Money Is No Match For Love ch. 28
by lordoftheringsfan
 

      Sheridan arrived at the mansion later that day and knocked at the door. Phyliss answered.
      "Hello, Miss Crane." Phyliss said.

      "Hi Phyliss, is Julian home?" Sheridan asked.

      "No," Phyliss said.

      "Do you know when he'll be back? There's something I need to talk to him about." Sheridan said.

      "No, he hasn't been home since last night." Phyliss said.

      "Last night?" Sheridan asked.

      "I overheard him talking to himself that he was going to see Rebecca," Phyliss said.

      "Gwen has been wondering where she went." Sheridan said.

      "Not me," Phyliss thought. Sheridan and Phyliss's conversation was interrupted by a grinning Antonio.

      "Is that my special lady?" Antonio asked, pulling Sheridan into a kiss, not seeming to acknowledge the fact that she was pushing him away.

      "What are you doing here?" Sheridan asked.

      "Oh, I just came by to give Theresa a little pep talk about her love life," Antonio said.

      "Antonio, you're going to be the one needing a pep talk about your love life," Sheridan thought in dread. "Julian, please come home now and save me!"
 

Simone laid awake on her torn matress that night. All she could think about was how her life was before she came here.

      "I know Whitney would never do something like try and steal my boyfriend," Simone remembered herself saying. Simone remembered telling her parents about her and Chad. "I'm not trying to sound selfish, but I'm glad that I finally have something that Whitney doesn't." Simone thought about Whitney and her tennis career. "She was only doing it to make daddy happy," Simone realized. It was hard to believe that her sister wasn't the strong, admirable person with integrity that she always thought she was. "I know Whitney didn't want to hurt me, but even though I would have been furious, I still wish Whitney and Chad would have been honest with me." Simone said outloud.

      "You're really not over this Chad guy," Max said. "Are you?"

      "It doesn't matter." Simone said. Max remembered the story that Simone had told him. Max listened as Simone went on and on about her tragic love life and realized that he was feeling something he'd never felt before.

      "Max, you've never felt sorry for anyone, why start now?" Max thought. Max remembered his own parents divorce when he was a kid and how broken up he had been about it. His parents had been respectable people, his father had been an excellent lawyer, until he began having affairs with his clients. He had ran away from home and the next thing he knew he was buying drugs because some tough teenage boys had taught him that they would solve all of his problems. "And it still will. It's the way of the streets, Max. Don't count on anyone and don't let anyone get too close." Max had learned that not to get close to anyone was the only way to avoid getting hurt. Max knew what Simone was going through.

      "I didn't even try to talk things through with Whitney and Chad, I just called them all a bunch of names. I called my mother a stranger, then I ran away and ended up here. All alone." Simone said. Max put an arm around her.

      "You're not alone," Max said. Everything around them faded into the background as their lips met.
 

      "Where do we start looking for Simone?" Luis asked.

      "There's always that alley Reese was talking about." Sam said.

      "I know Reese isn't always credible, but did he happen to say which street?" Luis asked.

      "No, all he said was that Simone was in an alley." Sam said.

      "Well, we're going to have to get him in for some questioning." Luis said. Luis dialed Reese's number.
 

      "I just hope that you're right about this," Eve said. "If Simone really is involved in some sort of drug ring, how do we get her out of there?"

      "We'll find a way." Sam said. After Charity's recent heart transplant, Sam knew how scared Eve was for Simone's safety.