“Why are you looking for me?” Hannah asked, rephrasing her question. She was instantly on edge, worrying about what bad news would cause Coco to track her down in the middle of the day. Was it Billy? Had something happened to him? Perhaps it was the house? Her father? It had to be something horrible.
Coco swallowed a few times as she regained her composure. “You forgot your lunch. I didn’t want you to go hungry.”
Her sense of dread quickly turned into embarrassment. Hannah’s face blushed a crimson color as she stood and took the paper bag from her mother’s hands. “I have some money, I wouldn’t have gone hungry. But thank you.”
“You’re my baby. Just the thought of you going without lunch makes me so sad.”
“Well, thanks again for going to all that trouble. I’ll see you tonight.”
Coco hesitated a moment longer, looking over Hannah’s shoulder and noticing Harry for the first time. She gave her daughter a slight nod before allowing the administration worker to escort her back outside. But not before she could mouth ‘hot’ to her.
Hannah closed the door and groaned. “I’m dreaming, right? That didn’t just happen and I’m not going to die of embarrassment? Lie to me if you have to.”
Harry laughed, just like he used to. “Coco hasn’t changed much, I see.”
She flopped back down on her chair. “So that really happened? Now everyone knows what a crazy mother I have?”
He was still chuckling. “It’s nice of her, everyone will know you have a mother that cares about you. If my mom did that, well, my mom would never do that. She hasn’t made me lunch in years.”
Hannah pictured Mrs. Shephard and tried to imagine her in the kitchen of their mansion. The two images didn’t really go together. She also knew just how much Harry yearned to be closer to his parents. They may have been rich, but they were also busy. Harry was kind of the extra credit assignment that they didn’t get time for.
Hannah opened the paper bag and pulled out the sandwich. She was quite hungry. “You want half of this? It’s chicken and mayo.” One of his favorites, unless his tastes had changed.
“Just the thought of you going hungry makes me so sad,” Harry said, mimicking Coco.
“That’s spooky, don’t do that. Seriously, I’m happy to share.”
He took the chair beside hers and accepted half the sandwich. She pulled out the cookies and set them on the table between them too. Coco had slipped in a few extras for good measure.
“So, are you volunteering for the fundraising ball this weekend?” Harry asked.
“What fundraising ball?” If there were memos going around about all the zoo events, Hannah wasn’t getting them. No matter what she did, she continued to be behind the eight ball.
“It’s where all the zoo patrons and other rich people come to dance in fancy clothes while we convince them to make huge donations to the zoo.”
“How do we do that?” It seemed impossible trying to part rich people with their money. Were they supposed to beg or something? Pickpocket, perhaps?
“By showing them the cute animals and telling them how much of a difference they can make.”
Hannah caught on. “So we compliment them, make them feel all warm and fuzzy, and then extract their checkbooks? Got it.”
“Apparently there will be some seriously rich people there,” Harry commented. She instantly wondered if his parents were going to attend. Considering their son was so into the zoo, she would have thought they would support him.
“A ball does kind of sound like fun. I guess if it’s for the animals, then that makes it even better.”
Harry took the last bite of his sandwich. “I hope to see you there.” He returned to his filing without looking at her. They spent the rest of the afternoon in silence again.
CHAPTER 7
The day had been long but the excitement of interning at the zoo still had not worn off. Hannah opened her locker in the staff room to grab her handbag, still hoping she would be able to get the fish smell off her skin.
As the door swung open, a leaflet fell to the floor. She picked it up, turning it over. The piece of paper was for the fundraising ball – officially the Mapleton Regional Zoo Annual Sponsor Gala.
Handwritten at the top of the leaflet were the words ‘I hope you can make it’. Hannah didn’t recognize the handwriting. She figured it was probably from Alicia, letting her know she was attending and hoped for some company. She tucked the leaflet into her handbag.
On her way home, her mind drifted to the ball. She wanted to help raise money, that was a no brainer. What she wasn’t so certain about was what she would wear. Would they be expected to wear their khaki zoo uniforms? Or would she have to find a dress? Did that mean having to traipse around the zoo in high heels all night? She needed some more information, she would have to hit up Alicia tomorrow. She would know all about it.
As she pulled into her driveway, Hannah smiled as she recognized her best friend’s car parked in the street. Veronica was there, and probably miffed that she was left waiting for her.
“Where have you been? I’ve waited here forever,” Veronica groaned as she stood by the car door.
“Forever, really?” Hannah asked as she looked at her skeptically. She got out of the car and they walked inside together. Billy greeted them both with the enthusiasm only a lonely dog could have.
“Okay, it might have been closer to two minutes. But it felt like longer, you know my time is precious.”
“You want a snack?” Hannah waited while Veronica nodded and they went directly for the kitchen. Coco was still at work so they had the place to themselves. “How’s your internship going?”
Veronica instantly forgot about the waiting as her eyes lit up – exactly the reaction her best friend was expecting. “Oh my God, Han, you should have been there today. Miss Scarlett designed this gown that was the most beautiful thing on the planet. I swear, if they don’t hire me at the end, I am going to continue to intern there forever.”
