Sunlight peeked through the curtains of the bedroom. Kimbra could hear the soft patter of rain on the roof fade out. All night, a heavy shower hammered down on the barren streets of St. Canard. It had started to ease around the crack of dawn.

Thank god.

Kimbra refused to struggle out in a downpour while trying to get to work. She didn't even want to go in today. Taking a sick day seemed like the better option out of her other ideas. The canine wanted to avoid the humid air and risk of having her hair poof out.

With a heavy yawn, she stretched and climbed out of bed. Kimbra sleepily rubbed her eyes as she made her way over to the window. She pulled the curtains open, revealing a devastatingly bright daylight. The weather had been gradually getting warmer each week, much to her displeasure.

St. Canard sucks in the summer.

Kimbra was slightly more awake by the time she arrived at EcoTech. Skipping out on coffee today might set her mood back, but at least she'd have a chance to find those spreadsheets that Dr. Artis has been asking for the past week. Lately she hadn't found the time to look for them.

A tall guard at the front entrance opened the door for Kimbra and chirped out a greeting as she approached. "Morning Dr. Wulfe!"

Kimbra smiled. "Clavin."

Clavin Herris, a large lynx, stood at six feet and four inches tall. He was one of EcoTech's long-time employees. Kimbra grew fond of him over the years. They have small chats in the mornings and occasionally mingle at the company parties. He had recently gotten engaged last month and Kimbra actually looked forward to the wedding.

Hmm…

Kimbra almost walked through the doorway without uttering another word. Almost.

But she stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. "Can I ask a favor from you?"

"Sure miss, anything."

"There's this guy…"

They have to be here!

Kimbra had been searching frantically through the papers on her desk for the past hour. She swore they were in her desk drawer with the other files.

Where were those spreadsheets? They were just here yesterday!

Dr. Artis needed them for the one o' clock meeting tomorrow. He had specifically asked her to bring them, and now she didn't even know where they were. Kimbra shoved aside a couple of forms that should have been signed at least two days ago.

Okay… maybe I'm a bit behind on paperwork.

She wrenched the drawers open, tipping the contents out all over the floor. Old sticky notes of concepts she scrapped — a few letters from home—paperwork that had been misplaced—and everything but the spreadsheets. The sudden opening of her office door caught Kimbra's attention. She glanced up from her search to see Bud step into the room. His usual neatly combed black hair was now disheveled and his blue tie was askew.

The man looked like an exhausted mess.

Kimbra's eyes glanced at the clock by the door, and back to the man. "You're half an hour late."

"The guard at the door said I was unauthorized to enter the building!" Bud replied, attempting to fix his hair. He adjusted his tie and tucked it back into his suit.

He arrived at EcoTech during a particularly high tide of frustration. The morning so far had been aggravating. He woke up ten minutes late, burnt himself while making coffee, one of his clients cancelled on him, and now this.

Kimbra knelt down as she picked up the papers from the floor. "Huh, wonder who told him that."

Bud threw his arms out wide in disbelief at her words. "He said you did! He tackled me when I tried getting through the door!"

Okay, so she might have said that.

Kimbra tried not to crack a grin. "How did you get up here then?"

"Security had to go through their files and make sure I was authorized!"

You have got to be kidding. Kimbra couldn't believe she didn't think to toss out Bud's clearance file.

Oh, well. There's always next time.

She finished tidying up the mess she made and shut the desk drawers closed.

"I told them to use a taser on you, I wonder why they didn't." Kimbra joked as she tried to hide her disappointment.

"Kimbra!" He didn't appreciate her sense of humor. Now was not the time for jokes.

It's just a joke, Bud.

"Can we just drop this? I need you to approve this month's budget." She picked up a file from the corner of the desk and attempted to give it to him.

Bud held up his hands in refusal. "I'm not doing it."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm leaving."

Dramatic.

"You just got here!"

"I'm telling Dr. Ainsley you're being a pain in the ass."

"You really think he'll believe you over me?"

To be fair, Ainsley would take Bud's side and possibly kick her off her own project. No way can Bud talk to him first. Kimbra hoped he would just back down and forget this ever happened. Or at least keep it out of Ainsley's ears.

"I do."

Well, crap.

"Fine," She stood up. "Lets both go talk to him then."

"Fine."

The two walked to the elevator in silence. Neither had much to say (or at least anything that's nice.)

The two walked down the hall to the elevator without a word. Neither had much to say (or at least anything that's nice). They stopped once they arrived at the metal doors. Bud pushed the elevator button with his thumb and took a step back, waiting.

The lift was slowly making its way up from the third floor. It dragged along, causing a bit of anxiety to rise in Kimbra's stomach.

