As they plan the video, Sully smirks at me and shows his band something on his phone. The four of them stare at me. My skin itches under their inspection.
“Why do I feel like a zebra about to meet the wrath of a pride of hungry lions?” I chuckle, gritting my teeth.
Charlotte walks over and circles me. “Sully showed us the video he took of you at the restaurant.”
“As a mermaid?” I ask, voice barely above a squeak.
“It’ll be okay.” Sully captures me in his arms. “I already see the music video in my head.Do you trust me?”
I pause, meeting everyone’s gaze. They nod, encouraging me, and I fold faster than a house of cards in a high wind. “Yes.”
The song is about a long-lost love reunited. The band plays together on a stage on the beach, where the story follows a mermaid who is in love with a human. Sully plays the part of the human, and I’m the mermaid.
The mermaid calls to her human love every night from shore, but he never shows up. Then he’s seen coming off a plane. He sees a postcard of the ocean, and it calls to him.
The words, “She longs to see me, but I’ve been gone so long. How will she recognize me with everything gone so wrong?” are sung when the mermaid is caught in a wave and dumped onto the beach tangled in a fishing net.
He frees her, and they hold each other. The video zooms out and cuts to black.
Ben is already editing that night, and it’s online within twenty-four hours. I hold my breath as I watch the final cut at home.
Alice crushes my bones in a hug. “That was epic! Right, Emily?”
Emily smiles over the rim of her wine glass. “Yes. A great twist on a classic love story. The song is catchy too.”
Alice bounces on the couch cushion like a child. “You’re about to go viral! I can feel it!”
Sully steps out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. “What’s going on?”
Alice rips the phone from my grasp and rushes over to show him. “Your music video already has five hundred thousand views!”
“Damn. And Amy thought we needed her. Ben is better at PR than she ever was.” He high-fives Alice.
Emily swirls the rest of her wine in its glass, saying, “We need to celebrate.”
The four of us go to The Pearl Kingdom for dinner. I couldn’t think of a better place to enjoy the spoils of the music video than the place that helped me most.
A shy little girl hugging a stuffed blue octopus wanders to our table while we’re drinking and enjoying appetizers. I wipe my hands on a napkin and press a finger to my lips to pause Alice’s story. To the little girl, I ask, “Hey, sweetie, are you lost?”
She shakes her head no and points to the water tank by our table. “I know your secret,” she says softly and looks around. “Promise I won’t tell.”
“Awe,” Alice says, running her fingers up and down Emily’s arm. “She’s too cute.”
I lean closer to the little girl and smile. “Thank you. Who’s your friend?” I tap the octopus’s head.
“Ollie,” she says, hugging the stuffed animal tighter.
A woman rushes over, taking the girl’s arm. “Holly, there you are.” She picks up the girl and smiles at us. “Sorry.”
I wave. “Don’t worry. She’s a cutie pie.”
The woman eyes me, and then her gaze flicks to Sully. “I’m sorry, but are you in the video ‘Soul of Mine’?”
Is this what it feels like to have fans? What an odd sensation. My stomach flips as my heart races.
“Y…yes,” I finally say. It comes out more like a question than a statement.
“I love that song,” she says, and the little girl drops her stuffed animal.
