Forever and Ever

4 together forever

“So what exactly do we do when we get to Deli Antonia?” Nicks wondered out loud.

“Well, we could ask Mr Selvaggio to fill in a Cupid Company questionnaire,” suggested Coral. “But that takes time, which we don’t have, so maybe we should just ask him plenty of relevant questions instead. We urgently need to find out if he’s our Mr Perfect. After all, you can’t build a marriage on pasta alone.”

“Marriage?” squawked Nicks. “Who said anything about my mum getting married?”

“Well, isn’t that what happens when you fall in love? You get married,” explained Coral. But Nicks didn’t look very convinced. In fact, she looked like she didn’t want to think about it at all. Tightening her grip on Romeo’s lead, she quickened her step. It was a warm day and they’d already been walking for a while, so Nicks thought about a long cold drink instead.

There was the usual crowd gathering outside the Sea Life Aquarium; afternoons meant feeding time for the bigger fish and it was always worth queuing for. But today there seemed to be a different sort of commotion going on. The girls looked closer until they saw what it was that was causing all the fuss. And then they saw them–Meredith and Malcolm at the front of the crowd, handing out bits of paper and shouting about something. The girls moved closer.

“Come and see the sea star exhibition,” hollered Meredith to the crowd.

“And discover why the starfish is really a sea star,” added Malcolm with just as much enthusiasm.

Meredith noticed the girls and waved them over merrily. “Isn’t this great!” she cheered. “We’ve really drawn a crowd.”

Coral didn’t have the heart to tell her that there was usually a bunch of people waiting to see the big fish get fed. She smiled instead.

“Would you like a free pass to see the sea star exhibition?” offered Malcolm. “After all, we are neighbours.” He chuckled and Meredith chuckled like this was really quite funny.

“Erm, we’re just off…on an errand for Nicks’s mum,” white-lied Coral.

Nicks nodded, adding, “But could we have two free passes for tomorrow instead?” It was a Plan B, just in case Mr Selvaggio was not Mr Perfect after all.

“Alrighty!” agreed Meredith. “And don’t forget there’s the Sea Life Aquarium Open Day coming up soon.”

The girls nodded with interest. The Aquarium Open Day was something they looked forward to every year.

“And you be sure to join us on a beach scavenge sometime soon,” concluded Malcolm. “Dawn is such a dazzling time of day; we find such interesting marine life along the shoreline.”

Both Coral and Nicks nodded once more, even though the mention of the word ‘dawn’ made them feel very sleepy. Just then a man with a large belly covered in a stretched Hawaiian cotton shirt squeezed past Nicks. He was trailed by four small, round children carrying ice creams. They all shuffled past and joined the queue for the aquarium. They were followed by three sauntering surfer dudes who left wafts of coconut oil in their wake. And then an old man wearing holey clothes and a captain’s cap came hobbling along, carrying his stinky bait box. The day was hot, noisy and aromatic. There was nothing quite like summertime in Sunday Harbour. Nicks was more aware of this than anybody.

Finally Coral and Nicks and Meredith and Malcolm waved goodbye and went their separate ways. The marine scientists continued handing out flyers and the girls pressed on in the direction of Mr Selvaggio and Deli Antonia. Nicks had a very determined look in her eye.

The deli wasn’t very busy when they arrived and the girls peered through the large shopfront window while they secured Romeo’s lead to a post outside. Inside were two old ladies in tortoiseshell glasses seated at a small table near the wall. A man in a suit was hunched over the glass deli counter, studying the meat, cheese and pickles and making a small ‘mmm’ sound, like he was running off a generator. Behind the counter a short, dark man wearing a bright white apron stood and waited, silent and expectant. It was Mr Selvaggio. Both girls stopped and stared at him closely. He still had all his hair, which was slicked back with some type of oil. He skin was soft and a little saggy, but it was a nice nutty colour, and his moustache was very neatly trimmed. And he had warm black eyes that almost seemed to twinkle.

Finally the man in the suit made up his mind and barked out his order to Mr Selvaggio, who nimbly wrapped some salami slices in brown paper and filled a small plastic pot with olives. The girls turned to each other. This man was efficient! That was the great thing about being best friends–they didn’t always need words. Mr Selvaggio then popped the salami and olives into a bag and finally added a small crusty roll to its contents. He handed the bag over with a friendly smile.

“The bread is on-a the house,” he said with a soft Italian accent.

The girls turned to each other once again. And generous!

