The Billionaires Pastime

their bed was like waking up without having slept for days; there was no clarity whatsoever. It made it impossible for him to focus or concentrate. At first he tried going through her belongings that they left behind when she disappeared: clothe

her. Maybe there would be clues lying around somewhere? Yet Daniel found himself too afraid

ike me every morning when I come down and wake her up before school? Am I really supposed to take care of another person now? This is crazy! What kind of man lets

reminded him of her. The sounds of birds singing in the morning, the feel of sunrays on his body, the taste of salt water in his mouth – all those things re

natural sunlight. With the money he got from the settlement, he bought a secondhand Toyota Camry car to drive to the office every day. Now he wa

pushed her along the grocery aisle, picking out the items she needed for dinner. She seemed content w

?" he asked, turning aro

she understood ev

" he replied,

tion struck him. She didn

nexpected problem. Suddenly everything fell into place. She looked just like her mother. And the way she car

of just a few months. Her features had grown sharper and more defined, her eyes had gone from baby blues to sapphires, and her voice had become deeper. Not

She stared ahead silently, looking straight into space as though nothing had happened. Then her head snapped in

d. He held onto her tiny fingers tightly, feeling like an enormous weight had been lifted off of his shoulders just by being around her again after

ched in amazement while she began to eat the fruit right there in the parking lot. He couldn't believe that she actually knew how to use such a simple tool, much less recognize that the

n on the cover who seemed to be very happy with what was happening to her. He flipped through the pages, noticing some of the text written beneath the p

m – THE HOTTEST

ge of deserted areas near the shoreline – making sure not to get caught. Others had fun at pools and resorts, sometimes in view of other hotel guests. In some cases, a female model was used as a prop for other models to strip down and have t

e picked up a copy and showed it to her before placing it on top of his purchase. She looked back at

E MOST FASCINATING GI

to comprehend the reality of things. What if he wasn't crazy after all? Hadn't he seen Maya watching TV las

on the exact same day, living on the exact same street on the exact same planet

lanation for this, he told hi

ertop while putting away their groceries. When he finished, he took a deep breath and stepped

six years ago? Were they supposed to meet in New York City all those years ago so that she could grow up right next door? Or perhaps he simply made contact with her in the first place because of

eant to be born here. Perhaps God intended to

y contacting her mother in Florida and tell her what had happened? After all, he still loved her de

he managed to convince her that they could start over, he'd still have to face a major dilemma: whether he should marry Maya's mother and live wi

ould mean giving up on Maya entirely

staring at the car window in silence. Is

e. All that matters is that I love you, he reminded

ward to wipe the rest of the dirt of