A Time of Changes

"Steph, do you know a guy named Gavin Michael MacLeod?" Pen asked and Stephan nodded and shrugged.

"Sounds familiar, Pendarion why do you ask?" Stephan inquired as he glanced over at his pilot.

"His ex-wife is a guest at the resort, and she's someone I have come to know a little." Pen replied as he made a very minor adjustment. "She's pretty torn up about the divorce."

"Is this the woman you have been spending so much time with lately?" Stephan asked with a smile and Pen nodded and smiled back wryly. "I see. I don't know too much about him, but I believe he works in New York and has already remarried. I could look into him if you like. My friends in the back may not be good for much, but they know all of the gossip for their social circle." He said.

Pen knew that Stephan was wealthier than all of his guests combined, but he was a generous and philanthropic man. He was good to his friends and knew every single one of his employees by name. He never forgot birthdays and anniversaries and he was generous with pay and benefits. He was a pleasure to work for and Pen was glad to know him. If Stephan looked into Gavin there wouldn't be much that remained hidden, and while Pen wasn't sure he wanted to know everything, he wanted to know enough that he agreed. Stephan said he would ask about him then swore as he checked the monitor that watched the passenger cabin. One of his guests had just vomited messily all over the floor. Stephan swore creatively in French sighed.

"I will go and take care of them." He said as he started to rise.

"I could evacuate the air from the compartment and make them all pass out." Pen suggested and Stephan laughed.

"As tempting as that is, my friend, I shall have to ask you not to. They are mostly worthless, but I want to capitalize on what worth they do have." He said and Pen laughed as his boss went back to the passenger compartment to deal with the group of them.

After they landed and docked at Calabri, Pen and two of the housekeeping staff had a messy and unpleasant task cleaning up the back of the plane. Three of the passengers had thrown up before the plane landed, and it stank. When it was finished he wanted nothing more than a shower and his bed. He was sick and tired of people and he wanted some isolation. He walked along the beach on his way back just to let the air off of the water cleanse his sinuses and he looked up at her bungalow, not expecting any change. But he saw that one of the shutters was open and he paused, his head tilted to one side as he stopped, then he walked up the beach, getting closer and wondering why he even cared anymore. He peeked in through the open shutter and saw her lying on the lounger asleep. She was in just her skin and she looked haggard and beautiful at the same time. There was something about her in that light that made his heart ache and he looked at her for a long while. The moon cast beautiful shadows on her skin and he smiled a bit as his heart softened toward her once more. He remembered what was on the back of that brooch, and the good times they had had and he sighed as he thought about the new guests finding her like that.

He stepped inside and the smell of sweat and vomit hit him like a hammer. He sighed and found a blanket to cover her with, something light that was more for modesty than warmth, and he went up stairs to the bedroom. He was right on the money; the stink in the little bungalow was from this area. The sheets were tangled and damp and he realized that she had thrown up in bed at some point. He pulled all of the coverings off of the bed and carried them down to the housekeeping closet. He rang up the night time service attendant and got her to help him make the bed and air out the top floor. She got it all tidied up much faster than he could and he was grateful for her help. When she was gone he went down and looked at Candice again. She had kicked the cover down around her waist and she lay there in a pool of moonlight and for a moment she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her breasts were proudly up-thrust and capped with tiny, dark nipples. Her neck was turned so he could see just how long it was and the graceful arch of her throat held a small pool of shadow. He saw one arm laying at her side and her palm was up, something small cupped in her hand. He bent down to remove it so it wouldn't be lost and saw the small blue pearl and froze.

She had kept it, she had gone to it for comfort in her distress and his heart ached to see it. He gently removed it from her hand and dropped it in his pocket then picked her up, blanket and all and she whimpered and turned to cling to him in her sleep. He carried her up to the bed and laid her in the clean, fresh sheets. As he went to move away she shifted in the bed and a sigh escaped her.

"Pen..." The word was barely more than a whisper, but in the silence of the room it might have echoed. "Sorry... so sorry..." She said and he smiled and stroked her hair with one hand as he let all of his anger and feelings of betrayal go. She had been hurting and he had been a convenient target.

