"You did what?" Rikki spoke into her phone with an anxious tone. "Are you alright? Did anyone see?"
She listened intently for a few seconds. "Ok. Meet me at the cafe when you're done."
Rikki set her phone down with a loud sigh.
"What is it?" Cleo sat down opposite her at the small booth they had been sharing inside Rikki's cafe.
"It's Zane." Rikki sighed. "He has no idea how hard it is to keep all of our secrets."
Cleo giggled. "And what happened?"
Rikki quickly reiterated Zane's story to Cleo. "He thinks he has it all under control, but he really doesn't." She said, a slight smile on her lips.
"Oh dear..." Cleo giggled slightly as she spoke. "He's going to need your help."
"I know." Rikki nodded. "We'll need to keep an eye out for him."
Cleo agreed. "He's kept our secret for a long time. We've certainly got Zane's back."
"Thank you." Rikki hugged her friend tightly.
Cleo looked at Rikki, leaning in closely. "How is he handling things?"
"I'm handling things just fine." Zane pulled up a chair at their booth and made himself comfortable.
"That was fast." Rikki playfully swatted Zane on the arm. "You almost got yourself caught today, silly."
Zane sighed. "I know, I know." He said sheepishly.
"Zane," Cleo leaned forward on her elbows. "How many times have changed by accident?"
"Oh, not that many." Zane looked at the table, avoiding everyone's eyes.
"Twelve!" Rikki giggled. "I mean, thirteen, after this last one."
"Yeah, I know." Zane rolled his eyes. "I'm still getting used to it."
Rikki giggled. "Yesterday he was working on his motorbike and it was hot out. So, get this, he poured his water bottle over his head."
"Oh, Zane..." Cleo groaned.
"Hey guys." Excitement dripped off Bella as she joined the group at the booth. "Does anyone have a pen?"
Cleo pulled one out of her bag and slid it across the table to Bella. "What's that?" She gestured to the piece of paper in Bella's hands.
"It's an entry form." Bella said animatedly. She pulled a glossy brochure from her back pocket and placed it on the table in front of the others. "Battle of the bands. Winner gets cash and a cd recording deal."
"Bella, that's awesome!" Rikki examined the brochure. "You guys will be great. When is it?"
"Well," Bella filled in the form as she spoke. "We have to audition just to be a part of the competition. That takes place at the end of next week. If we get selected to compete the actual competition is in a month."
"That is seriously cool." Cleo grinned. "You guys are a shoo in."
"We'll see." Bella said nervously. "I just want to get our entry form turned in."
"Where's Lewis?" Zane looked around.
"He's at home." Cleo said with a sigh.
Rikki's eyes narrowed. She could tell something was bothering her friend. "Spill, Cleo. What's going on with Lewis?"
Cleo rested her forearms on the table as she confided in the group. "He's not been handling things so well lately."
"What things?" Zane frowned.
"You know," Cleo lowered her voice. "Since the whole merman thing."
"I thought he was ecstatic?" Rikki shrugged. "He's back to normal, Zane and Bella are the only two that ended up changed at all."
"That's what he feels bad about." Cleo spoke softly. "Zane, you're a merman now. And Bella, your power changed."
"But we're ok with that." Zane looked to Bella. "Aren't we?"
"Yeah." Bella said truthfully. "It's fine. Why would Lewis be too worried about it anyway?"
"He blames himself." Cleo explained. "He feels like he should have known about the whole kiss and true love thing. He is completely determined not to let anything like that happen again. He is obsessing over finding all the information about mermaid magic he can. The only problem is," Cleo rubbed her temples. "Most everything he's finding is utterly bogus. Storybook stuff. I tried to tell him that he shouldn't worry too much but he is absolutely set on learning every little thing he can."
"He shouldn't be worried about any of that." Rikki said firmly. "It wasn't his fault. Plus," She smirked. "He's got a wedding to help plan."
Cleo couldn't help but smile at the thought of marrying Lewis. "That reminds me, the engagement party is this Friday night."
"That's a little soon, don't you think?" Bella raised her eyebrows.
