17
Chapter 27 Diplomatic Incidents
Jack and Zinnia entered the restaurant, approaching the host desk. "So what do I do?" Zinnia asked.
"Go to the bar I guess?" Jack said. "I'll cover your food, so order whatever you like."
"Anything but alcohol, right?" Zinnia asked.
"It'll make Hilda feel better." Jack answered.
Zinnia gave him a hug and departed. Jack didn't realize he was being watched, as he noticed Dawn Berlitz sitting on a long, upholstered bench. She wore a poofy, pink dress with a red ribbon over her middle.
"Mr. Cobal, good afternoon, it's a pleasure to see you again." Dawn said softly as she stood up and approached him, walking as elegantly as possible. "Who was your friend?"
"My bodyguard." Jack replied, not sure how she'd react to him adding on the "girlfriend" title. "It appears I'm under-dressed..." He admitted as he had a polo shirt and jeans on. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."
Dawn shook her head. "I got here quite early, and you're still a bit early yourself."
Jack then turned to the host stand, who eyed him expectantly. "There might be a reservation under Jack Cobal..." He said uncertainly. Hilda never mentioned if Oleana had actually made the reservation.
"Yes, for two with a marina view." The host replied. "It's ready if you two are."
Jack turned to Dawn, who simply nodded and held out her hand, expecting him to take it. He peaked over to the bar and saw the back of Zinnia getting comfy on a barstool before turning his attention back to Dawn. "You sure?" Jack asked. "You didn't seem too pleased with me last time."
"Your staff was unprepared for such a visit, I probably shouldn't have called upon you in that way." Dawn said, Jack sensed that was the closest thing to an apology he'd be hearing from her. Dawn then gestured her hand again, indicating he should take it.
"No thanks." Jack said, and turned to follow the host. Dawn was in high heels, and he heard her slow-moving steps behind him, an ominous tone to them.
The host seated them at an intimate table sprinkled with rose petals.
"Nice touch, Mr. Cobal." Dawn observed once she'd sat down properly. "A mixed message, however."
"The woman who made the reservation probably requested it." Jack replied. "She said your people told her you thoroughly enjoyed your time at my property."
Dawn grimaced. "A bit of a miscommunication. You know how messages get mangled the more ears they go through."
Jack nodded. "And how has the search for develop-able real estate gone?"
Dawn turned away to look at the marina for a moment before regaining composure. "It's on-going."
The two sat in silence for half a minute before a waiter came over and poured water for them and got their drink orders. He got a glass of wine, and she got a virgin pina colada. When the waiter left, Jack finally opened his mouth. "I take it you never had a real one of those?"
Dawn scoffed. "Of course not, I'm not of legal drinking age."
Jack sighed. "So I take it you've never had an alcoholic beverage in your life?"
Dawn shook her head. "Certainly not. Alcohol makes absolute fools out of whoever drinks it. I've seen perfect gentlemen turn into complete scoundrels after a bottle of wine."
Jack smiled. He wanted to say "is that a challenge?" But held his tongue. "There are plenty of bad drunks out there. It's fun in moderation." He tried to justify.
"Yes, fun in moderation, but it destroys the ability to tell what 'moderation' is while drinking it." Dawn fired back.
Jack smiled. "With something so popular, I've always had a 'don't knock it 'til you try it' approach. But to each their own." He raised his water glass like a mock-cheers and took a sip. "How have you been liking Alola so far?"
"It's very beautiful." Dawn replied. "But it seems a little un-refined for my tastes."
"To be fair, you do have some high class taste." Jack offered.
"It's hard to downgrade when one's used to the finer things in life." Dawn explained. "You'll experience the same phenomena as well, Mr. Cobal. More high class food... service... romantic company." Her eyes suddenly locked into his intensely.
Jack wanted to roll his eyes, but instead just smiled dumbly. "Perhaps." He answered. "Yesterday I did some info-gathering about the prominent families of Sinoh."
Dawn's gaze relaxed, but the rest of her face stiffened. "And may I ask what source you used for this info-gathering? I'm aware of a nasty rumor going on about my family."
Jack smiled. "I have a friend who has their finger in a lot of pies... He said the Veilstone family caused the Acuity family to go bankrupt."
