At the advice of one of the voices in my head I now add this disclaimer: I don't own shit but my OCs. I take no ownership of zootopia, etc, etc.

I WILL NEVER ABANDON THIS STORY UNTIL IT IS COMPLETE, PERIOD! EVEN IF I LOSE BOTH OF MY HANDS ILL TYPE WITH MY TOES, LOSE THOSE I STILL GOT A NOSE! So yeah, no story abandonment here, nope.

So to all regular readers I have combined chapters 5-8 as they fit together much better than apart, it also cuts down on the number of chapters I have.


Chapter Five: More than meets the eye in a certain tod

Vivian exited the cab as it pulled up to the curb of the massive building that serve at the headquarters for Sparrowtail industries located in the center of Downtown. During the ride over from the Fox In The Hen House Diner Vivian had thought about Jack and had to admit she had a little crush on him, but it's not like it would lead to anything in her mind. For starters Jack was six years younger than her and she was in her mid-twenties, there's no way Jack would want to get with a vixen that much older than him especially since he's only been in adulthood for two years while she's been in it for eight.

Even if Jack could look past the age gap he surely wouldn't want to be tied to a vixen that already had a kit regardless of how much he already liked her Nicky. Plus there was that tinsy tiny fact he had not smelled interested in her at all and he wasn't wearing any sort of MuskMask that would hide it if he was. She was pretty sure he wasn't gay, but she figured maybe he could have a condition that caused him not to omit any sort of scent but the natural fox muskiness, but let's face it any condition that causes that is super rare. Of course Vivian had her own reasons why she didn't think anything would come of the tiny crush but honestly they were just all excuses.

Vivian walked to the front passenger window and payed the cabby, a kind coyote, the fair before turning and looking at the building as the cab pulled away. The building was 50 stories of innovation and hope for not only foxes, but other species that are looked down upon by society. Vivian had researched Sparrowtail Industries and while it was made up of 48% foxes, another 50% was made up of species that struggle in society majority of it being predators, (the company was only 3% prey) coyotes, raccoons, weasels, painted dogs, and maned wolves, were just a few of the species getting their leg up in society.

48 of the floors were separated into each of the three main divisions, the first 16 floors were dedicated to Technologies, floors 17 through 32 were dedicated to Military Technologies, and floors 33 through 48 were dedicated to the Weapons Divison. The 49th floor was exclusively for the Medical Divison as it was a newer addition to the company (a smaller building of thirty stories was being build in Savannah Central to be fully dedicated to Sparrowtail Industries' Medical Divison). The fiftieth floor was solely for the CEO and the many busybodies outside of the specific branches that make the company work like customer services and marketing, the fiftieth floor would be her destination today.

Opening one of the doors meant for medium mammals Vivian entered the building and noticed the bustle of activity. Mammals of all shapes and sizes were walking about wearing all the way from casual Friday to 1500 dollar suits with everything else including some lab coats mixed in-between. Walking up to the front desk area she was greeted by a smartly dressed female raccoon dog with a kind smile who came out to meet her a few feet from the desk with paws clasped in front of her.

The smartly dressed raccoon dog stuck out one of her paws and greeted Vivian. "Hello ma'am welcome to Sparrowtail Industries Headquarters. My name is Sarah, do you have any sort of appointment with any of our more senior associates or are you visiting any of our many employees?"

Vivian took the Sarah's paw and shook it, a little taken aback by her cheery attitude. "Umm hello Sarah. No I'm not here for anything like that. I'm here to apply for a position."

Sarah's smile brightened at that and she exclaimed at a respectable volume "Oh splendid! Just splendid! I'm so excited you decided to come in personally to apply! Between you and me it gives you a serious leg up against anyone else trying to apply for the same position. Well I can definitely help you with that, just tell me the specific position and division your applying for and I'll get you the correct form!"

Vivian simply replied with just a tinge of nervousness "I'm here to apply for the CEO Secretary position."

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise and she replied, "Oh! Going for a big leap there aren't we!? I'm afraid you have to already be established as a secretary here and then apply to upgrade to that position, but I can get you a regular secretary application for all of our divisions! I'm sure a driven vixen such as yourself will definitely get hired by at least one, but I have a feeling they'd all want you to join their team!"

Vivian looked a little downtrodden at that explanation and was going to at least concede and apply for a regular secretary position when she noticed a glint of realization cross Sarah's face. "That is ma'am, unless you happen to be Vivian Wilde?"

Vivian's expression perked up again and she quickly nodded. "Yes I am Vivian Wilde."

