Author's Note: Hello readers, here is the next chapter. I apologize for the delay, this is one of my longer chapters. I hope you enjoy it.
Third Person P.O.V:
It was a typical Thursday morning in Chicago's Museum Campus at 7:00 AM and along with the early morning joggers, two people, Anga and Fuli, were walking along a pathway towards the Field Museum to start their shifts.
"So Fuli, did you receive some letter from Rafiki about a Human-Hybrid Alliance that he is planning to form?" Anga asked.
"You too? I thought it was just me. It seems that Rafiki really wants us to improve relations with the human coworkers." Fuli replied.
"Okay, but I don't think there are many issues, we've been living with humans for twenty one years and we literally are humans during the day." Anga said.
"True, but I think Rafiki might be trying to help deal with potential implicit biases that may occur and to try to disprove any misconceptions each side has on each other." Fuli said.
"Oh okay, it also gives me an opportunity to see if I could get an answer to the question 'why humans are so obsessed with celebrities?' because it's been twenty one years and I still don't get it." Anga said, with Fuli giving a laugh in response.
"Yeah, it's pretty weird, but to be fair, much of the Pride Lands was obsessed with Hadithi the eagle, including a certain someone." Fuli replied in a sly tone while nudging Anga's arm, causing her to blush.
"Alright, alright, you have a point, but that's because I thought he was going to be my mate, but then I found out that he had been seeing seven other birds behind my back. We eventually got even, I basically found the seven birds, confronted him and we plucked most of the feathers from his body clean and after that he just left without any notice to anyone. Doesn't matter now, he's probably been dead for at least a decade but I'm not sure since he left before the drought." Anga said.
"Yeah, the past is the past, it honestly took me years to get over Azaad's death, but look at us now, we are living our new lives with our jobs in the museum, each other and oh are you still seeing that dude you met at your gym?" Fuli said.
"Oh you mean Ben? Oh no I broke up with him two weeks ago, I'm seeing Fabian now, you know the guy I met at crossfit." Anga said.
"Oh yeah, the guy with the sweatband and highlights?" Fuli asked.
"Yep, that's him. How are things going with that guy from Makini's self-defense class, was his name Alex?" Anga said.
"You mean the douche bag with that claims to have a demo, yeah I had to let that that guy go after only a week. He was just too much for me, he was never on time for dates, and he swears that he's going to be the next big thing in music, but he is absolutely terrible at it. I highly doubt that guy will make it out of his mom's basement, let alone the music industry." Fuli said while both women started to laugh.
The begin to climb the stairway to the museum entrance, once they got to the top of the staircase they opened the glass doors and once they get into the museum, both women started to shiver from the breeze of the main floor's air conditioning system.
"Sometimes I forget how easily humans get cold. I miss having fur during the day to avoid stuff like this." Fuli said.
"I know how you feel, even when I have my feathers during the night, I miss having them during the day. I also miss flying, I still remember how exhausting it was when I first transitioned from flying to walking everyday." Anga replied.
They eventually timed in at the security plaza and approached their assigned desk for the day to see that to their shock, Bunga was actually sitting there.
"Hey guys, how's it going? Lovely morning isn't it?" He said.
"Bunga? Wow for the first time since knowing you, you actually arrived early on the job." Anga said.
"Yeah, I know I'm not usually one for punctuality but I figured out that if I came earlier, I could be finished with my day earlier, thus I can have some more me time." Bunga said.
"Uh Bunga, you do know that despite what time you come, all daytime security guards end their shifts at five right?" Fuli said starting to for a smirk on her face as both she and Anga approached the desk.
"Wait what? Ah man! Now all I did was just added more work to my schedule?! Ah whatever...Wake me up when people start to come in" Bunga said while he put his head on the desk to take a nap.
A few minutes later, many of the employees of the various departments started to check in through the security desk. At one point, Kion came to the desk, wearing his ponytail and navy blue security officer uniform, with an irritated expression on his face.
