Chapter 9: Visiting at the Office
A/N; I know last time I said this chapter would contain some big leads and the Mr. Big visit, but I'm putting that off for another chapter or 2. Why? Well, it didn't feel right skipping all of Monday, a whole day of possible story development (and maybe a little extra fluff).
Also, I apologize for almost a week of absence. I'd like to try to limit my downtime, and get some writing in at least 3 days a week, but unfortunately that simply wasn't possible last week. But I will do everything within my power to not let a weekend go by without at least 2 or 3 new chapters. More if possible. May not always be possible.
And now, without further ado, enjoy.
At half past nine, Nelle let out a soft groan of disapproval toward the ornery shaft of sunlight that had decided just then was the perfect time to glare right in her face. Turning over, she pulled the thick comforter over her head, but after a few minutes decided she wasn't getting any more sleep.
Sitting up, she grabbed her phone from atop the dressed and swiped the unlock. 3 new messages… Nick… Dad, and… The last number wasn't in her contacts and she didn't recognize it. She opened the message from Nick, and smiled.
'Good morning Snowflake. Heading to precinct with Carrots. I'll swing by later. Might bring pie.'
She set the phone down a moment, stretched, yawned, and stood up. She slipped out of her night gown, then picked her phone back up and replied, 'Make it coconut cream, and I just might have to keep you. XOXO ;)'
With a smile, she set her phone back on the dresser and went to the bathroom to freshen up. Any message from her dad would be more tolerable after a shower.
Five lines into writing up his report for their investigation over the weekend, Nick had started to doze off and had to get up to walk around. These early mornings are killing me…
Judy had insisted they go on a run together three days a week, and they'd settled on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So going against his very nature as a fox, he'd been up at the crack of dawn to jog with a bunny. Then it was 0730 in the bullpen, 0800 the Chief had wanted to see them in his office, their update had taken twenty minutes during which Judy told Bogo almost everything about the weekend investigation (leaving out the part about Nick staying in Nelle's apartment Saturday night), then they'd finally been allowed to go get breakfast, and right when they got back to the station to sit down and write their official reports, Delgado was at the door dragging a cuffed bull through the doors for processing. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but the perp was throwing a tantrum and ended up kicking Nick's full cup of coffee out of his hand and right into the lion's mane. That earned him Delgado's 'best behavior'.
And now I need more coffee. Looking up from his barely-started report, he leaned across the desk and murmured to Judy, "Hey, Carrots, I'm gonna slip out for a few. Cover me?"
"I'll let you know if bullets start flying," Judy answered dryly, not looking up from her own report, which he noticed was almost finished.
Fortunately, there was a coffee shop half-a-block from the station, and their stuff was at least decent. It didn't take him long to leave the station and walk down the street to the little café. While he was waiting for his drink, his phone buzzed, and he pulled it out. One new message… Nelle. Well, at least there's one good thing this morning. He unlocked the screen and opened the message, and his smile spread into a wide grin. 'Yes, ma'am.' He texted back, then slipped his phone back into his pocket and took the coffee that had just been set on the counter for him. He gave the barista an extra buck and went back to Precinct One.
When he got back, he saw Judy had finished her report and was tidying up her desk. "I'll never get how you get those down so fast…" Nick murmured, sitting down and taking a sip of his coffee. "Don't suppose you could write mine, too? It's basically the same report."
"I'm afraid no, Slick. Chief knows my handwriting." She walked around to his side of the desk and looked over his partial report. "It's not literature, Nick. Try writing third-person plural. Say 'we' a lot."
"Gee Carrots, thanks for the help," Nick remarked flatly, rolling his eyes.
"You know you love me," Judy countered, grinning up at him.
"Do I know that?" When he was about to answer, his phone buzzed. He cast a mischievous glance at Judy, then made a show of taking his phone out, taking a long drink of coffee, and checking the new text. He spat his coffee out.
'Just got out of the shower. New shampoo. My fur feels so soft now!'
He looked up at Judy, whose impatient glare had been replaced by barely suppressed snickers. "Hot date tonight?"
"Oh yeah, a real handful, this one," he mumbled, jabbing his finger at the keyboard. 'Not fair.' "Actually, probably just some pie. Think I'll rent a few movies on the way to her place."
"Well, good luck then. With Nelle, and with your report. I'll see you later, Slick." She grinned, and walked off to bring her own report to Bogo before leaving the building.
His phone buzzed. Nick was a little hesitant about opening it this time, but after a little consideration, checked the newest message. 'You know you love me. XO'
The teasing texts to Nick were a very welcome reprieve from her other conversation of the day. Her father had wanted to know why she'd decided to show up at Martin's office, unannounced, without consulting him about it first. She knew how Martin was about surprise visitors, after all, and he hadn't even wanted her to take him on as a client in the first place. It was too close to home, he said. She'd known the Jacks family pretty much all her life; Martin was like an uncle to her, Robert had practically been a brother growing up. Granted, they hadn't spoken in years before his disappearance, but her dad still claimed there was too much of a chance for her to get emotional over the case.
Eventually, he had apparently grown tired of trying to convince her over texts that she should drop the case and leave it to the police, so he called her. She actually glared at her phone a moment while she considered whether to answer it. Finally, she growled and hit 'accept'. "What?" she asked, probably a little more sharply than intended.
"And what kind of a way is that to answer the phone, Fenella?"
"And what kind of a way is that to try to stay on my good side, Dad? You know I hate that name."
"Your mother didn't." True enough. It had even been her mother's middle name.
