Alice's shift ends

"G'night Paul!" Alice waved to her boss as she left the zoo for the night.

"Oh, night Alice! Thanks for entertaining the kids with those manatee stories." He replied.

"Er, mermaid stories. The stories about what men thought were mermaids turned out to be manatees." Alice corrected.

"Sure, whatever," Paul said dismissively before muttering to himself , "more like you're the manatee..." Before returning to 'work' on his crosswords.

Alice frowned as she walked away, not liking how her boss treated her, but knew it was only him and a few of his "mates" that liked to make fun of her weight. It's not her fault that her Dad's Hawaiian heritage gifted her with a Prodigious Posterior. If she were on his island homeland, she would be pressured to "shake it" as one of the island dancers for Luaus and other cultural celebrations or functions. However, she was here in Australia, where most women have their curves fairly equal on top and bottom. That is, unless they got implants.

She was heading to the Women's Lockers to change out of her uniform into her "civvies", consisting of a pink jumper and tan trousers that she had changed out of upon arriving. It was the tail end of spring and the nights were milder than the days were hot, so she often dressed warmly when coming and going, but her uniform's khaki shorts and shirt kept her cool during the day as she visited the different exhibits and aquarium tanks and fed the variety of animals before doing demonstrations inside a few of the habitats (that didn't necessitate her going in the water or getting to close to the dangerous animals) and giving short presentations inside the main building. The building housed a few spearate aquariums for different animals and one big one that held a variety of inderwater plants and animals that can coexist without any predators. She walked down the halls and exited the front lobby, waving Goodnight to the night watchman standing guard for the next 10hrs.

"Goodnight, Martin." She smiled to him.

"Night, Ali." He replied.

"Um...it's Alice..." She meekly muttered, unsure if he even heard it.

She made her way to the outdoor exhibits, which made a loop back here where the main gates was to the parking lot. To her right was the gift shop, and to her left was the enclosure for the Rhinos. She took the left path and walked past the Rhinos to the Lions, and Tigers, which were specifically positioned in the rear so guests had to walk past all the other animals before getting to the most popular ones. She saw the Koalas beginning to get more active as they are nocturnal. She made her way past the rear of the indoor area where the entrances to the reptile and amphibian house and the arachnid display (which she avoided like the plague), and then saw a sight for sore eyes...

"Oh, on your way out, Alice?" Dennis asked.

Alice smiled and nodded, not always able to speak to him. She found him dreamy since the day she started. His short brown hair made him look like a mix of Chris Evans and a young Harrison Ford. A rugged adventurous type, but friendly and personable. Except when you're absolutely in love with him as Alice is. She found herself tongue-tied around him even at the best of times, so she often chose to remain silent.

"Well, even though I only see you when you come in and when you leave, I have to say you're one of the best zookeepers we have here. Just today, I heard kids and parents complimenting the 'cute girl at the aquarium'. Your demeanor, engaging personality, and knowledge seem to have them inspired." He said.

Alice flushed when he heard him refer to her as a "cute girl", even if it wasn't from his own perspective. Just hearing him say it made her heart soar. She nearly felt like putty before him.

"Oi! Get back to work loverboy. Stop teasing the poor hippo. Not like she'll be getting any." A squeaky old crone bellowed from the other side of the ape enclosure.

"Sorry, Ma'am. Just being friendly. Also, would it kill ya to be polite? She knows she isn't the thinnest, but you ain't no spring chicken yerself!" Dennis spat back.

Alice's anxiety was working double time. First at the old woman's outburst that belittled her, but then Dennis defending her made her heart skip a beat. She took a deep breath before collecting herself.

"It's alright Madge. I'm just leaving. G'night!"

"Goodnight..." Madge patronizingly waved.

Alice walked further past the giraffe enclosure and peeked at the gentle giants within. It was a different perspective than the one she gets when she enters the elephant exhibit just next door when ...she was up to her secret fun. She stared at the elephants and at the decorative pond next to the gift shop. It was dorned with flowers on the path facing edge, and a tall flubtain in the center. Alice smiled at memories from the early mornings that she felt naughty enough to...

'Stop, I can't think about that now. I need to get home and focus on my chores.' The voice in her head told her.

'Well, maybe we can return later tonight...' the voice conceeded.

She cleared her throat, interrupting that train of thought and turned to the path that led to the Women's Lockers. She walked this path every night when finishing her visit to the pond. She felt her heart beat faster at the memory of running naked, clothes in hand, back to the Lockers to dry off and change after skinny dipping in the pond. She shook the naughty memories out of her head so she could get changed. She preferred not to shower at the Zoo as she was the only female working during the day, but the night shift (primarily cleaning crew) would be in soon and she preferred to not have them see her. Now changed, she finished her trek out of the zoo. She walked past the gift shop and finally to the front gates and the guard shack.

"G'night Arthur." Alice waved, feeling proud that she made sure to memorize the other employees' names that don't get much credit.

"Oh, good night Annie!" He replied.

Alice rolled her eyes as he clearly didnt put in the effort to remember her name.

"It's Alice, actually." She said under her breath as she pushed the gate open and entered the parking lot. She sighed as she was now away from her job. She found her car and went home for the night. Her apartment was sparsely decorated, as she didn't have much time for distractions. She went about doing her weekly chores, taking out the trash, washing dishes, and then she remembered: laundry.

She had been a bit lazy with her chores this month, and kept postponing her laundry. Now, she realized she was wearing the last bra and panties that were relatively clean. Sighing, she went to take her shower, and removed her clothes. As she washed herself, she began to take stock of her body. She sighed as she saw her small breasts, but she always found her nipples to be the silver lining, with how small and cute she thought they looked, and of course how sweet the feeling was when they were caressed just right. She had to catch herself as she was about to touch them in that exact "just right" way and caight herself, moving her hands to scrub her belly.

As she squeezed her soft belly, she let out a different sigh, one of self reflection and how others see her. She wished they wouldn't make fun of her "thicc" thighs and arse, but here she was, in her shower looking at the evidence and couldn't really blame them. Her hips flared out and she didn't have that coveted "thigh gap" that men often associated with "pretty girls". At least Dennis was different. He was the only one who defended her, though most employees just chose not to say anything. She often fantasized that he was the only one who appreciated her body type and maybe secretly loved it! Many nights had been spent thinking about what if he asked her out, or if he was the one to catch her showering in the Women's Lockers. Would he appreciate the view or tease her about her weight too (but in a sexy way?)

Alice let out a gasp as her hands met her crotch, finding it sensitive and wet from something other than water. She quickly lathered up her legs and large ass, trying not to dwell on those thoughts again before rinsing off. She luxuriate under the shower head, thinking back to the last time she took a dip inside the pond near the Gift shop...

'Ugh, fine. I'll visit again tonight before my shift starts. But right now I have just enough time to do laundry before bed.' She said to herself.

She got dressed in her pajamas, which were a long t-shirt and baggy pajama pants. She usual wore panties, but they were all in her laundry basket along with her bras. It was a short trek to the laundry room and inside were the coin operated machines. She went to the back and loaded her laundry into a washer,asking sure her coin purse wasn't thrown in as well. She paid for the single cycle and waited for it to finish about an hour later, reading an ebook on her phone. She then placed her wet clothes into a dryer and read silently for another 45mins before it too was done. She had to fight the urge to strip rifgt here and put on a pair of panties that were fresh and toasty from the dryer. She decided to wait until she was back in her apartment. When she arrived back inside she did just that, but left the rest of her clothes in the basket next to her bed. She climbed into the soft and warm bed before falling asleep for the night, dreaming of what she would do later...