Deleted Scene: Out of Business

Ari used to have a care taker by the name of Kathy. I never drew out what Kathy looked like, but she has also been cut from the final manuscripts with Ari. Also, Dorian used to be able to understand sea gulls. We're going way back for this scene when Marie was a little more mean mouthed to Travis.

It wasn’t long after that, the siblings were in Marie’s car and heading towards the boardwalk. Marie hadn’t told Dorian that is where they were going, but she had a feeling that they would find what they needed there. Despite, not knowing where they were going, Dorian didn’t seem too bothered. He was watching life pass by him from in the windows as they went and even waved when they were at the stoplights. She giggled to herself, Dorian was all too cute. As they drove further after the last light, the former merman was then beginning to grow curious. “Marie… where are we going? You said that you know where we will be able to find the tool that we need.”

“To the boardwalk. I think we need to speak to a certain someone there,” Marie replied.

“Who?” he wondered.

“Ariel of course,” Marie laughed. “Who else, she has her shop full of things from the ocean. No doubt she’ll have something that will help us.”

Dorian raised an eyebrow, “But didn’t Steph say that she was insane? How can someone who is not well in the mind be able to help us?”

“Well… um… we’re just going to have to see now; won’t we,” Marie said with a smile. “We have to try. For your father’s sake as well as your own. The sooner we get this figured out, the sooner you can go back to being a merman again.”

“A merman…” Dorian shook his head and held it in disbelief, “I’ve been a human for so long… I’ve almost forgotten. How could I possibly forget… my birth form?”

They had just pulled up to the beach parking lot when he had spoken his realization. Marie looked at her little brother in concern, “That’s not good.”

“I suppose I am beginning to enjoy human life too much,” Dorian shrugged. “I don’t know for certain. I have never heard of anyone else in my situation before.”

Marie nodded, but shook away the concern so to concentrate on the interrogation that was to come for the insane shopkeeper. Giving his forearm a squeeze of encouragement, she opened her door with her other hand. “Come on, let’s go find Ariel and get what we need to help your dad.”

While they were getting out of the car, slamming the doors close, Dorian voiced another concern, “Marie, when I do turn into a merman again, will it hurt?”

This made her stop, recalling the sight of his tail splitting and reshaping the first time he transformed. He had been unconscious at the time and therefore would not have felt a thing. Then again, maybe that meant that it didn’t hurt? She couldn’t say either way, especially since the memory of how much pain the mermaid was in referring to the original Little Mermaid story, did not make it any better. Turning her head, she jumped, finding her brother standing beside her. When did he get there? He was waiting for her answer, expectantly, and looking very worried. Swallowing, Marie forced a smile and took his hand to give that a squeeze. “Don’t worry about it, okay? Let’s just go find Ariel.”

“Okay,” Dorian nodded, letting her to lightly tug him into motion.

Together they made their way to the busy boardwalk where they stood; trying to recall where the shop they wanted was located. The last time they had been there, the siblings had just wandered about the entire thing, not seeking for any shop in particular. Marie took in the number of people that were there and figured upon the size of the boardwalk itself to determine what they should do. It would be better to split up and search on their own; but she did not want to leave Dorian alone. What if something were to happen? However, Dorian spoke what he thought first, “I think we should look separately. That way we can cover more ground and find the shop.”

Marie looked up at him and blinked in surprise, “Are you sure? I mean… what if something were to happen?”

“What could happen, Marie? All I have to do is make sure I stay away from the ocean, right? Other than that I just won’t… be as distracted by everything around me,” he said the last part sheepishly. “I promise.”

With a sigh, she gave in, “Okay, but where will we meet again? How will I know where to find you?”

Dorian furrowed his brow in thought and then began looking around his surroundings. Above them the squawking of gulls caught his attention. They were not uncommon of course, they were always at the boardwalk, trying to pick off any scraps they could find. He watched the birds for a few moments, the wheels in his head turning before looking at his sister again, “I know how I’ll be able to find you.”

“What? How?” Marie exclaimed.

“Trust me,” he said with a grin. The former merman let go of her hand and dashed to the shops of the boardwalk.

“Dorian!” she screamed after him, jogging to catch up, but he had already gotten lost in the crowds. “Dorian!” Marie called again, going on her tip toes, scanning the heads of the people. No use, he was already gone. “How did he manage to run away from me so fast?” she wondered out loud. Watching the people around her move past, the young woman tried to decipher which way she should go first. Thinking back, she could have sworn that Dorian had headed off to the left; therefore she should go right. Sighing and hoping that the silly merman knew what he was doing, Marie headed right.

