Starry Nights

by Duvane, JB

  I wondered how these people got their information so fast. It was entirely possible that Brittany had already talked to some entertainment site, maybe even right when she landed, letting the world know that she was on the market again. "That's correct." I had no interest in giving out any more information than that, though.

  "And my sources tell me that you were seen wining and dining an old flame, Maggie Alana, here on Kauai just last night."

  I was startled by that last comment. I didn't understand how this reporter could possibly know anything about my and Maggie's past. She specifically told me that she had never mentioned that night we spent together to another person.

  "Shane, are you still there?"

  "Yeah, I … uh … where did you get your information?"

  "Are you saying you didn't have dinner with Maggie Alana last night?"

  "No, I'm … well, I'm just curious about your sources."

  "I don't have anything listed here, it may have been someone who didn't want their name revealed. Is there a problem with this information?"

  "No, I mean, yeah, I think I'd prefer to end this interview."

  "Did you move back here to reunite with Maggie Alana?"

  "I'm sorry, I have to go." I hit end, then just sat there and stared at the phone in my hand for a long time.

  What the hell? I thought to myself. It wasn't a huge deal, but knowing that Maggie had lied to me suddenly didn't make me feel very good. There was no reason for her to have said anything at all, really, let alone lie about it. I hadn't even asked her. I was hoping that maybe it was a misunderstanding and I decided to give her a call. I switched to my real phone and hit her number. It rang a few times but went to voice mail. I didn't feel like leaving a message, and didn't really know what I'd say anyway, so I ended the call.

  Chapter Nine

  Maggie

  I saw the call from Shane but I just couldn't talk to him right then. I still couldn't believe he'd lied to me just to get me into bed. I mean, hadn't he slept with enough women? Did he really have to stoop so low to get a nobody like me to have sex with him?

  I poured over the whole evening and morning I'd spent with him and tried to remember anything that would have given me a clue that he was being insincere. But everything he'd said to me came out so naturally and sounded so real and heartfelt that I was starting to feel like I was crazy, or incredibly stupid.

  When my phone rang for the second time I froze. It was Shane again. I didn't know what to do, but I figured it would be silly for me to try to hide from him. I took a deep breath and answered it.

  "Hello?"

  "Hey, Maggie, it's Shane."

  "Hi." I knew my tone was cold and I was being really short with him, but I honestly didn't know what to say.

  "Hey."

  There was a long pause where neither one of us said anything and I thought that was kind of weird. As I sat there, waiting for him to say something, my stomach felt like it was free-falling out of my body. I didn't know why he was suddenly so quiet, but I figured it had to be because of what he'd told me.

  Everything was starting to make sense. He had said all those things just to get me into bed, and now he was probably going to back pedal like crazy so that he could get out of everything. Maybe even arrange it so that he could keep sleeping with me.

  "Maggie, something happened a little while ago that I'm having a hard time understanding. I talked to a reporter, someone my manager had set me up with, and they asked me about you. They referred to you as an old flame. Do you know why they would be asking me about that?"

  "What?" My mind was still reeling from the acceptance that Shane was just like every other asshole on the planet when what he said knocked me for another loop. "Old flame? I have no idea—"

  "I thought you told me that you never said a word to anyone about us, about our night on the beach."

  "I didn't, Shane—" but suddenly I remembered what I'd told Janine just the other day. "I … Shane, I—"

  "Did you just use me, Maggie? I didn't think you were like that."

  "I'm not, Shane, you know I'm not. I didn't mean to … Shane I honestly didn't—"

  "If you didn't tell anyone then how did the reporter know? Can you explain that to me? Can you explain why she would have referred to you as my old flame? Is that what you told people?"

  "No, of course not! I can't believe you're accusing me of—"

  "Did you lie to me, Maggie?"

  "No, I didn't. Not really. But … just wait a minute, Shane. I can't even believe that you're calling me a liar after what I found out."

  "I didn't call you anything. I'm asking you if you lied—"

  "—because if there is a liar here, it is most certainly you, with your song and dance about wanting to preserve that sacred land. I can't believe I fell for all that crap about you moving back to the island for me. And telling me that you had a hard time trusting people. That's a good one."

  "Whoa, what are you talking about? What the hell happened?"

  "I have a friend at the law firm that's handling your deal, Shane. I know you pulled permits to build condos on that land, on that very spot where we walked on the beach together. Don't bother trying to cover your tracks now, I know you lied to me. But did you really think you needed to lie to me just to get me to … ugh, never mind. If you wanted to make me feel like an idiot you've more than succeeded," I said, my voice shaking as tears started streaming down my face. "Congratulations."

  "Maggie, I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

  I didn't say anything for a moment. I was straddling a fine line of still wanting so desperately to believe that Shane was a good guy—that it was all a misunderstanding—and forcing myself to pay attention to the feeling in my stomach. The feeling that told me that I wasn't someone he would have ever considered being in a serious relationship with anyway. "Are you sure about that? I have to go." I hung up before he had a chance to give me any more lines. I couldn't bear hearing him lie to me again.

