I found myself shocked when Cleo informed Rikki, Emma, and me that Mrs. Geddes had fired her for a short little thing. Ronnie had playfully splashed our boss, which Cleo found funny.
"Fired, for that?" Rikki asked in disbelief.
"Seriously?" Emma wondered finding the whole thing crazy.
"I can't believe it," Cleo shrugged.
"Look, I'm sure you'll find another job."
"Maybe, but where am I going to find one that I like that much?"
"Serving ice cream to snotty little brats? What's to like?" Rikki pointed out.
"Is a little tact so much to ask for?" Emma turned to her.
"Maybe when Mrs. Geddes calms down she'll realize she's made a mistake," I nodded though knowing she can be restrictive and often pointed out a lot of flaws. For some reason, my boss went easy on me as if I were one of her favorite people in the world. Then I remembered her crush on Dad, which made me gag a lot.
"You think?" Cleo turned to me.
"Of course."
"She's bound to," Emma agreed.
"Plus, where is she gonna find someone who'd work for a monster like her?" Rikki jumped in.
Cleo shrugged her shoulders, not saying anything. I gave her an assured expression that things would soon turn out alright.
🌊
Later, I was even more surprised to find out Lewis had gotten a job, which was at Cleo's position at the marine park. I was on my way to the kiosk stand for my shift when I saw Lewis manning the ice cream stand. He had no idea how he got the position at once.
When the other girls found out about it, they were beyond mad.
"You can't let him get away with this," Rikki shook her head and closed the bedroom door.
The four of us met up at the Sertori house and sat in Cleo's room.
"Hang on, let's not jump to conclusions," Emma suggested.
"Maybe he didn't know he was taking her job," I pointed out.
"Oh, I forgot. Lewis has been the walking definition of loyal lately," Rikki frowned.
"Remember that thing I said about tact?" Emma asked her.
"Look on the bright side," Rikki turned to Cleo, "It's Lewis we're talking about. He'll probably drop a butterscotch triple on some kid's head and end up getting fired. When he does, you can get your job back."
"I doubt it," Cleo shook her head, "It's practically the easiest job on the planet. That's why I liked it so much. Plus, I miss the lunch breaks with Zoey."
I gave Cleo a sympathetic expression, "Maybe I can talk with Mrs. Geddes about rehiring you back."
"No, Zoey, I don't wanna get you in trouble."
"She's right, it's not like serving ice cream is the hardest job in the world," Emma turned to Rikki.
That second, Rikki glanced at her with a smirk telling me that she had a plot cooking, "But it could be."
"Whatever it is you guys are plotting, forget it," I shook my head, "What if everything goes wrong and you get discovered, not to mention at both an aquarium and theme park!"
"Relax, Zoey, we know what we're doing," Rikki patted my shoulder.
I had a feeling it was to try and sabotage Lewis' position as a way of getting back at him for taking Cleo's job.
The next day, I found out Emma and Rikki had snuck into the dolphin lagoon and pulled a prank on Lewis at the ice cream stand with their powers. Lewis caught on to their scheme and reprimanded them. He told me during lunch break that he had no clue about Cleo getting fired in the first place.
🌊
While heading for the kiosk stand to start my shift the day after, I found out from Mrs. Geddes and Laurie, one of the dolphin trainers, that Ronnie had gone missing. I was questioned by them when they asked me if I had seen anything out of the ordinary. I explained that I didn't and had been at the kiosk most of the time.
I wondered how the dolphin could have escaped unless there had been a breach in one of the pools. But then I remembered Emma and Rikki sneaking into it in their mermaid forms to give Lewis a hard time.
The worst part was Lewis was named the prime suspect since the surveillance footage showed him near the gate. Cleo was bound to get upset about everything, especially since she was fond of Ronnie. I contacted Rikki and Emma suggesting that they tell Cleo the truth, otherwise I would end up telling her everything even though I didn't want to since it was their story to tell and not mine.
🌊
Cleo approached me after talking with Lewis who was held up near Mrs. Geddes' office just as I was ending my shift.
"Zoey, did you know about Emma and Rikki letting Ronnie out of the pool?" she asked.
"I figured that it happened," I answered as I grabbed my bag from my locker, "I told them to tell you what they did and that if they didn't, I would tell you everything. Plus, I tried to talk them out of sabotaging Lewis' first shift. Should I have done something more, Cleo?"
"You did what you could. It would've been their own fault if they got caught."
I could tell Cleo wasn't mad at me. She was angry with Rikki and Emma over their actions.
Cleo and I arrived at the cafe after she sent out a text to Emma to meet us there. We found both Rikki and Emma lingering by one of the trees waiting for us.