4…

5...

Bud's flat, tired voice broke the silence. "We can't keep bickering like this all the time you know."

Part of Kimbra knew he was right. It was interfering with her work. Her project. But she refused to let him win. No way would Bud smooth talk his way onto her good side.

"You can't, but I can." Kimbra blankly continued to stare at the elevator, wishing it'd hurry. She could feel Bud's gaze staring her down.

8...

9...

"We're supposed to be partners."

"Again, I don't want you calling me your partner."

He sighed. "All I'm asking is for you to be a little more considerate of my feelings."

" You? You have feelings?"

10...

11...

That set him off. "I do!"

"If you did, then you'd feel at least a bit of empathy for those you've hurt."

12...

"I haven't done anything wrong!"

13...

She snorted at his response. "Says the CEO of a water bottling company who spits out lies so he can take advantage of others."

14...

15...

16...

Bud leaned over to her and spoke in an irritated tone. "Listen, I'm just trying to make an honest living and I don't need some stuck up little tree hugger telling me how to run my business."

17...

18…

The elevator stopped with a loud ding that echoed through the empty corridor. The metal doors opened and Bud went in first. Kimbra smiled at him as she stepped in after him. She then slid her hands down the numerical buttons on the panel, causing every number from one to twenty to light up.

"What the—?" Bud began to demand an answer to what the scientist was doing, but she cut him off before he could ask.

"SEE YA LATER FLUD!" She yelled, dashing out of the elevator, down the hall, and into a nearby stairwell. She almost fell because of the floors being slick, (and the fact she's a total disaster of a person) but caught her balance.

Before Bud could run after her—the elevator doors closed shut—and his face smacked into the cold metal. He rubbed his throbbing nose and grumbled a few not-so-pleasant words under his breath.

Now the elevator would stop at every floor. Bud could use Kimbra's idea of taking the stairwell, but she was probably a floor ahead of him by now. And he wasn't in the best of shape to be running downstairs. Especially since the elevator currently sat on the eighteenth floor.

She's too much trouble. Of all the women in St. Canard, Bud just had to be paired with the most troublesome one.

The universe was playing a cruel joke on him. Karma for all his wrong doings and misdeeds. All this torment isn't worth it, Bud thought as the elevator went up and stopped at floor nineteen.

Kimbra paced down the staircase, feeling herself become winded. She wasn't prepared to rush down eighteen flights of stairs. Every so often she'd check the stairwell exit to see what floor she was on. It seemed like forever until she had made it to the first floor.

Finally, floor one. Ainsley here I come.

Turning on her heel, Kimbra left the stairwell at a light run. She dodged through the corridors, pushed by the other EcoTech employees. To her surprise, Bud already stood in the middle of the lobby. His hands tucked in his pants pocket as he waited patiently, watching the front door.

Bud taunted her as soon as she entered his line of view. "Took you long enough."

"How did you get here before me?" Kimbra breathlessly asked, positioning herself beside him.

"That's just a Flud secret, sweetheart." He answered with a mischievous smirk.

She gave him an unimpressed look. "Tell me."

"Pressing the buttons again just resets them."

"Dammit."

"And to think, you're supposed to be the smart one."

"Don't act all cocky about it, you jerk."

"I'm not."

"You're smiling."

"I just think it's a nice day." Bud said, his grin sharpened as he stared at Kimbra.

"It would be if you weren't here."

Bud almost snapped out a reply, but didn't as he spotted Dr. Ainsley standing at the door entrance, chatting away with the guard. He hadn't noticed either of them yet.

Kimbra acknowledged this as well and kicked Bud's ankle in her attempts to get to Dr. Ainsley first. She was desperate.

Bud yelped in response and rubbed his now throbbing ankle. "Ow! Knock it off!"

She briskly walked to the front door, with Bud following close behind. They made it to Ainsley at the same time. Kimbra wished she had kicked him harder.

The aged reptile beamed brightly once he saw the pair. "Ah, Mr. Flud! Wonderful to see you this morning!"

"Ainsley." Bud nodded, making sure Kimbra knew that the doctor had greeted him first.

Dr. Ainsley then looked to Kimbra, and back to the salesman. "I figured you two would be upstairs bickering as usual."

Bud glanced down at Kimbra, and met her clearly annoyed eyes. "No, everything is going… well."

"Splendid!" Ainsley gleefully placed his hands together. "I'll let you two be on your merry ol' way then."

He started to head upstairs, but Kimbra stopped him.

"Sir, please don't keep making me work with this conman," She began, pointing a finger in Bud's direction.

"Kimbra dear, be nice. That's an awfully rude thing to say about Mr. Flud."

