When he arrived at the cafe on Thursday morning, Zane was surprised to see Nate seated at his office chair. "Oh, hey." He tried to force a neutral expression onto his face. "You're here early."
Nate quickly snapped his laptop shut. "Uh, yeah, lots to do, you know?"
"Yeah." Zane could sense an awkwardness in the room. Nate wasn't quite meeting his eye. "Want a smoothie?"
"Nah, I'm good." Nate shoved his laptop into his bag, standing. "I'm just going to go set up the juice bar."
"Hey," Zane moved to stand in his friend's way. "Are you alright? You look stressed." He hadn't paid much attention to Nate lately; he'd been too preoccupied with the Sophie drama.
Nate looked at Zane's face; really looked at it. His friend looked a lot older than he had a few weeks ago. The lines in his brow had deepened and the bags under his eyes were prominent. Clearly, he wasn't getting a lot of sleep. "Nah, I'm fine." He raised a shoulder. "What about you?"
"Ah," Zane shook his head. "Sophie is still mad, I think. She says we're ok, but she's being weird." He looked down at his feet sheepishly. "I guess I'm just a little worried that she's going to do something, you know?" He raised his eyes to meet Nate's. "I know," he swallowed, ready to move on. "It's just something I need to stress about for the rest of my life, right?" He forced a dry chuckle.
"Nahhh, mate." Nate hoped he sounded convincing. "Don't stress. I'm sure she's dropped it. Sophie doesn't want drama, not really."
"I hope you're right." Zane walked around the desk and reached for the inventory forms. "All I really want is for things to go back to normal. Well," he glanced down at his lower half. "The new normal. Thanks, man."
"You know..." Nate couldn't help himself. "I'm your friend. You can always talk to me about this" - he made a swimming gesture - "stuff. Any of it." He said the last few words after a pause.
"I know." Zane sniffed, ready to move on. "Thank you, Nate. Do you know if Rikki ordered more straws yet?"
"No idea." The conversation had very clearly been closed. Nate looked back at his friend one more time before excusing himself from the office.
Rikki was surprised to see Will on the other side of the door that morning. "Will, are you looking for Bella?" She asked, confused as she cast her eyes up the street.
"I just left her." Will was speaking quickly, clearly anxious about something. "I wanted to talk to all three of you, but Cleo isn't answering and Bella was out for a run, and-"
"Whoa, calm down." Rikki placed one hand on his arm, looking him up and down. "What are you so worked up about?"
"Ok." Will walked inside, gesturing for Rikki to sit on the couch, which she did. "I've practiced this speech, ok? And Bella only let me get, like, three-quarters of the way through it, so I just want to get it all out, ok?"
Rikki nodded, pretending to button her lips as she waited for Will to keep talking.
He paced as he continued rambling. "So, I know I fucked up, right?" He barrelled on. "And I'm sorry, I really am. I wish I could go back in time and do things over, but I can't. So..." He stopped, turning to face Rikki. "I have a plan, ok?"
"And that plan is..." Rikki prompted him, raising an eyebrow.
"Next full moon," Will took in a gulp of oxygen. "I'm going into the moon pool. On purpose. Sophie can do what she wants with me, work with me. She'll be happy, she'll leave you guys alone, and-" He pulled up short, suddenly afraid to continue. "And I'd get what I've always wanted. To be like you." He resumed his pacing, speaking even faster in an effort to keep Rikki from cutting him off. "Look, I'm the one that caused so much drama, I'm the one who told you I loved you and fucked things up, I stole the stupid stone, I-" a thought occurred to him. "You know, we may not even need to wait for the next full moon; that's almost a month away. We could use your stones and Zane's and create the moonlight at the moonpool. That should work, right? We could go tonight, and I'll talk to Sophie and-"
"WILL!" Rikki shouted this time, since he'd ignored her previous attempts to get his attention. "Can you just slow down?" She patted the couch next to her. "Sit."
