Okay first of all I would like to say sorry out the layout. My computer went nuts so I am on Dad's, and I have no idea how to work the stupid windows. Second of all, I may have a couple more chapters than I thought, don't hold me to it though.

We are nearing the end.

~Ravyn~

Disclaimer: I so do not own.

Chapter Nine


Ami watched the clock tick and placed the pillow over her head. Peeking behind pillow, she watched it tick another notch. It was Monday, and she was ready for the clock to reach noon. Only two minutes to go.

Placing her head behind the pillow, she tried out the 'a watched pot never boils' tactic. Looking back at the clock, she frowned. It was still the same. Maybe if she moved?

Hearing the doorbell ring, a whole minute early, Ami sprinted over. Her navy locks swinging around her ears, face flushed, Ami practically ripped the doorframe off the hinges. Grabbing the mail from the man in a hurried gesture, Ami snapped a thank you, and practically slammed the door in his face.

Grabbing the first letter, she looked at it then threw it on the ground. Quickly she rifled through each stack, leaving the unwanted pieces on the freshly scrubbed floor, and pouted when they all turned out to be bills.

Two weeks and not a word from one handsome writer, which left Ami moping on the couch, again. He spent his entire life writing, could he not find one minute to write, 'I am still alive?'

Sighing, Ami thought about calling one of her friends. This moping was just not her way of doing things. She had never let a guy get to her this way; in fact, as far as she could remember, she had NEVER let a guy get to her.

It was, to say, disconcerting.

Ami ran her fingers around her bangs and realized with a wrinkled brow that she needed a haircut. Maybe a make over would do her some good. Looking in the mirror over her bookcase, Ami looked at what starred back.

Eyes almost too large for her face, surrounded by thick lashes. Dark brows raised in a questioning way, and all of it crowned with dark navy hair. The color only accented her pale skin, making the newly gained freckles stand out.

Defiantly not super model material but more of a homebody who like thing simple and sweet. Not the way her life had felt the past few weeks, an almost unorganized feeling had taken over.

Looking at the bucket of water sealer,Ami sighed. She really had not meant to put the thing off for so long, but it seemed like today was the day she got to finish her porch. Looking up at the clear skies, Ami groaned. No more excuses.

Reaching for the sealer, Ami's face lit up when the phone rang. Diving across the room, Ami tried to compose herself once she reached the screaming device.

" Hello? " Her voice came out breathless.

" Miss me?" the husky tenor she had dreamed about questioned.

Ami wrapped the phone cord around her fingers and smiled. "Uh huh." Her voice had lowered, and she refused to give him something to start a conversation with. She knew what she had been doing; she wanted to know what he had been up to.

The last word she had from him was that his dad had died and his editor needed to talk to him. That had been a little over two weeks ago. Or, to be more accurate, thirteen days, five hours, and…thirteen seconds.

"I am sorry, nymph, but Kris decided that the book had to be out in a few weeks instead of months, so I have been slaving away on the computer." His tone was mournful.

" Sure. I can tell you're in pain," Ami berated him gently. " I bet you have not even thought about me."

" I think about you all the time. I wonder if you eyes have any gray in them today, what you're wearing, if you're smiling and showing those cute dimples to any other guys but me. I am wondering if you have taken any time to search the beaches for those sea shells of yours." His voice had lowered till Ami wondered if the phone was vibrating under it. Her heart was pounding hard enough that she was having a hard time hearing.

" Really?" Her voice came out shy and sweet, and Ami knew her face was coloring.

"There is nowhere I would rather be than with you." Zach said softly.

Ami scrunched her nose, romantic gestures forgotten, as a thought came to mind. " Did you call me nymph?"

Zach laughed into the phone, the sounded crackling slightly, a sign that he was on his cell. " Yes. You know, one of those mystic creatures that live in the water or in the trees. With your navy hair and eyes, you would have fit in quite well."

Ami grumbled into the phone, but her smile was lit like a thousand candles.

" I think I might be able to come down for a few days in a week or so. Will that be all right with you?" Zach questioned.

