With no way to hide herself, Marina knew the only options she had left involved talking to the fisherman. As she treaded water (with her tailfin, not her arms) she looked up at the man on the dock and smiled sheepishly. "Looks like you caught me. And you didn't even need a rod." She spoke with roughly the same casual veneer she employed every time she pretended that her last boyfriend hadn't snuck in through her bedroom window for his clandestine nighttime visits.
The man tilted his head. "I wasn't plannin' on fishing for mermaids. What's that getup all about?"
"I'm... trying out a new costume wetsuit. I'm one of those mermaid girls. You know, like the ones who post underwater photos online." She knew that good liars stuck to what they knew, and she was definitely an avid follower of many mermaids' social accounts.
"Don't know what that's about. But that's a hell of a suit you've got there, even for a mermaid."
"Th-thanks. I wasn't expecting anyone else out here."
"Neither was I." He set down his equipment, removed his hat, and scratched his head. "I'm sorry to disturb you."
"Oh, don't be. I-- well, I don't own this beach or anything."
"This your boat? I didn't see a trailer on the car back there. I presume that's yours."
"I'm renting the boat. There's a company that drives boats to all the smaller coves around here. It's nice to have more open sea to explore instead of going to the crowded tourist spots. They're coming to pick it up tonight." This was all the truth, which reminded Marina that she actually had a finite amount of time left to sort out her situation.
He glanced over at the boat, giving it a more careful look, and evidently spotting what she was keeping inside. "You dive, too, huh? I love scuba diving."
"Yeah, I'm a mermaid through and through. Even when I'm not trying out elaborate swimsuits. Uh, speaking of which, talking like this is kinda hurting my neck. Would you mind giving me a hand up?"
"No problem at all. Actually... mind filling these before you come up?" He opened his large tackle box and pulled out a couple of plastic jars. He popped off the lids and passed them to her. "About three quarters full. Please."
"Um, sure." She did as asked and hoisted them back up to him. Then he took her arms and helped her up onto the old planks. Marina found this much easier than climbing into her boat with the monofin. Soon she was seated on the docks, enjoying the warm sun mixing with her wet "skin." She took her teal hair and rung it out gently over the edge, hardly believing how long and heavy it had become. She hadn't noticed the weight while in the water.
"Is that a wig?" he asked.
Marina bit her lip. "Um...uh, no, it's mine, just dyed." She watched him sit down nearby and start baiting his fishing rod. She glanced at the jars. "Not a catch-and-release guy, huh?"
"Can't," he said, then cast it out. The bob plunked down some yards away. "I take fish in for testing. I'm a contractor for an environmental study group."
"Oh. Measuring pollution?"
" 'Mong other things. I go up and down the coast and get samples of diff'rent species. Don't know much about what they do with 'em, but it's good pay."
"It's good work, too. I always loved the ocean. I'd like to still be able to swim in it when I'm 50."
His gaze was out on the water, but she caught him briefly glance back at her. Not to make eye contact. Clearly eyeing her wetsuit. This drew her own thoughts back to her situation. She was so into chatting she had momentarily forgotten.
"How're the fish out here, besides yourself?" he asked.
Marina chuckled. "I saw a few while I was swimming, so you might get a bite."
They sat for another minute, in silence. Marina looked off into the hazy blue horizon and contemplated what to do now that she had company. More swimming was probably not a good idea. She didn't want to disturb the fish. She thought about checking her phone in the boat, but that would require awkward shuffling across the dock.
The man cleared his throat perfunctorily. "Sorry, my name's Glenn, by the way."
Snapping out of it, she grinned at him. "I'm Marina."
He turned it over in his mind for a second, then glanced over and gave her a wry smile. "That's a fitting name." His expression suddenly changed as he fixed his eyes on her.
Marina furrowed her brow. "W-- what?"