Chapter 3

 

Brazil

It had been over a year since Danny disappeared. Now he worked faithfully at the Millennium Lodge in the jungle and became the manager of the hotel. He learned Spanish and now he knew several languages of the native people in the area, all this helped in his advancement.

Danny kept the hotel going since Alan Brule was spending less time there and more time in Europe and the U. S. Astonishingly, the hotel was listed as a Five Star Hotel. Because of that, men and women from around the world flocked to meet the person who made all of that possible, but he was always conveniently busy.

As Danny was leaving his office he inadvertently walked into a guest.

“Excuse me,” Danny apologized.

“No it’s my fault.” The handsomely dressed man with gray hair and brown eyes stood still and stared at Danny.

“I hope you don’t think it strange that I am looking at your face but...”

“No, you’ve never seen me before.”

“You are correct; I’ve never seen you before. Well I’m a plastic surgeon. And those wounds look worse than they are. Here is my card and if you are in Los Angeles come by and see me. I know I can help you. I can’t guarantee I can give you the same face, but I can guarantee that you will break a woman’s heart with your new face.”

Danny took the doctor’s card and stared at it. He kept churning around in his mind what the doctor said: break a woman’s heart. Could he dare dream about his family again, could he ever hope to see Sydney again the way she saw him before. His heart leaped once more at the thought of seeing Sydney, his children, and their new baby.

Danny thought that he was doing the right thing when he took himself out of Sydney’s life. He felt that he could never provide for her the way he once did, but most of all, fear drove him. The fear that she would never want him the way he is.

The owner of Hotel Millennium would return next week. Danny would have to ask for a leave of absence, and he began to worry that. Maybe he would not be allowed the time he needed to take off. From what he knew of dealing with the owner, Alan Brule was a generous and sometimes reasonable man, and he was sure that he could find a replacement for a short period.

Danny sat thinking about the possibilities. Maybe he jumped ahead of himself. Maybe the doctor was a quack. The next morning Danny began his inquiry. He hadn’t spoken to Max. Max probably thought what everyone thought—that Danny McCloud died in the plane crash.

It was a hard call to make but he sucked in his breath and arranged his courage and called.

“Yes, who is this?” An irritated Max shouted. “How did you get my private number?”

“Max, this is…” Danny could not pull the words out of his mouth.

“Well, I’m waiting.”

“Max, this is Danny.”

Max dropped the phone. Danny thought he had a heart attack, but he retrieved the phone after a few minutes.

“Danny is that you?”

“Yes it’s me Max, but you can’t tell anyone.”

Max listened in disbelief as Danny explained why he didn’t contact his family or go home. He explained that he met a doctor that could help him and he needed someone to check out his credentials. When Danny mentioned his name, Max knew in an instance that he was a renowned plastic surgeon and he literally performed miracles.

“Danny, don’t you know that your family has suffered because you were not with them? Poor Sydney. Do you know you have a baby boy? Go home Danny!”

Danny’s brow furrowed, tears welled in his eyes, and fell from his lush green eyes staining his face. He was determined to go home if just for a moment to see his beautiful Sydney and his wonderful little children.

“Max, make arrangements for me to see the doctor. I’ll get in touch with you in a week. I have to go.” Danny hung up the phone and gathered his courage. He cried for what he had to do. He cried for the face he would lose. He cried for Sydney and his children. But he never cried for himself.

Danny saw Alan and explained that he had an emergency in the US and that he had a replacement that could run the hotel as precisely and efficiently as he had done. Alan, hoping to catch his plane, heard Danny vaguely. The phone rang and Danny exited.

Nadia called Alan with news.

“I have just purchased a painting for you. The painting is great to hang in your office in one of your hotels.”

“The copy you sent is beautiful. When can I see the real thing?”

“When you arrive in Paris the paintings and the woman that posed for them will be there.”

Alan found the paintings to be captivating. He could hardly wait until they were in his possession.

The idea of meeting the woman in person proved more than Alan expected and he would not give up the chance to see her; and perhaps purchase more paintings of her to hang in his bedroom. The idea intrigued him so that he did not hear Danny when he stated that he was going to the states to see what he could do about the scars on his face. He dismissed Danny with his hand which meant that he understood and go.

Alan, flying out to embrace his future; Danny, flying out to embrace his past.

 

Los Angeles

Everything about LA’s airport appeared so familiar, except when he traveled this time no one noticed him. He wasn’t the star, where he was forced to purchase a Lear jet to ferry him and Sydney between New York and LA. Now he was just another Joe getting on and off of a flight. Not even TMZ showed up. The only one waiting for him was his manager and friend Max.

Max didn’t recognize Danny; his mother wouldn’t have recognized him. His face cut in zigzag patterns across his forehead, down his lips, over his eyes and a large scar on both sides of the once gorgeous face. The only thing remained were his hair, eyes, and his beautiful teeth. That was the only way Max could have recognized him.

Max scanned the airport for a tall young man and then he found Danny in the crowd. He looked up and saw the eyes, pools of green, honest and caring. When Danny discovered Max at a distance, he forgot he was unrecognizable, but broke out in a most child like smile. His smile said Danny. Max hurried in his direction and grabbed him, and hugged him, and tears fell from his eyes.

Max reached for his shirtsleeve and passed it across his face wiping away the tears of joy and sadness.

“Danny, it’s good to see you.”