Dawn took a deep breath. "Yes, the Veilstones are a ruthless, conniving bunch. If not for their money, they would have no place in Sinohan high society."
"They also said your family sold its private jet."
That rattled Dawn for a moment. "Well, it was getting old. My parents are still in the process of acquiring a new one. There aren't many aircraft that can fit my family's standard of luxury travel. Did your friend hear any other juicy rumors about my family?"
Jack smiled. "They mentioned your mother's jewels flooded the gemstone market, causing the price of fine jewelry to drastically fall."
Dawn scoffed. "Complete hearsay. I believe your friend has a thirst for mischief."
Jack smiled, as she was right about Giovanni's thirst for mischief. But considering how well she'd spun everything, he was even more convinced the accusations were correct. "They definitely do."
The server came up and took their orders. Dawn made sure to order the most expensive thing, Jack noticed.
"I doubt the chefs here are half as good my family's personal ones." Dawn bragged. "But I feel I must give them a chance. Is this the finest that Alolan cuisine has to offer?"
Jack shrugged. "No clue. Haven't been to any other places in Alola yet, but I really like it here."
Dawn nodded. "Well the view is hard to beat." She paused. "I take it you've entertained some female company since you've arrived?"
Jack nodded. "Yes. What of it?"
Dawn nodded. "To be expected. But tell me, do you have any plans with these women long term?"
"Long term?" Jack asked, playing oblivious to her incredibly obvious line of questioning.
"Proper marriage-material." Dawn explained. "For a man of your means, you ought to have a woman whose status is a match."
Jack smirked. "You think so?" He decided to have some fun with her. "Say I thought one of the waitresses here was attractive and had a good personality that I wanted to get to know better, you think I shouldn't associate with her because she's not from some high society family?"
Dawn nodded. "Essentially." She answered. "Those women are fun for flings and temporary carnal release..." Jack couldn't help but admire how daintily Dawn's words danced around the concept of sex. "...But they're only good for that. A high value woman will enhance the qualities of the man his whole life long." She said smugly.
Jack's smirk got even wider. She was setting herself up quite nicely. "And I suppose you're one of those 'high value' women?" Jack asked.
Dawn smiled and nodded proudly. "Yes. Prime marriage-material for a man like you, if I say so myself."
"Marriage-material? Are you proposing to me?" Jack asked, almost in disbelief.
Dawn nodded. "While a bit forward, I believe I'm rather taken with you, Mr. Cobal. Do you accept?"
Jack eyed her like she was a ghost. "No."
Dawn scoffed. "And why not?"
"Besides how sudden it is?" Jack asked.
"Yes I understand it's sudden for you, but matches like this in Sinoh are often made quite quickly." Dawn explained.
"Well Dawn, I hate to break it to you-" He lied. "...But I currently have four girlfriends and a few other women I'm casually fucking." He said with a big grin on his face.
Dawn's jaw dropped. "You're... You must be lying."
Jack shrugged. "Nope. And they all know they're sharing me."
Dawn shook her head in utter confusion. "But how will your family sustain it?"
"Sustain it?"
"Pass on the Cobal name, inheritance-"
"We'll figure it out when we get there." Jack said.
Dawn took a deep breath. "I've heard of powerful men in Sinoh having large appetites, and needing the company of a serving girl or another lady for carnal embrace, but something like this would be too much. I'm afraid I must withdraw my offer until you've settled down a bit more."
Jack smiled. "Fine by me. I take it this is the last luncheon I'll be having with you then?"
Dawn cleared her throat. "Well... it doesn't have to be."
"So what about me are you so 'taken with,' besides my money?" Jack asked. He saw the server arriving with his wine and her virgin pina colada and paused his line of questioning.
Dawn took a hearty drink from her beverage. "Well, a number of reasons..." She said, her mind clearly scrambling.
"Honestly Ms. Berlitz." Jack began. "I don't think I've enjoyed speaking with you for more than a single minute."
Dawn coughed in shock.
"You and I as human beings are diametrically opposed." He said, not even sure where his vocabulary had come across that phrase, but it sounded like something a high society person would say. "You were born and raised in luxury, I lived most of my life scraping by. If we had met two months ago you wouldn't have even bothered to respond to me, or even commit my name to your memory."