"I don't want you to talk me out of it." Will sat on the couch next to Rikki. "I know my sister, Rik. She wants what she wants. A merman. Or a mermaid. She will let off if she gets what she wants. And," He looked down at his knees, embarassted to admit i. "It's what I want too. Those days as a merman... they were the best days of my life." He finally met her eyes, dead serious. "My sister and I tried so hard to find fame when I was diving. I am totally fine with this."
"You said Bella didn't let you finish - what did she say?" Rikki asked carefully.
Will shook his head. "She only let me say that I wanted to become a merman." He swallowed hard. "Then she told me to get away and that she didn't want to hear any more."
Rikki nodded, processing as quickly as she could.
"Look, I'm not trying to do anything without all of your permission, ok?" Will clenched his jaw. "Even Zane's." He exhaled hard. "Just think it over, ok? And Rikki," He shook his head gently. "Please, don't wonder if I really want this or not, ok?" He met her eyes, holding her gaze. "It is. I want to be a merman. And I can deal with my sister. Hell-" He tilted his head to one side. "I don't even know for sure that she'd want to go public. She's mad, once she settles down she would be fine sending me down for rare shells and stuff. This IS a good plan."
Rikki nodded thoughtfully, taking in what he was saying. "Thank you for talking to me about this." She gave herself a mental shake, feeling oddly like a parent in a conference with a student. "Have you talked to anyone else besides Bella and me?"
"No." Will laughed quietly. "You girls are together all the damn time, but today everyone is all spread out."
Rikki composed her words before speaking, hoping she didn't sound patronizing. "Tell you what. We have a lot of time before the next full moon, yeah? Let's... let's not say anything to Sophie just yet." She nodded. "Let's do this right. We'll all talk about it together and decide what to do."
"Does that mean Z-" Will stopped when Rikki held up a hand.
"That means Zane too," Rikki said gently. "Like you said, he is one of us. Ok?"
"Ok." Will agreed reluctantly. "But soon, ok? We'll meet soon?"
"You got it." Rikki forced a grin to her face. "Soon." She closed the door firmly behind Will, resting her forehead against the cool wood as she let out a long exhale. The hits just kept on coming.
After the brunch rush, Zane sighed as he leaned on his closed office door, his eyes skimming a long product order form that should have been submitted three days ago. He jumped as he realized he wasn't alone in the room. "Sophie! Damn, you scared me." His pulse raced as he tried to figure out what Sophie was up to. perched on the corner of his desk as she scrolled through her phone. He froze by the door, waiting for her to speak before moving closer. "How long have you been in here?" He hadn't seen her enter the building.
"I wasn't trying to scare you." Sophie was terrifyingly quiet as she stood. "I just wanted to give you a heads-up, friend, that I've had some cameras installed out at Mako." She raised one shoulder and dropped it almost sheepishly. "Whenever you're ready, just swim on out there, let me get all the pictures from all the angles, and we'll tackle the press together, ok? And..." She lowered her voice even more, drawing Zane in closer so that he could hear her. "Just tell the girls to stay out of there for a while, ok? Because if they end up on camera too, I'll just assume they want fame as well." Her tone couldn't sound any more serious. "So just take your time, yeah?" She offered Zane a small smile that didn't quite seem to reach her eyes.
Zane looked at her closely, unsure of how to process what she was telling him. "So, we're doing this?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Yes." Sophie said curtly. "I think you owe me that, don't you?"
Zane didn't have any cards left to play; he'd already begged and pleaded, but Sophie was set. He sighed, uncharacteristically unsure of what to say next.
"Take your time with it." Sophie reached out to squeeze Zane's shoulder. "Want me to stay and work today?" She moved toward the door, turning back with raised eyebrows as she awaited his answer.
"That's ok, but thanks, Soph." Zane hoped he didn't sound dismissive; he was exhausted and didn't think he could handle a word more of conversation. "Have a good one. It'll probably be a couple weeks at least, but let me prep mentally for a bit, wrap my mind around things, and then I'll get out to Mako, ok?" He managed a somewhat meager smile, rubbing his temples as the door clicked shut behind her.
