Cat on the Fence

by Tatiana Caldwell

  Two of the lionesses in the Big Cat House at the zoo where she worked had each recently birthed a trio of rambunctious little cubs but last week the male lion, Musaka, got a bit too rough with one and severely injured him. The mother quickly punished the large male—with fatal intent likely, had zookeepers not intervened as quickly as they did—leaving the zoo with two injured cats. Musaka was healthy and strong and his injuries would heal relatively quickly and easily but the cub, Kimba, needed intense specialized care around the clock. All of which would cost money the facility didn’t have funding for. On top of the medical expenses was the fact that the habitat now had six new animals, meaning the already-strained budget was looking especially bleak.

  So they’d hired this guy to come in and try to tackle their urgent financial quandary. If Alex did a good job and the staff liked him, they were going to offer him a permanent position on the team. But Karabi wasn’t so sure he could see past dollar signs long enough to notice that there were living, breathing animals in the zoo. At this moment he was talking about staff cuts, which had Karabi grinding her teeth.

  “I’ve looked at the headcount, expenditures and revenue per exhibit, and have come up with a potential plan to rebalance the staff based on where the activity and income is at. The Big Cat House is one of the most profitable departments here, and should therefore have the lion’s share—excuse the pun—of the budget. By halving the staff in the Small Mammal and Reptile House and reducing the Waterfowl Lagoon budget by a third, we’d be able to cover all identified cat expenses and still have some leftover for unexpected overages.”

  “Except that would put good people out of work in a tough economy,” Karabi said with a pointed expression on her face. “Not to mention it would undermine the quality of care for the animals at both of those exhibits.”

  Alex turned his focus to her, his posture remaining straight and self-assured. “Job cuts happen in a tough economy. It’s to be expected. And spending less doesn’t necessarily have to mean providing less. I have confidence that the staff here is fantastic at what they do and are fully capable of coming up with a plan to continue to provide quality care even with a lower budget.”

  Karabi shook her head. “All the brilliant planning in the world couldn’t make up for a shortage of personnel.”

  “Sure it could. Corporations around the globe do it every day.”

  “But this is not a corporation. It’s a not-for-profit institution.”

  “Being not-for-profit doesn’t exclude you from needing to care about the bottom line. You could go bankrupt if you don’t run this place like a successful business.”

  “We’d go morally bankrupt, however, if we ran this place like most businesses do.”

  He paused for a moment. Then a strange smile formed on his face. “I understand, um, what was your name again?”

  “Karabi. Karabi Minstry.”

  “Right, Karabi. I understand that you’re passionate about keeping the family together.”

  She fidgeted in her chair uncomfortably. Something about the way Alex said her name, the way he was eyeing her as he said the word passionate… Images of the two of them having hot, intense sex in various positions on the boardroom table flashed in her mind. Karabi gave a slight shake of her head and a quick cough to clear her thoughts. “I am.”

  He nodded. “I respect that. I have an alternative. We could raise the money through a charity event. Don’t you guys raise close to a million at your annual fundraiser dances? You’d only need a fraction of that to stay in the black.”

  “The Zoo Ball won’t happen until the summer.”

  “Right, and the targeted proceeds for this summer’s ball have already been earmarked for research and foundation donations. But I’m talking about hosting a different one. Next month, with a Valentine’s Day theme, specifically for this cause.”

  “In just a month? How would we do that? It’s way too cold to put out a tent, and there’s no building here really suitable for a big indoor party.”

  “We could rent out The Loft in Willis Tower.”

  “You mean the Sears Tower?” Karabi hated that they’d changed the name of the building, which was once officially the tallest building in the world and known worldwide for decades as Sears Tower, to Willis Tower. And so she, like many other Chicagoans, refused to call it anything other than its original name. No matter who bought it and took it over.

  “That’s expensive. It’d be at least a few grand just to rent the place out.”

  “I already did the math. If we charge a premium for the tickets and we get even a quarter of the turnout you get on average from your events, we’d bring in close to ten times what we pay for it.”

  Karabi wrinkled her nose. “What kind of zoo throws a high-priced, fancy fundraiser at the top of a high-rise building?”

  “The kind of zoo with two injured lions, desperately needing cash for their care.”

  She rolled her eyes. Just the thought of getting all dolled up and attending a party full of uppity pretension and expensive eveningwear left a nasty taste in her mouth. Sure, Mr. Fancy-Suit would be more than happy to attend some bourgeois ball. With his perfectly tailored suit and shirt, spit-shined shoes and two-hundred-dollar watch. Even his wavy brown hair was neatly combed, unlike most of the men and women who worked there. His gruff, extended goatee and mustache seemed almost out of place on him. Karabi wondered if he intentionally left it a bit on the scruffy side to make it appear as if he didn’t care all that much about his appearance. If he did, Karabi wasn’t buying it. No way this guy, who dressed as if he were coming in for a TV interview rather than a meeting at the zoo, would leave his facial hair unintentionally ungroomed. He had to know it softened his otherwise unapproachable and high-strung movie-star appearance. Drew attention to his bright, piercing blue-gray eyes. She wanted to rub her hand against the stubble, to feel its roughness against her skin. Next thing she knew she was imagining grabbing Alex by the tie and pulling him down on top of her, onto the tabletop, and anxiously unbuckling his pants.