"You're in a life of luxury now, I can help-"
"I don't want that kind of thing though." Jack said. "My bodyguard Zinnia, you remember her from earlier?"
Dawn nodded, fury in her eyes.
"A few days ago we picked her up from the storage unit she was living out of." Jack explained. "She also happens to be one of the most powerful Pokemon trainers in Alola, probably the most powerful I've ever seen with my own eyes. If I had just dismissed her like you're so happy to do-"
"I'm not happy to do it." Dawn interrupted. "I just can't associate with riff-raff."
Jack's jaw dropped. "And that... The elitism. I can't stand it."
"Well the lower classes despise us higher class folk." Dawn said.
"Not as much as you think, because they want to be us. They want what we have, who wouldn't?" Jack explained. "And I don't think I could ever love a person who's fundamentally opposed to that. Let alone betroth myself to them the second time I've ever met them." Jack said, feeling like he'd successfully put the icing on the cake.
Dawn looked down at the table and took a deep breath. "I can acknowledge that line of thinking Mr. Cobal." Dawn spoke. "I realize I pushed too far too fast. Is there another topic we could speak about until the entrees arrive?"
Out of Jack's peripheral vision, a group of figures appeared near their table. "Oh I think there's one." An icy, female, voice spoke.
Dawn turned to the source of the voice, and a look of pure terror crossed her face.
Jack turned and realized the group of four figures had stopped at their table, eyeing Jack and Dawn intently. Jack also realized he knew two them: Arezu and Mai, the women who'd grinded on him in the club the prior night.
"Apologies for the interruption, Ms. Berlitz, Mr. Cobal." The woman in the center spoke.
"Ursula..." Dawn almost growled. "What are you doing here?"
The woman in front of Jack was quite a sight to see. Her face was probably the least attractive of the women in the entourage, but she dressed decadently. Her dark pink hair was styled in one of the most puzzling designs he'd ever seen, with ribbons keeping the whole ordeal together. But he also admitted it had a hypnotic quality to it. She wore a white petty coat over a sky blue dress with another ribbon. Jack also noticed just above the ribbon laid the biggest, brightest, sapphire he'd ever seen. Her body seemed rather bony, with little curves to speak of, but he didn't entirely mind that.
Ursula smiled overly-sweetly at Dawn. "Why, just having some lunch with my staff, Ms. Berlitz. No need for an interrogation" She replied innocently.
"No, I meant what are you doing in Alola." Dawn replied.
Ursula giggled, and even that sounded pompous. "Just looking for a plot of land to put the biggest beach house in the world..." She eyed Jack not so subtly. "...Among other things." Ursula then fully fixated her gaze on Jack and kept up her smile. "I'm Ursula Veilstone."
"Well here she is..." Jack thought to himself, the woman Hilda was terrified by, even Giovanni had a hint of fear speaking about. "Jack Cobal." Jack replied. "But you already knew that Ms. Veilstone."
Ursula shrugged. "Well, I do a lot of reading, and your rags to riches story has me thoroughly intrigued."
Dawn cleared her throat. "He doesn't like that spoken about-"
"I can speak for myself, Dawn, thank you very much." Jack said, unable to help himself from denying Dawn any sort of power over him.
Ursula smirked. "And Dawn, speaking of 'thank-you's,' allow me to thank you and your mother for this absolutely enchanting sapphire." Ursula made a point to emphasize the sapphire on her necklace. "Although I wish your mother had sold this last so I could've gotten it after she flooded the market with the family jewels."
Jack turned to Dawn, who completely froze up.
"And let me also thank your family for the private jet my parents gifted me recently. It flies incredibly smoothly."
Although Jack did take pride that Dawn was being verbally un-dressed by Ursula, he did notice tears welling up in Dawn's eyes. No matter how much of an elitist cunt Dawn was, he could never smile at a girl's tears.
Ursula then stepped aside and indicated the attractive young woman next to her. "And have you recognized my newest thrall?"
Dawn didn't reply, and no matter how curious he was to find out who the beautiful young woman was, the use of the word "thrall" bothered him.
