Welcome to My World A.K.A Jurassic World

Dinosaur Slobbered Slap

"This afternoon's survey report, do you have it?" Claire asks, holding her hand out as she types on her phone with the other. I hand her my clipboard and she quickly glances over it before setting it aside.

"Uh, guest satisfaction was high until we closed the Mosasaurus exhibit to repair the zip line for the food. Fixed up in no time and they were back to happy smiling faces."

"Uh, huh." She looks at her watch and sighs. "Right, okay I have one more job for you and then you may go back to your room."

I smile. "Shoot." She eyes me and I stop smiling. "Ma'am."

She rolls her eyes. "I need you to head down to the raptors and collect the status updates for Mr. Masrani from Hoskins. You can just leave them in his drop box."

"Really? Thank you." She looks confused. "I've just never seen the raptor habitat before."

"Right, well, for now they are not for public exposure."

"Really? They're so popular, you'd think as far as the smaller ones go, they'd be a top attraction."

She huffs. "Anymore comments? No? Good, now go." She says sternly, answering for me. I nod and walk briskly out the door to the cars, trying to remain professional but also slightly skipping. As of today I have hit my two week mark since I started my internship here. Officially, I am an Administrative Assistant to the Park Supervisor. Roughly translating to Claire's barista, filer, and survey coordinator. Oh, and how could I forget making sure her car is filled up. It's a summer position before I start my second year of college in the fall. Just something to check off the bucket list before returning to lectures and stuffy tenured professors who always know best. God, I'm dreading the return. I don't hate my major. In fact, it might even help me get a full-time job here. But if I told my parents that I aspire to be a certified zookeeper, they'd likely stop supporting me.

I reach the raptor paddock and look for Hoskins. He shouldn't be too hard to find. I've only had the pleasure of being in the same room as him once and from what I can tell, he's loud, rude, and inappropriate. He barged in on my interview with Mr. Masrani practically begging for a few minutes of his time. He made a snide comment about preferring and I quote 'those tight, little, skirts' over the trousers I was wearing. So obviously, immediately I knew we were going to be just the best of friends. How could I resist such an unappreciated suggestion from a man 2.5 times my age? I made a point to only pack pants when I got the job.

But now, as I stand by my car looking for the man, he chooses to not make himself immediately known to me. Maybe he got eaten.

"Are you lost sweetheart? This side of the park is closed off to the public." Excuse me? A man in a beige button down with a slight southern accent approaches me. His hands are on his hips as he blocks my path toward the paddock.

I fumble for my badge. "Actually, I'm looking fo-,"

"The petting zoo? Yeah, it's about four miles in that direction." He points beyond me.

I scoff. "I see a lack of social skills runs deep in Hoskins' crew."

His eyes furrow as he seems somewhat offended. "Hoskins' crew?"

I raise my brows. "Uh, yeah. I assume since you're here, you work with him on the raptors."

He shifts his weight. "First of all, I don't work with Hoskins. He just lingers around here like a plague."

"Or a leech." I add. His lips turn up a little.

"So you have met him." He crosses his arms.

"Unfortunately. And what's worse is I need to collect his latest data." I finally show him my badge. He takes it from me, looking from the picture to me a few times.