sultry, young blonde in a short, black dress. She was a stunner and couldn’t have been much older than Anna. My long lost friend, Anna, brought up the rear.
“Hello again, friends,” my father said.
“Hank, it is good to be with you again. Thank you for your invitation to spend some time on your magnificent ship.”
“It’s been too long, Sergei.” Dad turned to me. “Sergei, this strapping young fellow is my son, Chase. Chase, this is a good friend of our family, Mr. Sergei Durov. We built him a boat about fifteen years ago, and he is now thinking about upgrading.”
“Mr. Durov, a pleasure to meet you,” I said as we shook hands.
“Hello, Chase. So nice to meet you. Allow me to introduce my wife, Viktoria.”
“Hello, Chase.” She had devil-may-care eyes that lingered on me for a second too long. She was a beautiful young woman, but for some reason, she made me nervous.
“And this is—” Sergei began.
“Chase, Chase Hampton,” Anna said, delivering her lines perfectly.
“Anna?” I said, feigning disbelief. I gave her a hug and whispered, “Perfect,” into her ear.
“Wow, it’s been, what, nine years?” I said.
“Yes, I believe so.”
“You two know each other?” my father asked, alternatively pointing at both of us.
“Oh course. Anna . . . Petrov, right?” I said. She nodded, smiling.
“Anna was an exchange student at Foggy Harbor back during my junior year,” I explained. Turning back to her, I said, “I can’t believe you’re here. What a small world.”
“Indeed, Chase. It is good to see you again after such a long time.” I looked at my dad, who was trying to make sense of it all.
“Dad, this reminds me of a famous P.T. Barnum quote. You know the one, ‘a sucker born every minute.’”
Mr. Durov laughed deeply and my father gave me his trademark, well-played, ha-ha, whatever, look.
“So, you two have never met before?” he asked.
“Not entirely true. Ms. Petrov and I ran into each other on the deck below. I thought it might be fun to pretend we knew each other, at your expense of course.”
“Nicely done, Chase. I have never seen Hank Hampton look so confused,” Sergei chuckled.
“Chase will be doing a ten-minute standup act in the cinema after dinner,” my father announced to the group.
“Let me introduce this hulk of a man to my right. This is Dmitri. He is my head of security.”
Dmitri didn’t speak, just nodded, and I think he tried to break my hand as we shook.
Introductions completed, Dad suggested we take our drinks up one level to the sun deck for the sail away. We let our guests go first, and as we walked up, he looked back at me and winked. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was trying to be a matchmaker.
The kitchen staff had set up a table of light hors d’oeuvres to snack on as we left Foggy Harbor. Little white placards sat in front of the platters to help idiots like me discern what I would be eating. I started with a prosciutto crostini topped with a lemony fennel slaw and moved on to spiced beef empanadas with lime sour cream. They were fantastic and rivaled anything the top chefs at Ashmore could have created. Anna suggested I try the blinis and bitokes, both of which were tasty.
“You like Russian food?” she asked.
“This is my first time trying it, but it’s fantastic.” I noticed the boat had moved ever so gently away from our slip. The small Azipod propulsion systems nudged us away laterally and out into the deeper waters of the harbor. In about five minutes, the captain would execute a ninety-degree turn, bringing the bow of the yacht around to face the harbor entrance.
As my father and Sergei talked, I chatted with Anna and Viktoria. Dmitri sat in the shade on a padded couch, close to the hot tub.
“So, Chase, I understand you were released from prison just this morning?” Viktoria said, apropos of nothing. Why, yes, thank you for bringing that up, Viktoria.
She took a sip of her vodka tonic and
“Hello again, friends,” my father said.
“Hank, it is good to be with you again. Thank you for your invitation to spend some time on your magnificent ship.”
“It’s been too long, Sergei.” Dad turned to me. “Sergei, this strapping young fellow is my son, Chase. Chase, this is a good friend of our family, Mr. Sergei Durov. We built him a boat about fifteen years ago, and he is now thinking about upgrading.”
“Mr. Durov, a pleasure to meet you,” I said as we shook hands.
“Hello, Chase. So nice to meet you. Allow me to introduce my wife, Viktoria.”
“Hello, Chase.” She had devil-may-care eyes that lingered on me for a second too long. She was a beautiful young woman, but for some reason, she made me nervous.
“And this is—” Sergei began.
“Chase, Chase Hampton,” Anna said, delivering her lines perfectly.
“Anna?” I said, feigning disbelief. I gave her a hug and whispered, “Perfect,” into her ear.
“Wow, it’s been, what, nine years?” I said.
“Yes, I believe so.”
“You two know each other?” my father asked, alternatively pointing at both of us.
“Oh course. Anna . . . Petrov, right?” I said. She nodded, smiling.
“Anna was an exchange student at Foggy Harbor back during my junior year,” I explained. Turning back to her, I said, “I can’t believe you’re here. What a small world.”
“Indeed, Chase. It is good to see you again after such a long time.” I looked at my dad, who was trying to make sense of it all.
“Dad, this reminds me of a famous P.T. Barnum quote. You know the one, ‘a sucker born every minute.’”
Mr. Durov laughed deeply and my father gave me his trademark, well-played, ha-ha, whatever, look.
“So, you two have never met before?” he asked.
“Not entirely true. Ms. Petrov and I ran into each other on the deck below. I thought it might be fun to pretend we knew each other, at your expense of course.”
“Nicely done, Chase. I have never seen Hank Hampton look so confused,” Sergei chuckled.
“Chase will be doing a ten-minute standup act in the cinema after dinner,” my father announced to the group.
“Let me introduce this hulk of a man to my right. This is Dmitri. He is my head of security.”
Dmitri didn’t speak, just nodded, and I think he tried to break my hand as we shook.
Introductions completed, Dad suggested we take our drinks up one level to the sun deck for the sail away. We let our guests go first, and as we walked up, he looked back at me and winked. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was trying to be a matchmaker.
The kitchen staff had set up a table of light hors d’oeuvres to snack on as we left Foggy Harbor. Little white placards sat in front of the platters to help idiots like me discern what I would be eating. I started with a prosciutto crostini topped with a lemony fennel slaw and moved on to spiced beef empanadas with lime sour cream. They were fantastic and rivaled anything the top chefs at Ashmore could have created. Anna suggested I try the blinis and bitokes, both of which were tasty.
“You like Russian food?” she asked.
“This is my first time trying it, but it’s fantastic.” I noticed the boat had moved ever so gently away from our slip. The small Azipod propulsion systems nudged us away laterally and out into the deeper waters of the harbor. In about five minutes, the captain would execute a ninety-degree turn, bringing the bow of the yacht around to face the harbor entrance.
As my father and Sergei talked, I chatted with Anna and Viktoria. Dmitri sat in the shade on a padded couch, close to the hot tub.
“So, Chase, I understand you were released from prison just this morning?” Viktoria said, apropos of nothing. Why, yes, thank you for bringing that up, Viktoria.
She took a sip of her vodka tonic and
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