He moved away from the bed and put her pearl on the tabletop carefully. He stripped off his shirt and went in to her bathroom and saw an entirely new tragedy. The little red dress had looked sexy on her, and the lingerie had been something he had hoped to see again in much better circumstances. He gathered them up and placed them in a trash bag and tied it off, hiding the sadness that was the garments from sight. He rinsed in the shower and dried off before he went and climbed into the bed with her, feeling her curl in against him automatically. He was exhausted, but he lay awake for a long time just holding her, stroking her hair and her back, holding her close and feeling how frail and cold she was.

————18————

Candice woke at some point in the early hours of the day to throbbing club music playing outside and winced at the effect it was having on her head. Her mouth tasted foul and she still felt like she had been hit by a truck. She closed her eyes against the invasive daylight and curled in against Pen, hiding her face. It took her much longer than it should have to realize that he was in her bed and her eyes snapped open. Pain lanced through her skull at the act, but she ignored it and looked up at his sleeping face. She was back in her bed and it was cleaned and fresh, the room smelled of the sea and the trees instead of her rank sweat and sour vomit. He had taken care of her even though she didn't really deserve his attention and that made her smile and relax for the first time in days. She closed her eyes to mercifully block out the light and pressed her forehead to his chest and in moments she was asleep again.

————19————

When she woke again, she was alone in the bed and she reached for him, hoping that he had just moved away. The place where he had been was still warm and she gripped the sheets as she looked around. He stepped out of the bathroom and she saw him and smiled sheepishly. He paused when he saw her and then moved to the table by the door and returned with a huge glass of a faintly red liquid.

"Here, drink this. It's electrolytes for the hangover I'm sure you still have."

She smiled gratefully and tried to speak, but her mouth, somehow dry and slimy at the same time, let out nothing but a croak. She coughed and took the drink, sipping at it gingerly to ease into something non-alcoholic. As she drank he went back to the table and came back with a tray and set it across his lap. It had little pieces of fruit and berries and a little plate of eggs and potatoes. It smelled like heaven and she sipped at the drink and took small bites and her body eventually forgave her for trying to kill it with expensive vodka. When she had finished all of the food and managed to keep it all down she relaxed against him and sipped at the drink. Finally she was able to speak and she couldn't look at him as she said what she needed to.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you. It was purposely hurtful and you didn't deserve it." The admission hurt far more than she had thought it would and she felt tears on her cheeks as she finished. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"Apology accepted, but you didn't need to. You were kind of right, I was just seeing you as a conquest and that wasn't right of me. So I need to apologize too, for taking advantage of you when you were vulnerable." He said softly and she shrugged.

"It was a mutual thing, Pen. I don't really hold it against you." She admitted and they just relaxed and held one another there. After a moment she stiffened and cast about in the bed. Her hands slipped across the covers almost frantically and he shifted as she let him go and sat up, looking around for something that she couldn't find.

"What is it?" He asked as she stood and pulled the blankets back, her eyes wide in near panic.

"The pearl... I had the pearl when I fell asleep but it's gone. I don't want to lose it." She said in a quiet voice.

"It's on the dresser." He said and she turned and saw it and sat down with a relieved sigh. The fact that she clearly treasured the item warmed his heart a little.

She sighed as she glanced at the door and the steady 'WUB-WUB' of club music that was coming from outside and she groaned. She somehow doubted that the elderly guests were listening to this garbage and the idea that she was sharing the island with more people now daunted her considerably. She had wanted isolation and privacy, and the more she thought about being around people the less she liked it.

"So how many new guests are there?" She asked.

"Eight or ten." He said with a shrug. "A new couple came in a few days ago, but they're quiet. You're probably hearing the eight celebutantes that came in last night with Stephan, the owner. They're just here for a few days as publicity for the resort."

