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place?”
she asked him awkwardly. “This is the Clarissa?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” said the butler with a smile.
“This yacht belongs to Andreas and Tyler Torres. I was told to be
expecting a lovely brunette. You are most definitely in the right
place.”
    “Then where the fuck is Tyler?” Nicole
hissed. “I’ve been waiting for hours!”
    The butler blinked. “I’m sorry ma’am. Master
Torres is a free spirit, and you never know when he’ll show up—or
not.”
    Nicole growled softly. “Can you call him and
tell him that I’m waiting?”
    “I’m sorry, ma’am. I don’t know his personal
number. Maybe you can call him?”
    “I don’t know it either,” Nicole said with a
frown. “Fuck. Fuck him.”
    “Indeed,” said the butler lightly, before
retreating back into the belly of the yacht.
    Grabbing the piña colada, Nicole brought the
straw to her lips to drink deeply of the alcoholic beverage. Hours
ago, she had informed the butler to make the drinks stronger, with
less of the sweet juices and creams to water them down. She felt
like she had ingested a gallon of rum by the time she put the drink
down. She let her head drop back down against the luxurious lounge
chair.
    Nicole’s eyes closed as she let her mind
drift back to her fourteenth birthday. She had been surprised and
overjoyed to receive a phone call from her father, who had
abandoned her for over a decade. He had sounded charming and
excited to meet with her and rekindle their relationship. He had
invited her to dinner at his favorite restaurant in the city; a
little cozy Chinese food spot where they had eaten often as a
family when she was younger.
    She had showed up on time, wearing her best
dress. At the time, Nicole had been a rough-and-tumble tomboy whose
main priorities included softball and running track. She never wore
dresses, but she had gone out of her way to impress her father. It
was her hope that if she looked her best, maybe he would want to
see her again and be part of her life. Maybe he would want to stick
around.
    As her birthday was in December, the
restaurant had set up a little miniature Christmas tree to be
festive. Nicole could still remember every decoration on that
Christmas tree as she stared at it for five hours, trying her best
to maintain some dignity and not break down and cry. The restaurant
staff had taken pity on her and given her free appetizers since she
had no money. They had also allowed her to use their phone; but
Nicole did not even know her father’s number.
    “Fuck this,” Nicole whispered to herself as
she stood up, angrily wrapping her sarong around her hips and
sliding her feet into her sandals. She pushed her sunglasses up
onto the top of her head as it had grown too dark to wear them.
Grabbing her phone, she began walking off the yacht. On second
thought, she turned back and swung her hand into the glass that had
been holding her drink, sending it crashing to the ground.
    She watched with a satisfied nod as the
glass shattered. “Asshole,” Nicole muttered, and she found herself
filled with the urge to smash more things. Moving into the dining
area of the yacht, she saw the table which had been set for a
candlelight dinner by the boat’s staff. The candles were nearly
burned down to their holders already. Nicole glared at this
romantic setting before moving forward to grab one of the plates
and hurl it across the room. It smashed against the wall with a
lovely cacophony, causing a staff member to come running out of the
kitchens.
    “Ma’am!” said a female cook. “What are you
doing?”
    Nicole turned to look at her appraisingly as
she picked up another plate. The woman was slightly plump and sweet
in a matronly way, and she reminded Nicole of Eva’s mother. This
caused her to soften a bit.
    “He made me wait,” she told the woman in a
furious voice, “for hours.”
    The woman sent her a small smile. “Do you
really like him?”
    Nicole felt insulted by the question. “I
don’t know. I