Jamie made his way to the hostess, who was checking in several parties, deftly handling their need to be attended to first.The next group in line was whisked away to their table, and Jamie stepped up to the small dais, smiling at the hostess.“Reservation for Callahan.”
The woman glanced down at the information coming up between her fingers and the data rings she wore on her left hand.She quickly tapped out a command on the holographic display before folding her fingers together in a loose fist to close it out.
“Of course, sir.Your party is waiting.”
A kimono-garbed young woman stepped forward and smoothly gestured for him to follow her.They took a meandering path around private dining nooks and small bridges set over the koi pond bubbling underfoot.Jamie glanced down at the brightly colored koi fish that swam lazily beneath the lights and glass flooring in certain areas, drifting through the bends of the pond.
The woman bowed him into the dining area his mother had reserved beneath the outstretched branches of a cherry blossom tree in constant full bloom.The silk-screen walls were woven through with nanotech fibers to better employ electronic jammers for privacy.Patrons were free to use their own tech, but the layers of security ensured a private conversation would remain private within each dining nook.Knowing his father, Jamie was sure those precautions were already being utilized.
Three of the four low-backed seats were taken while the young woman lying on the table with her eyes closed remained absolutely still as Jamie’s family picked pieces of sushi off her body.Jamie glanced at her ears, noting the silencing plugs that would keep her deaf for the duration of their dinner and ignorant of anything discussed in her presence.She was beautiful, because the restaurant only provided beautiful people for its customers’ enjoyment, but Jamie couldn’t help but think he’d have a better time eating off Kyle than a complete stranger.
“Sorry I’m late,” Jamie said as he took a seat at the table beside his younger sister.
“Glad to see you actually made it out this time,” Leah Callahan said with a quick smile that mostly took the sting out of her words.
At twenty-five, Leah Callahan had grown into a gorgeous young woman Jamie hardly recognized.Having spent a dozen years away in the military with little extended leave, he’d missed his little sister’s transition from child to adult.Holopics on society and celebrity gossip sites didn’t do her justice, in his humble opinion.Her long blonde hair fell in loose curls down her back, the ends dyed a shimmering pale pink that changed color depending on how the light hit it.Her formfitting cobalt blue dress with discreet cutouts was the height of current fashion.Her blue eyes were surrounded by smoky shadow that helped emphasize the color.
Good genes could be designed, and most families they knew tweaked something in their children while in utero, but the Callahans had never done so for their generation.They hadn’t needed to.
Jamie pressed a kiss to his sister’s cheek.“Good to see you, too, Leah.”
“You look well,” his mother said from the opposite side of the table as she peeled a piece of tuna sashimi off the young woman’s collarbone.“Was the flight over very long?”
“Not any longer than usual.”
“It’s a wonder we never see you more often, then.”
Charlotte Jacqueline Callahan, née Montgomery, was a woman who knew how to make her words hurt without even trying.Jamie really shouldn’t have been surprised dinner was starting out this way.
Jamie looked across the table and met his mother’s cool gaze with unblinking eyes.Charlotte was gorgeous and looked more like a woman in her early forties than one in her mid-fifties.No wrinkles marred her face, her pale, smooth skin the only enhancement she ever allowed herself.In her day and age, she’d been a beauty who had broken hearts across continents before falling for his father.They made a striking couple even now.Jamie had her hair coloring, whereas his glacial blue eyes came from his father, and he seemed to have acquired both their senses of stubbornness, much to their displeasure.
Charlotte wore a black-and-white, off-the-shoulder silk brocade dress that complemented his father’s suit perfectly.Her blonde hair was swept up in a sleek chignon, revealing a choker of diamonds wrapped around her throat that sparkled in the light.Jamie let his gaze drift from her to his father, unsurprised to see Richard Callahan studying him just as intently.
“You should be more punctual,” Richard said after a brief, tense pause.
“Work ran long,” Jamie replied evenly.“I couldn’t very well leave before everything was finished.My job will always take precedence over everything else, Father.You know that.”
“Is that so?”
Jamie bit back a sigh as he poured himself a glass of nigori sake, resigned to an acrimonious meal.Jamie was reminded of the stark difference between meals with his family and meals with his team.He never seemed to be short of words with the people who were his teammates and friends, but when it came to his family, Jamie was finding himself at a loss more and more these days.It wasn’t that he didn’t love his family, but the friction his choices in life had created between them always made it difficult for everyone to come together without fighting.Things had become worse since his father officially announced his campaign to run for president back in early December.
The end of the presidential election was a little over a year and a half away, which was a veritable lifetime in politics.The fight for prominence was going to be a slog for all parties, but the Republicans had it worse, coming off a two-term president.Rarely did the party in power win the presidency three times in a row, but Richard Callahan was determined to do so.As the current Senate Majority Leader, Jamie’s father had the political clout and the financial wherewithal to win his party’s nomination.The presidency was a prize he wouldn’t give up without a fight, which meant their family was all in, whether they wanted to be or not.
The midterm election last year resulted in the Democrats still controlling the House with the help of Independents and the Republicans holding the Senate by a slim one-seat margin of majority.Richard was still the Senate Majority Leader, but it was a tenuous position at the moment.Jamie didn’t know how his father was going to juggle a presidential campaign with the rigors of bringing his sometimes fractious party under control for votes.
It was only the middle of January, and the political and media minefield Jamie was staring down for the next few years because of his father’s decision was enough to give him a headache, if he could even get those anymore.As a metahuman, Jamie’s enhanced strength and durability meant it took a very hard hit to make an injury of any kind stick.
“We’ve gone over this, Jamie.Your family needs to come first,” Richard said.
“You do,” Jamie replied shortly.He picked up his metal chopsticks and pulled several pieces of sushi off the woman’s body, one at a time, and put them on his plate.“It’s why I do the job that I do.”
“And I decided to run for president because I love this country just as much, if not more, than you do.I serve, as you do.It’s time you showed up to support me.”
Jamie shoved a piece of tuna into his mouth and chewed slowly in an effort to clamp down on his rising anger.Beside him, Leah tapped away at her slim tablet, very much unwilling to join the conversation, while Charlotte watched her husband and son tear at each other using words as weapons.His mother’s silence spoke of her position better than if she’d joined the argument.
Jamie swallowed his bite of sushi with effort before taking a sip of sake.“I could have sworn I told you last year that I wouldn’t let you use me for your own gain.”
Richard’s gaze went cold and assessing, reminding Jamie of several COs he’d had in the past who hadn’t much cared for him on a personal level.Jamie didn’t shift beneath his father’s attention, merely systematically devoured the pieces of sushi he’d put on his plate before reaching for more.
