It's Like Rain (Orlando Bloom/OC)

Chapter 9: Realizations, Incidents and Decisions, part 3

3:55 pm the alarm wakes me up with such a force that I nearly fall from the bed and I groan with monstrous displeasure as I push myself up from the pillow, on which I've lied on my stomach. My arm, the one that I had above my head, feels like it has been cut off, or at least all the blood circulation cut off from it.

"Huh?" I mumble reaching for my cell, at first thinking it is someone calling to me. When I realize – after several seconds of disorientation and all around sleepiness – that it is actually the alarm, I practically jump from the bed and hurry to the shower. Never mind that my hand doesn't quite work properly.

After dropping the shampoo, conditioner and the soap twice in a row, I find myself thinking, that all of this is fast becoming a mad habit. Need to show myself into the doctor soon, if this goes on much longer.

Sleepiness and disorientation accompanied with a mad rush is never a good mix, and therefore I end up having shampoo in my eyes as well as in my nose, so, sneezing and swearing I dry myself and then get dressed as fast as I can.

I run from the bathroom tying my hair into a loose ponytail and hurry into the kitchen to feed the cat and the dog. As Rusty continues to eat, very slowly, I yank Charlie from the bowl as soon as he's finished and drag him outside. Thank God, the dog is used to my weird run-a-rounds and hectic timetables.

Six minutes walk around the block, definitely a speedy record. I didn't even stop to pick up the crap. Probably going to get some kind of a note about that. And probably should do something for the poor Charlie. I've been away too long and my job is taking the fun out of his life. I scratch Charlie's ears, and apologize to him for being a bad owner.

As I drag him back to the apartment, I hastily make sure they've got enough of water and then hurry out of the door and head off to work.

The twenty minute drive couldn't be any longer and when I get to work, Nora begs me to help her with the feeding. I find myself pushing the wheelbarrow yet again and I begin to think how much more fun I would have if I'd move to LA. No one would know me the way Nora knows, and they wouldn't dream of asking me to help them with the shit-load stuff, like the feeding or cleaning.

Maybe I should dig into the matter just a bit, before I reject it altogether. I abandon the idea for the next two hours, though, as I fill up the feeding rotation schedule Harmon left for me to work it out and then make sure that the Meat Locker, as it is called, is filled for the next week.

Surprise, surprise, Nora left the bitchiest job there is to do and sneering I pull on some rubber gloves and snatch few interns along, and go do the dirty work.

Literally.

Glad to be the caretaker of the large felines, I tell you that. The snow leopards are the issue of today and I'm already – and the work hasn't even begun yet – up to my throat sick and tired of this. The two of them are more than just unwilling to go indoors into their holding cages. So, I organize the four interns I snatched to go and hunt down the Delinquent Duo.

Unfortunately the Duo can pretty much run them around all day if they so wish. And they probably wish just that.

Reason for this madness?

The Zoo's policy on the matter of blood became an issue few years back, and as such, we are supposed to get those snow leopards indoors, so that we can hose down and scrub off the rocks and cliffs they spend their days doing absolutely nothing, but looking cute. Trust me. They behave only when they have shit-load of audience in front of them, but when there is just us caretakers... They make us jump all kinds of hoops and dance the trepak with the joyousness of our hearts.