Authors Note:
I have the next two chapters planned out well enough to write and post. I will probably get them both up either today or one today and the next tomorrow. After that I am a bit hazy on the gap between these two and the end.
It's almost done. I do however plan to do a third, but that one will bring the series to a close. I don't plan to even start that one till after the holidays are done here as it has been difficult to find the time to get stuff written and posted. So I'll wait till the crazy here subsides.
Anyways on with the story for now.
Chapter 8:
Teachers and Students
"Good morning Will!" I said shocking him awake. "I've decided to be your coach. Training starts today. Emma will be taking care of your morning endurance training so I'll leave you in her capable hands for now."
Emma came forward. She was wearing a set of comfortable running clothes, had her hair tied sensibly back, was holding a clipboard, and had a whistle around her neck.
"Now?" Will groaned still only partially awake.
"Yup. Right now." Emma said. "Get up and let's go. I can wait outside while you get dressed but if you're not out in five minutes I'm coming back in to drag you out." She turned on her heel and headed out the door to wait. I followed her.
"Remember this sport is about getting down to depth. Speed is secondary to making the depth." I reminded her.
She looked at her clipboard and puled out a pen. "Well that will change a few things but I can fix those quickly enough. Thanks for the reminder. I had intense speed in mind." She crossed a few things out and wrote in some new entries.
Will came out blurry eyed and not amused at the early hour. I didn't blame him for that. I'd had four cups of coffee this morning and was planning to get another on my way to work. "I'll meet you back here after my shift Will. I will be taking care of a different part of your training."
"Why is Emma helping then? If you're my coach why is Emma coaching?" He asked.
"A few reasons." I said. "But the main ones are that we have a short time to get you ready and I can't take enough time off work to do it all myself. Also Emma used to do competitive swimming so she knows whats needed the best."
"We're going to start off with a long distance run at a moderate pace." She said. "I want you to run at a steady pace the whole way. No slowing down or taking breaks."
"Sophie used to have me do sprints too." He said. "You need me to do that as well?"
"Sprints are for speed building. You don't need speed you need endurance." She said. "After all Laura reminded me that diving is about getting down to where you need to go. Speed is secondary to being able to get there."
"But the faster you get there the less time you have to spend down at the depth." He said.
"Was that Sophie's philosophy?" I asked him. He nodded. "Well the problem with that is the faster you try to go the more energy and air you use up if you don't have the endurance for it. Quick but steady will get you there a bit slower but you won't tire out doing it."
"Makes sense." He said. "I think I can do that."
"Hold a conversation while you run." I said heading out for work. "The talking will help you build lung capacity."
"It will?" Emma said.
"Yeah. It's why the military's sing cadence. Makes them have to use more air so they build lung capacity. I learned that while on a job with Denman when we had to assist the US coast guard. One of the few times I had to make damn sure no one saw me in a tail on a job out in the middle of the ocean. Way harder then you'd think."
I hurried away before they could respond. If I didn't leave soon I'd never get my coffee before getting to work. I needed it badly enough that I braved the line, and the stupidity, at a coffee shop on the way. It took me three tries to get the employee at the register to stop staring at me in wonder and actually take my order. I should have brewed more at home.
It had been a month now since my being outed as a mermaid. I'd though with a year to get used to us existing and being semi public people would have been more calm about it. I should have known better. Knowing we existed was different for people then actually seeing one of us face to face. It was like the news was being announced fresh all over again. Only now they had an actual mermaid they could see, and not a vague report that we were real.
Seriously people could be so stupid some times.
I got to work late, due less to my stopping for coffee and more to having to dodge half a dozen or so idiots that wanted either to marry me or to kiss me and see if they could stay underwater all day. I'd have just swam to work but that would mean I wouldn't have been able to slowly enjoy my coffee. A girl has to have her priority's you know.
"How many today?" Laurie asked me as I slammed the employee gate behind me and fell back against it relieved.
"At least half a dozen or so. It would be more depressing if I kept an exact count." I said.
"Seriously they should know they can't do that." He said. "You're protected."
"That would required law enforcement to actually follow me everywhere and arrest each and every one of them. They'd get nothing else done in a day if they had to do that." I answered. "As long as no one tries to kill me over this I can handle people being stupid. I did survive high school after all. In America too."
He wasn't able to keep from laughing at that. "Well you'll be happy to know we're done cleaning the tanks. So you don't have to do that anymore."
"Well that's some good news." I said standing up and finishing the last of my coffee. "What's the bad news?"
"We just received a pod of dolphins that have suffered some serious trauma." He said. "As usual they are skittish and distrustful of humans. We have them in separate tanks for now. There's only three, a female and two males. Problem is they won't eat anything we offer them."
"What was wrong with them." I asked.
"We found a toxin in their blood panel." He said leading the way. "Our best guess is some idiot fed them poisoned fish for some unknown reason." He was fuming. He had a deep passionate love of all sea life and he hated it when they were deliberately mistreated. Honest accidents he could forgive, more so if you called it in personally and owned up to the mistake. This was something that went against every thing he believed in.
"I'll see what I can do. Cleo working today?" I asked.
"Yeah. If you like I'll see to it you guys are left alone except for myself if you feel you could use her help." He said.
"I might. Let me take a look at them and I'll judge it from there." I answered following him through a door to the rescue tanks that had no access to any public area of the park. "I'll try to get them eating something. If that works we might be able to have Cleo take over their feeding when I'm not here. If they trust me they should trust her too."
"I hope so. They've lost a lot of weight and that's not good. We need to get them eating." He said. "Here we are."
I looked in the tank. There was a dolphin keeping to the far end of it. As far from us as it could get. "Which one is this?" I asked.
"This is the female. We've taken to calling her Nadine. She's the worst of the three so I though we'd start with her.." He said. I nodded at the logic. I leaned down at the edge of the tank and tried a few of the hand gestures to call her over. She just dove under the water and kept her distance.
"I think I'll actually have to get in there with her." I said.
