True Love Down Under_A BWWM Romance

by Kendra Riley

  With the majority of the stocks still under the Turner name, Zac knew he could never destroy that legacy—Turner Industries, the mother ship, the one company which afforded him his every whim and need, ergo his constant adventures, and his mother’s conservation projects.

  The irony, news reports had said, about a mining company so immersed in conservation and environmental welfare. In a way, it was. Open mining was damaging, and whatever destruction the old generation had done was still felt by their generation now. Zac felt it was up to him, in a way. It was up to him to restore and preserve whatever he could, no easy feat, but he was willing to take it on.

  “I’ve been wanting to throw up since age ten,” he joked, recalling how his father had said that he would manage the company (or companies) right after college. Of course, his shenanigans got in the way, and he was labeled as the black sheep by tabloids and those that belonged to high society. His mother had been from a prominent political family, and everyone knew who they were. People said so many things, just by merely scratching at the surface.

  “Since mom died?” Caroline asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss her,” Caroline said. “She’d be happy to see how you’ve grown up.”

  “I haven’t, remember? I’m the perennial man-child,” he laughed.

  “Don’t listen to them. They’re called haters for a reason.”

  “Haters gonna hate,” he said.

  “Potatoes gonna potate,” Caroline finished, laughing together.

  “I’d have to thank you though, apart from the three other siblings.”

  “For what?”

  “You guys were always there for me. Attending my high school graduation in dad’s stead and all. I didn’t mature fast enough, but I’m getting there. Plus I’m really nice.”

  “What?” she sputtered out laughing. “Alright, humbug, lunch is over. Do you need to be dropped off?”

  “I might take the bus,” he said. “Take a walk to set my body clock back again.”

  Caroline frowned. “Doesn’t seem safe.”

  “We’ve lived here all our lives.”

  “A lot of people know you’re being groomed to be COO soon… or CEO, depending on dad.”

  “Says who?”

  “Says dad.”

  “What?”

  Caroline sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you this. Not on your first day back.”

  “But you had to warn me somehow?”

  “Somehow. I had to insert it subtly.”

  “What’s so subtle about an announcement like that? Does the board know?”

  She nodded.

  “And media?”

  “Talks have been going about,” Caroline told him. “Believe me when I say it doesn’t sound too bad.”

  “It sounds bad enough for me. I don’t have Charles’ work ethics.”

  “Dad is excited for you.”

  “Nor do I have the approval of the rest of the board,” Zac told her.

  “You don’t have to have their approval. They can pull out of the lucrative deal they put themselves in, if they want to please their egos.”

  “But that’s the board. They represent stakeholders…”

  “Now you’re thinking like a businessman with a heart,” Caroline looked at him with a smile. She gave her credit card to the waiter.

  “Shouldn’t I be paying for all this?” he said.

  “Save your billions for later,” Caroline laughed. “One day, this’ll all go to you, and I can live out the rest of my days in front of the sea in a nice cottage.”

  “With high-speed internet and a few maids?” he chimed in.

  “Shut up.”

  Chapter4

  She had woken up pretty early, but her head felt heavy. Sara had slept for over ten hours, the most she had ever slept since she learned to read. She had even forgotten dinner, and she had stumbled through an unhealthy lunch of potato chips, just to put something in her stomach. Breakfast was a plain bagel to go, from a coffee shop a few feet away from the building.

  Sara had nearly missed her bus. It should have been easy, and she had directions, too. Perhaps, the jetlag was far more pronounced than what she had expected. It was a quiet twenty-minute bus ride, and she spent most of it looking out the window, barely noticing the people getting on and off of the bus. The Met Zoo was another five minute walk away from the bus stop, but she didn’t mind, knowing that immersion was needed. She was going to do this for the next few months.

  Dressed in a plain white shirt and jeans and sneakers, she walked into the still closed Zoo entrance and showed security her temporary identification, along with paperwork.

