"What are you doing?" Maru asked, making Echo jump back and sending her stumbling into the closet.

For a moment, Maru didn't move. She might have been concerned had there been a thud or at least some cry of pain but she had clearly seen Echo fall into a pile of laundry. She moved farther into the room, peeping around the bed and catching sight of a small hand as it crept out from behind the closet door as if searching for something. 

"This what you're looking for?" Maru asked, picking up a robe and holding it up and into the small space between the door.

"Thanks." Echo muttered as she quickly snatched the robe away and shut the closet the door. She pulled the robe to her chest tightly and took a deep breath. That... that was... weird. She couldn't explain it, she'd panicked.

"You know... I've seen you in a swimsuit before so, please don't tell me this is going to be a problem now too." Maru said from the other side of the door, chewing on her lip. It was one of Maru's many quirks. When she was worried or when she was sure she'd done something wrong, when she felt guilty, or when she lied- Maru chewed on that poor bottom lip mercilessly.

"No problem..." Echo said, slipping the robe over her shoulders and emerging from within the closet, "I was just about to go down to the pool."

"I figured." Maru said with a nod, throwing herself on Echo's bed. "You should really tidy that closet."

"You should really try knocking." Echo replied, feeling embarrassed. How long had Maru been standing there, watching her?

"Oh come on, you don't care." Maru said, watching as Echo moved around the room, searching for her sandals. 

"Just because I never say anything doesn't mean I don't mind." Echo said, "What if I hadn't been dressed yet?"

Maru shrugged.

"I would have seen you just as naked as I did when we were kids." Maru said, reaching underneath the bed and pulling out a pair of dark sandals. "Here you go."

Echo turned to her with a sigh. "Exactly, we were kids and it was bath time." Echo said, slightly flushed as she took the sandals from her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Besides, you walk into my room all the time." Maru said. 

"Fine." Echo muttered with a sigh.

"What were you doing any way?" Maru asked and Echo went pale. Lord! Maru must have seen her.

"Nothing." Echo said nervously as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

"What do you mean nothing? You were just staring at yourself in the mirror." Maru said with a frown. 

"Everyone looks at themselves in the mirror." Echo said. 

"Yeah but you were staring with a weird glazed over look... for a while." Maru replied, standing, "Like a good while."

"I... think... I noticed I put on extra weight." Echo lied, noting that Maru was immediately suspicious. Maru glanced her over and chuckled. 

"Yeah, right." Maru said, "Fine, don't tell me. A swim sounds nice though... I'll join you."

"I'll meet you downstairs." Echo said, hastily moving out the door and towards the stairs. Maru stood back for a second, staring at the open door.  It had been a couple of days since Echo's adventure as they now called it and she'd since caught her doing the oddest things. Just that morning, she'd found Echo scribbling away in a notebook rapidly and when Maru approached her, she'd freaked out and thrown the notebook across her room. 

Of course, Maru assumed she'd been writing about that mystery man of hers but what was strange was how skittish she was considering that Maru knew what happened. 

Echo would have died had Maru seen what she wrote. She regretted taking the time to write it out but, Echo was a writer- it's what she did. She'd been dreaming about Luke even when she wasn't asleep. There were so many thoughts... she was having trouble keeping up with herself. She'd taken to keeping a journal as a means to help her cope with her anxiety but she found that when it came to Luke, her mind moved so much faster than her hands could keep up with. The more she wrote, the more that came to mind and the more she wondered if this was really the end of it. 

As she walked out past the terrace, she glanced at the pool house. She could picture him sitting on the other side of that door, waiting for her to bring him something to eat, smirking as he said something else to completely rattle her mind. It was so strange to think that he'd actually been there...

"Hey! Great weather for a swim, right?" Lena's voice intruded her thoughts as she made it to the chairs decked around the large pool. Echo smiled, placing her towel down. 

"Yeah... Romy, you're home early." Echo said as she made herself comfortable in the chair next to her. 

"Hey." Romy said without looking up. She had her eyes tightly closed as she seemed to soak up every last ray of sun. She looked stunning as always in the solid, one piece swimsuit- elegant in it's simplicity. "I took off early, had some things to do."

Echo raised her brow. It was strange of Romy to take time off- she was the epitome, the very definition of a workaholic. It was such a rare occurrence that Echo could count the times on one hand, have fingers to spare and recall the reason for each time specifically. Romy simply did not just take time off. Still, Echo wouldn't pry. Romy was an extremely private person and would not appreciate it under any circumstances.

"That's nice." Echo muttered, turning to look at the water where Lena floated around lazily on a raft. 

"So... tell me what happened." Romy said.

"About?" Echo asked nervously. Romy frowned.

"I was talking to dad." Romy said, making Echo turn, "With that client this morning. What's his name? The one day I'm out and I miss all the fun."

"Luke Farina for the Ark." Michael said, appearing with Alice and taking a seat at the table nearby. "I was surprised at the last minute meeting but his business could be absolutely great for us. I'll brief you over it in the morning but I think it's a go."

Echo didn't flinch at the sound of Luke's name. She was certain she'd hallucinated it, it wouldn't be the first time since she got back.

"I'm assuming that's why you came back so early." Romy said.

"Leave them alone, Romy. It was a very productive day and we all thought it would be nice to take the afternoon off." Vera said with a sigh, placing a hand on the back of Echo's chair.

"Hey!" The sound of Maru's excited cries as she ran down the lawn, made them all turn. "Everyone's home!"

"Yeah, took the afternoon off... oh, Maru... don't..." Vera began to say as Maru dropped her things on the lawn and jumped out of her sandals and into the pool. 

