. We should have given you a warning about him being here."
Dante nods. "You did fine. I would have kicked him or something to get his attention if you said something dumb. Good job."
"All I'm saying is the motor in this year's model of yacht is a lot stronger. I can get back to my island in six minutes. It takes at least eight with yours."
"Enough old guy chatter." Dante crosses his arms at Frank and Jack. "Nobody cares about your yachts."
Everett puts his arm around me out of nowhere. "You ready to eat?"
"Yes, the bickering here has been nonstop."
Jack laughs. "Welcome to BlackRock, Aurora."
Cassie holds her champagne up. "Where the bickering never stops." Then she finishes it in one gulp.
Everett pulls a chair out for me. "I would have saved you earlier, but I got stuck with my grandma."
"It's fine. They are interesting."
"Yea, the one guy likes you. He's not hiding it at all."
I shiver.
"What?"
"I just hope it wasn't the superintendent. He's so old."
He laughs and kisses my hand.
"Thank you all for coming tonight. This was put together rather suddenly. We have a new recruit to BlackRock here and some of the neighbors wanted to meet her as well. Aurora is going into the..."
Jake stands up and cuts his uncle off. He points at me. "Aurora is my brothers' girlfriend. Can we eat now?"
I pickup the biggest strawberry on the table and shove it in my mouth.
Everett looks at me, then he cracks up laughing.
Cassie loses it. She almost falls off her chair. "I love family time. But now, Aurora is kind of on both sides of the family. She's with us, and she's with you."
Frank nods. "Family tree knot."
Dante smirks at me. "It's like you two are brother and sister."
"I wouldn't go that far." Jessica shakes her head.
"I'm happy you found someone, baby. You two are cute together." An old woman comes for Everett.
I grab another strawberry as quickly as I can.
Everett knocks it out of my hand as he stands up to hug the woman. "Thank you, grandma." He walks her back to her seat.
Cassie raises her glass of champagne. "To family time."
I pick up my glass and take a sip. Everyone else does too. It tastes different. It's bitey. I give it a smell and watch it swirl around. It has bubbles. I don't think I like it.
People make small talk through dinner. I laugh with Everett a lot. He looks good with a suit on.
Ann takes the family members who don't have rooms after we eat. A lot of them must have come in late.
Jerry looks at Everett and me. "No alcohol tonight."
"Ok."
Then he leans over. "I'm not joking. Do not mess this up. The older man is high ranking at BlackRock. Don't drink in front of him."
"We won't."
"Thank you."
Soon it's just me, Everett, and the BlackRock people. Mr. Wallace leaves soon after. Then some cake and wine get delivered.
"Black chocolate cherry. You have to try this." Cassie puts a piece in front of me.
I take a big bite. I love cake. "Oh my." It melts in my mouth. The chocolate cherry cream is so rich and flavorful.
"Let me." Everett tries to take my fork and I think about stabbing him.
Dante laughs. "Don't get between a girl and her chocolate."
"Now try this." Cassie puts wine in front of me.
I glance at Everett and he winks. "Little sip is fine."
I sip it, then I try to drink it all. All of them crack up laughing. Everett ends up with the empty glass.
"Well, she likes wine. I like corrupting the new generation." Cassie sits across from us and refills her wine. "So, how long have you two been together?"
I shove a huge bite of cake in my mouth.
Everett nods. "We're sorting that out."
"Oh, your brother made it sound like it was official. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause an issue."
"Yea, my brother put his foot in his mouth. He does that when he's hungry."
Jack laughs. "We all do. It must be genetics."
Frank shakes his head. "That's not genetics. I would know."
Dante smacks the table. "No. You two are not starting that again."
"He's right. It's too late to own you in another argument tonight."
"You wish." Jack rolls his eyes.
Frank stands up. "It's time for this old man to head home. I'll set up a dinner for next Friday and invite a few more alumni and a lot less family. You can all bring a date, of course. Aurora will be able to meet a few more of us. I also happen to know of a young man that got recruited into next year's astrophysics program."
My fork drops. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. I would have invited him tonight, but I didn't realize what your major was until I got here."
"You holding out on us, Frank?" Cassie crosses her arms.
"Hardly. He's my nephew. But they will be spending time together next year. It would be good for them to meet. The boy has a terrible time making friends. Maybe he could relax if he knew someone already."
Cassie nods. "So did Dante. He was a geek who got made fun of and had his head in a computer constantly."
"Me too." I stand up and stretch. "Minus the computer part. And it would be nice to meet someone else in the department." I yawn and stretch again.
"She's going to drop."
"Yea." Everett stands up. "We're going to need a paint scraper to get the makeup off, woman."
"Maybe we can find a hose somewhere."
Jack stands up. "Just toss her in the ocean a few times, it'll come off. And, of course, we'll come meet your nephew. Always nice meeting new students."
Dante stands up. "I claim New Year's Eve. You old people don't know how to throw a party."
"Last time you had a party, I woke up in the bathtub." Cassie shakes her head.
"I have tubs big enough to sleep in. What's that matter?"
"I wasn't in my own room." She glares at him.
I crack up laughing. Then I sit down and cross my legs. "That sounds like a fun story."
Dante smirks. "She's all in for story time, Cassie."
"No story time on this one. I'm forgetting it happened... again."
"Aww."
Everett pulls my shoes off. "See you all tomorrow or Friday. We're going to bed before she sleeps here."
It takes an hour to get the makeup and nails off. Then we pass out with as much as a good night kiss. That was a long day.
- Writer
