Chapter IV

They were at a bar that also served food. "Carrots, if you want to continue drinking like this, you're gonna have to eat something." He told her. "How about we order you a veggie burger?"

"I'm not even drunk, Nick." She responded a little amused. "You know I can handle a lot more." Nick knew that and remembered being very surprised the first time they went drinking together, when nothing bothered him. Now he could not stop wondering about this Tom.

Before today he had never realized how he and Judy had never talked about exes or relationships. Now that he thought about it, Judy was so amazing in so many ways that it would be stupid to think that no one had ever laid eyes on her, surely he was not the only male who noticed her. Anyhow, he was his friend so he could ask, right?

"So, who's Tom?" He asked trying to sound nonchalant.

Judy chuckled. "I was wondering when you were going to ask." She continued taking a sip of her beer but said nothing. This was making Nick go a little crazy inside, but he just remained looking at her. When she noticed that she chuckled again. "Fine." She began. "Tom is my ex, but I figure you could guess that."

"Well, yes, I imagined so." He said with a light grin on his face. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine". Judy thought about it for a second, after all Nick was his best friend so she saw no reason not to tell him about Tom, the beers she had in her system helped a little.

"No, it's fine." She paused, thinking how Nick never seemed curious about her love life before. The fact that he appeared a little surprised that she had dated hurt a little, probably because he didn't see her that way. "Well, believe it or not, Slick: I'm a girl." She said jokingly putting a hand to her chest in a ladylike kind of way, which Nick really enjoyed seeing. "And before joining the ZPD, actually before joining the Police Academy and becoming this..." She pointed to her full body. "I used to be... Well, you know, just normal. So, unlike now, I had a life and went out on dates sometimes."

"Was this before you wanted to be a cop?" Nick asked, a little delighted to learn about this side of her, his head resting on his paw.

"No." Judy went on. "I wanted to be a cop since I was nine. That was always my dream, but when I joined the Academy, everyone looked at me and just saw a 'cute little bunny', so I had to change my attitude, my looks and way of dressing because, believe me, wearing cute dresses and makeup and being 'emotional' was not helping me. Instead I had to put on this 'tough mask' to be taken seriously and gain just a little bit of respect and I discovered that acting that way actually scares guys away. I guess they prefer a more feminine lady, that's why I don't go out on dates anymore." She drank some beer.

"Anyway." She continued when she saw Nick was listening intently and waiting for her to go on. "Before I put this 'mask' on, whenever I went out on a date or met someone, I would never talk about what I wanted to be. I made sure to keep things, you know… casual. So I never had a serious or long term relationship." She looked a little embarrassed.

Nick was actually very surprised to hear all of this, it was a side of Judy he never even wondered about. He was feeling more close to her because of all the sharing and trust that it involved. He kept on listening noticing how she flushed a little as she continued speaking.

"When I met Tom I didn't even like him in the first place, he seemed pedantic and pompous but I told him about wanting to join the Police Academy and he didn't run away. Because of that I decided to give him a chance and I ended up a little bit infatuated but then after a year more or less, we broke up." She said the last sentence faster as if she did not want to deepen on that subject.

Nick, however, was not at all satisfied by the lack of details. "That's it? You just broke up?" He asked casually, hiding the fact that the word 'infatuated' made him feel a little awkward, he needed to know more mostly because he was positively curios about what someone could have done to end the relationship. "Come on, Carrots. You can tell me". She gave him a small nervous smile.

"Well, he wanted more from the relationship." Seeing the confused look on the fox's face, she added. "He made me choose between my career and him." His jaw dropped a little, he was really impressed, and also little proud of his bunny for sticking up for herself like that. "So, I guess you can figure out what my choice was, detective." She joked. "And since my mom thinks he's the only mammal who has ever noticed me, I guess she's trying to 'help me'". She rolled her eyes as she made the air quotes but she also looked a little sad.

Maybe she still had feelings for him. "He misses her, but... does she?" Nick couldn't help but feel a little jealous about the way the memory of her ex made her act. "How long ago did you break up?"

"Mmm, about the same time I've been living here." She said.

Nick's jaw dropped a little more this time. He met Judy right after she moved into Zootopia and they had been friends practically since then and she never mentioned she was going through a break up of a relationship that sounded like it was a serious one. Seeing the expression on her friend's face, she continued with her story.

"We broke up the day after I graduated from the Police Academy." He kept his ears pointing attentively at her. "I had told him about my dream of joining the Academy and prove that a bunny could be anything, even a police officer and he seemed really supportive, he even was happy for me when my application was accepted." She continued, glancing at her drink and then at Nick who was still listening carefully. "But apparently, he was under the impression that I just wanted to prove a point and that I only wanted to graduate from the ZPA, not actually pursuing a career as a cop." She took a sip of her drink and went on.

"We talked on the phone the day before my graduation and when he found out I was going to be most likely assigned to work at Precinct One, he didn't take it that well, so I was not surprised when he didn't show up for my graduation ceremony the next day." She looked a bit sadder.

"After the ceremony, when I went back home, he was there and tried to convince me that I had proven the world what I was capable of and now I could just forget about all that and focus on a future together." She looked down feeling a little embarrassed. "We just wanted different things, so I told him I was going to move here and pursue my dream job. I looked for apartments available on the internet that same day. There weren't many options, that's how I ended up in my shoebox, and well, the next day I took the train here."

The look on Nick's face reflected a little of the sadness of her face. "Carrots, I had no idea you were going through all of this when I met you." He didn't know exactly what to say. "I understand now why you said dating is complicated for you." Judy looked him with a questioning look, then she realized what he was probably thinking.

"Oh, no, no." She began. "He is not the reason I'm not dating. I mean I guess is a sad story but with everything that has happened since I moved in here, I hadn't even had time to think about it and I don't regret my decision at all. I've had the best time of my life, is all I've always dreamed of, you know." She wanted to make it clear that she did not have feelings for his ex. "I-I just didn't expect the guy to be waiting at my apartment just like that with almost no previous warning." She put her paws on her head and then raised her arms dramatically.

Nick had a smile on his face, he couldn't help but feeling happy when hearing he was part of 'the best days of her life' and he understood why she was feeling so nervous and why she continued to drink beer after beer, so he tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry, Fluff." He said with a grin on his face. "You can always stay at my place if you want to avoid the ex." They laughed lightly and he noticed she was flushing, probably because of all the alcohol she had drunk so far.

He finished his beer and thought the time would never get better to tell her or at least hint her a little with his feelings when her phone (that damned phone!) rang.

"Oh no. Unknown number." she said a little worried. "I think it's him."