"What the actual fuck, though." Bella paced back and forth at Zane's house angrily several hours later. "What is today?" She ticked items off one by one on her fingers. "Will makes some grand gesture" she rolled her eyes "about wanting to become a merman for us," she spat the words out sarcastically. "Which is the biggest lie I've heard today, and then we have Sophie telling us we all have to stay out of our moon pool because she's going to have it booby-trapped until god knows when."
"Until she gets her pictures of Zane." Lewis offered, instantly regretting it as Bell lit back in.
"Maybe, Lewis!" She steamrolled on. "As if we can guarantee that - what's to stop her from leaving traps up for us as well?"
"Zane can always be a lookout." Rikki stifled a yawn, feeling like they were going in circles at this point; she'd already volunteered this point a few times. "It's not like he won't be able to see anything she may have set up."
"And that's just her, though." Bella was also repeating herself. "If anyone else gets the idea to set up some eyes out there-"
"Guys, come on," Zane spoke up for the first time in nearly an hour, earning nearly instant silence from the rest of the room. He felt exhausted as he looked to each of his friends. "Let's not fight right now. Listen." He sighed, composing himself briefly before taking in a breath to speak. "I was actually thinking -"
Ding dong... The doorbell made more than one of them jump.
Zane exhaled, frustrated. "One second." He stalked to the door and wrenched it open.
Nate blinked, uncertain of how to read the situation as he looked into the house. "Hey, man." He grinned. "You didn't tell me you were having a party. Luckily..." He held up a cold beer and cocked his head to one side. "I've got you covered. Oh! And - " He pulled an insulated coozy from his pocket, tucking the icy beer inside. "Waterproof." He winked as he handed it to Zane. "Move over, I'm coming in."
Zane opened his mouth to send Nate away, but he couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up as he looked at the drink in his hand. "You know what? You have no idea how glad I am to see you." He drained nearly half the bottle in one pull, clapping an arm around Nate's shoulders as he ushered him inside.
"Zane..." Cleo took half a step forward, making a face in Nate's direction. "Are you sure he should be - "
"Yes," Zane spoke with more emphasis than he intended, but Nate was his friend, damn it, and there was no reason he couldn't be here right now. "We can talk more about all this mess tomorrow, ok?" He addressed the room, not bothering to explain further to Nate. "Tonight, let's just hang out."
He clinked glasses with Nate, who couldn't be more surprised at the turn of events the night had taken. When he'd walked up to Zane's door, it'd had been a Hail Mary long shot on the off-chance that he was around. It seemed he'd definitely made the right call.
"Yeah, woman." Nate winced as Bella swatted his arm. "We could always go, you know, swimming if you want." He waggled his eyebrows at the singer. It was worth a shot, right?
The chorus of "Nos" echoed off the walls as each of them rattled off an excuse for why they didn't want to go swimming on that perfect toasty evening. Ah well, what did he expect? Honesty?
"You know who else we should call?" Cleo glanced around the room, hoping someone else would finish the sentence so she wouldn't have to. "Sophie."
There was a brief moment of tension as eyes flickered, gauging the reaction of the rest of the room.
"You're right." It was Lewis who spoke up first. "If we're going to make an effort to be friends with her, I guess we have to actually make an effort to be friends, yeah?"
In short order, all eyes fell on Zane.
"Ok, ok, I'll text her." He pulled his phone from his pocket and began tapping.
"Who needs a drink?" Nate called as he strode toward the kitchen. "I didn't bring enough beer for a whole party." He tallied drink orders before disappearing into the kitchen.
"You guys know we have to talk about the Will thing at some point, right?" Bella dropped onto the couch, pouring herself a glass of wine, which nearly splashed out of her glass. "Can you believe that asshole?"
Cleo laughed. "He wants to do it for us, Bells. Don't forget that."
"What a martyr." Bella rolled her eyes.
"Sophie will be here in about 15 minutes." Zane tossed his phone onto the coffee table.
"Is there any version of this that actually makes it a good idea?" Lewis furrowed his brow. "Will becoming a merman?"
"Will is going to be a merman?" Nate reappeared with a glass of wine in his hand, which he handed to Cleo as he looked at Lewis curiously. "Like Zane?"
