Margaret: Chapter Five

He’s naked. From head to toe, he’s naked. I stood there looking at his glorious body, my feet frozen for about five seconds until he gave a bark of laughter.

“I assume you’ve never been in the presence of a naked man before?” he said with a huge grin.

And that’s the time I shrieked in horror—or veiled delight, it doesn’t matter. I hurriedly closed my eyes and covered them with my hands then immediately turned my back on the merman-turned-human. He gave another hoot of laughter.

“That’s kind of pointless now since you’ve seen all of me already,” he chided in a seductive voice. “Don’t you think it’s only fair that I demand for the same kind of view?” he ended, his voice husky.

He couldn’t see it but I know that he knows that my eyes widened at his statement. The nerve! The only reason I stared at him was that he never warned me about the possibility of seeing him naked. It’s only natural to be surprised, right? And now he’s suggesting that I—well, that I remove my clothes too. Who does he think he is?

I lifted my chin and raised a brow even if he couldn’t see it. “Sure, you can have the same view,” I whispered loudly in an attempt to sound seductive, “but only after I remove this necklace and forget about helping you and the rest of your species,” I ended, my voice turning smug.

“What? Are—” he wheezed. I heard him take another breath of air. He sounded like he choked on something.

“Well?” I asked, slowly lifting the necklace.

“No! Okay, okay. I’m sorry. That was low of me. Just don’t remove that necklace. Please,” he begged. I heard the remorse in his voice and for now, I think I’ve proven that I hold the upper hand.

I sighed. Before I could forget about the situation however, I went on to ask him, “So. You can’t expect me to allow you to walk around town naked. And I’m definitely not using my money on you—unless you have a way to repay me?”

“You can ask the Key for clothes,” came his answer.

“The Key?” I raised the pendant. “You mean this?”

“Is there any other Key I kept talking about?” he said pointedly.

“Fine. But didn’t you say the Key can’t give wealth? It also means material things, right?” This person’s life is making me more and more baffled.

“You can ask the Key for material things should we need it. They all disappear when I go back to Aquania, however.”

“Aaah. I see,” I exclaimed. Now that made things clearer. So I can’t ask for something that I wouldn’t want to disappear after 29 days. Mostly, what I can wish are just things that he would need. Psh. Wearing this Key is just an excuse for him to have some sort of a secretary while he’s on land. “Is there some form of chant or something when I do the wish?”

“None. You just have to think about it. No need to talk.”

Okay. I inhaled then I began my wish: I ask for Seirra to have clothes. ‘Cause I really don’t want to walk around town with a naked man beside me. For a moment, nothing happened. And then the crystal suddenly burst with green light which disappeared after three seconds.

“Well? Are you clothed now?” I demanded impatiently.

“Yes.”

I slowly turned my body in his direction. My eyes remained closed for a few moments then I slowly opened them.

I took a sigh of relief.

He was now wearing jeans, rubber shoes and a plain, blue T-shirt.

“Couldn’t you think of something more stylish?” he asked me while eyeing the shirt with disgust.

I shrugged. “I’m wearing rumpled blouse and slacks. I can’t have you wearing anything more stylish.” I looked down at my bare feet and pouted. “I even lost my shoes.”

“Ask for slippers. At least that wouldn’t make me look like your bodyguard or something,” he told me high-handedly.

“Tsk.” I asked for a pair of sandals, instead. The crystal glowed again and I’m suddenly wearing a pair of brown ankle-high gladiator sandals. Ooh...I could ask for an entire wardrobe while he’s with me. And instant change of clothes—very useful when I’m running late, I thought, my eyes wide with amazement.

He looked at my choice of footwear and snorted. “You’ve got your shoes now. Let’s go.”

“Yes, Sir!” I quipped then raised my hand to give him a mocking salute.

I started walking away from the beach and into Harbor Drive’s sidewalk. Apparently, his simple attire did nothing to hide his handsome face. In fact, all it did was highlight his god-like features.

I felt drab and messy every time people would look at him. How could he look handsome so effortlessly? I surreptitiously lifted my hands to comb my fingers through my tangled burgundy hair. I’m sure it didn’t help much but it made feel a little better.