She groaned at that and flopped back on the bed, but immediately regretted it. She groaned and held her head with both hands as pain lanced through her once more and dizziness made her close her eyes tightly against rising nausea. He massaged her scalp and the pain and nausea retreated and she smiled in pleasure at the feeling. When she was feeling better she opened her eyes and looked up at him. He was leaning over her, his face calm and relaxed and she reached up and touched his cheek, bringing his gaze to hers. She gently pulled him down and he went, the two sharing an upside-down kiss there in the soft bed with the muted sounds of annoying music in the background. They had both found something they needed that morning and they were at peace, at least for the moment.

After a long while of soft touches and relaxing together, kisses and cuddling Candice sighed and glanced at the door. The awful music hadn't stopped or changed since she woke up and it was wearing thin. Thankfully she had some distance from the source, but it was still invasive and annoying and it was ruining the mood of the moment. She sighed and sat up, glanced at the door again and then looked at Pen.

"Breakfast?" She asked and he glanced at the clock.

"More like a late lunch at this point." He said.

"Semantics." She retorted and he laughed a bit.

"I'm always up for some antics, but sure, I could eat." He said as he sat up, earning him a laugh from her as she stretched.

He admired the lines of her body as she moved, sleek and strong before she stood to pad to the bathroom, the pressure on her bladder suddenly acute after her movement. He heard her flush and then she moaned in loss and he poked his head in to see her looking in the bag at her ruined clothes.

"I loved that dress." She said with a guilty tone. "The price we pay for self-loathing I suppose."

"You could have it laundered." He suggested but she shook her head.

"No, it's ruined. I accept that, it was my fault. But I wish I had gotten more out of that lingerie than I did."

She felt the pressure and warmth that predated tears in her eyes and his arm slid around her comfortingly. She leaned into him for support and let a few tears flow, thankful for his support and the relief of tears, but she didn't let it go on too long. She was through with self pity for a while. It was time to be strong, and she wasn't going to let herself suffer any more. She had a life and it was time to live it. They had a rinse in her shower together and then dressed. She pulled on a bikini, top and bottoms, then a loose skirt and a sun wrap, her sunglasses and a pair of sandals and they walked over to the staff apartments on the south side of the island. This wasn't part of the resort, but it was still fairly well appointed. Stephan believed in taking care of his staff and it showed in a beautifully built set of townhouses and a low set of apartments. There was a green courtyard and a playground at the far side. It was a self contained little community and she saw a few off-duty staff sitting at picnic tables or on benches relaxing.

Pen led her into the apartment building and past an exercise room, down a hall to his apartment and she waited as he went to get dressed in clean clothes. She was a little daunted by how little was in the apartment, just basic furniture and a few pictures, some personal items and a basket of laundry. There was a laptop computer on a desk and a few pots and pans in the kitchenette. The staff could eat at the resort when it wasn't busy, and there was a cafeteria for them the rest of the time, but many still preferred to prepare their own meals. As she was looking around, he came out of his bedroom with clean pants and a plain shirt on, and he held something out to her. When she saw the flash of the gemstones and the gleam of the silver she hesitated.

"I thought that was gone forever." She said in a low voice before she took it from him, the brooch was heavy in her hands and she felt a mixture of anger and sadness as she turned it over and looked at the inscription on the back. "To my lovely wife Candice on this our fifth wedding anniversary. A symbol of my love for you, and a promise that nothing and no one will ever come between us." She read before she fell to silence. "The greatest lie he ever told me. And I believed every word of it. We even renewed our vows that day. I was so happy..." She sighed and let her hand drop.

"I found it on the beach the day of the storm, after we..." He started and she nodded, smiling at the memory.

"After we had the best sex I've ever had in my life." She interrupted and he snorted. "What? It was! You're much... better than Gavin ever was and other than a few college boyfriends he was the only one I've ever been with. Hell, for more than ten years he was my only lover. You were a real shock, and I loved it." She stepped in close and kissed him deeply. As they parted he licked his lips, his hand at her waist and she smiled as she glanced at the brooch again.