"Well, that's what he wants," Bella tossed her head back, missing Cleo's pointed 'shut-up' expression. "But it's not like it would help the situation, him turning himself into a fish -" She froze mid-sentence, eyes cutting sharply to Nate. "I mean - I -"
"Will thinks that if he becomes a merman, Sophie will leave me alone," Zane spoke loudly and clearly, hoping Bella recognized a rescue net when it was thrown to her. He wasn't lying to Nate, he just wasn't telling the entire truth. "So he asked us to talk it over and decide together if it's a good idea. Since we're his friends, or whatever."
"Whoa, man." Nate blinked hard. "Is there any going back once fish-ified?"
"Not really." Zane glanced to Lewis, who nodded.
"Not for a really long time," Lewis added. "Unless there's a way out there that we haven't found yet, which is always possible."
"Ok." Nate nodded thoughtfully. "And he wants to do this... to be a nice guy?"
"Ha!" Bella coughed on inhaled red wine. "As if he hasn't been dying for it ever since the day he found out merpeople were real."
"Can he?' Nate drained the rest of his can. "Is that something anyone can do?"
"He thinks he can." Lewis answered casually. "We know that much." Eager to change the subject, he turned to Cleo. "What do you think about a small ceremony on Mako, like we talked about? Still sound good?"
Cleo beamed as she nodded in approval. "Sounds great. I don't need anyone except all of us there. In fact," she looked around the room. "This is a great time to - at some point we realized we hadn't - " She reached across the table to clutch Rikki and Bella's hands. "Will you two be my bridesmaids?"
The guys smirked as the girls dissolved into shrill giggles and plans. Lewis excused himself from the fray, moving to stand between Zane and Nate.
"They'll be talking dresses for the next hour, watch." Lewis twisted the cap off a new bottle of beer, feeling slightly awkward. "Um, we never talked about this either, but what do you think about being my best man?" He kicked the ground slightly before wincing up at Zane. "If you want, I mean."
Zane felt a warmth spread through his chest. "You bet." He tried to stifle the grin spreading across his face.
Nate looked up at the ceiling fan, thoroughly feeling like the third wheel that he was. Then, he realized that Lewis was still talking.
"And Nate," Lewis continued. "I'd like you to be one of my groomsmen. I know, I know, we've not been good friends long, but we've known you our whole lives and you've turned into one of my oldest friends, so..." He shrugged casually. "If you want?"
Nate nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!" He immediately toned down his excitement. "Sorry, I mean, sure. No sweat." He felt a spark of excitement light inside him, and not for the reason he expected. In days past, an invite like this would make him start thinking about the hottest date he could score. But now? What was this?
"Yeah, I'm heading over there now." Sophie spoke to Ryan on the phone as she locked her apartment door behind her. "You don't have to keep checking in, everything is good to go." She sighed, clenching her jaw as she listened to Ryan's repeated questions. "No, I don't think it needs to be more elaborate." She gave the same answer she'd already given 10 times. "Ryan, listen." She exhaled, speaking calmly. "There is no need to do anything to complicate things. Just hold tight. I'll call you tomorrow morning, ok?"
Sophie winced slightly as she clicked her phone off and slid it into her back pocket. After all the time prepping for this moment, here they were. Tomorrow was the day. She headed toward Zane's house, feeling as if Christmas was in the air.
There were very few times in their friendship that they'd been able to just kick back and relax. After all, there was always some massive drama hanging over their heads. Though that was still very much true, that evening had turned into a rare night when the vibe was just right. Music came on, then got louder. A beer run turned into friendly drinking games. Sophie turned up shortly into the evening and, despite some initial frigidness, she was fitting in really well. Nate served as a nice buffer between Sophie and the mer-crew.
Nate was surprised by how normal all of this seemed. For the first time in years, everything felt... complete. Looking to his friends, Nate felt like everything was finally where it was supposed to be, even if it was stranger than he could have expected. He was surrounded by bandmates Bella and Lewis, Cleo - who he'd known since he was 6 years old, Zane, Rikki, Sophie...
