“Um, thanks for having me,” I said nervously as I stepped into Sylvia’s apartment.

“Oh, don’t mention it,” she grinned, walking in behind me and locking the door. “I’ve been looking forward to this all week~”

As I entered the living room, my eyes were immediately drawn to a large tank full of brightly colored fish. There looked to be at least a dozen different varieties mingling in there, blues and greens and pinks and purples darting around each other.

“Like them?” Sylvia spoke from behind me, startling me a little. “I’m quite proud of my collection.”

“They’re beautiful,” I said. “How long have you had them?”

“Oh, I started putting together the aquarium four or five years ago. I like keeping pretty little creatures around to brighten the place up.” She pointed me to a couch, and made her way toward what looked like the kitchen. “Why don’t you have a seat and relax, I’ll get us some drinks and then we can pick out something to watch.”

I sat and waited, a bit fidgety now that I was alone in my date’s living room. My eyes scanned across the bookshelves and posters, but kept coming back to the fishtank. A red fish mottled with silver swam in a slow lazy zigzag, as a yellow and green striped one played in the spiral of bubbles from a little spinning ornament on the bottom of the tank. They really were beautiful, and I already felt more relaxed watching them. Maybe I should get some fish for my place…

As I sat and watched the fish, I vaguely noticed that music had started playing softly from a speaker somewhere. It wasn’t anything I recognized, something slow and ethereal with quiet breathy vocals I couldn’t quite make out. It sounded nice, like I could sit there for hours listening to it. I felt the tension slowly leave my body as the fish swam around my vision and the music filled my ears. The aquarium lights shimmered off the fishes’ pretty scales in such lovely patterns. This was nice. Sylvia was so nice. I felt so comfortable in her apartment, all my anxieties about going home with a girl I barely knew felt so silly in retrospect. I felt like I could stay here forever…

Eventually, I felt Sylvia’s hands gently come to rest on my shoulders from behind. “Good girl, looks like you’re all ready to go. You’ll make such a lovely addition to my collection. Now, get off that couch and onto your knees, and sit tight while I decide what I want to watch as I have my fun with you…”