"The day of the storm I had just gotten the first call from his lawyer about those damn rings. I was angry and self-destructive and I wanted to throw this into the ocean, but I was crying too hard to see anything. And then there you were and I had something else to think about. I lost track of where this was, and I thought I had managed to toss it, and then I thought maybe I dropped it and it got washed out to sea or picked up and kept. And honestly I didn't care which it was, I was just glad to be rid of it." She said as she looked at it again. There was a pang of pain and she set it aside on his counter as she turned to the door.

"You can keep it, sell it or give it away... I don't want it anymore." She said and he glanced from it to her.

"Do you really want to see it go forever?" He asked as they left the room.

"I don't care anymore." She said, and then curiosity got the better of her. "Why?"

"Book a catamaran tour sometime in the next few days." He said. "You'll see."

She nodded and she knew that curiosity would make her wonder until it was satisfied. They walked out of the apartments and across the space to the resort and as they got closer to the pool the music, if it could be called that, got louder and soon they could hear laughter and splashing and the sounds of people enjoying what they were doing. As they stepped into the central area they saw the group of eight new guests all monopolizing the pool while the cluster of older guests stood and looked on in disapproval. The idyllic atmosphere of the place had been shattered and while this group of younger people was there it could not return. Staff were waiting on the group and trying to get them to at least turn the music down, but repeated threats from the guests had forced them to give up for the moment. As Candice and Pen passed by a familiar voice called out and she felt a crawl of dread up her spine.

"Holy... Candice MacLeod? Is that really you?" A woman said and three heads turned her way.

Pen glanced that way and saw private snickers being passed around; the word of who she was and what had happened to her was being made common knowledge. Candice turned and smiled icily at the group.

"Hello Kennedy. How have you been?" She asked in a flat tone that plainly said she didn't care and didn't want to talk. But Kennedy ignored it if she understood it at all and kept approaching. She was a petite blonde with enough plastic surgery to make her look flawless that it was clearly fake.

"Wow. We all thought you ran back to Podunk Idaho after..." She started but Candice interrupted her bluntly.

"It was Podunk Ontario, you bleach blonde little dipshit." Candice said in a cutting tone and Kennedy looked amused and insulted at the same time.

"Me-OWWWW, apparently Mrs. MacLeod took being dumped fairly hard." She said, sniping back at Candice and Candice wasn't going to just take it.

"It's Miss Markham now, I wasn't going to keep his name after he, as you so succinctly put it, dumped me. He took a lot from me; I wasn't going to take anything from him." She said and started to turn away, the conversation clearly over to her, but Kennedy wasn't about to let anyone else have the last word in any conversation.

"Awww, is someone upset that she wasn't fertile enough for her man?" Kennedy asked in a falsetto baby-girl voice and Candice paused and then turned and strode back toward her, anger clear on her face. Everyone there, Pen included, thought she was going to knock the girl's head off, but Candice stopped close to her without raising a hand and Kennedy fell silent, her big eyes wide and her huge fake breasts pressed back by the other woman standing so close.

"Then perhaps you should keep a closer eye on Damon and Mindy. I would hate to see you in the same situation I am in when she decides to admit who the father of her child really is. I mean, when he comes out with dark hair and blue eyes like his father instead of blonde hair and green eyes like he's supposed to have it could look fairly embarrassing to anyone who wasn't smart enough to see it coming." She bit the words off like a mouthful of venom and Kennedy looked like she had been punched as Candice turned and started back toward Pen and their late meal.

"Wow" said one of the men. "Someone's ragging it today." This drew a chuckle from his friends and Candice ignored him, but he wasn't finished. "I guess you needed a good lay from the servants after your little split, huh Candice? I mean, really, sleeping with the help... what will people think?" This drew laughter from the others there and Candice stiffened but kept walking.

"Hey man, how's it feel to be her dick in a box?" Followed them and Pen sighed but kept walking.

"It's a human vibrator." Came another comment and one of the women snorted.

"She could have done better with a real one. At least that would be clean." They all laughed and Pen slowed, but Candice drew him on.