Sophie.
Nate wondered when Sophie turned into such a great actress. Looking at her laughing and talking, he'd never know how much contempt she held beneath the surface. Observing her, she appeared to genuinely be interested in what Bella had to say. But Nate knew better. He made up his mind in that instant, turning up the volume on the speaker by a few clicks.
Nate leaned close enough so that only Zane could hear him. "Listen to me. You've got to stay home tomorrow night. Don't come into the cafe at all. You or the girls. Ok?"
"Nate, wha-" Zane pulled back, confused.
Nate glanced around quickly to make sure that Sophie was still distracted. "You heard me." He met Zane's eye, deathly serious. "There aren't any cameras at Mako. She isn't putting any cameras at Mako. Sophie has it all set. Reporters are going to be outside tomorrow night. She's going to be waiting for you after work. Don't get caught. If you're not at the cafe you'll be ok." He quickly moved away, holding Zane's gaze until he was out of site. His heart beat loudly in his ears as he panicked over what he'd just done. Still, the panic was momentary; the relief that followed was priceless.
Zane processed Nate's words, which cut through the alcohol haze like a drop of soap in a bowl full of pepper. He'd had a nagging suspicion that something wasn't right about Sophie's proposal. In fact, he waited for the feeling of rage to hit him as he mulled over her lies, but it didn't come. Instead, he felt something surprising.
Acceptance.
The next morning, Rikki watched as Zane absently re-dried a glass that had dried minutes ago. "You ok in there?"
"What?" Zane snapped to, blinking a couple of times. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I was up early putting the house back together after last night."
Rikki slid a hand across the small of his back, pulling him in for a squeeze. "Are you thinking about what Nate said?"
"Not really." Zane gave her a brief smile that did not reach his eyes before pulling away to reach for the sales notebook, ticking items off the order for the next day.
Rikki eyed him for a moment before turning her attention to Cleo, who had just entered the cafe with Lewis. "Hey, you two," Rikki smirked. Cleo hadn't made it home last night.
"Hey, Rik." Lewis winked at her before kissing Cleo on the cheek.
Cleo mock-swooned as Lewis walked toward the stage to talk to Nate. "Isn't today just gorgeous?"
"Stunning." Rikki's eyes flicked back over to Zane, whose brow was furrowed in thought. "Hey!" She leaned in, waving a hand in Zane's face before finally capturing his attention. You in there?"
"Sorry, distracted." Zane focused his eyes on his girlfriend, his mind racing as he weighed his next move.
"Come on." Rikki held out a hand, waiting for Zane to take it in his before pulling him behind her toward the door. "Walk with me."
The pair excused themselves through the side exit, walking down toward the water as the setting sun flickered across the waves.
Zane reached an arm around Rikki, leaning his forehead on her shoulder as he took a deep breath, breathing her in. He didn't speak for a few minutes, just so that he could close his eyes and hold her to him for a moment.
"I know what you're going to say." It was Rikki who broke the silence.
Zane released his hold on Rikki just enough to look into her eyes. "Do you?"
Rikki nodded, swallowing. "I know you, Zane. Even though you surprise me sometimes." She sighed. "Are you sure?"
"I am." Zane exhaled, feeling somehow lighter. "Deep down, I think we both knew it was going to happen sooner or later." He sighed. "Frankly, I'd rather it be on our terms, you know?"
Rikki said nothing, focusing on keeping her breathing even as she looked deeply into Zane's eyes. As the pair stood there in the night, she realized something. She respected Zane. He was a grown man who knew what he wanted in life, and she trusted him to make the right decisions. Or, at least to be able to handle the decisions he made. And this one was going to take a lot of handling.
"She was right," Zane spoke the words that had been replaying through his brain all day. "Working together will make all of this easier. This secret was never going to be able to be a secret forever." He kicked his foot. "And I'm the one she wants. I'm ok with going along with it. Plus," He smirked. "I'd be lying if I said I hated the idea. I don't know." He cut off Rikki's surprised reaction, tilting his head to one side. "I've been thinking about it a little. Well, a lot... and it just seems to be the next step in my life. It feels right, and I'm ok with it. And I can redirect away from you guys."