"We got your message," Rikki grinned at both of us.
"Is there anything you guys want to tell me?" Cleo asked starting to get mad.
"That top brings out the color in your eyes."
"You let Ronnie out!"
"We're sorry, Cleo," Emma apologized, "It was an accident, I promise."
"We didn't even know he followed us out," Rikki added.
"What were you doing there in the first place? Anyone could've seen you," Cleo pressed on.
"We just-- we couldn't let Lewis get away with taking your job."
"So, we went there to complicate things," Emma jumped in.
"He told me that he didn't have a clue about Cleo losing her position," I stated.
Though I could tell Rikki wasn't convinced of it. Emma looked like she was starting to feel bad for making things worse.
"Well, let's see. Ronnie's gone, and Lewis is in serious trouble. Is that complicated enough for you?" Cleo snapped at the other girls.
"And not to mention, the cops are involved," I added recalling Laurie telling me that Mrs. Geddes had called the police and having seen the uniformed authorities arrive at the park.
🌊
"We've already searched the reef," Rikki explained to Cleo and me.
"Then we'll search again," Cleo turned to her.
"Think about it, Cleo. We can't cover the entire ocean," Emma added.
"He must be starving by now."
I recalled learning once that Ronnie had been raised in captivity. Animals that have been raised in enclosures wouldn't survive out in the wild since never having to hunt for food.
"He'll be fine. He's swimming in an ocean full of fish," Rikki shrugged.
"He's been raised in captivity," I corrected her.
"He doesn't know how to hunt for live feed," Cleo added.
"Then what does he eat?" Emma wondered.
"Squid. He loves squid. He'll do anything for it."
That second, Cleo paused as if she thought of something. I could tell she had a plan.
"Wait! I've got an idea," she informed us.
The four of us raced over to the dock where Mr. Sertori kept one of his fishing boats. We managed to get a bunch of squid from him that he had caught from the east side of Mako Island. The other girls and I figured that was where we would end up finding Ronnie. Mr. Sertori wondered what we wanted squid for. Cleo told him it was for fishing.
The girls and I swam for the east side of Mako keeping an eye out for Ronnie. We had to find the dolphin fast before Lewis ended up in further trouble as it seemed he would be arrested soon.
As we searched the water, Ronnie swam over to us, mainly Cleo, who held a squid in her hand. The dolphin squeaked in happiness at the sight of his favorite treat.
🌊
We managed to get Ronnie back to the marine park and into his enclosure with the use of the squid. The girls and I dried off after getting back on land and quickly rushed to the park through the main entrance and headed for the dolphin lagoon in time to see everyone else at Ronnie's pool. Laurie was thrilled after checking on the dolphin's condition while Mrs. Geddes wasn't sure how it all happened. Lewis was already in the clear.
One of the cops suggested to my boss that she should get the underwater gate checked to make sure another breach didn't happen again. Lewis asked Mrs. Geddes for an apology for everything. At first, she was prideful about admitting her mistake of accusing him of letting Ronnie loose, but apologized anyway when threatened that the superiors of the park would find out about the incident. Lewis asked Mrs. Geddes for one last request, that being giving Cleo her job back.
The next day, Cleo was back at the ice cream stand. I had the day off from work and decided to check in on her.
"It's good to be back," she smiled at us.
"You know one thing I won't miss about this job," Lewis told us, "The lame hat." He jokingly flicked at the visor of Cleo's cap.
"Bet you'll miss the paycheck though," Rikki remarked at him.
"Yes. Ouch."
"But seeing as how you guys, minus Zoey, are going to cover the cost of Lewis' computer repairs, it won't matter, will it?" Cleo grinned at Emma and Rikki.
Lewis had told us earlier that his laptop burnt out and had gotten the job to get enough money for replacing it. I had told Grandma everything and she discreetly gave me $200 dollars to give to him. Though I didn't want her to do that, but Grandma assured me that it was okay and that she liked Lewis a lot despite he and Cleo having broken up. She told me that she had high hopes for them.
"I guess I can chip in," Emma nodded.
"You're dreaming," Rikki frowned at her.
"Rikki, it is the least you can do," Lewis turned to her.
"Your computer, your problem."
"You are so uncharitable."
"I am so charitable!"
Cleo started giggling at both Rikki and Lewis arguing. To calm them both down, I pulled out the cash from my pouch.
"It's from my grandma," I told Lewis as I placed the money in his hand.
"No, Zoey, I can't take this," he shook his head set to hand back the cash.
"It's alright. I told her about your laptop burnout, and she wanted to chip in."
"See, another reason I love your grandma so much!" Rikki remarked to me, "She's extremely charitable!"
I smiled at all of my friends.