I sighed. Oh, well. Breakfast is ready, sir.

. Soon as I got the words out of my mouth, I felt the sheets on my face. They fell down on the floor. In my periphery, I saw the outline of his body covered only by boxer shorts. Oh, well. Back to being someone elses shadow. Silently, this time, I followed Mr. Neuman around. I didnt really think about it. I just kept myself within 2 meter distance from him. Before I knew it, we were in Sunkiss, with Chris snapping her fingers at me. What? She was trying to tell me something which couldnt register into my mind. I said my boyfriend wants his bike back. Yeah. The bike I grabbed off the street. You okay? Chris pop-up question startled me again. Yeah. Yeah. Can I have his breakfast? Sure. Its by the counter. I can tell shes eyeing me suspisciously, but I didnt dwell on that. Hey, Lake. Dont forget about the fire dance tonight. She called after me. Fire dancers put up a one night only show every summer. It was always worth watching, especially when Troy was beside me, desperately trying to dance when he cant even move to the beat to save his life. Last year, he accidentally tripped over one of the dancers when he was making fun of them and ruined the whole thing. He had to apologize to the gay organizer the whole night. The memory made me grin. Wont miss it for the world. I told Chris before I scurried off. My mood has switched like a light bulb. Foods here. Anything else I could get you? Mr. Heiss got oven fresh cheesecakes, and theyre mouthwatering. I tried to tempt Mr. Neuman as I laid him the tray. He dug into the meal, without a hint that he even saw me. Uh, blueberries! Ill go get one. Theyre fail-safe. After 5 minutes, I was back, bring both desserts in a plate. He didnt even touch them, and next thing I knew, he was heading to the door. Ninja time, I grudgingly said to myself. Mr. Neuman, hey! Feeling brave, I walked beside him. Dyou know, theres a fire dance show tonight in the beach side. Lots of people are coming coz theyre really good. I promise you, Ive seen them loads of times. Mr. Neuman! I turned to find one of the beach employees running towards us. Here are your keys. No word of thanks. This guy has serious deficiencies in the manners department. He took the keys and walked towards the dock where jet skis were being kept. Of course, like Im part of the atmosphere, he set off in his jet ski not dropping a word to me. Snubbing personified. I actually thought about grabbing a jet ski for myself and continuing my stalking job but decided against it. Honestly, Im not in the mood. Jet ski strongly reminds me of Troy, coming out to rescue me when I foolishly fell out of the banana boat ride. I had a severe life jacket malfunction, and at that time I wasnt too good at swimming yet. Troy, where the hell are you? This waiting feeling is gnawing at me, eating me up. Hes due to come a week ago. All sorts of fears have been gripping me. I try to shut them off to the side of my head. I refuse to wrap my mind around each of the possibilities that crop up. Distracting myself, I watched Mr. Neuman circling the sea. The man can definately drive. Toni is right. I should be insulted for his lack of gratitude. I saved his neck and he doesnt give a slightest indication that yesterday ever happened. The whole town, maybe the whole country is talking about it. But Mr. Aloof has drifted off to his hermitage like holdups happen to him

