by Ruby Loren
It had worked brilliantly.
There were now so many exciting events taking place at Avery Zoo, I found it hard to keep track. Visitors were returning more regularly, revenue was up, and Auryn had a strong debt repayment and business plan for the future.
I glanced at Auryn’s intense grey eyes, blond hair, and beautiful face and bit my lip. I still wasn’t sure if I’d made the right decision when I’d told Auryn I didn’t want to risk our friendship by taking things further. Since then, I’d thought I was happy and settled with Lowell… but all of that had changed.
I silently shook my head. I was not about to do anything rash. Lowell and I had some things to work out, but there was still hope, I told myself, firmly. Now wasn’t the time to fling myself at my friend and surely risk a lot more regrets than Mr Avery Senior had risked when he’d first started the zoo.
In his younger years, Mr Avery Senior had gained quite the reputation for being a party boy. It had only seemed right that the zoo he’d founded sent him off with a big one!
I returned to the zoo that evening, after the afternoon’s closure for the funeral, dressed in a sparkly skater dress. I hoped it wouldn’t be too much, but Auryn had specifically requested that everyone dress as they would for a normal party. This wasn’t another memorial, it was a celebration.
I brushed my dress down and hoped no one would notice that I was late.
Lucky was now getting to the age when he’d soon be allowed to run free outside the house, but as a domestic cat, he was still just a touch too young to be neutered by a vet. I knew the dangers of letting him run free unsupervised better than most! Unfortunately, he was also at that curious age, and he had managed to escape from the house I rented. What should have been a quick change of costume after the service had turned into a wild goose chase across fields and through hedgerows. I’d finally found Lucky, being far too curious about a herd of cows.
After what had happened next, I doubted he’d be as curious again.
Only a boy cat would stand too close to a cow when it needed the loo! I thought, and surreptitiously sniffed my hands, hoping that they were now cowpat free. Lucky had also been subjected to his first ever bath. I had a strong feeling that it wouldn’t be his last…
As the restaurant was still out of bounds after the structural damage caused by an explosive device going off, we’d decided to throw the party in the play barn. The late November weather was seasonably cold, but the high ceilings of the barn and the open doors meant that the multiple braziers set up weren’t in any danger of filling the place with smoke
I paused by the entrance to the barn and smiled when I took in the result of the hard work of the commercial team. Tiff’s underlings had been tasked with making the place look beautiful - something they specialised in. You wouldn’t have known it was a play barn, if it weren’t for the rope swings attached to the ceiling. Even they had been tucked away, up at the top of the jumping platforms on either side of the barn. I noticed that the crash mats had also disappeared and wondered if that was such a smart idea, given the amount of alcohol I could see people quaffing. A bunch of adults with plenty of drinks in a barn with rope swings… it wasn’t hard to see where the night might end.
I shook my head and continued to admire the autumnal room with the open fires and tables full of chestnuts and marshmallows, ready for toasting. Some of the staff had suggested a cocktail bar, and as Auryn was doing his best to listen to suggestions, he’d told them that if they set it up and ran it, they could have it. I’d been expecting vodka with a splash of juice, but looking over, I could see some really interesting concoctions being made.
“What are you going to go for?” Tiff said, coming to stand next to me.
I inclined my head at my beautiful best friend. She was dressed in a simple crushed velvet dress, but she made it look like it had cost a million dollars. I wasn’t the only one who had noticed, either, I realised, noting that several pairs of eyes had followed her pathway across the room to speak with me. That was just the way it was with Tiff, but I’d never felt jealous. She attracted the good and the bad in equal measure.
I felt a stab of guilt when I remembered that, if anything, Tiff might be jealous of me, if she knew the truth about my past with Auryn.
“What have you got there?” I asked, looking at the blue and green drink in the martini glass she held.
“All of the cocktails have been named after animals. This one is called The Peacock’s Poison.” She shot me a knowing grin.
