Lights were shining from the front windows of Kendall's condo as Zach and Kendall approached with their luggage. They exchanged a brief glance underneath the lamppost; neither of them believing that she had left the lights on since before they left for Vegas. Kendall silently unlocked the door and held it open for Zach. They closed the door behind them and stood in the dark room for a moment before Zach spoke.
"Well… the way I see it, we have three choices. We can ignore the lights and deal with whomever is over there tomorrow… we can go over there and confront the person," he paused before finishing, "…or we can call the police and report an intruder. Which would you prefer?"
Kendall smiled, "Calling the police definitely sounds like the most fun… but I'd rather know who it is before we do that. Let's put our things away and have some dinner before we decide."
"That works for me. My housekeeper should have stocked up on the basics so I'm sure we can make some salads or sandwiches… I doubt if there's anything better than a cold supper, though," he answered as he carried their luggage to the bedroom at the rear of the condo.
"That's fine with me," she said. "I'll see what I can put together. Do you want a beer if we have any?"
"I'm pretty sure I had some before we left. Check the bottom right crisper drawer," he answered.
"The crisper? That's where you keep your beer?" she asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.
He called down the short hallway, "Stays colder that way." As he re-entered the main room she handed him an opened beer and he noticed she had another on the counter for herself.
She asked, "Aren't you going to check your messages?"
"No point. I've been getting them daily since we left. Haven't you?" he said with surprise.
"No, I haven't. Somehow I couldn't imagine wanting to listen to a bunch of people begging me not to marry you while on my honeymoon… so I just ignored everything," she answered with a smile.
They spent a few minutes making a simple dinner together, working side-by-side without needing to talk. Zach had turned the stereo to a classical station and it was a very pleasant and domestic interlude… until Zach noticed someone trying to peer through the window. He charged over to the door and opened it just as the door to Kendall's condo closed with a loud click.
"Hmm… do you think our decision has been made for us?" he asked Kendall as she came to stand beside him in the open doorway.
"I'm voting for confrontation… but bring your cell phone. I reserve the right to call the police once I see who's in there," she answered harshly.
He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and replied, "Give me your keys." Without a word she pulled them from her purse and handed them to him, and followed as he walked across the courtyard and slipped the key into the lock. However, before he could touch the handle it was opened from the inside.
Simone Torres smiled sweetly, "Zach! How wonderful to see you! And Kendall… we thought you'd fallen off the face of the earth! It's about time you got home!"
"Simone!" Kendall said with surprise. Of all the people she might have expected to be hiding out in her condo while she was out of town, she was not even on the list. "What are you doing in my condo?"
"Why house sitting for you, of course," she answered as if Kendall should already know the answer.
"And who told you Kendall needed a house sitter?" Zach asked quickly.
Simone looked surprised at the question and directed her answer toward Kendall, "Well… when Ethan said you were out of town on business… I offered to keep an eye on the place. It's a great address… and my dates seem to prefer picking me up here instead of at Fusion. Greenlee likes that better, too, come to think of it."
"Why were you spying in Zach's window… and why didn't you just knock on the door when you saw me with him?" Kendall asked, getting more irritated by the minute.
"Well… okay… you got me. Ethan said that I should call him if I saw anyone in Zach's condo. Yesterday the cleaning lady came and he was a little upset at me for bothering him about it, so I wanted to make sure who it was before calling this time," she answered. "I was surprised to see you in there, Kendall, but… well… Ethan is my boss."
"For the moment," Kendall replied. "How do you think your new boss will feel about your spying when he wins Cambias from Ethan in court?"
"Wait a minute! Ethan said Zach had dropped the suit…" Simone's voice trailed off as she noticed the diamonds on Kendall's left hand. Before Zach or Kendall knew what she was doing, Simone tugged at Kendall's hand and pulled it into the light, "These are wedding rings! So Marian was right…"
"Of course she was! Her husband was at the wedding," Kendall snapped as she pulled her hand from Simone's. "What's been going on here? I feel like I've entered the Twilight Zone."
Zach stood silently watching Simone, making her uncomfortable by his silence. She turned to Kendall and addressed her comments to the other woman, "Okay… this is weird… remember the night of Edmund's award ceremony?" Kendall nodded before Simone continued, "You disappeared with Zach and Greenlee followed you. After a while she and Ryan had to leave and she asked me to keep an eye out for when you left… but I never saw you leave… and neither did anyone else."
"We didn't leave until the next afternoon," Kendall answered simply.
"Okay… well no one seemed to know where you were… you just didn't show up at Fusion and nobody called. Your mother was calling all over town, but nobody knew anything. Then Ethan showed up at the end of the day… saying you'd gone out of town on business," Simone explained.
"And when did you… um… hear that I had dropped my suit to take over Cambias?" Zach asked when Simone paused.
"Same time… he said you two had talked and worked things out. You were dropping the suit, closing the casinos and leaving town in exchange for a piece of Cambias," Simone answered him. "That's when I offered to house sit… or Ethan suggested it and I agreed."
Kendall and Zach exchanged looks before Kendall replied to Simone, "Ethan lied to you. Zach and I have been in Las Vegas on our honeymoon… we just returned. Have you called to tell him yet?"
"No… yeah… well, I started to call when I saw the lights go on, but I hung up the phone before he answered. My guess is he's on his way over," she answered.
"I'm here now," Ethan said from behind them as Zach and Kendall turned to face him.
Kendall held out her hand, "I want the keys… right now… and you, too, Simone."
Neither Simone nor Ethan moved and Zach said low and menacingly, "You heard the lady… hand over the keys to her condo… NOW."
Without another word, Simone turned to retrieve the keys from inside the condo and Ethan pulled a key out of his pocket and placed it in Kendall's hand. He then said to her, "Kendall… I'd like a word."
"Well, maybe I wouldn't," she said sarcastically. "I hear you've been running around town making up stories again."
"That was just damage control… tomorrow morning you're going to wake up and realize what a colossal mistake you made in marrying Zach… this business trip is the perfect out for you to save face. All you have to say is that you were on a business trip and it happened to coincide with Zach's trip out of town. No one will ever be the wiser and you won't look the fool for marrying my father," Ethan said in a pleading voice.
Zach glowered at Ethan, but said nothing as he placed his hand gently against the back of Kendall's neck. It would be her decision where they went from that moment forward… the fact that he felt like he'd just placed the biggest wager of his life without getting to see his cards was beside the point. He looked at Kendall as she turned her head and his eyes softened imperceptibly, but enough for her to feel at ease.
"Unless you watch the news," Kendall then stepped closer to Zach and heaved a sigh. "Ethan… you never hear anything I say, do you? I told you that night at Edmund's award ceremony to go away and leave me alone. I meant it then, and I mean it now. This is yet another lie that will make you distrusted in this town… and show you for the fool that you are. Zach is my husband… and I… I married him because I love him. You yourself told me that it is never foolish to marry for love."
Before Ethan could respond she turned towards her condo and called to Simone, "You can stay here for the night but you have to leave tomorrow. Thanks for keeping an eye on things for me, Simone." She turned back towards Zach and wrapped her arm around his waist as he pulled her tightly against him before walking into his condo leaving Ethan standing in the middle of the courtyard looking dazed and confused.