Happy World (2 page)

This affinity with chameleons was probably what kept him from getting a role in Entertainment, a fact he bemoaned often to his pet hamster, named -- what else -- Happy. He tried not to let it get him down, and kept going to the auditions whenever they were held anyway, never losing hope that he’d catch his big break.

But when Kyle did have somewhere to go -- like meeting his trainer on his very first day at work, for example -- he made damn sure he was early, or at the very least, on time.

His frown deepened when he finally spotted another white Groundskeeping uniform bobbing slowly along Fantasy Street, following the flow of guests. The guy was walking as if he had all the time in the world.

Is that a bag of popcorn he’s holding? No, it couldn’t be... he wouldn’t dare! It was, though, and as Kyle watched, the Trainee popped another few fluffy white kernels into his mouth.

Kyle gasped in horror. Good grief -- not eating or drinking in front of the guests onstage was one of the cardinal rules of Happy World! Hadn’t anyone told the Trainee this during orientation? What was he thinking?

Kyle shook his head at the Trainee’s folly, gathered his broom and dustbin, and hurried to meet the Trainee halfway. This is not going to end well. Not well at all.

Chapter Two

Rory chewed and swallowed the last few pieces of popcorn. Happy World did seem to have the best amusement park popcorn there was.

No, wait. The Handbook had said theme park. Theme park, not amusement park. Even though Rory found himself pretty damn amused every time he looked at the Handbook. There sure were a lot of freaking rules about the place.

Rules and Rory had never really gotten along. Parents, teachers, the two managers of the restaurants where he’d waited tables during college, all of them had tried imposing different rules on Rory. All of them had learned quickly enough that whatever Rory didn’t want to do, he didn’t do. Of course, this also meant that he got grounded, poor grades, and fired, but at least he took comfort in the fact that he was true to himself.

Being true to yourself only worked, however, if you were self-sufficient. And since Rory was still living on his father’s dime, he’d had to make the choice to follow Roarke Stafford, Sr.’s rules for now. One of which included getting a job.

It wasn’t Rory’s fault that his liberal studies degree wasn’t yielding him any employment in his field of choice. He’d done all the right things after graduating from college, but the economy was just so shitty that no one was hiring PR positions. Or human resource positions, or marketing positions, or any of the other things his degree qualified him for. Rory had been content to send out one or two resumes a week and spend the rest of his time on the beach with friends, but Roarke Sr. was having none of that.

“A job,” his father had said firmly. “A job, or I’m changing your trust to become available at age thirty-seven, not twenty-seven.”

“What!” Rory had paused, half-in, half-out of his truck. “I’ve been trying, Dad! You can’t do that!” It sounded ridiculous, even to Rory, because of course his father could do that. And was clearly going to.

“I said a job, Rory. By the end of next week. I don’t care if you’re digging ditches or picking up trash. Just get a job and quit screwing around. If this proves impossible for you, then I’ll get a job for you at my company.” His father had turned and gone back to his newest, youngest wife who was lounging by the pool in the back yard.

Rory had sworn under his breath and gone out to meet his friends, promising himself that he’d never, ever work for his father or be caught dead picking up trash for money.

This, of course, made the claw thing in his hand right now that much more ironic. Rory sighed and threw his cardboard popcorn container onto the fake cobblestone sidewalk. He was about to practice using the grabby claw to pick it up again when he was rushed by a very male, very indignant co-worker in an identical Groundskeeping uniform.

“No, no, no!” the indignant co-worker admonished. “Never let Park guests see you eating, or throwing trash on the ground!” He reached out with his own claw and snatched Rory’s popcorn box. The box was adorned with a picture of Tilly Tiger, one of the Park’s numerous animal characters.

Rory watched as the man used his claw to crush Tilly and then deposit the box into the nearest trash can. “I was going to pick it up,” Rory offered, not sure if the guy was being serious. Obviously Rory wasn’t going to let the trash just sit on the ground.

“It doesn’t matter.” He straightened up and Rory saw his name tag for the first time. Kyle, Sarasota, Florida. “You can’t just stop and pick something up. You need to swoop gracefully and keep moving. Don’t ever bend over.”

Something told Rory that his automatic dirty response to “bending over” probably wouldn’t be well-received. Instead, he grinned and stuck out a hand. “Hi, I’m Roarke. Don’t call me that, though. It’s Rory.”