"Ok." Rikki pulled him close, wrapping her elbow around his neck.
"What do you think?" Zane took a deep breath. "I'll only do it if I have your support, Rik."
Rikki thought about it for a long moment. "You have it," she said finally.
"You're not mad at me?" Zane's voice was muffled into her blonde, curly hair.
"I've spent enough time being mad at you," Rikki murmured. "I just want to love you for a while." She looked up to look Zane dead in the eye, speaking directly to him. "I trust you. But don't think you don't also need to tell the rest of the group and hope they give their blessings as well."
"You're right." Zane nodded. "I will."
"Just out of curiosity..." a grin played at the corner of Rikki's mouth. "What do you think of Will's offer?"
Zane choked, inhaling his words too quickly. He caught his breath, clearing his throat loudly as he muttered "Fuck 'im."
The hours passed too quickly, and it was all too soon that Rikki found herself back at the cafe.
Rikki watched Sophie sitting alone at a table. It occurred to her that, though Sophie always seemed so confident and so unaffected... she was always alone. She never came to the cafe with friends. Her parents were always traveling. A wedge had been shoved between her and Will. Seeing her with the group the night before, she'd almost seemed like a different person. It looked good on her, friendship.
"Come on." She tugged at Cleo's elbow. "Follow me. Trust me."
She practically dragged a confused Cleo over to Sophie's table, pulling out a chair on one side of Sophie and gesturing for Cleo to sit before taking one on the opposite side of the table for herself.
"So we were wondering-" Rikki ignored the look of surprise on Sophie's face. "Which day do you have free this week?"
"I- wha-" Sophie stammered as she looked to each of the girls. "For what, exactly?" She composed her face, crossing her arms.
Rikki continued, ignoring Sophie's coolness. "Come hang out with us again, yeah?" She raised one shoulder. "We'll eat, we'll listen to some music, Lewis will probably run some experiment or something." She rolled her eyes, laughing. "It'll be fun." She ignored the way Cleo's shoulders stiffened as she continued. "You're one of us now, Soph. And you're going to love it." She paused, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "You had fun at Zane's last night. Let's be friends."
"If you think this is going to change anything, though - " Sophie began stiffly.
"We're not trying to change anything," Rikki spoke firmly. "Zane apologized to you; he's not fighting you and neither are we." She raised a shoulder. "We're moving forward. Move with us, and let's just skip ahead to the part where we're getting along, ok? Zane's not pulling out; he's still game to go public and work with you. Cameras are at the moon pool waiting for him, right? Look, Sophie, we're going to be spending a lot of time together. Let's just get over this and move on. k?"
Sophie's stomach was churning as she looked at everyone milling around the cafe. None of this felt right. Rikki and Cleo looked absolutely exhausted and more than a little bit stressed, but one thing they didn't look was insincere.
"Soph?" Cleo spoke up. "How's, um, tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow is fine." Sophie heard the words as they left her lips, though she wasn't sure if she intended to form them or not. "I'll text you." She shoved her things in her bag as she stood, suddenly anxious to get out of there. It wasn't the first time she'd lied; she knew there was no version of her life where the girls would still want to look at her tomorrow. No, it wasn't the first time she'd lied to the girls.
But it was definitely the first time she felt bad about it.
"What do you think?" Lewis asked quietly, as they watched Sophie leave.
"About what Nate told Zane?" Cleo rummaged through her bag, barely moving her lips as she responded. "It seems too simple for Sophie, but Rikki said she wants to talk to all of us, so she may have something in mind."
"Lord knows what it is this time." Lewis couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice, though he made a genuine effort. "I'm, ah. I'm sure it'll all be fine." He hoped his tone convinced Cleo more effectively than it convinced himself.