  Wait, where did that thought come from? She shook her head as if to rid herself of fleas. “No, an impromptu fundraiser should be a last resort.”

  He sighed and rubbed at his face. “Okay then, no people cuts and no fundraisers. We could sell off the healthy cubs and increase your bottom line this quarter by up to thirty percent.”

  Karabi’s stomach churned at the word sell. “We only trade animals. We don’t sell them.”

  “Not even for a thirty percent profit increase?”

  “Again, we’re not-for-profit. What we need is better budgeting, not bigger profits.”

  He gave a hearty chuckle—a deep, rolling sound that was chock-full of belittlement but still somehow laced with masculine charm and appeal. “It’s quite obvious, Miss Minstry, that finance isn’t your expertise. But that’s okay, I’m willing to take the time to break it all down for you. That is after all what I’m here for.”

  “That’s great,” Karabi said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Some of us are here for the animals.”

  “So I see,” Alex said. He bent toward the table and wrote something down in his notebook. “Salary reviews are coming up next week. I’ll keep that in mind when we discuss your raise versus those who are here for a job.”

  Karabi opened her mouth and closed it, speechless. It wasn’t often that she didn’t have a witty comeback. Robert chuckled and she jerked around in her chair. She’d almost forgotten there were others besides just Alex and her in the room. She threw her coworker a threatening glare.

  “Look, I see you two have some differences to work out,” Robert said. “Should we call it a day and revisit this tomorrow?”

  “I think we could work this out if Karabi and I had a few more minutes alone to discuss this,” Alex said.

  Robert looked back and forth between Karabi and Alex, then over at Sandra, who had been sitting very quietly at the table. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking we�
�re wasting our time here,” the middle-aged blonde woman said with a shrug. “I vote for whichever of Alex’s plans Karabi will agree to, since this directly impacts her animals.”

  Robert nodded as he gathered up his notes and stood. “Sandra and I are calling it a day, then. We’re both good with whatever you decide upon. Try not to kill each other, okay?” He snorted again and shook his head before he and Sandra left the two of them alone in the conference room.

  Karabi and Alex glared at each other.

  “You’re making this extremely difficult,” Alex said.

  “No, you’re the one making this difficult,” she said, pointing her finger at him. “I thought you were an expert on managing budgets. Instead of trying to shake things up here, why can’t you just, you know, manage the budget? Move some expenses around, find room someplace?”

  “That’s impossible without cutting expenses or increasing revenue.”

  “Surely we could find wiggle room.”

  “I don’t think you understand just how tight the budget is.”

  “There’s always a way to squeeze something in—no matter how tight—if you think creatively enough.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her then twisted his lips to the side. “The zoo already had a lot of plans for expansion in place, and this extensive medical and care cost is on top of that. The expense is huge. I understand that youmay have this fairytale notion that it’s easy to just shove something new, large and unexpected where it’s tight, no matter how unrealistic that might be. But I’m trying to help ground you in reality so that you can expand comfortably. You can’t just force it all in without making some adjustments—it’s just too big. I need you to trust me to show you how to make this happen with as little pain as possible.”

  Her mind immediately went to inappropriate places and she grew moist and hot in places that were even more inappropriate. Was he taking her there intentionally? Why was this man affecting her like this? Maybe it had been too long since she’d had sex. She needed to try to remedy that soon—her judgment and her libido were off-kilter.

  She studied him, trying to figure out what it was that made her feel so odd. Agitated. Attracted. Apprehensive. Aroused. His demeanor hadn’t visually changed much but there was something in the way those ensnaring eyes of his looked at her that made her acutely aware she was alone in a closed-off room with this guy who seemed to radiate sexual energy. He licked his lips as he waited for her reply and she couldn’t help but imagine what that tongue of his would feel like licking her lips—both sets. Butterflies filled her belly and she could almost feel a purr coming on. A purr! Out of Karabi!

  She swallowed hard and crossed her legs to steel herself. They needed to reach a compromise, and fast, so she could end this meeting before she outright pounced on him.

  * * * * *

  “Let’s hurry up and get this over with,” Karabi said. This woman was feisty.Alex liked them feisty. And she had a presence that was hard to ignore. It was…enticing. But also distracting.

  He’d been working in the zoo’s office for almost two weeks but this was the first time he’d had the trouble—or the pleasure, maybe, he was still undecided—of actually interacting with Karabi Minstry. Somehow she was quickly unravelling the professional poise he’d perfected and had been maintaining. Up until now.

  He absolutely had to regain his footing. He moved to stand right next to her, attempting to use his height and posture to get her to back down. Which usually worked. “Okay, look. The easiest thing to do is to just trade some of the animals. If the cards are played right, you’d be cutting expenses and bringing in more income.”

  But apparently Karabi wasn’t one who intimidated easily. To his surprise she stood and entered his space with her arms folded and her mouth in a straight line, meeting his challenge head-on. “We’re not getting rid of anyone, Mr. McClellan.”