"We've tried that. If we cornered her she fought back. She's really in a bad way." He warned me.
"Well I think you asked to do this hoping she'd be more trusting of a mermaid. So I'll take my chances." I said.
"I'll leave you to it. I'm going to see if one of the males is a little more forthcoming today." He headed off to one of the other tanks near by.
"Well Nadine let's see how you do with me." I said tanking a deep breath before diving in.
As soon as I hit the water she started swimming in a brisk circle at the bottom of the tank. This would make it hard for someone to get near her as well as give her some momentum if she had to ram them to defend herself. I waited for my change to take place and then swam near the surface. This would work much better if she came to me.
She didn't notice the difference at first but eventually she slowed down and started swimming in a different pattern. One where she would start to come up near me for a bit before diving back down. She also stopped circling and was now swimming in a more back and forth pattern. Almost like she was doing the dolphin equivalent to pacing.
I stayed near the surface. Giving her space and not pushing her. I wasn't sure how much time had passed when she finally did surface next to me and nudged me weakly. I smiled and gently rubbed her back.
"Hello there. I'm Laura and I'm glad you decided to come up here. I'm here to help. I won't hurt you I promise." I said in a soft, soothing voice to her. I guided her over to the entrance where Laurie had left a bucket of fish for her to eat. I took one out and offered it to her. She refused.
"Don't worry it's OK to eat." I told her. It didn't look like she believed me. I grimaced. I was going to have to do something rather risky to get her to trust me. I was going to have to eat it to prove it was safe. Of course safe for her to eat and safe for me to eat were two different things.
Still if it helped her I'd take the risk. I broke off a piece of the fish and let her watch me eat it. It tasted foul and smelled worse, but I steeled myself to make no negative reaction to it. Once done I offered it to her again. This time she slowly came over and took it from me. She swallowed it whole in one go and then darted back out into the tank.
"Never thought to try that." I heard Laurie say from behind me. "You sure that was a good idea?"
"Not really." I answered pulling myself clear of the water and starting to get dry. "But I figured I had to do something for her to know it was safe and that's the only thing I could think of on the spot."
"Still you should get that out of your system just to be sure." He said.
"That's not going to be a problem. It was rather revolting." I answered almost dry.
"There had to be a better way then having you eat it." He looked thoughtful.
"I guess if they saw one of the other dolphins eating and not getting sick that might have worked too. Didn't think of that at the time though." I suggested.
"Not a bad idea. We'll give that a try." He said offering me a hand to my feet. "But it seems as if they are more trustful of mermaids."
"That's good." I was interrupted by a chittering sound in the water. Nadine had come back and was eyeballing the bucket of fish. "I think she wants more."
Laurie started to reach for the bucket only to have Nadine start to throw a fit and dart off. "Looks like she still won't trust me." He said.
I picked up the bucket and held out a fish. Nadine darted close and made a loud racket. I tossed her a fish and she snapped it up quickly and then made a racket for more. I gave her one more then leaned out over the edge and rubber her head.
"That's all for now. Eat too much too fast after not eating for so long and you'll only get sick again. I'll bring you more later." I whispered to her. She made a bunch of happy clicking sounds and swam off into the tank.
"Well that worked. Let's see if you can't get the boy's eating something too." He said. He was smiling. Honestly happy to see that I'd gotten her to eat some food. It would be a while but now he had hope for their well being.
"If I hadn't gotten her to eat you'd have had to confine her to a sling and put her on a food drip." I said. It wasn't a question but he took it as one anyways.
"Yeah. But that's always a last resort. We don't like doing that because it prevents them from moving and that only scares them worse. Some just give up on living even with the food drip. It's better to only do that if they have broken bones and letting them swim won't let it heal right." He said "Thankfully that won't be necessary now."
"You'll have to find time to get Cleo in here." I told him. "I won't have time to handle all three at once. So they're going to need to get familiar with her too. I don't think she'll have to go into the water with them more then once each for them to come around though."
I then spent some time with each of the two males. One they'd named Alan and the other Timmy. I'd had to get in the water with each of them and wait for them to come to me just like I had with Nadine. I'd also had to prove the fish were safe again before they'd eat. Soon as I was done in there I'd left and found a bathroom and said good by to the samples. I chose to have only Pepto for lunch. I didn't think I'd eat again for a few days.
Cleo was working the late shift today so when I went back to feed each of the dolphins again I brought her with me. They picked up on her without needing her to get in the water and after I handed her a fish they were willing to take it from her too.
"That's good. They trust you too." I said.
"What happened to them? Poor things." Cleo asked me.
"We're not sure. Best guess is someone fed them poisoned food. I actually had to eat some of the fish before they'd take food from me." I held back a shudder.
"That's terrible. Who'd do that to them?" Cleo asked. "And that can't be healthy for you."
"Don't know." I told her. "And I had to bring it all back up and I had no appetite for lunch. I don't think I'm going to have dinner tonight either." I replied. "Most revolting thing I've ever done but it got them eating and that's what's important."
"I couldn't have done it." She said with a shudder.
"I figured if they want to get them trusting others they should let them see the other dolphins eating. That might work just as good and is probably less risky." I explained. "Anyways it's good that they trust you too. You'll need to make sure they eat something when I'm not here. Laurie's going to try to adjust things so one of us is here for a week or so until they start to trust some of the other personal here."
"I can do that. Poor things." Cleo had always had a soft spot for dolphins. "I'll be glad to help when I'm not busy with a show."
"Thanks." I said to her and meant it. "I'm off in a bit and I'll be training Will all afternoon. I'll trust you to bring them dinner."
"Not a problem. Thanks for asking me to help." She said.
"I knew they'd like you and you've always had a bit of a soft spot for them. Actually I'd say we all do even Rikki." I laughed at bit. Cleo joined me.
"Well I'll be back later " She said to Nadine. "I have to go spend time with some of the other dolphins but I'll be back later to see that you get some nice dinner." Nadine seemed happy and swam off. It looked to me like she had more energy then she did this morning, but whether that was from the food or the company I couldn't say.
