━━ Chapter One

Shakirat woke with a vengeance as she dressed that morning. She had been working for the Natural History Museum for over four months and she still felt like she was going nowhere with the archives. Everyday she would spend countless hours organizing and refiling, as well as cleaning some of the more delicate artifacts. Then she would go to class and finally home for the night, but every morning without fail some of her work was undone.

Shakirat tried not to think about the uncivilized words that would be directed at the night guards that day as she went down stairs to pack her lunch. In the living room she found Jacqueline laboring over her next essay with three cups of empty coffee surrounding her and one full one in her hand. Shakirat grabbed her only cup and filled it with the Costa Rican blend the girls loved so much.

"I can't wait to put 'death by caffeine' on your tombstone." Shakirat said, looking over at her friend.

Jacqueline poked her tongue out, "Everyone dies from something. At least I'll be young and beautiful, you'll probably be an old hag."

"Only after having a long life."

"And how is that long life going? Still having trouble in the archives?"

Shakirat made an irritated face, "I'm so done with all the pranks the night guards have been pulling. It's one thing to undo something minor, like the time they rearranged my stationary, but to undo my organized files when it took me hours to alphabetize them. They have gone too far this time. What's next, the flipping furniture?"

Jacqueline nodded, "I have to admit at first I thought it was hilarious, but now it's just wrong. I know the Museum is making budget cuts, but lashing out at you is inexcusable."

"Yeah well maybe I'll pull a prank of my own."

Jacqueline laughed, "Let me know if you need help and Neval and I will be there in a heartbeat."

Shakirat raised an eyebrow at the mention of Jacqueline's lab partner. The boy seemed nice enough, but he always seemed to be staring at Shakirat whenever she was around. It rather unnerved the girl, but Jacqueline kept claiming he was harmless. He was a freshman at their university and he was taking classes in business with Biological Anthropology settling one of his requirements.

"I don't know if I want Neval knowing where I work."

"Why not?" Jacqueline asked. "The boy seems to have an innocent crush on you."

"Well, does he need to stare at me like I'm the lost princess of Atlantis?"

Jacqueline snickered, "You could be if someone would only claim you."

"Not likely." Shakirat replied. "I would be the worst princess ever."

Jacqueline maneuvered so she could see her friend better, "The boy is probably just getting over a small crush so be nice. Lord knows there's not a lot of innocence left in the world."

Shakirat nodded, "Well as long as he doesn't ask me out then we are all good. I really don't want to have to break his heart and then see him everyday for the rest of the semester."

"I'm sure he will get over it at some point." Jacqueline said, taking a large gulp of her refreshment. "In fact, I'm surprised you're still single. You're absolutely gorgeous! I mean your catch. What happened to that senior that asked for your number on the bus? Wasn't he on the football team?"

"We are not discussing my social life at seven in the morning." Shakirat said, taking another sip from her warm coffee.

Jacqueline gasped, "You have one of those."

Jacqueline expertly leaned forward as she dodged a pillow from Shakirat, not spilling a drop of her coffee in the process. The girl would normally retaliate against Shakirat, but she was already in a foul mood as is. The last thing Jacqueline needed was an angry and sleep deprived archivist on her hands.

Shakirat finished her large cup of coffee before throwing on her coat for warmth. Jacqueline leaned over the couch to look at her friend. Shakirat could tell Jacqueline was slowly getting fed up living in the small studio apartment. The girls would switch between the couch and bed every weekend, or who had to stay up late. As it turns out Jacqueline had been up for 48 hours straight and looked ready to crash.

"If I come home and find you still up I'm going to sit on you until you fall asleep." Shakirat announced before promptly shutting the door. Not allowing room for argument or witty retort.

The weather had turned nasty over the course of the weekend and Shakirat was not surprised at the bits of ice that littered the street. She pulled her coat closer and stuck on her beanie before beginning her walk to work. She loved her walk to work every morning, she was one of the rare few that got to walk through central park.

The trees had gone from their bright colors of orange, red, and purple to almost bare with a few stragglers holding on. The river had frozen and on the other side of the park an ice rink was set up for the kids to play hockey. All in all she felt immensely grateful to live where she does and even her moms had emailed that they were as well.

Over the long months of working at the Museum as well as her dissertation Shakirat had found her own in the overcrowded city of New York. At first she had been homesick for London, but now she only missed her family rather than the city itself. In New York she felt more independent and the change had provided her with more opportunities to grow and nurture her craft. She had also completely fallen in love with being an archivist.

The museum stood tall as she entered the building allowing the warmth to envelop her like a hug. She shook off her coat and stepped into the grand hall looking around to gage the level of guests. She wasn't surprised at the low level, given the recent budget cuts. Even her own wage had decreased exponentially since her arrival.

