It was Rikki’s turn to close up the cafe. She’d rather be doing other things but as long as it meant staying away from her co-boss, it was fine. Most of closing consisted of her sitting in the back doing paperwork anyway. However, the mermaid still had work to do out front on the floor, like count the money in the cash drawer, take inventory, make sure everything is stored where it’s supposed to be. 

Rikki was going through her checklist on her clipboard when she heard footsteps entering the cafe. It couldn’t have been her friends, for they had other plans. It couldn’t have been her co-boss, for there was no reason for him to be there. Rikki was   a l o n e.   Every once in a blue moon, there was always somebody trying to get a smoothie after hours.  

After   e v e r y t h i n g   that was going on with her love life alone--desperately needing her boyfriend’s support, her boyfriend cheating on her, breaking up with him, and him threatening her for it--Rikki needed to go to the one place where she felt like she belonged the most, and where she could be alone, Mako Island. She sat on the beach and watched the waves roll onto the shore, getting lost in her thoughts and emotions. 

She supposed this is what she deserved for allowing herself to fall in love in the first place. If she didn’t, perhaps half of her problems would have gone away. And that way, she wouldn’t have opened herself up and got herself so badly   h u r t. 

So to say that Rikki was startled when a stranger approached her was...well...an                         u n d e r s t a t e m e n t. 

A customer has been catching Rikki’s eye for quite some time--and that was the thing: he was in the cafe for quite a long time, longer than an ordinary customer. Like, for multiple hours. The young man sat quietly in one of the corner booths by himself. Rikki had eyed him periodically, waiting for something to happen with the stranger, but nothing did. She had spotted one of her workers at his table shortly after he had arrived, but since then, he sat undisturbed. 

Eventually, Rikki caved. She couldn’t resist approaching him. After all, it was her cafe, and it was her job to make sure the customers were satisfied, right? She snatched up a small pad of paper and a pen as she made her way to the table.