Working at Australia Zoo

Boyfriend?... maybe

The next week was anxious as everyone waited to see if Ravi would recover. His meds kicked in, and he was back to his old self two weeks later, which was a huge relief for me and pretty much everyone else at the zoo. Things had altered so little, yet so drastically between Robert and me. We still had our morning coffee breaks together and talked together, but there was a dirty undertone to our antics now. So, I wasn't shocked when Robert emerged in the food prep hut just as I was finishing up the tigers' breakfast.

"Do you need a hand?" I smiled at him and stepped over to invite him to begin chopping the meat.

"I heard from my mother that you were given the day off this Saturday." My lecturers have recently begun assigning enormous tests left, right, and center, and if you didn't get the required marks, you were tossed out of the course. With that in mind, Terri has granted me a stress-relieving day off on Saturday. I tried to decline because I enjoyed working at the zoo, but Terri would have none of it.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to spend the day paddleboarding at Alexandra Headland Beach?"

"I'd love to."

"How about I pick you up around 8, and we'll drive there and rent some paddleboards?" I was ready to tell him that it would be faster because it was only 30 minutes between my flat and the zoo, but seeing the grin on his face, I kept my mouth shut. Robert handed the meat to me after it was in the bucket so I could take it into the habitat.

That afternoon

I was sitting on my bed, laptop open, writing my 1000- to 5000-word thesis about Mammalia's mating and reproductive behaviors and how they vary from other species, when I received a notice on my phone. It was from my mother. She desired to face the clock. I hastily saved my work and answered the phone. My phone screen was now filled with a picture of my mum seated on the couch.

"Hello, honey."

"Hello, mum."

"How is everything going?" Are you eating healthily? Are you avoiding trouble? You haven't responded to my texts."

I sigh internally. I adore my mother, but she can be overbearing and overprotective at times.

"I'm fine, mum; I'm just really busy right now with zoo work and classes." My schedule is becoming very crowded."

"How is the university going?"

I brush my fingers through my hair, attempting to soothe the stiffness in my neck.

"It's a stressful battle right now; if I don't meet my expected grades before winter break, I'll be dropped from the course."

My mother seems slightly guilty.

"Speaking of winter break, we were planning to spend Christmas with Mike and Bella in Adelaide this year; this is Ben's first Christmas."

Mike is an elder brother of mine. In Adelaide, he lives with his partner Bella and their kid Ben.

"Their house isn't very big, and we already have Felix and Chris; that makes four of us." We may attempt to get back in time for New Year's."

I abruptly cut her off. "No, it's okay to spend Christmas and New Year's with Mike; I'm guessing Lia and Liam will also be spending Christmas with their significant others."

"Actually, Summer and Josh will be spending the day with your grandparents."

My family consists of five brothers and two sisters, and I am the middle kid. Mike, the eldest, is 28 years old. He works in construction in Adelaide, where he met his now-girlfriend, Bella, a 27-year-old teaching support assistant. They had a baby boy called Ben earlier this year.