Penniless Hearts

by Eve Gaal

  Her words cut worse than a brand new razor. The whole being beautiful thing gave her license and the misguided notion that she could say anything and get away with it. When he let go of her fingers, she seized his hand again, and he ended up pulling her along into the lobby of the fancy hotel. Yes, yes, yes—she might be dead on right, but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.

  In front of the concierge desk, Heidi looked up into John's eyes and saw such immense pain that it brought her down too. “John,” she said, before he started speaking to the lady behind the desk.

  “Yeah, what?” He turned, but she forcefully pulled his head down and pushed his lips against her red stained mouth in a giant kiss. Her strong athletic arms held him firmly against her tall, muscular body. Her breasts felt like concrete orbs pushing into his previously sheltered universe. Flinching, he tried to pull away, but decided to imagine it was Penny. God, he missed her sweet kisses and this vinyl-coated creature was nothing like the love of his life. The longer she kissed him, the more disgusted he was, and the more his insides churned with passion for the love of his life.

  Carl exited the elevator with a towel and a map of the area. As he strolled through the lobby, his hazy old eyes played tricks on him again. He could have sworn he saw John kissing a tall lingerie model in a flowery dress. It certainly wasn't Penny, but then again, it might not have been John. Getting old sucks, he thought to himself.

  The concierge woman looked up at John and Heidi, cleared her throat and asked, “Honeymooners?”

  * * *

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Tentacles were reaching dangerously close to her face. Arlene stood up and almost screamed, but she looked at Dan seriously and said, “Leave me alone. I'm going home to put our house on the market.”

  “What are you talking about? You're still angry because I recognized some old woman from some previous flight?” Overhead speakers called all passengers with last names beginning with the letters J through P to board the bus waiting in the loading zone.

  “I don't know what you did, but I'm sure you're guilty of something.” When Dan tried speaking, she held up her right palm and said, “Spare me the details and tell someone who cares.” Zipping her carry-on bag shut, she put her purse over her shoulder and looked down at her shoes.

  “Arlene, you're talking nonsense. You know I love you.” Digging deep into his bag from Kona Kattie's, he produced a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. “Look, I bought you your favorite,” he exclaimed, grinning with boyish enthusiasm and holding the box to her face.

  “Stop it, Dan, we have to go or we'll miss our flight.” Taking a step around Dan, she started walking toward the bus, but he rushed up, gripped her arm and pulled her close, attempting a kiss. “Leave me alone,” she said, turning away from his basset hound eyes. Looking down, something next to Dan's Kona Kattie bag caught her eye. The receipt had fallen out of the bag, when he pulled out the chocolates. Arlene picked it up and quietly stared at it for a second, then looked at it again. “Unless you've become a cross dresser, you might want to hide your receipts for woman's thongs and sleeveless summer tank dresses from your next wife.” Tossing the receipt into her purse, she scurried to the bus, leaving Dan shuffling his packages in his vain attempt at catching up.

  “Arlene,” he shouted, watching her board, “that's all a misunderstanding–wait.” Arlene was the last one to board. Dan stood watching the bus pull onto the highway.

  * * *

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Just because she lived with him, didn't mean she knew everything about him. In fact, she started to wonder about the few things she did know. Tina sat at Darin's desk making little phone message piles. Several callers were looking for the manager who was busted for cocaine. Those shady-type callers she put into one pile, the business related calls she put into another little stack and the sports related friends were in another. Lastly, she had a medium grouping of five messages from women who didn't want to leave a message, but since the phone system showed their numbers on his phone, Tina wrote them down. Three of the women even had California area codes.

  She thought about their shared life on the mainland, and how the two of them were together after work, but now she slowly came to the realization that his personal life didn't coincide with 'after work', and all his extra-curricular activities took place during work. Never one to dwell on negative energy, she tried putting Darin, his millions and his muscular body out of her mind. Fortunately, he did leave a busy office in her care which helped keep her thoughts off her troubles. His horoscope never looked very promising anyway, because their charts were usually misaligned.

