Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(65)
“And even more are going home and then returning with mates. I think I need to take an extended vacation. Everyone can’t be lucky.”
“I used to think that too. But I’m starting to think that if you’re where you’re supposed to be, you’ll get lucky. It’s all about being true to your animal. If I hadn’t listened to my rhino, I would never have found Addison.”
“Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone describe it like that before.”
“Don’t listen to Branch. Rhinos are wise. We just don’t have good PR.”
They were in front of Chet’s home. Ward shook his hand. “It’s been good. We should do it again.”
“Anytime.”
Chet got out of the cart and went inside to his waiting family. Ward could hear Will’s delighted squealing even with the door closed. That kid was a ball of energy. He would have to make more time to visit, he decided. He only got to see Addison and Will when there was an interview—although that was pretty often. People were still curious how they were doing. The family would continue to be a minor draw as long as they were on the island. Ward had never dreamt that the wedding would produce so many promotional opportunities.
They’d only done two weddings so far, but he didn’t think he could get the company to sponsor any more in the same way. His next pitch after the ten-year celebration was going to be a wedding giveaway. It was a popular segment for a morning news show on TV. Safari Corp had offered a honeymoon to the winning couple every year, but he wanted to expand the program. He wanted to bring someone on to run a wedding-themed blog for the company website.
Each year they could give away a whole wedding package to one lucky couple. It was an easy way to get constant promotion with a high return on the investment. Wedding blogs got a ton of traffic and it could build a nice community. Weddings and honeymoons were already selling well, but he wanted to see sustained growth for at least a few more years.
It was his day off, but he’d already gotten himself thinking about work with the wedding blog. He sat down and drafted a quick pitch for when the time came. It was impossible for him to not work. Chet’s joke might not be so far off—he might have to start with only one day completely off a week. He’d only managed a day and a half this time before he started to think about work.
That was a good sign. He loved his job and never stopped thinking of ways to promote the island. He was in the right place. He couldn’t imagine being as passionate about any other corporation. He’d interned at others places before getting the Safari Island job and none of them had been like this. He’d been here more than a decade and he wasn’t getting stale. By Chet’s thinking, that meant his mate had to come to him.
He was in the right place. All he needed was the right woman at the right time…but that was easier said than done, at least for him. With his luck, the right woman would waltz into his life while he was too busy working to notice.
Next week, he would take his one day off and completely unplug for a full twenty-four hours. But before that, he had an interview to do.
*
Ward went to bed as soon as he’d typed up his pitch and was up early the next morning. He was a man on a mission. He was going to do his job well while he was on, but as soon as he was off, he had to power down. Four hours a night without doing anything work-related. He’d come up with the idea in bed. This was as good as taking two days off a week. As long as he wasn’t thinking about work in the evenings, he would be able to focus more on the “living” part of life.
Having a great job with awesome pay didn’t mean much if he let his life slip through his fingers. Maybe if he got out more, he would actually be able to find his mate. He didn’t need to leave Safari Island; he just needed to find himself. This was only the first step. He’d need to find a hobby too. But that could happen later.
He was feeling pumped when he met Mitch at Blue Ridge, one of the most popular restaurants on the island. They weren’t open for business yet this morning, but he and Mitch were going to do an interview with chef Clementine Blue. Ward was going to accompany Mitch to the restaurant, the theme park, two of the resorts, and to Safari Town. There were many more places that Mitch was filming on his own, as well as other interviews.
It was going to be a two-part series, but Ward was giving Mitch enough footage for a five-hour documentary. He had known Mitch for years and knew that he always came back to do reshoots. This time he was going to give Mitch so much footage to choose from, there would be no second takes. Ward hated having to recreate the same scenes months later.
“Morning,” Mitch boomed when Ward got inside. He shook hands with Ward. “How’d the time off go? Did you take time to enjoy your marvelous celebration?”
“Kind of,” Ward answered.
He looked around for Joan. He didn’t see her, but he knew she had to be around there somewhere. Mitch introduced him to the rest of the crew. There were many familiar faces. This was the fifth special they were shooting and the most ambitious. It made sense to bring back people who knew the island.
“Great to see some people I know,” he commented.
“I always bring the best for you,” Mitch said, then looked around. “Has anyone seen Joan? I want to introduce you to my new assistant. She’s a real tightass but she’s great at her job. I think you’ll like her. Works non-stop just like you.”