Sarah smiled brightly again and exclaimed "ok then forgot everything I just said it doesn't apply to you! I had instructions to escort you up to Mr. Wolfgang's office whenever you showed up to apply so he can interview you personally! Follow me!"

Sarah then began leading Vivian towards a elevator separated from the rest. As they walked Sarah began to speak. "You know Ms. Wilde.."

Vivian shook her head a little and interrupted Sarah before she could continue "please just call me Vivian, Sarah."

Sarah smiled at her, nodded and then continued speak. "You know Vivian, you must have a friend in a very high place."

Vivian tilted her head a little and replied "how do you mean?"

"I mean that there's only one mammal who could have another mammal completely skip all the procedural steps of the hiring process, tell mammals to expect one mammal to walk in and to have them immediately brought up to the top floor using the personal CEO elevator, and it's not the CEO."

Vivian was now even more confused and she tilted her head more in question. "If not the CEO then who?"

"Well no one here besides Mr. Wolfgang knows his name but he might as well be the CEO. The first time the mammal was going to walk through those same doors you walked through, three years ago Mr. Wolfgang came down here personally and said "there will be a mammal coming in today. Tall male red fox, unique deep green eyes, scar left side of neck. This mammal is not to be stopped, bothered, questioned, ANYTHING. He is to be allowed to move wherever he pleases without any hinderance whatsoever. He will mostly likely be armed and that is completely fine, NO ONE try to disarm him. He's an incredible asset to this company so NO, ONE, FUCK, WITH, HIM."

After a brief pause she continued. "Sure enough 12:30 rolls around and through those doors walked in a VERY tall red fox tod that looked to be about 21 with deep green eyes in a super rare shade and a scar on the left side of its neck. He was sharply dressed in an all black suit with a white undershirt and see that coat hanger there in the corner? (*Sarah stops and points to an coat hanger in the far right corner by the door*) that's that tod's hanger no one else is aloud to put something on it per the CEO's instructions. Anyways, he was also wearing black dress shoes which was a little odd. Well the tod strolls over calmly to the hanger takes off his suit jacket and hangs it there exposing a black 1911 pawgun in a holster on his right hip and a two-magazine holder above his back left pocket. The tod then calmly rolled up his under shirts sleeves past the elbows."

Sarah takes another brief pause to stop walking for a group of foxes walking past, a few saying greetings to Sarah as they walked by. Once the were past Sarah continued. "He then walks over to the CEO's private elevator which is keycard and password protected, pulls out a keycard and swipes it, then enters a code on the keypad and DING! The elevator opens and he steps in. Two hours later he re-emerges from the same elevator and exits the building, twenty minutes later Mr. Wolfgang announces out of the blue we will be expanding the company into the the medical field. That tod has walked into this building three separate times at exactly 12:30 doing the same thing each time, wearing the exact same things, leaving at the exact same time...and every time he enters and leaves something big happens. Only that mammal could pull strings like this, so I reiterate, you have a friend in a very high place."

This information vexed Vivian as they got into the CEO elevator. "I thought Jack said he was just a close friend of the CEO Mr. Wolfgang and a majority stock holder? Was Jack lying in a way? and if so why? It doesn't make sense for him to lie about something like this...Just who are you Jack, and what else are you hiding?" Vivian now had a side goal to her main goals today, she was going to try and find out as much as she could about Jack, she wanted to know just what kind of a mammal he was.

After about a minute of nothing but the sound of the elevator thrumming as it went up Vivian watched Sarah pull out her phone and send of a quick message before pocketing it again and looking over her left shoulder at Vivian. Sarah then asked "I was right though, right? About that tod being the mammal pulling the strings to get you in here?"

Vivian nodded a little in confirmation and replied "yes you were correct Jack is the one pulling the strings."

Vivian realized here slip up when she saw Sarah's eyes widen before she belted out questions rapid fire excitingly. "Ohmygoshyouknowhisname!?hisnamesJack!?whoishe!?what'shelike!?areyoutwotogether!?whydoeshelooksoyoung!?ishethatyoung!?ishe..."

Vivian hated to interrupt her but she was shooting out questions way faster then Vivian could process. "Woah slow down there girl! Yes his name is Jack but if he didn't want anyone to know it here then you tell NO ONE got it?" Sarah nodded her head quickly several times before Vivian continued. As for the rest of your questions some I don't know, others I won't answer, the only one I will answer is no we aren't together."

