Divine Artifact in a Scientific World

As Jack was headed across the quad on his way to meet Analise for lunch, he received a text from Henry.

Jack called, and as soon as the call connected, Henry said, "Hey Jack. I just picked up the trust fund package from Dan over at Summit Partners. Do you want me to courier it to you, or hold on to it for you to pick up?"

He'd asked Henry to work with Dan at Summit Partners to set up the trust fund for Naoko, and he was thrilled they had finished it so quickly.

"That's great. I'm headed to lunch at Perfect Pickles. Can you have a courier deliver it to me there?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Great. Can you double-wrap it and make it look like it's just a mortgage agreement or something?"

"Yes. I can do that. I'll also tape it up good so the courier can't get nosy even if they wanted to."

"Great. Thanks again, gotta go."

Once the courier delivered it, he'd put it in his backpack, then teleport it into Naoko's backpack. It would drive her father nuts trying to figure out how it was delivered to her.

With no way to connect Jack to Naoko's new trust fund, they could slowly work towards a more public relationship and see how her father reacted.

Worst case, Jack would force the man into a die or submit scenario. Like he did with Agent Jackson. Naoko was his now, and he would not tolerate anyone interfering in her life.

When he reached Perfect Pickles, he found Analise already inside, sitting at a table. He'd asked her if she wanted to meet one of his girlfriends for lunch, and she'd agreed, so she'd taken a booth that could seat four, instead of a table for two by the window.

When he reached the table, she got up and gave him a hug, squeezing him tighter than usual.

She let go and stepped back, then looked behind him before saying. "Is she not coming?" She sounded vaguely hopeful.

"She is. She should be here in a few minutes."

"Oh," she said, then sat staring straight ahead.

"Huh!" she exclaimed quietly when he sat next to her.

He pushed her further down so he wasn't sitting at the edge of the booth bench, then wrapped an arm around her waist.

Normally they sat across from each other so it was easier to talk, but this time, he sat next to her so she wouldn't feel like he was choosing Samantha over her.

Before she could say anything, he leaned over and kissed her. Something he'd never done with her in public.

She tensed for a moment, then relaxed and melted into his arms.

"Do you two need a room?" asked a voice teasingly.

He pulled back from kissing Analise to see that she was already blushing, but looked more happy than embarrassed.

He turned to see that it was Trish, one of the waitresses.

"Hey Trish. We're waiting for one more person before we order food, but I'll have a lime soda while we wait."

"Sure thing, Sugar," said Trish. Then, looking at Analise, "What about you, lucky lady?"

"Um, I'll have the iced tea."

Trish gave Analise finger guns while saying, "You got it," then turned and walked towards the kitchen.

"So, how'd you do on that last lab?" he asked, trying to distract her from her obvious nervousness.

She grinned, "I got it right the first time! It's a good thing I read the whole procedure first. Professor Berkheimer is a real devil. Putting the note to wash the beaker with acetate at the very bottom."

Then she giggled. "Naoko's first try failed, and she spent the rest of the lab cursing Berkheimer in several languages, some of which I didn't even recognize. I was kind of impressed."

"Yeah, she's extremely bright, but tends to skip what she thinks are mundane details."

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late."

Samantha dropped onto the booth bench across from them.

"Sam?! What are..."

Analise trailed off, then looked at Jack and asked, "Is she..."

"Yep. Analise, meet Samantha, one of my girlfriends. I understand you both have the same Physics class?"

"We do," said Samantha.

Then she smiled warmly at Analise and said, "I was so pleased when I learned you and Jack are together. You looked so happy in class on Monday after your weekend date."

Analise was looking at Samantha in shock.

"Pleased?" she asked. "You're happy Jack and I are together? Don't you feel jealous or something?"

"Nope," said Samantha. "The more girlfriends he has, the happier I'll be."

Then she fake-pouted and said, "But Mr. Scrooge says he's limiting himself to no more than ten."

"Ten!" exclaimed Analise. Then she looked at him and said, "I thought you said you had five other girlfriends. Did you pick up another three already?"

"No, just one, an unexpected find. But seriously, I'm not going out of my way to find more girlfriends. And that limit of ten is more to remind myself that I need to focus on quality and not quantity."

"And I'm quality?" she said.

He pulled her into him with the arm wrapped around her and then leaned in and kissed her before saying, "Yes, Analise. You're quality."

Analise glanced guiltily at Samantha only to discover that Samantha was grinning happily at her.

"It really doesn't bother you?" asked Analise, looking at Samantha.

"Nope. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

"You like watching? Are you a voyeur or something?"

"No. It's not that. It's just that I like seeing Jack being intimate with other women. I especially like watching him conquer other women."

"Conquer?" asked Analise as she started to lean back from Jack, like she'd been hugging a fluffy puppy only to discover that he was a ravenous wolf instead.

Jack was concerned about how Analise was reacting, and he had a sense of foreboding, but before he could redirect the conversation, Samantha dropped a bombshell.

"Yep. Just a few days ago I got to watch him pop all of Naoko's cherries. It was epic!"

"What?!" exclaimed Analise, sounding disturbed.