Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

***SIMON***

S imon woke up on Max's couch the next morning, his phone buzzing in his pocket, and it took him a few seconds to figure out what it was. Since he'd been on the island the phone had been completely silent, but he'd still been carrying it around with him everywhere. Now, he wished he'd left the stupid thing in his cabin. When the phone finally went silent, he let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes again, so tired he could barely keep them open.

Only a few seconds later, the phone began to buzz again, and with a groan, he sat up, dug it out of his pocket, and tried to focus on the screen. The numbers and letters were blurry and seemed to switch places for a while before he was finally able to see them clearly, and his heart sank when he realized who was calling. Tempted to ignore the call again, he stared at the phone, willing it to stop ringing, then finally gave up with a huge sigh and connected the call.

"Hey, Dad, I've been meaning to call you," he said, his head still swimming just a bit. "What time is it there?"

"Where the hell are you?" his father demanded. "We've been waiting for you to show up, and the cook is having a fit because dinner is going to be ruined."

"Dad, what are you talking about?" he asked, running his hands through his hair. "I'm with Max St. Clair, don't you remember? I told you I was going to spend two weeks at his new resort."

"And I told you to cancel those plans," his father barked. "Simon, this is the last straw. I was prepared to give you one more chance to do what's expected of you, but I can't do that because you're not here. You've wasted your chance. I'm done supporting your lifestyle. If you want to continue to be a party boy, you'll have to find another way to pay for it. As of this moment, you're cut off, I'm canceling your credit cards, closing your bank account, and you have thirty days to be out of the condo before I have you evicted."

"Wait, what?" he asked, sure that he'd heard his father wrong. "You can't do that, I'll be out on the street, I have no place to go."

"Maybe your good buddy Max will let you stay a while. Even better yet, maybe he'll give you a job," his father said. "Oh, no wait, I forgot you're too good to work."

"Dad, come on, let's talk about this," he said. "I want……"

"Simon, I don't care what you want any more," his father said. "This isn't open for discussion, I'm done with you, so is your mother, and I don't even want to tell you what your brother had to say about you. Goodbye, son, I hope you grow up someday and accept your responsibilities like a real man."

The line went dead before he could say anything, and he pulled it away from his ear and stared at it for a second, too shocked to even react. "Well, that didn't sound good from this end," Max called from the kitchen. "The coffee is ready, I bet you could use a cup."

"My dad just cut me off," he said, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "He said he's not going to pay for my party lifestyle anymore and gave me thirty days to get out of the condo. I knew he was unhappy with me, but I didn't think he was that upset. I mean, just because I've missed a few family functions, that's no reason to go all crazy."

Max was silent for a second, "I'm guessing it was more than just missing a few family dinners," he finally said. "Come on, Simon, you've been doing so good this week, don't start lying to yourself now."

"It's too early for this crap," he said, rubbing his forehead where he was starting to get a headache. "I need some coffee before I even think about this."

"Coffee isn't going to help, only a good dose of reality is going to do that," Max said, his footsteps crossing the kitchen. "It sounds like you just got that."

"Well, he could have warned me," he said, shaking his head. "I have no idea what I'm going to do, I don't even know if I can get home."

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to," Max said, appearing in the doorway. "You might have to……"

Max's words trailed off, the cups he was holding slipped out of his grip and crashed to the floor, spraying coffee all over everything. "What is wrong with you?" he asked, jumping to his feet. "Max, are you okay?"

His friend backed away from him, a look of fright on his face, "Ummm……I don't know," he said, blinking his eyes. "I can't be seeing what I think I am, it's not possible."

He started to walk over to Max, but tripped over his own feet, nearly tumbling to the floor, and when he looked down, he realized that his legs looked weird. "What the heck?" he stammered, a wave of dizziness flowing over him. "What's wrong with me?"

They stood staring at each other for a few seconds, then Max shook his head, "This can't be happening, not again," he said, then looked nervously around him. "I have to call Mateo."

"Max, you're starting to scare me," he said, running his fingers through his hair, noticing that it felt weird. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Simon, I don't know," Max said, backing away from him. "If it wasn't for your voice, and your eyes, I wouldn't believe……. maybe you should go look in the mirror."

"Max, this isn't funny," he said, starting to get angry. "Didn't you hear me? My dad just cut me off."

"That might not be the worst of your problems," Max said. "You really should go look in the mirror."

"Fine, but I'm not cleaning up that mess," he said, pointing to the spilled coffee. "I really wanted that, by the way, and this really isn't funny."

He stomped to the bathroom, slammed the door behind him, used the facilities, and then started to wash his hands, but he froze when he looked into the mirror and realized that it wasn't his face looking back at him. Sure, that Max was playing a very elaborate prank on him, he washed his hands, then dried them on the towel, wondering when his friend would come around the corner laughing. But he could hear Max in the other room on the phone with someone, and his heart began to pound.

Stepping back from the mirror, he tilted his head to one side then the other, then reached up and touched his face, panic beginning to make it hard to breathe. "Please tell me this is a joke," he yelled at Max. "Come in here right now and fix this, I'm not laughing."

Max appeared in the hallway, all the color drained from his face, "It's not a joke, Simon, and I don't know how to fix it," he said. "But Mateo is on his way. He'll know what to do, he knows this island better than anyone. "

"What does this have to do with the island?" he demanded. "And who the hell is Mateo?"

"Just calm down, I'm sure we'll find a way to fix this," Max said, leading him out of the bathroom. "Sit down, and I'll get you some coffee. Mateo will know what to do."

