The Zookeeper

Saturday morning. Birds chirping, light breeze blowing through the trees as the leaves rustled. The sun wasn’t that cruel today, it had the right amount of warmth for the city. One could sleep in straight through to the afternoon, just like this particular woman right here. The sunlight shone through the gaps of the bedroom curtain and landed directly on her face. She lazily moved her arm to cover her eyes from the daring sunlight. 

“Zzz... Zzzz.. Zzz..” A machine vibrate violently somewhere nearby. With a groan, Mary slammed her left hand to her night desk and groped the desk searching for the device. Once she found it, she swung it to her face and peeked at her phone.

27... missed call... 110 messages... from Strictyaka.

She gripped onto her phone and dropped her arm back onto her cozy bed. Her eyes were close to shutting back again. 

Tch, it’s a Saturday. What does Sayaka want... The last time that I had that many calls and messages were when I was late for my final examinations. Geez, we have already graduated. Plus, we are adults now...

Mary chuckled at the thought of Sayaka being so rigid and tight since their high school days. They have been friends since way back then. An unlikely friendship was formed even though it was obvious that their views and personality were different in so many areas. Many wondered how it was possible for them to be bestfriends, least even friends but none had the courage to ask. Sayaka would never answer on point and will end up picking on their flaws such as the proper attire or hair color to just name a few. While Mary will never fail to deny the fact of them being best friends but whenever Sayaka needs her help, she will always be there for her. They graduated together and Mary is currently working under Sayaka in her business.

Guess she hasn't changed a bit. Even until now, she’s still like that... 

Mary smiled at the thought and closed her eyes completely. She plans to reply her later, just like those other times whenever Sayaka messages her in the morning. 

“Honey, you never told me that you’re having a day off today?”

“mMmm?”

“Are you late again or did Sayaka finally decide to fire you?”

“She would never. She needs my help. Your daughter here is the best there is out there. Plus today is an important day that I can’t afford to be late.”

“Uh huh. and?”

Mary snapped opened her eyes. Her mother was standing at her door’s entrance with her hands on her hips and feet tapping on the ground. Mary pulled up her phone to look at the time and the smile was immediately dropped from her face - 8:32am . She was supposed to reach at 8am for the preparation of today’s event.

“I’M LATE!” Mary flipped away her blanket and jumped out of the bed. Her blanket flopped slowly onto the ground. She ran straight into the bathroom and slammed the door. Her neighbours could surely hear slammings and curses coming out from their household. Her mother shook her head and gave a short sigh. 

“Seriously, even at 22, she still acts like a child and to think that she has even been working for at least 3 years now. Poor Sayaka.” 

_______________________________

“Mum! Sorry about breakfast! I’m rushing!” Mary yelled as she grabbed the black boots from the shoe rack. She was wearing a black leather jacket and had a bag sling behind her. Her hands gripped onto her keys and she quickly put on her boots. Her mother poked her head out of the kitchen just in time to see her child slamming the front door shut. 

_______________________________

”Fuck fuck fuck...” Mary mumbled repeatedly as she ran through the entrance.

“Morning Mary!” Her co-worker called out to her cheerfully. Hands waving in the air, she was trying to get Mary’s attention. It was their morning routine - Mary would flash a smile and have a short chat with them. She was expecting a warm smile and a few minutes of talk-time with her but instead she received a...

“PARK MY BIKE FOR ME PLEASE” 

Mary tossed her keys and helmet to her and disappeared. She does not have the time for greetings nor causal chats today. Especially today.  Even though this wasn’t the first time she was late, today was an important day. Sayaka had informed her that today was different and made her promise to come in on time. Mary looked at her watch - 9:08am. 

First show is at 9:30. It should be alright. Right? Sayaka would absolutely murder me. 

One has to pass by the Manager’s room to get to the staff’s room. As soon as she reached the door, she dropped to her knees and wanted to crawl past it. She has already planned to avoid Sayaka and so long that she wasn’t seen by her, she could escape without having to answer why she was late. She moved forward slowly, not wanting to make a sound past the door. Mary managed to crawl past the door and was about to stand up when the door was suddenly swung open. Mary held her breath and turned back slowly, she was trying to pull an excuse for being late.  