Ursula turned to the young woman. "You recognize Irida Acuity, do you not?"
The "Acuity" name set off a red flag in Jack's mind, as he remembered Giovanni mentioning something about them getting bankrupted by the Veilstones. The girl was quite beautiful, her pale skin and her mid length blonde hair complemented each other well, along with her red and black strapless shirt which showed a lot of skin, including a tattoo on her arm. Her tiny shorts showed even more skin, but she had a sash that clung around her waist and flowed to her ankles making it look like a cape for her legs. The outfit was topped off with a metal collar around her neck, with a large, black pearl at the center.
Dawn broke her silence. "Irida, it's been a while." Dawn said, her voice waivering.
"Yes, Lady Berlitz, it has." Irida then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her mouth again. "But I must ask you address my Mistress when she addresses you."
A fire alarm was going off in Jack's head. "This shit is ridiculous." He thought to himself.
"O-of course..." Dawn said with a tremble.
Ursula smiled cruelly. "Well Mr. Cobal, when you're done talking to the soon-to-be biggest beggar in Sinoh, there is a seat at my table with your name on it between Arezu and Mai."
Both named women nodded their heads dutifully to Jack, Arezu even winked. Jack nodded. "Sounds good, Ms. Veilstone."
"You can call me Ursula." She replied, blowing a kiss at him.
Ursula and her three attendants departed, and Jack turned to Dawn, who had tears streaking down her face, her eye liner turning to mush. He didn't say anything until Ursula was out of ear shot. "Well..." Jack said, still processing what had just occurred.
"Mr. Cobal I'm sorry for lying to you..." Dawn whimpered. "My family sent me here on a one way ticket to try to win your hand... If I wasn't successful, the Berlitz family name was as good as dead. Everything you heard was true."
Jack nodded. "Apology accepted..." His mind continued to focus on Irida and whatever the hell the "thrall" situation was. "So Dawn, what happens for you next?"
Dawn looked down at the table. "I'll probably join Irida as Ursula's thrall. When a family's estate declares bankruptcy in Sinoh, the other families buy it up to bail the family out of their debts. The consequence is the family's children are sent as a thank you to become the servants of the families who bought the debt."
"And your family is on the verge of bankruptcy, right?" Jack asked.
Dawn nodded. "It'll be announced sometime next week. Part of me coming to Alola was so the Veilstones may not be able to find me... But they have."
"Were they here looking for you or me?"
"You. But I expect they knew my parents' plan to try to marry me off to you to save the family finances. Two birds with one stone."
Jack nodded. "You said the children become servants, but Ursula just said 'thrall.' That's a little different from servant."
"The children become de-facto slaves. The humiliation and shame is all motivation for a noble family not to overstep."
"Sounds like a disgusting tradition." Jack observed.
Dawn looked down at the table guiltily. "It's one my own family participated in many times. A friend of mine, Zoey was my attendant growing up. I didn't realize she was basically my whipping-girl since my parents couldn't punish me."
"And what happened to her?" Jack asked.
Dawn sobbed. "She's still working for my family, for my little sister Akari. Well, until the money runs out."
"This just sounds so inherently awful. They're robbing people of the freedom to live their lives..." Jack ranted. "And for what? To gloat?"
"In the past, noble families weaponized shame and humiliation. Families who rebelled weren't killed, but taken as slaves, branded, and shown off. Did you see Irida's tattoo on her arm? That's the Veilstone family crest."
"That's some super-villain shit right there." Jack said, remembering the exposed tattoo. "It's a wonder I've never heard about it."
"Sinoh's elite families control the media. They don't report on it, it's just the elites that know."
Jack shook his head in disbelief. No matter how much he didn't like Dawn, seeing her attending Ursula would surely make him sick.
"Jack... So there's no chance of a... Marriage? You can have all the other women you want, even just a ghost of a chance we could make it work-"
Jack shook his head. "Dawn... I'm not gonna bail your family out. I don't know what they did, I don't care. Maybe it's karma for doing this humiliation shit." Jack stated. "But if you were willing to give it all up, this luxury lifestyle, this elitism streak in you, and you really tried to go a different route with your life... Under certain conditions, I might be willing to help."
