day 5

I woke up early, really early. like 5 am early. I couldn't tell if the jet lag was starting to kick in or fade out, everything kinda just blended together. today was my first official day at the zoo, I wasn't sure what to expect.

I turned my lamp on, my eyes stinging at the new light. every bone in my body urging me to fall back into my pillows and sleep for another 4 hours, but I resisted. with my eyes half open I walked over to my dresser and grabbed the shorts and top Bindi gave me. the top had my name stitched into it as well as the Australia Zoo logo. I put everything on and looked at myself in the mirror. the shorts went down to my knees and my sleeves were too long. the whole outfit just looked...awkward. I solved the problem by putting on some jean shorts instead, rolling up the quarter length sleeves so that they stopped just beneath my shoulder, and knotting the bottom of my shirt up to show just a bit of my stomach. I threw my hair up into a ponytail, pulling out some pieces of hair to frame my face and didn't bother with any makeup. I laced up my black converse, grabbed my purse and jacket and headed out the door.

I grabbed a pop tart on my way out and met my parents in the car.

"so uh, what exactly am I doing today?" I asked as dad started backing out of the drive way.

"well, Bindi's gonna give you a more in-depth tour, show you how to feed certain animals and what not. me and your dad will mostly just be in the offices doing paper work and stuff." mom smiled back at me, I nodded in return.

mom and dad didn't do much hands on stuff, but rather stayed in their offices on business calls and in meetings. i wasn't sure if i preferred it that way or not.

I was a bit nervous, but continued eating my pop tart and scrolling through instagram. the sun was just now peeking up into the sky, I took a few pictures and posted them to VSCO.

soon we pulled into the employee's parking lot for the zoo, "if you just go into the wildlife hospital Bindi should be waiting there for you." my mom kissed me on the cheek, "I love you, have a good day!"

I smiled back at her, "love you too." I gave my dad a fist-bump, we both made overly dramatic sound effects that sounded like explosions afterward.

as soon as I started walking my phone rang. I looked down to see my former dance partner, Atticus, facetiming me. a shot of excitement rang through me. I plugged my earphones in and quickly answered.

"Atticus!" I squealed.

"Flo! how are you darling?" his Dutch accent coming through.

"god, so much worse without you." I sighed.

me and Atticus were super close, even though he was 19. we had been dance partners since I first joined the company when I was 13.

"oh c'mon, you'll be alright. you're in Australia! you've always wanted to visit. plus you get to hangout with Robert Irwin, remember that faze you went through when you were like in love with him?" he giggled.

"Atticus! that was years ago." I slowed my pace so we could talk for longer.

"it was two years ago."

"okay, still. he's not all what he's cracked up to be." I rolled my eyes.

"an ass?"

"major ass."

"maybe you'll change him." Atticus said dramatically.

"I seriously doubt it." I laughed, "what are you doing right now?"

"oh! i'm at the studio, here let me show you everybody." he got up and started walking around.

"yes! I miss you all so much." I frowned.

"here's Louis." Atticus turned the phone to his boyfriend.

"LOUIS!" I said excitingly.

"ah! love, how are you? how's Australia? is your room cute? have you been to the beach? have you met the Irwins?" Louis was British, and talked extremely fast.

"Louis, dear, take a breath." Atticus put his hand on Louis's shoulder and laughed.

I laughed as well, "uh, i'm okay, it's okay, it is, I have not, though I did see it briefly, and yes." I took a breath, suddenly I was at the door to the wildlife hospital. "oh, shoot. guys I gotta go, i'm sorry! I promise i'll call you later." I smiled.

"okay, bye! love you!" they said in unison before hanging up.

I took a deep breath, one of the things I missed most about home was dancing.

inside the wildlife hospital everyone stared as I passed. some said hi, others waved, and there were a few who looked at me like I was an imposter. and honestly, I felt like one.

I made it to the other side of the hospital where the break room was, I wasn't sure where Bindi would meet me, but I thought this was my best bet. and were I would stay out of the way.

after a few minutes Bindi popped her head in the door, i stood up.

"hello love!" she looked at me up and down and gasped.

my eyes went wide, "what?"

"you look so adorable! remember in dads old documentaries how some of the ladies would wear those cute little 90's jean shorts?" she hooked her arm through mine.

"um, yes." i smiled at her, Bindi was super nice, i just wasn't expecting her to be this friendly this quickly.

"that's exactly what you look like! mums gonna love it." she pulled me closer to her.