  “G’day,” he greeted her, “interns and employees enter at the far end of the block, if you will.” He pointed her in the right direction; she thanked him and walked towards it. Another security guard greeted her, and she showed her printed-out identification placed in a plastic sleeve, and documents showing who she was.

  She was ushered into a large room, with a sunroof above. It was filled with stacks of paperwork, cabinets, the occasional pinned down insects behind glass, and empty tables and chairs. Did she enter the wrong office? It was past eight, and it was said that the zoo opened at nine.

  The door opened once more, and she spun around to see Danny Porter.

  “Sir,” she greeted, “I didn’t find anyone except security. Oh, good morning.”

  “That’s because we’ve already started our daily huddle,” he told her good naturedly.

  She felt her cheeks warm up. So she’d ended up late on her first day, after all. “I am so sorry,

  she quickly said, “I didn’t—”

  “We normally have it here, but as you can see, it’s a bit cramped. These here papers are from another office, due for renovation. So, shall we?”

  She followed him meekly, mentally scolding herself for a terrible impression on her first day of internship. She had hoped they wouldn’t be too many… and she had hoped in vain. Minutes later, in front of her was a group of maybe one hundred people, all wearing uniforms reminiscent of a safari expedition, complete with Caterpillar-esque boots and rangers’ hats.

  “Right, before we continue, this here Sheila is Sara Wright, from the University of California. She’s just won the scholarship from the Turner Foundation. Be nice everyone,” Danny warned jokingly. They all laughed and said their hellos in dissonance.

  “Find a seat, so you’ll know what it’s like here every morning for us,” Danny told her.

  She caught up pretty quickly. Since summer was fast approaching, crowds were expected to swell, and the zoo was expected to handle more than it usually could. Additional security was needed, as well as a summer program for kids, an introduction to biology and zoology— something Sara had wanted to try as a child.

  “Also, good ol’ Bessie is sick,” Danny added later on. “We’ve been informed by our good doctor, Dr. Ruth, that Bessie is in one of her diet episodes again.”

  A zookeeper saw the blank look on her face, so she leaned forward toward Sara. “Bessie is the largest Amethystine python in captivity. She’s beautiful really, but prone to fits of dieting.”

  Sara had never seen an Amethystine python before, and while she appreciated all animals, reptiles weren’t her strong suit. She had veered towards mammals and conservation, which was why she couldn’t find a strong theme for her proposal.

  “Also, repairs are needed for the male tiger enclosure. We’re moving them temporarily to block B. Murdoch, Greg, Jake… be needing your help with that one.”

  The meeting ended thirty minutes later, with Sara feeling the aftereffects of a highly detailed morning discussion while on jetlag. She followed Danny back into the crowded office, and other office staff began to filter in.

  “How do you like our zoo so far?” Danny asked her, bidding her to take a seat across him.

  “I haven’t seen it all, yet.”

  “Well, a tour is a must lat
er, but first things first, I’ll need to review all your paperwork. You’re certainly not the first to win the scholarship since this program’s started. Any expectations?” he continued, holding up her file. She talked about her passion, talked about what she wanted to achieve while she was here.

  “Mhmm,” Danny nodded. “These are top notch grades, and you wanna do this the rest of your life?”

  She nodded. “It’s my calling.”

  “Can’t say this is mine, but the animals—I just can’t leave them like how my wife left me,” he chuckled.

  Was she supposed to laugh? She did a nervous sort of laugh in the end. He introduced her to the rest of the office staff, who were carrying papers and filing them inside cabinets.

  “Since summer is approaching, we get summer interns, too. They’re high schoolers, mostly, who handle ticketing and the snack gazebos—anything that doesn’t require animal contact. Our typical group of 100 swells to 150 by the end of the month.”

  “Wow.”

