Two Different Animals, One Close Bond
Chapter 7: Despair forms a New Plan
Maurice came inside the Lemur Habitat, having not taken too long to come. He wanted to see Julien as it had been a while. "Is someone here? I'm sorry I've been away for a while. It's just that things have gotten busy, so I wasn't able to be here." Maurice explained.
He was caught by surprise when he could hear something nearby. "What is that?" Maurice asked. He went to see what it was and looked nearby to see Julien. He was sitting against his throne with his head buried in his arms, sobbing. Maurice was confused, but alarmed at the same time by this.
"What could have happened while I was gone?" Maurice asked himself. He headed over, making sure that Julien didn't see him, and sat down next to him. "Hey, are you all right? What's wrong?" Maurice asked, concerned. Julien looked up at Maurice and it was evident that there were tears in Julien's eyes. Maurice was surprised, as he knew that Julien was not normally ever upset.
"Maurice, you won't believe what I saw last night." Julien said, clearly upset. Maurice was alarmed; it sounded like Julien had been through an experience he couldn't forget. "What happened?" Maurice asked, hoping to try and help Julien out.
Julien calmed himself down a bit before turning to Maurice so he could tell him what happened. "Well, last night, I decided to go see Marlene so I could tell her how I felt about her." Julien said. Maurice smiled, happy that Julien decided to do that at last.
"When I came to her place, I saw something I didn't want to see. Someone else was with her; she was happy with him." Julien continued. Maurice was shocked; that meant that Julien must have seen him with Marlene. Although he was afraid of what would happen, he still decided to hear Julien out first. "What happened?" Maurice asked.
"He was playing a Spanish guitar and she was really happy to hear him. And when he finished... Marlene kissed him." Julien finished, unable to contain his sadness any longer. Maurice looked at Julien in alarm as Julien broke down again.
"That's awful. How could Marlene do that to you?" Maurice asked, deciding to go along with this. Julien looked over at Maurice. "I know; I can't answer that either. How am I supposed to get to Marlene if this man is in the way?" Julien asked, in despair again.
Maurice knew that things were starting to get difficult, especially Julien was aware of the fact that someone else was with Marlene. But then, Maurice had an idea that he knew could get him out of trouble and ensure that Julien remained happy.
"I think I have an idea. Why don't you have a party tonight? Everyone can come and Marlene will be there. And I'll make sure that whoever it is that was with her last night won't be there." Maurice explained. Julien looked at Maurice in surprise.
"You really think it will work, Maurice?" he asked. "It's never too late to make a difference." Maurice responded. Smiling at last, Julien immediately came forward and hugged Maurice, much to his surprise. "Thank you, Maurice. I know that I can count on you whenever things get hard." Julien smiled, his worry replaced with relief and joy.
Maurice smiled, knowing that Julien was happy and returned his embrace. "I'm always glad to be there to help." Maurice responded. With that, he let go of Julien. "Why don't you start getting everything ready? I'm going to go figure out who will be coming." Maurice said. Julien smiled at this suggestion and Maurice immediately headed off. Once he was a safe distance from Julien, Maurice suddenly became worried.
"What am I doing? I'm the one that Marlene was with last night, and if Julien finds that out, I'll be in big trouble!" Maurice said to himself. But that was when he came up with something. "Unless... I can find someone else to come with me. It's perfect!" Maurice smiled, knowing what he was going to do.
He didn't take long to get to where he needed to go, which was the baboon enclosure. Maurice smiled when he saw Darla nearby. "There she is." Maurice said to himself. Without hesitation, he jumped over the wall and landed inside the enclosure, and proceeded to head over to Darla.
"Excuse me, Darla?" Maurice asked. Darla turned around and smiled when she saw Maurice. "Well hello there, Maurice. What brings you here?" Darla asked. Maurice felt a bit nervous, but decided to go forward with this.
"Well, we're having a party tonight over at the Lemur enclosure and I was wondering... if you'd like to come with me." Maurice explained. Darla smiled when she heard this. "Aren't you just sweet? I would love to." Darla said. Maurice smiled, hearing this. "I just need to tell this to Marlene." Maurice said to himself.
"What? You're going with Darla?" Marlene asked, shocked by what Maurice just told her. "I have to, Marlene. I don't have a choice. And well, this may a bit hard to say but... could you pretend to be in love with Julien during the night?" Maurice asked, even though he was afraid of what Marlene would say.
"What? Why should I do that?" Marlene asked, confused and reluctant. "Because, Marlene, if Julien finds out about us, he'll be furious. And I might not be able to see you ever again. Won't you please do this so our cover isn't blown?" Maurice asked, becoming desperate. Marlene looked at Maurice; she didn't really like Julien's efforts to impress her, but she could see that this was serious.
Sighing, Marlene responded "All right, Maurice. I will do this for you, but you owe me afterwards." Hearing that, Maurice smiled and immediately hugged Marlene. "Thank you so much, Marlene." Maurice said.
Surprised at first, Marlene smiled knowing she was making the right choice by choosing to cooperate with Maurice's idea. Maurice felt so glad to have Marlene's help, but now he was hoping that his plan would work how he wanted it to.