Chapter Twenty
It’s at this exact moment that Forrest arrives with his kids. The room goes from a gentile and mostly middle-aged murmur to
being filled with the noise and chaos of thirty-odd fifteen-year-olds, filing into the back of the room, pushing and shoving
and egging each other on.
“Can it, you guys!” Forrest tells them jovially. “You don’t want to make me look bad, right?”
To my surprise the kids do calm down, to just your standard level of mayhem. I’m impressed, both that Forrest isn’t scared
of any of them and that they actually pay attention to him. I have never gotten over my phobia of teens, not since I was one.
Then I notice someone else pushing her way through the crowd, eager to get to Forrest. A beautiful woman, slender and graceful, with a cascade of brunette curls that tangle down her back, carrying a little girl in her arms, of about six.
It has to be Artie, the daughter Forrest told me about on our truce night.
When Forrest sees them, his face lights up.
He flings his arms open and, scrambling to get down from the woman’s arms, Artie races into her daddy’s all-encompassing hug.
Forrest scoops her up and spins her round and round, before embracing the woman too.
His partner, I suppose, the woman who’s helping him raise Artie.
Unexpected emotions flood through me as I watch them. Not for the first time since I put him on my nemesis list, Forrest is
making me doubt my opinion of him. But it’s not just that; it’s seeing that look of love and devotion that a father has for
his daughter that hits hard. I have never known who my father was, and most of the time I really don’t care to know. My red
hair is just like my mum’s and that’s good enough for me. But sometimes, just now and then, I see a bond between a child and
their dad, like Forrest has with Artie, and I realise that I lost something long before I ever knew what it was.
Another tick in the pro column for the pros and cons of dating an AI boyfriend that I am currently running in my head.
“Here you are.” Hal hands me a cup of hot black coffee that I down instantly.
“And . . .” He hands me the second, and I repeat the infusion.
“Thank you.” I smile as I hand him the cup.
“Ava, are we friends again now?” Hal asks.
“Yes,” I say, feeling a rush of relief at the thought. “Yes, Hal. We are friends again now.”
On impulse, I hug him, throwing my arms around his neck. The heat of his body radiates through his shirt, and I can feel the
rapid beat of his heart and the curve of muscles in his chest and arms, as after a moment his arms encircle my waist and he
hugs me back. Hal holds me in his arms for a long time, and when he steps back there is a look of wonder on his face, an expression
I can honestly say that no man has ever looked at me with before.
“Well.” Rani crosses her arms. “I see.”
“Our true first hug,” Hal says, softly leaning forward. He places a kiss as light as a butterfly on my cheek. “Best day ever.”
“Hello!” A chipper little girl’s voice interrupts the moment, and I glance down to see the tousled head and bright inquisitive
eyes of Forrest’s daughter. “I’m Artemisia, I’m named after a woman artist from the Renaissance. My daddy says you are a very
clever lady. I’m very clever too. We can be friends.”
Artie offers me her hand. I take it. She has a firm handshake.
“You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen,” Artie tells Rani. “Apart from my mommy, and she’s dead.”
“Artie.” Forrest arrives, a little flustered. “I’ve told you not to tell everyone about Mom until you’ve got to know them
a bit.”
“Nonsense,” Rani says, also shaking Artie’s hand. “This child has extremely good taste and good manners. Twelve out of ten,
five stars.”
“You can’t have twelve out of ten!” Artie laughs, her giggles delightfully loud.
“Right, young lady,” Forrest says. “Come on back to your seat. Don’t bother Ava.”
“It’s no bother,” I say. “I’m always pleased to meet another clever lady.”
“Good luck, Ava,” Forrest says. To my surprise, I notice he’s blushing. “I might be your nemesis, but just so you know, you
aren’t mine.”
He says that now, but little does he know that I have accidentally invented the very thing that Forrest fears most about AI:
the perfect replacement for humans.