"thanks?" i laughed unsure.

she looked at me and giggled. "i hope you don't mind, but Chandler and Robert are out on a animal rescue so i have Grace today."

"oh, not at all." we walked into the hallway to see Grace happily sitting in her stroller. "hello there." she grabbed my finger.

"should we get going?"

"yep!"

she started to push the stroller. we went down the hall and out the back door. "we'll go to the kangaroos first, then to the bird enclosure, next you have a short interview for our show, lunch, and lastly we go to the crocoseum with the rest of our families to meet all the employees."

"sounds fun." Grace looked up at me laughing.

"your pretty shy aren't you?" she asked as we walked through the back doors, the sun was finally out now.

i glanced at her, "sometimes, i'm sorry, once i get used to it here i'm sure i'll open up."

"no, no! it's okay. i know it's a big adjustment, it was hard to Chandler, but he's thriving now and you will too." she gave me a reassuring look.

we made it to the golf cart, "would you mind holding Grace while we drive?"

"yeah, sure." i picked her up out of her stroller, with a click of a button the whole thing disassembled and was laying flat.

she put it into the backseat as i hopped into the front.

Grace sat in my lap the whole ride and reached her hands out trying to grab any passing items. employees passed us and waved, or smiled, some called out to Bindi.

when we made it to the kangaroo enclosure i grabbed a bag of feed and Bindi grabbed a blanket and we sat down on the grass. the kangaroos surrounded us, Grace sat in between my legs giggling at everything.

"she really likes you. looks like Uncle Robert has some competition." she grabbed Graces hand and lightly squeezed it.

i wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

as we sat Bindi told me all about the kangaroos, a lot of facts, their names, where some were rescued -stuff like that. after about thirty minutes we got up and headed to the bird enclosure.

the bird enclosure was incredible. it was giant and we were able to walk through it. Grace was now in her moms arms and played with Bindi's hair, tangling it in her fingers.

the zoo had been closed to the public since Covid hit, so we had the whole place to ourselves.

after 45 minutes of wandering around and more facts we were on our way to my interview. i was starting to warm up to Bindi and i really liked her.

we made it to the private gardens and i saw the whole camera crew set up.

"don't be nervous, they're all super nice and patient people, you won't have any issues." Bindi took Grace from my arms and smiled.

"yeah," i smiled back and nodded.

we walked up to everybody, "hey guys! this is Florence." they each lined up to shake my hand.

after we were all introduced I took my place in front of the camera. they told me what they were gonna ask me so I had an idea of what to say, then we did a few test shots before we tried the real thing. it took me a few takes, I either kept stuttering or I got too nervous and forgot what I was going to say. Bindi would give me a reassuring thumbs up from off camera, and little Grace would make an attempt to wave at me.

"3,2,1...and rolling!"

"hi! I'm Florence Heart and my parents recently bought Australia Zoo. i moved here from New York about a week ago and I can't wait to get started here at the zoo, I'm so excited to be able to be apart of all the amazing things the zoo does for animals and conservation. see you around, mate!"

I'm not sure I'll ever forgive them for making me say mate.

"that was awesome! lunch?" Bindi asked.

"yes, i'm starving!"

the Crikey! Cafe was adorable. me and Bindi sat outside and Grace next to us in her highchair.

"you know, I hope none of y'all think I don't like you. well maybe Robert could stand think that," Bindi smirked, "but anyone else. I'm sure this is someones dream, but the life that I had back home is my dream. I was on the road to become a prima ballerina, I had friends, a possible boyfriend," I said a little more quietly, "I had my dogs and I love New York. I don't dislike you guys, I dislike the situation I'm in."

"I know. we know. we want to give you time but we're running out, we're not out of the clear yet. and you'll be running the zoo one day, which isn't too far away, and you need to know how to do it. and do it good, so we're never in this situation again."

"if you don't mind me asking, why aren't you and Chandler taking over the zoo after Terri? why is the position going straight to Robert? because I could stand running the zoo with you....but Robert? not likely." I took a bite of my salad.

she chuckled, "well, me and Chandler decided we wanted to have a family right away, we wanted that more than taking full charge of the zoo, that's something Robert has always wanted wholeheartedly. of course i'll still be very much involved, but just not the head of it all."

"I can understand that."

"oh dear, we're going to be late, we should get going." I took a few more rushed bites of my salad before we hopped in the cart and headed to the crocoseum.

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a/n
this chapter was getting a little long so I decided to end it here and make a part two! thank you for reading and make sure to comment and vote!<3