Breakeven—Dealing With a Loss

A/N:Sorry about the huge gap in between updates. I have been really sick with a type of pneumonia and any energy I have is used to do my make-up work. The pile just seems to keep growing, but I took some time to update. Please be patient!

Rikki POV

I walked up to Zane's house rather slowly because I was nervous that either Harrison would not know where Zane went or kick me out. I took a deep breath before I knocked on the door. This is it I told myself. While I was waiting negative thoughts started running through my head. "What if Harrison doesn't know where he is? What if he won't tell me? What if Zane won't believe me? What if he has moved on and won't take me back? What if-" I snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of a deadbolt being unlocked. To my surprise, Harrison was the person who answered the door; I assumed he had just gotten home from work because he was still in his suit coat.

"If this is about Zane, I promised him I wouldn't tell," he told me rather sharply before he went to slam the door. To stop the door from closing, I put my foot in between the doorframe and the door; I was not letting it go that easily. "Sorry Rikki," he said, his voice suddenly softer and kinder, "I wish I could help"; he tried to close the door again before he even let me speak.

"But you don't understand..." I faltered out; the words caught in my throat. I know I sound like a lovesick teenage girl, but that is what Zane does to me. I couldn't put it into words, so instead I handed him all the letters both mine and Zane's in hope that he would let me in after he saw what they were.

"Fine come on in and sit at the table with me while I read these," Harrison said.

Yes! It worked. Well at least I made a little bit of progress. I knew Zane and his father were getting along better than ever. Zane finally got his father to see thing his way and vice versa. Before we broke up, I kind of helped Zane with developing a better relationship with him by talking some things out because I always have felt as if I was the cause of some of their problems even though I knew their issues went back before he even met me. Harrison had even started to warm up to me... I think. Either that, or he had just learned to accept that Zane liked me. Most likely it was the second one. Oh well at least he stopped telling Zane that I was the wrong person for him. I started to daydream about Zane and when everything in between us was perfect. I relived all the good moments between us. When we first started dating and he didn't know about my secret. When he helped us escape Denman. When he kissed me in the moon pool and we got back together. When we co-managed the cafe. When we went on sweet, fun afternoon dates. When the name Sophie meant nothing to us. When we were a couple...

"Rikki, RIKKI!" I heard Harrison say or rather yell while he snapped his fingers in front of my face.

"Oops. I guess I zoned out," I replied sheepishly while redness slowly climbed up my cheeks.

"It is obvious from these letters that you still care about him, and I know that he is still completely in love with you. So here is what I will do. I won't give you his address or location, but I will send the notes that you wrote to Zane ASAP, and I can request to know when they are delivered." Harrison said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I practically screamed. Without even thinking I jumped up and gave him a hug. I pulled back as soon as I realized what I had just done. Once again my whole face started turning red. I was getting desperate to have Zane back. "Sorry. I got excited and carried away," I apologized, "But can I make a copy first just in case they get lost in the mail? I really don't want to lose these forever."

"Don't apologize, just don't do it again. Sure you can," Harrison answered, "You know where the copy machine is. Go make the copies and come right back down."

I took off towards the back staircase to head up to the office. In order to get to the office I had to pass Zane's room. No, I can't. I had to stop myself from going into his room. "Just keep walking Rikki," I told myself. But what if he left something else in there? No he couldn't have. I made the copies and went back downstairs after fighting the urge to enter Zane's room. I handed the originals to Harrison.

"I'll let you know as soon as he gets them. You know that I am doing this because I know how much Zane cares about you. That and I really was actually kind of starting to like you." Harrison said getting suddenly quiet at the last sentence. "Thank you?" I replied quizzically. "Don't mention it. Goodbye Rikki."

"Thanks again for everything, Mr. Bennett!" I said as I walked towards the front door. I stopped when Harrison started saying, " Oh, and Rikki, you can still call me Harrison." I called him Harrison all the time when Zane and I were dating, but I hadn't spoken to him in a while so I wasn't sure what to call him. It was kind of an awkward situation. I walked back to the cafe much happier than when I had walked there this afternoon although I was still slightly nervous that they would get ruined or lost or that maybe Zane wouldn't believe that I had felt that way for so long. I was worried that he would be mad at me for not telling him sooner. I hope Bella and Will got everything sorted. They make such a good couple, and I know firsthand what happens when you don't talk things out. I wonder if Bella would want to do anything tonight?

Bella's POV

I heard someone come through the land entrance to the cave, so I ducked down only to discover it was Will. I decided not to come back to the surface yet.

"Bella! I know you are in here!" he yelled, "I just want to apologize." I came up look slightly angry. He just stared at me.

"Well, I'm waiting," I said interested to hear what he had to say.

"I'm sorry Bella," he said while laying down on his stomach so his face could be level with mine, "Rikki came and knocked some sense into my head. I can't believe I actually thought that for one second, you would cheat on me. I love you Bella." He tried to lean in to kiss me but I turned away.

