A bespoke story, written for an individual with their own dreams and fantasies.
May you enjoy it as much as they have.
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Rachel Monk looked up over her books strewn over a table in the library.
"Hey! Where've you been?" she asked her best friend, roomie and study-mate, Sarah Suomi. "I thought we were supposed to be studying for that Economics final tomorrow."
"Sorry," Sarah replied. "I got hung up looking over the displays in the student centre job office. Sometimes they post stuff there before it goes on the net."
"Any luck?" With graduation rapidly approaching and no jobs in sight, both of them were getting worried about their prospects.
"Nothing useful, mainly McJobs," the petite blonde said, pulling books out of her pack. "There was one sort of weird one looking for mermaids or something."
"Mermaids?"
Rachel, a head taller than her friend, raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Mermaids," Sarah affirmed. "Look, I've got the info in my purse. Let's talk about it tomorrow, after the exam, OK?"
"OK."
.
The exam had been a tough one and both women left the room exhausted. On the other hand, both sensed that they had passed, had probably done better than just squeaked by.
Moreover, it was not only their last exam of the term, but also the last of their school career. Assuming that they'd passed it and the other exams they had taken in the past couple of weeks, they would graduate in a couple of weeks.
The two friends decided to celebrate with a drink at the campus student bar. Neither of them was in any mood to do anything but relax and, thankfully, the normal music had not yet started.
The girls slumped in their chairs and, when the server arrived, ordered a favorite cooler. When the drinks arrived, they sat up and, distaining the waiting glasses, clinked bottles.
"So," Rachel said.
"So, indeed."
The two just sat there for a few minutes, small smiles of satisfaction on their faces.
For no apparent reason, the smiles suddenly got much brighter. The two whooped almost in unison.
"We made it!"
"Watch out, world! We're coming for you!"
The two fell into a long, strong hug.
It had been a tough go for each of them. Personal issues, money, boyfriend troubles, struggling with courses -- none of it was in any way unusual for university students, now or in generations long gone, but each of us has to find our own path, find our own solutions.
It helps, of course, when you've got somebody solid by your side.
The two had met as freshmen when they were paired as dormitory roommates and had formed the most solid of friendships.
Releasing each other from the hug, they sat back and simply looked at each other. Both women were athletes, their bodies honed by grueling hours under a relentless -- and highly competent -- coach on the varsity swim team. Both had very long hair, Rachel's a medium brown and Sarah an ash blonde. Rachel towered over her petite friend but both were a bit jealous of each other's beauty. One thing they had in common was a magnificent bosom, to the point where each had seriously debated giving up competitive swimming.
Rachel however was much shyer, much more reserved, much more easily embarrassed than her friend. Sarah was the ebullient one, the one constantly daring her friend to push the envelope. It had been Sarah who'd first lost her virginity, Sarah who'd had the first hangover, Sarah who'd dared Rachel to go skinny dipping. The tall brunette on the other hand was the keel to Sarah's sail. The calm, sensible member of the duo, she kept her friend from going too far, talked them out of trouble when it came and in return was helped pushing her own boundaries and enjoying life to its fullest. While neither was a brilliant student, both were solid scholars; it helped that each was able to coach the other in various subjects.
The two made, in other words, a good team.
The girls sat in the cool dimness of the pub, at peace with themselves and the world. Eventually, Rachel caught the attention of the server and two more coolers arrived.
"So," she said. "Mermaids."
"Yeah, can you believe it? It's a posh resort in the Caribbean looking for girls to get dressed up as mermaids and swim in a pool."
"That's it?"
"Apparently. I did some research and it seems to be all legit. It's not a bordello or sex club, although things are, shall we say, 'relaxed'. It's just something that they're pushing, an image or marketing thing - their guests being able to swim with 'real' mermaids."
"Any 'mermen'?"
"Didn't see any mention of it."
"Too bad. How's the money?"
"Not great, but not bad, either. Room and board are included, so it's better than it looks at first glance." Sarah pulled out her laptop and soon had the resort website up. The two pushed their chairs together and began scrolling through.
"The summer season is coming up soon and, look, here's the hiring page."
"Available May to October - check. Good swimming ability a must -- check. Passport -- hey you do still have yours, right"
"Uh-huh. Got it renewed it for that trip with the team last year."
"Is there a photo gallery? There!"
The two watched as the gallery opened.
"Wow!"
"Talk about fancy!"
"Are there photos of the mermaids?"
Eventually, the found photos of the pool. Sarah grinned at Rachel's blush.
Not to put too find a point on it, many if not most of the mermaids were topless. Some had a pair of large shells over their nipples, worn like a tiny bikini top, but they were the exception.
All wore a long mermaid tail reaching down from their waist, brightly colored and made to look as if covered in scales.
A short video showed them sunbathing by a large pool surrounded with palm trees and chairs. Some were swimming in the water. The video cut to the inside of a dark room, obviously a bar or club. The camera turned slowly to reveal a large window behind the bar.
Actually, 'aquarium' might a better term. It took but a moment to realize that the window was part of the pool. Two 'mermaids' swam up to the window, hair drifting around them as they paused and peered through the glass at the bar. One of them was topless, the other wore the shell bikini top.
"Wow!" Sarah breathed again.
"No way," Rachel said, flatly. "Paid to sit around and have some jerk perv out over me. That's sick, Sarah."
Her friend thought for a minute.
"Listen to me, Rache. First off, it seems to be reputable. It's listed on the usual booking sites and it's had some good reviews. I'm not seeing anything really pervy about it.
"Second, you don't have to go topless. Look at those other girls with a top on.
"Third," and here she grasped her tall friend by the forearm and squeezed, "you've got nothing to be ashamed of, girl. Tall and really pretty and a great figure -- jeez, you turn the head of every boy on campus."
"But..." Rachel started to interrupt.
"But nothing and don't interrupt! Here's the fourth thing, Rachel." Sarah's voice turned flat. "We're broke, kid. We've both been looking for jobs for what - six weeks? We're about to graduate and our student loans are about to come due. Neither of our families can look after us and the economy around here sucks."