“I wish someone would poison them,” I muttered.
A few things had changed since I’d been away from Avery, working as an animal habitat and breeding consultant for other zoos and parks. Some of the changes, I loved. The new events and additional members of staff were mostly brilliant. However, there was one brand new change I despised. And judging by the name of Tiff’s cocktail, I wasn’t alone.
Someone had suggested to Auryn that adding peacocks to the zoo would be a great idea. Avery Zoo didn’t have any animals running loose, so why not shake things up a bit and allow some real one-on-one animal interaction?
After two weeks of patching up victims of peacock attacks, I had a pretty good answer as to ‘why not’. I’d hoped that Auryn had got the peacocks on some sort of trial basis, but when I’d dug a little deeper, he’d actually purchased them as a favour to a friend, who’d claimed to be ‘downsizing’ their estate. I suspected they’d just wanted a way to dispose of their problem peacocks without having to pluck them.
To make matters worse, as an animal behaviour specialist, it had fallen to me to try to fix the problem of the highly aggressive peacocks. At the moment, I was flummoxed. Birds were hardly my specialty, but the truth of the matter was, I couldn't find anything wrong with them. Usually there was a reason for an animal to behave aggressively, or out of character, but I’d quickly concluded that the peacocks liked behaving the way they did. They enjoyed terrorising small children.
While I agreed that certain small children probably deserved everything they got from the peacocks, I could hardly tell that to their parents! As a result, the peacocks’ bad attitude was still a work in progress.
“Have you spoken to Auryn?” I casually asked Tiff.
She gave me a mournful look and shook her head. “We’ve spoken about work, really briefly, but that’s it. He always cuts the conversation off as soon as the business part is over.”
“I still don’t see how anyone could ever not be interested in you,” I said, loyally.
It was true though. As far as I could see, Tiff had everything going for her. She was stunning, successful, and mostly importantly, she was kind.
“Oh, Madi… you’re too sweet,” Tiff said before throwing me an anxious look. “How’s…?”
I shook my head.
She bit her lip and nodded. “How’s the publishing going?” she asked, trying for a happier topic.
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “I’ve actually been putting it off while I think about it. Jordan has five publishers interested, but I’m not sure about being in the limelight in order to promote the comic. I don’t want people to think the stories are real. I’m really worried it might affect the zoo.”
“Have you spoken to Auryn about it?” Tiff asked.
“No, I’ve been putting that off, too. I just don’t want to bother him when he’s so busy…”
She rolled her eyes and took a big sip of her cocktail. “Well, there’s no time like the present,” she said, nodding in the direction of where Auryn stood, talking to one of the new zookeepers, Adam.
I threw her a look that I hoped conveyed I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. Then I walked over there. He looked up before we were even within talking distance and I saw every single feeling he still had for me, written in his eyes. I tried not to wince, knowing that Tiff had probably seen the same thing. How cruel life sometimes was.
I was still five metres away when it happened.
As one, the partygoe
rs fell silent and turned to see the couple in the middle of the room. I recognised them as Harry, from the reception team, and Julia, who worked in the shop.
Harry got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. Julia turned red and a smile spread across her face, as Harry presumably told her all of the reasons why he believed they should spend the rest of their life together. We all watched as she nodded her head furiously, and the room broke into spontaneous applause.
Auryn moved past me, aiming to be one of the first to congratulate the newly engaged couple. I didn’t mind a bit. We had all the time in the world to chat, and he was already doing his part as the zoo owner by being there for his staff.
Tiff was suddenly at my side again. “Never mind,” she said and inclined her head in the direction of the cocktails table. “Uh-oh… Harry’s one of Jenna’s past conquests.”
We exchanged a look.
Jenna had a history of disrupting engagements. Before I’d been close friends with Tiff or Auryn, she’d held an author to ransom in an effort to block his engagement. I hoped that she’d mellowed a little since then. Judging by the way she angrily tossed back the remnants of a dark purple cocktail and clicked her fingers at the staff behind the makeshift bar, we might have to keep an eye on her.