  She suddenly wondered where Zac was. Zac something. He had to have a family name. The zoo had just opened, and she could see a trickle of students walk past their office building, guided by a teacher and one of the groundskeepers. Moments later, Danny told her to wait; someone would take her around, but in the meantime, she was stuck in the office.

  “Here,” a secretary said, handing her a large bag.

  “What is this?” Sara asked.

  “It’s our uniform.”

  Oh god. She really was going to wear the whole safari outfit, wasn’t she? Down to the boots?

  “Boots are in there, too. Figured you were a size seven.”

  She nodded, closing her eyes, disliking the whole idea of changing into that stereotypical khaki brown outfit. It even had a little whistle with a colored feather. She walked for the toilet, shaking her head as she put on the clothes, from the shorts with the weird length to the loose, zippered shirt that bore the Met Zoo logo.

  As soon as she got out, she heard a man’s familiar voice, that familiar drawl. She had spent minutes listening to him make side comment after side comment. His voice was bound to grate her ears.

  “Well, well, well, look at what the Tasmanian devil dragged in,” Zac said, looking at her while she held the door handle awkwardly.

  “Hi,” she said warily. “I thought this was an all-female locker room.”

  “With a single entrance before it branches out into two spaces. So you’re still in the communal area, actually.”

  She didn’t see him earlier, and he looked so smug, even if he was terribly late. Why wasn’t Danny throwing a fit? Danny was probably too busy to mind this poor boy. She placed her things inside her new locker, realizing that it was indeed a communal area.

  “How have you been?” he asked her excitedly as they walked out of the area.

  “It’s only been a day,” she replied, not wanting to feel annoyance.

  “I figured you still have jetlag, like I do.”

  “We were on the same flight?” Sara looked at him for a second. She didn’t want to look too long, for fear that she might stare at him with her mouth half-open.

  He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, came from the U.S. of A, too.”

  “For studies?”

  “Something close to it,” he said. “So, you haven’t been given a tour of the zoo yet. I’d like to offer my services.”

  “Danny said that I should wait for someone.”

  “That someone is me,” Zac said.

  You’ve got to be kidding me. “You? Aren’t you like busy or something?” she asked him, “what do you do here exactly?”

  “I supervise things…” his voice trailed off as he opened the door. A hot and bright sunshine hit her, and she was glad she wore sunscreen.

  “Supervise things,” she nearly snorted. “Isn’t that Danny’s job?”

  “Well, I’m his all-around adventure guy, and whatever the zoo needs, I try to achieve and do,” he responded earnestly.

  If only he wasn’t good-looking, she would have ignored him completely. It was why she preferred animals and nature over dating. There was no peace around with people like him. They began to walk past a canopy of palm trees, joining the small throng of people who chose to visit the zoo early on.

  “The zoo’s smaller in comparison to most, with minimal room for expansion. We’re only in about thirty hectares, but it’s something good, considering we’re in the city, and pretty close to salt-water,” he explained as they walked up to open space. “Look at them otters,” he said with a grin, pointing to a large pool, designed to look like an otter’s natural habitat. “We haven’t had the chance to get the Amazon otters yet, those beasts are huge. Oh, we can ride a cart around for good measure. Wouldn’t want your legs all sore with the walking.”

  They hopped into an empty electric cart, and he pressed on the pedal gently. “That there’s our Savannah grill. Really good burgers, but I have a feeling you don’t eat burgers.”

  She shook her head. “Not really. Unless I no longer have a choice.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “We’ll be heading for the children’s trail last. Let’s take you to the other attractions first.”

  “Namely?”

  “The Savannah,” he said. “So, why were you named Sahara, is there some back story to that? It’s a nice name and all, but I’m sticking with Sara.”

  She almost huffed. “Yeah, Sara’s okay.”

  “So, what’s the story?”

  She shrugged. “My dad said my great-great grandparents crossed the Sahara to make a new life for themselves. I’m inclined to believe him.”

  “What does your dad do?”