When Sarah opened her mouth to ask something else Vivian quickly said "Nah-ah!" and waggled a finger at her. "No more questions about Jack please." Sarah harrumphed and closed her maw before nodding with a pouty look upon her face. As Sarah turned back to face the elevator doors the elevator pinged and the doors opened, the had reached the fiftieth floor.

Sarah exited the elevator first followed by Vivian, as Vivian exited the elevator she immediately began to take in her surroundings before she almost walked straight into a wolf, her only saving grace was the wolf clearing his threat to grasp her attention. Stopping just shy of smacking her snout into the wolf's chest she took a step back to look up and apologize when she realized she didn't just almost walk into a potential co-worker but her potential boss. Demetri Wolfgang had left his office to great her personally.

Vivian's ears went red in embarrassment when she saw Demetri's look of amusement and she quickly apologized. "I'm so sorry Mr. Wolfgang, I wasn't watching where I was going. I am.."

She would have continued but stopped when Demetri raised a paw with an amused smile still affixed on his muzzle. "I know exactly who you are Ms. Wilde, and no worries, I'm the CEO but when I walked into this building for the first time I was like a kit in a toy store, looking every which way." He then turned to Sarah who had an equally amused look upon her face and said "thank you for bringing Ms. Wilde up here Sarah, and for telling me on the way up. I think that's all I need from you for now here, but MT division needs a voice on the holster they've been working on, it failed, again. You'll be my voice."

Sarah shook her head when she heard that MT division's biometric holster that they'd been working on the past two months failed again and said "Really? Again? Well if your 'asset' (Sarah makes air quotations and glances at Vivian),would lend a paw since you said he was a wiz with biometric systems MT wouldn't be having so much trouble with it."

"I know I know. I've tried to get him to before but he's stubborn about it. Besides he's...on a vacation, a really really long vacation."

The look on Sarah's face told that she didn't believe that at all. Sarah cocked her hips, placed her paws upon them, and raised an eyebrow. "Really, he's on vacation. That's what your gonna use? One of the oldest and weakest lies possible, really?" Vivian was watching the whole exchange now her face becoming one of amusement as she watched the tanuki and wolf interact, they almost seemed like a couple to her, and Vivian had to admit they would make an adorable couple. Demetri ears pinned back and he started to splutter a little, totally flustered and blushing slightly.

Sarah decided to let her boss off the hook and said "alright Demetri I'll head down, but you'll eventually have to tell your COO, a.k.a me, about Mr. 'asset'."

Vivian and Demetri watched as Sarah walked the short distance back to the CEO elevator and go through the motions to use it and entered. As the doors shut she kept a firm gaze on Demetri with a smile that said "your busted". After the doors shut Demetri and Vivian turned to each other, tides turned with Demetri now being the flustered one. Vivian was tempted to tease the wolf but considering how said wolf was her potential employer she settled for a formal greeting.

Sticking her right paw out and smiled, "Vivian Wilde." Demetri was grateful for the lifeline and took her paw and shook it. "Demetri Wolfgang, Jack's already told me a little about you. Why don't we go into my office and start the interview?" Vivian just nodded and began following Demetri the short distance to his office. His office was obscured by a giant oak door with multiple doors inserted to account for mammals of different sizes. In front of the doors to the right was a simple but elegant, modern desk and chair with the desk having all the necessities for a secretary to have.

Stopping at the desk Demetri gestured to it and said "Well Ms. Wilde this is where you'll be working, all of it is yours. Here you'll be able to manage all the little things that will keep me on track and stop driving me crazy trying to remember and work out all while trying to run this company."

Vivian's eyes widened when Demetri said this is where she would be working and she interjected, "I'm sorry Mr. Wolfgang but you haven't even interviewed me yet, so this isn't my workspace, unless there's something I'm missing?"

Demetri, who had already turned and started to walk towards the doors to is office, stopped mid-step and turned back to her with a puzzled look upon his muzzle. "You mean he didn't tell you?"

Vivian tilted her head in question. "Tell me what?"

Demetri rolled his eyes a little and shook his head before saying, "Ms. Wilde this interview is just a formality and will pretty much just be us having a conversation and go over some details, the jobs already yours."

Now Vivian was shell shocked. "What do you mean it's already mine?"

Demetri smiled a little and began explaining. "I mean it's already yours, if not for my own reasons but because a certain tod very vehemently stated you were be hired, non-negotiable. Now for my owns reasons, to start, he's known you for a day. A SINGLE day, and in one day you and your son affected him so much that he's pulling a complete 360 on where his life was going. You see, Jack has been in a very dark place for a very long time, basically living as a recluse, for instance the last time he talked to me about anything other than business excluding last night was over a year ago, a YEAR. Then he meets you and your son, and it's like a switch was flipped. That makes you someone very remarkable, and I'd be crazy not to hire you!"