Hannah laughed at the thought of Veronica as a forty year old intern at the fashion house. She was probably crazy and passionate enough about it to actually do it. “Let’s hope they offer you a permanent position then.”
There was nothing more Veronica loved than fashion and her dreams of being a designer started with that internship. She had done everything she could to land the opportunity and had been taking advantage of every moment ever since.
“Hey, what’s this?” Veronica pulled out the fundraising ball flyer from Hannah’s handbag as she made them a snack.
“It’s just a fundraising thing for the zoo. I’d be working at it, not attending it.”
“Same diff. There will still be ball gowns and hot guys, right? I hope you can make it. Oooh, who wrote that?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Hannah replied. In retrospect, she should have hidden it so nobody found it. That would have allowed her to avoid the current conversation.
“You have a secret admirer? Spill all the deets, Han.” She accepted the strawberry and banana smoothie and took a sip.
“There are no deets, Vee. It’s probably a note from a girl I’ve made friends with. Her name is Alicia and she’s all into the ball and stuff.”
Veronica looked shocked with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. “You made a new friend? How dare you!” She was only half-teasing.
“She’s good company at the zoo. And she keeps me up to date with everything that’s going on there. She’s nice, you’d like her.”
“As long as she doesn’t braid you lame friendship bracelets and start referring to you as her BFF.”
Hannah held up her wrist to show her two friendship bracelets. “You gave me these, now you’re calling them lame?”
“If they’re from me, they’re not lame. Just anyone else.” Veronica smiled, she couldn’t help herself. She knew she was acting like a brat but she hadn’t had much competition for Hannah’s attention before. Now they had graduated high school, it seemed li
ke all sorts of things would try to tear their friendship apart.
“You’re always going to be my number one, Vee. I promise.”
“You better. Now, tell me about this ball. What are you wearing? Who are you going with?”
“I told you, it’s a work thing only. I probably have to wear my uniform and I can’t go with anyone,” Hannah explained. She momentarily pictured Logan in a suit and blushed at the thought, wiping it from her mind.
“Oh, that’s no fun.” Veronica pouted. “But you might meet a rich guy there! Prince Charming could be looking for his Cinderella.”
“At a zoo?”
“It could happen. You’ve got to believe in true love or you’ll never find it.”
True love was not something Hannah was looking for at the moment. Her career and education was way more important than any guy could be. If only she could convince Veronica of that.
“I don’t think I’ll find my true love in amongst the monkeys and lemurs,” Hannah replied.
Veronica wasn’t going to be dissuaded. “Maybe the love birds could serenade you. Or the swans could do that cute little thing where they twist their necks together to form a love heart.”
“I think you’re thinking of a Disney movie.”
“It could happen!” Veronica insisted. Hannah couldn’t help but laugh. If there was ever a hopeless romantic, it was her best friend.
They moved onto other topics while Hannah heard a blow by blow description of everything that had happened at Miss Scarlett’s Fashion House since they last caught up. With beautiful dresses, models, and soirees to keep her busy, it seemed like a world away from the poop, feathers, and teeth of the zoo.
The rest of the week passed by in a whirlwind for Hannah. She continued to get stuck into the work at the zoo and absorb as much information as possible. When she started college after the summer, she wanted to be ahead of all her classmates on animal husbandry.
It looked like her plan to ignore all temptations around her was paying off too. She had assisted in no less than three surgeries and was getting used to being around the animals. As Logan put it, she was ‘a natural’ and the animals responded in kind.
On Friday, she arrived at the zoo to the news that a wombat had eaten something he shouldn’t have and Logan had requested her to scrub in on the emergency surgery. Hannah didn’t even have time to think before she was disinfecting her hands and putting on the blue paper apron.
The hairy nosed wombat was already out cold on the operating table. Its stubby little legs were in the air as Logan stood poised to start the procedure.
“Ah, Hannah, you made it just in time,” he said happily behind his mask. It muffled his voice slightly.
“Thanks for letting me watch,” she replied. “What did he eat that’s made him so sick?”
“If I tell you now, that will ruin the surprise.” His eyes sparkled with mischief. She didn’t know him well enough to press the issue so she left it alone. She would find out in time, just like Logan said.
She watched the procedure in silence as Logan skillfully made incisions and felt around inside the wombat’s belly. She didn’t want to distract him by asking too many questions. He made it seem so easy, like he had done the operation a thousand times before. But from the books she had already started reading for college, she knew it was a lot harder than it looked.
“Do you want to do the honors?” Logan asked, holding up a small tool that looked like a miniature ice cream scoop.
Hannah wasn’t sure he was speaking to her. She looked around, all the nurses seemed focused on the animal. “Me?” She squeaked out.
“Yes, you. You’re here to learn, right?” He waited for her to nod. “Okay, come here and I’ll show you what to do.”
She shuffled around the table and Logan moved from his spot so she could slide in. He cupped both of her hands with his and guided her toward the open belly of the wombat. From that angle, it was gross looking, but she could only be fascinated by it all.
