Dash of Spice
Chapter One- Arrival
Cleo was sat at the table eating breakfast and poring over some papers when her dad called to tell her the news.
"What! Really? Please tell me you aren't joking right now."
"No it's all true. Xander is coming back to town and he needs help settling back in. I can't really help him now that the fishing season is starting up. I was wondering if you-"
Cleo jumped at the chance. "Yep definitely! I'd love to help Xander. I haven't seen him since we were ten. It's been so long."
"Thanks Cleo. I've got to get back to work now but make sure to tell him I said hi."
Cleo ended the call and placed her phone on the table as she unconsciously bit her lip.
It really had been years since the two had even spoken to each other but this would be a great opportunity to catch up. He had missed so much, all the stuff about Mako, Emma leaving, Bella and Will coming, graduation. But then she realised she couldn't tell him everything. This was just going to be another person she loved that she couldn't be honest with.
She slouched back into her chair with a groan. That really put a damper on things.
Cleo jumped up with realisation.
If she didn't leave now Xander would have to stand at the airport by himself waiting for her! She grabbed some of her stuff and picked up her phone to dial a taxi. She hoped against hope that he wasn't left waiting long.
She arrived at the airport shortly after Xander's plane landed. Her dad had texted her his flight details and his arrival gate was all the way on the opposite side off the airport. Cleo ended up running to get there, almost getting lost once. By the time she got to the gate she was out of breath and disoriented. Seeing this, someone came over to her and helped her sit down.
"Miss I think whoever you're here for can appreciate you taking a moment to rest. I know I wouldn't want you to burn yourself out."
"Oh thank you… I just… need to catch my breath." She gasped out.
She looked up to see who was helping her and was stunned at how handsome the person was.
He was really tall above six feet at least and he had chocolate brown skin. His hair was held off of his face by a turquoise bandana and it poofed out behind it. He had a heart shaped face and a strong jawline. His eyes were a shining amber gold and they were framed by a pair of wire frame circular glasses. He had cream sweater on with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing a bit of a tattoo sleeve. He had a black hoodie wrapped around his waist over a pair of ripped black jeans that had some paint splatters on them.
Something clicked and Cleo jumped up to hug him.
"Xander. Oh my god I can't believe it!"
He hugged back realising who it was almost instantly.
"Cleo! It's been forever! How have you been? We've got so much to catch up on."
As Cleo pulled away she noticed the chain around his neck. A blue gemstone was encircled in a ring of metal and hung from a bronze chain. It was exactly like her moonpool crystal that she and other girls had. It made her pause and Xander noticed this.
"Are you okay. If you need another minute we can head to that Café over there." He motioned to the establishment behind him.
"No everything's fine, let's grab your stuff and get you home. We're going to fix up your place for you whilst you stay at the hotel." She said grabbing one of his suitcases and pulling it along with her.
"And who's 'we' ?" Xander cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh just me and the girls, and Will. He's really good at woodwork so he's going to really help add some nice furniture to the place."
Xander tripped upon hearing Will's name. No way, it couldn't be the same two people.
"Are you okay?"
Xander brushed it off. "It's nothing, crack in the floor or something."
They ended up dropping off Xander's stuff in his hotel room and touring the town. They spent some time in the mall window shopping and then they headed to the beach, leaving their new stuff at Cleo's house on the way. On the beach Cleo filled Xander in on what he missed and on what was new.
"So Rikki, the new best friend, has a café named after her where the JuiceNet used to be and Bella, other new best friend, plays in a band there? I got that right, right?"
"Yep, Lewis is also away in America, a big marine biology lab snapped him up."
"Aww. Are you okay? You two were always destined to be a couple. Lewis just couldn't get enough of you when we were kids. It was a bit annoying."
Cleo blushed. " Oh come off it. It's not like he was attached to me. And I'm fine, we're fine. He calls and we visit from time to time."
"So." Xander changed the subject. " When am I going to meet these new friends of yours?"
"We're all meeting up for lunch at Rikki's later. You on the other hand need to get some rest."
Xander shook his head. " No need. You get used to jetlag when you're in the air every three months. But I think I need to freshen up." He gave his sweater a sniff and screwed up his face. " Flying ten hours straight is not a good look on me." They laughed as they walked off the beach.
Later that day Cleo, Rikki, Bella and Will were sitting in a booth in a niche corner of the Café. After their graduation Rikki's went under new management when Zane left to pursue a business course in college, he left full business ownership to Rikki but she quickly hired a new manager and stepped down from a commanding role, contenting herself with only weekly check-ins on how things were running. That was why they were currently sipping on free smoothies as Cleo told them about Xander's necklace.
"Are you sure it was one of the moon crystals?" Rikki shot Cleo an uncertain look.
"I'm absolutely certain of it. He has it made differently but it is definitely a moon crystal. He didn't have one when we were kids but he has one now."
Bella instantly connected the dots. "You think he's one of us. A mer...man?"
Cleo gave her a unsure shrug. "It's the only explanation I have"
Rikki sighed. "We'll never catch a break will we?"
