With excitement, Simon walked over, but he was immediately blocked by two security men standing at the edge of the property.
"Hey, what are you doing? That's my sister right there!" Simon said.
The man beside Mandy gave her a questioning look, and she scoffed as she said loudly, "What? You don't really believe him, do you? I have never met this creep before in my life. Can you see how he looked? He is so disgusting. Just like one of those farm animals from the village."
"Mandy, what are you...?"
"See? He doesn't know me. You know my name is Bella, babe." Mandy said as she linked her arm with that of the man. "If he knew me, would he get my name wrong? I am sure he is one of those psychos preying on women," she said with a theatrical shudder. "Babe, I am so scared. What if he has been stalking me?!"
"You have been stalking my sugar candy? How dare you, you wretched fool? I will teach you a lesson today!" The man flicked back his long cashmere coat and made a signal to the three men standing close to the black Porsche in the parking lot.
The security men threw Simon further from the mall and the three men started hitting him.
"These stalkers are getting bolder these days. Can you believe it?!
"I say, they burn them all."
"My cousin's friend's sister was almost ruined the other day because of a stalker like this one. I say the police rid the city of them all once and for all."
The whispers and accusing looks of passersby got to Simon as he tried to defend himself against the hits and kicks.
The man's phone suddenly rang, and he gestured to his men that they should leave.
As he was turning away, he turned back to look at Simon, who was struggling to stand, and said, "Why did he look familiar?"
That word again. Simon was so sick of it. If he heard how he looked like somebody one more time, he was sure he would lose it.
"I am sure you must have seen some other village shit like him before. I am sure they all look alike," said Mandy as she followed him to the car.
"Yeah, I think you are right," said the man before entering the car.
Mandy turned to give Simon a warning glare before she entered too.
"Leave here now before we call the police!" one of the security men shouted at him.
Police?
Simon hurriedly left the place.
He didn't know why, but one of the things that his Ma dreaded hearing the most was the mention of the police.
Simon knew her condition would be even worse if she learnt that he couldn't get her daughter home, and he still ended up getting arrested.
Not that Simon fancied being thrown behind some bars too.
As he quickly walked away from the exclusive mall, he wondered what he was going to do.
It was going to get dark soon too, and he had not brought extra money for renting a room.
"At least, now that I know that she is here, maybe there can be a way to track her location," he thought.
An internet café!
The thought came to him like a revelation, and he immediately started looking for one.
Soon enough, he asked some teenagers and they pointed him towards a building.
He was walking towards it when someone bumped into him.
"Hey, watch where you are going, man." The lanky man snapped at him as he kept talking on the phone. "Phil, I am sorry, but I can't find him. I just left the address he gave now and..."
The man's eyes widened as he turned around just then and saw Simon, who had just picked his duffel bag off the floor.
"I will call you back," he said to the phone, and disconnected.
"Mr. Kane?" the man asked with confusion in his voice as he looked from Simon's duffel bag to his cheap clothes.
Simon looked behind him to be sure the man was talking to him.
"No, it's you. I mean, erm. Are you Mr. Kane?" the man asked urgently, and Simon looked back at him.
What was wrong with people thinking he looked like someone else?
"No, I don't... I think you got the wrong person," Simon said, and turned to leave.
The man smacked his fist against his palm as he said, "I thought as much. Mr. Kane will never be caught dead in whatever it is you have on there. Who are you even wearing?"
"Who?" Simon asked in confusion.
The man sighed and said, "You know what? Never mind. Now that I think of it, you look like someone from the countryside. Are you from the countryside?"
Expecting to be insulted again, Simon crossed his arms and said defiantly, "Yes, I am from a village. A farming village. I am a farmer."
"Oh, this is even worse than I thought," the man said, then shrugged and said, "Well, it doesn't matter now. You will be my replacement."
"Your replacement for what?" Simon asked. Still a bit surprised that he didn't get the regular insult, but then this particular man seemed to be crazy altogether.
The man held his hand to his head for a moment and breathed deeply before saying, "This is it. I need a replacement for my cast who went M.I.A. You are about the same size, height, and everything, plus you have the advantage of looking like Mr. Kane. I am sure the director will overlook the hillbilly look. It's just for today. You don't have to do much but show your face and say a few lines. The pay is two hundred dollars. So are you in?"
Two hundred dollars for just showing his face?! That was more than Simon had ever earned at once for himself. Even his labour work pays one hundred and fifty dollars per week, and he was about to earn two hundred dollars at once?
"Look, I..."
"Oh my God. I should have known that even you would be greedy for more. Okay, okay. I will double it. Four hundred dollars, you get dinner and a place to crash after we finish at night. That's my final offer. Are you taking it or not?" He asked impatiently, even though he knew he would go higher if that was all it took to save himself on location.
Four hundred dollars?! Simon couldn't believe it.
"Yes, but..."
"Okay, come on then. Chop, chop. If we get there too late, you can forget about any money or the other things I mentioned.
Simon quickly followed the man as he hurried away towards a spiffy Jeep parked some distance away.
He quickly thought of what he was doing and told himself it was a good deal all around.
Even if he could still find Mandy that day, there was no assurance that she would listen to him yet.
This way, he could make money, eat, and get a place to stay, then start afresh the next day.
As he entered the car beside the man, he raised his hand palm-up to him.
The latter looked down at his hand and said, "What? You want the money now? You've not even done anything yet."
"I want my pay upfront. If not, I am not going. You see, I think you need this urgently and, as you said, I am perfect for the role. If I back out now, you will have to look for someone else. Do you want to do that?"
The man glared at him and muttered while pulling out his wallet, "Greedy bastard."
He counted out four hundred dollars and gave it to Simon. "If you do not do a good job, I am taking that back," he snapped.
Simon smiled at him with the confidence he was not feeling as he said, "I always do a good job."
"As if," the man said with a snort as he started the car.
"I need your name," Simon said.
"For what?"
"In case you are a kidney harvester who wants to get mine," Simon said in a carefree tone.
"Yeah right. As if anyone wanted your kidney."
"You had be surprised," Simon said, then repeated. "So, your name, your position, where we are going?"
The man responded in resignation and then snapped, "Can we go now for heck's sake?!"
"Yes, sure." Simon said, then he pressed the phone like he was dialling a number and said, "Brother, are you at work? Chasing criminals and bringing down the bad guys? Anyway, I just want to let you know that a man just carried me now. Yes, yes, don't worry. I think he is a good guy. Well, if he is not, I know what you can do, of course. His name is James Ryers. Assistant to the extras casting director of the movie, Joy in the Morning. Yes, brother, I am about to be in a movie. We are going to the location now. If you call my number anytime, and you can't get me, you know how to get Ryers, right? Of course. Of course, I trust you. Bye for now, brother."
Ryers glared at him as he said, "Satisfied now?"
"I hope I will be," Simon said with a wiggle of his eyebrows, then he settled back against the plush seat.
He winced as his bruised ribs pulled at him, and he hoped he wouldn't have to do anything else on location that would cause him more pain.
Four hundred dollars just like that. Maybe coming to the city wasn't so bad after all.
He thought of how his Ma would be doing right now.
He had brought the only phone they had at home and there was no way he could have called her.
He just wished he wasn't making a mistake by taking some time away from his search to make money.