Page 1 of Tiger Queen

1

Rachel

“Ugh,” I groaned. “I’m never going to find a job.”

I took a long pull from the bottle of chardonnay and leaned back on the carpet. The apartment was empty, the walls bare, and the air smelling faintly of lemon cleaning product. Ashley and I had already packed and loaded up our cars. Our lease ended tomorrow, making tonight the last night we would ever spend in Tallahassee. The only things left in the apartment were our laptops, some blankets and pillows, and the bottle of cheap wine we were sharing.

“Oh, there are plenty of jobs.” Ashley twisted her laptop around. “You just need to expand your horizons.”

I groaned again. “I did not get my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree just to work on some stupid farm.”

“Some of these look nice.” Ashley clicked on one of the job site links. “Here’s a cattle ranch out in Texas. Jameson Ranch. You don’t want to take care of cows?”

I searched around for something to throw at her. There was nothing suitable but my laptop. “I’d rather take care of animals that aren’t getting sent to slaughter.”

“You’re just holding out for a zoo. Or an animal sanctuary.”

“Yes! Exactly! I’d like to actually use the skills I’ve learned. Is that so much to ask?”

I was preaching to the choir. Ashley was sympathetic to my plight. Both of us had gotten bachelor degrees and then doctorates at Florida State and then passed our North American Veterinary Licensing Exam. We had both completed a two year residency program accredited by the American College of Zoological Medicine. We were qualified and dedicated and ready to unleash our knowledge on the world.

Unfortunately, veterinary jobs at animal sanctuaries or zoos were in high demand. There were too few jobs and too many applicants. Ashley was lucky enough to score a job at a horse breeding farm in Kentucky, but I was still striking out everywhere I tried.

I returned to the next job I had bookmarked. “Look at this place. Oregon Tiger Sanctuary. Their entry-level position requires ten years of hands-on experience with big cats. Ten years! How can I get the experience if I can’t get my foot in the door? It’s a catch twenty-two.”

“You should apply anyway,” Ashley suggested. “It couldn’t hurt. Maybe they’ll like your resume.”

“And maybe a tiger cub will jump out of the fridge right now.” I took another swig of wine and pointed it at the fridge. “Nope. No such luck.”

“You won’t know unless you try. You’ll get zero job offers if you don’t apply anywhere.”

I sighed “I know. I’m just not looking forward to the next few weeks with my parents.”

Ashley frowned. “Why? I thought you got along with them. I thought they were supportive.”

“I do, and they are. But… I’m going to sound like a bitch, but they’re too supportive. They’re going to be super positive about the job application process, constantly telling me that my dream job is right around the corner, encouraging me to keep trying and not lose hope, yada yada.”

“You’re right,” Ashley said with a laugh. “You do sound like a bitch. I wish my parents were that supportive!”

I laughed it off and didn’t say anything more. Ashley wouldn’t understand because her family was full of over-achievers. In my family, I was the first one to ever go to college. Let alone get a doctorate. My parents had worked three jobs between them to pay for my education, and they were delighted to do it for their only child. It put a tremendous amount of pressure on me. I was terrified of letting them down. Of being a disappointment.

“I’m sure I’ll find something,” I muttered as I stared at my screen.

Ashley laid flat on her belly in front of her laptop. “Here. I’ll help you search for places to apply.”

“I already bookmarked everything applicable last week.”

“Maybe I’ll find something you missed. What location criteria did you specify?”

“None,” I replied. “I’ll go anywhere in the country if I have to.”

Ashley typed away on her laptop while I tweaked my resume for the Oregon Tiger Sanctuary job. My resume looked so boring and inadequate. All of this felt like a waste of time.

“What the—” Ashley did a double-take at her screen. “Holy shit! Crazy Carl’s Zoo posted a job!”

“Crazy Carl’s?” I chuckled. “I must have missed that. You’ve heard of it?”

She pointed at the screen. “You missed it because they posted the job this morning. And of course I’ve heard of it—you haven’t?”

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