They burst out in laughter at that and Xander was greeted by this sight as he walked through the bead curtain of the Café.
Cleo jumped out of her seat to half lead, half dragged Xander towards their booth. They paused in front of the table and Cleo started introductions.
"Guys, this is Xander. Xander meet Rikki, Bella and Will."
Xander reached around and shook all of their hands. He faltered when his hand came to Will's but Will reached forward to shake his with a grin on his face, not missing a beat.
He leaned back into his seat and ushered Xander to take one in the booth. "How are you feeling. It's definitely a lot warmer than London isn't it?"
They all laughed.
"It definitely is. When I left it was absolutely Baltic. There was actual snow falling. Coming to this was like waking up."
Rikki held up her hand in disbelief. "It was snowing?! In March?!"
Xander nodded. "One thing I've learned from Britain is to never try to understand the weather. It's that shifty and unreliable."
"It sounds like a pain in the arse if you ask me."
Xander shrugged and smiled. "It at least gives me a honest reason for not leaving the house."
Bella perked up at that. This might be the proof they needed. "What do you mean by that?"
Xander turned to her. "I'm a freelance artist and I work as a graphic designer. I work mostly digitally and that doesn't really require you to go outside for a lot."
He took out his phone and tapped his way to a piece he had made. He turned his phone towards them so they could see it.
It was a beautifully detailed piece of a frozen apocalyptic city. There were overturned cars and frozen flowers and people. It was very beautiful, yet haunting.
"I drew that one the day I got on the plane out of London. It took me five hours. I had time to waste waiting for my flight."
Will smiled. "That is really good! "
"It has to be or else people would stop paying me! I do online commissions and giveaways,I have a surprisingly decent following."
"Do you only work digitally?"
"I do some inks and watercolours as well. What about you?"
"I only do charcoal sketches, nothing too big."
Xander hesitated. "Maybe I can see them sometime?"
"Yeah definitely we'll have loads of time since we're helping you refurbish your old place."
They stopped talking for a while to order more drinks and food. Now that Xander had arrived they could eat!
They were surprised when he ordered the spiciest drumsticks on the menu. And to the girls amazement he challenged Will to a contest of who could eat the most without drinking anything and, he agreed.
That's how they ended up watching two guys trying to prove how manly they were with swollen lips and sweat dripping off of them. Not the most pleasing sight.
Xander grinned with sauce-smeared lips.
"You're about to crack, I can tell~."
Will shook his head. "No way I'm losing after I suffered an hour of this."
Xander feined surprise. " An hour? Really? I barely noticed."
Rikki became exasperated. "Ahgh, just kiss already!"
Xander immediately started blushing and downed another drumstick to hide his embarrassment. Will stretched his hand to do the same but the numbing heat got to him and he instead grabbed the glass of milk waiting for him to relieve the pain.
The crowd that had gathered around them cheered as Xander stood up to attempt a feeble victory dance before collapsing back into his seat and gulping down his glass of milk.
Cleo was laughing as her cousin proceeded to grab another glass of milk.
"Why do you still do this Xander? I thought you'd stop doing that after you got first degree burns on your lips."
"Because… it's the only… straight thing… I'm good at!" He managed to gasp out.
Cleo was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't I tell you? I'm gay."
Cleo was definitely surprised none of this had been told to her.
"Wow… good for you, I guess?"
Xander gave her a look.
"Don't do that straight thing where you get all awkward about it. I just like guys like you do. We actually have a lot more in common now."
Cleo gave him a bewildered look and and he laughed it off. Time to talk business
"So about refurbishing my old house."
They worked out a weekly schedule of when they could get together to fix up the house that worked with everyone's schedules. Rikki still had her online college course to do, Bella had to be at the café for band rehearsals and other gigs around town, Cleo had to be at the marine park in a nine to five job.
It seemed like Will was the only one perpetually available thanks to his new flexible training regimen. Apparently he was a freediver but know he worked for the marine park with their dolphin training and he got to decide lesson timings. Xander got fidgety at that but tried to not let show it, but someone still noticed.
As they were all on their way off Rikki pulled Xander aside to a secluded corner of the café.
"I'm going to be completely honest with you. I don't really trust you. All of sudden you decide to come back to Australia after all that recently happened on Mako, with a moon crystal around your neck. That's a little too suspect if you ask me. And now you're getting all fidgety around Will." She narrowed her gaze. " If you're here to cause trouble or attack any of us I won't hesitate to strike you down where stand. Capisce?"
Xander nodded, clearly shaken by what Rikki had said.
"So, what colour is it?"
"What colour is what?" Xander was too nervous to think coherently.
"Your tail idiot. You are a merman, right.?"
Xander nodded hastily. "It's turquoise."
"Cool." He stood there bewildered. "Well go on! Get lost then. And tell Cleo soon. I don't want you messing with her emotions."
Xander hastily nodded and shuffled around Rikki to hurry away.
That was too freaky how she figured him out. He could tell the girls were Mers as soon as he felt the moon tug-feeling come from them. But Rikki seemed to have it too. He hurried away from the café towards his hotel contemplating how to tell Cleo in the morning.