Sure enough the intercom soon buzzed and the deep male voice of what Christina assumed would be her next owner could be heard. Not long after she was able to put a face to the voice as Jenkins opened the door to a tall, well built, young man. He didn't look like a monkey trainer, not that Christina really knew what one would look like, but was holding a cage that was presumably for her.
"I'm here to pick up Christina" the lad read the name off a piece of paper he had with him. So this was her courier?
"There she is" Jenkins nodded at the monkey that had sat herself down on the floor as she waited "You'll find Christina to be one of my best performers. Mr Spiletti should be very happy with her work"
"Oh, cool" the young man uttered without much interest. He was clearly just here to pick up the goods.
Christina was ushered into her cage where she was carried, wordlessly and unceremoniously, downstairs and placed into the back of a van. The delivery man, whose name she didn't know, apparently didn't have much interest in monkeys and treated Christina much the same as if she had been a crate of pet food.
Sitting in her cage in the back of the van ,alongside various pieces of circus equipment and placards advertising the show she would presumably be appearing in, Christina couldn't help but reflect on whether showing up for work today had been a bad idea. Perhaps how surprisingly well her first day had gone had lulled her into a false sense of security. Today already felt like it was going to be a tough one and she hadn't yet reached the circus.
When she got there, things did initially improve. Mr Spiletti, who would be training her personally, was far friendlier than the delivery guy and quickly gave Christina a drink of water and some fruit and nuts to eat which she gladly accepted. As an animal she was quickly learning to consume whatever she was given whenever she was given it or go hungry.
To Christina's surprise, two other monkeys - both of them male - were then brought into the tent alongside her. These were the genuine article rather than transformed humans and were clearly confused by her behaviour. Christina may have looked, smelt and sounded like a Rhesus Macaque but she had no idea how to act like one or respond to their attempts to communicate with her. She also failed to act in the subservient way a female monkey was supposed to when both of her co stars attempted to get up close and personal with her. Luckily, the horny males were shooed away from the healthy young female by Mr Spiletti before they could overpower Christina and the rehearsal was able to begin.
It was quickly explained to Christina that she would be the star of the show and Bubbles and King her sidekicks. It was mostly incredibly simple stuff - forward rolls, flips, thow a ball, catch a ball, ride piggyback on each of her co performers etc. It was during the audience interaction that Christina's human intelligence would be brought into play - participating in magic tricks, picking cards, responding to any commands she was given by audience members and so on. For the climax she was to be placed in a box by a magician and made to dissapear, a trick a real monkey would struggle to perform. The only really horrible part of this was that, as a humorous touch, she would be performing in a pink tutu like a little monkey ballerina.
As her costume was put onto her, Christina thought about just how far from how she imagined her career going this was. But she was the kind of person who gave everything she did her all and Mr Spiletti was clearly happy with what he was seeing from her so far. Perhaps she could even earn herself another bonus.
It would be showtime soon and, though still a little nervous, Christina felt sure she was ready for it.