It was Saturday and I hadn’t heard from Zane for the rest of the week.

The more I thought about his letter, the more I thought about everything that’d happened, which meant the more the hurt and anger came rolling back, which wasn’t good.

And I knew I hadn’t forgiven him.

That afternoon Izzy and I went shopping for a new comforter set for my bed. I told her I was just going to buy one online, but she insisted we had to go out because I needed shopping therapy. I hated shopping. She knew this but insisted it was better than hanging out at my apartment. Um, I liked hanging out at my apartment! But when she promised to get me a caramel frappe that I could drink while we shopped, I caved then ended up getting the most beautiful comforter ever, a soft seafoam green with a lacy, skirted coverlet, and I adored it.

“When I get this on my bed, with the lights on the canopy, it’s gonna be gorgeous!” I told her. “All I’m gonna want to do is sleep!”

“Not funny,” she said remembering how I’d been only a month before.

“I know. I won’t be that bad,” I said, squeezing her hand. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“You’d have done it for me. Actually, you have done it for me like three times. I still owe you.” She laughed. “Okay, let’s get back to your apartment! I wanna see this all put together.”

We got off the elevator on my floor, and as I walked to my door, I saw a big square wrapped in kraft paper leaning against it.

“What’s he done now,” I groaned.

“I don’t know. Open it!”

Handing her my bags, I picked up the square and we went inside where I placed it on the bar. I frowned as I pulled one corner of the paper, ripping it across which revealed not a whole lot. I kept going and finally seeing what it was, gasped. He’d sent a framed print of a gorgeous mermaid.

“Oh, that’s beautiful,” Izzy said. “It’ll go perfect with your new comforter!”

She was right. The soft greens and pinks would complement everything in my room so well. A small card fell on the floor and I picked it up reading it out loud. “You’ll always be my Syrena. Zane.”

“That’s so sweet,” Izzy whispered.

“It’s very sweet. But will I sound like a bitch if I say I’m kinda getting tired of the soft sell,” I said.

She burst out laughing.

~*~*~*~*~

“It’s just lovely, JB.”

“It is.”

We were lying on my bed after having put the new comforter on it and hung the mermaid print on the wall at the foot of my bed. The lights were out except for the twinkling ones in the tulle on my canopy.

“It’s like a fairy tale,” Izzy declared dreamily.

And it was.

“You think a prince will show up?” I said turning my head to look at her.

She glanced back at me grabbing my hand and squeezing. “Definitely.”

~*~*~*~*~

A week passed.

Then two.

Then a month.

And I didn’t hear from Zane.

Nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

Over the course of the month, I went from not caring (kinda), to wondering if he’d given up, to worrying that something had happened to him, and I started checking the paper every day, praying I wouldn’t see his name in any of the crime articles.

He was on my mind daily even though I hadn’t heard from him. And I realized I was letting the psychology of it all get to me.

“He’s either finished with me or doing this on purpose,” I told Izzy Friday night before spring break.

“Why do you say that?” she yelled over the music.

We’d gone to a bar downtown and it must’ve been open-mic night because various bands had taken the stage and played. Even though our table was farther in the back, it was still loud.

“He set it up just right. Sending gifts here and there with sweet notes to reel me in, then boom! He disappears leaving me to wonder what’s going on, and thus think about him.”

“I’ll bet he’s just busy with a case,” she said, taking a drink of her beer. “Maybe he’s undercover!”

That didn’t settle my mind any. Jeez.

There was a five-minute break between bands, thankfully, and we didn’t have to scream at each other. But I liked the atmosphere because people were having a good time and it was good to be out.

“If that’s not the case, then the whole thing’s actually pretty genius if you think about it. I mean, there I was, hurt and upset but kinda moving on or trying to anyway, then he pops in making me think he wants me back, so I start to melt a little and then he disappears.” I narrowed my eyes. “Hell, he could be dating someone else now for all I know, and he’s got me pining for him.”

“You’re pining for him?”

My brow wrinkled. “Not so much pining as wondering, you know?”

