It was hours before sunrise when Mark woke up. He had set a silent alarm on his watch so he wouldn't wake Kelly at this ungodly hour. He crept out of the bedroom, willing each floorboard to stay quiet. Thankfully, the house granted his meager request.
He made his way down to the kitchen and made himself simple toast and jam. He didn't have time to dedicate himself to making something elaborate. As soon as he was done eating, he made his way to one of the office spaces in the trainer housing and got straight to work.
As of last week, Mark was overhauling the hiring practices of the ranch and would be sitting in on interviews starting today. He had enlisted Atlas and Bessie to help with this new pursuit. Eventually, after a trial period of course, Mark was hoping that many of the pair's barn herd could assist with interviews and training. The males from the paired herd tended to be a little more docile, making them a safer choice than regular males.
Mark sat staring at his presentation. The slides were perfect, his cue cards were in order, his hair was combed, and his best shirt was pressed. Now he just needed to grab Atlas and it would be time for their presentation. Hopefully Atlas could behave himself.
Mark was dreading this presentation, he knew his father would be eager to sink anything he put forward. He stared for a minute longer, checked his cue cards again, and finally walked off to the pairs barn.
When Mark arrived, Bessie was still fast asleep. Mark put his shirt in the trainer's room, and grabbed Atlas. Atlas was not thrilled to have been woken up this early, but Mark seemed genuinely nervous so he decided against causing trouble.
"It's going to be fine, everything is going to be great. Right Atlas?" Mark panic rambled.
"Of course it's going to be fine! You're the best trainer and you know so much stuff Mark!" Mark now talked to himself in a weird deep voice.
"Thanks Atlas! You'll be on your best behavior right my main man?" Mark continued to zealously converse with no one. Atlas just stared at him, unimpressed.
"Of course Mark. I love you so much and want you to succeed, so I will do absolutely nothing to get this proposal shut down. I am the bestest bull ever, don't you know?" Mark's smile was a wide one of thinly veiled panic.
Atlas stared at the unhinged trainer for a moment, and then just rested his chin on Mark's left shoulder. Mark felt Atlas's warm, slow breath on his ear, and started to feel calmer. He took a deep breath.
"Okay, let's do this." Mark steeled himself for the day.
He bathed Atlas, making sure his copper hair was neatly styled and his skin was soft. He fed Atlas breakfast, not that Atlas ate much, he was unsettled by Mark's anxiety.
He had felt the trainer's heartbeat against his own chest and it thundered like a runaway train. He needed Mark to feel better, so that he could feel better.
They walked up to the house and Atlas noticed Mark growing more tense, he noticed something else though, something strange for his very even keeled trainer, aggression. He recognized the signs from the bullpen, and it looked so bizarre on Mark.
This animal aggression made Mark look like he was about to charge into battle. Atlas stayed quiet and still next to Mark as he opened the door in front of them. They walked through the cold empty halls, the sound of Mark's boots, being the only sign of a soul in the building.
They arrived in front of a set of large, ornate, dark wood doors. Mark took a steadying breath.
"This is it boy. Best behavior." Mark said firmly. Atlas looked at him, with soft eyes, and then stared back at the door.
They were greeted by eyes as soft as steel.
"Mark." Mark's father said his name as a greeting, but it sounded more like a threat.
"Father." Mark iced right back to the older man. Atlas had been right, Mark was going into battle.
"Are you prepared? We have the slideshow set up, hopefully there's more to your presentation than that." His father challenged.
"I'm more prepared than you will ever know." Mark retorted.
"Why do you think Atlas is here?" Mark added.
"Codependency?" His father smirked.
Mark just brushed past him, Atlas in tow.
"Mark, my boy!" A slightly red faced balding man exclaimed.
"Mr. Wells!" Mark replied with equal enthusiasm. The older man slapped Mark's shoulder.
"Who is this fine specimen?" He asked, looking Atlas up and down.
"This is Atlas." Mark smiled, lightly ruffling Atlas's hair.
"He's very calm for a bull. Kind eyes, that one." Mr. Wells smiled at Atlas. Atlas lowered his head, and allowed Mr. Wells to gently stroke his curls.
"Friendly too." Mr. Wells beamed.
"Can we please start the meeting?" Mark's father interrupted in an impatient tone.
"Geez Ward, calm down." Mr. Wells sighed as he sat.
"Thank you for having me today. Members of the board, and company founder, I am proud to present my new hiring and training guidelines and curriculum." Mark began
"Due to recent events, I found that our hiring practices needed a massive overhaul." Mark continued, Mark's father scoffed.
"We currently seek trainers through word of mouth and family connections, but I look at my beautiful fiancée, who was recruited through a specialized interest group, and there isn't anyone more perfect for the job. Kelly was a psychology student who wrote extensively on behavior modification through pleasure. She was recruited based on her papers and has had great success with this company."
"Congratulations on the engagement." Whispered Mr. Wells.
"I've found that seventy-eight percent of specialized interest candidates are successfully bonded with their bovine after six months, versus forty-seven percent of non specialized interest candidates." Mark paused for a second.
"The other hiring consideration is more extensive reference and background checks. After contacting a few close relations of a past trainer who we had to fire, it turns out he is known for doing whatever it takes to get what he wants, and has a rather large manipulative streak." Mark grimaced.
"I propose placing psychologists on our hiring team, and only recruiting through specific interest searches." Mark stated firmly.
"That will be quite expensive." Mark's father retorted. Another board member jumped to his defense.
"Yes but we'll be able to generate more products and save on severance pay and... non disclosure assurance..." The board member almost whispered the last part. Mark's father just sighed.
"Next is training. I believe that new hires should be working with a bovine within a week of being hired."
"How do you propose that?" Mark's father demanded.
"We have trainers and bovine from the pairs barn assist. You saw how gentle Atlas was. The paired bulls are tamer than the regular males. This method also allows our trainers to more closely monitor how trainees interact with bovine." Mark smiled smugly.
"Excellent ideas Mark! Take it to a vote?" Mr. Wells grinned. The ten members of the board muttered enough combined agreement to go ahead.