everyday. I searched my chest for any feeling of hostility directed to him. Negative. Frankly, I think I just dont care. With all the mulling I was going through, I absentmidedly checked my watch. Roaches! Ive been sitting in the dock for 2 hours. Mr. Neuman is still doing his rounds, Dunno if he refueled or what. I decided to fetch his lunch at Sunkiss. Maybe he wouldnt mind eating out here at the docks bistro which is still a part of the resort. When I reached Sunkiss, our manager told me Mr. Neuman takes his lunch at the bistro most of the time. Cant you give the man some privacy for at least a minute? Take a day off. Were getting ready for our Hawaiin themed outfits for tonight. Chris tempted me. I dont have a conventional job, Chris. My boss is on mute setting. So i dunno how to get the message across. Besides, I didnt tell her, Id be really guilty if I dont spend time with him. His sister only had a ridiculously menial task for me; which is to look after him, as payback for the costly car I wrecked. You promised youd be with us tonight. Shiela was pouting. No promise breakage, swear. Id be off his service by 7 pm. I said. Cool. Everyone arounds really excited. Im starting to believe its going to be a good show. Toni said. Great. Goods an understatement. I thumbs-uped. Ill take your word for it. See ya later. Will wait for your text. Gotta go, I made my way back to babysitting. Wheres Troy? The question jilted me awake from my brooding. Hey, Caddence. He rolled his eyes. Cad will do, Drei. I giggled. What is it with your full name? Ive never asked. Caddence sounds... unique. Crosslegged, I perched on the dock, my eyes maintaining a surveillance on the jet ski. He sat beside me and made a face. I had a 3rd grade crush who said its a name befitting a nauseating nervewracked nerd. Wheres Troy? Not in the area yet, I said evasively. Probably gonna make a grand entrance with smoke machines and a fire truck tonight. That boyfriend of yours never fails to get me rolling in the ground laughing like an idiot with his epic antics. Still thinking about Bowens shorts? I grinned. Orange. With 4 holes. Waving at the entrance gate. Comic relief at any given day he recalls the sweet memory. Best thing about it is that its at Bowen the Big mouths expense. Another familiar voice sounded. Jeez, Vin. Bitter boy you are. I accused. That morbidly obese hippopotamus is making me do double shifts this weekend. My heads turning into a criminal, imagining running through him a kitchen knife. Problem is Im not sure Itll cut through his lumps and lumps of skin and subcutaneous fat. Cad and I laughed. Wheres the crazy ass bitch? He says to me. It was his and Troys term of endearment. Wont be surprised if he has extra detention classes again. Remember three years ago? He was late, too. Cad saved me from answering.

 So its true? He really set off the fire alarm when he almost burned down the chem lab? Vin awaits confirmation. By accident, I emphasized. Theyre both shaking their gleeful faces. On a very different note, Drei. Why do your friends call you Lake? Cad throws the question. Hmmm... Back in junior high, the registrar typed my name by mistake. Instead of Andrea Breises Blake, she wrote Bess Lake. She was having a major lovers quarrel over the phone during enrolment. My classmates sort of picked it a habit of calling me Lake to confuse people. Inside joke. I said briefly. Tsk. Toni was going on about you getting roaring drunk singing Lake A Virgin. Cad stated. I rolled my eyes. Ettu, Toni? Dont hate Toni. She was just probably trying to shake Cad off. Vin smirked. Cad scowled, and then huffed affably. DREI! With a jerk, I looked up. Zar! Her megawatt smile could light up a city. Zara was quick to give me a bear hug. I thought you were in Paris! Oh! DONT! her voice suddenly was broken. Alarmed, I automatically relinquished my hold. What happened? But she sobbed further and held me again, this time more tightly. Zar... Oh, no. This is bad. It took a while before she spoke again. Her tremors shook both of us as she rested her head on my shoulder. Speechless Zara is like time travel. Impossible. Cads eyes were focusing nowhere near Zara nor me. Vin looks simply lost. Bet Im mirroring his expression right now. She eventually calmed down. In a table for four, we settled silently. Cad, Vin and I were behaving as though were expecting a bomb to set off. Zara has always been intensely bright and bubbly. Never bugged eyed. And here she is, sporting a face that read Ive-been-crying for the past few days. Glitter? Busy bee. They opened a branch of their family business in Cleveland. Getting hands on training from her dad, as she wanted. Zar was able to articulate after she piped down, though stiffling sobs in between. Her cousin Chris is here with me. I informed her. Zara nodded approvingly. Great! We used to spend afternoons gawking at senior high hotties when we were 10. Mighty fine educational past time for young girls. I commented. She laughed. I hadnt noticed you two left the conversation. She directed at the two boys. What can we say? You wouldnt want us to tell you what we do to with childhood crushes. They usually involve the bathroom. Vin bounced back. Christ, man. Guy code! admonished Cad. Yeah. Keep that info to yourself, Vin Perv. I agreed. I saw Russ as I passed by the reception counter. I think hes heading out to sea with a group of tourists on a boat. Zar said. So, Glitters the only missing piece of the puzzle, eh? Troy hasnt checked in yet. Cad filled her in. You know what, I heard something about him and his brother from my sisters boyfriend. Theyre schoolmates. Zara said thoughtfully.