“I’m sor... Wait, who the fuck are you?” 

Someone other than Sayaka was standing there. It was unusual to see someone at this time in her office since most of the meetings were scheduled in the afternoon. 

“Oh? Sayaka, I didn’t know you have a rat running around. Perhaps one that escaped the enclosure? What a sight to see this morning. We have yet to even start our tour around the zoo yet and we have already spotted one.” 

Grey hair, twintails knotted up, blue lipstick. Mary's mentally noted her features. 

Argh, looks and sounds like trouble.

Mary stood up and dusted the dust off her jeans. She couldn’t tell if the lady was joking or not and decided to “play” along.

“Did anyone ever told you that if you have nothing nice to say, you should shut the fuck up.” Mary gave a “smile”. 

“Mary!”

Sayaka rushed out upon hearing the commotion. She stood in between them.

“Kirari, this is Mary, our best keeper here and Mary, this is Kirari, the President.”

Mary rolled her eyes and scowled, obviously not caring even one bit. “Doesn’t mean she has the right to be a bi...” Sayaka immediately covered Mary’s mouth, giving her a stern look. “Please” Sayaka mouthed.

“My apologies President, she didn’t mean anything she said.” 

“No no, let her continue.” Kirai prompted with a smirk resting upon her face. Mary swore that even her eyes seemed to be sparkling. It was obviously a sign, a challenge to Mary on whether she dares to continue what she was saying. Mary almost took the bait and jerked forward but was held down by Sayaka.

“Just for today please, you know it’s important to me” Sayaka spoke in a low tone. 

Mary gritted her teeth, she didn't like losing but as one of the closest friends to Sayaka, she bit down and swallowed her pride. “Tch” the only sound that left Mary’s mouth.

“She’s packed for the shows, President. Surely you would understand that she does not have the time for our mere greeting.”

Sayaka pushed Mary towards the direction of the staff’s room. 

“Mary, the first show starts in 10minutes.” 

“I know I know. There’s more than enough time.” Mary rolled her eyes and shrugged off the hands that were pushing her. 

Tch, who does she think she is. How annoying. 

She took a deep breath and decided to ignore the whole incident. It was a bad encounter, not a bad day. She was not going to let some random person ruin her day. She quickly dashed down the hall. The staff room was located at the end of the bend of the hall. As she took a sharp turn, she came face to face with someone in a white mask and knocked straight into her.

“Ompff!” 

They collided and it ended with the mystery masked person landing on top of her.

“I’m sorry…”

Mary heard the softest voice coming from the person. Mary moved to have her left elbow support her up while she used her right hand to rub the back of her head, trying to ease the pain.

“WHo...” 

She was about to yell at her but stopped as yellow met blue for the first time. The mask happened to slide down a little which revealed the masked stranger’s eyes. Time seems to have passed indefinitely for Mary as the air remained silent for the next few minutes. Mary not only finds difficulty breathing but formulating thoughts in her brain. She felt as if she had fallen into a trance whilst staring into her eyes. 

So… so beautiful. If God allows. No, if she allows, I can stare at them all day and never get tired of them. 

“Thank you for the compliments.” the masked stranger said meekly, looking away.

“Huh? No. I mean yes. No. Wait, not that no. It’s a yes but like a no? I mean I think that your eyes are beautiful but you know. You’re not supposed to hear that. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry. Please don’t find me weird. I’m not weird. I don’t say this often to anyone. I didn’t know it would slip. You were not supposed to hear it…”

Mary was panicking and started to rumble on and on. She was obviously flustered from letting her thoughts slip out and was trying to explain herself. The rambles were only stopped when she heard the cutest and softest giggle she ever got. 

“It’s alright. It was my fault anyway.” The masked stranger’s eyes darted to the side.

“Oh? Enjoying yourself?”