"That's on purpose." Zane spoke up. "The next 3 months solid are booked out, so Sam asked to go ahead and have the party this weekend."
"I know it's really short notice," Cleo turned to Bella with a hopeful look on her face. "But do you think the band could play? I'm sorry, I meant to ask you sooner but I got distracted."
"Of course." Bella grinned. "We wouldn't miss it."
"Ill-Way is ere-hay." Rikki spoke in quiet pig latin as she averted her eyes from the door. "Act normal everybody."
"Hey guys." Will walked over to the table slightly timidly.
Zane's jaw clenched. "I'll talk to you guys later." Zane stood and stalked into his office without looking at Will.
"I guess he's still mad at me." Will flushed slightly as he sat down beside Bella.
"He'll get over it, just give him some more time." Rikki spoke causally. "But I really should help him with the fruit orders for next week." Rikki smiled at the table before heading after Zane. Rikki didn't leave because she was uncomfortable around Will, though it was true that things were still a little awkward. She wanted to keep an eye on Zane. This was a juice bar. It was only a matter of time before he got himself into trouble.
Cleo smiled encouragingly at Will. "It's good to see you." She said in a chipper tone.
"Thanks." Will said unenthusiastically.
"So Cleo's engagement party is here and it's this Friday." Bella tried to get his mind off of Zane and Rikki. "The band is playing."
"And you are totally invited." Cleo added.
"Sounds good." Will perked up a bit. He looked at Bella. "Be my date?"
"Sure." Bella blushed.
Cleo smiled slightly as she watched the two of them talking. She so badly wanted them to be a real, wonderful couple again.
Cleo pushed her chair back. "I just remembered that I was supposed to... um... order Lewis a banana shake." She fibbed. "I'll see you two later." Cleo stood and walked to the counter. She had just wanted an excuse to leave the two of them alone.
Bella watched Cleo walk away before turning her attention to Will. "Hey." She said quietly.
Will reached for Bella's hand under the table and wrapped his fingers around hers. "Can I buy you a juice?"
"Sure." Bella wasn't thirsty, but she wanted to sit and relax with Will for a bit.
Will pecked Bella on the cheek before heading to the counter to order a couple drinks.
Cleo's phone rang right after she left the cafe. "Hey, I tried to call you earlier." She said.
"I know, I'm sorry." Lewis's voice came through the receiver. "I was in the-"
"Library." Cleo finished his sentence before he could. "Lewis, you've been in the library every day this week."
"I know, but they have an entire section of fantasy books." Lewis said hurriedly.
Cleo sighed. "And how many of those books are marked as fiction?"
Lewis didn't answer for several seconds.
"Where are you now?" Cleo didn't wait any longer for him to answer her question.
"I just got home." Lewis said. "I was wondering if you wanted to meet up later?"
Cleo's face broke into a bright smile. She felt like she hadn't seen her boyfriend in forever, even though she saw him briefly at least once a day. "That sounds wonderful. Want to catch a movie?"
"I was actually thinking we could go out to Mako." Lewis said distractedly.
"Mako?" Cleo furrowed her brow.
"Yeah, I want to update my temp readings out there."
Cleo took a long, deep breath. She wanted to spend time with her boyfriend, but she didn't want to talk about mermaids, mako, or anything magical.
"How about this." She began. "We go to Mako for one hour. ONLY one hour. Then we go to the movies."
Lewis took a few seconds before he answered. "...I guess that'll work. I may be able to get everything done in and hour..."
"Ok great." Cleo knew that Lewis would spend 3 or 4 hours in that moon pool if she left him to it. "When do you want to head over?"
"Ummm.." Lewis spoke slowly. "It's 3pm now, I'll meet you in the pool at 4?"
"See you then." Cleo clicked her phone shut and slid it into her pocket. She would have to think of a different project for Lewis to get hooked on. She brainstormed the whole way home.
Sorry so short! Been really busy lately, but we've got lots of exciting stuff getting ready to get going with the story! I hope you guys are enjoying this sequel! :) Loves!