Author's Note:

A Familiar Face

Rikki drove her Lexes to People, Australia. Right after she parked her car into the parking lot, she got a call. It wasn't anyone on her caller ID, just a number. She answered it, curious as to whom it could be. "Hello?" she asked as she answered her phone.

"Hey stranger," someone replied on the other line. She wasn't exactly sure of the voice…but it sounded awfully familiar.

"Who is this?" Rikki wondered.

"Look outside," he replied, calmly. Rikki looked outside her window and saw a guy looking about her age, with brown hair short hair, swayed to the side, and a pair of beautiful brown eyes.

"Zane?" she asked, almost in a whisper, and breathlessly. She saw him smile and hang up. His smile had grown into a much more mature smile, and he had a light beard, but it didn't look bad. It made him look really cute. He looked about three inches taller, and his arms looked amazing. They were still the same noodle arms he's always had, but something about them made them seem a bit more mature and strong. He was dressed in a black T-shirt and baggy jeans that ran down to the bottom of his ankle. She saw him walk over to the car. Rikki opened her car door, got out, then shut it and locked it. She heard the Lexes beep as she walked over to Zane. Zane was as breathless seeing her, as she was him.

"Whoa…you look amazing," he said. Something about her looked more mature to him as well. She wasn't the same girl who had frizzy, curly hair with bangs. Her hair was now straightened, and cascaded over her shoulders. He thought her face had matured as well. Her cheekbones were a bit sharper, and her blue eyes were as gorgeous as ever. As soon as she smiled from his comment, he fell in love. She had the same cute smile she's always had; he just hasn't seen it in so long.

"Thanks," she replied. "What are you doing here?"

"I found out where you worked, and decided to pay you a visit. It's been a while. I thought I'd never find you again."

"Oh…," she simply stated. She thought Zane looked amazing, not that he always hasn't, and missed him, but still wasn't ready to get back with him after all the drama that happened between them. "Well, I better get inside."

"You don't want to hang and talk? Maybe catch up?"

"No," she said this almost instantaneously, "I just…really need to get inside and start my job. Don't want to make a bad first impression." She rushed inside as fast as possible.

"Cleo, guess what!" Lewis yelled, as he rushed into the bathroom. Cleo jumped and looked over at him, somewhat happy to see him, somewhat scared.

"Ye-," she started, hoarsely. She cleared her throat and continued, "Yea?"

"There's an amazing college that accepted me to earn my PhD right here in Gold Coast!" He picked her up and spun her around, then kissed her. He couldn't be happier. The last couple of days, he had had trouble looking for colleges for his PhD and started wondering if it was a mistake for his career to come back to Gold Coast. But now that he's found this college, he knew it was the right thing to do. He let her back on her feet, but kept her hands in his. Cleo smiled.

"I'm happy for you," she said, still scared about her situation. Lewis saw through her right away.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing…I just…I'm not feeling good. I just need to rest."

"Ok…" he replied, unsure. She gave his hand a squeeze and he smiled. Then, he left the room. Cleo's smile turned back into a frown. She was happy for Lewis, she was, she was just scared about her situation. She knew what she had to go. She would talk to Emma, Bella, and Rikki as soon as possible.