Room Service is the Mermaid Dayz collection about being waited on properly. She does not mix her own drink, hold her own mirror or carry her own bags, because an octopus has eight arms and she has one job, which is to sit on the rock and approve. Most of the staff is a single octopus. He is running a full hotel.
Behind the bar
The bartender never runs out of hands. Eight-Legged Bartender sets him up at a marina dock with a signpost and a fishing boat behind, passing her a cocktail across the water. Pour Me Another has him halfway up a dock post in a captain's hat, pouring from a height while she points at the glass she means. In Tentacle Pour Decisions he juggles several cocktails at once beneath her rock, and in Why Create Conflict? he is in the water juggling bottles and glasses while she asks the only sensible question. Flirting With Calamari gives him his own dockside bar, a hat and a chalkboard menu.
The glam squad clocks in
Hair and mirrors are a department of their own. Good Luck Stylist sits her on a rock under an enormous mane while the octopus holds up brushes and combs and wishes himself luck. Not Enough Comb has the same problem from the other side: one comb held up hopefully, a great deal of purple hair, and her verdict that it is not enough comb. Flawless As Expected and Flawless, No Notes both end with an octopus holding the mirror while she confirms what she already knew. Eight-Legged Stylist drapes strands of pearls over her from the top of a dock post, Tentacle Glam Squad holds up a choice of hats, and Crustacean Nail Tech is the one crab on staff, working on her hand among the coral.
Bags, fans and everything else
The rest of the staff carries. Eight Handbag Minimum shows an octopus on the dock with a handbag in every arm under the words problem solved, and Delegation Goals has her passing one more bag to an octopus already holding a cocktail and a pair of sunglasses, beneath the line that delegation is self-care. Crabby VIP Service hands the folding fan to a crab. Undersea Room Service has her stretched against a dock post with both hands behind her head while he serves, and Tentacle Room Service brings her a tropical drink under a small motto about repurpose, reuse, relax.
For the woman who would like a staff
This is for the woman who runs everything at home and at work and has never once been handed a drink she did not make herself. She knows exactly what she would delegate first, and she will pick the design where the octopus is holding that thing. When the service slips, there is Tentacle Reality Check, where she holds the mirror up to him for once and he covers his face with a tentacle. Reviews are open. Tips are paid in shells, and he is doing fine.
Written by Mari Bennett. Thanks for reading.