It felt like hours going about the search for the mysterious junk shop with the hot sun beating unmercifully down upon her. Running her arm across her forehead, Marie moaned from the heat, growing worried that Dorian may be in worse shape than her. So far there was no sign of the place, and the young woman was growing sick of running into small children. Grumbling to herself that children who barely reach past the knee or shorter should be leashed, she tried to distract herself on the mission. However, the time came for a break so she flopped down upon the first bench she came across. Quietly, Marie sat, watching the people go by her and wondering how her brother was doing on his search.

With the heat of the sun, Marie couldn’t help but worry about him. They didn’t bring any water with them, she had all the money and Dorian didn’t have on sun block. Dropping her forehead into her waiting hand, she shook the thoughts away, scolding herself for turning into a motherly mode again. He was seventeen years old now, granted mentally he was much younger, but he was still wise enough to take care of himself. No doubt he’s dealt with worse things in the ocean than here. Sighing again, Marie tried to distract herself with something else, while letting her body rest.

She stared at her painted toenails, watching the light gleam off the aqua blue color nail polish. Figuring that it would help her recover faster, the young woman bent over to start massaging her legs from the strenuous walk. As her hands moved upward to the knees, Marie stopped and groaned loudly, “Man! Not again! Always the knees!” Marie had discovered that she had missed a spot shaving that morning. Again, Marie stooped down only this time to check for any more embarrassing spots, mentally cursing her dull razor.

A shadow cast itself over her, as a form blocked away the sunlight. Confused, Marie looked up to see a familiar face that was not Dorian. “Drop something?” the young man inquired.

Marie blushed, recognizing the guy, her voice caught in her throat. He was tall for a seventeen year old, lean and tanned from the sun. The young man’s hair was curly and shone bleach blonde against his skin tone. Bright blue eyes stared down at her over the sunglasses perched on his nose. His name was Travis and she knew him from school; he was the guy that was never without a date on Friday night and a champion surfer. Quickly, Marie gained back enough composure to stand again. “Hey, Travis,” she said, trying to hide the tremor in her voice. “W… what are you doing here?”

"Came here to surf, of course, but there isn’t much wave today,” Travis said with a shrug. “You’re Marie, right?”

She blinked, having not expected that he would actually know her name. Marie hardly ever spoke to him except for maybe an occasional “Hi”, but that was it. “Uh… yeah, that’s my name,” Marie replied with a nervous smile.

“Really? You seem unsure there,” Travis chuckled, motioning at her with the smoothie he had in his hand.

That jolted her out of the shyness, “Of course I’m sure.”

He laughed, “Okay, okay, don’t get so defensive.” The young man stepped back, holding up his hands in the defensive position. “I was just making sure I knew who I was talking to. I see you’re actually out of the library today.”

Marie frowned, “Is that your attempt at a pleasant conversation? If so then I’m not impressed.” Not wanting to stand there with the chance of it be an insult-Marie-session, she began to walk again.

Travis followed, “Hey, don’t walk away angry like that. I’m sorry; it’s just, I’ve never seen you outside of school or the library before. You study so much, it’s no wonder you’re at the top of our class. Are you trying for a full ride scholarship or something?”

“I am actually,” Marie replied quickly, more interested in not running into people. “I don’t see why someone like you would care about what a bookworm does with her life.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Travis asked with a frown.

“It means, leave me alone, I’m busy,” Marie retorted. “I’m trying to find someone,” she muttered while continuing on her way. One of the last things she wanted to deal with right now was some dumb, blonde guy from school. Why would he talk to her in the first place? It can’t be that he’s interested. Then again… it wasn’t like she had made herself very available to date. Before Dorian came along, all she had done was study so to get straight A’s for the scholarship. However, that plan mostly fell apart when Viki died and then even more so when Dorian became human because of her. She sighed, still hearing the slapping of his flip flops almost in sync with hers. Stopping, Marie turned to him with a narrow glare, “You’re following me, why?”

“I want to talk to you,” Travis said sincerely, also stopping and taking a sip of his smoothie. “I heard you dropped out of the play and I wanted to know why. It’s not because of what had happened to Viki is it? I hope that’s not the case, your voice is amazing.”

“How would you know what my voice sounds like when I sing?” Marie challenged. Inwardly, she blinked, was that a flirting tone in her voice?

“I auditioned and heard you,” Travis replied. “It was so weird. I mean… it was like your song entered into my brain and… I don’t know… I felt like I was floating, you know?” He said, motioning to his head as he spoke, trying to describe the experience.