Shakirat spotted her coworker and friend sitting at the information station looking quite perplexed with the paperwork in front of her. Shakirat made her way over nodding to the guest that recognized her. There was one lady practically ogling the wax figure of Teddy Roosevelt and every time Shakirat saw her she had to try her best not to laugh.

"How's my favorite docent?" Shakirat said, entering behind the desk and setting down her purse.

Rebecca sighed, "As tired as my favorite archivist looks."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"Anytime."

"How are the archives looking?"

"I might actually set the place on fire." Shakirat answered and Rebecca could tell that was a subject best left alone.

The two women fell into a comfortable silence as Shakirat went over the new arrivals from different Archaeological sites across the state on the terminal. Rebecca sat beside her going over the different tours she had that day. Shakirat knew she should have been heading to the basement where hell awaited her, but she didn't want to leave the light just yet.

"Excuse me?"

Shakirat looked up to find a middle aged man standing before her and to say she was startled would be an understatement. The man looked dressed to impress, well his version of it, and he looked nervous just to speak with them. She noticed that Rebecca hadn't looked up from her documents so she gently nudged the woman who finally looked up at the man.

"Hi."

"Hi. I'm Larry Daley. I've got a job interview with Cecil Fredricks."

Shakirat nodded, "Good luck with him and his goons."

"Be nice Kira." Rebecca said, before looking back at Larry. "Right. He should still be in his office."

"Great." Larry said, but continued to stand there awkwardly.

"I'm Rebecca Hutman. I'm a docent here." Rebecca said, reaching her hand out to shake his.

"Hi." Larry replied before looking at Shakirat. "And you?"

"Your worst nightmare." Shakirat replied.

Larry gulped at how blunt Shakirat was being, but Rebecca said nothing to countermand what the girl had said. The young woman said nothing else to the man as she began to pick up the necessary documents needed for the day. Unfortunately he had caught her when she was just in a bad mood with the night guards and she still blamed them for messing up her archives. She was already dreading her discussion with them later today.

"Let me point you in the right direction." Rebecca offered, getting up from her seat with Shakirat following behind.

"I have some business to settle with Cecil so I'll take you the rest of the way."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet."

The trio walked over toward the side door that descended into the basement, but stopped when Larry began to admire the wax figure of Teddy Roosevelt on a horse. Shakirat had to admit that the figure was quite life-like that it almost creeped her out, but to her it was the little figurines in the diorama room. They always seemed to end up in different places each time she went to check on the display.

"Teddy Roosevelt, right?" Larry asked.

"That's what the sign says." Shakirat answered, but she received a disapproving look from Rebecca.

"Yes, a great visionary."

"Yes, definitely. He was our 4th president, right?"

Shakirat tried her best not to snort out loud and Rebecca corrected him, "Twenty-sixth."

Larry looked over at them in embarrassment, "Twenty-sixth."

Behind them came the sound of a loud clap followed by an annoyed voice that Shakirat had hoped to avoid that day. She knew that Dr. McPhee was her boss, but he was not the most pleasant person to be around. In fact most of the people working at the museum did their best to avoid him. Some were successful while others were not.

"Please don't touch the exhibits!" He shouted before rounding on them. "I mean... Riffraff. Miss Hutman. I cannot tolerate this type of chaos. I mean, this is a museum, not a…"

"Jungle gym?" Shakirat supplied only to receive a glare from him.

"Do you know what "museum" means?" Dr. McPhee continued. "It doesn't mean, "Daddy, it's a big Tyrannosaurus thing. Can I touch its leg? " No! Work it out, please."

"Will do, sir." Rebecca answered.

"Thank you." said before pointing at Shakirat. "I want to see you in my office at the end of the day Miss Asad."

"Yes, sir."

Shakirat waited for her bosses back to be turned before sticking her tongue out at the man. He always annoyed her since day one and now he was on her ass about the archives being in disarray. She had yet to find the culprit so he blamed her for something she had no control over. The gesture was met with a disapproving but amused look from Rebecca, while Larry just looked at her in horror.

"Dr. McPhee, the museum director." Rebecca supplied. "Shakirat behave."

"You would have done the same."

"Control your young, please. Can we?" Dr. McPhee said to the dad and his two children.

"Seems like a fun guy." Larry added.

Larry's comments caused a smile to make its way onto Shakirat's lips. She was starting to like the man as he followed Rebecca toward the door. She could tell he was desperate for a job and that meant he would do anything to make sure he was seen in a good light. Shakirat just hoped her discussion with Cecil went alright and that Larry didn't stir up trouble.

Shakirat led Larry towards the rear end of the warehouse where two doors stood on either side. On the left was the door to the locker room and incidentally where the night guards set up camp. On the right was the archive room where Shakirat's little terminal sat along with thousands of files. The room was cramped making it impossible to fit anything comfortably, but Shakirat didn't mind. She only worked during the day anyway.

