#bdrpfinn

@gabriella-marino​, @brucewhite​, @a-merman-not-a-guppy​

Two days before Attina left for Bournemouth, for her wedding--

Someone had gotten attacked at the lake. This had never happened before. In all of the thirty years that Attina’s family had lived in this town, and from what she understood, even longer. It had put her on edge, like all the things she had been thinking since Bruce, then Gabriella had shown up had suddenly come true. Springing right from her nightmares. Now, people were fighting on Twitter and Swynlake no longer felt safe. 

She had barely slept, which was not good for a bride-to-be! 

It was a good thing she had already called a meeting to discuss plans for functioning whilst she was in Bournemouth for her wedding and then away for her honeymoon. 

The shoppe was dim. Attina had drawn the curtains around the windows in the early evening and was fretting as she finished putting the chairs in a circle in the front of the shoppe. Even though she worked entirely with other mermaids, Attina had never, exactly, acknowledge what she was. What they were.

“Okay, I know we have our itinerary to discuss and we will get to that,” Attina said and signed in Mermish, referencing the itinerary she had sent to everyone a few days ago with their normal team meeting topics. “But, I think it is more important to discuss what happened at the lake first.” 

@a-merman-not-a-guppy​

After Amelia, they hadn’t had to shut down the shop for more than a day or so, and then Andrina and Rob had continued marching on. Attina hadn’t returned to work. She spent most of her days on the couch, watching shit telly and taking hours long naps. 

And then--Andrina and Rob had left in one fell swoop, leaving the shoppe empty in its wake. Attina had asked Adella to put out a want ad for new employees, but besides that, she hadn’t thought about it. 

The shoppe stayed closed.

When Finn had texted her, Attina knew that it was time. Even if she didn’t want to, she didn’t have a choice. She had to be a manager again. Just because her own life had ended didn’t mean the world stopped. She was sure Andrina would accuse her of believing something along those lines.

So, for the first time in weeks, Attina dressed properly, did her make up and her hair, and went to work. 

She smiled when the bell over the door chimed and Finn stepped in. It was a small smile, not the usual kind that she might wear for him--excited to be part of his first job opportunity, but still, it was warm. 

“Hi, Finny,” she greeted him. “Ready for your first day?”