Page 16 of Just Like That

‘You all right there?’ Nick raises an infuriating eyebrow and I’m sure I can detect a hint of a smile in his eyes, making me feel like he’s just read my mind.

‘I’mfine,’ I say a little too firmly. ‘Let’s just get on with this, yeah?’

‘OK then. Come with me.’

He leads me through a door into an area that’s out of bounds to the public. It’s filled with more nets of hay-like stuff, obviously ready to be put out when the current supply runs out, as well as cleaning equipment and other items I’m not familiar with.

‘You said you were happy to get your hands dirty,’ says Nick as he hands me a heavy implement that looks like a cross between a rake and a spade. ‘So, I thought you could help me clear out the enclosure.’

I try and fail to hide my horror at this statement. ‘You want me to go in there? Is it safe? I know elephants are meant to be quite tame, but I’m not sure I want to put that to the test.’

‘We’ll do one side of the enclosure at a time. They’ll be quite far away from us and I expect they’ll go outside soon too. They tend to do so after a feed.’

Nick unlocks a door leading into the enclosure and signals for me to go ahead of him.

‘Right.’ I peer through the doorway to check it is indeed safe before walking through it. ‘And you want me to clear away the hay and branches on the ground?’

‘No, that’s food. I want you to scoop up the elephant poop.’

My eyes dart to Nick’s face, looking for the amusement that should follow a quip like that, but there is none.

‘You are joking.’

‘Why would I be joking?’ He actually seems perplexed by my reaction. ‘We’re working with animals here. They need their enclosures cleaned out. It’s a big part of the job.’

‘Surely there are other parts to the job that you could show me.’ I place my hands on my hips in defiance.

‘Yes, and we’ll get to those. But this is the scheduled task for this afternoon and I’m a staff member down due to sickness, so this is where we start. I’ll be doing it with you. There’s a bucket over there that you drop it into.’

Resigned to my fate, I walk across to the first pile of elephant poo and look away as I try to scoop it up, but not having eyes on it is a mistake and a blob comes free as I try to manoeuvre it into the bucket.

‘Arghh… it’s on my foot,’ I wail as I desperately shake it off and stare miserably at the brown mark remaining on my shoe.

I hear Nick stifle a laugh and my despair quickly turns into anger. This is all a little too convenient for my liking. Nick has it in for me, all because I wounded his ego a couple of months ago. This, quite literally, smells like putrid revenge. And I’m having none of it.

‘You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?’ I finally lose my calm.

‘I’m sorry?’ Nick narrows his eyes at me. ‘I didn’t mean to laugh, but you are making a drama out of nothing.’

‘Not that. I mean this whole thing. This isn’t the scheduled task for the afternoon, this is you getting back at me. At least be man enough to admit it. I may be in a difficult position here because I’m representing my company, but I’m not going to allow you to make a mockery of me.’

‘Jess, I’m not—’

‘Save it, Nick, I’m not interested. I’m going to speak to Gwen.’

Throwing down the rake-slash-spade with a clatter, I march straight out of the enclosure.

Chapter 8

As I storm through the wildlife park in search of Gwen, every cell within me is fuming at Nick’s audacity in using this situation to his advantage. Although I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to say when I find her, all I know is that I can’t work with that man. He clearly has no moral compass, and while I haven’t exactly behaved well myself, it’s because he has continually pressed my buttons along the way. I’m well aware that as a professional, I should be able to rise above this and get on with my job, but sometimes it just comes down to the fact that some people are impossible work with.

Hurrying past what I recognise to be the red panda enclosure, I hear what I think is my name being called out. Stopping in my tracks, I lift my head and listen, then immediately regret doing so as Nick canters round the bend in the path behind me.

‘Jess, wait.’ He comes to a halt, looking a bit puffed and a lot stressed. ‘Please don’t go to Gwen with this.’

‘Why not?’ I attempt to stare him down. ‘Worried you’ll get sacked? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tell her everything.’

‘Because you’re going to make a fool of yourself.’

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