"Have fun at the show. I'm heading out now. I'll see you tomorrow." I exchanged a wave with Cleo as she went off to get ready for the show and I headed to the exit.
I made it to Will's place with only a few minor annoyances and found him doing some stretching.
"How you feeling?" I asked.
"Not bad." He answered. "Emma's a bit stricter then Sophie was, but her routine was far better focused on going long distances and building endurance. Sophie had me do a lot of sprints and short bursts. Emma had me do long distance sets with limited amounts of breaths allowed. I think I gained more from it then I ever did working with my sister."
"That's good. It's what you need." I said. "Well let's get in your boat and I'll show you were the next bit of training is going to be."
We hopped in and he got us underway. I ended up in my tail from the spray but I figured that was unavoidable. I needed to be in the boat to explain the next part and to navigate him to where we were going.
"So what I'm going to work on with you is diving down to depth and returning. Over and over." I said. "The place we're going to is about twenty meters deep. I want you to dive down to the bottom, stay there for a count of five, then return to the surface. I want you to do a set of twenty then catch your breath. I want you to get through about four or five of them today."
"That's a lot." He said. "What's the point of it?"
"Getting you used to diving and returning on short energy and breath." I said. "That's why it's only twenty meters. You should be able to do that easily enough with little dive prep. Also use your mono fin the whole time. I want you used to the boost it gives."
"Won't it be better if I only use that at the meet?" He asked.
"You'd think that but actually it won't." I told him. "If you only use it at the meet the boost will actually throw you off more then it helps. You won't be used to it and it will completely mess up your rhythm when you dive"
"Mermaid philosophy?" He asked.
"Sort of." I laughed. "When we were doing tests with Denman we had to put on a dry suit that would let us enter the water and not change. Diving down even ten meters using a mono fin was far different from when I swim with my own tail. All my reactions and my muscle memory was for my tail and having the fin was close but not enough. So I don't want you used to diving with out it as all that will do is build muscle memory for not having it."
"So you want to condition my body to working with it until it's almost natural for me." He seemed to get it.
"That's the idea. It will give you a solid advantage over anyone pulling it out for just the meet." I looked around. "Go over that way a bit more. We'll be there in about another ten minutes at this rate."
"If I knew where you wanted me to go I could have gotten a head start on you." He laughed. "But even that might not have been enough."
In close to the time I estimated we arrived at the location I'd picked out. Will got his goggles and mono fin on and hopped into the water.
"OK. Get started on the first set." I told him.
He splashed water at me, not a big deal as I was already in my tail, and got started. He made it to fifteen before he couldn't go any more.
"Fifteen," I said. "I'm impressed."
"Wait? You didn't think I could do all of them anyways? Then why have me do twenty?" He asked between breaths.
"Simple." I explained. "The purpose of this is not to actually to wear you out. It's to teach you to dive with efficiency while using your mono fin and to maintain it when you start to get tired. I figured it would take you a few tries to get it down."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Once you get your breath and do the second run I'll bet you get all twenty." I said.
He'd finally caught his breath. "You think so?"
"Yup." I said.
"Could you do it?" He challenged.
I just looked at him a raised one eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah. Really." He dared.
"Well we'd have to find a spot that was two hundred meters deep then or else this would be a complete joke." I told him.
"Wait? Why two hundred meters?" He asked confused.
"Bella never told you?" He shook his head. "Our bodies treat depth pressure differently then yours does. It's about a ten to one ratio."
"Ten to one?" He looked more confused.
"OK to put it simply the pressure you feel diving down to twenty meters is the same as what I would feel at two hundred meters. So for one of us to do the mermaid equivalent of your eighty meter dive we'd have to go down to eight hundred meters." I explained.
"Oh." He looked impressed. "So daring you to prove you could do this exercise in twenty meter deep water would be like having me do it in only two meters."
"Yup. You look rested enough to me." I pointed out.
He laughed and got started. This time he made all twenty.
"That was easier. I was more used to the fin this time and I made better progress." He didn't seem as winded this time. "But why have me pause at the bottom?"
"How long does it take you to pull the marker free and then turn around?" I asked him.
"About five... oh I see." He said as it clicked.
"As you get better at this we'll add more sets. Once you can do about ten sets we'll move to deeper water." I told him. "Get you used to going down farther and maintaining your pace. You'll also find you get less tired as we go because you're not wasting as much energy getting down to the bottom."
"Ah. I think I get where you are going with all this. More mermaid philosophy?" He asked.
"If you want to call it that." I said rolling over the side and into the water. I continued explaining as I swam lazily around him. "Even Cleo understands this and she admits she never learned to swim before becoming a mermaid. Even hated the water according to her. Now she could teach you this as well as any of us could. It's not so much a philosophy as it is just something we innately understand."
"I see. I'm ready for the next set." He said and got started.
This time when he finished he was barely winded at all. He hung off the side of his boat and looked down at his mono fin.
"I think I'm really starting to understand what you want me to," he said to me. "On that first set it was taking me something like thirty kicks to get down and the same to get back. On the second set it only took me about twenty five each trip. This time it took me only twenty. I'm getting more out of each kick as I get used to working with the fin."
"Exactly. That's what's really going to give you the advantage at the meet. The fact that you are using a fraction of the effort that everyone else is using." I said. "That's the real trick. Working with the water and the fin to get the most distance for the least energy. That also will cause your body to burn less of the oxygen you have so you can go deeper or farther on one breath."
"Why didn't Sophie think of this in her training?" He asked.
"She's not a mermaid. So she thinks of this like any other coach out there. By the book." I laughed. "And it's a book written by people that know how to swim in the water but will never really understand how to live in it. Not like we do. That's what I can teach you."
He nodded and got started on the fourth set. While he did that I reached into the boat and checked the watch we'd brought with us. I figured he'd have enough time to finish the last set before we went to meet Bella.
"Twenty again. I thought it would take less." He said.