“Hopefully, she’ll find someone unsuspecting to pounce on, and all will be forgotten,” Tiff said.
“Is there anyone left?” I asked. It sounded harsh to judge another woman’s character, but I wasn’t joking. It was a well known fact that Jenna liked her men, and she only liked them for a very short length of time. With such a high turnover, her pickings at the zoo were surely looking slim.
“She’ll have some new victims to prey on soon,” Tiff said with a smile. “Remember, Auryn’s hired a big events company to do the Winter Wonderland this year.”
I raised my eyebrows. I still had my doubts about this recent announcement. In the past, the wonderland had always comprised of a few sparse Christmas trees, some hired reindeer, and the soberest Santa that could be had on a budget. It was an afterthought that had never particularly brought anyone to the zoo. Hiring an external company was a big risk, but it was one that I thought the late Mr Avery might just have approved of.
“The guy running it is actually over by the drinks table. I met him earlier. Come on, I’ll introduce you. You should probably meet him anyway, right? His company is also bringing in some Christmas animals,” Tiff said, already leading me in the direction of the drinks table.
“Auryn’s kept this pretty quiet,” I said, suddenly bemused.
When I’d finished in Cornwall, he’d called and practically begged me to come back to help him. I’d done my part, assisting with the funeral arrangements, but I was starting to realise that he’d also done a lot of planning and decision making without my help. I knew it should make me happy, knowing that he was coping just fine on his own. After all, when I’d last been at Avery Zoo, I had worked as a zookeeper. There was no big title of ‘consultant’ for me here! Now I was back, Auryn had put me on the payroll as just another keeper. It was a pay cut, but coming back home to support my friend had made it worthwhile.
At least, that’s what I’d thought I’d been back at the zoo to do. So, why hadn’t Auryn talked to me in any detail about this Winter Wonderland stuff? It sounded like a much bigger deal than I’d thought.
I bit my lip when I considered the past few weeks and realised that I hadn’t exactly been in close communication with the zoo owner. I’d been skulking around, worrying about this ridiculous comic business. It served me right that he’d finalised a big decision without my input.
“Barnaby, this is Madi, she’s our resident animal welfare consultant,” Tiff said, exaggerating my job at the zoo.
I stuck out a hand to the man with some admirable salt and pepper hair. He had kind, dark eyes, and a few lines on his face that hinted he liked to smile a lot.
“Lovely to meet you,” he said.
I inclined my head. “I hear you’re doing the Winter Wonderland this year.”
“Yes! My company specialises in organising winter events. That’s our forte. We go into hibernation in the summer.” He gave me a wink.
“I’ll get you a drink,” Tiff said and slipped away with a knowing smile on her face.
I tried not to glare after her. If I’d known she was trying to set me up…
I was about to begin my interrogation, but someone else got there first.
“Hi, I’m Jenna, head of reception. I know we’ve already met, but I’m told my second impression is even better than my first.” Jenna swung her short sheet of brown hair and parted her heavily-glossed lips, just so.
Barnaby jokingly stuck out a hand, but Jenna ignored it.
“Nonsense, we’re already friends. Just remember, I know all there is to know about the zoo, so you just come to me if you have any questions,” she said, swooping in and planting a kiss on each of Barnaby’s cheeks.
He shot me a confused look over her shoulder. I tried not to smirk. Jenna was already sinking her claws into the zoo’s winter recruits.
Tiff returned, carrying two cocktails. Her face fell when she saw that Jenna had swooped in.
“Isn’t it great that the Winter Wonderland is going to be professionally run this year?” I said to Jenna, hoping to be included in the conversation again. I had actually wanted to ask Barnaby a few probing questions. I’d seen another events company at work in my previous job, and I wanted to make sure that his company had some relevant experience, working for zoos. I also wanted to check that he wasn’t a narcissistic psychopath.