  The front desk operator called Darin's office, “Miss Tina, there's a gentleman here to see Darin.”

  Wanting to hide under the desk, she asked, “Is it regarding advertising?” She cringed, remembering the appointment she had set for Ron.

  “Yes, he's from a newspaper,” the operator said, sounding very informative and thorough. Darin had been through five receptionists in the last two months, and this one no doubt wanted to hold on to her job.

  Quickly grabbing a rubber band, Tina pulled her hair into a hasty bun. “I'll talk to him,” she said, surprised Ron had actually come all the way to Hawaii. “Send him in.” She hung up the phone and ran over to the door to check her makeup.

  By the time she raced back to the desk, Ron was strolling in, grinning from raunchy looking sideburn to raunchy looking sideburn. Slightly out of breath, she exhaled slowly and tried maintaining her composure.

  “Hey, small world huh?” He said, with a bouncy, jubilant tone as he looked around, before placing his worn briefcase on Darin's burled wood and chrome desk.

  Still trying to catch her breath, she didn't want to laugh at his strange outfit, which consisted of khaki pants, and a horrible looking bright orange Hawaiian shirt with yellow flowers that somehow coordinated with his peachy hair, ruddy skin and the reddish bumps and blemishes on his forehead. Be nice, she told herself, he's not that bad and he certainly is unique. Something about him separated him from every other man she had ever met. In fact, his actions and appearance went way beyond unique. Strangely eccentric and mysterious were words that came into her mind—-as opposed to words that defined Darin–lying scoundrel and a cheat. The simple fact that he went the extra mile by getting on a plane to talk to his biggest customer, made her think of him in a different light. Thawing, she felt a trickle in her heart pity him rather than want to laugh at him. Besides, the idea that a single man–who lusted after her on a daily basis–needed her help, made her blood begin to flow.

  “Too small, indeed,” she replied, remaining calm. Her demeanor was cool and even though he had just flown thousands of miles, she acted as if he just walked in from the office next door. After all, she did file a formal complaint against him. Pretending to be busy, she looked down at the various stacks of messages. She picked one pile up and paper-clipped them together. Trying not to seem overly eager to help, she waited for Ron to bring up the reason for his visit.

  “Where's Darin?” He asked, looking around, yearning for a trace of warmth. The red splotches he had seen before, started appearing on her neck and pointed chin.

  “Busy,” she replied icily, but noticing his frayed nerves, his shabby briefcase, she regretted being so cool and immediately offered him some coffee. When he turned down the coffee, she knew he wanted to discuss the advertising.

  “Well,” she started to ask, “What do you want to propose to Darin?” She had stalled long enough, “I'm in charge right now until he gets back.” The irony of the power shift secretly delighted her, making her smile.

  Her smile, with her hair pulled back and the crisp white, summer halter dress that accentuated the bones at the base of her neck, made his tongue melt onto the roof of his mouth. “Tina,” he finally managed, “you know perfectly well what I need.” Shifting around in the chair, dampness slowly dripped down his temples. “You put this proposal together yourself last mo
nth. You created the whole campaign.” His pleading aroused certain nerve endings in her body, causing more of that warm red flush that crept from her chin, wrapped around her shoulders, and disappeared into her dress.

  Adjusting to the warmer climate made Ron uncomfortable, but being in front of this ravishing swan like creature created a completely different dynamic.

  “I didn't create anything,” she said, lifting the phone to her ear. “Hold on Ron, I've got to answer these calls.” Pausing and taking a deep breath she sounded surprised to hear from someone and asked, “Where are you? Are you okay?” Ron heard the kind concern in the caring tones he wanted directed at him. He watched her pink, frosted lips speak into the receiver. He wanted those lips smearing that lipstick and traveling down his spine. He thought about how he would feast on her luscious limbs, her manicured fingers, her elegant toes and when his eyes followed the red splotches and wandered down to her cleavage, he had to stand up to get some air.