The man in the suit left Deli Antonia with a smile, leaving Mr Selvaggio free to focus on the girls. “And what-a may I do for-a you?” he said.

“Hiya,” said Coral while Nicks stood there silently. She suddenly felt nervous. What if Mr Selvaggio did marry her mum?

Mr Selvaggio smiled while he waited patiently for their order. But Coral’s mind had gone blank. She should have prepared a few questions! So she tried to focus on what sort of man they were looking for. Ah yes, someone who was kind, clever, funny, handsome.

“So, Mr Selvaggio,” she began, “do you do any charity work?”

Mr Selvaggio looked confused. “Uh, well we do try-a to collect for the Sea Watch Foundation,” he stammered as he pointed to the plastic boat-shaped moneybox on the countertop.

Coral beamed at Nicks and turned to face Mr Selvaggio once more. “And what is the square root of 37?” She didn’t know the answer to this herself, but she hoped that Mr Selvaggio would answer very quickly because that would be telling enough.

Mr Selvaggio’s forehead scrunched up while he gave this some silent thought.

“OK–what is the capital of Italy then?” Coral blurted out.

Mr Selvaggio looked instantly relieved. “That would’a be Rome!”

Coral clapped. He definitely knew that one! “Now, tell us your favourite joke, please.”

Mr Selvaggio looked very confused. “But-a why?”

“Why?” echoed Coral. “Well…because…because the great thing about living in Sunday Harbour is our community spirit. Everyone knows everybody else. And we–my good friend NICKS WATERMAN and I–just love getting to know people better.”

Mr Selvaggio could not argue with that. “My favourite-a joke…” he considered, looking up at the ceiling. And then he began. “Knock-a knock-a.”

“Who’s there?” replied both girls eagerly (even Nicks was feeling Coral’s community spirit speech).

“Tuna.”

“Tuna who?”

“Tuna your radio down, I’m trying to get some sleep!” Mr Selvaggio chuckled.

Both girls stood there blinking.

Tuna your round radio down…? Coral turned to look at Nicks.

At least the joke kind of works with an Italian accent, that has to count for something! And he obviously has a very good sense of humour!

They turned back to Mr Selvaggio and laughed too. But Coral wasn’t done interrogating yet. Nicks, meanwhile, had just noticed a thin, shiny gold wedding band on Mr Selvaggio’s ring finger. She stared. Maybe he just hadn’t got around to taking it off yet. After all, it couldn’t have been easy for him when his wife passed away. Nicks decided to push the thought from her mind.

“So what sort of things do you enjoy doing?” continued Coral, who was too busy with the verbal questionnaire to notice any gold ring.

Meanwhile, Nicks’s eyes crept up to the counter behind Mr Selvaggio. There was a very large, very shiny chrome coffee machine with funnels and drip trays. There were labeled canisters filled with different kinds of coffee as well as sugar. There were boxes of mocha sticks stuffed with chocolate. And then Nicks’s gaze landed on a large glass dome over a plate of what appeared to be square biscuits studded with dried fruit. A sign next to the dome of biscuits read:

HANDMADE FRUIT BISCOTTI–FRESHLY BAKED BY MRS ANTONIA SELVAGGIO

Nicks’s gaze settled on Mr Selvaggio’s wedding ring once again. She looked back to the sign advertising the fruit biscotti. And then it all became very clear. Coral had got it all wrong. Mrs Selvaggio was obviously alive and well and very well; it must have been Mr Selvaggio’s mother who had passed away.

“Coral!” she hissed.

But Coral was too busy with her interrogation. She’d just remembered Nicks’s mum’s bicycle with the cobweb spokes and the tennis racket with its broken strings and thought she’d better be more specific with her questions. “Do you enjoy playing sport, Mr Selvaggio?”

“CORAL!”

Coral smiled apologetically at Mr Selvaggio and then faced her best friend with a glare. Can’t you see I’m trying to find Mr Perfect!

Nicks made big eyes at the ring finger on her hand. She then nodded a few times in Mr Selvaggio’s direction.

But Coral was not taking any notice. “And what about the theatre–when was the last time you attended, Mr Selvaggio?”

“You probably took your wife along with you, didn’t you, Mr Selvaggio?” interrupted Nicks with an uneasy smile.

“Yes, you—” began Coral. And then her head quickly snapped back in Nicks’s direction. “Now, Nicks,” she said kindly, “that’s just being silly.”

