“These coffee milks make it difficult to think.” Maria’s words were not entirely clear, but I still understood them.
“Yes, they do,” I agreed.
The man who had been behind the bar came to explain to us that the bar would soon be closed, so would we like to order a last drink? I ordered two more for each of us. He brought these to our table and we drank them quickly.
Maria stood up to go and she seemed to have difficulty with her balance. I stood and attempted to support her, but this pushed me off-balance, so that I found walking difficult, too. We chose to go outside of the hotel, to the beach nearby, instead of straight back to our rooms.
“I feel terribly hot and unwell. Are you sure you did not order hot coffee instead of cold?” Maria said, sounding worried.
“The drinks were all cold,” I assured her. “Perhaps you should immerse yourself in the ocean, to better regulate your body temperature.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Maria slurred. She removed her clothes on the beach, walking into the water without them. She took a shallow dive under a wave and I sat down to wait for her, beside the pile of her human clothing. She surfaced almost immediately, clearly still human. “The coffee drink has taken my tail!”
I found this amusing and joined her in the water, to demonstrate that she was mistaken. I left my clothes on top of hers on the beach. I ducked under the water and concentrated on my form, willing my legs to join together to form my tail once more. The flow was slower to start, but I could feel my tail flukes lengthening. I savoured the sensation of water flowing over my skin and lost focus. I could see not flukes but feet. I was bewildered.
Maria’s words alarmed me. “I am going to swim to Vanessa and inform her that this drink has taken my tail.”
Maria dived again, but her form remained human. I dived for her to pull her back, catching her foot. She fought to free herself from me as I fought to retain my hold. If she tried to swim to Vanessa’s cursed islands from here in her human form, she would drown like a human. If she managed to shift to her tail and survive the swim, she would interrupt Vanessa’s water sports with the young fisherman, in contravention of our orders. I could not permit either of these.
I pulled her into the shallow water, where she gave up, sitting on the sand and letting the waves break over her legs. I sat down beside her.
“Excuse me ladies,” an apologetic human male voice said from behind us.
I turned and stood.
The human from behind the bar looked embarrassed and averted his eyes from me. “It’s not a good idea to be out here without your clothes. It’s not safe. You really should get dressed and return to your hotel room.”
“Thank you, we will,” I replied, leaving the water to put my clothes on again. “Maria?” I called.
I heard the man make a wordless exclamation. I turned in concern, to see Maria finish a passionate kiss with the embarrassed human. She left wet streaks down his clothing. “It is a pleasure to meet a kind man,” she mumbled.
I snatched up her clothes and caught her arm as she stumbled away from the poor human. I passed her the human clothing she had left on the beach and she struggled to put it on. In the end, I had to help her into her t-shirt and shorts.
Together, supporting each other, we returned to the hotel and our room, where I locked the door behind us. Maria keeled over, face down on her bed, wet as she was.
Her voice was quiet, mumbling and slurred, but I could just discern the words: “Human men are not all bad.”
I smiled. Our people do not hide anything from one another, but I would like to hide the events of this evening. I hoped Vanessa’s water sports were so enjoyable that she did not think to ask us for details of our leisure activities.
Less incapacitated than Maria was, I chose to remove my damp clothes and take a hot shower before I retired. Thanks to the human inventions of hot running water and alcohol, I could not think of a more memorable time.
Except, perhaps, one weekend in the past, which also involved whiskey, with water and fire…
I brought my thoughts back to the present. I can only hope Vanessa will never know of it.