This day is not going like I expected at all.
All went downhill when Dylan start to ask too many questions and then I lost it too and actually told him everything. I mean...almost. I didn't tell him the 'Elizabeth and doppelganger' thing but I will, eventually. Now that I know I can trust him, I want him to know who I am, even if I don't really know who that is either.
I was not prepared for his reaction to my tail. I didn't know how someone would react to that revelation, but I would never have guessed 'Cool'. I feel like laughing just thinking about it, he's such a moron.
What I also didn't expect was him asking me to turn back to human, grabbing my hand and start to walk, leaving the beach behind.
"Dylan, where are we going?"
"To my friend's house." Is he crazy? He told me before that he was staying in the house of an old man that practically raised him. He has a lot of respect for that man but why are we going there?
"Why?"
"Anthony asked me to invite you to a ball today because he wants to meet you."
"And this is your way of asking me?" We are already outside of a beautiful and gigantic mansion. This friend of his is obviously very rich and rich people tend to be assholes so, I'm a little reticent in this introduction.
"You don't want to meet him?" He didn't give me much of a choice, he literally dragged me here.
However, I can see that this is important to him. Anthony is a fundamental piece in Dylan's life, and he wants me to meet him. Refusing would upset him...
"What if he doesn't like me?"
"Why wouldn't he?"
"He obviously as money." He looks at me strangely when I say this like he doesn't follow my line of reasoning. I don't blame him, I'm generalizing based on my life experience that isn't that vast.
"So?"
"I don't." Truth be told I had nothing to my name except the bracelet that I'm now wearing again. I look at it and an immense feeling of calmness washes over me, tranquilizing me.
"Anthony is not like that. Besides, he was the one that bet on mermaid."
"What?" I start to panic slightly. "You can't tell him what I am."
"I know, although he is trustworthy, I wouldn't betray your trust like that." His look settles my worries a bit.
"Ok...let's meet him then." The quicker we go, the fastest this will be over, I hate meeting new people.
Dylan guides me inside to a big living room, with incredible natural lighting coming from a wall size window with a view of the ocean. This place is amazing.
An older man, around seventy, was looking out the window with a faraway look in his eyes.
Dylan coughs to get the man's attention.
"Dylan! Come on, introduce me to this pretty young lady."
Dylan places his hand on my lower back, which makes me shiver, and leads me closer to the man.
"Anthony this is..." He looks at me suddenly as if he doesn't know my name and I realize that he doesn't know if he should call me Elizabeth or Meleah.
"I'm Meleah, nice to meet you." I extend my hand expecting the man to take it, but he just stands there looking at me with a shocked expression.
"Anthony? Is everything ok?" Dylan's voice breaks the eye contact between me and Anthony.
"Oh of course, I'm so sorry, what a lovely name." He grabs my hand gently but freezes again. "Oh my goodness."
"Is something wrong?" I ask as delicately as I can, he doesn't look well, maybe his sick or something. Dylan also looks worried.
"I just need to sit for a while, I'll be ok. Do you two care to join me?"
"Of course, if we are not imposing."
"You are not, Darling. Come."
He sits in an armchair and points to the sofa near him where I sit, closer to him, with Dylan on my side.
"Is there anything that you need?"
"Actually, Dylan would you mind get me a glass of water? I can make our visitor do it."
"Of course not, I'll be right back." He smiles at me and I nod telling him not to worry.
As soon as Dylan leaves, I hear Anthony's voice.
"Meleah... I know this might be a strange question, but is your mother's name, Aria, by any chance?" I wasn't expecting that question at all, how does he know that? "You look scared, please believe me when I tell you that I mean you no harm."
"How do you know my mother?"
"I never met her, but-" He stops when we hear Dylan approaching. "I know what you are, does he?" I nod. "Good, then we can talk freely."
"What are you guys whispering about? Are you plotting against me already?" He laughs but I don't respond, I don't know how to act right now. All I know is that I want to now how Anthony knows my mother's name.
"Anthony was about to tell me how he knows my mother's name."
Dylan looks confused at Anthony, "You do, how?"
"Sit, I'll tell you everything." Dylan gives him the water and sits back besides me. "I know what Meleah is..."
Dylan looks at me, "I didn't tell him!" I almost laugh at that.
"I know."
"Did you?"
"No, he already knew. Let him talk, will you?" He shuts up and we both look at Anthony again.
"Before I start would you tell me how is your mother? I hope she's well." I freeze a bit before answering.
"She passed away when I was 8."
"Oh dear..." He seems to process this information and start talking, "I never knew your mother, but I knew of her."
"What do you mean?"
"I already told Dylan about a mermaid story that goes around this town, but in fact , this particular story is only known by a selected few."
"Which story?" I look at Dylan.
"Is about a mermaid that saves a man from drowning and falls in love with him."
"The children's story? We also have that."
"You do?" Dylan asks.
"Yes, it's a cautionary tale, so we won't go near humans."
"Here it is a romance..." Dylan says confused.
"In ours she dies a very cruel death." Every single mermaid knew the story of the Princess that loved a human and was betrayed by him.
"Either way, this is not that story." Anthony clarifies. "As I told Dylan, there was a man that loved the sea but almost died and was saved by a mythical creature with hair like fire and a beautiful green tail. What I didn't tell him was that..." He takes a deep breath as to prepare himself for what came next. "That mermaid's name was Aria and the man was called Henry, and he was my son."
A minute of silence follows that statement, I could feel my brain working around what he had just said. His he implying that his son is my father?!
"Wha- Are you saying- I don't-" I am so confused that my brain is incapable of finishing any sentences, so I just shut up.
"I know this might be a shock but-"
"How do you know that the mermaid and my mother are the same person? There are more than one Aria in the ocean."
