Chapter 49: Kimberly

We entered the salon as the adult ladies were setting the table for supper and Kimberly was relating what I had said.

“ ... and he said that he was just a boy-toy for horny or grateful women who appreciated him for his healing. And that the younger girls were all crushes because he was the only boy and safe for them to experiment on trying out their feminine charms. But when I mentioned Carina, he couldn’t speak and tears came to his eyes. That’s when I came and got her,” she told them.

“Be still, my beating heart,” sighed Cynthiana.

“Do you think we’re pushing him too much. He’s still a boy in so many ways,” Eileen asked.

“That’s what I am worried about. I’m so used to dealing with professional athletes who are generally older and have been around the block a few times. And Alex can come across as so mature and all, I think I really did push him a little too much,” Kimberly told the ladies. “But for the love of me, I would never hurt that boy in a million years. There is just so much good in that child!”

“Alex is much stronger than you think, Kimberly. He just hasn’t become jaded or learned to hide his emotions,” she told them.

Archara came around the table and crushed me to her naked body so tightly I could have almost fucked her without moving.

“Let me tell you that there are times when I love my toy more than the Captain. Especially when he’s gone too long. But I’ll tell you now that I had already decided to rename my toy ‘Alex’ when I get home,” she said as everyone laughed.

“And you saved my life! Twice!” said Eileen as she hugged me equally as tight. “How could I possibly not have fallen in love with you!”

“Look! They might be getting bigger!” Leigh Ann said as she tried to cup her almost none-existent boobs. “They sure are tingling and aching like they are growing.”

“But that may be from over-stimulation as well,” quipped Isabelle. “They’ve been getting a lot of that lately!”

Then she smiled at me as she winked.

“Should we call the girls up to add their two-cents worth?” Eileen asked. But thankfully they let that idea go.

“Well, I don’t know about you, Kimberly, but I think I missed out on the trip of a lifetime,” Cynthiana quipped.

I excused myself to go to the head as they scurried about to put supper on the table.

After dinner Walt went to the bridge to check on Mischa, while the war council, with Roland and the Captain, resumed their discussions talking about interviews and over-exposure and other things relating to the marketing of an untried golfer named Alex Masters. I just listened as the plans Cynthiana and Kimberly had come up with, based not just on conversations with me, but with everyone on the Serendipity, came together.

Finally they took a break from the discussions and I stepped out to the fantail one more time for some fresh air. I noticed that someone had turned on all the lights again.

“Alex. I asked Carina if it was okay if I speak with you,” she said. “Does the ban on apologies still hold on the fantail after dark?”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Kimberly. I’m sure you were doing exactly what Cynthiana hired you to do. And that you did it so completely and quickly is truly amazing. I couldn’t believe how you all had put together such a great plan with so little to work with.”

“But I’m afraid our expedience and thoroughness came with a cost that I’m not comfortable with. You see, I am concerned I may have hurt someone that I have, in a short amount of time, grown to respect and even admire. A boy who has struggled against the odds to become a man. An honest, decent, loving man,” Kimberly told me. “We sometimes forget that you survived a nasty encounter with a lightning bolt, and by all accounts should be dead. But instead you’ve been saddled with myriad mysteries about what it did to you and how its affecting you and everyone around you.”