 What about? I strained to hide the anxiety in my voice. Trouble. I dunno what exactly. I was on my 6th margarita, barely hanging on a thread. Zara said. Oh. I wanted to pry. But Zara has obviously just been distracted from her own strife. So I let the subject be filed in the figurative to-do box in my head. The three continued rallying catch-up stories. They didnt notice that I exited the conversation. Troy, where on friggin earth are you? DREI!!! Snapped back to reality, Zara has shaped a paper out of nowhere into a cone. Her magnified call from her makeshift megaphone jilted me. What, Madame? As I was saying, dyou happen to know what is name of that delicious piece of morsel? Zara was pointing her finger to my baby-sitting employer. At the moment, hes shirtless. All muscles, all buff, all sex symbol yummy. Zaras type. Tank Neuman. The new managers brother. Hes also Dreis extra summer job. Cad answered. I wouldve stayed to explain to Zara, but at that point, Mr. Neuman was starting to disappear from view. In haste, I left my summer clique to babysit. The hotel room door has been locked for 3 solid hours. Im stupidly pacing right out of it, waiting for Mr. Neuman to come out, waiting for 7 pm to tick. 6: 59... Muttering as I counted down 60 seconds to freedom, I have envisioned the fireworks. In less than an hour, the show at the beachside will be starting. What gets me anticipating is the idea that Troy could be anywhere here at Shooting Star at the moment. Please God, let Cad be right. I was at 24 when I hear the loud breaking of glass issuing from inside the room. There was a thud, more sound of movements. Ive knocked loudly on the door 10 times for the past three hours and there had been no answer. Frankly, I didnt want to just turn the knob and come in. Mr. Nutty Neuman might go nuts if I come in uninvited. He scares me. There, Ive said it. The fear I decided to push back into a corner when a deafening crash echoed again. Crap. He could be in serious trouble and all Im doing here is listen. What-the friggin-ever. In a heartbeat, I yanked the door open. The lights have been thoroughly extinguished. I turned it on. I gasped when my eyes found Mr. Neuman. Oh, No.. cockroach crap! For a few seconds, I just stood on the spot, gaping, swallowing lumps in my throat, trembling head to foot. Head in the game, Lake. Focus now. Grabbing the telephone, I dialed the front desk. Sunkiss reception. How may I help you? Hello, Ms. Burroughs. This is Lake. Im calling from Mr. Neumans room. Please send help. His hand is bleeding. Hes not moving. Hes unconcious. W..What do I do? I launched into a tirade. What happened??? I have no idea. Ive been outside his room for hours and I didnt hear anything until just now. I opened the door and hes... Please, please, send help. Okay. Stay with him, honey.

