Tulio entered the library, shaking off his shoes covered in white powder. Since early in the morning, the snow had been falling, making the streets covered in snow and ploughs had to clear the road all afternoon.
"Hello Linda" greeted Tulio as he folded his green hat on a hanger and his boots had practically no snow on them.
"Hi Tulio" replied Linda as she filled out some paper.
"Is Jewel asleep?"
"No, she's upstairs with Blu, I noticed they're still inseparable together"
"Well... I think we should talk, what do you say?" suggested the man sitting down in front of the desk.
"Hm... Something happened?" the woman asked hearing that Tulio didn't even know how to start a sentence.
"Well, I'll tell it all from the beginning..."
Meanwhile, Blu and Jewel decided to watch another movie on the TV to kill the time that was getting cruelly long.
"I wonder why Tulio came," said Jewel when she heard the door slam.
"Probably to ask Linda how you're doing, he'll probably be out in 5 minutes and that'll be the end of his inspection" replied Blu turning on the TV series. This time they decided to watch 'Dr. House'.
"It's my favourite series, some of the scenes are quite... Drastic, but on its own it's a brilliant series, you should enjoy it" explained Blu as he put the remote down on the bench that was next to theirs and settled down next to Jewel.
"This is weird..."
"What do you mean?"
"Normally, where I lived I'd be flying between the treetops, racing with others, exploring the jungles, I'd be home late at night...now I spend most of the day watching movies with you that aren't true..."
"Don't think about running away again, I will have to look for you again"
"I'm not thinking, I'm fine with you" replied Jewel, at which she laid her head on Blu's chest, causing his heart to beat faster.
"But how come, after all Jewel was supposed to be here for a month and now it turns out that you are already leaving Minnesota tomorrow?" repeated Linda in summary of the whole story as she listened to the man who was tangling his words as he tried to add something new to his speech.
"Well... Unfortunately I'm not the one who requested this, but I have to listen to the condition"
"Why does he suddenly have to go back to brazil already?"
"To be honest, my students found Jewel and brought her to my clinic. You participated in an interview recently right?"
"Well yes... I did, but what's that got to do with it?"
"I read your interview where you talk about your parrot, I couldn't believe it was also a spix Macaw. That's why I also couldn't pass up such an opportunity, I had to bring Jewel here and try to prolong the species"
"Why does Jewel have to go back to Brazil..."
"Directive... This is an incredibly rare species, and Jewel is not formally mine. These are not conditions for her, she must return to her natural habitat for her safety."
"This is bad news... Blu won't be happy."
Tulio sighed and looked into Linda's eyes for a moment, as if he was afraid to confess something. Finally he gathered his voice and as he began to speak he started tapping his fingers on the desk top.
"Well... There is a possibility for Blu not to have to disconnect from Jewel."
"What?"
"Blu can also fly to Rio and there they could live together" replied Tulio. Linda opened her eyes wider and her face took on a smug expression.
"Ekh...well... I don't know if..."
"That's up to you Linda, but please... If Blu doesn't fly to Rio, they may be the last spix Macaw parrots in the world. Blu won't live forever after all, one day his hour will strike..."
"Yes...I know..."
"We have a plane tomorrow night, I will come and pick her up like this around 3 p.m." said Tulio at the end of the conversation, then he walked away from his desk, said goodbye to the woman and left the building. Linda was distracted by this information, she knew that the choice could change her life, but she didn't know what she could do. After this conversation she decided to head upstairs, she needed a little break.
Meanwhile, Blu and Jewel finished watching one episode of "Dr. House"
"One episode for me was too much... Sometimes I felt like those needles were being injected into me," Jewel said, getting shivers at the thought of sharp syringes.
"I'm not surprised, I get that way sometimes too, but if you don't want to we don't have to watch it" countered Blu turning off the TV.
"With you it's not that scary" giggled Jewel, to which they both blushed.
"How about we get something to eat?" suggested Blu, to which the female nodded. They made their way to the kitchen where a nailed down Linda was located. When they were in the room the female paid no attention to them, she continued to read the newspaper.
"It may not be the ideal time, but you haven't tasted the cereal yet" explained Blu taking out a box of cereal. Linda, meanwhile, looked at both of them. He tried to do it in such a way that Blu wouldn't notice. Blu also took out the milk, then poured for the bowl and handed the spoon to Jewel.
"Enjoy your meal," Blu said, then walked over to Linda. He stood next to her head, even so Linda didn't react, which surprised Blu.
"Oh, hey Blu, forgive me for reading" said Linda as she pulled herself away from her thoughts. She laughed nervously stroking her charge. Blu looked at Linde for a moment, then walked away towards Jewel.
"Her confused look didn't indicate she was reading, she was thinking..." thought Blu as he pondered on Linde's behavior. A moment later he was surprised to see that the bowl was already empty.
"Wow, you ate quickly" said Blu.
"Yeah, people food isn't that bad." Jewel concluded.
"Hm... Then why don't we read something instead of watching a movie?" suggested Blu.
"Why not" replied Jewel. They both headed downstairs to look for some interesting book.
"Hm... How about The Witcher?" suggested Blu taking a book off the shelf.
"What kind of book is it?" asked Jewel.
"It's about Geralt, it's the titular witcher, it tells the story of his adventures... We'll read it then you'll find out" said Blu opening it to the first page.
A few hours later
When it was getting dark and Linda had finished her work for the day, Blu and Jewel were just finishing the first part of "The Witcher"
"Wow, amazing book! Probably even more interesting than the movies we've seen so far..."
"It's hard not to admit that it's an excellent book, but I guess it depends on your taste..." replied Blu, then put the book back in its place.
"Well... Let's have dinner and go to our cages"
"I'm not hungry Blu"
"well... Then I'll go with you to your cage"
"Actually I wanted to ask if we can sleep together?"
"Again?" asked Blu immediately, then he bit his tongue, realising he had said a complete stupid thing.
"Well, if it bothers you..."
"No, of course not... Then go to the cage, I'll just have dinner and come back."
"You sure?"
"Yes, Jewel, sure," Blu confirmed, then headed upstairs to make himself some toast, as he did every night. At the table he met Linde who was sitting at the table and staring at the table top which again surprised Blu. He didn't pay any attention to it, just made himself some toast.
"Blu, who do you prefer... Me or Jewel?" asked Linda after a moment of silence. Blu opened his eyes wider, making Linda think she should elaborate on the statement.
"Today Tulio came and said that Jewel is flying off to Brazil with him tomorrow. She can't stay here any longer. By this time tomorrow she will be gone. And here you have an option: either you stay with me or you fly to Brazil, together with Jewel," Linda explained.
"Please, think about it" Linda added at the end, then left the table to her room. Blu had barely swallowed the last piece of toast when he heard about this. When he woke up from this news, he started downstairs.
"Do I have to choose between Jewel and Linda? Linda to me is like family... She raised me... But I feel that we fit together with Jewel... And we need to prolong the existence of our species... Such a difficult choice and so little time!" thought Blu as he made his way downstairs. He jumped on the windowsill and entered the cage. Jewel had already fallen asleep...
Thanks for reading the chapter! See you later!