Zane couldn't believe he was in this position. Less than a year ago, he was a normal man with normal problems. Now, he hardly recognized his life. The talk with the rest of the club had been a tough one, but the group was beaten. It felt like things were getting messier and messier and everyone was tired of fighting. One by one, they'd agreed to support Zane in his plan to go public with Sophie. The general consensus was that if they got ahead of things and managed the narrative, they could create an environment that supported Zane as a celebrity rather than a science project. "Manage the narrative." He muttered under his breath, bolstering his confidence. It waned as the night wore on.
Sophie smirked as she checked her phone one more time before entering the cafe. Everyone was on call and would be in place within thirty minutes. It was just 4a handful of media people, a few at each entrance. Their directions were puzzling but simple - wait for Zane to exit, douse him, and get the cameras ready. IT felt ridiculous, but they were being paid well to be there and they'd be well rewarded. She'd seen Zane at the cafe working all day, and he showed no sign of leaving anytime soon. Bella had canceled her appearance with the band that evening, but Nate and Lewis were covering the show on their own. In fact... none of the girls appeared to be around at all, which was extremely odd for a Friday night.
"Good night?" She leaned over the bar, catching Zane's eye. He'd been lost in thought, snapping to attention when he spotted Sophie.
"Uh, yeah." Zane had never been the greatest actor in the world. "Bella's sick." He blurted out. "The girls are all taking care of her."
"Ah." Sophie narrowed her eyes a bit. Bella had seemed fine earlier that day. Red flags were starting to appear. "Today, huh?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Zane raised a shoulder half-heartedly. "Can you help me?" He made a tired nod toward the juice guns. "The orange juice is clogged and I'm too tired to manage this," he made a brief swimming gesture, "and also successfully unclog this thing. Help me?"
"No problem." Sophie stepped behind the bar, reaching for the hot water knob.
"Thanks, Sophie." Zane squeezed her shoulder before turning to make his way toward his office. "Oh, I heard you're hanging with the girls tomorrow."
"That's right." Sophie waited for Zane to continue. "And?"
"And I don't know." Zane shook his head, looking more than a little scattered. "And I guess just let them know tomorrow if you need to cancel or something."
Sophie froze slightly as she examined Zane. He looked drained, preoccupied, and... Nate. She flashed back to the party, thinking about whether or not the two of them had gone off on their own.
"Sophie, I have somewhere I need to be in, like, 5 minutes." Zane tossed his bag over his shoulder, checking his watch.
"This late?" Sophie frowned.
"Yeah, last minute thing, just came up." Zane pushed past her, clearly anxious to get out of there
Sophie followed close behind him, feeling a crash of emotions rush through her as she warred with what to do. They weren't in place yet, but they were close. If she could keep Zane there just a little longer... Her heart slammed into her ribcage as she realized that there may actually still be time to stop this wheel. She paused, distracted as her eyes landed on Nate, who stopped in his tracks as she stalked toward him. Given Zane's strange behavior, there was only one thing that made sense.
"Did you TELL him?" Sophie's voice was barely loud enough for Nate to hear. He tried to pull away from her, but she caught his forearm and held him tightly.
"I..." He stammered. In one exhale he lost all his convictions. "I had to, Sophie. He's my best friend. We can't do this to them." He pulled her close to him, his free hand holding her tightly by the waist. "I've known him since I was 5, Sophie. Please."
A tear spilled onto Sophie's cheek as her breath caught in her throat. "I'm glad," She choked out. "I'm just so pissed at him, but I don't want to do this to him." She felt embarrassed as the tears multiplied. "Thank you for telling. It... it would ruin his life."
Nate was so shocked at Sophie's outburst that he found himself uncharacteristically frozen. After an awkward few moments of watching Sophie break down, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. "Sh..." He didn't know what else to say. He'd never seen Sophie lose it like this. Usually, rage was her go-to emotion. Seeing her fall apart was surreal.
"Should we cancel the photographers?" Nate asked carefully.
"I'll text them." Sophie blew her nose, wiping the tears away hastily. "But it won't matter. Zane's already gone. They'll get out the back and there won't be anything to catch a picture of. They'll think they've won. Maybe they have." She shook her head. "I'll be a laughingstock, but what else is new? At least we'll be able to get back to our normal lives."
