Finn had met the teacher a few times before, but only knew him as Mr. Dameron. Although Finn had found him physically attractive, there was something else about the teacher that Finn had found attractive. Mr. Dameron had a passion for teaching kids about the world, while making the kids future sound so positive-like they could go and be anything they wanted. Finn felt inspired, too, but didn’t quite know what else to do since he had been a tour guide at the zoo for so long.

      The hours until Mr. Dameron and the kids would arrive passed by agonizingly slow. There was only so much organization Finn could do in his small little office, and without a tour to give, there wasn’t much he could do out in the public space of the zoo. After what seemed like ages, Finn went out to the front desk to wait for the class.

      Seeing Mr. Dameron and his class walking over to him, Finn immediately straightened up and put on a more professional air. Mr. Dameron gave Finn a smile to die for and went for a handshake. Finn felt nothing but sparks when he touch Mr. Dameron’s hand and had a hard time welcoming the class to the zoo without stuttering.

      “So kids, you excited to see the monkeys?” Finn asked in a cheery voice.

      A chorus of excited ‘yes’ and ‘yeah’ came from the students. Mr. Dameron smiled happily at his students’ enthusiasm. Finn dropped random tidbits of fun information for the kids and pointed out a lot of fun little things, also. After a decent walk to the other end of the zoo, they all arrived where the gorillas were kept. While the kids were watching the gorillas intently, Mr. Dameron struck up some conversation with Finn.

      “So, how long have you been here, Finn?” Mr. Dameron inquired.

       “A long time,” Finn replied. “It’s been my job for a while, but I’m hoping to do something else soon, Mr. Dameron.”

      “Oh, call me Poe, Finn,” Poe laughed. “And what do you plan on doing?”

      “Oh, okay…Poe,” Finn said slowly, testing the name on his tongue. And I plan on doing something involving helping people. I mean, there’s only so much I can do here giving tours. Plus, my boss is quite temperamental. Mr. Ren is famous for his temper tantrums across the whole zoo staff.”

      Poe laughed and was about to say something before a child pulled him off to look at the gorillas. Finn smiled and looked at Poe. It was nice to finally be on a first name basis with him after talking to him so much.

      The rest of the tour took about an hour and before Finn saw the class and Poe off, Poe handed him a piece of paper and said, “Give it a call when you’re done for the day, alright?”