***
After the meetings, Sophie carried the box with the swimming accessories to her desk. Sitting behind the computer, she looked at the cardboard box with disdain. She noticed an envelope in the package and, wrinkling her nose at the new plastic smell from the kickboard, she removed the handwritten note:
“Dear Miss Sophie Mermaid Smart,
Just a quick note to wish you well. Good luck for your pending introduction to the water. You may want to have a go at trying these things on before the lesson.
Cheers,
Mr. Matthew Dolphin Silver.”
“Mr. Matthew Dolphin Silver? How old is he?” Sophie muttered. Her words were barely audible as she read the note. “A dolphin. Really? A dolphin?” Yes, he'd mentioned his favorite animal was a dolphin. A dolphin made sense. Dolphins were friendly to humans. But maybe dolphin was wrong. He was more like a sea anemone, attractive and pleasing to the eye, but get too close and he’d sting you with a lovely but scary offer of swimming lessons. Would she regret agreeing?
Perhaps he was more like a dangerous barracuda: a long, lean hunting machine. Hunting every poor person with a fear of the water. Didn’t he get it? She was traumatized!
Or maybe he was a moray eel, pouncing and snaring prey with toothy jaws. He was slippery in the water and only then could he satisfy his own freakish desires. That was always a possibility. After all, Sophie now knew she couldn’t trust guys. Couldn’t take them at their word.
Sophie tried convincing herself that the gift from Matthew was not cute, or nice. Yet the more Sophie thought about the gift, the sweeter he seemed, like he’d given her an olive branch, knowing she would secretly hate him because he’d kindly offered her a way to learn how to save her own life, and save herself from the water. The olive branch was in the shape of a kick board, swimming cap and goggles. But Sophie was allergic to olives.
She opened her email. Manners were important in life. Grinding her teeth, she didn’t feel at all thankful, nor did she want to be polite.