“That is a pretty genius scheme,” she agreed. “But I wouldn’t give him a ton of credit for it until you know for sure because you know how guys are. Some of them do this shit without even knowing they’re doing it. Like, they want you until something else catches their eye. Then they’re like that dog in Up. ‘Squirrel!’”

“Good point,” I muttered, taking a drink. “So you and Corey fly out tomorrow?”

They were going to Greece over spring break, not only because it was spring break but her birthday was next week and Corey had some time off. I’d already given her my present which she was wearing tonight under her pink leather jacket which was a t-shirt that said, “Friends Don’t Lie.”

“Yes! I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see the Parthenon and the Acropolis! I’ll send lots and lots of pictures!” she shouted.

The next band had started playing so we were back to screaming.

 “You better!” I yelled.

“What’re you gonna do for break?”

“I don’t know. I’m thinking about going to Yellowstone! I’ve never seen it.”

“That’s like twelve hours away!”

“I know. But I’ve already mapped it out. I’ll drive seven hours and stay in Missoula, Montana, then Yellowstone’s only about four hours from there. I figure I’ll stay a couple days then drive back. I’m a nature girl and I wanna be au naturel!”

I yelled that last part just as the band finished their song so everyone heard it and I got a couple of strange looks.

Izzy giggled. “I know you are. I expect lots of pics too!”

“I’ll get one of Old Faithful to prove that some things in life are reliable.”

She totally got me and said soothingly, “I’ll bet he’s giving you some time. Like I said earlier, I do know a little about how guys work. So I think he’s just letting you sort things out.”

I gave her a small smile knowing she was trying to help.

“This song goes out to his beautiful mermaid, Syrena, from Zane!” the singer on stage yelled.

My eyes bugged out at Izzy and I felt all the blood drain from my face.

Turning, I saw Wilder and his band on stage, and my eyes teared up when he started singing Candlebox’s “Breathe Me In.”

I looked back at Izzy who smiled and squeezed my hand, all, See?

I nodded tearfully and squeezed back.

“Do you see him anywhere?” I leaned in and asked her.

She’d been looking but shook her head.

As Wilder sang, I tried putting everything between Zane and me into perspective and came up with two facts: we’d both hurt the other and then we’d fallen. I’d say it was even now, and it was then I realized I’d forgiven him.

After the song, I told Izzy, “I feel like a fifty-pound weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” to which she smiled and winked.

After Wilder’s band finished their set, Izzy and I went to talk to him after I warned her he was a huge flirt.

“Hey, Wilder,” I said, giving him a hug.

“Hey, gorgeous. Ready to hook up with me yet?” he asked with that trademark smirk. God.

I laughed. “Not just yet, but I’m sure you’re not hurting for company. Hey, this is my best friend, Izzy Smith.”

“Damn. Two beautiful ladies at one time? I’m in! Can’t say it’d be a first though.” He winked at us and I snorted at how ornery he was.

“Was, uh, Zane here?” I asked.

“Yeah. He was earlier. You didn’t see him?” He got serious now.

I bit my lip. “We kinda broke up two months ago.”

He frowned. “Well, that sucks. That was the happiest I’d ever seen him when he was with you.”

I shrugged. “Que sera, sera, huh?”

He grinned, the spark coming back into his eyes. “Which only means you can go out with me now.”

“You’re so rotten,” I said with a laugh. “Well, we were just heading out. Thanks for the song. It was beautiful. It’s great seeing you again.”

He told Izzy it was nice meeting her then he hugged me. As in grabbed me, wrapping me tightly in his arms hard which caught me off guard and I let out an “Oh!” When he pulled back, he said, “It’ll be okay. I know my brother. He’ll be back.”

I smiled because no one but Zane could know that, but it was a nice thought and I kind of hoped he was right.