"Bunga! How many times do I have to tell you, there is no sleeping at the job in ANY condition! Now wake your stupid ass up and get back to work!" Kion yelled as Bunga started to raise his head up.
"Yes sir" Bunga replied, while starting to help check people in from his desk. Kion eventually turned his head towards Anga.
"Anga, you are going to be on the second floor for the rest of the day, I can take over from here." Kion said as he immediately began to approach the desk while Anga slowly stood up and grabbed her things and headed off to started to head off to the staircase that goes to the second floor.
"What are you doing, Anga?! The second floor won't guard itself, hurry the fuck up." Kion said practically yelling, which caused Anga to practically speed walk.
While Anga, was approaching the staircase she saw a familiar bespectacled guard descend from that same staircase.
"Hey Anga, how's it going?" The guard asked.
"Oh hey Ono, nothing much I just got assigned to the second floor, so I'm just heading over there. How about you?" She replied.
"Oh nothing much just heading the control room. See you later!" Ono said.
"See ya!" Anga said as she went up the stairs.
Ono made his way to the control room as he passed by a familiar human resources receptionist.
"Hi Zazu." He said.
"Oh hello Ono." Zazu said as he headed back to the Human Resources offices. Once arriving at his reception desk he just started to complete his work for the day.
After about an hour of organizing online files and appointments, Rafiki eventually came to Zazu's desk with some papers.
"Hello Zazu, can you please go over to Simba's office for me and give him these papers dealing with our budget proposal, I would really appreciate it." He said while giving Zazu a tan Manila envelope.
"Oh sure, Rafiki, I'll do it right away." Zazu replies as he begins to stand from his chair. Before leaving the room, he then places a sign on his desk that says I'll be back shortly.
Zazu then exits the human resources office and turns left to the adjacent hallway where the museum administration offices are located. In the administrative hallway there were some painters applying a new coat of white paint to the walls while the other side consists of doors and several of Rafiki's paintings. Zazu continued to walk down the hallway until he reached an office whose door was slightly ajar with a nameplate that reads Simba Furahi, President and Chief Executive Officer. As Zazu walked towards the office he started to get closer to the office, he started to hear a conversation.
"Simba, you know that tickles" an unknown female voice says affectionately.
"But Melinda, you know I can't resist those dimples of yours." Simba replied.
"And you know that I can't resist your rugged features," the female voice said.
Zazu then slowly approached the office door to take a peek to see exactly how busy Simba was. He looked into the office to see that Simba was passionately kissing this woman who he has never seen before. This woman had long curly blond hair and was wearing a grey pantsuit with black high-heeled shoes.
Zazu was shocked to see that his boss actually was cheating on Nala, thinking that this might have been the cause of the riff he has seen between the two. So to avoid potential repercussions of confronting Simba in the act, he decided to just gently knock on the wall next to the door.
Simba and Melinda eventually heard the banging and a voice call out
"Hello Mr. Furahi, this is Zazu, I just came to deliver the budget proposal from human resources." Zazu said through the wall. This triggered a nervous response from the two of them.
"Quick, button your shirt up and just don't say anything to anyone." Simba whispered while buttoning his own shirt. "Just a second!" He yelled towards the wall.
"Okay and place your hair in a ponytail, I can just pretend to help you organize your files." Melinda said as she headed towards one of the cabinets.
"Come in!" Simba said as he is placing his hair into a ponytail. Zazu then came in with his manila folder.
"Okay so I have organized all administrative transaction files and payment records by date, is there anything else I can do for you, your highness?" Melinda said trying to play along with the charade.
"Thank you Melinda, I appreciate that. You could also help me by faxing these files to accounting for me." He said while giving her a stack of folders. After Melinda received the files, she just left to room to go to a fax machine.
"So Zazu, what can I do for you?" Simba said in a more casual tone while Zazu hands over his folder.
"Yes, so Mr. Furahi-" Zazu was about to say before Simba interrupted him.
