Chapter 4: Racing Hearts and Denial

Rikki felt her heart pounding as her phone guided her to Zane's house. Over the past few hours she thought about texting him with some excuse as to why she couldn't come. Everything from something came up at work to her roommate didn't feel well. Something held her back. Maybe it was her feeling that she shouldn't leave a fellow mermaid to figure this new life out on her own or maybe there was some deep desire to see Zane. Either way, it was too late. She couldn't turn back now.

As Rikki drove down his street, she admired the nice homes and smiled at the familiarity. Of course Zane would live in a nice house, she wondered what he did for a living. Maybe his wife was the one who made the money, she thought. Again, a seventeen year old Rikki would find that hysterical. Now, she was too busy focusing on keeping her heart rate down that she didn't care who was the breadwinner.

Rikki took one last sigh as she put her car in park and unbuckled her seat belt. She was here, she would see Zane again in the next few minutes. A part of her wanted to sit in the car and collect herself but she knew she would only talk herself out of going inside. She would have to exit the vehicle now, frazzled or not.

Rikki walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. It felt like an out of body experience, she didn't feel as uncomfortable as she thought she would. Then again, Zane did have that effect on her back in the day. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Rikki slowly felt her heart start to relax but it started racing again as a girl with dark brown hair, blue eyes and a crooked smile answered the door. She looked just like Zane, aside from her eyes. Rikki felt a connection to this girl. One she hadn't felt in such a long time. Is this what Miss Chatham felt when she first met the girls?

"Yes?" The girl in front of Rikki asked. Rikki shook her head, realizing she must have been lost in thought.

"Um… hi." Rikki managed. "I'm Rikki."

The girl looked at Rikki as if she started speaking a different language. Clearly Zane didn't tell his daughter about their visitor.

"I'm here to see your dad, Zane." Rikki said. It was beyond weird referring to Zane as a dad.

"Oh," Liv said. "Come in then, I'll go get him."

"Thanks." Rikki replied as she entered the foyer of the home. Harrison's had been much more grand but the one in Zane's home was still very nice. Rikki watched the girl she knew to be named Liv walk down a hallway and then heard the sound of her walking up a flight of stairs.

Rikki walked in, past the entryway and into the main room. It was decorated very sophisticated but not overly lavish. A simple grey sectional sat in the middle of the room with a patterned, blue-grey rug underneath and a black coffee table. The windows were floor-to-ceiling and provided a view to the large backyard that led to the ocean. It really was a beautiful home.

Not a moment later did Rikki hear thundering from the stairs again. Whoever was coming down the stairs was moving much quicker than Liv had before. She made her way back to the entryway as not to appear rude. She had just reached the beginning of it when she came face to face yet again with Zane Bennett.

He had been handsome when she knew him before but he aged like fine wine. He looked stronger than he had as a teen. His hair was cut much more professionally than the raggedy hair he once wore. The lines in his face were more pronounced but she would be damned to find someone their age that didn't look the same. He wore a pair of dress slacks, a blue button down and was carrying a bottle of water. Rikki guessed he just came home from work or was working upstairs. She took a sharp inhale as she saw him and her heart took off like a racehorse yet again. If she didn't know any better, she would think Zane was having a similar reaction to seeing her. He was likely married, that would be inappropriate.

"Rikki." He said after a comfortable moment.

"Zane." She said back, hoping he would start the conversation. She didn't know what to say.

"Hi," he said as he walked closer to her. He looked like he was trying to decide on if he should hug her or shake her hand. Rikki supposed she should play this safe. She stuck her hand out so he would know what to do.

"Thank you so much for coming." He said after their handshake was over.

"Of course." Rikki replied. "I didn't really have anything better to do."

Zane gave her his signature smile and it made her smile back. They still had their palpable chemistry. She was fucked.

"Well, I suppose I'll head back up to my room then." Liv said from the bottom of the stairs. Rikki had barely registered she was still there.

"Actually, Liv," Zane started as he walked away from Rikki and over to his daughter. "I wanted you to meet Rikki. She's an old friend of mine."

"Oh, well… hi." Liv said. Rikki could tell the girl was trying to be polite but didn't care at all who Rikki was. Her attitude was already reminded Rikki so much of Zane.

"Hi, Liv." Rikki replied back as she approached the girl and shook her hand. "Your dad's told me so much about you."

Liv nodded after the handshake and then looked to Zane. "Dad, what is this?"

"Well, Rikki's an old friend." Zane repeated.

"You said that." Liv snapped back. "What is she doing here?"

"Well, um…" Zane started as he stared at Rikki. He walked from behind his daughter to stand in front of Rikki. He looked between the blonde woman and the water bottle in his hand. He gave Rikki a sympathetic look before he unscrewed the water bottle lid and threw water on her. Rikki gasped as she felt the liquid touch her skin. She looked to Liv who looked confused at the interaction. Luckily Rikki knew how to handle this. She watched both Zane and Liv's faces become even more confused as the water disappeared.