Marie shook her head, trying to appear as normal as possible. There was no way he could connect that she was half mermaid, no way, that’s not a thought that would pop first to a human. “I think the sun fried your brain from all that surfing,” she remarked then began her walk again.

“You don’t believe me?” He shrugged again and continued to follow her, “That’s okay; I couldn’t believe it myself at first. Still, you didn’t answer my question, why did you quit?”

“I had more important things to pay attention to. The play was in the way and why are you still following me?” Marie demanded, whirling around to face him. “Shouldn’t you be with one of the popular girls or something? Go soak your head, I’m busy.”

He stopped, laughing at her, “Wow, never would have expected to hear that kind of tone out of you. That’s hot.”

Marie stopped, blinking, “Hot? You think I’m hot?”

“Yeah,” Travis said with a white, toothy grin.

“Oh…” Marie was stunned, wondering if perhaps this entire time he really was trying to make pleasant conversation with her and she was rude to him. Inwardly groaning, she wanted to smack her head on something for her stupidity. She really should stop jumping to conclusions like that.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind, wrapping their arms around her. She yelped, but the voice that spoke relaxed her almost instantly. “Marie! I found it, at least… I think I did. I’m not too sure but I’m pretty sure I found it!” Dorian exclaimed happily.

“Who is this guy?” Travis exclaimed, jumping back a bit in shock.

Dorian looked up, he heard a new voice, and he instantly clung tighter to Marie realizing that it was a male human. “My sister!” the merman hissed.

“Sister?” Travis questioned.

“Dorian! Dorian let go, its okay,” Marie insisted gently, forcing his hands off from around her. “Yes, yes he is my brother,” she replied quickly then turned to the merman who was still glaring at the surfer. “Dorian, where were you? How the heck did you manage to find me?” Marie questioned.

“The gulls,” Dorian replied; pointing at one that was perched upon a large umbrella. “I asked them for their help.”

She blinked then glanced at the bird who was in the process of preening itself. “You can talk to seagulls?”

“Sort of… it’s not really a language I am very familiar with. I’m more fluent with whales, dolphins…”

Dorian began to list off but was interrupted by Travis, “Dude, is your brother okay?”

Again her brother glared at Travis, his sweet disposition was gone, which was very unusual. Marie watched him, guessing that Dorian was like a beta fish, territorial and would flare his gills to make himself look bigger. Except right now he didn’t have them, and due to his lean stature, and softer facial features, the young man was not as threatening. Travis just stared at him with raised eyebrows, wondering if the black haired boy was even sane. Dorian looked him up and down, body tensing as though ready to pounce. “Who is this male? Is he bothering you, Marie?” He stepped in front of her protectively, “My sister!”

“Man, dude, chill,” Travis said, backing away. “I was just leaving, I’ll see ya in school, Marie. Bye.” Turning around slowly, keeping his eyes on Dorian for as long as possible, Travis then walked away quickly.

Smacking her hand to her forehead, Marie groaned loudly. Meanwhile, Dorian relaxed and looked back at her again, “Are you okay?”

“Not really,” Marie admitted. “Dorian, that guy was someone from school and he just wanted to talk and you chased him away.”

“I thought… he was bothering you… like the male at that large structure where you got me these,” Dorian said, motioning to the clothes he wore. “The one who had pushed me into the water.”

Marie shook her head, “No, he was a nice male. I don’t need you to jump out of nowhere and protect me all the time. I’m fine, really. I’ve survived this long before meeting you, didn’t I?”

“That’s true… I suppose…” Dorian replied with some disappointment that he actually wasn’t being helpful at all.

Marie sighed, “Don’t worry about it. You said you think you found the shop?”

It didn’t surprise her that he perked up almost immediately. “Yeah, come on!” He took hold of her hand and pulled her through the crowd.

The young woman struggled to keep up with the merman, her arm straining to hold on. When had that guy become so fast? Last she remembered; it was a challenge to even walk without falling over. Now he can run without any trouble? This could be problematic. If Dorian were to adjust too much into his human body, he may not even recall ever that he was a merman. That certainly would not be good at all.

Weaving through the many people around them, they eventually hit an area where the crowds thinned. Not slowing his pace, Dorian continued to pull his half sister with him. With fewer obstacles to run into, Marie was finally able to catch up to him. Running more side by side made things a lot easier until, finally, the merman came to a stop. Marie was stunned by what she then saw.

This couldn’t be the place. The booth was boarded close with a sign that said, “Out of Business”. Dorian stood there, his chest showing his rapid inhale and exhale for breath. He swallowed and pointed at the abandoned shop, “This is it.”

