by KD Jones
“Great, let me show you what we did.” She motioned for him to follow her down to the center of the arboretum where a large circular stone-laid pavilion was located.
A few tables were set up with glasses of champagne and light food fare. Soft music that blended with the natural sound of water fountains and chirping birds played in the background.
“This is where you’ll stand to greet the females. I will send them in five at a time, giving enough space between each set for you to say hello. I would recommend not starting any real conversation while this is going on. My assistant Mindy will be beside you to help shuffle each group that comes down toward the tables of champagne and food. Once we have everyone in and they have had a chance to eat a few of our finger foods, you can start picking females that you would like to talk to privately. If you will follow me, I want you to see how we arranged the pathways.”
There were five pathways leading out from the pavilion. He walked next to Nina down one of the pathways. This pathway led to a man-made waterfall.
“We have set up benches all along the pathways, every twenty feet, so that you can walk with one of the females and sit and talk. When you are done with that female just escort her back and pick another female. You can choose another pathway if you like.”
“How long should I take with each female? There’sss a lot of them.”
“I have reserved the arboretum for eight hours. Let’s get the initial greeting done in thirty minutes, and for each individual walk give yourself ten minutes, unless you are really enjoying that person’s company — then you can take a little longer. If each female is given ten minutes, that will be about five hours for your one-on-ones. Take two breaks, one every two hours, then we’ll close it out and say the goodbyes. That last hour or two my team will clean up.”
“What happensss after that?”
“Tell Mindy when you come back from each one-on-one if you would like to have that female remain on board for another day. We’ll take that information and record it as you narrow your choices down.”
“I haven’t been to many gatheringsss but thisss ssseemsss different. Usually by the end of the gathering, a sssingle choice isss made.”
“It is different and I apologize. I really tried to have it as close to a traditional gathering as possible but you’re not a traditional guy. You have a certain lifestyle that will take a special female to handle. Most of the gatherings on your home world involve families that the male or female is familiar with. You are meeting thirty strangers and have a limited time to get to know them. You know, you don’t have to mate anyone right away. You could take time to date them, and make sure you’re happy with your choice.”
“When I make up my mind, it’sss ssset.”
“Okay. The females should be arriving in about ten minutes. Let’s get you back to the pavilion.”
Esan followed Nina, trying not to stare at her like a love-sick puppy. He was regretting the decision to follow through on this event. Well, it was too late to stop now. Mindy was waiting for them when they reached the pavilion.
“Nina, everyone on the team came in on time and they are in their positions ready to go. Sue and Vivien will keep the champagne glasses full and the food coming in. Vic is monitoring the lighting and sound and Jose is working security at the entrance. Females have already begun to show up. We were just waiting for you to get here before we let them in.”
“Thanks, Mindy.” She turned to Esan. “I’m going to start sending in five at a time. Remember to just introduce yourself and get their names — then let Mindy usher them to the tables.”
“Got it.”
He watched Nina as she walked away from him. The sway of her ass was mesmerizing. As he forced his eyes away from her, he took in the overall effect of the decor that Nina assembled. It truly was spectacular. No matter the outcome of his event, he would make sure that the GCFA knew how valuable she was. She worked hard and deserved all the praise she could get.
The first five females came up to him full of excitement. He made an effort to smile at each of them, but it was strained. “Welcome, I’m Esan.” He cringed when they all spoke at one time. There was no way he would have remembered their individual names. Thankfully, Nina had them wear name tags. “We will get to know each other a little better later.”
“Come these way ladies, and get something to eat and drink.” Mindy ushered them away.
He had but a moment to take a deep breath before the females advanced on him, all speaking at the same time. Esan nodded, not really hearing the questions, and then his eye caught a female wearing a white flowing robe. Her long blonde hair was braided and fell down the center of her back, leaving the sides of her head exposed and her purple scales shining brightly. She wasn’t one of the females he had handpicked, which meant she was someone that his foster father had brought. He had planned to just ignore the ones his foster father had brought, but the female was quiet and reserved and it seemed rude to ignore her completely. The tension in his family wasn’t her fault. He motioned her forward.
“Would you walk with me for the firssst one-on-one thisss evening?”
“I would be honored.”
He heard other females begin to whine when the two of them took the path that led to the waterfall. “What isss your name?”
“Valkri. My grandfather isss on the council with your father.”
He didn’t correct her, although he wanted to tell her that Shrake was his foster father, not his father. “Wasss it your grandfather’sss idea for you to come here?”
“Oh no, my grandfather isss totally againssst it. I wanted to apply ssso I approached your father. He helped convince my grandfather to let me come.”
They arrived at a bench and took a seat. “Why? Why would you want to go againssst your grandfather like that jusssst to come here?”
“I guesss you could sssay I’m not the average Reptan female. I have a mind of my own and wish to sssee the world.”
“Do you have a job?”