Mr Selvaggio looked very bewildered, but seemed relieved to be able to answer at least one question directly. “Actually, my-a wife does enjoy-a the theatre very-a much,” he admitted. “And she’s just-a in the back. I call her and you can ask for yourself!” His face was desperate, like he’d do almost anything to get out of answering any more of these annoying girls’ questions.

Coral stood ramrod straight with her eyes in a wide O-shape. Her jaw flapped as she struggled to find words to speak. So Nicks stepped in.

“Oh, that’s OK, Mr Selvaggio, we’ve really got to get going anyway. But it’s been great getting to know you. And we’re sorry about your mum.”

She pressed a hand into Coral’s back and gently bulldozed her in the direction of the door. Coral was stammering but making very little sense, although at one point she did mumble something that sounded like ‘it must be a miracle…’

5 stalemate

Nicks patted her pocket, the one containing the two free passes to the sea star exhibition at the aquarium. Yesterday’s visit to Deli Antonia had been a disaster with embarrassing consequences. Not that Coral really saw it like this. She was rather indignant about the whole affair, almost as if Mr Selvaggio had tricked them by being married all along. So much for Sunday Harbour community spirit, she harrumphed.

“Come on!” urged Nicks.

Coral ambled along with her hands buried deep inside her pockets and kicked a smooth pebble.

“Oh, get over it, Coral. So you didn’t know there were two Mrs Selvaggios–it’s no biggie.”

Actually, inside Coral felt disappointed. She definitely did not want Nicks to leave Sunday Harbour and she’d really (really really) hoped that this would be an easy Cupid Company case. But so far it was proving to be anything but easy!

“Here’s your pass,” said Nicks as they reached the aquarium admissions booth.

Coral took the pass from her friend and handed it over to the lady wearing a Sally Seal hat and T-shirt. The lady noticed Coral noticing her outfit and whispered conspiratorially, “My name really is Sally–isn’t that cool! We’ve all got our special aquarium names.” She pointed to Gary Great White standing nearby, handing out balloons. And then she laughed and clapped her palms together like a seal.

Coral stared at the woman. She really does throw herself into her job, she thought. Coral never did anything in half measures either, and suddenly she applauded the woman’s efforts (but not in a seal sort of way).

Nicks, meanwhile, was all business as she carefully scrutinised their surroundings. “Now, I suppose we can assume that everyone who is here loves the ocean, right?”

Coral nodded, vaguely distracted by Gary Great White who was doing shark impressions. He was really quite good. So Coral made a shark fin with her hand and held it on top of her head. Gary Great White certainly seemed to appreciate her efforts and took another great big shark bite out of the fresh air. And then Coral spotted Chris Crab.

“Oh, would you stop it!” snapped Nicks as she slapped Coral’s raised scissor-fingers. “Can we just get on? Now we just have to find a man who is kind, clever, funny and handsome. And not married.”

Ahead of them was a board with a colourful map of the aquarium’s layout. Nicks studied it closely while she decided on a plan. Up ahead was the Touch Tank. Then to the left was the twenty-metre-long underwater tunnel with its moving walkway. To the right was the half-moon shark tank. And further along was Reef Magic–Nurseries of the Seas. The aquarium wasn’t all indoors though. Visitors could go outside to admire the dolphin pool and seal enclosures.

Coral was reading from the board too, and suddenly she pointed a finger at the area called Coral Bay.

“That’s my favourite place,” she ooh’d.

Nicks stared at her friend and then returned to the map. It was only Coral’s favourite because her name was featured in the title. “Come on–let’s head for the Touch Tank,” she said, a little more sharply that she’d intended. It was in the opposite direction to Coral Bay.

They hadn’t walked for more than a minute or two when they were approached by Julie Jellyfish. Her arms were stiff and bent and trembled at the elbows. Coral grinned and did her own jellyfish impression, which involved wobbling her head too (something she felt Julie’s impression was missing). Julie was obviously impressed, because she laughed and added the head-wobble to her act as well.

“Welcome to the Sea Life Aquarium–home to global marine life,” warbled Julie Jellyfish as she handed both girls a shiny printed leaflet. “Would you like to adopt a sea creature?”

“Er…” Coral stared at the leaflet and read through the list of sea creatures up for adoption. She couldn’t see her mum letting her keep a hammerhead shark. Or a leatherback turtle. A pair of sea otters was probably out of the question too. The most she could probably do was a clownfish–a little swimmer like Nemo. But this didn’t seem to be on the list. She was about to raise this point with Julie Jellyfish, but Nicks had just noticed a board listing the feeding times. She pointed to it, checked her watch and smiled at Julie Jellyfish while she shoved the leaflet into her pocket.