Vivian's expression dimmed a little when Demetri said that Jack was in, or had been in a dark place, but thinking on it in her mind and heart she knew that it was true. But she could never really fathom the depths of the dark. Because other than him telling her about what happened to his parents and just a glimpse of what he experienced at the orphanage he was sent to he didn't say anything else at all that personal. He answered simple questions, but he mostly kept the focus on her and her Nicky, allowing her to talk. Sure he was engaging, and would add some his own lines in, but for the most part Jack to her seemed just content to listen to her, of course excluding the bantering session they had which she paws down beat him, though Jack denied the fact vehemently when she claimed her triumph.

Realizing she had zoned out for a moment she focused back in on Demetri who was patiently for her to focus back in, because what Vivian didn't realize is her expression dimmed more than a little, a frown had shown on her muzzle and her ears flattened against her skull as she looked down and away from Demetri in contemplation. Demetri smiled a little internally at her expression because it meant that Vivian cared for Jack already, a fact that warmed his heart a little.

Allowing her that moment to himself Demetri took the time to address the buzz his phone made, pulling it out he saw it was a text from Sarah saying "I like her... so, if you don't hire her, I'm going to shave your tail. xxx." Reading that made him smile externally and chuckle internally before pocketing his phone as it seemed Vivian was exiting her thoughts on a certain tod and looking back at him.

Demetri took the reins to get the conversation back on track as he moved to the door in the door meant for medium sized mammals and opened it saying. "Let's take this conversation into the office, I don't want anyone hearing about Jack's business. Plus we have this 'interview' (he makes air quotations) to get done and you get the tremendous joy of doing, pause for effect...paperwork."

Vivian only nodded as Demetri turned and opened the door meant for medium sized mammals and they both walked in, Demetri holding the door open for Vivian and closing it once she was inside. Vivian looked around the office and noticed it was all modern like the rest of the buildings decor was and had an amazing view of the city, she could even see her next destination, ZPD Precinct One from the window. The door was really the only thing that seemed out of place, and as if reading her mind Demetri said "I've been meaning to get a more modern door, but it's there for privacy per Jack's request. Also I had to pander to his paranoia so there's a half-inch of titanium plating with a half inch of soundproofing material throughout the whole door."

Hearing that once again that something was in this building per Jack's request which she assumed were more like orders she couldn't keep her curiosity contained as she took a seat in one of the incredibly comfy chairs set in front of Demetri's desk. Once Demetri was seated Vivian couldn't keep her desires for answers at bay any longer and she blurted out "okay what's the deal? How can Jack tell you, the CEO of this company to do all of these things!? Just who is he here, because he can't just be a 'majority stock holder!'"

Demetri was a little surprised at the outburst but soon just shook his head and then said, "he didn't tell you much about himself did he?"

Vivian shook her head and said "no not really. When we spoke he deflected and kept focus on me, he told me general things about himself and that's it."

Her answer caused Demetri to shake his head again and he muttered "typical" before focusing in completely on Vivian. He began to think about what exactly to tell her about Jack. Telling her that Jack was once one of the deadliest assassins on the planet was definitely out, but after a moment he finally decided on just what he'd tell her. According to his old friend David and from what he'd seen himself getting Jack to open up to mammals about himself was like pulling teeth, so Jack could be mad at him later because this vixen deserved to know some things about Jack Hunter.

"Ms. Wilde, no. Vivian, I am going to tell you some things about Jack. But first, let me say this, Jack Hunter is an extremely complicated and complex mammal more so than I think he even understands. He also has more bad baggage than should be possible for a mammal his age, this makes him opening up about things, telling things about himself...well you'd be better off trying to lift an elephant with one paw tied behind your back. But for one reason or another it seems like he wants to tell you things, the evidence being the fact that he actually willingly talked to you for extended periods of time, and probably the longest times in years. But as him opening up is so difficult for him, I believe he neglected to tell things that even though you two literally just met, are entitled to hear."

After a pause he continued. "For starters, he's not a majority stock holder. He's THEE majority stock holder and by all rights the true CEO of this company...because he's also the founder. When he was 14 he came to me with the idea of this company and he wanted me to run it. Of course I naturally wanted him to but he laid out some good points and I finally conceded on the condition that he had a paw in everything this company does to which he agreed. So the best way I could describe just what he does at this company and why he can request all the these things is because he's the true CEO and I'm just the COO, the secondary COO at that."

