Before the Summer Solstice

The sun was gradually waving farewell to spring. Sebastian stood on a secluded beach to witness the ending with Cordelia, the most beautiful woman he has ever met. As the magnificent orange ball of energy sank, a tear formed in her eyes.

“Why are you crying?” Sebastian breathed, romantically holding her in his arms.

Cordelia buried her face into his chest, trembling. “It’s…” she paused, searching for the right words to express the thoughts that filled her mind. “A beautiful view.”

Sebastian chuckled. They had spent three months together, every night visiting the beach to watch the sunset. He was hoping to see Cordelia in a bathing suit, but she refused to swim in the ocean. She was willing to stand on the shores only at dusk, complaining the beach was too hot. Witnessing Cordelia cry at the darkening of the sky was puzzling. “We have watched many sunsets, what makes this one so moving?”

Cordelia hid her face, leaving his question unanswered.

Sebastian thought back to their first encounter. He had gone to his usual Karaoke bar, hoping to impress a new lonely woman with his musical talents. It was his favorite way to find a sleeping companion for the night. If he found the right song, a woman would approach him to compliment his singing and he would offer her a drink. Once she accepted, he sang more songs of seduction and eventually convinced the unsuspecting woman to spend the night with him. Though it was consensual, Sebastian made sure their salacious time together would end before daybreak, to avoid any further consequential repercussion. He had relied on this womanizing strategy for many years to satisfy his endless lust…until he met Cordelia.

On the night they met, she was already belting out notes to Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody when he entered the bar. The crowd was cheering, dancing, and harmonize with her during the mid-section of the song, supplying the “somebody who.” Her blond hair whipped around each time she sang the chorus and paused after every line. As the song reached the end, he caught her hazel-colored eyes and began directing the ending towards him. With every, “Don’tchu wanna dance? Say you wanna dance!” She cast a direct line of sight to meet him in his cerulean-colored eyes, reeling him closer to her. Before he was aware, he was on the stage dancing with her, and she accepted him. The music came to a crescendo, and an eruption of applause filled the bar instantly.

“That was amazing!” The only three words he could spit out, spellbound by her performance

“You’re just saying that,” Cordelia replied nonchalantly. “I’m sure you can do better.”

Sebastian was never one to shy away from a challenge. He nodded to the bartender, delivering a private message telepathically. Seconds later, Sebastian stood on stage, microphone in hand, and prepared to reproduce the female-wooing performance he had spent several years mastering, confidence pouring from his on-stage presence.

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” He sang, as the musical notes of piano keys dripped out from the speakers, marking the beginning of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Sebastian swayed with the piano solo, using one hand to mimic striking chords in tune with the song. Cordelia watched, pendulating in sync with him. When the song reached the halfway mark, the tempo changed. The audience became the accompaniment for Sebastian’s solo. This was the regulars’ most anticipated part of the nightly routine that they returned for. Cordelia also joined the crowd, basking in the high-spirited singing. As the song reached the descant, “for me,” she had jumped on stage with Sebastian, bracing for the final guitar riff. They were head banging in unison, until he paused to belt the last verse. The crowd went wild and delivered a standing ovation for the duo when the last note of the song played.

Sebastian walked Cordelia to his usual table and ordered two drinks for them. They spent the remainder of the evening singing and chatting. Sebastian drove her to her condominium when the bar closed; impressed she resided in such an affluent neighborhood, but never felt the need to inquire about her finances. Once they settled for the night in her home, they made passionate love. It was an unusual experience for Sebastian, who normally fulfills his needs and waits for the woman to fall asleep. When he woke up the following morning, he was still infatuated with Cordelia. A quarter of a year later, they were still together, singing and entertaining the bar crowd nightly.

With minutes of sunlight in the sky, Sebastian whispered to Cordelia, hoping to lift her spirits, “shall we go singing tonight?”

She pulled herself away from him with a surprised expression. “That would be nice, but I think we should spend this evening alone. It’s the last day of spring. Tomorrow, is the summer solstice.”

Sebastian considered her request. “Alright. Let’s go back to your place and sing the night away.”

Pleased with his response, she asked him to wait and ran to the edge of the waters, avoiding the waves that brushed upon the shores. She knelt down on the wet sand and hovered her hands over it, as if searching for an object. Sebastian started to walk towards her to assist, but she uncovered a white and orange-colored seashell. He watched as she lifted the conch shell to her lips to kiss, or whisper, into its aperture. Shortly after, she placed it over her ear; nodded a few times, then whispered back into the shell. Sebastian smiled, curious to know what she was doing to the shell. She finally set it back down on the beach and returned to his side.