  Tina put her palm over the speaker side of the handset and looked up at Ron, “Hold on John,” she said and then to Ron she asked, “Where are you going? I'll be done here in a minute and we can talk some more.”

  “I can't,” Ron said, looking like a caged animal wanting to escape. After taking a deep breath he mumbled, “I can't talk anymore. You drive me nuts.”

  “Why? All I said is that I didn't really create anything. You know Penny did everything.” Tina held up a finger, shook her head looking confused and returned to the phone in her hand. “John, I'm sorry, Penny's dad is at the Hyatt on Waikiki. I left him there before I took my flight to Hilo. I have to go now, sorry, but I'll catch up with you soon. No, I have no idea, not yet anyway. Don't worry, we'll find her. Bye.”

  * * *

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  “I didn't do anything.” Penny yelled at the Puuwai locals gathering around the sheriff's helicopter. Groups of people were clamoring around to see who had invaded their privacy. Children pointed, mothers held small babies on their hips and a few rustic looking farm workers drove up on a plow.

  “Kapu means rules, lady. You broke the island's rigid kapu,” said the gray-haired ranger who brought her back sobbing and confused.

  “I didn't break anything.” She cried, wiping away her tears. “As far as I know, Hawaii is part of the United States of America. What happened to freedom? What about my rights?” She shrieked, as the ranger pulled her bag away from her and threw it up to the chopper pilot.

  “Lady, please don't act nuts. Just be quiet, before you say something you'll regret later,” the ranger said, while he buckled her in and tied a nylon cord around her wrist. “If you are going to be trouble, I can use other restraints on you, but tell me you won't be trouble. It's a short flight to the Kauai Police station. You gonna behave?”

  Other restraints? Penny's heart raced and her mind felt like it was going to explode like a volcano, “Yes,” she sighed, trying not to draw too much more attention, “but tell me what I did wrong? This is so uncool.” She had never heard of Niihau and she never thought an entire island in the United States could be private property. She had sailed to Catalina Island many times, hiked around Whidbey Island off Washington state once and even took a tour boat to Alcatraz. Even Alcatraz was open to the public. Thinking about that trip with her biker boyfriend made her think of how they had enjoyed taking pictures of each other in Al Capone's cell. Would her cell be smaller? Would John drop everything and come bail her out? Her mind was spinning like the blades above the chopper. Whackity, whackity whackity….

  The serious, gray-haired ranger closed the door and started ranting about private property. “I don't care where in the world you travel—if you trespass onto private property you're breaking rules.” The helicopter lifted off the ground, into the air and she heard him yell, “Have a nice trip,” as it rose above the waves lapping at the forbidden jewel called Niihau.

  * * *

  Chapter Fifty

  John hung up and turned around to tell Heidi about his conversation with Tina. “You're in the Hyatt Waikiki right now,” she exclaimed responding to his quizzical look.

  “That's so awesome, come on.” They walked from the phones to the reception area and asked for Carl Himmel's room.

  The lady at the front desk searched and searched but didn't find that name in the computer.

  “Did you try Carl with a K and a C?” he asked, realizing the room could be in Tina's name, but he didn't know her last name.

  “Yes,” the lady said, “but I don't think that would make a difference. All our reservations are under last names.”

  John said, “Try Martin,” glad his mind landed on something that might work. The lady punched some keys into her computer, looked up and smiled at John.

  “Yes, looks like we have Mr. & Mrs. Darin Martin on the third floor.”

  Relieved, he turned to Heidi, squeezed her hand and said, “Great, I'll need a key to get in.”

  “Excuse me, are you related to Mr. or Mrs. Martin?” The front desk clerk looked confused. “I can put a call in for you, or leave a message, but I am not allowed to give key cards out to anyone who says they need one.” Her superior sounding tone made John feel guilty for something he didn't do. She smiled and said, “You may have a perfectly legitimate reason for needing entry to that room, Mr.…ah…”

  “Murray,” John replied.