" Only if you are ready to work." It popped out before she could stop it.

" Work how?" His voice was teasing, and her face lit up again.

" I have to get this place ready for tourist season, and it starts in under three weeks. " Ami mumbled.

" Ami, for you," Zach said, his tone light, "I will give up a perfectly good vacation for hard, honest work."

Ami laughed and looked at the clock. She was going to be late for a lunch with Mrs. Keys. "Listen, I have to go to lunch with Mrs. Keys."

"Is that nephew of her's going?" Zach asked, his voice on edge.

"Not that I know of, why?"

" I don't like something about him. Listen, if he gives you any trouble, you let me know." Zach said firmly. Her mind went back to the beach, but she pressed her lips together.

" I don't think he is going to cause any trouble," Ami told him. " Besides, I can take care of myself."

" Just be careful, " Zach said. Eyes narrowed behind his glasses he leaned back in his chair. If that man caused one hair on her head to be out of place, he was going to turn him into a throw rug.

" Listen," Ami said sweetly, " I really have to go. I am running behind. And if you go without talking to me for another two weeks, I am going to come after you." Her tone was encouraging him to play.

" Right. Start checking your email box." Ami wrinkled her nose in confusion.

" I don't have email."

" You do too. I set you one up before I left? Did I forget to mention that?" Zach asked, putting a fake sense of astonishment in his voice.

" Oh you," Ami grumbled. "What's the address?"

"Teardrop, "he answered. "It is under hotmail. The password is nymph. It should not be hard for you to remember."

Ami laughed and reluctantly told him goodbye once again. Hanging up, she grabbed her purse and headed outside. Today was a beautiful day.

~*~

Zach clicked his cell phone off and grinned to himself. She was as sweet on the phone as she was in person. Leaning back, he threw his feet onto the desk and tucked his arms behind his head in a move that was completely masculine.

Looking at the ceiling, he wondered how he had lived without that tiny woman. She was lodged completely in his heart, whether she knew it or not. For the first time in his life, he was okay with that.

It made no difference to him that she was there. It was like a piece of the puzzle that had been missing and had been put back into place. Looking at the book in front of him, he calmly saved his work. It was time for a well-deserved break.

Thirty minutes later, he was sitting at his favorite café and waiting for Kris to show up. Ordering a coffee, he watched dusk settle on the horizon.
" Sorry I am late." His friend's voice washed over him easily, with the long use of familiarity. Kris threw down a magazine absently, and Zach looked at the cover.

A blond woman that looked vaguely familiar was sprawled on the cover; her bright yellow sundress accented her light hair and blue eyes. Her lips were dusky red, and her eyes were highlighted in a pale blue.

 She was a very nice looking woman on the whole, but he wondered what his friend was looking at her for.

"What is in here?" Zach teased his friend.

" Oh, some article on the company. I wanted to read it to see what was being printed." Kris shrugged it off.

'Guess it's not about the hot lady then,' Zach thought. 'Too bad for Kris.'

" So when is your book going to be done?" Kris questioned. Zach allowed himself to laugh at that.

" Man, you need to get laid…bad. We just talked about this yesterday. I am ahead of schedule so a few days." Zach's eyes twinkled.

" You talk to her today, then?" Kris questioned.

" Yes, I did. She has no idea that I am coming earlier than I said. Should be there in five, maybe six, days. You can email any changes you make, and I will approve them. You should get the rough draft in maybe two days tops."
Kris nodded. "Good. We can get this book into the final stages then. What's it called again?"

" Thunder Rose." Zach shrugged. " Don't ask me where I get these titles, they just show up."

Kris nodded. "Good. Oh and I am happy for you and Ami. I hope you two make a go out of it."

Zach smiled. "She is the only woman who I think about ten years down the line about. The only woman I care to put in that scene. You know, it's crazy, but I fell hook, line, and sinker."

"Your life has been missing something; you said it yourself. This could be it. If she helps improve your writing, I am all for it," Kris said, his face serious, his eyes teasing.