“My family isss wealthy enough that the femalesss are not expected to work, but I volunteer at a local hossspital. I like working with the healersss.”
“Isss that something you would like to continue to do?”
“Yesss. My family hasss not been sssupportive but I took classsesss and volunteer asss much asss I can.”
He had to admit that he was impressed with Valkri. She was a beautiful female who was well spoken. He liked that she didn’t go along with the male-dominated rules of their home world. It took guts to go against her patriarchal figure. He admired that and wouldn’t mind getting to know her a little better.
“I think our time isss almost up. Would you be interesssted in remaining on board ssso that we can have more time to get to know one another?
“I would be my honor.”
They stood and walked back to the pavilion. He had not expected to find anyone appealing, not after finally facing his attraction to Nina. This was what he had wanted — at least as far as he could tell. He needed to make sure of it, though.
As soon as they reached the pavilion, Esan was swarmed with females. This was not what he was used to at all. Most females didn’t even approach him out of fear. On his home world, he was mostly shunned because of his human DNA. What motivated these females to come across the galaxy just on the possibility that he might mate them? A female with short, spiked red hair pushed her way to him. She didn’t say a word; she just grabbed his arm and dragged him down another pathway.
Esan hadn’t been on this pathway before. It was lined with butterfly bushes, each one containing butterflies of all different colors. He watched in fascination as the creatures flew around them effortlessly. It would have been peaceful, if it had not been for the rambling of the female next to him. As soon as she began talking, she kept on and on, asking questions and then continuing to talk before he could answer.
“I’m Zizi and I’m twenty and I’m ssso happy to be here. I have not ssseen you fight on TV — my pare
ntsss wouldn’t allow it — but I hear you’re really good. Are you good? You mussst be good. You are certainly fit. How many hoursss in the day do you work out?”
She finally took a break to take a gulp of air. He quickly tried to answer her questions before she started up again. “I am not the champion but I am a good fighter. I work out a minimum of five hours a day. What do you do?”
“Oh, I help my mother run our home.”
“Any outssside interessstsss? Hobbiesss?”
“Not really.”
“Why did you decide to apply?”
She shrugged. “My friendsss and I all applied but I’m the only one that made it through. They are going to be ssso jealousss. Can I get a picture with you?” She didn’t wait for him to respond before she raised her phone to take a picture of them. “I’m sssending it to them right now.”
“If I choossse you, you’ll be moving here on board the GCFA ship with me. Won’t you misss ssseeing your family and friendsss?”
“I honessstly hadn’t thought of that. I thought I would only be coming here periodically — you know for photo shootsss and thingsss like that. There’sss a house on the sssame street that my parentsss live on that would be perfect for usss. How many kidsss do you want? I want at leassst sssix.”
He listened as she rambled on and on without letting him speak. This female was definitely not like the other one. “I think our time isss up.” He motioned for her to head back down the path to the pavilion. He hoped there weren’t any more females like this one, or it would be a really long night.
Chapter 15
The next morning
Nina rolled onto her side trying to go back to sleep. It had been a long night, but the gathering had gone off without a hitch. It was awkward watching Esan surrounded by adoring women who were vying for his attention. She was jealous whenever she saw him make a connection with someone. She could have passed off the rest of the responsibility to Mindy so that she wouldn’t have to stay through the whole thing, but she had tortured herself by seeing it through to the end.
Esan thanked her when he left and she felt ... disappointed for some reason. Mindy had told her that he had picked three of the females to remain on board for him to get to know better. All that was now on him to plan; her hands were out of it. She should have been relieved, but the bags under eyes from the lack of sleep would say otherwise.
All her events were over. Maybe she should take this time to go home and visit with her family. Anything to keep her mind off of Esan. She really liked him. It was more than just the physical appeal, though he was extremely hot. She enjoyed talking with him. When he opened up, he showed a side that was intelligent, kind, and compassionate. He even had a great sense of humor. He was the total package — and he was unavailable. Her heart hurt a little.
Her phone rang, waking her from melancholy. “Hello?”
“Nina, how did everything go lassst night?”
It was Sersan. “It went great. The only unexpected issue we had was that your foster father showed up with five women he brought.”
“I can’t believe he did that! Esssan should have had him thrown off the ship.”
Nina laughed. “He thought about it, but your brother has too much class for that. Plus, the IDJ would arrest him for it.”
“Did my fossster father make the gathering weird?”
“He didn’t even bother coming to the gathering. He sent his picks though. Esan picked three women to remain on board the ship to get to know better. The rest of the women are leaving this morning to go back to your home world.”
“What are they like?”
“I think the ones he chose were the top of the crop, from what I saw of their profiles. Of course, one of them didn’t have a profile because it was one of the women your foster father brought.”
“Why did Esssan choossse her?”
“I guess he hit it off with her so well that it didn’t bother him how she got here.” Nina hoped she didn’t sound jealous.