  I immediately called Janine. She had to have said something to someone. She's the only person on this planet that I'd told, the only one that knew about our kiss.

  "Hey, Mags, how are you feeling?"

  "Okay. I just talked to Shane."

  "Yeah? What did he say?"

  "He said he doesn't know anything about permits for a condo."

  "Yeah, he would say that. Look, Maggie, he's a dude. And he's a freaking actor. It's his job to make people believe stuff that isn't even real. He probably doesn't know difference between the truth and a lie anymore."

  "Yeah, you're probably right. But he said something else, Janine."

  "Don't let him pull anything over on you, Maggie. I know you have feelings for him, but—"

  "No, it's not about the land. It's about something else."

  "What?"

  "He told me that a reporter asked him about me today … that they referred to me as an old flame."

  "Yeah, so?"

  "You're the only person I told about that kiss, Janine. I never told another person."

  "Oh, wow, Maggie. I'm so sorry."

  "What? Who did you tell?"

  "Oh God, I feel like such an asshole now. There was this woman at work, one of the paralegals. I didn't actually say anything, but … well, she was going on and on about Shane Holloway and how incredibly hot he is and how she couldn't believe that he was living on the island again and blah blah blah. So, I told her that I had a friend who knew him really well and she asked 'how well' and … well, I didn't say anything specific, but I didn't not say anything either."

  "What? What do you mean?"

  "God, I feel like such a shit. I don't know … I guess I sort of raised my eyebrows a couple times. I honestly didn't expect her to tell anyone else. Jesus, I'm gonna call her in here. That is so freaking unprofessional. Of both of us."

  "No, no, whatever. It's all done now."

  "No way, Maggie. I'm gonna make sure she doesn't tell anyone else."

&nb
sp; "Well, if one reporter knows, then I'm guessing it's not up to her any more who else finds out."

  "God, you're right. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I don't know, being anywhere near someone who's a celebrity does weird things to you. I'm not that kind of person, Maggie. You know me."

  "Yeah, I do. And I'm not mad. I mean, Shane thinks I lied to him, but whatever because he actually did lie to me."

  "Yeah, and I'd say his lie is way bigger."

  "Well, I'm not interested in ranking lies or anything. To me a lie is a lie and even a little one can wipe out all of the trust you have in a person."

  "Yeah, I hear you. Don't take it so hard, Mags. Just try and forget about him. There are plenty of other guys out there."

  "Yeah, but the problem is they don't live on this island."

  "That's true. Listen, why don't we go out and get a drink tonight. It might do you some good to have a little fun, maybe do some dancing. Forget about Shane for a while."

  "I don't think so, Janine. I think I just want to stay in, probably for about a month straight."

  "Come on, don't let this one experience shut you down. You're an awesome woman and you're going to find a guy that doesn't lie, I promise."

  "Yeah, sure. I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you later."

  "Okay. Call me if you need anything, all right?"

  "I will."

  I hung up the phone and fell backward onto the couch. Janine was right. I needed to forget about Shane. I should never have agreed to go out with him to begin with. I should have known there was no way, after ten years of spending all his time around supermodels and beautiful actresses, that he could fall for someone like me.

  I didn't understand how I was supposed to forget about him, though. After all these years of playing our kiss over and over in my head—actually feeling it in every inch of my body—and then what happened last night and this morning, I just couldn't forget. When I thought about all of it I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my body.

  Chapter Ten

  Maggie

  She hung up on me. I couldn't believe she actually hung up on me. And she didn't even deny that she lied to me. She was actually trying to give me some freaking excuse and was treating me like I was the bad guy. I didn't want to jump to conclusions about Maggie, but I couldn't believe the way she was acting. What the hell?

  I replayed the conversation we'd just had over and over in my head, and what she said about the land didn't make any sense at all. I didn't know where she'd gotten her information, but it felt like we were talking about two completely different deals.

  "Hey, Frank, it's me again."

  "What's up? Did that reporter get ahold of you?"

  "Yeah, she did. It was a quick interview. That's not what I'm calling about, though. I just talked to someone … someone who knows one of the lawyers who's working on the land deal …"

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah, and they told me something that sounded really weird."

  "Well, this is supposed to be a completely private deal. If there are people talking then they probably don't even know what they're talking about."

  "That's why I'm asking you, Frank. You've been to the meetings and I've stayed away because it's not really my thing. But what I heard … it just can't be right."

  "What's that?"

  "That the permit applications that have been submitted are for condos. Is that true?"

  "Well, I'll have to check on that. You know how they are down at those county offices. Maybe they got the permits mixed up."

  "Can you send me everything that's gone through so far—all the paperwork?"

  "Oh, come on, you don't need to worry yourself with all that. I've got your back, Shane."

  "I know. You've always taken care of the business end for me, but I'd really like to take a look at everything. I want to be able to actually answer questions about this whole deal if someone asks me."

  "Well, I'm gonna have to get everything together. That'll take a few days. Then I can have it all messengered over to you."

