Chapter Three: Meanwhile

A beautiful fox sits in her office while dressed in her Interpol uniform. Sunlight creeps in through the blinds of the window to her right and gives her silky yet curly blue hair lighter highlights. Her boots lie on her desk as she keeps her arms crossed. It's slightly warm in the dim room during the sun's arising. The only unusual yet expected thing about this fox is that dreamy smirk on her face.

Carmelita's big dark-chocolate eyes stare happily at her recent paper work that lies on her desk. She did not even care what work she faced today, as long as she finds something about the Cooper Gang. She had no idea where her fiancé and his friends went but she looks forward to finding them soon. Her eyes quickly glance at a breath-taking diamond ring that is around her ring finger. She will soon be a Cooper… She is engaged to a thief she's known since her early years as an officer. No one else knows the real "Constable Cooper" but herself and the gang.

She likes this feeling, a feeling of love, sarcastic relationship, teasing, and even some rebellion. An Interpol officer with some rebellion in her... With love involved, do you really think she cares? The fox pictures her beloved raccoon in her head, filling thoughts with him included minute by minute. Birds start to chirp with the twenty-four-seven car honking outside.

Carmelita removes her feet from sleeping on her desk and she sinks in her chair. After another ten silent minutes later, someone knocks on Carmelita's office door. The fox shoots up out her chair and walks over to the door. She pulls herself together and starts to focus on her job. Her hand turns the doorknob and opens the door to a beautiful tiger.

The tiger was more dolled up than normal. Her vivid long black hair was curled with pearl clip-ons evenly spread out. The front part of her hair was pulled back while the rest of her curled hair hung down. The eyelids were powdered a wet-tree bark color, making her eyes look shinier and stand out. Her lips were painted black; same with the edges of her eyes and eye lashes. A little blush was applied which stood out her satisfied smile. The eyes of the tiger watched the fox's, making the fox smile as well. This is Rachel, a woman Carmelita is friends with and works with.

A serene voice escaped the tiger's mouth. "Hey Carmelita!"

"Hello Rachel!" the fox replied. "How are you?"

The tiger giggled a little, twirling her hair and looks down. "I'm doing… WONDERFUL!" Her hands shot up and she closed her eyes. Carmelita wondered what caused Rachel to be so happy this morning. The tiger set her arms down and opens her eyes to Carmelita. "May I come in?"

Happiness from Rachel seemed to rub off on Carmelita, fulfilling Carmelita with even more amicable. "Sure come right in!" The tiger enters the room in a smooth-like way as Carmelita closes her office door. Rachel plops herself in Carmelita's chair; you see her lungs expand and calmly exhale. She looked like she set herself in a bed full of beautiful flowers in a sunny yet breezy meadow. Carmelita watches Rachel, giving off a giggle herself. "So Rachel, what puts you in such a good mood today?"

The tiger looks at Carmelita and bites her lip; still smiling. "Yesterday…" A giggle interrupts her sentence. "Oh wait that reminds me! Congratulations on the engagement! Although I must say…" Her smile started to drop and her eyebrows were brought together. Her serious eyes continue to glare at Carmelita.

Carmelita's face turned puzzled. "What?"

"Trust me, I'm really glad that you are happy with him. That's a big part in a relationship… to be happy. I'm just a little concerned for you… He hurt you big time. Now I don't know what happened to you two during the time you and him were gone. I also didn't know why he was gone for so long after you returned. I'm a little curious on why you haven't told me about you two… So all I knew was him leaving you. I know how badly that affected you. I talked to him yesterday, I may not like him for what he did to you, but he makes you happy. He shows that he loves you; I see the way you see and talk to each other. But I swear if he hurts you again like that, murder will be involved and he WILL be the victim. You understand Carm?"

The two friends smile to each other. "Yes Rachel, I do."

"I won't show my anger towards him, in fact I don't have all that anger anymore. That would just be wrong of me to do. I'll be there for you for all your bad times. Not just from him but for anything. You and I are close Carm, and I'm happy that you are happy. Go ahead and marry him, but I better be there at the wedding!"

Carmelita giggled happily along with Rachel. "Yes, you will. Yesterday was perfect!"

The tiger nodded and gasped. "Oh yeah, yesterday! So the reason I'm happy now is because… after the party, I came across Paxton again. Yeah, I did tell him I was going to the Interpol anniversary party."

Carmelita's one eyebrow rose. "What did he want?"

"Well he was looking forward to seeing you to get his rock back-" Carmelita's closed her eyes with annoyance as she interrupted Rachel. "Of course…"

Rachel paused her statement but shortly continued. "Yes, and I told him about you and Cooper, you two left before I did. I also told him the great news between you two; that you guys are engaged. He seemed a little upset but not much lamentation. Well he and I talked for a while. He ahh…" The tiger bit her lip again and glared at the floor; almost giggling. "He asked me to come to his house. He wanted to know more about me."

"Ah, so how did you feel about that?"

The tiger sat up, being spontaneous as usual. "Are you kidding me?! A guy who absolutely loves to follow his dreams! That's just so attractive! I think I like him a little bit. Paxton and I are planning to go out to dinner tonight after work."

"Ha, well I hope you two have fun!"

The tiger smiled. "Yeah I know we will. He also wanted me to tell you that he wanted to talk to you in person."

The fox rolled her eyes. "Oh did he? Well I don't know when that'll ever happen."

"Oh come on Carm, he isn't that bad!" The two laugh together again. Carmelita smiled. "Well he's all yours! Go ahead, take him! Oh and another thing, I'd like you to be the maid of honor when I get married." The tiger exclaimed, "Yes!" as she stood up. "You better! Do you two have a specific date and place you two will tie the knot?"

Carmelita smirked at her friend. "No, but when he comes back I think we will."

"Good! Keep me updated girl! Wait, where is he now?"

The fox hesitated for a few seconds; Rachel must not know about whom Constable Cooper really is, Sly Cooper. She spoke with little thought towards the tiger. "He uh… had another call this morning. Not far from here though, he should be back in a couple days."

The tiger's face filled up with a little suspicion and confusion. "Okay…" Rachel looks around the room and back at her friend. "So what have you been up to? Any new trouble makers?"

"I was…" Carmelita looked at her desk and saw her paper work. "I was just about to work on the paper work. I don't know yet, I will find out once I work on it." The tiger smiled and walked closer to Carmelita. "Okay, good luck. I hope they don't bore you half to death! I should get started in my work too. I'll talk to you soon Carm!" The tiger wrapped her arms around the fox's neck and shortly after stared to walk towards the door.

Rachel opens the door; Carmelita turns to watch. The tiger was about to leave the room but turned her head to look at Carmelita. Her exquisite hair swayed back with her head, looking as light as a feather. "Oh and Carm, you know who to call if something wrong happens. Just always remember that sista!" Carmelita smiled yet again. "I will! See you later!"

Rachel left the room, closing the door behind her. Carmelita sat in her chair and took one of her papers off her desk. There was a lot to fill out, making the fox tiredly sigh. She glances at her towering pile of papers and mumbles to herself, "This is going to be a long day…"

Carmelita places the paper on the desk and picks up a pen. The room gets brighter and slightly warmer from the sun. For the rest of the morning and afternoon, all that was on her mind was completing papers, how and when she'll talk to Paxton, and most importantly… her fiancé. When will he be back to see Carmelita?


*So sorry it was too short! The next chapter will be longer trust me! Enjoying so far? Another thing, I absolutely love the reviews so far! Thank you! Next chapter is coming its way! :D *