“Hi Jen” Mr Nichols said pulling out a cigar from his jacket pocket, “I know you can hear me”
Jen glared at him in anger; if she’d could still talk she’d have started screaming at him. Mr Nichols pouted sarcastically, “Aww, poor Jen... Don’t look at me like that, if you maintain that attitude I’ll make life very uncomfortable for you Jen... fancy some company in there? Maybe those bull sharks I was talking about?”
Jen shook her head in defeat.
At that moment another member of staff arrived with a bathing suit for Jen to wear, Mr Nichols shooed the other man away when he stood there staring vacantly at Jen in the tank.
“This is the bathing suit I told your parents I’d give you” Mr Nichols said holding the one piece garment up against the glass. Jen looked at it; she obviously couldn’t put it on.
“Hmmm, well it seems you won’t be able to wear it after all, I don’t think it’ll work” Mr Nichols took a puff of his cigar. “And you are so beautiful” he laughed, “Whoever heard of a fish that wore clothes?”
Jen wanted to kill him; she lifted her arm from her breasts and stuck her middle finger up in his direction.
“Now now Jen, don’t forget who’s in charge here. I was going to get you a different suit, but if you’re going to be like that you can just stay as you are!”
Jen lowered her arm over her breasts again.
“Good girl” Mr Nichols said, as he started to stroll around the tank, Jen decided to swim and keep up with him as he continued to talk, this was her first experience at using her new tail and she found she could propel herself incredibly far with the smallest flick, steering was also relatively easy, she just changed the positions of each foot. But Jen discovered it was difficult to control her rotation with her arms covering her in the way they were. Reluctantly she lowered her hands from their protective positions and used them to help move herself through the water.
Nichols continued to talk to her through the glass.
“Now Jen as you know it’s late at night, the aquarium is closed and we don’t have any visitors, that’s why the lights here are so bright. When the public come in we use more atmospheric lighting, it will be quite a lot darker where I am but your tank will remain well lit so everyone can see you. You’ll get used to it.” He took another puff of his cigar. “You’re our new main attraction; I’ve got the sign writers drawing up appropriate information to put around the edge of the tank, all about the legends of mermaids and stuff. We’re very excited, the first aquarium in the world with a mermaid, I’ll be rich!” He slapped his knee in joy, by now he’d done a full lap of the tank with Jen trailing lazily behind.
“If you do anything to embarrass me or this aquarium I’ll have this tank filled with so many other fish that you’ll be begging me to treat you how I’m treating you now. Besides, I don’t talk to all my fish you know!”
He started to walk off down the main corridor that led away from Jen’s tank; back in the direction of the exit, as he was leaving he called to her,
“I hope you like a sea food breakfast!”
With that the lights in the viewing galleries were dimmed and Jenny was left alone in her tank.