A Merman's Tail

Chapter 17

When Mitch finished eating, he sat back in his seat and patted his small stomach with a satisfied smile, burping quietly behind one hastily raised hand. He grinned at me and I flashed back in time to another happy memory. I remembered those sandwiches we enjoyed together on the derelict boat and the same joyous smile. I couldn't help smiling in response. Seeing that smile on his face only made me want to see it there more often. Once I paid the check, I took Mitch to get some new clothes. We looked in a couple of stores, purchasing new jeans, underwear and shoes that actually fit, before Mitch spotted a fabulous jacket in a higher end outlet. It was striking and would make him look amazing, besides I loved red on boys. I saw the way his eyes lit up when he spotted it and he scurried over to the window to look at it.

He turned back to look at me and I chuckled at the expression on his face. I put my hand on the small of his back as we stared at it and bent to whisper in his ear, "It will look fabulous on you. Let's go in and try it on."

"Really?" He asked enthusiastically that magic grin lighting up his face.

I nodded and grabbed his hand to lead him inside. We were approached by a salesclerk and she took one look at Mitch and smiled. The look didn't concern me, she was obviously sizing him up for clothes and I knew from the racks there was nothing in there that would suit me. My style ran to athletic wear, beach gear and casual clothes. I had one set of nice clothes for going out on the town, but since I rarely got out to use it, it really didn't matter. Mitch was another story, I had money from my summer job and the lab was going to keep me in beer and breakfast burritos. While the price tag on the jacket did make me swallow hard, it was worth the mild heart palpitations when I saw Mitch wearing it.

He'd stripped of the oversize shirt because of how much it hung around his knees. He had zipped it up and was admiring himself in the mirror. He was playing with all the zippers, opening and closing the ones on the sleeves and then the one which went up the middle of his chest. When he unzipped it halfway and let the collar fall open I had to swallow again. I felt my heart race again as I stared at him with a half-smile on my face. With his eyes lit up and those dimples peeking, he spun around and spotted me behind him.

"I love it!" He said excitedly and skipped over to where I was standing. "Can I have it?" He asked with a pleading look.

I just nodded and watched as he spun around again and went back to the mirror. I knew he was beautiful, everything was screaming at me that he was the one I was supposed to be with. But was he? 6 months was enough time for me to lose my heart completely. He wouldn't be staying, he was too important to his family's future, even I knew that. But were those six months' worth the pain that would follow when he had to leave?

Watching him with that excited, happy expression on his face I decided it didn't matter.

My heart was already his again, I just didn't know it yet.

When the sales assistant threw in a simple black T to go with it, I smiled and then we went to go look at other things.

The mall was huge, I took him into a bookstore where he was entranced by children's story books. We looked at jewellery, accessories, sunglasses, music, DVDs, electric appliances, and then stopped when he saw a hairdresser's salon. He went inside and crinkled his nose at the smells, but watched carefully as a woman's long hair fell away and her hair was transformed into a new sleek do. When the girl at the front desk said that they had a session free if we wanted to be styled, I gestured for Mitch to take the chair and he hopped up immediately.

"I want it short. But long over my eyes swooping to one side. Um..." He said gesturing to the stylist, showing her what he meant.

"How short?" She asked.

"Like almost gone completely." He said.

"So No.1." She said.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

He nodded enthusiastically and I let her get the shaver. It was his hair and it would grow again if he hated it.

We stopped at Baskin and Robbins and got chocolate and peanut butter and strawberry cheesecake cones once he had a fresh head. The style suited him even though it was like he was almost completely bald except for those sweeping bangs that started at the back of his skull and fell forwards over his eyes. Sitting outside on the balcony in the sun enjoying the ice cream, was a memory I would cherish forever. Watching his quick tongue as he licked the icecream was even better than watching him eat pancakes. I felt my face grow hotter as I wondered what that tongue would do to me if he was licking...

I turned my attention back to my own ice cream and told myself to get a grip. I'd only been in his company for a few hours. It was all in my head. That imaginary lock in my heart hadn't opened. His key wasn't the only one that would fit the lock right? It was possible to love more than one person in a lifetime. Just because I'd fallen for him when we were children and seeing him again as a young adult was merely bringing those old feelings back to the surface. I could survive him leaving again, couldn't I?

When he put his hand on mine and said "Finished!" I turned and saw he had eaten his entire cone while I had been contemplating my feelings and the future. My own cone was beginning to drip and I offered it to him for a taste. The flash in his eyes as he tasted the new flavour made my stomach twist with desire before I fought the hunger I felt down, and then licked my own dessert.

Suddenly I wasn't hungry and I gave the rest to Mitch to finish.

"You sure?" He asked before devouring it at my nod.

"You want to go home?" I asked him.

"Home?" He asked with a slight frown.

"My place." I said and tugged on his hand, leading him back to the car. "Come on, let's go for a swim."

His smile sparkled and I grinned in return. If nothing else, the visual of him in swimming trunks would be enough to get me through the long nights without him when he returned to the Community. I thought of other things I wanted to show him, but for now taking him back to where we spent our summers together seemed the most logical thing to do. We would be alone so we could talk without anyone overhearing the word mermaid and it would be the perfect opportunity to get to know each other again.

And I desperately wanted to know him again. Intimately.