  "Messengered? No, I'll just come over there. I've got a scanning app on my phone, it'll take no time at all."

  "Well, now's not a real good time for me, Shane. I've got some other stuff going on."

  "Okay, well let me know when you're going to be free."

  Frank didn't say anything for a moment and I almost asked if he was still there, but when he started talking again he sounded strange. Almost irritated.

  "What's this all about? Don't you trust me anymore, man? All I've ever done is look out for your best interest."

  "Yeah, I know. It's just that, I had a conversation with someone a little while ago and it's gotten me really upset. I want to believe that everything is what you say it is, but I really just need to see for myself. You understand, don't you?"

  "Look, Shane …"

  "What?"

  "This whole deal, it's about more than finding a nice place for you and your family to live. You're at a point in your life where you need to be thinking about making investments for your future. You're not gonna be an A-lister forever."

  "I know that."

  "I'm trying to look out for you for the long term here, Shane. That's what this whole deal is about."

  "Yeah, I get that. I agree. I need to start thinking about all that stuff. And I appreciate everything you're doing for me. But why are you telling me this after I asked to see the paperwork? That's all I'm asking right now."

  "I just want you to know that, while it might not seem like it initially, everything I've done with this deal is to ensure that you have plenty of money coming in twenty or thirty years down the road."

  "Why do I have a feeling that you're about to tell me something I'm not going to like?"

  "All right, I did put in for a multi-dwelling unit permit."

  "What for?"

  "Look, this land … it's worth a freaking hell of a lot of money, Shane. More than I even dreamed before we made the initial offer. You're going to be spending a lot of money for a place to put a couple of houses with tons of room left over."

  "It's my money, Frank. I can do whatever the hell I want with it."

  "And I'm not arguing with you about that. I'm just saying that, if you sold off a small part of it, you could make a whole lot of money. I mean a lot."

  "That's not what I wanted Frank. Not at all."

  "I know, buddy, that's why I didn't say anything to you about it. I wanted to check it out first, and see how feasible it would be."

  "What do you mean check it out first? There's nothing to check out. No part of that property is for sale."

  "Just wait a minute. Listen to me, this is an opportunity for you to make all of your money back—"

  "I want to see all the documents that have been submitted to the lawyers, Frank. I'm coming over right now."

  "Shane, come on! What do you want all that land for anyway?"

  "What do I want it for? I want the land so that assholes that want to build a freaking condo or resort on it can't get their goddamned hands on it! That's what I want it for! I want to see everything that I've signed off on, Frank. Now!"

  "Look, it's already done, man."

  "What?"

  "I took an offer."

  "What offer."

  "An offer from some group in Europe. They only want a small plot, just enough for one building and some access rights."

  "And you did this? Behind my back?"

  "I told you, Shane. I'm looking out for you. This is for your future!"

  "The only person you're looking out for is yourself, Frank. I didn't ask for this. If you really had my best interest in mind, you would have talked to me about it first."

  "You would have said no, we both know that."

  "Yeah, but that's still my decision, not yours. And what are you getting out of all this? Huh? How much are you making off this deal?"

  "Not anywhere near what you are! Seriously, this is a multi-million dollar deal!"

  "Yo
u're fired, Frank."

  "What? You gotta be kidding me! What the hell are you gonna do without me, Shane? Do you know how much I take care of for you? Do you know how many people want to get their grubby mitts all over you and your money? I'm the one that takes care of it all! Me! And this is the thanks I get?"

  "Don't give me that shit. You knew you could talk to me about anything. The fact that you didn't doesn't sit very well with me at all. I really thought I could trust you. You were the only one left."

  "You can trust me. I'm the same person who's taken care of you all these years. You're like a brother to me."

  "If this is the way you'd treat your brother, I don't need one. I'm serious, Frank. You're gone. Get all of my paperwork together for the deal and send it over to my house now. I'm freezing all my accounts so don't even try to make any withdrawals."

  "Aw, man, you know I wouldn't do that!"

  "Do I? I can't even think right now. Just send me what I asked for and we can iron out the rest next week."

  "Look, Shane, I set up this deal! You need me to finish it! I was the one that found the goddamned land in the first place. What the hell?"

  "You shouldn't have tried to mess with me, Frank. You know how I feel about this sort of thing. Did you really think I'd just gloss over the fact that you lied?"

  "First of all, I didn't lie. And second of all, yes! As a matter of fact I did! I was pretty fucking sure that when you saw how much money I made you, you'd be kissing my goddamed feet!"

  "Goodbye, Frank."

  I hung up the phone and immediately called my accountant. Frank gave the orders on what to do with the money, but my accountant actually did the work, so all I had to do was tell him what to do and Frank was taken off everything.

  When I got off the phone with the accountant I was shaking. I sat there in my perfect house in the perfect spot I'd been dreaming about for years, and I was falling apart. I couldn't believe I'd let this happen again. I couldn't believe that there was no one left—not a single person in the world other than my parents—that I could trust. I didn't understand how people did it. How they found honest people to work for them that weren't trying to take them for every dime.