Saturday night, already past seven thirty, Peter waited outside for the limo. He looked at his watch, even though he was sure the time hadn't changed much since he had checked it less than a minute ago. He began to fidget with his cufflink. Maybe Felicia wasn't coming. Maybe it had all been a dream that the beautiful Felicia Hardy had asked him to go to a prestigious black tie affair. Maybe it had been her idea of a cruel joke. It was odd: Peter faced mortal danger every day without even thinking twice yet this one woman had him sweating bullets.
A few minutes before eight, a long black limo pulled up. The driver got out and opened the door for Peter. Inside, Felicia was sitting with her legs crossed, her short red dress exposing her long bare legs. The dress had a plunging neckline, showing just a bit of her chest, and itty bitty straps that looked as if they were barely capable of holding up the dress. She had a tasteful diamond necklace and long dangling earrings. Felicia was absolutely stunning. Peter could hardly believe that she was real, and that he hadn't drifted off to sleep dreaming up this incredible woman. Maybe things were finally going to start going right for Peter Parker. "Sorry I'm late," she finally spoke as Peter settled into the car. "It always takes me forever to get ready."
Peter looked down at his feet, unable to look Felicia in the eye, and he stumbled upon his words as he climbed in next to her, "You, um, you look really great."
"Thanks Peter," She replied as she tossed back her long, shimmering hair. "You look nice, too." She had lied. Peter's suit had obviously been worn many times and it didn't quite fit him right. She had always thought Peter was stick-skinny, but now she thought differently. The suit was too tight in the arms, revealing muscles Felicia had never realized he possessed. She caught herself thinking about Peter and almost laughed at the thought. She had to remember that Peter was here to embarrass her mother in front of Jameson, and his awkward, old suit served this objective perfectly.
"I'll have to introduce you to all the important people who are attending tonight. I'll introduce you to my mother and to Mr. Jameson. Didn't you say you knew him?" She couldn't remember what Peter had said. Sometimes she didn't listen to what people said, particularly when they were men. Too often they droned on and on about themselves. Peter wasn't really like that but old habits die hard.
"Yeah. I work for the Daily Bugle." Peter answered.
"That's right. I thought you mentioned that before." After some forced and uncomfortable conversation, Peter saw that the limo arrived at the hotel where the party was being thrown. Again the driver got out and opened the door. He gave his hand to help Felicia out, to which Felicia replied "Thank you Charles. The party should end around two. I'll call if anything changes."
Charles replied, "Yes Miss Hardy. Give my regards to your mother." He then helped Peter out of the limo.
Felicia held out her arm and Peter took it. He escorted her into the hotel and up to the top floor where the benefit was being held. He could hardly believe he was here.
The benefit room was a huge ballroom with crystal chandeliers and large windows which overlooked the city. Waiters in black suits with tails served champagne and hors d'oeuvres. The crowd was filled with people older and wealthier than Peter. He didn't recognize a single face. Peter started to feel like agreeing to come to this party was a bad idea. He wished he could be swinging through the city, even fighting would be better than this.
"Come on Peter," Felicia tugged on his arm and dragged him off to the center of the party. She grabbed two glasses of champagne from one of the servers, sipping from one of the glasses and offering the other to Peter.
"No thank you." He stuttered his reply. "I'm not really old enough to drink." After that had slipped out he immediately wished he could take it back. So far he was not scoring points for being suave. The truth was Peter had decided long ago that if he was going to be Spider-man, he couldn't allow himself to drink or do anything else that might slow down his reaction time. You have to always be at the top of your game, he thought. Losing a few seconds could mean the difference between life and death, and you never know when Spider-man might be needed. So far he'd gone through college branded as a "geek" who would rather study on a Friday night, which was only partially true, but at least people we're not suspicious when he didn't show up to the major parties at ESU.