I've said a lot worse.

"Yes sir," her shoulders drooped in defeat, not wanting to argue with her boss.

Bud sneered once Ainsley was out of earshot. "Someone is in trouble."

"Shut up."

"I don't know why he trusts you so much."

"I'm trustworthy."

As trustworthy as a rattlesnake, Kimbra snickered.

She motioned for him to follow her, but she didn't mention where they were going. Instead, she asked him a question. "Why didn't you rat me out?"

"Because I want this to work." Bud replied, walking alongside her. "Just know that I can, but I choose not to this time."

"Well played, Flud."

"Thank you." He appreciated the rare compliment. "Where are you taking me?"

Kimbra stopped at a desk. Behind it was some equipment and a camera. "Earl will take your photo, and I'll log in your info for the card."

"Do I have to smile?"

"No? It's not a yearbook photo."

She disappeared into the back room while Earl took Bud's picture. Several minutes later, she emerged with an ID card attached to a lanyard.

"Here's your ID badge."

"You spelled my last name wrong." Bud frowned as he examined the card. "It's F-L-U-D. Not F-L-O-O-D."

Kimbra let out a small sigh. "I frankly don't care enough, okay?"

She did it on purpose to piss him off. It was funny to her at the time. Still is.

Bud put the lanyard around his neck. "Don't you have a Ph.D.?"

"I do."

"Then why the hell can't you spell?"

"My Ph.D. has nothing to do with the fact your last name is spelled in a ridiculous manner," said Kimbra, getting a little defensive.

"What do you have a Ph.D. in any way?"

"Minding my own damn business."

Bud forced a smile. "Your snarky remarks aren't cute."

"I'm not trying to be cute. Do you want to see the testing facility or not?"

He clenched his jaw to keep from throwing out an insult. "Yes."

They rode the elevator in silence. Kimbra could feel Bud still fuming over the spelling error.

It halted to a complete stop.

"Level Zero."

Kimbra strode out first, already giving Bud a tour of the place. "This is our below ground testing facility."

It wasn't as showy as the other floors of EcoTech. It was more modest, more plain. The air down there smelled of hot metal and iodine. Kimbra spent the next twenty minutes showing him around. Bud enjoyed listening to her ramble on about what all the facility offered. When she wasn't arguing with him, she was pretty pleasant to be around.

Kimbra eventually opened a secure looking door. "Here's the main monitor area."

She led Bud inside a room filled with computers, chairs, and equipment. Dozens of red and green lights blinked in synchronization. A large window stood as the front wall, revealing the room beside them. Individuals in lab coats were working in the chamber. Tinkering with technology or going over papers. Sometimes Kimbra would come across them slacking or doing something completely irresponsible.

This was one of those days.

Kimbra stood at the window, pressed the microphone, and leaned down. "Can you recalibrate the laser and try it on glass?"

The lab boys then huddled together, discussing something. One stepped out from behind the group to address her.

"Sorry, that's not possible right now."

She sighed, far enough, so the mic didn't pick it up. "And why not?"

"Dr. Wulfe, we need organic props to test it on. We can't recalibrate unless we experiment on that first."

Kimbra tapped her chin and thought for a moment. "I guess we can just shoot the laser at Jeremy."

"Hey," came a voice from across the room.

"Jeremy it's for science."

Bud leaned towards her, speaking in a low tone. "You aren't really going to shoot one of your employees, are you?"

"You mean Ainsley's employees, and no. I just have to scare them sometimes to keep them in line." She shut the microphone off. "They like to goof off down here."

"It seems like you run the place yourself." The hound sat in a nearby chair. "It's why I said 'your employee.'

"I might be the only one who cares enough."

"I guess that's why you're so important here."

Important.

Kimbra's face flushed a pale pink. She turned her head to avoid Bud seeing. Never had anyone ever considered her important. The word stuck to her.

Important.

All her life Kimbra had been pushed to the side. Classmates always picked her last during games at school. People took her hard work for granted. No one ever made her feel like she mattered.

Yet Bud called her important.

An alarm blared as the entirety of the testing lab was bathed in a crimson light. It started Kimbra out of her deep thinking.

Bud stood up, looking at her with worry. "That's bad right?"

"Oh great ," Kimbra motioned with her hand at the window. "Jeffrey is on fire again."

The lab boys scrambled around the workshop, grabbing a nearby sheet and a fire extinguisher. They managed to put Jeffrey out.

Kimbra tapped on the glass with a hand. "Hey, we don't pay you morons to play around!"

Her voice then shifted to a tone of concern. "Is he okay?"

One of the lab boys held a thumbs up. "Yeah, he's fine!"

