The next day, as Alex was attending to his duties, he heard the doorbell ring. He answered the door to find his best friend Marcus!
"Umm...excuse me...umm...my friend used to live here...I'm pretty sure I have the right address, his name is Alex. Do you know him?" Marcus asked nervously.
Of course! Marcus had been on vacation with his dad in Colorado for the past 3 weeks. The changes the Chronovic made to the town citizens hadn't affected him!
Alex wanted to scream for help, but as Simms, he said "I'm sorry, young sir, there is no Alex here. I think you might have the wrong address, as this family has lived here for over 50-"
"Simms, who's at the door?" Alex's mother asked, appearing behind him.
Marcus's eyes widened. He had recognized Alex's mom!
"Hi Mrs.-" he began, but Mom cut him off.
"Oh, hello Marcus! So good to see you! Please excuse Simms, he's new and isn't familiar with all the members of the family yet. Come in, come in!"
She led him past Alex into the foyer. Marcus stared in awe at the grand structures around him.
Sensing his confusion, Mom said gently "Bit of a shock, isn't it? Well, believe it or not we actually won the lottery! Millions of dollers! We're still in shock!"
"Believe me ma'am, so am I." Marcus said, shakely.
"Well, of course we put a lot of it into savings, college for Alex and all, but, in the end, there was so much more than we knew what to do with! So, we decided to upgrade our house and well...I guess we got a little carried away!" She said with a small giggle.
"No doubt." Marcus said. "So where is Alex?"
"Oh! Forgive me," Mom said quickly, "Where are my manners? Alex is out back by the pool. I'll take you to him. Simms?" She called back as she led Marcus into the house, "Take care of the bedrooms upstairs, they're a mess!"
Alex, of course, wanted to follow after them to prevent Mom from turning Marcus into a servent, but his legs brought him upstairs and his hands made the bed and his fingers worked the duster across the tables. All the while he was trying to fight this stupid monotiny of chores and go downstairs to find his friend.
Eventually, the bedrooms were clean after several hours, and Alex retired downstairs to await further instruction. He found Mom lounging about on the sofa. Marcus was nowhere in sight.
"Pardon me, Madam, but what might have happened to our young guest?" Simms said, Alex was surprised that Simms was actually asking what he himself wanted to know.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Simms." Mom said in a fake inquirey.
"I believe earlier this morning you led a young man out to the pool, Madam. I was simply wondering what became of his wareabouts." Simms said.
"Simms, no one's been to the pool except for Ethan." Mom said, smiling.
"Ethan, Madam?" Simms said. He was confused, but Alex's heart began to sink in dread.
"Oh honestly! You can't remember faces at all, can you?" Mom said. "I'll show you."
She led him out to the deck, where Alex found a young, twentysomething man in a small speedo using a rod to clean the pool. Tight, hard muscles rippled across his back and chest, and vains were very prominent on his sweaty, bulging arms. His hair was thick and wavy, his chin was square, strong, and defined, and his eyes sparkled seductively.
"How's it coming Ethan?" Mom asked sweetly?
Ethan looked up at her and smiled. "Rather well, thank you. Hello, Simms." before returning to his pool duties.
"See Simms?" Mom asked, "Now go back inside and finish your duties. I'll be checking on you later."
Simms bowed. "Right away Madam." and left, all the while Alex was practically crying as he knew that Marcus was no more.