"Thanks for that," Rikki replied to Zane once she was dry. "I'm not sixteen anymore, I can't just flop on the ground and not hurt myself."

Rikki moved past Zane so she was staring at Liv who still looked confused and even a little bit scared.

"Your father called me here because he said you recently became a mermaid." Rikki told the girl. "I became a mermaid when I was fifteen too. I'm here to help you."

"I-if you're a mermaid, why didn't you grow a tail when you got wet?" Liv asked.

"Most of us mermaids have powers." Rikki said. "I can heat water and I learned how to make it evaporate upon contact."

"So you can control when you transform now?" Zane asked.

"For the most part." Rikki shrugged. "If I was hit by a tidal wave the size of me, that would be difficult but a splash of water is no big deal."

Zane shook his head in reply as Rikki turned back to Liv. This visit wasn't about Zane, Rikki had to keep that in mind. His wife could come through the front door or down the stairs anytime. The last thing she needed to see was a strange woman drooling over her husband.

"Point being, I can help you." Rikki said. "There's a lot more to this mermaid stuff that you think."

Liv looked between Rikki and Zane. Her life had taken such a twist. At this time a few months ago, she was getting ready to go back to school shopping with her mum while her dad worked upstairs. Now, she was standing in her foyer with her father and a strange woman discussing mermaids. It was all almost comical. There was nothing she could do but laugh.

"No way," Liv said in between laughs. Zane had furrowed his eyebrows and Rikki looked to Zane as if she were confused. For once, Zane only had eyes for his daughter.

"Liv-," he started.

"No, look, it's fine!" Liv said. "I'm not a mermaid. Well, I'm not going to be one for much longer. There's got to be a way out of this-"

"There is." Rikki chimed in.

"Oh, perfect." Liv replied, cutting her laughter off. "What is it, then? How do I do it?"

"Go to the moon pool the night when the planets align." Rikki said.

"Okay, so when is that?" Liv asked. "A few days? Weeks?"

"Try 35 years." Rikki replied.

Liv looked as if Rikki had slapped her in the face. She smiled tightly again and let out a small laugh. This woman didn't know a damn thing about being a mermaid. Liv wasn't fully convinced Rikki was a mermaid. She hadn't transformed upon contact with water, maybe she just had strange, magical powers. Anything was believable now.

"You don't know anything, do you?" Liv challenged the older woman.

"Liv!" Zane scolded her. Rikki didn't look like she minded the insult much.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, Dad," Liv said. "But I don't need any help, I'll figure this out on my own."

With that, Liv bounded up the stairs. Zane sighed from behind Rikki as he moved to the start of the stairs to go after Liv.

"I'm sorry, Rikki." Zane said. "Teenagers, they-"

"It's fine." Rikki replied. "It's not the first time a Bennett has spoken to me like that."

Zane blushed in response. Hannah had always said Liv was just like him. Sure, he saw some similarities but she was a bit like her mum as well. Maybe Rikki was seeing what Hannah saw.

"Anyway," Rikki continued. "I should probably get going-"

"No, wait!" Zane cried as he stepped off the first step up the stairs and back onto the landing. "If you don't mind, just…let me talk to her. You and I both know she needs your help."

"Fine." Rikki sighed after a moment. "I'll be in the main room."

"Thank you, Rikki." Zane replied before he hiked up the stairs.

Rikki took a seat on the sectional as she entered the room. She took in her surroundings. The walls were fairly blank. Most of the homes she had been in with people who had children had pictures littered across the walls. This home was fairly empty, aside from a few pictures of Liv and Zane. She stood from the sectional as she studied the pictures, seeing Liv throughout her young life. Zane looked just as Rikki had remembered him in Liv's youngest pictures. That was the most odd sensation, seeing the boy she remembered opening a cafe with holding a baby.

Rikki had just passed the entertainment center when she noticed a stack of photos tucked away on a shelf. Rikki pulled the first one out and inhaled sharply. Zane was standing outside a building, one that looked like a government building of sorts. He was kissing a woman in a simple, white dress that came down to her knees. If it wasn't obvious the woman was pregnant already, Zane had a hand placed on her stomach. This had to be his wife. Rikki had been right. She pulled out the next picture, one that must have been taken recently. It was Liv and the same woman on a boat with a volcano in the background Rikki would recognize anywhere.

Rikki was puzzled more than anything. Zane had a wife, Rikki guessed the woman in the dress was also Liv's mother. Rikki thought for a moment maybe this woman had left Zane with Liv when they were young. Looking at the second photo, that had disproved her theory. Had the woman just left? Were they separated or divorced? Why would Zane hide the pictures otherwise?

Rikki heard two set of feet coming down the stairs. She shoved the photos back on the shelf and resumed her seat on the sectional. When the father-daughter pair entered, Liv looked incredibly annoying and Zane looked exhausted, as if he somehow missed out on several hours of sleep in his discussion with Liv upstairs.

"All right." Liv sighed to Rikki. "I'll let you help me."

"Okay." Rikki said as she stood from the couch and walked to the back door. "Shall we get started?"