"Zazu you know I prefer that you address me as 'Your Majesty'," Simba said in an almost irritated tone.
"But Simba, you know that this isn't the Pride Lands anymore, in fact we don't even live in a monarchy anymore." Zazu said while Simba's expression gets more irritated expression.
"Yes, I know all of that, but may I remind you who is the one in this room who manages everyone's paychecks." Simba replied forming a smirk on his face.
"Fine, your majesty, I just came to give you the budget proposal for the Human Resources department." Zazu said gesturing to his envelope.
"Oh okay, thank you I will take a look at it later." Simba said in a calmer tone.
"Also I have another question, who was that woman that was in your office earlier?" Zazu said.
"Oh that's Melinda, she's an intern from UIC Business School." Simba replied.
"Oh okay, I guess I just haven't been here as often so I guess I wouldn't have seen her before. See you later, then." Zazu said as he began to leave the room.
"See you later, Zazu." Simba said, getting started on some work on his laptop.
Zazu continued to walk down the hallway until he managed to get back to the Human Resources offices again.
Meanwhile on the second floor, the people in the artifact conservation lab, several people were working on restoring and putting back together puts from the Inca people. They were restoring these pots so that they can be displayed for the museum's Ancient Americas exhibit. Several people were in individual stations working on their pieces of pottery. Then Kovu enters the main area through the back door to check on his colleagues and coworkers.
"All right, listen up everyone, for today we are just finishing restoring the pots that we started working on yesterday. So to remind you, be incredibly delicate with these pots since they are hundreds of years old. Also even when it may be tempting, DO NOT RUSH while working, it's just better to take your time with each pot. So anyway, interns if you have any questions or complications during the process, please come to either me or a colleague." Kovu said before heading to a station himself.
They started to work and this lasted for two hours with each station at varying steps in restoring their pots, with Kovu working at a station with one of his non-hybrid colleagues and two college- aged interns. One of the interns who had a long black ponytail and glasses turned to Kovu's direction.
"Hey Dr. Mgeni, I'm curious, is there any ancient civilization or type of artifact that particularly interests you?" The intern asks.
"Oh please call me Kovu, and to be totally honest, I'm heavily interested in investigating Ancient Egypt because I've always been intrigued by their writing system and history. I've also been interested in investigating early civilizations of Sub-Saharan Africa because they have so many complex stories that many historians barely scratched the surface of." Kovu replied.
"Oh okay, so how long have you-" The intern said until noticing that no glue is coming out of her tube, Kovu noticing the interns confusion.
"Is everything okay Julita?" Kovu said.
"Oh nothing Kovu, I just ran out of glue, do you know where I could get some more?" Julita asked.
"There are probably still some tubes in the supply drawer over there," Kovu said while pointing towards a supply cabinet. Julita eventually got up to get a new tube of glue from the supply cabinet and returned back to her station with the new tube.
"So Dr. Mgeni, exactly how long have you been working at the museum?" Julita asked.
"About three years, my father-in-law first worked for their marketing department and notified me of job openings in the artifact conservation lab, I applied and that's how I got here." Kovu said as he was working on his pot.
This went on for another thirty minutes until everyone placed their restored pots into an incubator before all of them started a lunch break. Kovu hung up his lab coat and exited the lab and started to head downstairs.
Meanwhile in her office, Kiara was working on a proposal on how to improve visitor numbers over a year long plan. While she was typing, she heard a knock on her door.
"It's open!" She yelled towards the door, after which the door opened to see that her husband Kovu was behind the door.
"Hey Kiara, how's it going?" Kovu said while walking towards a chair which he sat down in.
"Oh hi Kovu, I'm fine, just trying to finish this proposal to improve visitor numbers, how about you?" Kiara said.
"Nothing special, just working on restoring those pots we started yesterday. So you have any ideas for lunch?" Kovu asked.
"Don't you ever remember? I ordered from that Nepali restaurant nearby, you know the one with the sel rotis you like?" Kiara said.