"You know what Will? I cannot believe it either. I don't know what hurts more: the fact that you believed Sophie over me or that you thought that I would ever cheat on you. I'm not so sure if I am going to forgive you already," I responded. He looked hurt, and I felt kind of bad. Yes I still love him, but I can't let him think that he can get away with accusing and hurting me like that.

"But Bella-" he said be for I cut him off saying, "No buts Will. Just give me a little bit of time. Please."

"Alright. Sorry for bothering you Bella. I'll see you around," he said as he walked up out of the cave.

It's getting late I guess I'll head back towards the shore. I took a deep breath before ducking under the water. As soon as I dried off, I texted Rikki to see if she wanted to hang out tonight. Not too much later, I received a reply from Rikki:

Sure! I was literally just getting my phone out to call you. I'm already at the cafe if you want to come over now.

Perfect. I was already close to there anyway. I was very confused as I walked up to the cafe because there was no one there and the sign was not on. It wouldn't have been so weird if Zane and Rikki were still dating because we would always hang out after hours there. I was hesitant, but I made the decision to keep going. I walked in to see Rikki behind the counter.

"Hey!" I said, "What's going on in here?" Wordlessly she slid a piece of paper to me across the counter. No way! Zane moved! And he gave the cafe to Rikki!

"Oh my God! Rikki!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know," she responded, "So, may I interest you in a juice?"

"Sure, my regular please." After she had made the two drinks, we sat down at a booth.

"This is all happening so fast. I'm not even sure what Zane told the workers. I probably should call them just to keep this place afloat. I'm not so sure I can handle this by myself," she told me.

She seemed as if she was leaving something out and was slightly upset, but I didn't push the issue. "Maybe I could help you out," I said to Rikki.

"No that is too much to ask. I wouldn't want to bother you with the stress. I mean, don't you already have enough of that with Will and the band?" she asked me.

"That is what friends are for," I told her.

"But Bel-" I cut Rikki off. "Besides if this cafe shut down there wouldn't even be a band anymore. So where are the phone numbers and the work schedules?" I asked Rikki with a smile.

"Umm... I am pretty sure that they are in the office. I'll be right back," she said. She returned with a stack of papers and we got busy calling. I used the cafe's landline while she used her cell phone. I saw the quote on the bottom of the schedule and couldn't help but laugh considering Zane and Rikki were almost always late for everything. It read,

"Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable."

After we finished calling everyone, Rikki went into the office to organize the income and bills spreadsheet. I cleaned up the cafe while she did that. It turns out Zane just told them that he was closing the cafe down for personal reasons until further notice. It was tiring explaining to every single worker what had happened. We managed to get a full staff together for tomorrow. Some of them already were searching for a replacement job and were pretty pissed when we told them they didn't have to. I offered to be co-manager with Rikki tomorrow. I'd let her deal with whatever she needed to in the office (organizing, bills, ordering supplies, etc.) without having to worry about what was going on out in the actual dining area of the cafe. To my surprise she actually agreed. She must be really stressed. I guess I can't blame her; she came for a juice this morning and came out with the whole cafe. I almost texted Will to see if he wanted to hang out tomorrow here at the cafe, but then I realized I still wanted to make him sweat it out a bit. I was snapped out of my thoughts by Rikki opening the office door.

"Alright," she said, "I'm going home."

"Yeah, I am ready to go home too; I just didn't want to leave you here by yourself," I responded.

As we parted ways, I heard Rikki yell to me, "See ya tomorrow morning at 9:30!"

Zane POV

As I laid in bed, I began to wonder about Rikki. Has she found the note yet? Does she know I'll never stop loving her? Will she be able to handle the cafe? Does she want me back? Does she-, "No Zane!" I mentally scolded myself, "No more thinking about Rikki." I moved just to try to move on which proves to be harder than I imagined. I better get some sleep because I have to go job searching tomorrow. If I still lived there, I would be manager of Rikki's. No, NO, quit thinking about that. I am over that. I am so much better off here. Maybe if I say it and think it enough, I'll believe it. For now though, I know I am just feeding myself lies. I spent the rest of the night deep in thoughts; the only thing to snap me out of them was my alarm clock buzzing. I hadn't slept at all! I bet I look like crap. That's just great. I have to go to three job interviews looking like I am drunk. God. This is gonna be a long day.

A/N: So what did you think? I felt like a little insight into Zane's head. Where do you guys think he is? Please review! Is it easier to read when it is spaced like this? Someone reviewed last time and told me it was hard to read, but I really didn't know how to fix it. They help me to improve. I'm not sure how long it will be before I get the next chapter up. By the way I probably won't be including Cleo and Lewis in this story too much or at all unless someone really wants me to. I really like them, but I feel like it would be more beneficial to the story; all the characters I do use can be more developed and not get so overshadowed. It helps to keep the spotlight on the main characters of Zane and Rikki, and the focus stays on the primary plot.