The merman, my man

The Merman, My Man by Black Velvet Chapter 31

Laura crossed her arms. She said sternly with a smile, "That's a pity. We'll only hire Ms. Linda for this project if she does so independently. As for you, Gary, you need to have more faith in your student. She's very impressive just as you said, and as her professor, you should be happy for her."

"No! You have no idea how terrifying merpeople really are! How can I let Linda research this on her own! I need to be responsible for the safety of my students! " Gary argued as he stood in front of me, blocking me as if I would be kidnapped that very second. This was the first time he behaved so stubbornly in front of Professor Laura.

This made me scoff. Gary was the one who was the biggest threat to my safety. After all, he almost

raped me, twice! Besides, he wasn't my guardian, so how could he have made decisions on my behalf?

I walked out from behind him, stood next to Laura and faced Gary before I said, "I 'm confident that I can complete this project independently, Professor Laura."

Yes, I deliberately did this out of spite. If it weren't for him almost raping me twice, my relationship

with Gary wouldn't have deteriorated to this extent.

Gary's expression was confusing and littered with emotions I couldn't comprehend. He still tried to stop me. "Linda, you can still change your mind. So please, it's not too late to change your mind and come back, alright?"

Gary seldom begged me like this and I even felt touched for a split second.

Before I could read between the lines of what Gary had just said, Laura had pulled out a fountain pen from her pocket. When Gary saw the pen, he looked like he just saw something terrifying. He then started twitching as if he got electrocuted, and fell onto the floor.

I was still shocked, and Laura exclaimed, "Oh my god! What happened to him? Someone take him to the hospital! “

Several men in military uniforms came in and quickly carried Gary out of the room.

It was only then that I could react. I tried to follow them and asked, "Wait! What's up with him?"

But Laura held me back and comforted me as she said, "It's nothing serious. I've worked with Gary before and found out he has epilepsy. He must have been too agitated earlier. He will be looked after by medical officers so you don't need to worry too much."

"Goodness! Is that true?" I was quite surprised. Gary always seemed so healthy, but it also made sense that he had epilepsy. No wonder he would sometimes lose control over his emotions.

Under Laura's arrangements that night, an office and living quarters with a bathtub were prepared on the third floor of the research room within the reservoir. She arranged this specifically for my work here as a researcher so that I could record the regular behavior of the merman. He was below the glass beneath my feet after all.

I was very happy with the arrangements, but I was still somewhat scared to be living so closely with the merman, so I expressed my concerns to Laura. She told me that there were security personnel right outside my door. All I needed to do was press the emergency button on my desk and they would rush in to protect me. She even gave me a new tranquilizer gun that didn't need to be reloaded after every shot. This gave me some peace of mind.

I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep that night. After all, it was my first time having my own personal research room. But the excitement from the past several days had worn me down. After I closed my eyes, it didn't take long for me to drift away in a dream.