Chapter 3: acquaintances
"Hi Evelyn, long time no see!" I grinned awkwardly at one of my old classmates.
"Oh please Rosalie, call me Eve." She smiled, trying to engulf me in a big embrace.
In highschool I kept telling her she would grow up to be a big lady someday, but she had always stayed small, in a very cute way. It had me wondering about Gold's idea of a wife.. like example; would he object to a large woman, who towered over him, because he wants to be dominant or what about petite woman, like Elizabeth Downer, a.k.a. Thumbelina, who lives abouve the bakery.
I noticed the coat rack, on which I hung my scarf and jacket, was made of seashells and coral. "Very decorative house." I yelled when she disappeared in the kitchen. "Thanks!"
"So what's cooking?" I asked once she returned.
"Oh dear, I don't cook, I'm a vegetarian." She explained that word into detail until my head was filled with greens and pictures of bleeding cows and slaughtered horses. "Seaweed?" she asked, chewing on a leaf herself.
Politely I took one from the bowl and tried to savor it when suddenly a thought hit me. 'OMG, I am sitting with a mermaid in the room and not just any but Ariel, daughter of Triton; the siren who had lead thousands of men underwater with nothing but her voice… Then why does she sound like a hyperactive teenager?'
"Say Eve, did you colour your hair by any chance?"
"Ow you noticed? I change it all the time. Last time it was blue, like really flashy, then purple, white, black, brown, honeyblond, sugarplum pink, peacock green, sunburnt orange,…. My true colour's red actually, but I never liked that one very much."
"I see and what was your favourite one?" "Bubblegum pink, definitely! Everyone complimented me on that one, safe for Granny."
"Well you know Granny." I smiled "So, Evelyn, do you believe in…. in love at first sight?"
"Absolutely Rose! In fact I believe it's the only possibility, else it wouldn't be love to begin with."
"If you look at it that way…." Thinking love wasn't built in the blink of an eye but more like a rose, growing into something beautiful.
"Why you ask, not anyone in mind do you?" she giggled.
"No fish in the sea has caught my eye yet, you?"
"Just a yellow guppy at the pet store, saw him at the window last week."
"Why don't we go over there and pay Jonathan a visit. I'm certain he doesn't see a lot of customers."
"Ow…ow… You see, I'm not sure, besides I already have an aquarium with two bubblehead fish."
"Can I see them?" I asked, feeling she was avoiding the topic of Jonathan. She dragged me upstairs to her bedroom where she kept the fish. "They look adorable!"
After saying my goodbyes to Evelyn I headed towards the petstore, which was about to close in an hour, to put my recently concocted plan to work.
"Hi Jonathan!" I greeted the man who came from the back of the shop.
"Rosebud, it's been awhile. How are things with the publishing company?"
"Pretty quiet, nothing ever happens in this town, safe for the 'mayor voting', but they barely let me write something of my own. I just have to edit and rewrite the articles." "Too bad. I liked reading your stories and articles in the school newspaper."
"That was years ago! Things are changing John, I'm no longer the scrawny girl from back then."
"Of course and that's why I'm asking you to lend me a hand here. Could you publish a job offer?"
"Really?"
"It doesn't pay very much but…"
"Let's strike a deal. I 'll help you out in the store because I'm bored and in return I need you to do a delivery. There's this friend of mine who'd really like to purchase the yellow guppy."
"The one with the blue fins?"
"Exactly!"
"Who's this old friend?"
"Evelyne. Evelyne Botterscotch."
"The redheaded nymph?"
"Actually it's maroon-brownish at the moment. Hairfetish. At least you remember her."
"It's a deal." He said, shaking hands with me.
'Mother of gods, did I just struck a deal?'
'Relax Rosebud, people make deals all the time…besides nothing evil happened!'