And she was gone. Beside the phone, I found a hand towel. With it, I went over Mr. Neuman. I located where the gushing bleed comes from. Its his hand, which clutched a shard of broken beer bottle. Its obviously what wounded him. I took the thing and threw it aside next to about a dozen of empty beer bottles. Against his skin, I pressed the handkerchief to stop the bleeding. He grunted, followed by a grimace or a snore. I dunno which. I can tell by his smell and his flushed face and his overall look that hes drunk. Heavily, debilitatingly drunk. I raised his injured hand. On his face, theres a long thin cut across his left cheek oozing with blood. He seems to have shattered the mirror behind him before he fell on the floor. Everywhere, he is full of small, clean cuts on the skin. Mr. Neuman? I called. And twice again. He swore, and then slurred into saying, NO! NO! The break, you idiot! Then he drifted off. Mr. Neuman! the hotel security finally arrives. I moved aside to let them take charge. Hes got a pulse. But hes out of it. We need to get him to the hospital. The head of security, Mr. Karski says. Well, what the #^(% are you staring at? Call the damned ambulance! the hotel supervisor thundered. Toni calling. For the nth time, I rejected. Im still in the ER. The doctors been removing the shards of the mirror from Mr. Neumans hand, face... well, body. Theres an awful lot of small and large pieces sticking out of his skin. Doctor Stevens also says its a good thing hes sedated by the alcohol. He wouldnt feel the entire procedure. I must say hes right. Those shards just make all the hair at the back of my neck prick up. I made myself a cup of strong coffee and settled into the waiting room. 9 PM. Im staring out at Reagan County Hospital room 98s window. The fireworks had been late. At least I could see the spectacular display from here, I said to myself. Gunfire? I heard his hoarse voice say. Mr. Neuman. Youre awake. Its just fireworks display. I explained. Huh. Another air pollution stunt. He comments. So hes a mother nature advocate? Its part of the celebrations. What are you doing here, kid? Kid? What am I? 5 years old? Before I could answer, he spoke again. Get out. I dont need you. I dont want you. Bang! Okay. Thats it. I can only take so much shit for one day. I dont care. I finally managed to spit out. He blinks at me. Whatever it is, me too. I dont care what the heck you say. Im staying. I have orders from your sister. My life. My decisions to make. Ill make it clear so it penetates that low IQ brain of yours that I dont need your nannying services. Ill pay the damn debt you have, for Christs sake, just get out of my shadow. You understand? Problem solve. If only I could pretend I heard his insult. Hell, no. This means war, Mr. Nuissance Neuman. Shut up. What did you say?

 Shut the hell up, you suicidal moron! Whatever you damned problem is, thats none of my business. But I have a contract with your sister. I gave her my word. So though its the last thing in the world Id want to do, Im stuck with you. Suck it up. Coz Im staying until you beg me not to go. To my disbelief, he laughed. This isnt a TV series, and Im no nice spare-the-girls-feeling guy, fetus. I want you out. Out! He shouts. Almost shuddered with his anger, but my bruised ego decides to go amazon. No, you stop being an unbearable jerk or Ill make your life a living inferno. I threatened. Huh! Ive got news, Im already walking on coals everyday, kiddo. Trust me, you cant make it any worse. The bitterness in his tone is unmistakable. Oh, yeah? What if I stay with you 24/7? Within 2 feet radius for the whole summer. We stared at each other. No ones bound to surrender. I want you out. Out. Out! He shouts again. If I hadnt been so angry, I couldve squirmed from his thunder. I grabbed the bedside chair and sat. I want you to shut up. And you must obey me. He laughs in the most menacing way. And why should I? You want winning cards, Neuman? Because you owe me your life. Three counts of it, remember? His expression changed. You expect me to kneel at your feet? You expect a thank you banner? he says in a taunting tone. No. I want pay back. In what form? You. Be a nice spare-the-girls-feeling guy. No swearing. No throwing of clothes on my face. No silent treatment. No leaving without official goodbye. Are you hallucinating? Im serious. Ill pay the car. I saved your life. I get to pick the price. Ill pay your college apartment. I saved your life. I get to decide. Ill pay your college tuition. I saved your life. Eat your freaking money. He gives me a dangerous look as he tilts his head. I saved your life. I said again. Ive no time for games. I. Saved. Your. Life. I saved your life. Bring it on, Neuman. Does your sister know what happened yesterday? The quick perk up of his head gave the answer away. You are not telling her. He is threatening again. This time, its making my feet cold. Well, it appears I have all the leverage. What are you bringing to the blackmail table? I made the discussion clear. A minute, I think has passed. Hes huffing, grimacing, cursing mutinously. Fine. Ill play your game, fetus. You keep your trap shut about this, he points at his bandaged hand, and yesterdays events.

 In return? Well, youll get your nice spare-the-girls-feeling guy. He glares at me. Man, hes taking my terms? This is... weird. Weirder than his personality. Deal. I stuck out my hand. Ill shake but... Oh, roaches. The bandage. Now hes got the expression that says Im-right-about-the-low-IQ assessment. Can I say jerk?