  “Anyone?” He raised both brows. “They’re animals, not people.”

  “So? Some people act like animals, and yet we still call them someone.”

  Alex grunted. He was certainly feeling like an animal right now. What was it about this little zoophile with a big attitude that was getting to him? It didn’t even make sense. Yes, she was pleasant to look at. A petite-but-still-curvy Indian woman with olive skin, large doe eyes and slender facial features. She was an exotic but subtle kind of pretty. Not exactly his type… But then again he didn’t really have a type. It was odd that of all of the attractive women he’d encountered since he’d moved to the Chicago area—even the others who also worked at the zoo—it was this one whom he was instantly drawn to. Karabi was dressed like an Eskimo or something in a super-thick, fuzzy turtleneck sweater and dark jeans with frumpy-looking boots. He’d been there a couple of weeks now and as far as he could tell, every day was Casual Friday for her. Sure, she worked with animals in a zoo and all but did that really have to mean she shouldn’t bother to at least try not to wear pants to work that were so worn there were holes beginning to form in the knees? “Right. Guess I didn’t realize I’d be dealing with such bleeding-heart animal lovers here.”

  She cocked her head at him. “Well, wouldn’t you know it, but those are usually the kind of people who work at a zoo.”

  He winced inwardly, wishing he’d kept his comment to himself. “Right,” he said quietly, glancing awkwardly at the tabletop. Would he belong here? He’d been hoping that once this three-month contract was up they’d officially hire him. He was new to Chicago and the place felt so big and cold compared to Detroit. But the job market in Chicago looked much brighter than Detroit, and it wasn’t as if there was anything—or even anyone—keeping him warm back home in Michigan. So Alex made the move to Illinois in hopes of better opportunities, both professionally and personally.

  This zoo right in the middle of the big, bright, busy city seemed like a misfit, just like him. And the people who worked in it acted like a family. Something he’d never had—a family. He’d thought he wanted to work at a place like this. Perhaps he’d been mistaken. He liked animals okay, he supposed, but now he was wondering if he liked them enough.They were cool and all, however at the end of the day they were just animals to him. Maybe he wouldn’t fit in here either.

  But then he caught a sparkle in Karabi’s eyes. It was brief but he’d seen it. It gave him some certainty that the attraction he felt for her was mutual. He made up his mind right then and there that he wanted to fit in here. For reasons that were inexplicable to him, he wanted to fit in with her.

  He smiled but crossed his arms and spoke in a firm tone. “So let me get this straight. You don’t want to cut expenses, you don’t want to let go of people, you don’t want to get rid of any animals and you don’t want a fundraiser. Just how do you propose we find enough room in the budget for what’s needed for the lions?”

  “We could get rid of you, for starters.”

  He smirked. “I thought you just said we weren’t getting rid of anyone?”

  She scoffed and turned up her nose. “That doesn’t apply to pesky consultants who can’t see past dollar signs.”

  He arched an eyebrow and let the left corner of his mouth curl upward. “Are you trying to get rid of me already, Miss Minstry?”

  “Well, I can’t exactly say I want you here.”

  “You don’t want me? Period?” Alex leaned downward so he could meet her at eye level. He let his gaze roam over her body—whose curves even that ugly-ass sweater couldn’t completely hide—lingering for a moment on the swell of her full breasts. “Or just not here? Perhaps you want me someplace else?” He said it plainly but he gave her a smoldering look that he knew would make it clear his double entendre was fully intended. There was a specific kind of response he was expecting—her being thrown off guard, maybe even a little flustered or embarrassed, but either way ready to be more amenable on reaching an agreement. But what he got was completely unexpected. She uncrossed her arms and leaned in even closer. “That depends,” she said, encroaching upon him until their face
s were just inches apart—so close he could almost see his own reflection in her eyes, smell the cherry gloss that glistened on her lips. “On if you’re ever going to show me that you’ve got something worth wanting.”

  His cock leapt in his pants, volunteering to put on a show just for her. Alex’s throat went dry and he fixated on her moist mouth for a moment, contemplating crushing it with his. Then he realized his plan was backfiring. He was the one being thrown off guard. Looking away, he cleared his throat and straightened his back to regain his composure.

  “You keep—” He coughed again when he heard how strained his voice was. “You keep rebuffing every idea I throw out. How about you tell me what it is you think we should do?”

  “Certainly we can find more funds from other areas of the budget. Isn’t there an emergency fund? An investment account? Some savings?”

  He shook his head. “Emergency fund is gone, long-term investments are on the decline and the zoo has funds in savings planned for other upcoming mandatory expenses.”

  “What about donations?”

  “You’re bleeding money now, and it’s fresh after the holiday. I wouldn’t recommend relying solely on donations for this. What else have you got?”

  He watched the way she frowned and wrinkled her nose while in thought. “Do we really need four extra caretakers for the cub? I’m willing to put in twenty-four-hour days here until Kimba and Musaka recover. Between myself and just one other dedicated person, we could be all that is needed.”

  “That’s very generous of you. But it’s impractical. And not desirable.”