Dawn shivered, tears streaming down her face. "Please..." She begged. "I'll do anything..."
"It wouldn't be easy." Jack said.
"I know..." Dawn replied.
"I don't think you can fully understand how different things are when you're not the one with all the power." Jack said. "It's crazy to me now, I can't imagine being raised in it and having it taken away."
Dawn nodded.
"But also... This pompous bitch attitude, gotta be honest... The part of me that wants to help is fighting the other part of me that can't stand you."
"I know..." Dawn repeated. "Please, I'll do literally anything to not become Ursula's slave."
"I assume I'd hire you on in some capacity and you'd be a servant or maid or something..."
"That's fine." Dawn wiped away a tear. "I could help train your staff to accommodate high-class guests-"
Jack sighed as he came to a realization. "Honestly... It probably won't be my decision in the end. It'll have to get approved by my staff, whether they can stand you or not. Because a large part of me still wants absolutely nothing to do with you."
Dawn nodded. "I'm sorry... I'm desperate. It's you or Ursula."
"I could buy you a plane ticket. Maybe you could escape their eyes."
Dawn shook her head. "Ursula's fixated on me. We were bitter rivals at our boarding school." Dawn looked down and sobbed. "I wasn't the kindest person to her and her friends."
"First step to fixing a problem is admitting it." Jack said. The server then appeared with their entrees. Dawn covered her crying face with a napkin, wiping tears from her eyes.
The server left, and Dawn sniffled. "I'm not really in a mood to eat..."
"Yeah." Jack said. "You should go."
"But I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu-"
"I'll send it back to the kitchen, they'll enjoy it there." Jack said.
"Can I get your number?" Dawn asked. "In case I need it?"
Jack didn't want to wholly commit to the idea. "How about you give me mine, I'll talk things over with my staff."
"Okay..."
A minute later Dawn left the table, heels in her hands, make-up smeared, and looking down at the floor the whole way.
"Must be one hell of a wake up call." Jack observed. When the server came back, Jack asked her entree be given to the kitchen. He gave the server his card as he finished his meal. His appetite wasn't all there either. The chivalrous part of him hated seeing a girl cry.
Once he was all paid up, Jack took a deep breath. "It'll be playing with fire." He thought to himself. "But I need to know how these Veilstones tick." He decided he'd play innocent and just observe, maybe buy into Ursula's side a bit. He got up from his seat and looked for Ursula's noticed Arezu waving at him, and he made his way to the table. Remnants of an appetizer littered the table. Arezu patted the open seat next to her, and Jack sat down.
"Glad you could join us, Mr. Cobal." Ursula greeted.
"Just Jack is fine, Ursula." Jack replied.
"I see Dawn had quite the little breakdown." Ursula said proudly.
"That she did." Jack agreed. "The funniest part was I mentioned I'd heard rumors about the family jewels and the private jet and she said they were all lies. And then you walked up and just blew all of that up."
Ursula smiled. "I've been waiting years for that moment. It was even better than I'd ever dreamed. Can I offer you some wine?" Ursula pointed at one of the bottles on the table. "It's not the worthless drivel they serve here, it's actually older than ten years."
"Hard to say no to that. Or you." Jack said as Arezu reached for the bottle and poured him a glass, handing it to him.
"So I'm sure that little bitch tried to poison you against my family." Ursula assumed.
"A bit." Jack said, taking a sip of the white wine and being rather impressed by the taste. He'd never had such a fine wine in his life.
"What did she say?" Ursula asked excitedly.
"You think if I believed anything she said that I'd be here right now?" Jack asked with a big grin.
Ursula laughed heartily, a pretty fake laugh. But then Irida, Arezu, and Mai joined in making it infinitely more fake. "This is downright creepy." Jack thought to himself.
"Oh to be a fly on the wall for that." Ursula began. "Well, she's hated me since our school days, we were both in the same class..."
"Same class?" Jack asked, then indicated the wine. "So you're Dawn's age?"
Ursula shrugged. "Well, I just turned twenty. The hotel dares not enforce the law on me, however."
Jack nodded, understanding some of the implications.