Vivian was absolutely floored at this information, hearing at just the age at 14 he literally CREATED Sparrowtail Industries, she could hardly fathom it. She knew that he had a big part in this company, certainly more than he said, but the founder and true CEO? All she could utter out was "how?"

Demetri thought about how best to answer her question and finally settled on telling her about Jack's brain. "Well Vivian, let's just say Jack's brain is...unique. To start his IQ is 181 making him by IQ test standards one of the smartest mammals on the planet. Test aside his intelligence is obvious if you just watch him closely, his brain doesn't work like yours or mine or the majority of mammals I'd wager...the way he sees things, it's like his brain dissects information in a split second and he's reacting in the next second. I once saw him flick on a pair of sunglasses as he exited a restaurant we were at and two seconds later he comes back in with the idea of contacts that work like prescription glasses and sunglasses that dim to the environment and then he proceeded to put down the basics and a blueprint on a friggin napkin!"

After another brief pause he continued. "There's also the fact that he has a very rare condition called hyperthymesia. What it does is it causes his brain to deem all of the information it takes in as important information and it becomes permanently stored. In other words, he remembers EVERYTHING. Every single thing he's ever experienced he's remembered with one hundred percent clarity, so anything that's truly knowledgeable that he sees is logged permanently in his brain. With his perfect memory retention it allows him to learn a bunch of skills very quickly...so to sum up just how he's done all of this (Demetri gestures to all around him) is because his brain is like a super computer."

Demetri allowed Vivian a few moments to absorb all the information he had just given her before continuing. "Now that I've told you these things, I'm going to give you a word of warning. DO NOT let him know you know these things and if he finds out DON'T tell him I told you, I like my tail perfectly fluffy as it is and not clean shaven."

Pausing, Demetri decided to ask Vivian if she truly wanted to get to know Jack, so far he was assuming she did based on how she was acting regarding him but Demetri wanted confirmation. "Now Vivian let me ask you a question. Do you want to get to know Jack, and I mean TRULY get to know him?"

Vivian was still trying to sort through all of the information in head when he asked her that question, she took a moment to think on it before answering with unwavering certainty "Yes, I do truly want to get to know Jack. I may have just met him once but he changed me and my sons lives so much in just that one meeting and that reason alone should be enough. But he was so shrouded in mystery, I want to unravel those mysteries and get to know Jack, if I can."

Hearing Vivian's vehement reply caused a smile to appear on his muzzle, maybe this vixen was just what Jack needed to finally start to heal. "Well Vivian if you really want him to open up and tell you things letting him know you already know these things about him will just make him slam the door he cracked open just a little bit for you shut..."

Demetri was about to continue when the phone on his desk started ringing, only Sarah, the heads of each division, head of security, or head of maintenance, and his secretary could cause the phone to ring so it was always important. Looking at the phone he saw it was a call from Sarah, looking up at Vivian he said "sorry got to take this" and then picked up the phone.

"Sarah I'm currently in the middle of an interview, so why are you calling?"

"I know, I know. But the holster didn't just fail...It caught on fire."

With the most deadpan expression and tone Demetri replied "what?"

"Yeah this time it caught on fire, and some genius decided to try making a rhino sized holster this time, so..."

Demetri immediately smacked a paw to his face, "so the sprinkler system turned on?"

"Yep."

*he begins massaging a temple. "*sighs, isolated?"

"Just test lab three but since the mammal decided to get a snack and left the lab, and the holster was huge..."

"There's a bunch of water?"

"There's a bunch of water."

*groans. "Dock Meeko's for the next three weeks, have him help maintenance clean up his mess, or better yet have him do all of it..And sideline the biometric holster."

"Already sidelined, and just how do you know it's Meeko?"

"It is him isn't it?"

"Obviously, who else would leave during an extremely crucial test to go get a snack?"

*groans "I'd fire him if he wasn't a 20 year old genius with weapons tech."

"I'd fire him anyways."

*chuckles "I don't doubt that. But if there's nothing else I need to get back to the interview."

"Right! No that was it, and remember what I said, bye-bye!"

Hanging up the phone Demetri let out a long sigh while massaging his temples before looking back up at Vivian. "Sorry about that, the job of a CEO is never done it seems."

Vivian just nodded in understanding and said "No worries, I understand how tedious it must be to run a multi-million dollar company."