"You'll find that you will hit a point where the progress will come slower. Just give it time don't rush it." I told him. "At this pace you'll get through the last set then we'll go meet Bella for the last part of your training."
"I'd rather not. I don't want to put a strain on our relationship by having her train me." He said.
"Oh you'll like this kind of training. She thinks it's OK." I gave him a half grin.
"OK what do you have her doing?" He asked.
"Depth acclimation." I said. "You're to get a nice hold on her and then she'll swim you both down to about sixty meters deep a lot faster then you can right now. We even picked a spot with lot's of fish and coral reefs to look at. You might even find some nice shells too."
"That sounds more like a date then training." He said to me.
"That's the idea." I said with a grin. "But the real point of it is to give you time down at that depth. Time enough that you can get used to the pressure. That's why Bella will be swimming you down and back each time. Just let her know when you need to surface and she'll take care of it."
"Not a bad idea actually." He said with a grin.
"Hurry up and do the last set and we can head out to where we are supposed to meet her." I told him.
He quickly got through his last set for the afternoon and we both climbed back into the boat. I relaxed in the boat as he drove, occasionally giving directions. On the way over there I reminded him to submit his entry forms.
"Did that this morning after working with Emma and before going home to do some light weight training and the stretching. " He told me. "They were a bit surprised when I listed you as my coach. They'll be coming tomorrow to find out if you really are my coach."
"I can be at the pool when you get there. I do have to stop by the park for a bit even though it's my day off." I told him.
"Why?" He was curious so I answered him and explained about the dolphins the park was taking care of. "That's awful. Who could do something like that?"
"No idea. I doubt we'll ever actually find out either. Which completely sucks." I wasn't able to hide my distaste at the fact that someone had done that either. "Well we're here. Drop anchor and Bella should either arrive soon or she's already here and just down below us."
Bella was already here it turned out and we didn't have to wait long for her to surface.
"Hello Will." She said with a smile for him.
"Hello beautiful." He replied and leaned over to kiss her. I couldn't keep the amused grin off my face.
"Ready to go sightseeing?" She asked him.
"With you? Always." I coughed politely to remind them I was here.
"Oh Laura. Hi." Bella said blushing. "Are you going to be joining us?"
I laughed, not unkindly, and replied. "No. I think I'll give you two love birds some alone time. Just don't stay out too late. OK."
"OK." they both answered and I slipped over the side and took off for home. Half way back I changed course and headed for the cafe. I figured I'd would try to get something to eat after all. I hopped out at the dock right in front of it and got myself dried off. There were some benefits to not having to hide anymore.
Once dry I headed up and found a booth. I didn't have to wait long before Em came by and asked if I wanted my usual or something different today. I decided to stick to my usual meal but I went for a chocolate shake with it for a change.
"I heard about the dolphins. I think it's just terrible but I'm glad you're doing something to help. Though next time try not to eat the raw fish." She said to me as she went to fill my order.
"Cleo!" I groaned into the table.
"Hey. Laura right? Mind if I keep you company?" A male voice asked me.
"Damn it what is wrong with you people." I looked up to see Bryon. "Oh Bryon. Hi."
"Or I could just leave you alone." He said and started to leave.
"No. No. You can stay." I said flustered.
"You're sure?" He asked.
"Yes." I said. "At least you would have left and meant it as more then just a ploy." I waved to the seat across from me. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's been a rough week." It felt like my face was redder then my hair right now, but at least I was talking straight, for the moment anyways.
"I've heard a few rumors." He said taking a seat. "Are the guys here really acting that stupid?"
I just groaned as I put my head in my hands.
"Don't let it get to ya." He told me. "I get it sometimes too when I got to places that know I've won a few surfing competitions. Guys jealous of my skills, and girls just throwing themselves at me asking me to marry them. Most of the time I wish they'd just realize I just want to do my thing and not be bothered."
I looked up at him surprised. He seemed so unassuming I'd never have guessed he'd have understood.
"Some say it's the price of fame." He gave a half grin. "Some like it. Some don't. I find it a bother to be honest. I just want to surf. I'm good at it, but I really do it because I love it not because I want to be famous for it. That's just a way to earn a living doing what I like. Like you right?"
"Huh?" Great I was back to monosyllables again. So much for my brief bout of composure.
"You're a marine biologist. From what the girls told me it's what you always wanted to do even before you became a..., well you know."
"Oh. Yeah. Right." Just shoot me now. I was sure my face was so red I could play the part of a lobster dinner.
"Are you OK?" He asked.
"Fine." I said too quickly. "OK no I'm not." I admitted.
"Anything I can do to help?" He offered.
Right then Emma showed up with my usual dinner and my chocolate shake. "Can I get you anything else? Or anything for you Bryon?"
"I'm good." I managed to say with out too much trouble.
"I'll have a mixed fruit shake with a protean boost." Bryon said. "What ever you have in stock will be fine."
"I'll have that ready for you shortly." She said turning and heading to fill is order. I caught her eye as she was putting stuff in the blender and begged her for help with a look. She just smiled and gave me a covert thumbs up.
"So if you don't mind me asking are you busy tomorrow?" He asked. "I've been hoping to get to know you a bit better since that first day I met you on the beach."
"Tomorrow?" Oh come on Laura you can speak more than a single word at a time. "Tomorrow I'm coaching a friend."
"Yes, but not until the afternoon." Emma said delivering Bryon's order. I just glared at her. 'Oh don't be so shy' she mouthed silently to me as she turned away to help some other customers that had just walked in.
"Would you be willing to meet me for some coffee before you have to go off and coach?" He asked. "Say around 11?"
"Uh... OK." I mumbled.
"So tell me about this coaching you're doing. Who are you coaching and in what?" He prompted me.
"I am coaching a friend in, uh, diving." That was a bit better. Seems I felt more comfortable talking about something other than myself. I started eating and pushed forward. "His name is Will and I'm coaching him for a competition he's entering."
"Will huh." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "That the bloke that set a record a bit over a year ago now?"