"Dawn Berlitz was always a thorn in my side, always looking down on me, my family name, and anyone who associated me. I can't tell you how many times she called me 'bastard-blooded.'" Ursula shook her head. "Our families have clashed a lot in the inner circles of Sinohan high society for some time. My great-great-grandfather was a wealthy merchant, and managed to pay handsomely for a noble bride. Our bloodline has become more and more distinguished, and the old guard didn't like that."
Jack just nodded along, paying close attention.
"You see, there's this awful practice the Sinoh elites would do..." Ursula turned to Irida. "...Where when a family falls from grace, their children are taken and exchanged with other noble families, who take on the debt of the parents."
Jack turned to Irida, something not adding up to him. "Dawn mentioned something like that."
Ursula nodded. "These families have been doing it for centuries. There have been a lot of horror stories that have been uncovered. Even some diaries..."
"Well don't you have one?" Jack asked, indicating Irida.
"Yes. Something's not adding up, right?" Ursula asked.
Jack nodded.
"Well allow me to explain." Ursula began. "The families that have lasted this long have done this to dozens of generations. My great-grandfather found the practice sickening, and rightly so. My grandfather had a different thought process on it, however. He wanted to punish the families that had taken part in this practice for so long. And so the Veilstone family's mission became to acquire even more vast wealth, tear down the last remaining Sinohan noble families, and do unto one generation of their descendants as they had done to hundreds." Ursula said.
"So, purely altruistic bonded servitude?" Jack asked, playing like he was intrigued by the idea. While oddly noble, it was a weak justification in his book.
Ursula laughed lowly. "Well, I admit, my father and I have taken a greater pleasure in it than my grandfather would've been okay with." Ursula explained. "But we're very effective at what we do. The sleight of old, noble families, will be wiped clean"
Jack pointed at Irida. "The tattoo's a bit much if you ask me."
Ursula nodded. "Understandable to the uninformed." She took a sip of wine. "But the Acuity family had some history with an ancestor of mine through my grandfather's wife. Irida, do you mind telling her what your family did to my great-great aunt Annelise?"
Irida took a deep breath, and spoke with a wavering voice. "My family branded her... on her face. This tattoo is a mercy, Mistress." Irida's broken eyes looked to Ursula for approval, and Ursula smugly nodded.
Jack nearly spat out his wine. He'd always gotten bad vibes about the Sinohan elite families since he'd come in contact with them, but this was crossing a line.
"Does it sicken you, Jack?" Ursula asked.
Jack nodded. "Yeah it does... I'd almost be ashamed to call myself someone from Sinoh if I were in any of your shoes."
Ursula rolled her eyes. "As awful as it is, it's a part of the culture. My family will end the practice, but not before exacting justice on the biggest perpetrators."
"The Berlitz family?"
Ursula nodded, a cruel smirk forming on her face. "Since you just ate, I won't tell you what the Berlitz family did to its rivals over the centuries. But it's a different level of cruelty than what the Acuity family did to my aunt Annelise." Ursula explained.
"So that's why you're fixated on acquiring Dawn as a 'thrall?'"
Ursula shook her head. "There's plenty of reasons actually. I did hate her in school, and that plays a part..." Ursula then cackled an evil cackle for a few seconds. "Oh the universe loves its irony."
"Hm?" Jack asked aloud.
"Let's just say, due to some cutthroat tactics, my family has access to what Dawn has looked up on the internet for a few years now." Ursula began. "She's a hot blooded female, and she's looked up pornographic content many times."
"Okay..." Jack said, not sure where the Veilstone heiress was going with this.
"All of the content Dawn looks up involves being dominated, being a submissive, being humiliated." Ursula explained excitedly. "She wouldn't need to be broken like this one..." Ursula indicated Irida. "...Dawn would just get off on it."
Jack realized his eyebrows had risen in surprise, and he relaxed them. "That's a hell of fact-oid."
Ursula nodded. "Yes it is... She's the ultimate prize. Imagine your greatest rival serving your every beckoned call, and getting off on the whole thing. When I was told, it became what I wanted most in life."
"Remind me never to get in your way." Jack said, only half-joking.
Ursula cackled, with the other girls joining in with their fake laughs. "You have nothing to fear, Jack. You're not descended from a noble Sinohan family."