The water lapped and splashed everywhere, causing a few moans. 

"Maru... damn it." Lena said, sitting up on the raft and taking off her sunglasses. "I hate getting water on the lenses."

"Then why would you wear them out here?" Maru said as she swam to the edge and smiled at her parents. 

"Did you meet him?" Romy asked Vera, disregarding the chit chatter that had now broken out among Lena and Maru.

"I only caught a glimpse of him." Vera said, "he's so impressive."

"I've saw him in the building once, wasn't sure if it was him." Romy said, as always playing it cool. She was always acting as uninterested as possible in everything. 

"You'd know for sure- he has this scar..." Vera began and Romy sighed. 

"Yeah, it was him." Romy replied.

"I think it's kind of dashing." Vera said with a smile.

"A what?" Echo asked, sitting up and trying to sound normal.

"He has this big scar that goes from cheek down to his lip." Vera said, using her finger to show it on her face.

"I wonder how he got it." Alice said.

Maru turned to Echo, watching as she became more and more pale. Scar?

"OH MY GOD." Maru said as she put two and two together.

"What?" Lena asked, looking down at her. Maru smiled as she pulled herself out of the pool.

"Sorry, I just remembered something for school." Maru mumbled, looking at Echo who was staring at her wide eyed.

"I think he looks a little evil, honestly." Alice said, but she was laughing. "He was certainly very charming."

"He was. I liked him. In all the years the Ark has been downstairs, I've never once actually met the owner." Michael said.

"Is that him?" Maru mouthed silently to Echo who just nodded stiffly.

"I really think he's going to go for it." Alice said, "We'll need to discuss strategy but maybe we should take him out to dinner."

"Oh no!" Maru said, making them turn. "We want to meet him too."

Echo glared at Maru- what in the world was she doing?

Alice laughed.

"Then maybe you should show up to the office and help out a bit." Romy said.

"Me too, I want to see what he's like." Lena said excitedly. "Invite him here."

"Here?" Echo replied, horrified.

"Yes, here," Lena said, "for dinner."

"Absolutely not." Echo said, making everyone look at her.

"Why not?" Vera asked, "It might not be a bad idea, more of a personal touch. He's a big account."

"You're just going to bring a stranger into our home?" Echo said the first thing that popped into her head.

"Seriously, Echo. What are you freaking out for? it wouldn't be the first time we brought a client home for dinner." Romy said, raising her brow. "You're acting crazy, even for you."

"Stop it, Romy." Alice said. "Listen, Echo. I know new people make you uncomfortable but it's just dinner and it's not even decided yet."

Echo glanced over at Maru who was smiling at her.

"I forgot my sunblock." Echo said, standing. "Maru, can I borrow yours?"

"Yeah, it's upstairs in my room." Maru said with a big smile.

"Great, let's go grab it." Echo said.

"But I want to hear more about the new client." Maru said, trying to contain her laughter.

"Won't take long." Echo said. Maru sighed.

"Oh, alright." Maru said grinning, "Excuse us."

"Hey... you can use mine, it's right... there..." Lena began to say as they ran off across the lawn. 

"What was that about?" Vera asked Lena, who shrugged.

"I don't know. It's Echo, I have no idea what she's thinking 90% of the time." Lena said.

"They have a secret." Romy said, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out."

"What kind of secret would they have?" Vera asked.

"Does it matter? It's a secret between Echo and Maru. Let them have it." Romy replied, standing to stretch her long limbs.

"Maru doesn't keep secrets from me." Lena said with a pout.

"Things change." Romy said simply. "People change. Why I wouldn't be surprised if even our little Echo changed."

"Well, I'm going to go change. You girls staying out here?" Alice asked as she stood.

"Yeah." Lena said, laying back on the raft.

Vera and Romy nodded.

"I'm going to get changed too." Vera said, and again Romy just nodded. "You know Lena, Romy is just being Romy and trying to make everyone crazy."

"I know." Lena said with a smile. "I don't know how you put up with her all day."

"Patience." They both replied at the same time.

"What the hell was that about?" Echo asked, shutting the door to Maru's room behind her.

"Sorry, I just got excited. I'd love to see him." Maru said with a smile.

"Well, I wouldn't." Echo said, "I meant it. I don't want to see him again."

"Why are you so sure about that?" Maru asked. "You don't think it's a big coincidence that he's approaching Mom and Dad after all these years? He's definitely trying to contact you."

"That's ridiculous. Please don't fill my head with that nonsense." Echo said.

"It's not nonsense. Oh come on, do you really not want to see him again?" Maru said. "It's been a few days, time has passed and if everything happened because you two were swept up in the moment, now you'll know."

"Maybe I don't want to know. Maybe I was happy remembering it the way it was without getting disappointed. " Echo said, "Maru, he can't come over."

"Well, there isn't much you can do about it. If mom and dad decided to invite him over, he'll come over." Maru said, holding out the sunblock. Echo stared at it for a moment.

"No, I'll make sure he doesn't." Echo said, walking out of her room and down the hall.

"What?" Maru asked, following her after a few minutes. "What do mean?"

"I'll just go talk to him." Echo said, "And ask him to please leave us alone."

Maru stared at her in disbelief as she began to change.

"Echo what the hell is your problem? Is it really that bad?" Maru said.

"I don't have time to talk. I have to deal with this." Echo said, reappearing from within the closet. For the first time in a long time, she was actually wearing fitted jeans, although her shirt was still much too big.

"What do you mean?" Maru asked. "Why don't you calm down, we can go downstairs and have lunch with everyone."

"I'll call you later." Echo said, running down the stairs and out the door. "Cover for me, please!"