“That seems unlikely,” I said. “However, you may tell them you’ve accepted a private aquarist position if you prefer.”
“A private aquarist position,” he repeated thoughtfully.
“Yes.”
“That sounds kind of impressive.”
“It is.”
He looked at me again then, studying my face with the same careful curiosity he brought to the tanks earlier.
“I really didn’t know what I was going to do,” he admitted quietly. “When it started feeling like they weren’t going to keep me. So, thank you. Really.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
And I meant that.
7
Cove
I hadn’t planned on telling Mark about Tobias’s offer until closer to the date my internship was scheduled to end, but Tobias had been right.
Waiting made it worse.
So when I found Mark by himself in the service corridor, I knew it was time to say something, even if there were two weeks left.
He was halfway through checking a clipboard when I stopped next to him and said, “Hey.”
He looked up, answering with a “hey” of his own, then glanced back down at the clipboard again like he expected me to keep walking.
I didn’t.
“I, um—” I shifted my weight, immediately aware that this was not how people usually started professional conversations. “Do you have a minute?”
That got his attention. He lowered the clipboard and raised his eyebrow. “Yeah,” he said. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to talk to you about after the internship ends.”
Mark didn’t move to speak, just continued looking at me.
“I wasn’t sure if there had been any conversations yet,” I continued, trying to keep my voice neutral but confident, and not like I’d spent the last week rehearsing this exact sentence. “About whether there might be a position opening up afterward.”
Mark sighed, as if being asked this was an inconvenience to him. “Yeah, there have been some conversations. I was meaning to get around to talking to you.”
“Right… Well, I’ve also had an, uh, conversation,” I blurted, wrapping my arms around myself. “I have a job lined up. So… I just wanted to say something in case you guys were considering hiring me on.”
Mark frowned, then asked, “You already have something lined up?”
“Yeah,” I repeated.
“What kind of position?”
“A private aquarist.”
“You?”
“Um… yes,” I murmured, not liking how shocked he seemed to be. Was it really that unbelievable that someone would hire me?