Something told him he shouldn't trust her word. "Oh yeah, the bribe to Giovanni." He remembered.
Ursula took a hearty sip of her wine and smacked her lips together. "Absolutely exquisite..." She commented. "Well Jack, I'm growing sick of talking about that bankrupt-Berlitz-bitch. Let's talk about you."
Jack smiled uneasily. "Uh... sure."
"Are you single?"
Jack shook his head. "There's a number of women whose company I keep. They all know each other and are okay with it."
Ursula shrugged. "Figures. My father was hoping I might seduce you and help put the Veilstone family on the international stage. All this talk of appalling things hasn't quite made you taken with me, has it?"
Jack shook his head. "Correct."
"Understandable." She said. "But I will say, if that thought ever popped into your head, these fine ladies attending me would be yours to do with as you will, when I'm not in the mood. And I expect Dawn will be joining them soon enough."
Arezu sold it by licking her lip, Mai wiggled her eyebrows mischievously, and Irida smiled uneasily.
"A tempting offer." Jack replied.
Ursula shrugged. "Well I had to try. Arezu and Mai said you were quite the dancer last night."
Jack smiled sheepishly. "They did all the hard work."
Arezu opened her mouth to speak for the first time since he'd sat down. "Fun choice of words... 'hard.'"
"Hm?" Ursula looked to Arezu curiously.
"He's pretty well endowed..." Arezu pointed between her legs. "...Down below."
Ursula 's wheezed, and he could tell a blush was beginning to form. "I'm trying to give up on pursuing him Arezu, you're not helping."
"Apologies my lady." Arezu said with a grin.
"Next time you go out dancing, I think I'd like to join." Ursula said. "I've only ever attended high society balls. Going to a common dance club could be fun... with the right company."
Jack wasn't sure he could see a way out of it. "I'll let you know."
Ursula nodded. "Arezu and Mai both got your number last night. I'm going to assume you know I have it by now?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, once I saw you all together."
"I'll send you my number. And send for me when you go to the dance club next."
"It's open tonight." Mai added.
Ursula looked at Jack expectantly.
"Can't do tonight. Got a pretty rough hike scheduled for tomorrow." Jack answered.
"You're going on a HIKE?" Ursula asked in disbelief. "One hell of an excuse."
Jack put his hands up defensively. "I'm not kidding. Got the Kahuna involved too."
Ursula's eyes studied him curiously. "The Kahuna you say? Impressive. My people didn't even get a call back from his office."
"He's very prickly to outsiders." Jack replied. "I suppose I got lucky."
"The man who inherited billions got lucky, total shocker." Ursula said, cackling at her own joke. Irida then cleared her throat and pointed across the room.
"Mistress, it's Lusamine."
Jack turned around abruptly and saw the tall, blonde, buxom beauty approaching a table not too far away. His eyes were drawn to the incredible wobble of her gigantic breasts. Lusamine then suddenly stopped.
"Jack Cobal!" She called out from a couple dozen feet away.
Jack smiled and waved. "Hey Lusamine!" He called over to her.
Lusamine immediately began marching over to Ursula's table, her breasts wobbling again with each step of her steep heels. She got to the table and gave him a hug, shoving her breasts in his face. "How's my favorite newcomer doing?" She asked.
"Great." Jack said.
"Who are your friends?" Lusamine asked.
"I'm Ursula Veilstone." Ursula answered quickly.
"Of the prestigious Sinoh family?" Lusamine asked.
Ursula nodded proudly. "The same. These are my attendants, Arezu, Mai, and Irida."
"I'm not surprised Mr. Cobal is in such distinguished company." Lusamine then withdrew from her hug and physically greeted each member of the table individually. Jack noticed Arezu and Mai seemed unaffected by Lusamine's touch, but Ursula and Irida quickly came under whatever phenomena Lusamine and Lillie were causing through contact.
"The Aether Foundation will be hosting a dinner, a lot of the big players in Alola will be attending. I'll be sending invites to the both of you soon. It would be an honor to have the two of you and some attendants there."