“What happensss now?”
“Esan will arrange time to spend with the remaining three females. It’s all in his hands now.”
“I owe you for doing thisss for me and for Esssan. I know he may never sssay it but I’m sure he appreciatesss everything you have done.”
“It was my pleasure.” She hoped she sounded happy about everything.
“Nina, there’sss jussst one more thing. Could you continue to meet with Esssan while he isss going through hisss datesss? I want to make sure that he hasss sssomeone he can talk about everything with. He won’t call me about it becaussse I’m on my honeymoon. Zen offered but Esssan would rather kick hisss asss than talk about hisss feelingsss to another male.”
“Doesn’t he have another friend he can do that with?” Nina was hoping to leave the ship while Esan was dating his women. She didn’t want to have to watch him fall in love.
“You know my brother. He won’t open up to jussst anyone. He knowsss you and trussstsss you. You’re the perfect perssson to do thisss.”
She should say no and tell Sersan she had other plans. What she ended up saying was: “I’d be happy to.”
“Great! Thank you ssso much! Goodbye, Nina.”
“Bye, Sersan.”
She hung up the phone, wondering why she agreed to stay involved in this thing. She groaned out loud. She was exhausted but needed to get up. She was helping with the banquet that would follow the GCFA fight tonight. The GCFA director expected her to be there as well. Esan was fighting tonight, which meant he most likely would be at the banquet. He may even be with one of his dates. Great, she thought. Just what she didn’t want to deal with.
*****
Esan had a fight tonight and was completing his morning workout. His thoughts were unfocused but it wasn’t just because of the gathering. His foster father called him late last night furious that only one of the females he brought with him had been selected. Then Shrake demanded he be allowed to attend the date with Esan and Valkri, which was ridiculous. Esan threatened to have security force his foster father to leave with the other females this morning. His foster father backed off.
Truthfully, he didn’t understand why Shrake would want to stay. He never paid this much attention to him when he was living in the same house as Esan. His foster parents were not very loving or even attentive parents. Esan had been more of a father to Sersan than Shrake had ever been. Their foster mother was never there, always going to spend time with her own family. There was no love between his foster parents, their mating had been arranged by their parents. With such poor examples as parents, he questioned why he would even want to mate and start a family.
He could understand Sersan’s need for a family. She had never been accepted on Reptan and though Esan tried to be there for her, he couldn’t be everything for her. Thinking about his sister had him reaching for his phone. He just wanted to tell her that things went well last night. He dialed her number, expecting to leave a message, but she answered immediately.
“Esssan!”
“Hello, my sssisster. How isss your mate treating you?”
“We’re having a great time. There are new thingsss for usss to do every day and then the nights are…amazing.”
He rolled his eyes. “Pleassse ssstop there. I don’t need to know how the nightsss are going.”
Sersan laughed. He really loved to hear her laugh and since meeting her mate Ronin, she had done a lot of it. He was grateful for that.
“The gathering went well,” he told her.
“Nina told me. I am ssso glad you found potential matesss. What are they like?”
“I don’t know yet. I will sssoon though. The three I asssked to remain on board are sssmart, have a purpossse in life, and ssseem to want more than what their home world offersss for them.”
“Well, I would sssay ssso. If you’re a Reptan female, you basssically have to do whatever your father tellsss you until you are old enough to mate, then you have to do whatever your mate tellsss you
to do. Not much of a life. No wonder they are jumping for a chance to leave. A big bonusss isss that they would be getting a great male like you in the bargain.”
He smiled as he listened to her championing him. “I think you are biasssed when it comesss to me.”
“Damn ssstraight I am! Oh, I have to go Ronin isss taking me sssailing. I want to wish you luck.”
“Thank you and don’t worry about me. Have a great time.”
“I’ll sssee you when I get back. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” he said as he hung up. He realized that Sersan was the only female he had ever told that he loved. He had dated plenty of females but he had never been in love. He would have to take a hard look at the remaining females to see if there would be any possibility of a love connection. That had not been his original intention; love had not been important to him before. Seeing how happy Sersan was made him rethink the whole idea of love. He finished his workout and went to shower and change. He had a lunch date with one of the females he had chosen last night.
An hour and a half later, he stood impatiently at the entrance of the cafe waiting for the female named Shena. The female’s curly black hair had caught his attention first. Most Reptans didn’t have curly hair and at first he thought it was possible she was mixed like he was. Upon speaking to her, he quickly realized that wasn’t the case. She had used a hair curling thing for females to set the curls. That was disappointing, but she was still pleasant enough to talk with. He began to realize that she was not, unfortunately, very punctual. He had taken a shower and changed in less than thirty minutes. He had been waiting for her since that time. He decided that in another ten minutes, he would walk away. Just as he thought that, the elevator opened and out sashayed Shena in a miniskirt, blue blouse, and sunglasses. Sunglasses inside the GCFA ship? Really?