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When I woke the next morning, it took me a few minutes to remember that I was now responsible for, like, a zillion creatures with no arms or hands that were helpless without me. I wanted to lie in bed for a few extra minutes, savoring my day with Shane and pushing off thoughts of Melvin, how I was going to support my dad, and the hole I’d dug with my alter ego.
I jumped out of bed to check on Hopper. He happily swam up to the glass to greet me. From what I could tell, he’d finally finished ejecting his young. He looked much thinner. No wonder he’d seemed so well-fed at the store. I netted him and released him into the full tank, where he began exploring the plants. Then I looked at the babies. I sprinkled a little crushed fish food over their box so I could count them better. From what I could tell, the final count was…eighty-two. I was now responsible for approximately eighty-three tiny lives.
I picked up my phone to text Shane but sat back for a moment, again savoring the memory of the day we’d had together. Why did he have to live inNew York? I hadn’t really dated a lot in my life (not that yesterday had been a date) because for the most part, I didn’t like people all that much. As an introvert, meeting people and forcing myself to go to parties was excruciating. It was easier to marathon Netflix, and make ugly pots out of clay, and (now) stare at my new aquatic fan club. But easy came at a cost, and I wondered if Shane might be worth more than the little life I’d carved out for myself.
Even though it was a Monday morning, today was a holiday. Still, I made a cup of coffee and settled in reluctantly to check my work email. When a large file took forever to come in, I felt the familiar wash of dread in my stomach. Melvin. I’d forgotten. He and I were going to be like Batman and Robin, or Mario and Luigi, or Bert and Ernie, or whatever. Some valiant, if ridiculous, male duo on our way to win an account and save the day. God damn it.
So instead of texting Shane, I sent a group message to Patrick and Heidi.Are you two free today? I need help.
Does it involve Melon?Heidi.
Yeah. We’re going on an adventure together, I wrote back.
I am THERE, Patrick interjected.
Are you still mad at me?Heidi asked.
I softened.No, of course not. Just please don’t kill me before I’m ready.
Yay! I won’t. Patrick, come pick me up, Heidi wrote.
K. See you in 20.
When they showed up a half an hour later, I’d showered and was neck-deep in the information Melvin had sent over.
“So you said you were hanging out with Shane yesterday. What did you guys do?” Patrick asked as soon as he walked in the door.
I hung my head and gestured to the tank. Patrick and Heidi pressed their noses to the glass. “You bought over a million tadpoles!” Heidi gasped. She looked over and cleared her throat. “What I mean to say is, that’s not the journey I expected for you. I didn’t even know you liked frogs.”
“Shane got you fish! They’re so cute!” Patrick cried as he made fish faces at them.
“I don’t like frogs. They totally look like tadpoles, but they’re baby guppies,” I said. “Hopper gave birth on the way home from the store. I’m trying to come to terms with it.”
“Guppies cost like ten cents,” Patrick said. “So if you do the math, you practically made a fortune with that purchase.”
I blinked. “No. No, I didn’t.”
“Why Hopper and not Joyce?” Heidi asked.
I waved off her question. “I need help with this Melvin thing. We’ve got a situation that a fire in the break room can’t solve.”
Patrick and Heidi pried their attention away from the tank. Patrick sat on the love seat and leaned his elbows on his knees while Heidi sprawled out on the beanbag chair.
“Was there kissing?” Patrick asked.
“Ew, gross, Patrick. No kissing Melvin,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow. “I mean with Shane.”
“Oh.” Color rose in my cheeks. “No comment.”
Patrick and Heidi exchanged a smug glance.
“Is he coming over today?” Heidi asked.
“No, he said they had him booked up, even though it’s a holiday. But we’re talking about Melvin now. I need some advice.”
“Okay, I’m focusing,” he said. “So this isn’t something that can befixed with fire. I contend that pretty much anything can be fixed with fire. Bedbugs, sharks, alien attacks…”
