Going Ape

Almost an hour passed as Clara stood by the bars, waiting for one of her fellow keepers to come by. She'd hope that she'd get out of here before the zoo opened. Clara sighed impatiently as she tapped her foot, looking down at her watch... Before remembering that Kiko took that too.

"I wonder if it's too late to get transferred over to the lion enclosure..." Clara muttered to herself.

Suddenly, Clara heard the sounds of voices, turning to her left as she saw two keepers walking down the path towards the Amazonian Gorilla exhibit. She instantly recognized them as Greg, who worked with the elephants, and Alice, who worked in the aviary. They were close friends with Clara, the latter knowing the two were dating... And accidentally catching them doing it behind the bonobo exhibit without them knowing.

"Greg! Alice! Over here!" Clara called out, getting the attention of her friends/coworkers. "It's Clara!"

"What the?!" Greg asked in shock.

"Look, this is really embarrassing, but Kiko tricked and stripped me!" Clara explained, "Can you get me some clothes and we can track down Kiko before she leaves the zoo?"

Greg and Alice merely blinked as they turned to each other. Donning unimpressed expressions, they turned back to Clara.

"Is that the best you can do, Kiko?" Alice asked.

"Wha- No! I'm not Kiko!" Clara exclaimed, "I'm Clara! Clara Williams!"

"If that's the case, would you mind explaining that?" Greg asked as he pointed to the electric shaver and ape hair at Clara's feet. Picking up the shaver, he added, "Which you're not even supposed to be having, you silly gorilla."

"I'm not a gorilla!" Clara yelled, "And those aren't mine! Kiko must have shaved some of her fur off!"

"Yeah, all of it from what we're seeing." Alice said with a laugh.

"How can you two not recognize me?!" Clara asked in bewilderment. "Greg! We've been best friends since diapers! And Alice! We graduated from the same college the same year! Hell! I saw the two of you behind the bonobo exhibit doing it like they do on the Discovery Channel!"

"I thought you said no one would know!" Greg hissed to Alice.

"No one but the animals." Alice replied, shrugging. "Either Carla did see us and went a little blabby around the gorillas, or Kiko saw us."

With an exasperated groan, Clara pointed to her mouth and said, "Read my lips: I. Am. Not. Kiko. And. I. Am. Not. A. Gorilla! Why and how am I even talking if I was?!"

"I don't know, Clara." Alice said sarcastically, "Maybe because the Amazon Gorilla is capable of advanced speech in captivity? Something that you should've been aware of?"

"Point. Counterpoint: Does this sound like Kiko's voice?!"

"I don't know." Greg replied with a shrug, "Kiko never spoke before."

"Again, something the real Clara would know." Alice commented.

"I AM the real Clara!"

"Sure you are, Girl." Greg replied, condescendingly patting Clara's head as the naked woman let out a low growl. "This has been a fun game, Kiko, but we have to get ready for the zoo to open. Bye."

"No! Wait!" Clara called out as the two keepers walked off. "Come back! I'm not Kiko! I'm Clara! Let me out!"

Clara could only whimper as she watched her two friends and coworkers walk down the path, shocked that her closest friends actually thought she was a gorilla.

"Okay, Clara, calm down." Clara said to herself, "So they didn't believe that you weren't Kiko. I'm sure the guests will see a naked woman in one of the cages and let management know. And it's not like Kiko can pass off as me!"

"It's a shame that you'll be leaving us, Clara." The Zoo Curator said sadly as she cleaned her glasses. "What made you want to resign?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see more than just the zoo, Dr. Sampson." Kiko replied with a shrug, thankful that Dr. Sampson was as blind as a bat even with her glasses. A second later, she leaned in and said, "And if I were you, I'd tell your staff to keep a close eye on Kiko. And make sure to tell the guests not to fall for any of her tricks."

"Duly noted." Dr. Sampson replied, "Now then, you might want to use the locker room showers one last time, Dear. No offense, but you smell like a monkey."

"Duly noted." Kiko replied with a smile, choosing to ignore the monkey comment. She had more work to do before she was freed fully.