Seeking confirmation, Sebastian questioned. “Were you just talking to a seashell?”

Cordelia laughed. “You can’t be serious, can you? Why would I talk to a shell?”

It did seem preposterous. “Good point, why would you?”

“Baby, baby, baby, oh.” Cordelia began singing the chorus to Justin Bieber’s song as a distraction.

“Like baby, baby, baby, no,” he sang back to her. They continued harmonizing; leaving the shore behind them.

When the duet duo arrived back at Cordelia’s place, Sebastian remained in the car while Cordelia exited.

“I need to stop home for a second. I’ll be back here around 11,” he announced.

Cordelia froze. “What? Why? Just come on up, so we can sing,” she protested.

“I won’t be long. I need to pick up something important,” Sebastian stated and accelerated away from the curb.

Sebastian was true to his word, knocking on Cordelia’s door with one hour remaining in the day. She invited him in, sharing how her television screen was already set up for a night of singing and romance. Sebastian placed his belonging on her wooden coffee table, wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

Clutching the remote, Cordelia pressed play, and Ariana Grande’s instrumental version of Positions discharged from the screen. Instead of singing, they swayed in rhythmic harmony to the pizzicato of the violin in the music.

Minutes later, Sebastian muttered. “Cordelia, we have been together for three months now, and you have made me one of the happiest men on earth. So, today, I have a small token of my appreciation for you.” He released her and opened one of his bags to reveal a palm-sized conch shell. It was similar to the seashell he watched her hold on the beach.

The music faded, but confusion gripped Cordelia at the sight of the conch shell. “What is this?”

“It’s a seashell. I thought you would like it,” Sebastian produced a wry grin. “After all, you were listening to it on the beach.”

“What do you mean?” Cordelia was lost in wonderment.

“It’s the same shell from the beach earlier. At first, I thought I was seeing things, but then I realized, you were talking into a shell, in spite of what you told me. This shell, to be exact. Why?” His accusatory eyes pierced through her, making her nerves go wild.

“Don’t be silly, why would I talk into a shell? Even you should know if you put a shell to your ear, you can hear the ocean.” She grimaced, trying to understand his thinking.

“Look, we’ve been together for three months and there is a lot I don’t understand. Why do you always want to go to the beach, but never enter the ocean? Why were you talking into this shell? And you live in this high-priced condo? What do you do for a living because I’ve never seen you work?” he began.

The questions struck her blindly, leaving her maudlin. Her eyes bursted into a faucet of running tears. She was losing her grip on his heart.

“Work? Is that what you’re worried about, my job? Well, you never told me what you do.” She tearfully retaliated.

He felt insulted. She was avoiding the question. “You know I don’t need to work; I have been living off my family’s inheritance. I want to know about you! What do you do?”

She let her wailing answer for her. Devastated by the lack of trust he was displaying.

Overcome slightly by guilt, Sebastian decided on a different approach. “Look, you can at least tell me why you don’t want to swim in the ocean,” agitation still weighed down in his voice.

“Sebastian, what are you trying to say? I told you, I don’t like being under the sun, but I love going to the beach. I love watching sunsets and hearing the waves. You know that. Besides, there are many women who go to the beach, but avoid swimming in the ocean.” She rationalized.

She has a point, Sebastian confirmed. “Well, that doesn’t explain the shell. Why were you talking into a shell? What are you a mermaid?” He mocked.

Cordelia rolled her watery eyes. She sobbed, “please, me, a mermaid? How?”

“I don’t know, but it does make sense. I mean, your elegant singing voice. When you sing it moves me, well, it did. Recently, not so much.” He was rambling, struggling to gather his thoughts. “Maybe I’m just making things up. My mind…my head…hurts.”

Sebastian touched his head, offered it a couple of shakes, and rubbed clarity into his eye. When he was finally able to refocus, he realized Cordelia was humming. His train of thought emerged at full throttle. “I knew it! You are a siren!”

Cordelia blushed, but kept her voice serene.“What if I’m a mermaid? Has the past three months not given you enough evidence of my intentions? My undying love for you? I have only asked to be granted these legs to become part of your world, like that ridiculous film. The ocean has been kind enough to allow me to exist with one stipulation. I must never return to the ocean. Should I even touch the waters on the shore, my time in your world ends. It was difficult saying farewell to my family and friends on the gamble of my love for you.” Her brisk confession slapped Sebastian’s accusation. “Where does my heart beat now?” She softly sang.

