Marvelon

I've called Alex five times and left three messages. No response to any of them. He was ignoring me. When Sophie might neglect me, Alex would never have. Until now. Whatever it was that was bothering him, he would come to me when he was ready. So I kept telling myself, hoping it was true. 

Trying not to be late for my meeting with the old man, I avoided dropping by Alex's apartment. He might still be out anyway. It could be a waste of time. If he was upset, his apartment would be the last place he would go. 

Even though I didn’t go, what Shelly and the mermaid debated about plagued my mind. According to Shelly, after a merman mated he would take on an awful seaweed scent to ward off the other mermaids. Other mermen would be aware of the scent to know he was matched. The mating stench indicated the power of the mated mermaid. The more pungent the odor on the merman the more powerful the mermaid. 

Once some mermaid noticed the powerful stench,