“That’s reasonable,” he replied, sounding satisfied.
“So,” I said after a second, trying to settle the nervous energy that kept making my fingers twitch against my knee, “how long have you had your private set-up?”
“Hm, I’d say a little over a decade. It’s certainly grown since the beginning, though.”
“Wow. How many systems do you have now?”
“Several primary tanks,” he answered. “And a number of supporting environments.”
“What kind of filtration are you running?” I asked.
“Custom.”
I leaned forward, my excitement chipping away at my nerves.
“Custom like—you had it built? Or custom like modified commercial systems?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him. “That’s not an answer.”
“It will make more sense when you see it.”
That was extremely unhelpful, but… also extremely effective, because now Ireallywanted to see it.
“How far out are we going?” I asked, cringing at myself for not asking that at the start.
“Not too far,” he answered. “Just outside the city.”
It was quiet for a few minutes before a question that’d been on my mind slipped past my lips.
“Why me?”
He looked over at me, his head cocked and brow creased.
“For the job,” I clarified quickly. “I just mean—you could hire someone way more qualified than me.” It sounded worse out loud than it had in my head. “I’m still early in my career,” I continued, trying to explain myself properly. “There are people with PhDs who do private consulting for systems like that. Or people who’ve been managing institutional tanks for years. I just—” My shoulders rose and fell. “I don’t really get why you’d pick me.”
He seemed to be thinking for a while, like he wasn’t quite sure how to verbalize his response.
“I find it difficult to let people into my home,” he said, making my heart kick behind my ribs at the sliver of vulnerability in those words. “I don’t employ staff there unless I consider it necessary, and when I do, I prefer them to be… compatible.”
“And you… think I would be? Compatible?”
“Yes.”
“Because I work at the aquarium?” I asked.
“No. Because of how you behave in it.”
“What?”
“You pay attention differently than most people,” he said, looking at me like he saw something no one else could. “You don’t rush past the animals. You don’t treat them as exhibits.”
My breath caught in my throat as a strange surge of emotion welled up inside me.
Why did I suddenly want to cry?
“You adjust your movements around them. You speak to them even when you don’t realize you’re doing it.” His deepbrown eyes intently observed me from under his glasses. “And sometimes,” he added quietly, almost… melancholic, “it looks like you get lost in the water.”
