The Zookeeper 2: The Past and The Present

Ch. 6: Lunch

Later, Luz's plane touched down and she heading to her hotel. She didn't need to be at the zoo until tomorrow so she was going to unpacked. It was only a seven minute drive to the zoo, from her hotel, and she had Uber downloaded on her phone. After submitting an Uber request, Luz immediately called her Fiancé to be to see how she was doing as well as the zoo.

"Hey, Amity, how're you doing?" Luz asked.

"Good, I just began my lunch break, what about you?" Amity asked.

"I don't have to go to the zoo until tomorrow, so I'm going to explore the city and get lunch." Luz said.

"Good to know but I'm a bit jealous now. You're getting paid to play tourist right now." Amity said to her.

"Yeah, but I'm away from you." Luz said, "There isn't really that much to do without you honestly."

"Aw, you're so sweet." Amity said, "So... I talked with Eda... she's going to take me to my birth family."

If Luz was drinking, she would've done a spit take.

"WHAT?!" Luz shouted loudly, drawing some attention to herself as her Uber driver arrived.

"Luz, I can't wait anymore, I need to know more about who I am." Amity said, "I need you to trust me on this."

"Babe, I trust you with my heart and soul! It's your birth family I don't trust! What if they're just like Odalia?" Luz said as she got into the Uber car and gave the drive the hotel address.

"I know, but I have Eda, she won't let anything happen to me."

"I get that but I'm still worried." Luz said with a sad frown. "Por favor, vuelve a salvo, mi dulce flor./Just please come back safe, my sweet flower."

"I will. I love you." Amity said.

"I love you too." Luz said.

Amity hung up the phone and began to eat her salad. It made her a bit happy to know Luz was so worried about her, but she had faith that her birth family wasn't like her birth mother. If she remembered correctly, her birth father divorced Odalia before she came to get her back. Meaning that whoever he was is a better person that Odalia was by a long shot. One of Amity's friends sat across the table from her.

"Trouble in paradise?" They asked, seeing Amity's face.

"No... I'm meeting my birth family later, I'm very nervous." Amity said.

"Your birth family, huh? I thought you'd be more excited. Not that your adopted parents are bad but still." They said to Amity.

"I am excited but I'm still so nervous. Like, what if they don't recognize me or something?" Amity asked.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"The woman that kidnapped me was my birth mother." Amity said.

"... oh." They said, "Are you sure about this?"

"I mean, she did say that she and my birth father got a divorce, so maybe they'll be better?" Amity said.

"Before or after you were kidnapped?" They asked.

"Before. Much before." Amity said, "Apparently, I have older siblings. I have no memory of before the age of 4, all I've known was my adopted parents... I don't know what to expect, it's been over twenty years, I'm twenty five for God's sake!"

Her friend grabbed Amity by the shoulders and shook her a bit, making her calm down.

"Amity, breathe! It will be fine. Even if you don't know them, you can GET to know them. It's never too late to try and forge a bond between family members." They said as they let go of Amity.

"I know... I'm just nervous." Amity said, "It's sad when you can understand an animal that doesn't speak better than your own family."

"I wouldn't know that." Amity's friend said, "I work with the parrots, they are very vocal."

Amity gave her friend a blank look with a small smile, not laughing at the terrible joke but not denying that it was funny.

"You know, I almost envy the cheetahs, they get raised with support puppies." Amity said, "I need something like that, I'm stressed a lot about this."

"I see you more as a cat person."

"I think Luz is more of a cat person, she practically grew up with Tina." Amity said, "Have you ever seen that tiger near Luz? She acts like a kitten."

"How could she not? Luz and Tina are very close in age." Amity's friend said.

"Proving my point." Amity said.

"Haven't you raised a giraffe in your exhibit?" Amity's friend asked her.

"Does that look like a cat to you?" Amity asked, "I just... I think I need a pet, between meeting my birth family, planning my wedding, and Luz being on the other side of the country really makes life stressful, but being near animals usually helps me."

"I guess that makes sense, I just assumed any animal would work." Amity's friend said.

"Domestic animals work better than jungle animals." Amity replied as she went back to eating her salad.

"All animals started as jungle animals." her friend replied with a smirk.

Amity shook her head.

"Of course you would say that." Amity said before they both laughed a bit.

Their conversation did help as Amity wasn't worried as much anymore.