"Mom, mom, look! It's Starlight," a little girl said. "She's the star of the sea."
Drew couldn't help but smile at hearing the girl's excitement over his girlfriend Mariam. Her mermaid name was Starlight and she swam around in the tank in a fitting, yellow tail combined with a yellow shell bra. She wore a lavender wig that looked amazing with the yellow on her.
"She's my favorite," the girl said.
Drew looked at the kid and then up at her mother who had caught on to him looking.
"I'm sorry," she said. "She gets so excited when it comes to mermaids. She wants to become one too."
"Then she should start practicing already. It takes a lot of hard work to be a mermaid but if your heart is in it, you can do it," he winked at the girl. "Starlight is my favorite too."
He turned his eyes to the tank again and caught the final part of Mariam's act. She blew a kiss to the audience, waved goodbye, and swam upwards. Everyone clapped as the show was over. He stood up along with everyone else. The girl's mother looked at him again.
"I'm sorry for asking but we don't see a lot of men these places, and both me and my daughter Janella would love to talk more about it," she said. "What got you into mermaids?"
"Starlight did," he said.
"So, like, you saw her one day and just started liking mermaids?" She asked.
"More like she introduced me to this part of her life after we started dating," he said.
"Oh!" she laughed. "Silly me. Of course you're not single."
He smiled at her and hurried away before she got the idea of continuing the conversation. Clearly she had some sort of interest and might have asked him out for a cup of coffee. It was best to make himself unseen before she stumbled over her own words and made a fool out of herself. He was not interested in anyone but Mariam.
He walked over to the door in the side and was let in by the person guarding it. He was well known to the staff of the show. He ran up the stairs and out to the showers. He found the mermaids out of their tails, standing in their leggings and bras under the hot water. Mariam's lavender wig was hanging over a half wall. Her short, black hair was on display. She turned her head and settled her light brown eyes on him.
"How was it?" She asked.
"Amazing as always," he answered. "You all did great."
She turned off the water, walked over to him, and kissed him.
"There was also a single mother about to ask me out on a date," he said.
"No dating mothers," she said teasingly.
"But I can date people without children?" He asked.
"No dating. Period," she laughed.
She walked past him and he wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Drew! I'm wet!" She laughed.
He pulled her up against him without a care in the world that his clothes would get wet. He could always change it once they got home. It was just clothes. She was more important than anything he owned.
"You were the daughter's favorite. I told her you're my favorite too," he said.
She giggled and turned around in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another kiss.
"I love you," she said. "Burgers tonight?"
"Homemade or takeout?" He asked.
"I don't feel like cooking," she said.
"I won't mind. It doesn't take long to make some burgers," he said.
"Thank you," she said. "I need to get dressed."
He let her go but followed her over to where she had left her clothes. She picked it up and walked towards a little dressing room where she could change in peace.
"Hey Mariam!" He called.
She turned around with a smile on her face.
"I love you," he said. "You're my star of the sea."