Have you ever had one of those days where you felt like someone was watching you? That everywhere you go there is someone walking in your shadow? Well today was defiantly one of those days. And let me tell you, if you haven't felt it before it is one of the creepiest feelings in the world.

When I woke up this morning I had a feeling that there was something different. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand. I associated the weird feeling with the unseasonably cold weather. It wasn't too often southern Texas was below 60 in the middle of October. Though, for me, it was a welcome relief from the devastating heat of summer. It reminded me of home.

Still rubbing the sleep from my eyes I geared up for my morning run. 2.5 miles at 6 am every morning. You could set your clock to it. The only thing I varied was where I run; sometimes through the streets and sometimes along the bike paths. I tried running three miles one day. Lets just say I'm no cross-country star. It took days for me to stretch out my legs before I could run again.

This morning was different. I could feel eyes watching me as I locked the door to my apartment. For some unknown reason I chose to run the bike trail. I guess I had been hoping that who ever was watching me wouldn't expect that, thus they wouldn't fallow me. I was wrong. The entire time it felt like they were just a step or two behind me. Of course every time I would turn to look, and believe me I did, nothing was there. I had never run so fast in my life. It took a little over half what it normally did to complete the run. I barely had time to notice how lovely the trees looked dressed in their fall colors.

By the time I reached my door my heart was pounding, and my breathing was harsh. I opened and shut the door within seconds. I got a bit of satisfaction from the sound of the deadbolt locking into place. Grabbing an apple from the kitchen counter I made my way to the bathroom, where a deliciously hot shower was waiting.

After my shower I felt refreshed and was hardly bothered by my strange experience this morning. After all who would fallow me while I ran? And who could possibly keep up with me without me knowing?

I yanked a brush through my rapidly drying hair. That was the one thing I liked about my hair, it dried really fast. As I pulled my hair back into a ponytail I gave my appearance a once over. Khakis and green polo: check. Ankle socks and work boots: check. Hair back: check. No wait. Scratch that. I sighed as I saw the small bit of hair at the base of my head that was still too short to be a part of the ponytail. I liked how easy my shorter hair was to care for, but I really hated it when that happened.

Knowing there was nothing I could do about my hair I made my way back to the kitchen. I made my usual breakfast of eggs and toast and sat down with a glass of apple juice. I never did care much more orange. Finishing up my morning meal I happened to glance at the clock on the stove. 6:55. If I left now I could get Starbucks before I had to be at work at 7:30. The thought of caffeine instantly brightened my mood.

With my prize in the form of a white chocolate mocha in hand I made my way into the staff entrance of the zoo. I simply loved my job. Some people find it strange that I get up at the crack of dawn, work the strangest hours, and smelled worse than a barn. Well, what they find strange is that I willingly do it for minimum wage and no benefits. But it was my dream job and I loved it. Well, it was a stepping-stone to my dream job. You see my dream job didn't include working nights and weekends in retail in addition to my forty hours at the zoo. I hadn't had a day off since sophomore year of college. Granted that wasn't too long ago, but it was still a good three years.

After clocking in I immediately settled into food prep. Somewhere between thawing chicken and chopping fish the feeling of being watched returned. It was rather unnerving to say the least. Not wanting to disrupt my routine I continued on with food prep. In no time flat I had five large buckets of fish for the seals and dolphins and a lovely mixture of fish and chicken for the otters. By the time I finished my department co-workers had arrived and were preparing for the morning training sessions.

"Dakota, you have Zeus and Tilly for the morning sessions." My supervisor informed me as he wrote out the schedule for the day.

"Will I get to work with Apollo this afternoon then?" I questioned, a little upset that I wasn't getting to work with my usual dolphin. "I was kind of hoping to be able to finalize the high jump today." I had been making such good progress on that behavior and had been looking forward to finishing it up this morning.

"We'll see. Zeus refused every fluke wave from David yesterday and I want to see if it's a problem with the behavior or with how David is presenting it." He explained. I began flipping through Zeus' behavior log, trying to see if there was anything else I should be looking out for. "If it goes well this morning I don't see why you can't finish up that behavior with Apollo."

"Thanks Brain!" I smiled brightly at the thought.

"My dear sweet Dakota!" an overly sweet voice called out to me from the locker room.

"Yes Tyler?" I sighed, not really in the mood to deal with Tyler's imminent request.

"This is for you my sweetest blossom." He shoved a Starbuck cup in my face.

"Is this a white mocha?" I asked, half excited about my favorite drink and half wary of what he would want in return for the small up of heaven.

"Yes it is."

"No thanks, I already had one this morning." I tried to return the steaming cup back to him. He didn't look too happy to hear that.

"What if I told you I also have a blueberry scone to go with it?" He seemed hopeful that this might interest me enough to hear his proposition. Of course we was right. That boy knew me too well.

"I'd tell you I need to run again during lunch." I quipped, snapping the drink and bag from his hands. "What do you want in return?" I questioned, the coffee scalding my throat in the most delicious way as I took a sip.

"We have a behind the scenes group signed up for today and we want you to do it." He explained.

"That's it? You bribed me with Starbucks for that?" I couldn't believe that was all he wanted. "Of course I'll do it."

"Its an all day program." That simple statement was powerful enough to stop me mid sip. Suddenly my coffee wasn't as enjoyable.

"You have to be kidding me! Brain, what can't we all pitch in?" I brought my supervisor into this conversation. It wasn't that I didn't like the guest interaction programs. Quite the opposite really, I thought they were great. But, I wasn't what you would call and 'people person'. I hated meeting new people. When I first started working at the zoo it took nearly three weeks before I would talk to any of my co-workers above a whisper. Now of course they couldn't get me to shut up if they wanted to.

"No can do." Brain told me. "We have to finish preparations for the potential hurricane next week."

Damn, I had forgotten about that storm. Stupid Hurricane Erma. I knew that my facial expression showed my displeasure with the situation. I never did have much of a poker face.

"Its only two," Brain attempted to sooth my sudden anger, "I think they are British naturalists, or something like that. I think they just want to see how we manage the animals an all that."

The idea that these guys were 'animal people', and potentially intelligent, made me feel slightly better. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. I mean British accents are very attractive.

"Lets hurry up with the pre-session meeting, they should be here any minute." Brain's word was final.

The rest of the meeting was uneventful. As a means of appeasement Brain was going to let me do a new behavior with Zeus, and practice medical behaviors with Tilly. At least I was going to get something out of this arrangement.

As I was putting the training records away the 'behind the scenes people' arrived. I wasn't sure what I had exactly pictured when Brian told me they were British, but I certainly hadn't expected what walked in. They were both male, with long blonde hair. I was instantly jealous of their hair. Their presence seemed to command attention, the younger looking one having a regal air about him. I couldn't take my eyes off them.

I didn't hear of word of Brain's welcome speech. It was the same every time and I knew it by heart. I just stood there, watching them. I really hope my mouth wasn't open. When Tyler moved to get the buckets for the dolphin session I knew I would be in trouble for not paying attention. I didn't hear what their names were. Shit.

As we walked through the halls to the dolphin exhibit I could feel eyes burning into me. I was suddenly reminded of the same eerie feeling I had this morning on my run and in food prep. Both men were watching me. Intently. For some reason the idea that these guys had been watching me all day began to play in my mind. Mentally shaking my head I dispelled the thought. It was ridiculous. Wasn't it?

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What do you guys think?