We were almost at Grampa’s bookstore when two girls from my club in Grassfield High saw me and Seirra. They stared at him for a few moments before walking over. I didn’t want to deal with other people yet, especially those from the Nightingale, but they saw us already so there’s no escaping it.

“Hi! You’re Margaret, right?”one of the girls said. She waved her hand towards her friend. “This is Patricia and I’m Eliza.” She then asked me exactly what she wanted to know. “Is he your boyfriend?”

I almost bowled over. It would be nice to have a boyfriend as hot as he is, but no one really noticed me. The closest to handsome that ever asked me out would be the school paper’s editor-in-chief—and he’s nowhere near Seirra’s looks.

Before I could answer her however, he placed his arm around my shoulders and started introducing himself. “Hey there. I’m Seirra. And yes, Marge here is my girlfriend.” He then looked at me and said, “There’s just something about her eyes that’s really attractive.” He shrugged. “Maybe because the color reminds me so much of the sea.” He grinned then faced the girls again.

“Aww. That’s so sweet,” Patricia gushed then giggled. “We were actually hoping you aren’t Margaret’s boyfriend. But since you are, do you happen to have a brother?”

Eliza pushed her friend a little, laughed nervously then declared, “Nah. That’s not what we really meant. Don’t mind her.” She then began to take Patricia’s arm to drag her away.

Seirra waved his hand at them. “Bye, girls!”

It took me five seconds to recover. I immediately pushed his arm away from me. “You’re my boyfriend? You’re my boyfriend?” I yelled.

He shrugged. “It would make our constant ‘dates’ more sensible.”

“What dates?”

“You’re going to help me find Marina remember?” He crossed his arms. “Besides, I’m going to live with you and it’s more believable to say we’re a couple instead of long-lost siblings. We look nothing alike.”

“That would make me look—”

“There are a lot of eighteen-year-olds who live with their boyfriends. And we’re simply going to tell everyone I’m from,” He paused to think, “Ireland or some other country and that I’m only staying for a month. Come on, it’s not like we’re committing a crime.”

He made it seem so easy. “I still have doubts as to what it would do to my reputation but I guess we can simply go with the flow.”

I began to march towards my home again. I’ll just have to think more about this situation when I have Seirra safely tucked in his own room and I’m finally alone.

We reached Books and Covers, waved to Amanda, the only other shopkeeper aside from Grama and I, then went straight through the back door that led to the stairs going up to where we live. He was watching news on the television.

I made a coughing sound to get his attention. He smiled when he saw me then tried to get up from his chair.

“Oh, no need to stand, Gramps,” I told him, rushing over to help him be comfortable in his chair again.

He laughed a little. “These knees are making me slower and slower every day,” he said, his voice a little rusty.

“You alright?” I asked him, concerned.

“Of course, my dear. Have a seat and watch the TV with me.”

He motioned for me to sit on the sofa then turned his head towards the TV again. He probably hadn’t noticed Seirra yet so I took his attention again. He looked at me questioningly.

“Uh, Gramps. I would like to introduce a friend,” I said softly. I took Seirra’s wrist and pulled him beside me. “This is Seirra Celari. Uh, he sort of needs a place to stay for a month. I know we have a spare bedroom so,” I left my sentence hanging there, hoping that Grampa would understand what I’m asking.

“I hope you can allow me to live here for a few weeks, sir,” Seirra said with a slight bow of his head.

He adjusted his glasses in an effort to look at Seirra more closely. His eyes widened after a few seconds then he sighed.

“You can only stay for a month, young man. And I’m going to watch you closely so don’t be doing anything unusual.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

“Thank you, sir. I promise I won’t do anything wrong,” Seirra told Grampa, his voice solemn.

The sound of the bell coming from the bookshop penetrated the room.

“Amanda probably needs some help. I’ll go check,” I told them. I gave Grampa a hug first—to say thanks—then I went out to check on Amanda.

Before I could close the door however, I heard Grampa telling Seirra: “My own daughter fell in love with someone like you. And now she’s dead. I hope you don’t take Margaret away from me too.”