"Yes that's him." I said starting to relax a bit. "He didn't want to make it his life so he stopped competing after that, but he's doing this event at a one time thing and needed some help getting back into it. I agreed to help." Full sentences I was making progress.
"He couldn't find a better coach for that. I'm sure he'll be amazing once you're done teaching him." I smiled at his vote of confidence in me.
"Thank you." I was really starting to relax now.
"So tell me a little bit about yourself." He asked with a smile.
"What do you want to know." How I became a mermaid is what I thought he'd ask. To my surprise he didn't.
"Tell me about how you decided to be a marine biologist." Was what he wanted to know instead.
"Not how I became a mermaid?" I asked confused.
"Nah. That's cool and all but it's only a part of you. I want to know more about you in general. That seemed like a good place to start being that it's what you chose to do with your life." He smiled. I found myself liking him more. He wasn't obsessed with just one small part of my life, the part that I hadn't chosen for myself at the time it happened, but with the parts that made me who I was before my fall into a pool of water on a night of a full moon.
"Well I'd always been fascinated with the sea and the wild life that lived there." I started getting animated now that we were talking about something I loved. "I was always insisting on going to the beach to look for tide pools and I wanted to go to aquariums as often as my parents would take me. I could spend hours at the display pools where you could actually pick up things like starfish or touch the sea anemones."
"That's so cool." He said.
"I was bit of a nerd in high school. Always had my nose in a science book or a marine life book. The guys wouldn't bother me unless they needed a tutor to pass a class, but I didn't mind over much. The sea was always much more interesting to me anyways." I was so into this topic I didn't notice I wasn't nervous anymore. He asked several polite questions that I was eager to answer about sea life and what my job duties were. He eventually did ask how being a mermaid effected me in my career choice, though he looked reluctant to broach that topic.
"At first I thought it would end my dreams, to be honest." I said. "But that's when I met Dr. Linda Denman and after a bit of a hair brained mistake ended up as her field assistant for a year and a half. During that time we collected enough data on me to enable me to enjoy as much of a normal life as I could and allow me to follow my dreams. After that being a mermaid has actually made my career easier to pursue."
"You know," he said leaning over the table towards me just a bit. "I think that's the best part about you I've heard. That you took something that could have ended your dreams and turned it into an asset. That's what makes you so amazing and interesting." He looked out the door. "It's starting to get dark so I have to head out for now. Tomorrow don't forget."
"I won't." I said. "I can't wait."
He smiled and after paying for his order headed out into the fading sunlight with a last smile and a cheery wave.
"See you do like him," Emma said sliding into the seat Bryon had just left. "Told ya."
"Yeah." I said in a slightly dreamy tone still looking out the door he'd left by.
"Earth to Laura," she waved a hand in front of my face I barely noticed. "You with us here?"
I shook myself out of it and looked at her. "I'm sorry what was the question?"
"And my point is made." She said with a smirk.
"You sound like Rikki." I told her.
"She'd say the same if she was here right now. We all knew you liked him." She kept smiling at me.
Um... no comment! I thought.
"So are you going to meet him?" She asked.
"Yeah I said I would." I answered. "Anyways I'll be stopping by the pool during your morning work with Will. The event organizers didn't believe him when he told them who his official coach was. So I need to be there to prove it."
We both rolled our eyes at that. "Lovely. So what does that make me then?" She asked.
"Officially? My assistant." I told her. "You used to be a competitive swimmer so you know the conditioning stuff. I train him in actual diving once you're done with all the routine stuff."
"And how did you find me? We need to get the story straight." She said.
"You're a friend of his girlfriend Bella. She told Will about your past skill as a swimmer and then he told me. I asked you to be my assistant after that." I thought up on the spot.
"Not bad." She said impressed. "I'll let the others know just in case."
"OK. I'll see you tomorrow. For now I'm going to get some sleep I have to get up early to take care of some dolphins." I said handing her the money for my order and standing up.
"I thought you were off tomorrow." She said confused.
"I am. But the only one's they'll take food from right now are me and Cleo. Someone has to feed them breakfast and Cleo's shift isn't until later in the morning. She can handle lunch and dinner for them, but unless I make a quick trip in they won't get breakfast." I explained.
"You're really dedicated to this. Good job." She waved me off and I headed out. When I got home Bella still hadn't gotten back yet. I didn't worry she could take care of herself.
The next morning I got up and got ready for a quick trip into work. I left a note for Bella as I left and quickly headed out. When the first idiot of the day threw himself at me with his wife near by I decided to try a different tactic.
"Marry me you beautiful creature." He said to me his wife glaring and looking justifiably pissed.
"Why?" I asked him.
It caught him by surprise. "Uh. Why what?"
"Why should I marry someone that would show such faithlessness. You don't know me. You've never met me before today. Yet I'm supposed to marry you when you're already married?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well uh..." He stammered. I noticed his wife's glare switch from me to her dog of a husband.
"Especially when you've just shown that you would be willing to leave your wife for a childish fan boy infatuation. Sorry but not a chance." I turned to his wife. "All yours sister." Then I stepped around him and walked off leaving him to try and talk his way out of this. I didn't think he had any chance of success.
I used a similar argument on the next several fools to do the same. Leaving most to face their wives, or girlfriends, or just the fact that they had humiliated themselves for no reason in front of all their friends. I didn't know if it would work but damn if I didn't feel better about it this time.
When I got to the park I headed to the tanks where we were caring for the rescued dolphins. Laurie was there trying to get them to eat with no apparent success.
"Here allow me." I said grabbing a fresh bucket of fish and joining him.
"You don't work today." He told me.
"No I don't." I smiled and handed Nadine a fish. "But how else are you supposed to get them to eat breakfast? Cleo won't be here until later and they still don't trust you yet." I handed her another. "Someone has to do this or they won't recover properly." I gave her a few more and she ate them all and then tried to convince me to come swimming with her. "Sorry girl not right now. I have to go get your pod mates some breakfast too."
