Chapter 14

Alice

“This one! And this one! And…um…this one, too!”

The kid was like a tiny tornado as he rushed through the aisles of the comic shop in Midtown, snatching comic after comic off the shelves.

“You sure your dad is cool with you getting all of these?” I asked, my eyes on the colorful covers of massive, muscular men in skintight outfits standing tall and proud on nearly every one of the comics that Hunter picked out.

“It’s new comic day,” said Hunter, now walking carefully in front of the shelves, his mind fixed in a careful, studying expression. “Dad says that I can get five comics as long as I’ve been doing all my school stuff.”

Not a bad little arrangement, I thought, always finding myself slightly amused at how often good parenting seemed to incorporate the occasional bribe.

“Oh!” shouted Connor. “The new Omega Man!”

He reached for a comic on a shelf at my eye level, standing on his tip-toes in a way that I couldn’t help but find really cute. His little hand struggled to get a grip on the comic, but he just wasn’t quite tall enough.

“Miss Alice?” he asked, turning toward me. “You have really nice shoes.”

“Huh?” I asked, glancing down at my flats.

They were pretty basic casual shoes—nothing that special. Then it hit me: He was buttering me up for a favor.

“You are such a little charmer,” I said, grabbing the comic off the shelf and handing it to him. “You’d better be careful with that. Your Dad’s got it and it’s pretty much a superpower.”

“Talking to girls isn’t a superpower,” said Hunter. “It’s easy. Most of the time.”

“I’m a girl,” I said as the two of us walked down the aisle toward the register.

“No, you’re not,” said Hunter, not missing a beat. “You’re a lady.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Yup,” he said. “Girls are my age and like it when you tease them. I mean, they pretend like they don’t, but then they think it’s funny.”

“Sounds like a few girls my own age,” I said as Hunter stacked the comics on the counter.

“That’s quite a haul,” said the girl behind the counter, a cute, college-aged girl with pink streaks in her hair and emerald-colored eyes set behind cat-eyed glasses.

Hunter didn’t say anything, instead making sure that the comics were lined up on the counter properly, his eyes fixed intently.

“I like your hair,” he said, finally looking up. “It’s cool. It makes you look like you’ve got electricity superpowers.”

I let out a bright laugh as Hunter lay down the charm once again. He was such a chip off the old block that it was almost surreal to watch.

“Thanks, kid,” said the girl, raising her eyebrows and looking at me, as if to say, “Get a load of this kid.”

I tilted my head as if to say, “Don’t I know it.”

“What’s your name?” he asked. “I’m Hunter.”

“I’m Cassandra,” she said, sticking out her hand for him to shake. “Nice to meet you, Hunter.”

Hunter shook her hand and flashed her a charming little smile that I could just tell was going to be the death of just about every girl in his high school in a decade or so.

“You want to come get pizza with Miss Alice and me?” he asked as I slipped out the credit card that Connor left for me and handed it to Cassandra. “I bet she’ll let you get two slices.”

“Unfortunately, kiddo, I’m stuck here till five. But thanks for the offer.”

“OK,” he said, totally nonplussed by the answer. “Maybe some other time.”

“Maybe,” said Cassandra, giving me a playful wink as she ran the card.

Minutes later the two of us were headed down the wide sidewalks of Midtown Manhattan, the day traffic zipping past us in the street as we weaved around tight knots of pedestrians. During our walk to the pizza place, Hunter went through all of the new comics he’d bought, letting me know in great detail what his favorite heroes had been up to.

I couldn’t get over what a cool, charming kid he was. I’d never thought of myself as the type to get along with children, but Connor was right—once I got out of my own head about it, chatting and having fun with the little guy just came naturally.

“…and this is Ronin,” said Hunter as we sat at the tiny table near the window of the pizza parlor, the city busting outside of the window. “His power is to turn his hand into a sword. Look.”

Hunter turned the book around showing me, sure enough, a man with his hand turning into a Japanese-style sword. My eyes lingered on the superheroes in the comics. With their square jaws, tall, solidly-built bodies, and intense eyes, they all seemed to remind me of Connor. He was like my very own superhero, one with the power to save lives.

I shook my head, surprised at my own thoughts and reminding myself that we weren’t actually engaged. Still, the idea didn’t sound entirely unpleasant…

After our lunch, Hunter and I headed back home where he made himself comfortable in front of the TV with his comics. I flipped through the channels, settling on one trashy reality program or another, finding myself hoping that Connor would be back soon. Not just because of the interview we had to, but because I was looking forward to seeing him.

These were dangerous thoughts, and I knew it. I’d already crossed the line of mixing business with pleasure in a sexual way, and now I was running the risk of doing it in a romantic way, too.

The afternoon went on and by the time the sun started to descend outside of the windows, the elevator doors opened and out stepped Connor. He slipped his white doctor’s coat off of his shoulders and tossed it onto a nearby chair.

Hunter rushed up to him and wrapped his arms around his dad’s legs.

“Hey, champ!” said Connor, mussing Hunter’s sun-blond hair. “You guys have fun today?”

“Yeah!” said Hunter. “We went to the comics shops and had pizza and went to the park and…”

He went on with the litany of activities that we’d done during our little afternoon together.

“He didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?” said Connor, as he stepped into the kitchen and poured two glasses of red wine.

“Not at all,” I said as Connor set one of the glasses on the kitchen counter and slowly pushed it toward me. “It was actually…pretty fun.”

“You sound surprised,” he said.

“I don’t know. I mean, like I said, I’ve just never thought of myself as a ‘kid person.’ But he was easy. I just listened to him talk about what he was into, and kept him busy. And he seemed happy about it. Maybe he’s just an extra-good kid.”

“Nope,” said Connor. “That’s just how it is with kids—not that hard at all. And unlike adults, they’ll always tell you what they want—for better or for worse.”

“I guess it’s not until the kids grow up that they decide on their own unique ways of being hard to deal with.”

“I’ll drink to that,” said Connor, raising his glass a bit, and then taking a sip.

“OK!” I said, clapping my hands down on the kitchen counter. “I think I’ve more than fulfilled my end of the bargain up to this point.”

Upon saying this, my eyes locked onto my ring, and I was briefly fixated on it for a moment.

“I’d agree with you on that score,” he said. “Why don’t we head out to the balcony and get started?”

I nodded.

“Let me get my things and I’ll meet you out there,” I said.

“And I’ll bring the wine.”

With that, I headed to my bedroom and grabbed my laptop and notepad out of my suitcase. Hunter and I swung by my apartment while we were out, so I didn’t have to spend the entire weekend in my party dress and heels.

Equipment in hand, I took a moment and stood in front of the bedroom mirror, regarding my reflection. I was finally going to get to the heart of what made Connor tick, and for reasons that I couldn’t explain, anxiety pooled in my stomach, radiating in tingling waves. I took a deep breath and swept my loose hair behind my ears, then headed out onto the balcony.

Connor was already there, seated at the long, glass table, the wine in his hands and the city stretching out into forever. His outline was backlit by the city lights, and his poise was as calm as ever. I stopped short at the door, my eyes locked on him.

“There you are,” he said, slowly turning his gorgeous blues onto me. “Shall we begin?”