"There is another way to become a mermaid" said Cleo.
"Whatever it is" replied Janine "I'm willing to do it."
"Are you sure? I can turn you into a mermaid if your boyfriend will have sex with me."
"What?!" Janine stumbled backwards into one of the chairs facing Cleo's desk.
"Did you ever wonder how I became a were-mermaid?"
"I hadn't really thought about it."
"I was letting off some steam at an oceanside bar after a business conference. A late night, a few too many drinks, a long walk down a quiet beach, a full moon rising over the ocean... Maybe if I hadn't had so many margaritas I would have thought about the possible consequences of sex with an exotic fishtailed stranger? When it was over he was gone into the ocean. I went on my way thinking nothing more of the tryst until nearly a month later. Thank goodness I was in my penthouse when the next full moon rose."
"So it's a kind of STD?"
"Yes, that's what my research indicates. It's dormant when in human form, but becomes transmittable when in mer form. I cannot give it to you directly because we're both female, but if I have sex with your boyfriend, the next full moon he will become a were-merman. If you have sex with him while he's a merman the following month you will become a were-mermaid. It will take some patience and it will be irreversible, but you can be a mermaid again. Assuming of course you're willing to share, and he's willing."