Mimmi had gone out to check out the Marine Park with Rita today, so Ondina, Sirena, and I went to the Cafe to look at some of the new clothes at Evie's shop. After some looking around, Mimmi found us and she, along with Sirena, found some dresses to try on. Sirena was the first to come out, and the dress looked so cute on her.

"You look great!" I told her.

Mimmi came out later with her dress. "How's this?" She asked.

"That was made for you." Evie says, "You have to buy it."

"You're selling it. You have to say that." Ondina says.

"I don't have this much money." Mimmi says after checking the tag on the dress.

"Let me buy it for you." Sirena offers. "I have money from my singing."

"I can't let you do that."

"I'd be happy to."

"No. I want to pay my own way. Maybe I should get a job." Mimmi finally states

"Shouldn't be that hard to find you one." Evie says.

"Please!" Ondina says, "A job means working with land people. You wouldn't last five minutes."

"I think I can handle it." Mimmi responds.

"I think that's wishful thinking."

There was a bit of an awkward silence before Sirena paid for her dress and Mimmi changed back and returned the other dress to Evie.

~The Very Next Morning~

I had just woken up back at the Moon Pool after a nice night, when I noticed that Mimmi wasn't here.

"Where's Mimmi?" Ondina asked, also noticing.

"I don't know." Sirena says.

"Should we look for her? Maybe she went out for a swim." I say, and the three of us went to search. However, none of us could find her, so we decided to head out to the Grotto and ask Rita.

"We couldn't find her anywhere." Sirena says.

"It's not like Mimmi to swim off like that and not tell us where she's going." Ondina adds.

"Mimmi's fine." Rita says, "I saw her earlier."

"Where'd she go?" I asked.

"I'm surprised she didn't tell you." Rita says.

"Tell us what?" Ondina asked.

"She got a job at the Marine Park." Rita tells us, and we immediately headed out to find her. Sure enough, there she was, selling plushies.

"Mimmi, what are you doing here?" Ondina asked.

"Working." Mimmi says. "I don't know why you were so worried. This job thing is way easier than I thought."

"There are plenty of places you could've got a job. But no, you had to choose the wettest one." Ondina says.

"Ondina's right." Sirena says, "It's too dangerous."

"I hate to agree, but it is risky." I add. "Can't you get a job somewhere else?"

"Like where?" Mimmi asks

"How does 'anywhere but here' sound?" Ondina asks.

Suddenly, Sirena and I get distracted by the dolphin plushies.

"These dolphins are so cute!" Sirena says, picking one up. "How much?"

"They really are adorable." I add, picking one up and giving it a squeeze. The plushie then made an odd dolphin sound. "Did it seriously just say 'my pet salmon punched a shark?' That's odd."

"Sirena! Manoa!" Ondina says frustrated as she takes the plushies from us and puts them back. "This working thing is completely ridiculous." She adds before leading Sirena and I away so we wouldn't get distracted again.

Ondina and I later went back to the Cafe to hang out for a bit. Jasper later came over to talk to us, and Ondina started telling him about Mimmi working at the Marine Park.

"We tried to talk her out of it, but Mimmi is obsessed with keeping her stupid job." She says.

"Sorry, but I got to go." Jasper says, pausing Ondina's rant. "Carly and David have the day off, so it's just Erik and I here."

"I didn't know you started working here." I say.

"I'm just helping out until Carly and David get back." He responds

"You guys need any extra help?"

"You sure?"

"Of course. I'd be happy to help if I can."

"Sure. that'd be great."

"You too?" Ondina asks. "Fine, go do your jobs. I'll be fine on my own."

"Sorry, but it's just the way things are on land." Jasper says.

"I know. Everybody's got to have a job. And now that everybody I know does, I've got nothing to do." Ondina says.

"You could get a job."

"Me?"

"The cash is always handy, and those juices don't pay for themselves."

"I don't need to fit into the land world that badly."

Jasper laughs a bit at this. "I get it, you're... scared."

"Why would I be scared?" Ondina asks.

"That you'll fail, or make a fool of yourself... or both."

"You seriously think I couldn't handle it. Manoa, do you think-"

"I'm staying out of this one." I say, cutting her off.

"Fine." Ondina says. "I'll work. How hard could it be?"

