Mermaids of Glendale - a novel

Chapter 27

Marina received the news via her cell phone while she was jogging in Griffith Park. She pressed the talk button on her Bluetooth earpiece.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Marina."

"Hi, how are you?"

"I'm fine, honey, just fine. I have some news for you."

"Good news, I hope," said Marina, jogging on the spot, counting her pulse with two fingers at the side of her neck, feeling her strong heartbeat as it traveled through her body.

"We're getting married, honey."

Marina stopped jogging. She stepped from the running path and leaned against a park bench at the edge of the Crystal Springs picnic area.

"When did this happen?" asked Marina. "I mean, I'm happy for you, Daddy."

"Yesterday," said Patrick O'Shene. "I asked Marjorie. She said yes."

In the background, Marina could hear her father's parrot, Eisenhower, squawking.

"Does Lorna know?"

"I know," said Lorna, her voice joining the conversation. Their father had both of his daughters on conference call from the pet store's back office.

"Awk!" said Eisenhower the parrot. "Eisenhower knows! Awk!"

"I'm down in Long Beach with Kitt," continued Lorna. "I called Daddy to give him the news."

"Oh, okay, I – Wait, what? Shouldn't Dad have been giving you news?" asked Marina.

"I did," said Patrick.

"He did," confirmed Lorna. "I'm not quite sure it has quite sunk in yet. Sorry, Dad. Dame Kil – I mean, Marjorie – and I have had our differences, but I know that if this is right for Dad, I guess it is okay by me."

"Have you set a date yet?" asked Marina.

"Woah, hold on," said Patrick, chuckling. "Don't be that quick to get rid of me. You want me to have another heart attack?"

This wasn't amusing to either Lorna or Marina, however both let it slide.

"So," said Marina, changing the subject. "You said you had news, too, Lorna?"

"At the Aquarium last night," said Lorna, "Kitt asked me to marry him."

Marina sat down on the park bench.

"What is it, honey?" asked Derek, Marina's boyfriend, who had been struggling to catch up to Marina for the past half hour or so since they'd started their mid-morning run together. He'd finally reached her at the picnic area.

"Is that Derek?" asked Lorna.

"My sister is getting married," said Marina.

"Wow," said Derek.

"And my dad, too," added Marina.

"Amazing," said Derek. "But, um, no pressure though, right?"

In Glendale and in Long Beach, cell phones pressed against their ears, Patrick and Lorna could hear Marina and Derek kiss, accompanied by the hollering of kids running in the park, trying to raise a kite against the wind.

"I'll talk to you both later," said Marina. "I love you."

Ending the call, Marina then tried to stand up and instead fell on her knees in the grass, dizzy, the world slowly spinning. She felt for her pulse again. It didn't feel quite right.

"Marina?" asked Derek. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"My legs," said Marina. "They feel funny. It's like Lorna described. Like pins-and-needles. Kind of...tingly..."

The End...
(To Be Continued in book #2 :)