"Oh yeah right, I can pick up the order for you." Kovu said as he was about to exit until Kiara also stood up.
"Hold it right there! I'll come with you because first of all, I need a break from sitting in this desk for four hours. Second, I need a break from that proposal and third I want to make sure you don't eat all of the sel rotis like last time." Kiara said while deviously squinting at Kovu at the last part.
"What? I don't know what you are talking about" Kovu said playfully, pretending to act innocent.
"Oh please Kovu, we've been together for nearly twenty years and married for nearly eight years in human law, so I have seen you steal one or two bites from hunts, our meals and multiple encounters with our fridge… That's right I see you." Kiara jokingly said as she narrows her eyes.
"Alright you got me there, can we just get our lunch now?" Kovu said as he was admitting defeat.
"Alright let's go!" Kiara said as she grabbed her bag and she and Kovu exited her office. As they walked across the museum's main floor, they could help but notice that Makini and Vitani were heavily in discussion.
"Hmm...I wonder what they are talking about?" Kovu said. Kiara then turned her head towards him after he said that.
"Who knows?" Kiara said while they just continued to walk towards the main door.
As Kiara and Kovu left to pick up their lunch order, Makini and Vitani were continue to discuss something that seems to only getting looks of annoyance from Vitani.
"Oh come on Vitani, from the last time I heard it has been seven months since you been on a date and you seem like a decent person. I'm sure who I plan to set you up will be decent as well. From what I heard she's a bank teller who's pretty active and she even has a backgammon club-" Makini pleaded until Vitani turned her head to iritantly interrupt her.
"Makini! How many times do I have to tell you, I will NOT go out with your colleague's mother!" Vitani declared.
"Oh come on, why not?!" Makini pleaded.
"Well first of all she's sixty, so the age gap would have made things awkward. Second, you're a horrible matchmaker haven't you learned from your mistakes?" Vitani replied.
"Name one time I ever did a bad match?" Makini said, feeling slightly offended.
"Well there was that time you set Fuli up with your self-defense classmate with the 'demo'..." Vitani said while putting hand quotes on the word demo.
"What are you talking about? Alex is recording his own music." Makini said trying to defend herself.
"Yeah, in his mom's basement. Oh and there was the time you tried setting up Emma from the gift shop with that dude from your building...from what Tiffu tells me, Emma put bars on her window after that date. Then there was a time that you tried setting up Makuu with that woman you met on the Orange Line, who ended up only went out with him to try to get someone to invest in her insane onion-scented shampoo idea. Oh and what else...oh yeah, the time you set me up with Heidi." Vitani said.
"Oh come on, you said Heidi initially stole you heart." Makini replied.
"Yeah and she eventually stole my identity and two thousand dollars from my bank account." Vitani said.
"Okay I admit, I might have made some mistakes but perhaps this match up could make up for Heidi…"Makini was saying until she saw Edwin walking towards the stairs to lower level go to the cafe.
"Hey Edwin! Come here!" Makini called as Edwin started to approach the two.
"Now Edwin, tell Vitani that you're mother would be a good person for her to date." Makini said.
"Oh Makini, I wish I could but she's actually already started seeing someone, like literally two days ago." Edwin replied. Makini was a little surprised while Vitani was slightly relieved.
"Really? You couldn't have told me two days ago? Oh and congrats for her, who's the luck lady?" Makini said now changing to a more inquisitive tone.
"Well all she told me was that she met them at a farmer's market one time, they started out as friends and recently they started to take things more seriously. But other than that, all I really know about my mom's new girlfriend is that she works in finance. For some reason she's strangely evasive and secret about it, I don't even know this person's first name." Edwin said.
"I wouldn't worry about it. Not everybody really tells every single about their life to people they know. Would you tell your mother every single detail about you're dating life?" Vitani said.
"Oh no, not every single little detail, there are some details I'd rather not discuss with my moth- okay, now I see your point." Edwin said.