  “Yes, Mr. Murray, but I'm sorry, I would have to speak to Mr. or Mrs. Martin first.”

  John nodded slowly, comprehending her statement, “Sure, I understand. Can I call their room?”

  The clerk seemed suspicious and said, “I'll ring the room and hand you the line when they answer. Is that all right?” She punched in the numbers and waited on the line. A minute later she said, “No one appears to be answering. Why don't you try back again later?” Her eyes were looking past John at the next guest wanting to check-in.

  “Can you tell me what room it is?” John knew the answer before asking, but figured it couldn't hurt.

  “No sir, I'm sorry. Next guest please.”

  The rotund guy behind John had two cameras around his neck and what seemed like ten suitcases, at his feet. His stout wife had two purple leis around her neck, a straw hat and a huge purse that looked like it doubled as a grocery bag. The man slowly made his way around John, looked at his bandages and said, “Excuse me– I've got to get a bell hop.”

  His wife nibbled on trail mix. Reaching into her bag, she looked up at John and sauntered past him to check in. “Aloha,” she said to John, her mouth crunching down on snacks.

  Cracks surfaced in John's normally gentle demeanor. His head throbbed, his girlfriend had disappeared, her father might be somewhere in the blasted hotel and he had this gorgeous woman pulling him out of line towards some Tiki-bar lounge. “Aloha to you too,” he screamed over the obnoxious blare of the paging system.

  “Paging John to the front desk, telephone call.” The announcement shouted above them a second time.

  “Did you hear that?” he asked Heidi, “It sounds like it's for me.”

  She stopped pulling him through the ornate lobby and said, “Aren't you dying of thirst? There are a million Johns in this hotel. Right now I'm parched.”

  “You sure know how to exaggerate, Heidi. I'd say there are probably twenty, and so my odds are one in twenty.” He turned and went back to the front desk.

  * * *

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Smoke slowly dissipated from the crash site where Mac and the helicopter went into the mountain.

  Darin and his dad had filmed all their television commercials with the local news station. The small fortune they spent every year created a bond and a lasting relationship with the local media. Something Darin knew he could count on. The local news station also bought all their company vehicles from him and did exclusive interviews highlighting select cars during televised golf or tennis championships. When he showed up at the airfield on Hilo, they didn't mind taking him up, and everyone greeted him like
a friend.

  The pilot opened the cockpit and handed Darin some headphones, so they could easily communicate. “You do know how dangerous this is?” he asked, somewhat haughtily. A toothpick trembled between his thin lips. The pilot wore cowboy boots and ironed, brand new looking western jeans.

  “Yes, of course. All that black smoke, low visibility, the lava hasn't cooled–sure, I've been here, off and on, most my life.” Darin didn't like tobacco chewing, rodeo-types who faked their Southern twang, but this guy acted very professional about his job. Though they never sat down in a bar together for drinks, Darin remembered him from a local air show. The guy had also been part of the film crew that took aerial shots of his dealership and though he came across friendly, Darin sensed a trace of annoyance. He put the headphones on and buckled into the seat next to the pilot.

  “Just warning ya, the station doesn't usually bring people up to look for friends.” Slowly, he lifted the helicopter and headed towards the hills where previous GPS reports had placed the crash site.

  “I'm clear on the concept,” Darin explained. “Except Mac flies choppers, like you, and he's not just any friend, he's my best friend. We served in Desert Storm together.”

  Obviously impressed, the pilot said, “Wow, Black Hawks, huh? They carry some mighty heavy loads.”

  Nervous tension made Darin speak over the pilot, “…Decorated for valor for saving my squad during enemy fire–he's my biggest hero.” He hated talking about it, but this cowboy needed to know the truth. “I hope we're not too late.”

  “No wonder, you're worried about him,” he drawled, swooping around to exit the city, towards the volcano.