~*~*~*~*~

The cab dropped Izzy off first then took me to my apartment building. I paid the driver and went inside telling Abe, the concierge on duty, hi before getting on the elevator. When I was on my floor, I stepped off and since I was busy checking Yellowstone’s hours on my phone, I didn’t look up until I was almost to my apartment. Where Zane stood leaning against the door frame looking cool as ever in a suit, hands in his pockets and one foot crossed over the other waiting on me as if he did it every day. And he was smirking.

“What do you want?” I asked not meaning for it to come out so rudely and instant surprise showed on my face at my hateful tone. Whoops.

His smirk got smirkier and his dimple popped out. “I want you.”

Boy, he didn’t waste any time, but he was him and I should’ve known he wouldn’t.

“What if I say I don’t want you?” I mean, come on. I had to make him work a little hard to get me, right?

I saw his lip twitch before he said, “You do.”

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms on my chest. “You think writing a couple of sweet nothings and dedicating a song to me will win me back just like that?”

He stood straight. “Babe. I fucked up. I’m sorry. And those weren’t ‘nothings.’ I meant every word. In all of them.”

I bit the inside of my lip and unlocked my door, signaling for him to follow me. Inside my apartment, I set my purse on the bar and leaned my hip against it, crossing my arms again.

“How do I know you really meant it all?”

He glanced around my apartment then back at me. “Babe. I meant it. The only way I can prove it is to show you now.”

I closed my eyes thinking how much he’d hurt me and here came the tears. “You hurt me so much, Zane.”

Then he was there, taking me in his arms and holding me tight.

“I know I did. And I’m so sorry.” He kissed the top of my head. “I was an idiot.”

Putting my hands on his chest, I pushed him slightly away. “The worst part was hearing from Robo, I mean Officer Pope, what you said about me. I-it devastated me.”

He let out a breath putting his hands on his hips. “I know. And all I can say is I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “But you’d hurt me too. I wanted payback and I shouldn’t have.”

We stood there quiet for a moment, me crying and him looking so remorseful it broke my heart.

  He broke the silence and said, “I’m in love with you, Jillian.” His eyes searched mine as I looked at him through my tears. “And I want you in my life.” I closed my eyes then because everything he was saying was perfect. Just as I went to tell him I loved him too, he said sadly, “But even if you don’t want me, at least I tried. I had to try.”

He pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket and placed it on the counter. “I saw this and thought of you.” I looked down at it then back up at him and he nodded toward it. “Open it.”

As I picked at the paper, he started pacing.

“I remember you saying once that some species of albatross mate for life and that you thought it was romantic. You said that’s what you wanted, and I teased you about it. We even got into our first argument over the poem. So, when I saw that, I immediately thought of you.”

I pulled the lid off the box to see a silver albatross necklace, it’s wings spread which was where the chain connected to it on each wingtip. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered, holding it up and looking at it. “Thank you.”

“Babe, I wanna be the albatross around your neck,” he said, taking the necklace, and moving behind me, reached around encircling my neck with it and secured the catch.

I snorted and said, “You wanna be my symbol of bad luck?” as I turned to face him, my hand touching the necklace.

“I wanna be your everything. Just like you are mine.”

God! He was so sweet! But there was something I needed to know now.

Fingers stroking the new jewelry at my neck, I asked, “Where have you been the past month?”

“Surveillance on a suspected meth lab in a house in White Center.”

“For a month?”

He nodded. “It was a bad deal, Jillian. There were kids who lived there. Babies. We had to be careful about how we handled it. But we finally got what we needed and nailed the guys. And no one was hurt.”

“Good.”

He walked slowly toward me and my heart beat hard in my chest. “God, I’ve missed you. Please say you forgive me.”

I nodded and saw the relief on his face as his hands came up to hold my face. “I forgave you a while back. I just needed time. Probably like you did when I hurt you.”

He nodded as his thumb glided over my bottom lip. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I echoed then tiptoed up and kissed him hard, two months’ worth of missing him behind it.

“What say we Netflix and chill, minus the Netflix?” he said with a smirk.

“I’m all in,” I answered, squealing when he picked me up.

Then he carried me to my room.

Where the fairy tale became a beautiful reality.