Fred knew Mia was gone after a couple of days passed and he hadn't heard a thing from her. Her number was discontinued, Josie wasn't disclosing anything much less Izzy; they were sworn to a secrecy of some sort. All he could get out of both of them was 'Mia's got a lot to figure out'. Nothing he could do with that information but it ate him alive.

While Andre thought up ideas for the new AFTech branch in Leicester, Fred tried to get his mind on the right track. He worked as much as he could to help get everything set up but she was always on his mind. Every night, he'd lay in bed and the kiss replayed in his mind over and over again like a broken record.

It was the last memory of her and as much as it was his best, it hurt even more when he thought of how he had let her walk away without even being aware that it was the last time he would get to see her, to hold her, to be consumed by her essence. He couldn't think, he couldn't sleep, he couldn't drive by the café or the library, he couldn't breathe without thinking of her. She was had taken over his mind completely and every day was a struggle. He didn't know what to do with thoughts of her, was he supposed to try and get over her when everything in him wanted to go to her and demand answers.

It got to a point he used every resource he had to find out where she was but nothing. Months passed and he was back in Seattle while Andre ran the Leicester branch so he and Isabelle could be together. He and Josie met up at Harper's once in a while to catch up and all he could get out from her was 'Mia's fine, move on.'

One year later, Mia joined Josie on the couch. It was the weekend and Mia visited Josie as often as she could during the weekends. They hadn't heard a thing from Izzy since she left for the surprise getaway with Andre. They hadn't disturbed her for twenty-four hours since they were supposed to arrive and Josie and Mia had reached their limit, they needed to know what was going on with Izzy. Just as Izzy answered their call, she yelped.

"Are you alright?" Josie who had heard the yelp asked.

Izzy looked from Andre's arm around her to her phone with a smile.
"Hey, sorry, Andre kind of took me by surprise."

"Hey Iz." Mia said as she took a seat beside Josie.

"Hey you." Izzy said. "I thought you were going to call last night when you got to Josie's place."

"Hmm, I did call. Someone was just too busy to accept my call." Mia said.

"Oh." Izzy frowned. "I'm sorry, I haven't checked my phone since we arrived here."

"How's everything going?" Josie asked.

"Good...great actually." Izzy looked at Andre beside her on the bed and back at her phone. "I have news."

"Okay?" Mia and Josie said, not sure what to expect.

"I don't know when but you girls would have to come back."

"Why?" Mia asked.

"You said everything is great." Josie added.

"It is, that's why you'll need to come back." Izzy said with a smile as she lifted her hand for them to see.

It took only a moment before Mia and Josie screamed which in turn snapped Andre from his conscious state.

"When did that happen?" Mia asked happily.

"Last night, before we left Leicester."

"Oh, my goodness, it's so pretty." Josie said. "We're so happy for you Iz."

"Yea. We wish we could be there to celebrate with you." Mia said.

"You will be." Izzy said. "Andre and I haven't talked about dates but as soon as we do, I'll let you know. You girls must be here throughout the whole thing."

"No need to tell us." Mia said.

"You definitely don't need to tell me." Josie said before she glanced at Mia by her side.

"What?" Mia looked at Josie then at Izzy.

Izzy smiled and sad smile.
"You know Fred will be here too, right?"

Mia's mood shifted but she shrugged it off.
"This is going to be about you, not about me. If I have to be in the same room as if for you, I'll do it."

"You sure?" Josie asked.

Mia breathed in and was silent for a moment.
"I am."

"Good." Izzy said.

"Now both of you get lost." Andre said from where his head lay on Izzy's lap. "I need my woman all to myself."

"Oh-ohh." Josie and Mia said. "Bye."

"Bye."

They blew kisses across the phone before they hung up.

"Knowing Andre, he's going to set a date that's near." Josie said

"And Izzy would want to take her time, plan this whole thing just right."

Josie nodded.
"A year."

"Definitely a year." Mia agreed. "Give or take."

"So, we'll need to be set to go in ten months."

"Ten months sounds about right." Mia said.

"Oh, this is so exciting." Josie said as she leaped from the sofa in the living room. "I'm going to check in with Fred."

Mia nodded as Josie went to her bedroom to talk to Fred whom she hadn't seen in over a year. The thought of Josie talking to him in her room upstairs and seeing him in ten months made her heart beat escalate. The last time she saw him was when he found out she was leaving Leicester; things hadn't been pretty. She had heard from Izzy and Josie that he had been trying to find out where she was but she had made her friends promise not to disclose her location. Even Andre was in on it too and even though she knew it was just a matter of time before she bumped into him, she didn't think she would be walking into a scene where he was going to be present.

Since Andre moved to Leicester, Fred had been the one running the Seattle branch of their company. Mia came to stay with Josie every weekend but when she heard about the swap, she came every weekend at the end of the month. She had tried to build her career after she left Leicester to stay with her aunt in Chicago. She had retaken the bar exams and this time she cleared it. She had gotten a job at a firm and was helping out with a few minor cases when she knew she could do more than they were letting her. She knew what she wanted to be doing and she was going to get there somehow, she just didn't know how right now.

But one thing was certain in her life; there was no way she was ever going to forget Frederick Zahn because his kiss still lingered on her lips.

Fred was at his apartment, working out in the gym when his phone rang. He paused as he came up from his pushup and pushed the button on his earpiece and went back to his pushups.

"Zahn." He answered.

"Hey bro."

"How did it go?"

Andre laughed across the line.
"She said 'Yes'."

Fred smiled; that was why Josie called earlier, she had wanted to find out if he knew yet. Andre had gotten a ring for Isabelle a couple of months ago planning the perfect getaway for them and when she had gotten time off, he proposed to her with the help of a lot of her friends and then he'd whisked her away to Voavah, a private Island in the Maldives.

"Congratulations bro."

"Thanks man."

"So, when's the big day?"

"Ah man, in a year."

Fred laughed.

"I would get married to her right here, right now but she wants this whole thing to be planned just right and you know me..."

"Yea I know you. You'd give her anything."

Andre sighed.
"I would."

"I'm happy for you man."

"I'm happy for me too."

Fred shook his head with a smile.
"So, you tell me when you want me there and I'll be over with no question."

"You'll have to be here for the fitting and then there's the..."

"Bachelor's party. Of course." Fred smirked. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Just...nothing too elaborate, Belle would go nuts if she finds out."

Fred laughed.
"Typical in-love ­guy behavior."

"Just you wait for your turn."

Fred paused mid pushup and suddenly got up. Andre could sense he had touched a nerve and he knew just which one. He didn't want to bring her up in their conversations because he was afraid of spilling Mia's location to him.

"I'll see you later."

"Give Isabelle my love."

"Will do." Andre was about to go off when he remembered. "Oh, one last thing."

"Yea." Fred opened his bottle and drank in gulps from it.

"Mia's gonna be there for the wedding."

Fred came back up choking.

"Alright, now bye." Andre went off.

"Son of a...!" Fred cussed when he had stopped choking.