Jasper doesn't say anything but goes back inside, the two of us following. He then explained to Erik that Ondina and I would be helping as well, although he sounded a bit unsure when he mentioned Ondina.

"I don't think it will be too much of a problem." Erik says. "I'll teach them everything I know."

With that, Jasper went back outside and Erik explained the machines to us, how they work, and what they're used for. He also handed us two pairs of gloves, one of which I took. Ondina just gave him a look and used her powers on the machines, which he quickly tried to stop.

"Maybe you try doing it the way land people do." Erik says, "Seeing as we're on land, surrounded by... land people."

"Fine." Ondina says, taking the other gloves.

Erik then has her stay with him and work on the juices, and he sent me to go around and take orders. I simply nodded in response and went over to a table where a few people were sitting at, since I saw them come in earlier.

"Hi, what can I get you?" I ask.

After hours of switching between that and helping make the juices, we were done for the day. Apparently, Erik and Jasper said that they were surprised at how well I was doing, even though it took a while to get the hang of it. Meanwhile, it wasn't sounding like Ondina was doing so great. When we got back to the Moon Pool, I told Sirena what happened.

"So how were your first days?" She asked.

"Awful/Good." Ondina and I said at the same time.

"My feet were so sore from standing up." Ondina continues. "And the customers, they get so upset if everything isn't perfect."

"So that's how it is." Mimmi says. "You give me grief about getting a job, then you go and get one too?"

"Don't get excited." Ondina says. "I'm just doing this to prove a point to Jasper."

"So what about you, Manoa?" Sirena asks.

"I didn't think it was that bad." I say, "And I'm only just helping out. I don't think I'm gonna stay."

"Well, at least for us, the Cafe is relatively safe. Not like the Marine Park." Ondina says. "Have you managed to expose yourself as a mermaid yet?" She added to Mimmi.

"As a matter of fact, things are going very well." Mimmi responds.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. And to top it off, I'm having a lot of fun."

"Well, so am I."

"Good."

"Good."

Mimmi then turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"To work." She responds before leaving.

"Now?" Ondina asks. "I really think she's taking this too far."

~The Next Day~

I was helping Erik at the Cafe when Jasper came over.

"Where's Ondina?" He asked.

"I don't know. She wasn't in the Moon Pool when I left." I answer.

Jasper let out a small sigh before taking Erik's spot in helping me with the drinks and Erik went outside. About an hour later, Ondina finally showed up.

"Where have you been?" I asked her.

"Oh, I woke up, had some breakfast, went for a swim." She says casually. "You two should've come. The light in the kelp forest was amazing."

"You're an hour late." Jasper says. "Didn't you check the roster?"

"On, I thought the start time was just for guidance. And when do I get paid? I've got my eye on these cute shorts."

Jasper and I gave each other a look before I left to make my rounds, leaving Ondina with him. Some time later, Carly and David had returned.

"We're back." David says.

"We're so glad to see you." Erik says.

"You miss us?" Carly asks.

"You have no idea." Jasper says, "It's like when you guys left, everyone in the world decided to come here.

"If you're so busy, why didn't you hire a casual?" Carly asks.

"I see Jasper has been helping out." David adds.

"So have Manoa and Ondina." Jasper adds.

"Manoa's been helpful, but Ondina... things didn't go so well."

While that was going on, I was trying to work on the drinks, and Ondina, was seeming a bit irritated. When they came over, I had finally noticed Carly and David.

"Oh, hey! You're back." I say.

"Hey Manoa." Carly says.

"Ondina," Jasper starts, "I think that's enough."

"Are you firing me?" She asked.

"Kind of." He responded.

"You know what? I will save you the trouble. I quit." She says before storming out.

"Anyway, Jasper, Manoa, if you guys want to keep working here, you're more than welcome." David says. "I heard you two were a huge help."

"That'd be great. Thanks." Jasper says.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass for now." I say. "I was just helping out until you guys got back."

"Are you sure?" David asks.

"I'm sure. Thanks again, though." I respond before leaving to go to the Grotto. When I got there, I saw Sirena, Ondina, and Mimmi, who were laughing about something. I guess they found out about what happened with Ondina. I told them what happened after Ondina left and Mimmi gave me one of the dolphin plushies I saw the other day. All in all, I would say that these past few days were quite eventful.