"Thank you." Laurie said as I grabbed another pair of fish buckets. "You didn't have to do this, but it says a lot that you did. Especially with out anyone asking you to. So really thanks."
I just smiled and got Timmy and Alan to eat too. They also tried to convince me to swim with them but I didn't take them up on it.
"How long before we could put them all in the same tank?" I asked
"We need to make sure they get up to proper weight first," he told me. "But we'll do that as soon as possible. Once they are back up to good health we can release them back to the wild. Where they belong."
"That's good." I said. "I'll come by as often as needed to help. On shift or not. It's not a problem. Right now I have to go. I'm coaching a friend on free diving and the event coordinators need to meet his coach. They didn't believe him when he listed me."
Laurie laughed and thanked me one last time before waving me off. I was going to have to hurry to get to the pool. I arrived just at they were finishing. I waited off to the side as Emma said a few things to Will. She looked pleased and he looked motivated so I assumed it wasn't anything bad. Once they were done talking I went over to them.
"Hey guys. How did the morning work out go?" I asked them both.
"It went great." Will said. "I feel like I could do another hour or so in the pool but Emma doesn't want me to over do it."
"That can be as bad as not doing enough. I'm actually enjoying working with such a positive and motivated student." Emma added. "I could tell he did some weights and stretches after yesterday too. It showed. I say keep it up. Do as much stretching as you like but keep the weights light to moderate. You don't want to bulk up too much. That would only slow you down in the water."
"No problem." Will said to her with a nod. "I must say your work outs are much better then what my sister had me do. Better focus in them. I actually feel like I get more out of this and I don't hate it nearly as much. If she had had me doing this I might have kept up with the sport."
"That sounds a bit like what Bryon told me yesterday. He competes to earn a living but he really does it for the love of it." I laughed. "Maybe what you lacked before was the right approach to this all."
"Maybe." He agreed.
"Well I have a little time left if you want to go finish your registration." Emma reminded us. "You did want me listed as the officially as assistant coach. Right?"
"Right." I said. "Will go ahead and get dried off and changed then lead the way."
He nodded and hurried off to the locker room. He was back in less then five minutes and he led us off. He had to drive there but it didn't take to long and the best part was it was near the coffee shop I was to meet Bryon at later so that was even better. As we entered the lobby of the building and followed Will to the elevators we ran into his sister Sophie.
"Hey sis." He greeted her warmly. "What are you doing here. I thought your diver was already registered?"
"He is." She said. "I'm here because they've finally decided on the location for the actual dives and I want to get a head start on getting Adam some practice at the official location. You competing?"
"Yup here to finalize my entrance. This is my coach Laura and her assistant Emma." He introduced us. "Girls this is my sister Sophie."
Sophie was staring at me with here eyes bugged out. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head. Great this again.
"Yes, Sophie. I'm that Laura." I said. Emma snickered. "I had to come here to prove I actually am his coach. They didn't believe him yesterday and as I was at work till late we had to come back here today."
"Will how did you land her as your coach?" Sophie asked him in a low hiss.
"She's Bella's roommate. She answered an ad Bella put in the paper for a roommate and that's how I met her." Not a bad story to pull out on the spot. I had to give him credit for fast thinking. "Bella and Emma were already friends and that's how she met Emma here."
"When I heard that Emma here used to be a star swimmer back in high school I asked if she would help me coach will." I added.
"Used to be?" Sophie asked as we all piled into the elevator that had just arrived.
"I got injured. It doesn't prevent me from moving or swimming leisurely, but I couldn't race anymore." Emma made up. "I tend to avoid water these days. I find it's just to disheartening to be unable to go all out so I just don't even bother."
Sophie looked at us as we rode up a few floors to where the event was being organized. I could see the gears in her head turning as she realized that her brother Will had netted a pair of ringers for coaches. She was clearly planning on how to get more out of her diver to prepare him for the huge boost Will was clearly going to get by working with me and Emma.
When we got to the floor Sophie hurried ahead and I held Emma back to a slower pace.
"She's probably going to start arranging to be at your morning practice sessions to scope out your training routine." I whispered to her.
"Why would she do that?" Emma asked also in a whisper. "She doesn't suspect me does she? Do you think?"
"No. More like trying to steal training secrets from the competition." I whispered back.. "Just giving you a heads up on my suspicions."
"Ah. That makes more sense." She whispered her response.
We hurried to catch up to where Will and Sophie were waiting for us.
"What kept you?" Sophie asked.
"Just discussing Will's training. Sorry to keep you waiting." I said and we followed Will into the office where he was to register.
Will walked up to the counter and placed his registration form in front of the clerk there.
"I'm sorry Mr. Benjamin," the clerk said looking it over. "But unless you can list a coach that is clearly not some kind of joke we can't accept your entry."
"Is there a problem with me coaching him?" I asked
The clerk looked up and as he saw me his jaw dropped and he just stared. I snapped my fingers in front of his face a few times to get his attention.
"Uh. No. No problem at all." He said in a bit of a squeaky voice. "We'll get this processed and have you added to the list of competitors immediately. I'll just need to see some ID."
I handed him a photo ID from my purse and then after pouring a small bit of water into a glass from the refreshment stand dipped my fingers in it while getting comfortable in a near by empty chair.
"Will the photo and this be enough for ID?" I asked with a smile.
"These will do just fine." He choked out.
"Good. You happen to have a towel handy?" I said looking around for something to dry my hand off with.
There was a sound of someone falling into a chair and I looked across the room to see Sophie staring bug eyed and sprawled into a chair. Will hurried over to her to check if she was OK.
Emma handed me some napkins from the refreshment stand. "Was that necessary?" She whispered to me while looking at the wall.
"Saves time." I whispered back. "Might as well make all this work for me right?"
She flicked her eyes to me for a second then back to the wall and gave a minor dip of her head that only I could see.
In short order Will was registered and we'd gotten the final time, date, and location for the competition and we headed out. The whole way down Sophie didn't speak a word. She just kept shifting her glance between me and her brother. When we got back to the lobby she hurried across it to where a young man was waiting and quickly waved him towards the door.
