Chapter 51: All the Above
Marlene gasped. "You guys! This is – oh wow! You guys rock, you know that?"
Private rushed up to hug her. "How was California?"
"It was awesome!" Marlene set her bags down. "So much sun, and the people were great."
"Hi, Marlene!" Mort piped up.
"Heya, Mort." She smiled at the little lemur, and then looked to the other lemurs. She noticed there was one more than she was used to seeing. "Oh, hey, I never –"
"Isobel." Isobel walked up to Marlene, her hand extended. "I'm new here. To the zoo and to this city."
Marlene could tell that much from her accent. She shook her hand, paralyzed for a moment. And then she was excited, finally acknowledging that there was another female in the zoo.
"I'm Marlene." Marlene smiled broadly. "I mean, I'm sure you guessed that but, ya know. And this is great! I'm finally not the only girl here! Oh my gosh, all of the girl time I can finally have!"
"Take it easy, Marlene." Skipper chuckled. "Don't scare her away."
Isobel laughed, and Marlene gave her a once-over. She noted that this newcomer was full of grace, and she looked at her earrings, obviously priceless gems.
"Sorry, I'm really excited." Marlene smiled. "But it would be really cool if we could hang out sometime."
"I'd love to." Isobel smiled sincerely, glad to make another friend.
Marlene then turned her attention to the party that everyone had put together just for her. "Oyster shell banner, carnations, cream filled candy! You remembered everything."
"We try our best." Kowalski smiled.
"Okay, so what's been going on around here?" Marlene sat down and began eating some of her candies.
Skipper and Isobel glanced at each other, sharing hidden smiles. "Oh, you know, the usual."
"Alrighty then." Marlene went back to the candy dish.
The welcome back party dipped into the afternoon, and by then everyone was worn out with storytelling. Skipper had even shared his Russia story again, and Marlene finally coaxed out the story of their visit to Atlantis. Marlene was even more interested in her new friend now. When two o clock came around, only Marlene and Isobel were left.
"So you're the famous Marlene." Isobel went to sit with her.
"Huh?" Marlene looked at her while eating her last piece of chocolate.
"I'm only kidding." Isobel smiled. "But I did notice how you became a top priority the day before you arrived."
"Oh, yeah, those guys are great." Marlene smiled and even blushed a little as she waved it off. "So how long have you been here for?"
Isobel thought, remembering counting the slivers of the moon as it waxed and waned. "About a month."
"That's nice." Marlene nodded. "I hate to bother you with so many questions, but how could I not have any after Skipper's story? So, tell me about yourself."
Isobel nodded, and went through all of the same stories she had the penguins and Julien.
"Wow." Marlene breathed out. "That's crazy. So you have fangs, claws, and you can turn into a cobra?"
"All the above." Isobel nodded.
"I love your earrings by the way." The otter added.
"Thank you." Isobel said, her eyes aglow. "I suppose this is us…hanging out. What do you want to do?"