***Kira***

Kira and Mary Beth splashed their way down the trail to the village, not minding the warm rain as much as they expected. They arrived at the coffee shop dripping wet but laughing. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," Cindy said from behind the counter. "I wasn't sure if I'd see you today. Most of the guests are staying in their cabins this morning."

"We're celebrating some good news," Mary Beth explained. "And we thought we'd start with something decadent to eat. What have you got?"

"Oh, that's exciting," Cindy said, flashing them both a big smile. "How about a couple of caramel cream puffs? I made them fresh this morning."

"Sounds great, we'll take two," Kira said, her mouth already watering. "And since we're splurging, I'll have my usual, but instead of the fat-free milk, use half and half."

"Oh, Kira, are you sure?" Mary Beth asked, rolling her eyes. "Don't get too out of control."

She nudged her friend, "Hush you," she said. "I'm eating a cream puff too, and we haven't even had breakfast."

"Throw some fruit on that plate, too, Cindy," Mary Beth said. "Kira is worried about her diet."

After they'd polished off the cream puffs and a huge plate of fruit, they said goodbye to Cindy and stepped back out into the rain. "Well, now what?" Kira asked. "It looks deserted out there. Maybe we should go back to the cabin."

Max said something about a community room, or something like that. There's supposed to be a television and some movies in there," Mary Beth said. "Let's see if we can find it, I wouldn't mind watching a movie."

"Sure, why not," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "If we're going to be stuck inside, we might as well be entertained."

It took them a couple of tries, but they finally managed to find the trail to the squat building tucked away in the trees, but all its windows were dark. "It doesn't look like anyone is here," she said. "It's awfully dark."

"Let's try the door, maybe it's unlocked," Mary Beth said, giving it a tug. "Darn, it's locked. Now we'll have to find the key."

They stood watching it rain for a few minutes, not sure who to talk to about the key; then Mary Beth pointed into the trees, "Hey look, there's Max's cabin. I didn't realize we were so close," she said. "Let's go ask him for the key, I'm sure he has one."

They retraced their steps, then she followed Mary Beth down another trail, arriving at the snug little cabin only a few minutes later. She felt a pang when she thought about her dinner with Simon the night before, but told herself again that she'd done the right thing; she didn't want a fling, and they weren't good for each other. Lost in her thoughts, she climbed up the stairs behind Mary Beth, barely noticing when she knocked on the door.

Max threw open the door a second later, "Thank you for coming so fast," he said, then froze for a second. "Oh, Mary Beth, I wasn't expecting you."

"I'm sorry to bother you. Kira and I were hoping you had a key to the community center. We went by there thinking we could kill some time, but it's locked," Mary Beth said, trying to look over Max's shoulder. "But if this is a bad time, we can come back. "

Before he could answer, another man came walking up the porch steps behind them, "I'm here, Max," the man said, a look of annoyance on his face. "What's so important that I had to walk across the island in the rain?"

"Ummm……" Max looked at them, then at the man, his face full of uncertainty. "You'll have to come inside to see."

"Is he here yet?" she heard Simon call from inside. "I can't stand this for a minute more. Tell him to hurry."

She pushed her way past Mary Beth, "Is that Simon?" she asked. "Is there something wrong with him?"

Max looked a little panicked, "Well, no, not really," he said. "I mean, he's fine, we're just having a little……trouble."

"What does that mean?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Is Simon okay or not?"

There was a loud groan from inside the house, "Just let them in," Simon said. "Maybe they'll break the spell or something."

"Spell?" the man standing next to her asked. "What's this about a spell?"

Max let out a groan, "Fine, you can all come in, but you have to swear to never breathe a word about what you've seen," he said. "I mean it, I want you all to swear."

That got Mary Beth's attention, "Max, are you in some kind of trouble?" she asked, pushing her way to the door. "Tell me right now, what's going on, this is all…… I don't know, suspicious."

"You're telling me," Max said, moving aside. "But I'm warning you right now, you're not going to believe what you're about to see."

"Max, all this mystery is making me nervous," Mary Beth said, walking inside. "You'd better explain what's going on and fast."

She followed Mary Beth inside, bracing herself for something, although she wasn't sure what, but the cabin looked perfectly normal. There was nothing out of place. There was a man sitting at the table in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in front of him, but that didn't seem unusual until the feeling that she'd seen him before slowly began to creep over her. Assuming he was someone she'd met on the island, she studied him for a second, trying to place him, but came up empty.

Then the man looked up, their eyes met across the room and desire blossomed from deep inside her, spread through her body making it begin to hum, and she stumbled back a couple of steps. Confused, she could only stare at the man, taking in his blonde hair, the baggy clothes, and the rumpled hair, wondering what was wrong with her as her body continued to respond to him.

When he got to his feet and took a couple of steps toward her, she couldn't move, was frozen in place by the look of anger in his eyes. "This is all your fault," he said, the voice so familiar it didn't take her long to place it. "If it hadn't been for you, I would have been perfectly happy living my life the way I was."

Her head began to feel fuzzy, and she reached out to steady herself on Mary Beth's arm, "Simon," she finally squeaked. "Is that you?"

"In the flesh," he said, throwing out his arms. "What do you think of the new me? Quite the change, isn't it? Now you won't have to worry about my good looks, and my father took away all my money, so I'm not rich anymore. I guess that levels the playing field, doesn't it, sweetheart."

She could only stare at him, thinking she must be dreaming, but then he walked over to her and put his face right in hers. "What's the matter?" he sneered at her. "You got your wish. You should be happy."

Her knees began to buckle, and she grabbed Mary Beth's arm, shaking her head, "It can't be……" she managed to say before the world went dark.