"Okay, good that we now have that cleared up, so excuse me I just need to discuss a matter with the people at front desk. See ya!" Vitani said as she headed towards the information desk.
"See ya!" Both Edwin and Makini said before they themselves started hearing to the downstairs cafe.
As the two were walking to meet up with their colleagues, Timon was also heading to the cafe alone from his shift. When he got there, he saw his friend and adoptive nephew Bunga at their usual table.
"Hey Bunga, how are things?" Timon asked.
"Oh Hi Uncle Timon, nothing much, I've just been on the main floor security desk all day. So far nothing interesting, except for one time in which these two kids threw a temper tantrum because they were waiting in line for twenty minutes." Bunga replied.
"Ugh don't get me started on kids having temper tantrums, I work at the kids' and family play lab and so far today I have seen four temper tantrums, six babies crying, two kids fighting over a toy and one kid wet their pants." Timon replied in an irritated tone.
"Yikes! Looks like you got the mother load of angry kids today." Bunga said.
"Tell me about it, sometimes I blame it on human parenting methods. Some of these children are so sheltered and pampered, meanwhile I raised both you and Simba in an actual jungle and you guys turned out just fine." Timon said.
"I l know, I feel like after going from Lion Guard to museum security guard,I can handle anything now. Oh and by the way, can I borrow four hundred dollars? my car got towed again, parked it to close to the fire hydrant." Bunga said while Timon had a look of irritation on his face.
"Again? That's like the fifth time this year." Timon said.
"I swear I followed the law, I remembered to park at least fifteen inches a away from the fire hydrant." Bunga said, trying to defend himself.
"Bunga, the rule is at least fifteen FEET from a fire hydrant, not inches.I'll give you the money this time but next time you ever get yourself into a situation like this, I won't be bailing you out." Timon said getting a little more tense after each word, while he signs a check to give to Bunga.
"Geez Timon, what has gotten into you, you have just been pretty stressed all week, what's going on?" Bunga said, showing some signs of concern. Timon then turns his head towards him.
"I sorry Bunga, yeah, I've been pretty stressed lately because outside of work, something big is happening to me, I know you probably won't like it, but I need to tell you." Timon said, starting to gain a little more composure, even developing an excited expression on his face.
"Oh okay, what's the news?" Bunga said as he starts to gain interest.
"So, things have been really well with Gary and since we've been dating for four years, I think that it is appropriate to move on to the next phase of our relationship, so the news is …. Gary is moving in with me." Timon said excitedly and after saying that, Bunga's expression changed from being engaged to looking almost hopeless.
"Oh...so you and Gary will be living together?...okay." Bunga said in an obviously unenthusiastic tone.
"Oh Bunga, what's wrong with Gary? He's a really nice guy. He's generous, he's considerate, open-minded…" Timon was saying until Bunga interrupted.
"He's boring, he's bland..." Bunga said with a hint of irritation.
"So maybe hotel management might not be the most exciting career, it doesn't matter, what matters is that I love him and I want to be with him." Timon said.
"But you already had something special...with Puumba, it seems like you are just using Gary to replace Pumbaa and I don't feel comfortable with that." Bunga said in a more elevated tone.
"Oh my goodness Bunga, how many times do I have to fucking tell you, I am not using Gary to replace Pumbaa. Puumba will never be replaced and I will always cherish the memories I had with him. But he's been dead for twenty one years and I cannot wait until I die to find something like that again. Just try to understand that I love Gary and it doesn't matter whether you like him or not because you have no control of how I live my life. I know that you still miss Puumba but try to at least tolerate Gary and even when if it may bother you a little bit, you know what I say…" Timon said while gesturing to Bunga still with an unenthused look on his face.
"Ugh...Hakuna Matata." Bunga said with very little enthusiasm.
"Yep, eventually you'll get use to Gary hanging out with us more frequently." Timon said eventually stopping to continue eating their lunches.