Guilt punched Sebastian in the stomach. As her melodic singing of Celine Dion’s song tickled his ears, he was gradually starting sinking back in love with Cordelia. Mermaid or not, he wanted to keep her love. He wanted to…

“No!” He vigorously shook his head again, hoping to be freed from the musical entrapment. “Stop your singing. I need to know. Why do you want to be with me?” Trust void from his voice.

Cordelia stopped singing and lowered her head in embarrassment. “Your singing. I was able to enjoy it from the shore when I emerged at night. It called to me. We are very much alike, using the gift of song to entice love from others. So, hearing you sing excited me. I was overcome with amorous affection for you, as if we were destined to be together. You’re like my…Earth Angel, earth angel,” she sang in a low, steady tone, completing the verse from the Penguin’s song.

Sebastian considered her speech while she continued singing. Three months of hiding who she was, deceiving him with song, how was that different from what he had done with so many women before meeting her? She had used his trick against him, for that, he respected her. Until now, he feared being in a committed relationship, and found to every possible avenue to avoid it. Cordelia had shown him what true love could feel like.

He had more burning questions. “What about the shell? Who were you talking to?”

Cordelia supplied the answer with reassurance. “My family, of course. I had to tell them all about you and my plans to stay with you, silly.”

Sebastian sighed, regaining relief from the tension he had inadvertently created with his suspicions, forgetting about his final question regarding finances.

Swoon over by her sweet lullaby, he held her back in his arms to dance with her. “Where do we go from here?” He voice was calm again. “I mean, do you stay on land with me? Or do I need to learn how to live underwater? Am I going to become like Tom Hanks and swim away with you?”

Cordelia was perplexed by the reference he was making, but cracked a smile for reassurance. “Sebastian, I don’t want to go back to the ocean. I have found my way of life here, on land, and have become accustomed to humans ways. Just as I have done for decades.”

Decades? The one word broke the spell he was enchanted with. A baffled grin emerged from his lips. “What do you mean decades?”

“Months, I mean months, I still get the words confused,” she shot out, nervously. “Can we just start singing and enjoying the evening?”

Uneasiness replaced his sentimental mood. During the past three months, she had never confused any word. She had always used the correct vocabulary to express herself.

He shook his head in refusal. “No,” he corrected, “you said, decades. How old are you?” Realizing it was an important question that eluded him for the past ninety days.

Cordelia inhaled deeply and frowned with great exasperation. “The thing with you humans is, you never just obey.” Her voice had dropped an octave. “Always filled with inquiry. This would be so much more effortless, if you just stayed complacent with my singing. Perhaps my songs lack the strength they had when I was younger. Oh well, in order to continue my residence in your world, I shall require your assistance.” She chuckled manically.

She thrusted Sebastian to the ground in the blink of an eye, and produced a knife from behind her. Sebastian felt a puncture slice onto his stomach with one swift motion. Blood spilled out onto the carpet. She placed her free hand in the dark red plasm, and raised it to her lips. Licking her fingers deliciously. “Fresh blood,” the taste sated her hunger.

Shocked with trepidation, Sebastian pushed Cordelia away from him, using his right hand to cover the wound on his left side. “What are you doing?” He demanded, scrambling to return to his feet, turning his back to Cordelia.

She was already on her feet, hovering threateningly over him. Using her weapon, she began mutilating his back, weakening him with each impalement. “You imbecile, I need your blood to retain my human legs before the summer solstice begins. Because of your ‘romantic intentions’ I have less than ten minutes to indulge in your oxygen-rich blood.”

Sebastian collapsed on the ground, strength fleeting; his body accepting the imminent end. With the last remaining seconds of his life, he watched Cordelia gulping down his blood.

“Why,” he gasped, “me?”

Cordelia continued drinking mouthfuls of the crimson life liquid and smirked. “Decades I have observed men like you entice innocent women for your sexual pleasure, providing false hope of a prosperous future. Before you met me, I watched you seduce a variety of women, putting each to tears with every sunrise. You were apathetic towards their feelings, caring solely about your loins. Your life is meaningless, and your existence deserves termination.”

The light-headed Sebastian quickly drowned in darkness, regretting his actions in the face of purloined remorse. Cordelia paused briefly, and her blood painted face glared over the lifeless body of the womanizer. She smiled satisfactorily before returning to draining him completely. As midnight rolled in for the beginning of summer, she had finished the her last drop. She reached over to his wallet in triumph and smiled, knowing she had gained another year of both finances and legs.