Felicia gave him a look of equal shock and disgust. First, she had forgotten that he was more than two years younger than him. Second, she could not believe he would turn down a harmless glass of champagne. "Come on Peter. Live a little." She forced the glass into his hands and said sarcastically, "I promise not to tell your mom."
Peter accepted the glass but didn't drink from it. He looked at Felicia sternly and replied in a dry serious tone, "My mother's dead."
"Oh, I didn't know. I mean, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," Felicia stammered. This evening was not going well. She had no idea that Peter's mother had died. She remembered how once she thought her father was dead and it had been the most painful part of her life. There was a moment of awkward silence, where both of them stood without looking at each other. Finally Felicia spoke, "Come on. Let's go see who else is here."
She dragged Peter towards where he mother was standing with Mr. Jameson and a few other people she recognized from her mother's business. She felt a pang of remorse for doing this to Peter. Part of her considered just leaving now, taking Peter with her and going somewhere quiet. He was obviously out of place in this party and very uncomfortable. She half wanted to get to know him better, find out what other painful secrets he hid from the world. But then Felicia set eyes on her mother's face, her courage returned and all thoughts of Peter's well-being were forgotten.
Her mother was in a long, tasteful black dress and she was covered in ornate jewelry. Felicia had to admit that her mother really looked good for age. But that made Felicia despise her even more.
"Darling," Mrs. Hardy ceased her conversation at the sight of her daughter. She gently kissed her on the cheek. "Don't you look wonderful," she said as she looked Felicia up and down. "I was just talking to Jonah about you."
"Hi mom. You look great, too."
"Jonah, this is my daughter, Felicia." Mrs. Hardy said. Peter stood several steps behind them, unsure what to do.
"I remember you. You've grown a lot since I saw you last. You were running around in diapers." Jameson always seemed to say the same thing to her. She had actually seen him last Christmas. "Now you're such a lovely young lady. Where did John go?"
Jameson scanned the room looking for his son. Mrs. Hardy continued for him, "Oh, yes. You two would make such a cute couple. He's an astronaut you know. Quite prominent in the…"
Mrs. Hardy was interrupted by her daughter. "Actually mom, I brought someone."
Her mother's thin eye brows narrowed quizzically.
"This is Peter. He goes to school with me."
Peter held his hand out but Mrs. Hardy didn't take it. She gave him a disapproving look and then turned back to Felicia without saying a word to Peter. "I thought I told you I was introducing you to Jameson's son."
"I know, but I've been seeing Peter for a little while." Felicia replied. Peter looked over at Felicia and gave her almost as a surprised look as her mother. He suspected something was up. Felicia and he were certainly not "seeing" each other. In fact, he could safely say that Felicia liked Spider-man. Peter was completely hypnotized by her beauty and presence, so much that he was willing to overlook the fact that she was most likely using him to get to Spider-man. That wasn't so terrible, considering that they were one and same, even if Felicia didn't know that. But now Peter believed that her deception ran deeper; that he was a pawn in some sort of twisted family conflict.
Jameson seemed to have found his son, cupping his hands and calling crudely across the room for him to come over. His attention returned to the two arguing women and for the first time he set eyes on Peter. "Parker?" he asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"I came with Felicia." Peter replied.
"No you didn't." Jameson stated. "She's here to meet my son. You shouldn't be here, anyways. You should be out taking pictures or something. What do I pay you for? To come to parties?"
"Don't worry, I was just leaving." Peter turned and walked solemnly away. Felicia was about to run off after him, but before she could she was approached by a tall, handsome man with bright blue eyes, dressed in a dashing tux.
"You must be Felicia. I'm John." The man held out his hand for her to shake
Felicia looked over her shoulder to see Peter heading for the exit. She contemplated following him, but John had taken her by surprise. He was gorgeous; in fact he was exactly the kind of man she dreamed about. And there was something about him, maybe his strong confident presence, that reminded her of Spider-man. She couldn't leave now. She needed to get to know this man better.
To be continued…