At a table nearby, Muhimu and Twiga were taking their lunch break from the information desk, but unlike Timon and Bunga, they were halfway finished with their lunches.
"Oh Muhimu, I forgot to ask you, how was your Tinder date last night?" Twiga said.
"To be honest, it was a disaster. The guy I got match up with was fifteen minutes to begin with, then he kept showing me photos of his motorcycle and that was before I transformed into my zebra-hybrid form. After I did, he basically got shocked and nervous because I was an anthropomorphic zebra walking on two feet and he never seen it before. He then basically told me he had to cut the date short because he had a 'thing', but I knew there was no thing and I saw him run away." Muhimu replied.
"My goodness, I am so sorry to hear that Muhimu…." Twiga said as Muhimu interrupted her.
"Oh I'm not even finished yet, I eventually decided to check out the guy's name on Instagram and turns out he's married with three children, so I decided to get a little revenge by sending a DM to his wife's account along with the picture of her husband's Tinder page." Muhimu said, gaining a little enthusiasm by the end of the story.
"Damn Muhimu, next time I want to plan revenge on someone, I'll definitely come to you and I will not mess with you anytime soon." Twiga said.
"Thanks, I love it when some of my lesser known talents get noticed. So how did your date go?" Muhimu then asked.
"Oh it actually went off to a pretty good start, we talked a little bit and even after my transformation, he didn't go away, in fact, he was a little attracted to my giraffe-hybrid form. We even made out with him for a little bit, though I haven't heard back from him yet and I sent him a text like five hours ago." Twiga said.
"Ugh that has happened to me a couple of times, but on the other hand he could just be busy." Muhimu replied.
"I suppose you're right Muhimu, because look… our own children are so busy with their lives, we haven't really heard from the in almost a week." Twiga said.
"Yeah, I guess grad school and part-time work at a psychologist's office can be pretty busy for Hamu." Muhimu said as Twiga started to develop a slightly depressed expression since Muhimu's response made her think of the lack of contact with her own daughter Juhudi.
"Yeah, but sometimes I get concerned too because Juhudi has adapted so quickly to human life that she seems to be forgetting her life the Pride Lands. For example, the last time I talked with her on the phone and she is starting to forget what her father looked-like. She can remember half of Franz's Schubert's pieces on violin, but she forgets several details about the place she was born. Should I get concerned Muhimu?" Twiga asked.
"The father thing maybe a little concerning, but I guess everything else is just part of moving on because I've noticed similar things with Hamu, but it's probably because when we first became hybrids, our children first transformed to human age five even when they were adolescents in pure animal form, and five is usually a very impressionable age for humans. On the bright side, at least none of our children think of the trauma during the drought anymore so they at least moved on." Muhimu said as the two were getting up from the table with their finished lunches.
"I guess you're right Muhimu, perhaps we should at least be happy that they no longer have nightmares of the deaths and despair of the drought." Twiga replies as both begin to walk out of the hallway.
"Now that's the spirit, Twiga." Muhimu replied. As they walked in the hallway, they continued to talk to each other about everyday matters and then they saw Tiffu approaching their path.
"Hi guys, how's it going?" Tiffu said with a slightly enthusiastic tone.
"We're fine, just heading back to our shifts. You?" Muhimu said.
"I'm fine, just getting something from the vending machine. But before I do, I need to tell you guys something and trust me...it's something juicy" Tiffu said.
"Really? What is it?" Twiga asked out of curiosity.
Meanwhile, the group of genetics researchers, fossil preparators and Beshte were on their way back to their shifts from lunch and two of them, Edwin and Makini were in a bit of a debate.
"So Edwin I'm telling you that overall that valine is the best amino acid." Makini said.
"Oh please, valine may cause steric crowding and contribute to collagen structure but other than that it's just another nonpolar amino acid. If you want the best amino it's clearly lysine." Edwin said.
"Lysine? It's just a straight line and the only thing keeping it interesting is that charged amino group, which questions it's stability." Makini said.
