‘Mermaid sex,’ he said again, almost to himself, and then walked off into the next room, chuckling and shaking his head. I followed after him and was about to demand that he stop and explain all his chuckling, but the next room was my favorite one and I quickly forgot all about his laughter.
It was dark, filled with tanks illuminated by pink, blue and purple UV lights. In the light, translucent jellyfish swam up and down in tall glass tubes.
‘Wow!’ Andrew walked straight up to the nearest tank. In it, a school of ghostly looking transparent creatures moved jerkily through the water, expanding and contracting their see-through, gelatinous bodies. We strolled from tank to tank watching the mysterious creatures until we came to my favorite one. The box jellyfish. So small, and yet so deadly. Its long, thin tentacles floating behind it like a veil. The tentacles looked so small and thin, so harmless, but they weren’t. We moved through the room together slowly, Andrew reading all the information on the tanks. Which I appreciated; not many people read the information in museums or zoos. However, every now and then he would whisper a ‘how do they have sex?’ and then laugh all over again.
I watched him while he moved from tank to tank, the odd burst of laughter here and there, and it dawned on me that he was the first person I’d ever brought here. I’d come here often while living in Cape Town, but I’d never brought Jennifer, or even my parents. I’d always thought of this place as my own quiet sanctuary. In my head, the addition of someone to this space,my space, would ruin it in some way. Only, today, it hadn’t. Andrew seemed to fit here so easily. If anything, he seemed to enhance it.
CHAPTER15
We stood at the airport, bags in hand. We were going to be on different flights, so this was our goodbye. I hated goodbyes. I never knew how much to say to someone and, worse than that, whether to hug or not. And of course there’s the dreaded ‘to kiss or not to kiss’ issue. And far too many times I’d read the signals completely wrong. Someone comes in for a handshake, and I’ve gone in for a hug, their extended hand jabbing me in the boob as I force my body onto theirs. It’s all so confusing and anxiety-ridden. Jennifer once told me about swingers’ clubs, and how at these clubs they have a color-coded bracelet system that tells others what you’re prepared to do. Red: no touching. Green: yes, but still ask. Blue: blow me! I wished there were colored bracelets for goodbyes. Red: I only hug. Blue: I kiss on both cheeks; et cetera.
‘I think that was quite a successful weekend,’ Andrew said.
‘I agree.’ And then I hesitated before I said what I wanted to say next. ‘I . . . had fun.’
Andrew’s lips twitched into that perfect symmetrical smile. ‘I had so much fun! It was great, actually. It’s not often that I meet someone with such similar interests.’
‘Me too!’ I agreed.
‘So what’s next in our arrangement?’
‘I have my cousin’s wedding in two months. I’m actually one of the bridesmaids,’ I lamented.
‘I have my mom’s sixtieth in a month, then that get-together with old schoolmates, and then, not sure how you feel about Christmas holidays?’
‘We always do a big family Christmas and it would be great having a boyfriend to keep the aunts at bay.’
‘Boyfriend. I thought I was your fiancé?’
I laughed. ‘Yes, I forgot about my mid-air proposal.’
‘How can you forget? It was very, very romantic! In fact, I heard someone call it “the most romantic thing they’d ever heard”, or something to that effect. And you know, when our wedding comes along, we could have it in that amphitheatre at the aquarium.’
‘Oh my God, I love that,’ I said, suddenly getting very excited about my fake upcoming wedding.
‘The photos would be beautiful.’
‘God, wouldn’t they!’ I drifted off a little, imagining what it would all look like, but then came back to reality. ‘But I do think we should drop the engagement story. Go back to just being fake boyfriend and girlfriend.’
Andrew nodded. ‘Agreed.’
I stuck my hand out abruptly. ‘Well, thanks for this.’
Andrew looked down at it questioningly.I got it wrong again!He was expecting a hug, wasn’t he? Maybe this was a hugging moment, especially after everything we’d shared this weekend. I quickly removed my hand and then almost threw myself at him with outstretched arms.
‘Ouch!’ I pulled away when his hand jabbed me in my stomach.
‘Sorry, I thought we were shaking,’ he said apologetically.
‘I changed my mind at the last minute.’
‘You okay?’ he asked.
‘Fine, you have a very firm handshake though.’ I patted my stomach.
‘Should we try that again?’ he asked, and held his arms open.
‘Uh, sure.’ I leaned forward and put my arms on his shoulders awkwardly. Then I brought my chest to his, patted his back and pulled away.