Kyle from Sarasota shook Rory’s hand. “Hello. Are you ready to get started? We’re already behind schedule.”

They were? Rory glanced at his watch. Seven minutes after ten. Looked like they were pretty on time to him, but Kyle didn’t seem to think so. “Sure, man.” He lifted his claw and squeezed it a few times. “Let’s hit it.”

Kyle blinked, not seeming to understand Rory’s meaning, but he shrugged and led the way down Fantasy Street. “Okay, so you’ve read up on your Handbook, right?”

“Depends what you mean by ‘read up’.” Rory chuckled and twirled his claw. “I read it a couple times, yeah. Enough to pass the test at the end of class, anyway.” The formal training period for Happy World had ended with an actual exam about the company’s history, legacy, and brand name. Rory hadn’t thought they were serious about testing him until the night before, when he realized that he wasn’t allowed into the Park for field training unless he passed the stupid test. Cramming had always worked well for him in college, and it served its purpose for Happy World Institute, too.

“A couple of times? I don’t think that’s going to be good enough. When’s your next shift?” Kyle reached out with his broom and swept up what looked like salt from one of the hot pretzels, all without stopping.

“Uh, tomorrow.” Rory wondered if he was supposed to be sweeping too, but Kyle looked like he had it in control. Kyle looked like he had most things in control, which Rory thought was probably part of his problem. Too tight a hold on the reins.

“Okay.” Kyle nodded and kept moving briskly, pausing now and then to smile at a guest with the trademark Happy World grin. “Tomorrow, I’ll quiz you on appropriate jewelry.” He cast a sidelong glance at Rory’s thin silver-toned bracelet. “Like that, for example. Necklaces, bracelets, and ankle bracelets are not permitted.”

The guy sounded exactly like the Handbook. Rory considered telling Kyle that he wasn’t stupid; he’d read the Handbook just like everyone else, and the rules specifically said that medical alert jewelry was acceptable. Which the silver bracelet actually was, if you looked close. Childhood diabetes had struck at the age of eight. Over fifteen years of learning how to manage the disease had made Rory pretty good at it, though, so he tried hard not to let it impact his life any more than necessary.

And part of not letting it impact his life was keeping it private. “Gotcha,” he said to Kyle, unconcerned. Rory didn’t care if Kyle told him every day not to wear his bracelet. Rory’s and Kyle’s supervisor in custodial services -- what was his name? Oh, Jason -- had seen the slim piece of steel, asked what it was, and approved the jewelry.

“Good. Okay, we’ve got some ground to cover before our break at one. Follow me, and feel free to ask any questions that pop up.” Kyle nodded and took a sharp left at the corner of Fantasy Street. He headed into another section of the Park, and Rory hurried to keep up.

The tone of the Park changed slightly from land to each themed land. There were children scattered throughout the grounds, of course, but as Rory and Kyle moved from Fairytale Land into Galaxy Land, the age range became slightly older. Galaxy Land held two of the Park’s biggest thrill rides, Planetary Pilot and Moon Launchers. They both had height requirements, so there were fewer children under the age of six in the area. Rory wasn’t sure what was worse, though -- the crying, sticky little ones, or the rude, entitled tweens and teens.

He noticed that there were white ropes lining the main street of Galaxy Land, and guests were stationing themselves in hordes along the edges of the ropes. Rory was about to call out to Kyle and ask what they were waiting for, but Kyle was already a few feet ahead of him, mingling with the crowd and being as polite as he could be when sweeping trash from around their feet. Rory didn’t have much choice but to sigh and follow him.

Rory’s question was answered within moments. The cleverly hidden sound system suddenly blared to life, piping out a cheerful tune and a very smooth-talking announcer.

“Ladies and gentlemen, children young and old! Welcome to your most magical fantasy! You’ve come to a place where imagination meets laughter and enchantment. Join us as we celebrate your most beloved Happy World friends in the Parade of Wonder!”

Ah, a parade, of course. Rory had been briefed on the parade schedule during orientation, but since it was summer season and the calendar was completely packed with entertainment, he’d forgotten it was time for the morning parade. Maybe there’d be time to stop in the shade of that tree over there and --

“Rory!” Kyle appeared at his side as if by magic. “There is to be no stopping along parade routes! Now is the time when we have to be extra vigilant about watching for trash. The gathered guests will drop garbage where they stand, and if our lead comes along, he won’t want to see litter piling up.” As if to demonstrate, Kyle reached out and caught a piece of paper from a churro almost before it hit the ground.