"But at the right pH, the charged amino is what makes it interesting because at basic pHs it can be protonated and participate in ionic interactions. Even when it is deprotonated with just the right compounds, its function in the polypeptide could be interfered by hydrogen bonds, how is that not interesting?" Edwin said.
"You may have your opinions, but I still think valine is the best amino acid." Makini said with a smirk.
"Do you guys have these debates often?" Jasiri asked the two geneticists.
"Sometimes but we never really have incredibly tense debates or anything like that." Edwin replies.
"Yeah it's mostly just about silly stuff, like how this guy thinks adenine is the best nitrogenous base when it is clearly guanine." Makini said, with Edwin having a slight look of annoyance on his face.
"Come on, this again? For the tenth time-" Edwin says before Makuu couldn't hold it back anymore.
"Alright I can't believe I'm saying this but can we please just continue going back to work. I've been listening to this debate for half an hour.
They just decide to continue their path as they were interrupted by someone interjecting.
"No way!" A female voice called.
"Are you swear this is true?!" A second voice said.
The group turned around to see that it was just Tiffu talking to Muhimu and Twiga.
"I wonder what they are talking about?" Beshte said.
"I don't know, probably some kind of shit outside of work." Vuruga said before the group headed up the stairs back to their respective work spaces. While Tiffu continued to talk to Muhimu and Twiga.
"I swear I heard it from a reliable source." Tiffu said.
"I can't believe that this kind of thing will happen." Twiga said.
"But to be honest is it really that surprising?" Muhimu said.
For the past five hours after their lunch, Edwin and the rest of the genetics team have been working on their individual tasks for one of their research projects. Edwin assisted in conducting Sanger sequencing techniques of several strands of lichen genetic material and now he was entering his data through a chromatogram to get visual data of each of the experimental sequences. Soon enough, it was 5:30 PM and Edwin was finished for the day, gathering his bag and hung up his lab coat in his office and proceeded. He then went to Ma Tembo's office, lightly knocked on her door.
"It's open!" Ma Tembo said. So Edwin slightly opened the door to peak inside.
"Oh hi Edwin, how can I help you?" Ma Tembo asked.
"Oh nothing really, just letting you know I'm leaving for the day plus I was wondering if you received the draft of my section of the paper we are working on?" Edwin said.
"Oh yes I did, so far it looks good and I recently sent you some suggestions on how to make it better." Ma Tembo said.
"Okay, I'll get to it immediately, see you tomorrow!" Edwin replies.
"See you tomorrow!" Ma Tembo said as Edwin headed out of the office and towards the laboratory exit.
As Edwin walks towards the laboratory, he takes out his phone to check the time, it's 5:35 and as he walks towards the staircase he spots Jasiri, who is leaving from the fossil lab nearby. As he first sees her he starts to go deep in though.
"Perhaps this is the right time to ask her. I mean it will be just casual, I'm just going to ask her to have some tea with me Saturday night, it's not like I'm proposing to her on the spot. Don't worry about this Edwin, this is a good time and you'll be fine, if the date goes well, it could be the start of a great relationship and if not and you get friendzoned, then you could remain friends. Just don't worry about this Edwin just do it already" Edwin thought to himself.
Edwin soon approached Jasiri's path and just walked casually towards the stairs as she was.
"Hey Jasiri!" Edwin said, which managed to get her attention.
"Oh hey Edwin, how's it going?" She replied.
"Oh nothing much, just finished for the day so I'm just catching the Red Line. How about you?" Edwin said.
"Same, today has been exhausting." Jasiri said.
"I know, I had so much to do with my lichen genetics study, its paper and assisting the interns with their tasks. I know how you feel." Edwin replied.
"On the bright side, Makuu hasn't yelled at any of our interns for two weeks and that's a new record" Jasiri said, letting out a laugh from the both of them. They continued to walk down the stairs until they walked outside of the museum and as they were walking out of the museum, Edwin started to become a little nervous.