Ursula smiled proudly. "I appreciate the invitation, Ms. Lusamine. I'll keep my nights open for you. But do give the specifics soon. I expect my nights will be filling up rather quickly." Ursula turned to Jack expectantly.
Lusamine smiled. "Of course, Ms. Veilstone." Lusamine turned to Jack and gave a stealthy wink to him. "Well, I have to get back for an important meeting." Lusamine said, giving Jack another hug, then addressed the women at the table. "Remember girls, take turns. There's plenty of Jack to go around."
Jack gulped, feeling incredibly awkward. He turned to Arezu, who had quite a lascivious look in her eye, matched by Mai. He turned to Irida: her jaw was agape as she looked at Jack like he was some sort of god. Ursula had her eyes locked on him intensely. "I probably need more wine for that kind of talk." Ursula giggled.
"She likes to make things weird for me." Jack said, reaching for the phone in his pocket. "And I think it's probably time for me to go. Duty calls." He said, looking at his phone's lock screen with some new text messages.
Ursula gave him a look that told him she wasn't wholly satisfied with him, but she took a deep breath. "Okay, thank you for your time, Jack."
Jack nodded, seeing he had a little bit of wine left. "And thank you for what's probably the finest wine I've ever had." He said as he raised his glass and downing the rest of it.
He found Zinnia with two empty plates of entrees in front of her, clutching her belly. "How ya doin'?"
Zinnia groaned. "So full... So goooooood."
"Food's a lot better than the tribal barbecues, right?" Jack asked as he put his card on the counter.
"Yuuuuuup..." Zinnia said with a big grin on her face as she rested her head against Jack. "Oh, and did you check your phone?"
"I felt a couple texts while I was sitting down." Jack said, suddenly feeling nervous.
"Serena wants to have an all girls' talk with Bea, Misty, and I." Zinnia said.
"Okay..." Jack said, checking his phone and noticing texts from Misty and Giovanni.
Misty: I think Serena's trying to formalize your harem thing. She really wants Zinnia to be here for her input.
Jack: Okay, I'll add it to the tab of "interesting developments" that have happened today. Just finished up the luncheon thing. Lot of weird shit went down. Will also probably need to talk to you and Hilda about it at some point. Will tell Zinnia on the ride home.
"I'm gonna go to the restroom real quick." Jack told Zinnia, and made his way around the restaurant, noticing Giovanni's message was actually a video. Once alone in the bathroom, he pressed play, and it showed a phone recording footage on a monitor. "So here's the entrance to the women's room..." He heard Arianne's voice narrate and press play. "Jack and the chick enter..." It continued, showing Sina leading Jack into the bathroom, then fast-forwarded the footage. "Few minutes later, that Hilda-gal enters."
Jack pressed pause on the video, unable to really tell what color Hilda's shoes were, but he could tell Hilda had different shoes on than the sneakers she had on later that night. That was evidence enough as far as he cared, but there was more footage to show. He un-paused the video and Arianne fast forwarded some more. "So the three of you are in there for a while, I figure Jack's doing his thing with the girl..." She narrated and paused it. "Then we get to this point, Hilda runs out of here in a panic." Arianne then un-paused the footage, and sure enough, there was Hilda making a mad dash out of the bathroom, running into another woman. "So yeah, your assistant was doing something suspicious in there. Went right to your table and looks like she pretended nothing happened."
The video clip ended, and Jack took a deep breath. "Hilda was probably masturbating to me and Sina having sex..." Sure Misty had said something about Hilda having a thing for him, but he didn't think it was this major. And bizarre. "I'm probably the last one who should be kink shaming..." Jack said to himself as he noticed his loins had begun to stir at the thought.
Jack: Giovanni, can't thank you enough for this. Apologies about Hilda's behavior here.
Giovanni: No issue at all man. Just be careful with those Veilstone schmucks lurking around.
Jack: Random question, but when Hilda met with you, did she only talk about the stripper deal?
Giovanni: Can't speak to that as whatever was told to me was told in confidence. But it sure looks like Hilda was getting off to you fucking another woman... Which might be ideal for a man in your situation.
A part of Jack figured he'd be happy, he should be smiling, but his mind was still processing the events that had transpired over the past hour or so.
"So fucking weird..." He grumbled.