Nate pulled her in close again. He didn't hate the feeling of holding another person and she wasn't exactly pushing him away. Inside, he was struggling to contain his glee. Things were going to be ok. They were going to handle everything. "We should go make sure everyone gets cleared out." He chuckled. "We don't want them tossing water on some innocent dude."
"In a minute," Sophie said, not quite ready to let go yet.
"I can't believe it." The rep from the local biology lab dropped his camera to his side. "Did you guys see this?" He held his phone up to the others, who had just reached their waiting places at the back door of Rikki's Cafe. "Sophie's canceling."
"She's what?" The reporter from the National rolled her eyes as she checked her phone. "She better not be trying to get out of paying us."
"No shit, she'd better not." Her cameraman shook his head, craning his neck to see through the window of the cafe. "I don't see the guy in there anymore. Maybe he snuck out or something."
"The whole thing was weird from the beginning." The fourth and final member of the group spoke up, dropping a water gun to his side. "Was it a prank? Spray some guy with water?"
"She said to wait ten seconds. I heard he's supposed to be a merman." The National reporter rolled her eyes as the others chuckled. "Are you guys sticking around or..."
"Sophie's headed this way, looks like." The bio rep saw her pause at the stage to talk to the keyboardist before the two moved back toward the office. "We'll ask her to tell us what's up when she gets out here."
Zane took in a long, deep breath from his place in the men's restroom. It hadn't been his finest maneuver, but it had been effective. Sophie hadn't seen him slip into the men's room, he didn't think. Either way, she hadn't come in after him, so he took the time to take in a few more deep breaths as he worked up the nerve to go outside.
"Here we go." He muttered to himself, almost shaking with anticipation. He opened the door and took his time taking a big step through it.
He quickly cast his eyes from side to side, not landing on Nate or Sophie. He put his head down and made his way to the back door, taking one more fortifying breath before pushing his way through it.
He blinked, trying to see past the lights.
"Hey!" Some blonde woman jumped slightly as he burst through the door. "Sorry, you scared me!" Her eyes widened. "Zane, right?"
Zane noticed the three guys around her turn toward him with interest. He braced himself as he caught sight of a water gun in one of the four's hands. "Uh, yeah. That's me." He struggled to keep his voice level. This was it, right?
"Ok, we don't know if we're getting paid anymore, so do you want to know why we're out here?" One of the men could barely contain a grin as he shoved his non-camera-holding hand into his pocket. "One of your friends wanted us to spray you with water. 'It your birthday? You might want better friends."
"No, it's not my birthday," Zane said calmly, his mind racing to reconfigure the situation. This wasn't what he'd expected at all. "She wanted you to spray me with water because I'm a merman."
All four of them hushed immediately, shooting incredulous looks at one another.
"You're... what?" The curly-haired man pulled his camera up. Just in case, you know?
They met eyes individually, almost daring one another to take Zane seriously.
It was the water gun guy that broke the silence. "Come on, man." He laughed. "Get out of here, happy birthday."
"It's true." Zane's eyes darted to one side, gauging their reactions. A twinkle appeared in the corner of his eye, one that hadn't shown itself in a while. "Follow me to the water. I'll show you." He tossed his head back, changing the plan on the fly as he headed toward the ocean. He didn't turn to look, but it sounded like the group had followed him. He took in a lungful of oxygen, excitement bubbling under his skin as his shoes sunk into the sand.
The group hushed as Zane paused at the water's edge. Two cameras were raised, on the off-chance that Zane was going to do anything interesting.
Zane glanced up, making sure that an overhead light was close enough to illuminate the area. Then, deliberately, he took two large strides out into the shallow surf and launched out into the water, staying close enough to the surface to be visible but far enough out to be able to swim a bit. He dropped his head under the water as he changed, hearing the murmurs of surprise from above. The tone had gone from shock to curiosity, and questions were being shouted from above.
Zane's heart pounded in his chest. He allowed himself a moment to compose himself before raising himself to the surface to greet his new public.