“Why are you crying? I guess you can’t make any money off me looking the way I do. I would cry too.”

“Don’t say that Danny.”

“I know Max, I was just trying to get you to laugh and get a curse or two from you.”

“I’ve made arrangements for the surgeon to take you today and you’ll stay at their facility until you recover.”

“I don’t have too much money, everything went to Sydney and my children, but I’ll pay you back.”

“I’m not worried about the money.” Max hugged Danny hard. “You mean more to me than a meal ticket.”

“Oh, you really are sick.” Danny put his arm on Max’s shoulder and they walked to a black limo.

They reached Max’s limo and the driver took Danny to the clinic and left him there to prepare for his surgery and recovery. He remembered how Sydney had dropped him off in the desert in Phoenix, Arizona to recover. Sydney saved his life and now he was again trying to get over a life changing trauma.

 

Paris

Jeremy discouraged with Sydney’s decisions, drank too much wine and at Nadia’s insistence decided to marry her. Without thinking they walked into the registrar’s office and married that day. Jeremy didn’t want his marriage night to be in Alan’s house because the more he came face to face with Alan the more he detested him.

Nadia asked Jeremy to take her to a hotel in the south of France as a special gift for their honeymoon and later they would go to Spain where they could be together in seclusion at a home he bought for a getaway. Nadia had the notions of a woman in love, who was trying to live her childhood fantasy of the Princess and the Prince, where he would save her and they would live happily ever after. Somehow, the fairytale fractured.

* * *

Nadia and Jeremy checked into the Vista Palace Hotel. It sat high above the Mediterranean Sea overlooking gardens with a view of Monaco.

All Jeremy wanted was to sleep off his drunken stupor. He cared less for the view and even less for Nadia’s presence. Yet Nadia wanted her dream to never end. All Jeremy wanted was to dream of Sydney, because Nadia was just a body for his naked pleasure.

Through his drunken obsession, he lay with Nadia. As she sat on the bed, he visualized that it was Sydney. When he realized it was Nadia, his anger became intense and his body hurt for the love he wanted from Sydney.

He didn’t have the passion for Nadia. He wanted to be finished with his sexual pain, so he threw her to the bed and ripped her clothes off and satisfied his every whim and fancy with her body. His penis was an intrusive weapon. He plowed into her and turned his head to the left of Nadia’s face. His body moved up and down sliding in and out of her vagina.

Jeremy didn’t hear Nadia when she protested. His face contorted, his eyes glazed over, and his mind shut down. His milk spilled in Nadia and on her leg and sheets when he pulled his penis from her. He was still hard as a rock with no relief in sight. He reached for Nadia and pulled her and placed her face down and without any preparation, plowed his hard dick into her anus. Nadia turned around and he pushed her body back in its position. Moving up and down with greater intensity he finally discovered the picture in his mind of Sydney when he first gave her oral sex, where he licked her folds and brought her to an organism. This visual brought him to the height of sexual release. He knelled behind Nadia, pulling her to him, and released his flow in and on her behind.

She was able to see his face and it was hard and cold. Yet she didn’t care. She felt that if she gave him every sexual pleasure that he wanted and didn’t deny him, then he would always come to her no matter who was in his life.

Nadia enjoyed the lovemaking, she wanted him to express his sexual gratification in any manner he chose, and she was receptive to any and all sexual experimentations.

She was waiting until she had married him to introduce him to her sexual preferences.

 

They woke the next morning to the sun canvassing their room. Jeremy had sobered up and didn’t realize that he had married Nadia.

“Where are we?” Jeremy questioned sitting up and running his fingers through his hair. Nadia wiping her eyes leaned forward to kiss Jeremy when he pulled away.

“We’re in Cape Martin.”

“What are we doing here?”

“You don’t remember? This is the day after our wedding.” Jeremy closed his eyes in disgust—disgust with himself. He had been in control of his actions. He never did anything that wasn’t calculated. He didn’t plan on getting drunk for two days and ending up married. He had planned another round of attacks on Sydney, not this way.

Finally facing the lost of Sydney’s heart, the only thing he could do was make the best of a bad situation. The best thing about being away from Paris was that he didn’t have to worry about Alan and Sydney. Maybe he could concentrate on Nadia for a chance. They lay in bed the entire day and then woke to take a stroll around the hotel to talk to people, and come back to the real world. Jeremy and Nadia strolled hand and hand to the lobby and the first thing he saw was a picture of Sydney.

“What the hell is this doing here? Do I have to see my paintings everywhere?”

“I told you that Alan bought most of your paintings to display in his hotels. When you said that you wanted to get out of Paris I booked this room.”

“I’m sorry, Nadia. But I’m having problems with Sydney.”

Nadia turned to Jeremy as she held his hand, “The problem you are having is with my brother.” She looked to Jeremy to see his expression. His face didn’t move, his eyes didn’t blink and his throat didn’t clear, yet his hand became rigid. She saw him fidget with his wedding band, dropping Nadia’s hand as they walked, turning it around as if he had a key to unlock it.

Nadia noticed all his gestures, she thought that his nerves had gotten the best of him and he would be fine once the shock was over, besides, it was him that asked her to marry. Yet Nadia didn’t realize that Jeremy had no plans to marry much less consummate the marriage. That was his plan, to force Sydney to forbid him to marry. If he had to marry, then he would not sleep with Nadia and force her to get an annulment.

He didn’t plan far enough.