"I know because..." His eyes start shining like there's water in them. "Because there's more to the story. As you are aware being with a human is forbidden for your kind." I nod sadly and refuse to look at Dylan. "But they didn't care, and Henry wanted me to meet her, but I thought he was going insane."
"You refused?"
"Yes. It's one of my biggest regrets because if I had maybe the end would be different."
"I thought you didn't know the end?" Dylan questions.
"I didn't, not until today."
"What do you mean, Anthony?" Dylan asks before I can.
"Meleah is the piece I didn't know about."
"Me? How?"
"They were together for a few years, he would vanish almost every day and I was getting sick of it. He was young, around Dylan's now, and was wasting his life, from my point of view of course, the one that I now know it's wrong."
"What happened?"
"We didn't live here back then, this was a summer house." The story changes directions faster than I could accompany. "He had to drive everyday to come and see your mother on that beach, it was a lot of work. Around four years after he met her.... One day, I decided that it I had enough. He was home with Luke..."
"My father." Dylan's voice makes my focus turn to him momentarily.
"Yes, as you know they were best friends and that day I had forbidden Henry to leave, so he asked your father for help and left anyway. I was furious."
"My father told me this story, but I didn't know..."
"What? What didn't you know?" I feel like something important is being kept from me, I'm the only one not on the same page.
"According to my father, Henry was in a rush and had an accident." My worlds shift suddenly, thank god I'm sitting.
That's why he's not here and they keep mentioning him in past tense... "He didn't survive, did he?"
"I'm so sorry, Honey." I feel his hand on mine, but I can't react, I'm mourning someone I didn't even knew, and I don't understand why are my cheeks wet. I feel like I just lost someone I never had.
"After his body was...recovered...the personal belonging that were with him, included that bracelet." Anthony says while pointing at my mother's bracelet. "He had it made, and it confound me why 'Mel' and not 'Aria' but I assumed he lied about the woman's name, if she even existed."
"If you had it, how did it end up with my mother?"
"I knew the place where they would meet, and decided to go one day, not even a whole week after his accident. I saw no one and accepted that he was indeed lying to me. I left the bracelet in one of the rocks near the water." He takes a deep breath. "He loved the water, so I thought it was the right place for it. Where it was supposed to be..." Another deep breath. "I was a few feet away when I heard a splash, I turned around and saw her. The fiery redheaded young woman, she grabbed the bracelet and I was going to show myself but then I heard a cry, a child's cry."
"I was there?"
"Yes. I didn't know of your existence, Henry must have thought that I wouldn't believe that either. He was going there every day to see you. I felt so guilty. I took your father and I denied your mother. I had no right to introduce myself in your lives." So my mother's bracelet was actually my father's present for me.
"So you left."
"I did. I hoped you and your mother had a good life, you could be killed if anyone learned of your association with a human, so I never tried to find you. Now you tell me your mother died when you were 8? I'm so sorry. If I knew I would have done anything to make you know that you weren't alone." He grabs my hands and I feel the warmth of his, I can see the guilt that he carried all of this time.
"It wasn't your fault. My father's accident. Accidents happen."
"I should have been there for you."
"My life wasn't awful." It truly wasn't. "I had Thea, she's like a sister, and her mother was my mother's best friend, even if she also died a year or so after my mother."
"Can I ask what happened to your mother? Did she ever talk about Henry?"
"She did. I was very young, so I don't remember much but she used to say that we went to visit him all the time and that one day he didn't show. She said that he had found someone and become very happy with that person. I remember that she looked sad, but she was smiling."
"He didn't leave you."
"I know that now, and I think that maybe she knew too because she never spoke ill of him, not even once. She never told me how they met probably for my own safety and hers. According to Thea's mom, my mother got sick not even a month after my father's disappearance."
"Are you serious?" He shakes his head in sorrow.
"Yes...she was sick all throughout my childhood, each day getting worse, but she kept smiling and singing and being a great mom. When I was 8, she was just...not there anymore."
Anthony squeezes my hands and I feel Dylan caressing my back in a calming way. My voice is coming out weirdly and I don't know what's going on with me.
I see Dylan handing me a piece of paper and look questionably at him.
"To wipe your tears." My what? He pressed the paper against my face, and I realize that's what humans call to the saltwater coming from my eyes. "I guess you never cried before?"
"It's different underwater."
"It's ok, they will stop when you start to feel calmer." I nod at him and notice Anthony smiling slightly at us.
"Meleah...I want you to know that now that you know who I am, this is always going to be part of you, you are welcome here anytime, I hope this house one day can become your home."
"I..."
"I know that you have no reason to trust me or even forgive me, but I just..." He is also crying, and I feel bad for him, he has been alone all of these years, martyring himself for what happened to my father. "I want you to know that I hope we can become family, someday."
"We are family, Grandpa. I don't blame you for anything, and I'm glad I got the chance of meeting you." He's shocked because I calmed him 'Grandpa' and more tears get free from his eyes while he smiles at me. "You can call me Mel, if you want."
"Thank you...Mel. Truly, I became the happiest old man in the world today." I nod and smile at him, feeling that my family got bigger all of the sudden, it's a great feeling. He turns to look at Dylan that has been quiet throughout all of these revelations. "It's all thanks to you, son. You made this possible. Thank you."
Dylan seems shocked that Anthony gave him any credit.
"I didn't do anything, I just met her."
"You didn't give up looking for her even when you didn't know who she was." I didn't know that. I thought that was a coincidence that he was on the beach again.
"Well, she did save my life." He looks at me with so much tenderness that I can't process.
"And now you gave me part of mine back. Life is a beautiful thing."