" You are so full of it, Kris. Did you know that?" Zach grumbled. "Is work all you think about?"

Both men reached for their menus then, and then they moved there conversation elsewhere. Like all best friends have the tendency to do.

~*~


Ami forced a smile on her already tight face and was forced to nod her head at whatever the sadistic man was saying. She realized, in the last five minutes, that she hated Greg Keys.

He liked fur coats, loved to live in a big city where smog filters were required, liked heavy metal, and had been married twice. And by the way he was raving, he was not even close to being done.

Mrs. Keys had a cold, so she had not been able to come. So instead, she sent this…person…if you could call him that.

 "She bit into her bread stick so she wouldn't throw it at Greg. Maybe she should let Zach beat the crap out of him, because the man was so stuck on himself. It was, perhaps, the most disgusting sight she had ever seen.

And he would not shut up.

Ami began to pray for anything, sleet, rain, and a waiter to fall onto her and spill hot steaming soup. Anything was better than this. Looking at her watch, Ami groaned. It had not even been ten minutes.

" Is something wrong?" Greg asked, stopping his tirade. Ami blushed and quickly thought of something.

" I just love these bread sticks," Ami lied flawlessly. Her face was white under her blush, and she had the distinctive feeling that it was going to be a long afternoon. She was suddenly very glad she had insisted on driving herself.


Thirty minuets later Ami was bright red with embarrassment, and her eyes dark with anger. It really was his fault. If he had kept his hands off her thighs like she had asked, there would have been no need for her to dump the pitcher of ice water on his lap. Next time, she was eating alone.

Ami walked into her house and threw her keys on the small table next to the mirror that hung in the hallway. Turning, she easily locked the door behind her. Hopefully this day would end on the way it had began, a good way.


Clunking her way to her bedroom, Ami headed straight for the bathtub. Dumping in a large amount of bubble bath, Ami watched the bubbles pile in small mountain of color.

Stripping down, Ami slide into the half-filled tub after she had moved the phone into reaching distance. Sliding under the bubbles and into the warm water had never felt so good.

Sinking low, Ami allowed the pressures of that hectic lunch to be slowly drained away. As it always did, once she reached her comfort zone, the phone rang. Again.

" Hello?"

" Hey Ami, just calling to see what was going on.," Usagi's voice said in its normally chirpy tone.

" Nothing much. Had the date from hell," Ami complained.

" Zach?" Usagi questioned, sounding rather horrified.

" No, Greg. And before you jump to conclusions, I was supposed to be meeting Mrs. Keys, but supposedly she had a cold, so Greg came instead."

" What's wrong with that?" Usagi questioned, her voice wondering.

"He decided to play foot to foot. Then he wanted to run his hand up and down my leg," Ami grumbled, her voice soft, face bright red.

" He did WHAT? You should set Makoto after on him, bet he wouldn't try anything like that again," Usagi muttered darkly.

" I dumped a pitcher of water into his lap," Ami confessed softly.

" Way to go Ami!" Usagi cheered.

" Usagi, it was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me, Ami wailed.

" No, the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you is when you were in third grade and the teacher called on you to answer a math question, and you told her George Washington," Usagi said primly.

Ami sighed. "I had tried to block that out, now I am going to have nightmares."

" Liar," Usagi said. Her chirp suddenly went up. " Oh there was another reason I wanted to call."

" What?" Ami questioned drowsily. The hot water had left her completely relaxed.

" I am…pregnant."

Ami slipped under the water and came up spluttering. Thankfully, she had held the phone above the water.

" Ami, are you in the tub?"

~*~

Greg tapped his fingers on the glass plane and adjusted the lens to his camera. Carefully he took another picture, grinning at the shot. He would have pictures to remember her by.

Okay. I HUGE shout out to Warrior of Ice, did anyone notice fewer mistakes? That's because this SWEETIE is my new beta reader. She has volunteered to edit this entire series, which if it is going the way I plan, will have five stories in it. Send her lots of flowers and chocolate! Now it's your turn, REIVEW REVIEW REIVEW!