Demetri smiled at her understanding and replied "you have no idea. Now as I was saying, if you truly want Jack to open up to you and tell you about himself TRUTHFULLY, your gonna have to work for it. First, interact with him as much as possible. If he didn't give you his number get it, if he did use it, get him used to talking to you. Secondly, put pressure on him if it seems like he's deflecting but only on minor stuff, if it's a major subject he'll clam up, but in time as he opens up more and more he should come to you with that information about himself. Thirdly, as you talk more and more start to include details and stories about your own life, especially if it's humorous, if you get him laughing he's more likely to share something about himself. The rest is up to you to get him to open up, but if any mammal on this planet can do it, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be you."

Vivian was still trying to absorb all of the things Demetri had just told her, and it was a lot to process. "Jack's technically smarter than Einstein, he has some brain condition I've never heard of that makes him never forget anything and remember everything, he's the FOUNDER of Sparrowtail Industries, he can order the friggin CEO around because he's the TRUE CEO, in one day me and my son apparently effected him so much he's apparently completely changing his whole freaking life!..I, this is just to much, and this isn't the time nor place to freak out about it Vivian, breathe...calm down and try to find some sense of normalcy right now, and...I can't find any...okay, just breathe. Breathings good...Gods I hope at least on the outside I don't look like a mess..."

She totally did. To Demetri it looked like she was mentally overloaded one second, calming down the next, and then going towards what he was assuming might be a minor freak out, to trying to rein things back in, and then repeating all within a matter of about a minute. Her ears were practically flapping up and down like they were trying to take flight. It would have been amusing if it didn't involve a moderate mental overload of sorts. He was tempted to try and get her attention to maybe snap her out of it but quickly decided against it. He'd let it run its course, besides it kinda helped reinforce that this vixen was just what Jack needed in his life, so he decided to wait patiently.

"Okay, okay, deep even breaths. I just need to push forward, ask Mr. Wolfgang some more questions about Jack, and then ask general questions about my new job and do the paperwork required, and just be glad it'll be nothing like the endless paperwork the police have to go through."

(Somewhere not so far away, a particular water buffalo was lightly banging his head into his desk and groaning as it reached his fourth hour of paperwork.) Demetri noticed that it seemed Vivian finally got her thoughts sorted and was coming out of her own head, her features started to relax and her ears returned to their normal position and she was looking at him again. As she finally opened her mouth to speak he could have never anticipated what she would say next.

"So Mr. Wolfgang.."

"I think just Demetri is fine until your officially on the clock."

"ok, Demetri. So you say Jack has this condition called hyperthymessia.."

"hyperthymesia."

"Right hyperthymesia, which causes him to remember everything and forget nothing."

"right."

"Does he happen to have any sort of condition that would make it so he doesn't excrete any sort of pheromones?" Vivian didn't one hundred percent know why that was the particular question she wanted to know the answer to, but the question was in the air now.

The question definitely caught Demetri off guard, he didn't know why she asked the question and he wracked his brain to see if he knew an answer to it when something clicked. "Ah actually I do think he mentioned he had a condition that made it so he didn't excrete any sort of pheromones, and that it led to many a disappointed sign thrown his way. Don't know why your asking and quite frankly I'm not sure I want to be on the topic of pheromone excretion, so I'll just go ahead and move us forward yeah?"

Vivian's ears and cheeks immediately flushed red in embarrassment and she quickly nodded her head in approval. While she wanted to ask some more questions about Jack her immediate question blew that opportunity right out of the water so she just nodded instead. Demetri on his part was glad Vivian didn't try and push for some more questions to ask about Jack, there was only so much he could tell her about Jack and her last question made him look uncomfortable. So Demetri decided to get into the business part if this "interview."

Opening a drawer in his desk and reaching in Demetri grabbed the stack of paperwork Vivian would need to fill out and pawed it to her. "Here you go Vivian you need to fill out these forms entirely and then sign them in the correct places. Once your done I'll look them over and then there will be the matter of your pay and start date." Vivian simply nodded again and took the forms from Demetri and the offered pen and began filling them out.

The first few forms were the general hiring forms, current residence, were you ever convicted of a felony, education level, college attended, prior employment, etc. All were easy fill ins except for residence as it was about to change very very soon so she left it blank. The rest of the forms were more unique to Sparrowtail Industries but just as easy to fill out. It took about fifteen minutes to fill out all of the forms and then sign in the appropriate places, once she was finally done she pawed them back to Demetri who immediately began looking them over.

It didn't take long for him to notice she left the current residence slot blank and he was quick to point it out. "You left your current residence blank you know."

