Thinking about a Fiery Mermaid

Chapter 11: Talking

Chapter 11

Rikki stood up suddenly, staring at me angrily.

When I didn't answer the first time, she asked again.

"What are you doing here, Zane?"

"I...uh...I wanted to tell you something?" I asked. It came out like a question.

"You came to the moon pool just to tell me something?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah?" I responded hesitantly. She rolled her eyes. Okay, at least that meant I wasn't about to be roasted alive. She was glaring at me. She was so cute when she was mad. Well, cuter when it is not directed at me. A few moments must have passed.

"Well?" Rikki demanded.

"Uh..." Why was my brain not working coherently? Her eyebrows lifted. "I have some good news." I started.

"This better be good," she muttered.

"I'm going to be able to save our café," I said with a smile. Her glare lessened in its icy degree. She was surprised.

"That's good," she frowned. "But it's your café. Not mine."

My heart sank a little.

"I still don't see why you had to invade Mako to tell me this," she continued.

"Why? I thought with the amount of effort you invested in it, you'd want to know its fate," I replied. "I know you care." Something shifted in her expression. Just a flicker, but I noticed. I looked around the cavern briefly. When I looked back at her face, she was no longer glaring. She had a blank, yet sad expression on her face.

"So how did you get the money?" she asked after a short time.

"I used my charm," I smirked. She lifted her eyebrows. Right, not time for joking.

"Sorry," I took a breath. "I begged my Dad again. In exchange for something, he'd give me the money."

She looked warily at me.

"In exchange for what?"

"I promised I'd go and study business," I replied.

"You're going to study?" she asked in disbelief. I nodded in response.

"Long story short, he can afford to get us back on our feet again, so I played the image card. He values image, and what would it say about him if his son worked in a socially low-classed job?" I grinned. I saw a smirk playing on Rikki's lips. "I just have to study. I'll still have to work out studying and managing the café and everything that comes with that balance, but yeah."

"Wow. That'll be hard," Rikki commented. I nodded.

"I'll have to work hard, but maybe it will be good for me?" I smiled at her. "Do you know what you're going to do this coming year?"

"I'm not sure...I've always been interested in...no, it's silly. It's a fantasy," Rikki stopped, folding her arms. "Who am I kidding," she muttered.

"Do you think that you wouldn't have the self-discipline to do it?"

Rikki shrugged, looking up to glare at me.

"I think that you would. I know you, when you want to do something, nothing gets in the way of your tenacity," I said.

Rikki sighed.

"I can't believe I'm discussing this with you," she said, dropping down to sit on the sand again. I quietly sat down next to her, about a metre of space between us. I took her silence as a soundless welcome. I waited for her cue. I had made enough screw ups by opening my mouth too soon, and otherwise.