“I bet it’s going to be beautiful. I’ve always thought the zoo should have something a bit more proper at Christmas, you know? It’s the most romantic season of the year.” Jenna batted her eyelashes.
I avoided making eye contact with Tiff, knowing that we’d both lose our straight faces.
“I’d love to chat with you about your plans, especially regarding the animals. Perhaps we could meet tomorrow?” I asked, accepting that I was fighting a losing battle for attention whilst Jenna was still there.
Barnaby nodded, looking a little resigned. As soon as Jenna had her back to me, I threw him a slightly apologetic look. His expression didn’t change, but something about the way his eyes warmed even more let me know that it was an apology accepted.
“Well?” Tiff said when we were out of his earshot.
“Hmm?” I replied, pretending to misunderstand.
“He’s a total silver fox! He’s only in his thirties by the look of him, but he’s gorgeous - and such a nice guy, too.” She sighed. “I’ve only had one meeting with him when Auryn wanted to make sure the commercial plans all meshed, but he was so nice to me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tiff, pretty much every man on the planet is nice to you when they meet you for the first time.”
She shrugged and shot me a sideways look. “I think he liked you.”
I took a deep breath and hoped my cheeks weren’t too obviously pink. “Come on, Tiff. I’m not looking for anyone right now.” I felt the heavy weight I’d been doing my best to forget these past few weeks settle on my heart. I missed Lowell, and he hadn’t even bothered to contact me.
“Still, at least Jenna’s distracted from ruining anything for Harry,” Tiff said, trying to see the bright side.
“Madi, thanks for coming.” Auryn joined me and Tiff. I sensed Tiff look away and noted that Auryn wasn’t overly keen to acknowledge her, either. Jeez, it looked like I had more than just animal behaviour to attempt to correct!
“People are having a great time,” I told him, and then politely noticed the person standing by his side. She was a woman in her late twenties, the same as I was. Her hair was shoulder length and dark, with a well-styled curl at the ends. Her face was pale and her complexion was enviably smooth, setting off her chocolate-coloured eyes, perfectly. She was also dressed in an immaculate suit.
“This is Claudia. Around a month ago, Lawrence suggested I hire
her as the zoo’s in-house financial expert.” Auryn smiled at her. “I think it’s safe to say that the trial period is going very well. Claudia’s actually the one who worked out the potential return on investment from hiring the events company. Oh, I must introduce you to Barnaby, too!” Auryn looked flustered.
“It’s okay, I already did it,” Tiff interjected with a tight smile.
I noticed that her hands were pressed so tightly to her sides, her knuckles were white.
“Thanks, Tiff,” Auryn said, equally awkwardly.
“I’m going to have a chat with him tomorrow,” I said, keeping my voice light enough that Claudia wouldn’t be any the wiser. Auryn, however, gave me an unsure look.
“He’s a really great guy, and the company is brilliant, too. When I first contacted them to enquire, he came back to me with far more than just a quote. I swear he knows more about the zoo than I do! I’ve no idea how he did it, but it meant that he had plans for where everything was going to go and so many ideas about how to market the event, based on the area we’re in. I think you’re going to be impressed.”
I smiled to show that I was willing to believe it, but I still wanted to do my own investigating.
“Anyway… as I was saying, Claudia’s already proved her worth with her suggestions. It may not be directly finance related, but when I told her about our ‘all ideas welcome’ policy at Avery Zoo, she suggested the roaming peacocks and even sourced them for me. Aren’t they great?” Auryn beamed.
I tried not to strangle Claudia in front of him.
“They’re certainly characters!” I said, diplomatically. I glanced down at my drink and noticed, for the first time, it was the same green and blue concoction I’d first seen Tiff holding. I looked sideways at her and she winked. Hilarious.
I was about to ask Claudia what she’d been doing before she came to be working at Avery, when something else happened to make the room go quiet.
Someone was shouting.