Larry walked up to the left door as directed and rang the bell on the side only for it to open suddenly. The man jerked back as an old man popped out. Shakirat shook her head at the man's reaction. If this was how he was going to react during the day to a human being then she couldn't wait to see how he adjusted to working at night where everything looked alive.

"Hello? Just kidding." Cecil said, standing up straight and spotting Shakirat. "Kira. What brings you all the way down here?"

Shakirat crossed her arms over her chest, "I think you know."

"I can take a guess, my dear."

"Hi." Larry interjected. "I'm Larry Daley. Are you Mr. Fredricks?"

Cecil scoffed, "Mr. Fredricks was my father. I am Cecil. Good to meet you, Larry. Nice firm handshake. I like that. Tells a lot about a man."

Shakirat placed her hand on Larry's shoulder, "Don't let him intimidate you. It's Gus you should worry about."

Cecil sent her a look, "I won't argue with you there. Come on in. Let's talk turkey here."

Shakirat and Larry entered the office and Shakirat had to try not to puke. The place was a pig sty that she was surprised Dr. McPhee hadn't said anything to them. There were left over pizza boxes as well as soda cans that littered the floor. In the corner was an old tv that looked to be playing reruns of old soccer games.

Cecil removed an old Pizza box, so Shakirat could sit down while he made his way around the desk to sit. Larry stood behind Shakirat and his constant fidgeting was getting on her nerves. However, she stayed silent as she stared Cecil down with a hard glare. The man knew why she was there, but ignored her entirely as he focused on Larry.

"The museum is losing money, hand over fist. I guess kids today don't care about wax figures or stuffed animals. So they're downsizing, which is code for firing," Cecil explained. "myself and the other two night guards. They want to replace us with one new guard."

"Oh, sorry."

Shakirat scoffed at Larry's awkward attempt at kindness, "Fine by me. It means you won't be messing up the archives anymore."

Cecil looked at her, "I keep telling you that is not us. Why do you keep insisting it is?"

Shakirat looked him in the eye and began to count on her fingers, "One; They are always being messed up at night and your the only ones here, two; because you guys are the only other employees with access to that room and three because you have had it out for me since I started."

Cecil smiled his crooked smile, "Would you believe me if I said a monkey did it?"

"No."

"Well, what are you gonna do?" Cecil said before returning his attention to Larry. "I'd like you to meet my two colleagues here. Reginald? Gus?"

Shakirat turned in her seat to find Reginald leaning against a bookcase and Gus sprawled out on the couch the three shared. Reginald was always pleasant enough with Shakirat, offering to bring her coffee when he could, but Gus was another story. The old man was always saying something completely out of context and making up stories to throw people off.

"Where is he? I'll beat him with my fist!"

Larry looked to Shakirat for help, but she just shook her head, "He's crazy so expect the unexpected."

"I heard that Kira."

"Good."

Cecil intervened between the two, "Gus, this is Larry Daley, the kid who wants to be the new night guard."

"Night guard?" Larry asked, confused. "No, the lady at the agency said this was a museum position."

"Most important position in the museum, Larry." Reginald replied.

"Didn't she tell you what the position was?" Shakirat asked.

"Well…"

"He looks like a weirdie." Gus commented.

Cecil leaned over to Larry and said, "Wonderful guard, terrible people skills. Just ask Shakirat."

"It's Kira, Cecil."

Larry looked over at her, "You know your name is close to Shakira."

"Call me that and I'll let Gus take you down."

"Now, listen, lunch box." Gus said, upon hearing his name. "Don't try anything funny. I once went nine rounds with John L. Sullivan."

Reginald placed his hand upon Gus' shoulder and pulled him away from the man, "You never fought John L. Sullivan in your life."

Shakirat snorted in a very unladylike fashion, "Doesn't mean he doesn't have a wicked right arm."

"My dear, that is quite enough." Cecil said, but Shakirat only stuck her tongue out in return. "Gentlemen, we have a job candidate here. He's got an excellent resume, a winning attitude...and I say let's give him a shot. What do you say?"

"Hang on a sec." Larry said, taking a step back. "I think I might wanna have a little time just to think it over."

Gus took a threatening step forward, "Do you want the job or not, snack shack?"

"No, no, I want the job-"

"Welcome to the night guards, Larry." Reginald said, reaching to shake the man's hand.

Larry looked over at Shakirat, but she was already heading out the door, "Good luck, Larry. Don't let Cecil scare you too badly on the tour."

"Nice to meet you, Shakira."

"Do NOT call me that!"

Shakirat left the night guards to their own devices as she headed to her office to see the damage Cecil, Reginald, and Gus did that night. To her surprise it wasn't as bad as she was expecting with only 'J' through 'M' being left in quite a state, which was only half as bad. Her goal was to at least redo those as well as get to 'P' before leaving to see what Dr. McPhee. Something told her she was going to need a margarita after this next meeting.