"So you got the location?" He asked her.
"Yup. We have a lot of work to do." She said not slowing down.
"Wait why are you practically running." He jerked her to a stop as we passed by.
"Because this is my brother Will. He just entered. He holds the local depth record. And that girl there," she pointed at me, "is his coach."
"And?" He asked.
"He's about to freak," I whispered to Will and Emma as I pulled them out of the way of the door.
"She's a mermaid." Sophie told him. I had been dead on as he looked over at Will, then at me, then back at Sophie and practically ran out the door with Sophie hot on his heels.
"Is it always this bad for you these day?" Emma asked me.
"Actually this is kinda mild." I said watching Sophie and her diver, Adam I think, jump in a car and practically fly off. "It's usually far more dramatic."
"And your OK with all that." Emma asked me.
"Not really but not like I have a choice in how others react though." I headed out. "I'll see you later Will. I have to meet someone soon."
"I could use a ride to work. It's too far to walk and arrive in time." Emma said.
"No problem." Will led the way to his car. "I'll see you later Laura. Same place as yesterday?"
"Yup. Can you find it again." I asked back.
"Not a problem. I remember the land marks." He assured me. I waved as I turned down the street to head to where I was to meet Bryon.
I'd be early but not overly so. Which was good. I would have been late getting here if we hadn't needed to make the stop to get Will registered. Here on in the more crowded city area I was less noticeable. No one went out of their way to make a fool of themselves, for which I was grateful, and I got to the coffee shop with no hassle. The same could not be said for after I entered.
The staff, being mostly comprised of teenagers, recognized me immediately, and predictably all stopped what they were working on to stare at me. This lasted until their boss came out from the back room and got them all back to work. When he asked what was so important that they all stopped and acted like idiots they pointed at me. He didn't recognize me, thankfully, and didn't ask who I was, he just told the staff to stop being idiots and help the customers.
When I finally got up to the counter to order I had to deal with the cashier acting like he was meeting his idol and thus it took a long time for them to get me a simple black coffee and get it paid for. I took it to a side table that was partially out of view of the work area and hoped for the best. I didn't have to wait too much longer before Bryon arrived. After seeing the staff do the same idiocy over him being a surf legend, at least to them, I felt a little better.
He took a seat across from me and smiled.
"Sorry it took me so long. They do that every time." He explained. "But this is the best coffee place in the city so I just deal with it for the quality."
"They did that for me too." I took another sip of my coffee, and I had to admit he was right. It was really good coffee. "You're right this is really good."
"I thought you Americans liked it all sweetened up and with milk." He joked to me.
"Nope. Some of us prefer real coffee." I quipped back taking another sip.
"How long have you been waiting here?" He asked noticing my coffee was cool enough to drink with out burning myself.
"Not too long." I took a sip. Then reached over and cooled his off to a drinkable but still hot temperature. "I just cheat a bit."
"Now that has to be the coolest thing I've ever seen." He took a sip. "A bit too cooled off for my taste but that's still awesome."
I smiled and warmed it up a few notches. "I can reheat it too." I said.
He took a sip. "Perfect. That's just crazy cool."
"Thanks. So how does this whole going out for coffee work here in your country?" I asked.
"Same as in yours actually. We just talk and get to know each other." He said taking another sip. "I'm curious about what you do to relax."
"Oh the usual. Read books. Watch movies Go shopping." I took a sip and paused. "And of course the obvious go swimming. And yourself?"
"I like books and movies too. Not so much into the shopping thing, but I like swimming too, and of course I love to just hit the waves for the fun of it." He said with a genuinely happy laugh. "What about music?"
"I like music," I said and listed off a bunch of bands from America that I liked. He'd never heard of any of them, and so listed off the local bands he liked. I hadn't heard of any of them either. That led to us offering to lend some of our collection to the other to listen to.
We talked for a good long time and I found myself honestly liking him. He was open, honest, and caring. I found myself better able to talk to him as I got to know him and was able to see the great guy behind the smoking hot exterior. I was amazed that by just talking to me like a normal person he taught me to realize how to get past my nervousness and just enjoy spending time with him.
Finally it started to get to the point where I had to get ready to head out to meet with Will for his afternoon session. Bryon offered to walk to the water with me and I accepted surprised to find myself glad to get the extra time with him.
"So I was wondering if you'd like to go to a movie with me this coming Friday?" He asked me as we got to the waters edge. "You said you liked action movies and there is a great locally filmed one being released. I was thinking you might like to see it and compare it to the big hits from your old home."
I had to admit the idea was intriguing, but was I ready for an actual date. I looked at him and searched my feelings. I had no idea. I needed more time to figure it out. So instead I asked him what time the movie was and then after promising to see if I wasn't on shift at work at that time I'd let him know. He accepted that as reasonable and countered with an offer to go another day if I did happen to work that night. I felt strangely pleased with his determination and I didn't know why.
"I had fun today. Thanks for inviting me out." I told him. "I do however need to get going if I plan to get there before him."
"I'm glad you came. It was great talking with you." He said. "How far do you have to go to where you are training him?"
I pointed over to Mako Island. "Not too far off the coast of Mako."
"And you start training him in twenty minutes?" He looked out over the water and mentally measured the distance. "And you can still get there before he does even though he's probably already left in a speed boat?"
"Yup. That's one of the really cool parts. The sheer speed at which we can swim." I said walking towards the water.
"Can I stay and watch?" He asked.
"Sure. Just watch the surface of the water for the wake. You'll understand what I mean about swimming fast." I said with a smile. "But I really need to get going. I'll call you after I double check at work."
"OK." I don't know what his reaction was to how fast I went. I was way to far out to have looked back and seen him anyways.
I was just over two thirds of the way to the training spot when I spotted Will's boat motoring along on the surface. I didn't even bother to slow down as I shot past him and headed out to wait for him. I decided to just float on my back and enjoyed the mix of sun and water until he arrived.
"You know I even left early to try and beat you here." He said pulling up along side me and dropping his anchor.
