“Meeting adjourned!” Simon yelled as he got up from his seat and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. He repeatedly checked to see if Titan had left a message or if a call had been missed. He looked through the notifications, but his best friend hadn’t left any.

“Hey, Simon,” Mr. Altman, one of the board members, approached him, tapping Simon’s arm.

Simon looked at him while trying to keep himself calm despite the reservations he may have for Titan’s current situation. “Yes, Mr. Altman?”

“What’s going on with Mr. Sandoval? Isn’t he supposed to be here discussing with us this project with us? Lately, he seemed to be disinterested in fulfilling his promises with the governor, or is he?”

Simon shook his head in response. “No, I mean, it’s his priority. That’s for sure. It’s just that, uh,” he paused as he tried to find reasonable excuses, “he has an emergency.”

“Emergency situations probably didn’t arise as regularly as he does with his absences,” Mr. Altman replied nonchalantly and clucked. His eyebrows furrowed as he continued staring at Simon. “Is there something going on underneath the table that we don’t know about?”

Simon shook his head once more. “Nothing, it’s just he has a lot going on in his personal life right now,” he paused and gulped, “And I don’t think it would be your business as well. Or, is it?”

Mr. Altman let out a chuckle. “Sure, just remind him that he still has a lot to do here. I just want to make sure that he’s present in our meetings as much as possible. The governor wanted him to finish this Art Gallery as soon as possible. The faster, the better.”

“Yes, I’ll make sure Mr. Sandoval will know that.”

“You have to make sure he’s going to do that. Otherwise, we’ve got a problem. Alright, gotta go,” Mr. Altman said as he turned his back, exiting the room. But, he suddenly raised his arm, pointing his index finger up, as he turned to Simon once more. “By the way, the governor wants to meet him anytime soon. So, you better make arrangements with that.”

“Why?”

Mr. Altman sighed as he tucked his hand into his pocket. “Well, he simply just wants to see him and talk about his plans about the project personally, I guess. However,” he paused and pressed his palm on Simon’s shoulder and his eyes widened as he pulled his face up to look at Simon’s eyes. “If he’s not going, I think you should be the one who should be leading this and not him.”

Simon winced and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

Mr. Altman nodded and smiled in response as he turned his back and exited the room.

When he was finally alone, he tried to call Titan once more just to make sure. However, there was no answer. “The number you dialed is out of reach,” the voice operator said.

Simon thought that his best friend might have been in danger as he was giving up. His legs grew weaker as a result of thinking about that. On the other side, he pondered what Mr. Altman had told him moments ago.

As a friend, he didn’t want Titan to experience the same thing that did when they were younger. He couldn’t afford for him to go through that once more.

Simon began to go back to the first time he saw Titan change into a cat ten years prior as soon as he sat in his swivel chair. He leaned against the leather surface and pressed his index finger on his temple, reliving the old memories with his good, old friend.

Ten years ago, Titan was getting ready to take over the company under his father’s supervision as they both entered young adulthood. Simon, though, was occupied assisting his family’s art exhibition.

Right up until the night of the event, everything was going smoothly. The $500 million racetrack was built under the supervision of The Sandoval Group.

Titan understood that he would have to drive and compete against other racers for the purpose of representation. He considered it a dream come true to be allowed to operate a race car on a legitimate race track.

As the car pulled into the parking lot, Titan wanted to test it out. He was so eager to get behind the wheel of the car. Unfortunately, there was a lot of rain that night. In the midst of the race, he pressed on the pedal because he was so competitive, and the automobile sped up so much that he lost control and hit the post.

The young Simon jumped up from his seat in a panic, his eyes widening, and he hurried to the racetrack to see his friend sobbing. He noticed Titan unconscious as he walked up to the wrecked car.

Agitated, he went closer and tried to shake him a bit. “Titan,” he whispered, hoping Titan would answer him. But there was no response. “Shit, this isn’t good,” he sputtered as he pulled away to grab his phone and called for an emergency.

But then, Titan’s body was suddenly glowing so bright that he winced. When he dropped his arm to check on his friend, he saw Titan’s clothes falling on the surface and his body was nowhere to be found.

“Fuck, Titan!” he kept screaming as he walked around the car and the venue where they were, looking for him.

Giving up, he cried and fell to his knees, facing up the dark and rainy skies. He screamed for feeling responsible for Titan’s fate. The raindrops met his tears as they crawled to dampen his face. “Where the fuck are you, Titan?”

Then, something caught his attention. When he flicked his head in the car’s direction, he saw the cat hopping off the seat where Titan was sitting before.

“Meow.” The cat hopped off the wrecked car and walked in his direction.

That made Simon suddenly confused, but he still let out a smile as the cat got closer to him. “Hey,” he paused to grab the cat and grunted as he stood up and hugged him to protect it from the rain. “Why are you here? What are you doing here? Where’s your owner?” he asked in a high tone.

The cat pulled its face up and looked at Simon’s eyes. “Meow.”

It was then Simon realized that he was looking at the same sunset-colored eyes as Titan’s. He was so shocked that he almost dropped the cat. His body was stiff and couldn’t move an inch. His eyes widened, and his jaws dropped.

“Fuck! Titan? Is that you?” he sputtered, stuttering.

“Meow,” the cat replied.

When he was done remembering those events, Simon was still trying to reach Titan one more time, hoping he would answer his phone call despite his reservations. “Come on, Titan, please answer it,” he whispered, gritting his teeth and clucking.

Simon couldn’t help but worry for Titan even if he refused to talk about what happened that night. Despite his concern, having Stephanie on board was a fantastic addition to the squad, he thought.

She was only an intern, though, and knows nothing about Titan’s past other than what she could learn from the news. He couldn’t rely at all on what she could accomplish for Titan because she has only been employed by The Sandoval Group for a month.

As hard as he tried to brush the thought aside, it was what his instinct was telling him. Simon was certain that something had recently occurred, and Titan would not provide any further details.

He knew in his heart that Titan needed Stephanie’s assistance to uncover the solutions that would enable them to understand the situation and set his closest friend free from the curse. The question is, where and how do we begin?

Simon pressed to end the call as he removed his phone from his ear. He wanted to give up on trying to get in touch with him. Knowing Titan, he knew that no matter how much he tried to get him to spill everything, he wouldn’t speak a single word. Maybe he was keeping his distance to calm his mind.

His phone rang just as he was going to put it in his pocket and start walking. He pulled out his phone once more and glanced at the screen, assuming it was Titan. But then, he received a call from Helga.

Before he answered it, he closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh as he pulled his face up in confidence. “Hi, Helga. What’s up?” he uttered and sighed once more, flicking his head down while feeling a little bit uneasy and distraught. “Sure, we can meet tomorrow at Serendipity.”

Simon stood, put his hand in his pocket, and stared off into the distance as he continued to listen to Helga on the other end of the line.