A voice loomed over the sweet atmosphere that the two were indulging in. Mary groaned. Despite only having met the lady that was standing behind them for less than a mere 5 minutes, she was already dreading the sound of her voice. 

“What? Can’t you see we are busy?” 

Mary looked at her with a scowl. 

First, she insulted me, now she’s going to ruin the moment. What’s next. Steal this woman in front of me? 

Mary rolled her eyes at her and was going to go back to the moment but she was stunned at the sight. The masked stranger had already stood up and was walking towards the President. Her mask was already adjusted back in place over her face “My apologies, President. We bumped into each other and fell down together. That is all. She was just apologising to me. Shall we continue with what we are here for today?” she bowed slightly. 

Mary wasn’t sure whether she was more embarrassed or annoyed. It only makes sense that the masked stranger was probably working under the President. This area was restricted and is only accessible to the staff or Sayaka’s clients only.

“Mary Saotome! Why are you still here! The show will be starting soon!” 

“Oh Snap!”. Her thought was broken by Sayaka’s voice. She doesn’t have time to think about this. Mary quickly scrambled towards the staff’s room. She threw her items into her locker and quickly changed into her uniform - light blue shirt and brown khaki pants. She grabbed her work bag and made her way to the show stage.

_______________________________

“Your tea, President and Vice-President.” Sayaka placed the steaming teacups in front of them. 

“You can drop the honorifics, Ririka would do. I’m sure Kirari wouldn’t mind you calling her by her name as well.” 

Sayaka turned to look at Kirari, seemingly seeking for her approval. However, Kirari was looking at Ririka’s direction instead. Sayaka dropped her head and went back into the pantry. Kirari got impatient trying to find out what was she holding and decided to ask her instead.

“What is that you are holding?”

“I picked this up earlier when I fell down earlier.”

“With Mary?”

“If her name is Mary, then yes.” 

“I seemed to recall you have one as well. You placed it in that silly plain looking box you have at the corner of our mirror stand. ”

“Yes. It was popular then. Everyone seemed to have one when we were young. Though this seemed to be one of the limited editions ones. I do not think that anyone would still have this. I could still remember this particular event where you made a bet with him in the family with regards to this venture. You predicted that it was just a temporary craze and we should release our shares while it was at its peak. Do you remember the amount of commotion you have caused?”

“Ah yes. They call me silly and he causally accepted the bet with me. Foolish idiots. They set their sights so short. How stupid of him to buy over the whole company. It was worth seeing the look on his face when I won and watched as the company fall and burn down to the ground into ashes just like his family that fell at our feets. It was fun while it lasted. I was rather disappointed considering that the family was second after ours."

Ririka nodded and held onto the necklace, examining it - Crystal clear light blue stone with 2 letters engraved inside.

“Judging from the appearance, he or she has kept this well. It’s polished despite the age of this thing.”

“Attempted polishing you meant. Even Runa could have done a better job than this. I can see the badly done job at this distance.”

Sayaka came out of the pantry holding a tray of pastries and saw the familiar looking necklace.

“That’s Mary’s!” 

“How did you know?”

“There’s the letters M and R isn’t it? MaRy.”

“I see.”

“I’ll pass it to her. Thank you for picking it up. She would kill herself if she realised she lost it again.” 

“Again?”

“She loses things constantly and last time she lost this, she refused to work until she found it.”

Sayaka stretched out her hand, wanting to take the necklace from Ririka but was only to be interrupted by Kirari’s voice and the sound of the chair being dragged.

“You know what, let’s bring this to her instead. I believe a monkey could entertain me better than this.” She pointed at presentation slides and walked towards the exit.

“But President! We need to prepare the annual report for the investors!” Sayaka walked behind her and started nagging. Kirari only smiled and continued walking.

Ririka chuckled at the duo. Kirari was always like this. Uninterested and easily bored at almost everything but never seemed to be bored of Sayaka. 

“Ririka.”

“Coming, sister.” She held the necklace tighter and left the room, walking beside her.