"You'll feel worse since I actually left almost ten minutes late too." I said righting myself and grabbing the side of his boat to keep from drifting. "I was enjoying the conversation with him."
"I guess that's cool." Typical guy. At least he wouldn't be driving me crazy with questions about my time with Bryon.
"Once you're ready get started. I want you to do as many set's as you can today as long as you get at least the minimum of five." I said.
"Sure thing." He said grabbing his goggles and fin. He made it through the first three sets in rapid fashion before tanking a break to rest.
"Nineteen or twenty each time." He said.
"Consistent at least." I answered. "That's a good sign."
"Really? How many would it take you?" He asked. "This one is a good test as it's more about efficiency, as you'd say, then anything else."
"Fair enough." I turned and dove. I covered the distance in five powerful flips of my tail each way. "Five."
"Five!" I nodded. "You didn't do that swim real fast thing you guys do?"
"Not for such a short distance. I'd never stop in time before smashing into the bottom." I chuckled. "This is all just second nature to me."
"Five. Huh." He said again. "Looks like I still have a lot of work ahead of me." He dove again.
He got through a total of six sets today before he was too exhausted to continue. By the end he was down to eighteen kicks. Then we got in the boat and I gave him directions to where Bella was going to meet him for the day.
"Different place today." I told him as I climbed in. "We have several spots picked out so it'll be something different each time."
"That's cool." He said. "Point the way." I did and we were off.
Once we were there I planned to be in the water and gone before Bella arrived. Will might have let my meeting with Bryon pass, but Bella never would. Too bad for me she was waiting for us on the surface this time.
"Hey Will! Hey Laura." She greeted us with a wave. "How was your date with Bryon?"
"It wasn't a date. It was just coffee." I said starting to climb out. She gave me a look that clearly said 'I'm not stupid'.
"It was a date and you know it. Now spill." She told me.
"OK. It went well. He asked me to a movie on Friday." I answered.
"And you said yes right?" She asked me with a raised eyebrow.
"I said I needed to check my work schedule." I replied avoiding her gaze.
"Laura. Laura. Laura." Each repetition of my name accompanied by a bang of her head against the side of Will's boat.
"He did offer to make it up on another day if I did have to work though." I admitted just to get her to stop.
"Please tell me you agreed." She pleaded.
"I told him I'd consider it." I said.
"Arrrrghhhhh!" BANG!
"Please don't do that you'll hurt yourself and I'd hate to see that." Will told her.
"Well I'm going to leave you two alone now. Have a good session. Later." I dove over the side and took off before Bella could say anything else. I knew she'd pin me down later. The curse of sharing a living space.
She did, and she brought the others too. They didn't let up until I promised to say yes to him regardless of when I had a day free. I felt like I'd be peeled like an onion by the time they were done.
The next day went more or less the same with only a few high points. Friday was clear so I called Bryon and told him it was a go. Cleo stood watch over me the whole time to make sure I didn't back out. Will made more progress in his training. I was thinking of moving him to deeper water sooner then planned.
But the best part was when we all found an envelop in the mail. It contained a letter from Denman, and a check. The letter explained that the inventor had be successful and that after getting a patent he had started production. This would be the first of many royalty checks we'd receive from the project. Each would be forwarded to us through her. The sum was very large.
Each of us had a different reaction to it. Bella had half screamed half laughed while jumping up and down and then running in a circle. I just stared at it rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing stuff. Emma, being from a more well off family, was impressed but not overly surprised by it that much. Cleo had taken one look and fallen to the floor to sit there staring until her Dad had asked what was wrong. She'd shown him both the letter and the check at which point he'd keeled over right there next to her. Rikki took one look and had fallen over in a dead feint. Her father had freaked thinking she'd died. Then after looking at the letter and check for himself had joined her.
Compared to that one high point, repeated once a month from then on, the rest of the time until the dive meet was mostly uneventful. I continued to care for the rescued dolphins with Cleo's help and we slowly got them to trust some of the other staff. My movie date with Bryon went very well and we'd spent the evening afterward discussing the differences between American action movies and Australian ones. He'd asked me out again and I once again told him I'd have to make sure I was clear from work but that would love to otherwise. After that I started to keep a copy of my schedule so I could answer him more quickly.
Will's training proceeded at a good rate. His endurance increased steadily from his work with Emma, and by the week prior to the meet he was doing rapid dives to forty meters in sets with easy effort. Bella was now taking him down to see corals and fishes at depths of eighty meters and he was dealing with the pressure easily. I felt he was more then ready for the competition. He did too saying that for the first time he hadn't looked at his daily work outs as a burden.
I gave him the two days before the event off to rest up, and Emma had arranged a pasta feed the night before. We'd all joined in and made a general party of it.
The only low point of the time was when Zane told us that his father had given him an ultimatum. He was to show up to a party and make nice for his fathers friends or be disowned. His father had wanted to show off his successful, business minded son. He'd invited Rikki, not as a date, but as co-owner. Neither of them had played nice. Zane for the first time spoke his mind in front of his fathers friends instead of just to his father in privet and it had not gone over well.
Afterward when asked why he'd done it he'd answered that he'd finally learned that money wasn't everything to him like it was to his father. He finally figured out it was probably why his mother had left and he had finally learned what really mattered in life to him. His friends. He planned to stick by us even though he was now no longer allowed to use his last name as far as his father was concerned. He wasn't allowed in his fathers house anymore either and since he had nowhere else to stay for the moment he was sleeping and living in the office at the cafe.
Rikki forgave him after that and they started seeing each other again. They took it slow, but the others could tell that this time their relationship was much stronger then the last time. Zane now took everything more seriously since the cafe and Rikki were the only things he had left.
In no time at all the competition was on us. I felt that so much had changed in the last month that nothing else could surprise me anymore. I was wrong. I hadn't considered the stupidity of ego bruised males.
Why did people, men mostly, do such stupid stuff to try and prove themselves? I doubted I'd ever figure that one out.