“We’ve got to hurry if we’re going to make feeding time!”

So Coral followed Nicks over to the chest-high tank with a man inside wearing bright orange plastic waders and holding a bowl filled with food. A crowd had already gathered, but that was good; it was the crowd Coral and Nicks were interested in. They screened the hairy heads–searching for a handsome candidate for Mr Perfect. There were a lot of old people and a lot of young people in the crowd, but there weren’t many in-between.

Coral elbowed Nicks and whispered, “Perhaps we should move on.”

Nicks nodded like it was a good idea. They wandered through the aquarium–past a café called Fish Fingers and the half-moon shark tank and the aquarium novelty shop, but they could really only focus on the aquarium visitors. It was, after all, why they were here.

They came across a large poster inviting them to meet the new aquarium manager, which seemed a good idea. But as soon as they got to his office, it turned out the manager was off supervising the repair of a leak in a tank of electric eels. So they continued on their way until finally they came to Coral Bay, which was quite simply a tank packed with different types of coral and thousands of small, brightly coloured fish. Coral Bay did not draw as many spectators, although the girls did notice one possible candidate for Mr Perfect. This man wasn’t very tall, but he had a kind smile and was dressed well. And then they noticed the camera around his neck.

“A tourist–no good,” murmured Nicks. She wanted to stay in Sunday Harbour. So they continued on to the Touch Tank, which was just a short distance away. This was the attraction that had drawn the largest crowd. Nicks gazed around her with eyes like a hawk. Coral stared with eyes on stalks. And then Nicks nudged Coral. Coral nodded. She’d seen him too.

There, on the other side of the Touch Tank, was a tall man with black hair and friendly eyes. He gazed into the water intently and then turned to the teenage boys around him. He was clearly a teacher on a field trip and the boys seemed to be having a great time.

Turning back to the Touch Tank, he pointed out some of the sea creatures swimming or lolling about in the cool, clear water. The teenagers seemed especially drawn to the stingrays with their elegant wings that rippled like grey velvety cloaks in the water. Coral and Nicks moved into position, right beside the field trip group, and watched closely. The stingrays were captivating, with winning little smiles.

Potential Mr Perfect looked from the teenage boys to the stingrays. And then he slowly slipped his right arm into the cool water. Bending forward as far as he could, his hand reached towards the stingrays. The teenage boys fell silent and, like Coral and Nicks, all leaned forward–ever so slightly–watching, waiting. Potential Mr Perfect’s hand was heading for one of the largest stingrays in the tank. The stingray remained still and patient. And then it twitched.

Potential Mr Perfect leaped back and howled with fright. He clutched his heart and howled a few more times, but in a rather high-pitched, girly sort of way, like he was having a heart attack. Some of the passers-by clearly thought he might be and moved closer with looks of concern on their faces. But the teenage boys knew exactly what had happened and they howled with laughter. They laughed so hard they bent at the waist and thumped their knees or the backs of their friends. They laughed so hard they cried. And while all this went on, poor old Potential Mr Perfect still clutched his chest and breathed like he was going to have a baby.

“Come on, Coral,” grumbled Nicks. “He’s not our man.”

6 pen pals

The girls regrouped at Coral Hut the following day, but Coral was not her usual bold, brave and breezy self. Today she felt a little low. After all, they still weren’t any closer to rooting out Mr Perfect.

“Cheer up–we have never failed before,” said Nicks as she tried to jolly her friend along. Today it was her turn to be the positive one.

“I guess,” mumbled Coral as she gave Romeo a cuddle. “But we don’t have much time. We haven’t even found Mr Perfect yet. And then we’ve still got to get your mum to fall in love with him.”

“Hey-ho!” hollered an unexpected voice.

Both girls and pup glanced up to see Meredith and Malcolm heading up the beach towards Coral Hut. Meredith carried a small silver bucket.

Romeo jumped to his feet and raced quick-as-a-blur down the hut steps and over to their new neighbours as if they were old friends. He then pranced about and walked backwards on his hind legs and did fancy figures of eight. Meredith giggled and clapped like she was most impressed.

Coral and Nicks watched the show and wondered what had got into Romeo. He didn’t usually perform tricks–well, not without the promise of a very visible treat anyway. They were even more surprised when Romeo leaped into Meredith’s arms. She nearly dropped her silver bucket, but quickly managed to balance small, hairy dog and bucket quite well.

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