Vivian just nodded in confirmation and replied "yes, well after I finish here I'm making a quick stop to precinct one. After that I'm going to go see if I can rent out a new place for me and my son, so since my residence is about to change soon I left it blank."

Demetri nodded a few times and then quickly guessed Jack probably pointed her in the direction of the Sable Ridge apartment complex and decided to see if he was right. "Let me guess, 1955 Cyprus Grove Lane, Sable Ridge Apartments."

Vivian was surprised at Demetri's corrected guess and confirmed it. "Yes that's where I'm hoping to get a place at, how did you know?"

Demetri simply answered "It's the only place Jack would fully trust to send you to for living. He knows the wolf that owns the place personally as do I, because technically the company owns the building. In fact majority of those that live there work here, so it was easy to put together. I'll just put that down as there's no possible way that old wolf will say no." he then quickly thought "Also because Jack lives there, but probably didn't tell you. Sneaky Jack, sneaky." Demetri quuickly pulled out a pen of his own and filled in the information, when it came to the slot for the apartment number on a whim he just put down Jack's apartment number 16A, he'd change the information once she finally did move there.

Quickly looking over the rest of the forms he found everything to be in order and put them back in his desk, he'd put them on file later. "Alright, now's the time to discuss pay."

Vivian quickly spoke up as she already knew this information. "Starting pay is 25,000 I know."

Demetri rose an eyebrow at that and replied "not even close. Who in the world told you that?

Vivian was surprised at hearing that she was wrong, especially considering who told her that it was 25.K. "Jack did."

Demetri immediately rolled his eyes at her response. "Of course he did. No, that's the starting pay for NORMAL secretaries, and you're not a normal secretary. You're the secretary to the *makes air quotations* 'CEO'. Your pay is 53,375 a year."

Vivian's eyes widened and she exclaimed. "That's a little over DOUBLE the pay!"

Demetri smiled at that and replied "well you're going to be doing DOUBLE the work as a normal secretary here, so double the pay. BUT, since on your forms you are going to be going to college, once you get accepted in that will give you a 1.5x increase in pay, which means you'll really be earning just a little bit over 80 grand a year."

If Vivian's jaw could hit the floor, it would have. 25,000 was already double what she was making working three jobs, and she was about to start making over 6,500 dollars a month for her and her son!? Not to mention it being on top of Jack's 165,000 which is he most money she'd ever had!? It had to be a dream. But Demetri quickly reminded her that it was in fact real.

"I can see that expression of utter disbelief Vivian, but this is REAL, and it's definitely not a joke. That is the standard pay for the CEO secretary position multiplied by 1.5. Sparrowtail Industries encourages all employees to seek a better education and gain new knowledge, but as college is so gods damn expensive on top of normal necessities, we give pay increases to help ensure that no one here struggles while they are attending college. And we award employees when they finish with a PERMANENT two times pay increase regardless of position, and before you even ask, yes we does his because Jack said so. But honestly this is probably one of the things I would have done regardless, and because of this policy, of those who don't already have college degrees 87% are working towards obtaining one."

Vivian honestly wasn't surprised that the pay increases for those seeking higher education was Jack's doing as one of the few things he had said about himself is that he had 6 degrees in varying subjects, and she was beginning to get a grasp on everything that had happened so far, but she still pinched herself just in case.

Demetri looked at a clock on one of the walls and took notice of the time, he was due for a meeting in about five minutes, so it was time to wrap this up. While he wanted Vivian to start working as soon as possible to help him keep his sanity he was aware she needed to get all her affairs in order first and get settled into her soon to be new home. Not to mention she probably needed some more time to wrap her head around everything that was happening in her life so quickly, so he decided she'd start in a week.

"Alright Vivian, while I hate to cut this short or anything I'm due for a meeting in five minutes and I technically have everything I need from you, but... oh!" Demetri wanted to smack himself for forgetting about Vivian's son Nicholas, "I'm terribly sorry I almost forgot about your sons endorsement!" He quickly handed her a card with his personal cell number in it and said "here, call me when your going to Paragon Grove to enroll Nicholas, I'll show up there personally to endorse and sponsor him, and the answer to your foremost and obvious question is Jack naturally."

Vivian smiled and replied "naturally, of course, and thank you."

Demetri stood and smiled back replying "No, thank you. I've hated seeing Jack the way he was, but he's changing and it's because of you and your son."

Vivian stood as well and stuck out a paw which Demetri quickly took and shook before Vivian turned to make her leave, opening the door she paused and turned back another question on her lips when she saw Demetri facepaw and hold up his other. After a moment he said "yep, when do you start I'm assuming was the question? You start a week from today, 9:30 am." Vivian closed her mouth, nodded and bid Demetri farewell before exiting and closing the door, turning just in time to almost walk straight into Sarah.