“No watching parades, huh?” Rory looked on enviously as a little girl sat in the shade and licked an ice cream cone.

“Not while you’re on the clock. Careful!” Kyle reached out and caught Rory’s arm, moving him out of the path of the parade’s first float.

He really hadn’t been near enough to the float to get hurt, but he was getting used to Kyle’s overreaction to things. Rory looked up over his head as what looked like an enormous hamster ball rolled slowly by. It was a hamster ball, he realized, and there was Happy Hamster himself inside. The delighted shrieks of children filled Rory’s ears as Happy waved a little rodent paw at them.

The next float to pass was Blackie White, the poor confused polar bear who lived out his days on a tropical island instead of the North Pole. Rory could hear the crowd laughing as Blackie played with a beach ball under a collection of fake palm trees.

There was a collective “oooh” from the crowd for the next characters in the lineup. Rory slipped behind a large man with an unfortunate sunburn and looked to see what familiar player was coming down the street. Expecting to see yet another costumed imaginary animal, Rory blinked when he caught a glimpse of two decidedly human figures.

Some of the characters in Happy World were not animals. There were several animated humans scattered among the animal collection. One of the most notable of these was Arabella, the wild animal trainer. She’d had several television shows and movies written for her character and was considered a good model of feminism for the pre-adolescent girls. The crowd clapped for her now as she rubbed the furry tummy of Tilly Tiger.

The other cartoon human character that got a lot of screen time was Daniel the Dragon Slayer. He always seemed to be underdressed, the few times Rory had paid any attention to the television show. Ripped shirt, snug… um, what were those things? Breeches? Rory didn’t know who dressed this dude or why his shirt was always ripped.

But wow, whoever the Actor was that Happy World had hired to play Daniel had done an amazing job. He sat up high on the neck of an animatronic dragon, flashing his pearly whites at the crowd and brandishing his trademark sword. Rory craned his neck up high to watch Daniel pass.

Just as the huge turquoise dragon rolled past, Daniel looked down and saw Rory watching him. The bright smile grew a bit wider and Rory could swear that Daniel winked at him. Of course, from ten feet up on top of a parade float, it was hard to tell. There were tales floating around of backstage romantic shenanigans between employees, but Rory wasn’t sure that they started with a wink and a grin on top of a giant dragon.

He was wondering the best way to get in touch with Daniel the Dragon Slayer when Kyle came back to fetch him once more. “We’re supposed to be circling the Pizza Space Nine restaurant.”

“Yeah,” Rory replied absently, eyes still on Daniel’s back as the dragon made its way down the street.

Kyle followed Rory’s look and gave a snort. “She’s been engaged for three years to a military guy. Big. Don’t try it.”

She? Oh, Kyle thought Arabella was the one to catch his eye. “I didn’t notice her,” Rory laughed. “So, where’s the Pizza Planet thing? Pizza Port?”

“Pizza Space Nine.” Kyle threaded his way through the crowd until he and Rory could walk side by side. “So who? Charlie? Uh, Daniel. His real name’s Charlie Taylor.”

Rory nodded. “Charlie Taylor. Good to know.”

“He won’t give you the time of day.” Kyle’s voice was clipped even as he smiled politely at a woman who bumped into him with her overly large diaper bag.

“Why’s that? I can be charming when I want to be.” That’s what his last hookup had told him, anyway. Rory had heard it before.

Kyle made a turn into an enclosed area outside of the pizza restaurant that housed several dozen small round tables. Rory watched as he cleaned around guests’ feet with quick, unobtrusive movements. There had been a part of orientation that had stressed being both visible and invisible to guests at the same time. Seemed like Kyle had that down, and Rory was struck again by the realization that Kyle was definitely a rule follower.

“There’s a class system here. Groundskeepers are only one step above the bottom rung. We’re on top of food and concession stand workers, but only by a little bit.” Kyle shrugged and swept up a bit of fallen ice from a spilled soda. “On top of us is… well, everyone else. But Entertainment, especially character Actors, are out of our league.” He sounded glum and Rory couldn’t help wondering if Kyle was pining after someone in Entertainment.