  “He’s a professor,” she replied shortly. What was this? An interview? She didn’t need this. She wanted information about the zoo, about her future research with it.

  “On wh—”

  “What animals do you have from Kakadu?” she interrupted him without meaning to be rude.

  “Oh, well we only have a few, but it’s not like we love them any less. Kakadu has a special spot in my heart. We’ve got the rare Antilopine wallaroo, the golden bandicoot, the brush-tailed rabbit rat—” he stopped. “I don’t want to bore you with the critters we’ve kept safe.”

  “Go on,” she said, “I haven’t seen any of what you’ve mentioned.” She favored where the conversation was going, as there was no room for anything personal here. She had no plans of overstaying her welcome, no plans of connecting deeply with coworkers, not even with Zac. She had to admit she found him annoying.

  “Well, you’ll see more of them while you’re here. You’ve signed up for the Kakadu trek as well?”

  She nodded, feeling a frisson of excitement for it. She had set her heart on Kakadu since seeing it on a documentary in high school.

  “Great,” he said, “we’re going together.”

  “We are?” Oh no. Just when she thought she was going with peers of the same standing as her, fellow interns who knew what they were doing.

  “Yes, we are,” he said with a smile. “There won’t be too many of us. We’ll be flying to Darwin in a couple of days and then driving to the park, which will take an hour and a half. Hope you’re ready for another long trip.”

  “I’m used to trekking.”

  “Which will be pretty useful for Kakadu.”

  That smile was annoying and yet endearing at the same time. She didn’t want to get so used to it. There had to be more good-looking guys in the zoo, right? There were more out there, and she hadn’t explored even a fourth of the city.

  The rest of the day felt confusing. She was drawn to him, but she didn’t want to be close to him. He talked with ease, clearly a people person, and he said hello to everyone he could say hello to, even the janitors. She had no qualms about saying hello to anyone, but he was way more pleasant than anyone she had ever met, and he seemed so genuine that she felt conscious about all her half-hearted efforts in reducing that dreaded “resting bitch
face”.

  It was five o’clock, and while the guests filtered out, they stayed on, finishing the tour for the day. They had stayed long at the Kakadu exhibit, and she enjoyed it, occasionally taking notes or making mental ones.

  That wasn’t half of the zoo, she thought. They walked up to a small building, designed to look like an aboriginal cottage, decorated with handmade artwork. There was a brass plate on the wall by the door’s entrance with the words, “Lillian Turner Foundation and Conservation Center”.

  “Who is Lillian Turner?”

  “Someone really important. Without her, this zoo would’ve closed, and all the animals and even the flora we’ve worked hard to protect would be left defenseless,” Zac explained. “Shall we move on?”

  She nodded, wanting to go in but too shy to ask him. He had spent eight hours talking to her about the zoo, its animals, its projects, the expenses, and the happiness it brought kids of all ages, including him. Did he not feel tired at all? She was the one who felt tired for him. The tour ended back at the office, with a stern looking Danny behind a mound of paperwork.

  “Need some help there, Dan?” Zac asked him.

  Danny shook his head and smiled. “All in a day’s work. Did the bookkeeper have these checked? I don’t remember lab mice being this expensive.”

  “Ah, our snakes have been quite voracious as of late, except for Betsy,” Zac said, picking up a sheet filled with prices. “These are fine, though. We’re well within budget.”

  Zac was some consultant, she figured, someone with loads of energy and a sharp mind. She wanted to go home, take a long shower, and eat dinner, clearly drained from the day’s “tour”. It was a lot to remember, even if she didn’t have to remember it. They had clearly joked about her initiation. She took a step out of the office for some fresh air (apparently talking to him required fresh air), and just as she did, cold water fell onto her head, and ice chips trickled down her spine.

  “Oh god!” she gasped, wriggling about for a moment. “Jesus, that’s cold! Oh god!”

  She looked around and saw the zoo staff clapping and cheering all around her.