You'll Fall For Me, I Promise

17; 'You're Welcome, Green'

"That burrito looks amazing," Liam comments as he looks at my plate of food. I ordered a simple small burrito with salad on the side, while Liam insisted that a burger and fries was the way to go. Paige had a medium chicken salad, keeping it simple.

"Paws off, boy. I told you you should have had this but you insisted that a classic burger was the only option on the menu that called to you," I chuckle, slapping his hand away when he playfully reaches for my plate.

"She's got a point, Liam," Paige chimes, grinning at him as he pouts playfully. They look at each other for a second longer than necessary before turning away to eat their foods again. My heart skips a beat in happiness and excitement for the love that is blossoming right in front of me, or, well, I hope is blossoming because they would be absolutely perfect for each other. 

"Zoeyyyyyy?" Liam almost shouts, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I whine, holding my a hand over my heart to show him how much he scared me.

"Oh, you're such a drama queen," he grumbles, pointing to my hand. "Anyway, what's up?"

"Nothing," I say, furrowing my eyebrows. "Why?"

"You were staring at us," Paige says, raising a pointed eyebrow at me.

I chuckle, blushing red. I shake my hand and my head before picking my fork up again, stabbing my salad so that some was on my fork. "I must have just been lost in thought," I half lie, not wanting to risk them getting awkward with each other like they had this morning when I woke them up.

"What ever you say," Liam grumbles, obviously not believing me as he rolls his eyes. I throw a slice of cucumber at him, earning a growl of disapproval as Paige and I laugh at his attempt to be mad at me.

We finish our food in an hour or so and start walking back towards to safari part of the park, the slip Lee handed to me now filled with my personal details. "I hope you get this. It'll be perfect for you!" Paige squeals excitedly, almost skipping as we walked.

I smile widely at her, nodding in agreement, but inside I was terrified. What if they refuse me? What if they just never call leaving me in suspense for the rest of my life? What if I get it and don't like it? So many things ran through my head as we approached the elephant enclosures.

The specifications on the form said that the first week would be introductions to the whole park and but the beginning of the seconds week I would be assigned to a specific enclosure that they deemed would be suitable for me. What if I got to the second week and they assigned me to the monkeys? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but sea-life and elephants were the two things that really captured me and my attention.

"We're here!" Liam announces, gesturing to the door of the building we saw Lee enter earlier on in the day. They both give me a little hug before walking a few feet away to look at the elephants.

I take a deep breath, calming myself before I knock on the door. Before my fist can collide with the metal for a second time, the door swings open and I almost stumble into the person who opened the door. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" I cry out, regaining my balance and taking a step backwards."

I finally look up when I hear the voice speak. "Don't be," a man says, his voice deep and slightly familiar. "Neel," he says, offering me his hand to shake. I took it in mine and shook it, smiling lightly up at the man. He was very tall and obviously fit. You could see his muscles through his clothes. His hair was raven black and his eyes were a blue-green color. "Everything alright?" Neel asks and it's in that moment that I realize that I had been staring.

I blush, an awkward, breathless chuckle escaping me. "Yeah, sorry," I mumbles. "I filled out a form that Lee gave me earlier about the training and experience position that's available." I hand him the slip of paper which he takes without hesitation. He glances over it and smiles a little, stepping aside, gesturing for me to enter the small building. I glance over at my friends and see them urge me on excitedly, and so I enter the building, Neel walking in behind me and the door swinging shut with a clang behind him.