“Can you feel that?” Logan asked. She knew she could feel Logan pressed up behind her, she could also feel her heart racing, and his hands on hers was making her skin burn. But she figured he probably meant the feeling of the tool in the wombat as it scraped against something.
“Is that the thing we’re getting out?” Hannah asked.
“Sure is. Can you guess what it is?”
She scraped it again. It was probably something made out of plastic judging by the smooth exterior. It wasn’t smooth enough to be something metallic. “Something plastic.”
“Correct for a million dollars. And what’s plastic?” Logan continued excitedly. He helped her twist her hands until the scoop found its way around the object. Carefully, he guided her to ease it out.
Finally, the object popped out. It was a child’s bouncy ball. The kind that jumped really high when you threw it on the ground. “It’s a ball. How did he eat a ball?”
“One of the visitors probably threw it in there. We tell them not to, we put up fences, but sometimes it’s just not enough.” Logan took the ball and placed it into a dish. “Do you want to do the outer stitches?”
“Do you think I should?” It sounded like something a professional like him should do, she didn’t want to hurt the poor animal. Clearly he had been through enough already that morning.
“I think you can do anything you put your mind to, Hannah Walker. Shift over and I’ll do the hard parts and then you can do the stitches. It’s just like sewing a stuffed toy together.”
She followed directions and watched every move he made. When it was her turn, she was nervous. Logan did the first few stitches and took great care in explaining everything he was doing. She learnt more in that time than in hours and hours of reading.
One thing was sure, Hannah felt at home there. She knew more than anything else in her life that she belonged in the operating theatre helping animals. She had definitely found her calling.
CHAPTER 8
“Look out for bouncy balls,” Hannah warned as Alicia helped her inspect the wombat enclosure. They were given the painstaking task of making sure there were no other foreign items in the pen and the place was sparkling clean.
The other three wombat inhabitants didn’t seem happy with their enclosure being taken over by two humans. They watched their every move suspiciously.
“Why would a wombat eat a ball, anyway?” Alicia mused. “I mean, it couldn’t taste nice. It wouldn’t even have smelt like food.”
“Maybe he was bored,” Hannah offered. Logan had told her the animal was lucky the ball didn’t get stuck in its throat and suffocate him. That was enough incentive to ensure she scoured every inch of the enclosure looking for other potential hazards. No animal was going to be hurt on her watch.
Alicia stopped, thinking it over. “I guess I eat chocolate when I’m bored, you might be onto something there, Hannah.”
“Chocolate is the best when you’re bored.”
“Tell me about it. I could go a block right now. The gooey, peanut kind.”
Hannah had to agree with that too. It was coming up to lunchtime, perhaps she would have to check out the cafeteria for something of the chocolate variety to go with the lunch Coco had packed for her.
A shriek caught Hannah’s attention, bringing her mind back to the task at hand. She looked around frantically, just in time to see Alicia running around the enclosure. A wombat was hot on her heels.
Except, wombats didn’t move very fast. So even though Alicia was being chased by one of the angry males, she didn’t have to run like an Olympic sprinter to get away from him.
Hannah couldn’t stop the giggles that erupted inside her. It had to be the slowest chase she had ever seen as Alicia tried to get out of the wombat’s way. She squealed as she ran around the fence, trying to get to the gate so she could escape. Hannah was absolutely no help, being doubled up with laughter.
“Hannah, help me!”
“He’s not going to hurt you,” she replied
, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Have you seen their teeth? He could take off my foot.” Alicia finally reached the gate and swung it open to get through. She stood on the other side, catching her breath. “I made it.”
“You were in no danger,” Hannah pointed out. She had to catch her own breath for an entirely different reason. “I’m still in here and he hasn’t eaten me yet.”
“He’s probably thinking about it, sizing you up.”
Hannah made eye contact with the male wombat. He didn’t seem nearly as evil as he was portrayed. She picked up the bucket and continued to get on with the job.
She was still chuckling about the incident later on as she changed into her regular clothes to go home. Her uniform was covered in mud and other stuff she didn’t want to have identified.
Her evening wasn’t nearly as eventful as her day had been. She went to bed early, tired from a hard week. She figured the summer would probably go by quickly if that week was anything to go by.
The next day, Saturday, Hannah was still feeling good. As she got ready for the fundraising ball, she was ready to tackle anything that arose during the night. Even if she did have to wear a ball gown. Apparently uniforms were banned on such a formal occasion – she had double checked just to make sure.
Dressed in a deep purple gown that flowed right to the floor, Hannah took one last look in the mirror. She was passable, at least she wouldn’t be mistaken for one of the animals in the color.
She picked up her high heels, smoothed her dress, and got ready to attend her first ever ball. On the way to the zoo, she picked up Alicia. They had already planned on going together to ensure they didn’t have to walk in alone.
As they negotiated down the pathway in their high heels, the music from the zoo foyer was getting louder. Alicia, in an orange dress she described as giraffe orange, had to grip Hannah’s shoulder several times to stop herself from toppling over. The rocky path was not supposed to be walked on in heels.
Another Hairy Tail Page 3