"What are you doing, man? This is your chance, now's the time!" He thought to himself.
"So Jasiri… uhhh... we've known each other for almost two months already, time sure passes by fast doesn't it?" Edwin said nervously as they continued to walk on the sidewalk.
"I know, it really does. I'm surprised by it every time" Jasiri replies.
"...and we've hung out several times already So anyway uhhh…" Edwin said while making an awkward pause.
"Don't mess this up…" Edwin thought to himself as the butterflies were pounding in his stomach.
"So anyway I was wondering… do you… want to go out with me… for tea on Saturday night?" Edwin said taking a breath after the last part.
After hearing this, Jasiri was intrigued, but on the inside she was feeling a combination of flattered and apprehensive because she hasn't been on the dating scene in a while. She then begins to think that based on what she has seen, Edwin seems different from they guys she has seen since leaving the Outlands. She thought that he could potentially help her finally move on from Janja after all of these years. But before she could respond, one question peaked in her mind.
"Edwin, are you asking me on a date?" She asked.
"Yes...uh I mean maybe… wait… Yes, I'm asking you on a date." Edwin said. This response caused Jasiri to have this tingly feeling across her body, but eventually she gave out a slight smile.
"Then in that case… I would love to go with you Saturday night…where do you exactly have in mind?" Jasiri replied.
Edwin was feeling excited, nervous and relieved all at the same time, but now he's just trying to gain the energy to answer the question while they arrived at the Roosevelt Red Line stop.
"Well I know of this great tea place on Argyle and I was thinking I can pick you up at your place at around six Saturday, drive you there and possibly get to know each other anymore." Edwin replies, but the immediately Jasiri turned her head towards him.
"Wait? Are you sure you want it at six? Because you know, Argyle is a little far from my neighborhood and for when it gets dark out… you know...aren't you afraid getting stares or people getting scared of me after I transform into my hyena form?" Jasiri said with a hint of nervousness she said as she swiped her Ventra card.
"What are talking about, I don't care what some random people may think. Look… I learned from a young age to not care what other people think. I'm going through my own shit and had more important stuff to do, so why should I add more stress from people I don't even know. I want to go out with you for you, whether it is hyena, human or whatever. So do you still want me to pick you up at six?" Edwin said.
Jasiri feeling both flattered and surprised, she has heard very few full humans who have said that to her.
"Yes, six sounds great. Let me send you my address so you know where to pick me up." She said as she took out her phone as they were waiting for the train.
"Okay great, if I don't see you at lunch tomorrow, I guess I'll see you Saturday at six." Edwin said as the train arrived.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it." She said as they entered the train.
Even when Jasiri is genuinely looking forward to seeing Edwin on Saturday, she has this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. Even though part of it was due to the uncertainty, there was another part that she just couldn't figure it out. Was it anxiety, was it some kind of discomfort, was it guilt. She had no idea what it was but either way she thought that she will just wait and see how this date with Edwin goes.
As they arrived at the Jackson stop, they looked at each other as the train doors opened and the intercom blared.
This is Jackson. Doors open on the left at Jackson.
They both walked out of the train and each began to walk up the stairs until they reached the platform.
"See you later, Jasiri!" Edwin said.
"See ya Edwin!" Jasiri replied as they both went their separate ways.
Jasiri went up a flight of stairs to reach ground level to catch a bus home, while Edwin went down a flight of stairs to walk a pathway that goes to the Blue Line.
Edwin was feeling great, he was on top of the world. He was both surprised yet ecstatic that Jasiri said yes to him. He eventually decided to let his hair down after undoing his ponytail.
He was just thinking of the possibilities that could stem from this future date with Jasiri. It could grow into a relationship, but it could end with them just being friends. He would be fine with either outcome, though he honestly hopes for the former. The possibilities are endless….. But first, he needs to look at Ma Tembo's suggestions for the lichen genome research paper.