"Ouch, low blow. You're right, Dad, mom didn't hate my name. She just left me with it as a constant reminder of her."
"Nelle, you shouldn't talk like that."
"I shouldn't? You could've fooled me. You sure as hell like to bring it up."
"Nelle, I didn't call you to argue about your name."
"No, you called to argue about my job. You called because you still think I'm your little girl to protect. You called because you want me to let Nick and Judy take care of Rob's case without me."
"Nick and Judy…?"
"The cops, Dad. They're the ones helping me with it. And Nick is… Uh…" She paused, and shook her head. Not the best time to tell him about that… "Nevermind. I'm not dropping the case."
"Nelle-"
"I'm not. Dropping. The case. Now stop calling me." She heard some response coming through the speaker, but hung up without catching any of it. She set her phone on her desk and reached up, rubbing her temples while she worked to steady her breathing.
She honestly wished she couldn't remember the last civil conversation she'd had with her father. But she could, she remembered every word of it, and it seemed so long ago now. She looked at the calendar hanging on the wall of her small office, and frowned. She even remembered the date. Almost three years now… It had been the day before she found out her father had taken a new mate, a week before he'd remarried. How had he even kept that a secret from me? It had felt like such a betrayal to her mother when she found out. She knew it wasn't fair to think that way. Her mother was gone, there was no changing that.
She picked up her phone and opened the text conversation with Nick. 'Addendum. Bring wine.'
A few moments later, a return text came in. 'Anything specific?'
She thought for a moment, then replied, 'Cabernet. Anything put in a big bottle when you were a kit.'
'On it.' His text came back almost immediately, and it made her smile. You take such good care of me…
The sudden sound of her door opening brought her attention up from her phone. Her visitor was-… "Judy!" she exclaimed in genuine surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I… Chief Bogo has us off patrol until we close out this case. So… I had nothing to do today and… Thought if you were gonna be looking into those files from Robert's story, I could help you out? If that's okay, I mean?"
Nelle looked down at the nervous bunny with interest, and chuckled softly. "You're too cute, Judy," she murmured. The bunny, of course, bristled a little at the word, but this time said nothing about it. "Yes, you can help. I'd be more than glad for the company. Literally the only conversation I've had all day that wasn't over the phone was explaining the cab driver that I'm spoken for." Not that the skunk would've had a chance at her anyway… But it was nice to have a solid, foolproof reason for her rejection. She preferred to let them down easy when she could.
"Oh, yeah, Nick said he'd been texting you. What'd you send that made him spit his coffee anyway?"
Nelle giggled, and covered her muzzle with a paw. "He spit out his coffee from that? All I said was I was trying a new shampoo." Not the exact words she'd used, but close enough to the truth.
Judy paused and sniffed the air, and smiled brightly. "It smells nice."
"Thanks, Judy," Nelle replied, pulling a chair up to the desk for Judy. She went to the little water cooler in the corner and filled two plastic cups. "Here's the files I got from the Times office," she remarked when she returned to the desk. The file had been the centerpiece of the tabletop all morning. "Nick told me you're crazy good at making connections… I've got a knack for retaining information, but I don't always know exactly what to do with that information. So…" She pulled a few papers from the file and laid them out before Judy. "Let's see what you've got."
It was 6:48, and the sun was getting low when Nick got to the Tundratown apartment tower. With coconut cream pie, a big bottle of red wine, two rented DVDs and a small bouquet. Judy had texted him with a suggestion for that last bit. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the building. The squirrel desk clerk seemed to recognize him from last time, because before he could even say way he was there, the elevator buzzed and the door opened. Nick gave the squirrel a questioning glance, and she rolled her eyes and waved him toward the lift. With a shrug, Nick got in and punched the button for Nelle's floor. Was it this slow last time? He wondered. He couldn't recall. Last time he'd been drunk and Nelle had been laughing at one of his cheesy jokes.
With a faint ding, the door opened on Nelle's floor, and he walked down one hall, took a left down Nelle's hall, and stopped in front of her door. Shifting his load so most of it was in his left paw, he lifted his right and knocked. A few seconds passed before he heard the shuffling of feet and the door opened. Piercing blue eyes regarded him up and down, and a smile spread across Nelle's lips.
And then, without warning, she took a long step forward and brought her arms up around Nick's neck. Before he had time to react- before he even had time to think- her muzzle pressed against his. It took him a few seconds to get his bearing, but once he did, his eyes closed, his mostly-free right paw reached around her, and he met her kiss. She smells good… he thought to himself. New shampoo…
When she finally pulled back, Nelle smiled sheepishly up at him, and Nick grinned. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"
Nelle laughed, and answered with another kiss, this one not quite as long as the first. "That one was for the wine. The first one was for the pie. And this one-" She grinned and lifted up on her toes to press her lips against his once more, before stepping back and slipping her arms back off his shoulders. "That one was for being the best damn thing I've seen all day. Now get in here and let's see what the flowers get you."
Post A/N; I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Took my time planning how to perfectly lead into the last scene, with Nick and Nelle's first (three) kiss(es). Now I can happily write their way into the meeting with Mr. Big, where you'll find out what the Shrew has to tell them, and what Judy was able to work out from the files from Robert's desk.
Also, I'm planning on writing a little Christmas special involving Nick and Nelle, to take place a while after the case is closed. I'll keep it relatively spoiler-free (you don't get to know all my sneaky little plans yet), just a sweet little one-shot bit of holiday fluff for the romantics out there. ;)
I'll hopefully have it all typed out sometime tomorrow night, and it'll be released separately from the main story.
