The Aspiring Marine Biologist [Perrentes]

Chapter Two: GST Tracker

I muttered swear words under my breath as I finally made it into the doors of work. Usually I'm never late, although today I got caught up with an excellent article on tiger sharks.

"Morning Mike... you don't look prepared." Alysha greeted curtly.

"Yeah, got caught up reading an article." I admitted, trying to fix the wrinkles in my un-ironed blue shirt.

"Ohhh, you should tell me about it later...when you look presentable." She said, shooting me a petrous glare. Had anyone else said that to me, it would've been a problem. However, Alysha's my teammate, and she's supposed to keep me in check. Which is why only I gave her a nod in response, and focused on Mr. Harland who was beginning the day. 

"Good morning everyone, I hope you're ready for the day. Today we're separating into three groups: Danielle will have a group of you here in the office, typing up reports to upload onto our website, Jake here will lead a group of you over to the reserve to clean the tanks and feed the animals, and lastly, Alysha and Michael will lead a group of you to the aquarium, doing a public questions and answers on marine biology. Take notes on their sharp answers." He added, tossing a wink our way. Alysha batted her eyelashes playfully and I gave a small thumbs up. "In the rare case of an emergency, I always have the office phone in my cubical. Any questions?" He asked, continuing after a moment of silence by listing the names of the interns and what group they were going in.

"...Tony, you'll stay here with Ms. Victoria." He finished. Tony, who was too fascinated with aquatic animal snow globe decor on the desk, nodded without even looking up.

I repressed any emotion on the outside, but inside I was cheering. For a moment I worried he'd be put in my group, but we get to be away from him and his childish antics for a few hours. Part of me felt obnoxious for possessing such a strong resentment for this man, but I couldn't understand why. I merely tolerate most people anyway, so why should I feel bad for adding him to the list?

While I attempted to sort out my inner conflict, Alysha and I's group started over to the aquarium. Everyone takes their own car, so I ducked into my beloved grey Audi A6 and purred the engine to a start as I waited for Alysha. Once her white Nissan Juke flitted by, I took my turn by backing out of my employee parking space, and followed her lead. Alysha. That woman gets so snappy with me sometimes; and her mood could be really evocative of a heated discord between us. However, I couldn't actually hate her. Especially not when she meets my same intellectual level--and we keep each other in check. I get her and she gets me, which is why we work so well together on a team. Beauty with a brain.

Our group was small. It consisted of Amie, William, and two other girls named Roly and Veronica. One by one, our cars pulled into the aquarium parking lot to find a space suitable for our wheels. Once done, we came together in front of the deep blue building. "Ready?" Alysha asked, throwing her blonde hair behind her as we started into the building. The two girls Roly and Veronica walked close  together, sharing whispers and light giggles. Best friends. Their actions were eye-roll worthy, but I resisted the urge.

Despite them, my mood turned zealous about this public Q&A. Mostly because I knew people would ask simple questions, and I most likely wouldn't trip over my words. And even if I did, Alysha was here to fix my mistakes. In addition, this Q&A would end up on our company site, which would not only make the two of us look even better, but add to the list of reasons why we outshine other reserves around San Diego. The others sat up front in the white and gold plastic chairs, notebooks in hand as we waited for more people to arrive.

The event started at around 11:30.

Hands went up, and one by one Aly and I brought them go down. Some people came with notebooks, voice recorders, and even cameras of their own to photograph or take video for reference.