Vivian groaned internally at almost walking straight into yet another mammal. She went to belt out another apology but Sarah simply held up a paw and said "you got a lot going on in your mind, I can tell, so it's fine. I'm here to take you back down and walk you out."

Vivian was thankful that Sarah was there to see here out, she was honestly starting to wonder how she was to get back down to the ground floor as she had no clue where the other elevators were. Nodding in thanks she walked with Sarah the short distance to the Executive elevator and after Sarah went through the necessary steps the elevator chimed and opened. Stepping in Vivian was curious of something so as they both turned around Vivian subtly sniffed Sarah, under the perfume Sarah was wearing Vivian could smell Demetri. There wasn't a smell of intimacy or a mark but Sarah did smell more like Demetri than she should.

While Vivian was lost in her thoughts trying to figure out if Sarah and Demetri were a couple Sarah took notice of Vivian's concentration and saw her nose sniff towards her. "I can see the gears turning in your head Vivian so why don't you just ask the question you're wondering about me?"

Vivian was surprised that Sarah spoke up but her curiosity for her answer had her pushing on. "Ok, so are you and Demetri a..."

"Are me and him a couple? Yes. Yes we are. Going on two years now."

Vivian was happy to hear her earlier suspicions turned out to be true. "I knew it! I had a feeling you to were by the way you two interacted with each other earlier." Looking at Sarah now another question appeared in Vivian's mind, Sarah looked a lot younger than Demetri. But before she could ask the question though Sarah once again beat her to the punch.

"I bet your wondering what the age difference is huh?"

"..If you don't mind?"

"I'm 32 and he's 42."

Something sparked at hearing that Sarah's wolf was ten years older than she was, and it led to her next question. "You didn't mind getting with an older male?"

"No not at all. Just because he's ten years my senior doesn't change a single aspect of the relationship honestly, plus I get the added bonus of using old mammal jokes on him. Besides, he acts like a pup most of the time anyways."

Hearing how Sarah was so unaffected by the fact that Demetri was ten years an older mammal was a little surprising to her, and for reasons unknown she asked the next question, almost like she was hoping and not hoping that under circumstances it wouldn't have happened. "What if he had already had a kid?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow at how the questioning was turning and replied "If he 'had' a kid? He does have one, a daughter who's eight, and it changed absolutely nothing, it just meant I get to have a wonderful daughter a lot sooner without having to get knocked up, and yes I see her as my daughter regardless if I have a ring on my finger or not."

With Sarah's vehement statement a battle started in her mind. "Makes a six year age difference with a kit already not seem so bad."

"..woah woah brain! Where did that come from!?"

"We both know that's why you asked you were curious if age differences some how mattered, which in case you were wondering, it doesn't. You're concerned that one of your main reasons Jack would never get with you would fall flat, but at the same time hopeful it does fall through because deep down you want to get together with him. And, hearing that Sarah is dating a wolf ten years her senior who already has a daughter with no issues pokes a bunch of holes in that excuse/reason."

"Great I'm talking to myself inside my own head."

"No your subconscious decided to knock some sense into you over Jack, and you just deflected. Face it, you want Jack to want to be with you, but you never think it'll happen so you've come up with a bunch of bullshit reasons of why he wouldn't without truly knowing his character, and as your subconscious I say that that's uncalled for. Now that I've gotten my two cents in focus back on the real world Sarah is staring."

Blinking several times Vivian focused back in on the real world and pushed what just happened as yet another thing to deal with later. Sarah on the other paw was staring and just patiently waiting for Vivian to come out of her head. She had a feeling why Vivian was asking all those questions and it involved a certain fox tod named Jack. She was tempted to ask but she didn't want to pry to much to soon so she settled for a subject change that involved her own question she was curious about.

"So Vivian, did you get the job? Or do I have to go shave my wolf's tail?"

Vivian laughed at the mental image of Demetri with a shaved tail before replying, "while I would love to see that it's not necessary, I start in exactly one week."


Done!

What seriously ConcernedF0X!? Your stopping it here!? Why yes, yes I am. I must prepare thee for the bane of all readers, cliffhangers! *lightning flashes* plus this is a minor one and you can probably deduce what's going to transpire next without general mystery sooo...

Next time on A Father Figure! Vivian gets to meet the water buffalo who's still hitting his head on his desk and learn something new about Jack!

This is TheConcernedF0X signing off!