“No… no it can’t be,” Marie said, shaking her head and wishing that she didn’t see that sign. “Dorian, she isn’t here.”

“When is she coming back?” Dorian wondered in complete seriousness.

Marie smacked her own forehead for forgetting that Dorian could not read English. Walking up to the booth, she pointed at the sign, “You see this, Dorian?”

He nodded.

“It says ‘Out of Business’. That means that she won’t come back anymore, ever. We missed our chance,” Marie explained sadly.

The merman’s usually bright expression fell into a depression at the news. “Won’t come back? Are you sure?”

Marie nodded. In despair, Dorian collapsed himself into the nearest bench, dropping his head into his hands. With a sigh, his sister came to join him on the bench and slouched in disappointment. She didn’t know what to do now. If anyone would have the key to help Dorian it would have been Ariel. Now, with her gone, where else could they go? Robbing a museum or any other place that may have the key was out of the question. “I’m sorry, Dorian,” she offered. “I guess we’ll just have to do more research.”

“I’ve already lost so much time as it is,” Dorian lifted his head out of his hands and complained. “At this rate… how am I ever going to save my dad?”

“I know, I know.” Now it was Marie’s turn to drop her head into her hands. A frustrated sigh left her as she stared at her feet again. “I need some time to think. Let’s just calm down and try to figure things out, okay? Put our heads together, ya know?”

“Not really?” Dorian confessed.

“Turn around,” Marie commanded. Dorian did as was told and the young woman was then able to lean her back against his. She reached up to have his head rest upon her’s and smiled up at him, “There, now our heads are together.”

“Oh,” the merman replied. He stared up at the sky with her, feeling a little happier knowing that he was helping in the thinking process.

In reality, that was nowhere near what Marie had meant, but whatever kept him from being sad was fine with her. Staring upward, watching the clouds roll by was much more relaxing, however no further ideas came. Rather, no further good ideas came to her. A person can get plenty of ideas but the question lies in whether or not they are useful. That was a different matter entirely. She squinted her eyes at the sunlight beginning to peak its way through the cloud cover again. “Stupid California sun,” she muttered.

Dorian didn’t respond to that, being unusually quiet on his side. Marie took a glance at her brother, finding him staring intently at a couple of gulls. He was probably engaged in the conversation the two birds were having. Chuckling to herself, Marie returned to her own ponderings. This new session of thought was interrupted by a woman’s voice, “Excuse me.”

Both siblings jerked, looking in the direction the voice had come from. Standing there was a woman in her late twenties, dressed in khaki shorts and a yellow T-shirt that read “I *heart* Carbs” on the front. She had a clipboard in hand and both were resting on her shapely hips. “Don’t tell me you two were hoping to get into Ariel’s shop today. She’s been closed down for a while now,” the woman remarked.

“Actually, we were,” Marie admitted, rotating around so her legs dangled off the bench. “Who are you?”

“I’m her neighbor/caretaker,” the woman replied. Reaching out a hand in greeting, she introduced, “I’m Kathleen, but you can call me Kathy.”

“Hey Kathy,” Marie smiled and shook the woman’s hand. “I’m Marie and this is my brother, Dorian.”

Kathy shook Dorian’s hand who gave her one of his sweet smiles. She chuckled and reached up to tuck a lock of beach blonde hair behind her ear. “You’re a cute one, aren’t you,” Kathy remarked.

Dorian blushed.

Changing the subject, Marie asked, “So, what happened to Ariel’s shop? We were hoping to get something from her today.”

“She ran out of money I guess.” The older woman shrugged. “Ariel wasn’t very stable in the first place, really. Plus no one was interested in what she had to sell. I guess the lack in business finally caught up with her. I just came to clean things up around here and offer the booth for sale.”

“Oh… I see… I don’t suppose there’s anything left, huh?” Marie assumed.

“She took a good chunk of the stuff she was selling with her,” Kathy explained. “If there’s something you really needed from her, I can give you her address. You can talk to her yourself.”

Marie and Dorian exchanged glances, both thinking the same exact thing. “That would be great, thank you!” the sister said, jumping to her feet.

“Okay.” Taking her clipboard up, Kathy scribbled down the information and handed the paper to Marie. “Be careful when you get there, okay. It’s not the best of neighborhoods,” she warned.

“No problem, we’ll be careful,” Marie assured. Not thinking much about the warning, the woman was just happy to be getting somewhere. Thanking Ariel’s neighbor, she took her brother by the arm to get him going back to the car. Finally, things were beginning to look up again.