"Amy, go take Jeffrey up to the infirmary," Kimbra barked out an order. "The rest of you get back to work."

A collective groan went up, and the workers departed to their stations.

The scientist turned to Bud, not sounding or looking the least bit surprised by the incident. "Ready?"

"Uh… yeah." He replied, and followed her out of the room and back towards the elevator. "Does that often happen?"

"Sometimes," She stepped into the elevator after him and pressed the eighteen button. "Usually the research department lets some airborne virus loose or the development team breaks something."

Then she chuckled. "Or I cause a citywide blackout."

"Oh, you're behind those?"

"Just five of them." She felt his judgment and quickly defended herself. "I don't do it on purpose! EcoTech's power regulator has been malfunctioning the last year, and sometimes our projects zap power from the city."

"Can't you fix it?"

"I'm not qualified, and the administration wants to replace it, which will take three months."

"They sound uptight."

"Don't even get me started."

Bud went silent, (as he had nothing further to say) his dark eyes lingered on the elevator's counter, which currently sat on the number ten. Kimbra studied him for a minute. His face appeared fatigued, his long ears drooped over his shoulders. His black hair slicked back with a type of gel.

Kimbra had seen him on television countless times. And actually seeing him in person was… odd . She didn't think that he stood so tall. (Or maybe she's just short.) She might have even considered him attractive, if she didn't despise him so much for his capitalist ways.

Not that she'd ever admit that to him.

"Eighteen floor."

They departed from the elevator and went down the corridor, back to Kimbra's office. She opened the door and stepped in first. Bud didn't know why she was in such a hurry all of a sudden.

"I need to find those spreadsheets for tomorrow's meeting." She walked over to the filing cabinet in hopes she stuck them in there. "Evening Herald." Kimbra stood on her tiptoes and inspected the small fern that sat on top of the cabinet before she bothered looking for those papers.

Then she heard Bud speak up from behind her. "I have a question."

"The answer is no."

"I haven't even asked the question!" He huffed.

"Ask it then." She looked over the leaves, making sure Herald was healthy. He was.

"Can you meet me tomorrow for lunch at McKelland's Café?"

"Yeah… no can do." Kimbra gestured to a pile of papers that lay messily on her desk. "My schedule for the next few days is full."

"Please?"

"And I'm not interested in dating right now. Especially not you."

"Kimbra, it's to discuss the project." His tone grew impatient.

"I. Am. Busy." She explained once again, more slowly this time in the hopes it would actually sink in.

"It's. For. Your. Project."

Fine.

"Yeah, yeah... whatever," She waved her hand, signaling Bud to leave. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Remember. Twelve o'clock sharp. McKelland's Café."

"I said yeah, whatever."

Kimbra watched as the door closed behind her sponsor. A wave of relief washed over her now that she was finally alone.

There was no way in hell she would have lunch with the likes of Bud Flud.

The following day, Kimbra still hadn't found the spreadsheets. She was convinced they just vanished out of existence. Dr. Artis wouldn't be too pleased to hear that. He'd scold her for never keeping up with anything and order her to redo them.

Kimbra needed to find them.

A slight knock at the door startled her. It opened and in walked Bud. He slammed it shut behind him, and the sound echoed in the hallway.

Someone is in a mood.

His eyebrows furrowed. "I have gone above and beyond to make this partnership with you work."

Oh, he's mad.

Kimbra stopped searching. "Pardon?"

"You were supposed to meet me at McKelland's Café at twelve o'clock sharp." Bud scowled at her as he glanced at his wristwatch. "Do you know what time it is? It's three in the afternoon!" He approached the desk and stood there, waiting for an explanation.

"Sorry, it must have slipped my mind," she sounded almost sympathetic.

Bud didn't fall for her fake politeness. "I sat there all by myself and waited for you for over two hours!"

The thought of Bud sitting alone at a booth and waiting for her made Kimbra want to laugh.

"Aw…" Kimbra rested her elbows on the desk, tilting her head slightly at Bud as she gave him a face of pity. "You're just mad that a pretty girl stood you up, huh? Is your pride hurt?"

Bud opened his mouth to shoot back a nasty comment, but he only shook his head. "No, I'm upset that you flaked on me when we had plans to discuss the C.O.R.E project!"

"Someone is mad."

Bud placed his hands on the desk and leaned down towards her. His face only inches from hers. "Stop trying to sabotage my sponsorship. I know exactly what you're doing."

They stayed there for a few moments in complete silence.

Kimbra could only smile and continue the teasing. "You want to kiss me so bad right now, don't you?"

Bud was taken aback by the remark. He straightened up, getting out of Kimbra's face. "I want you to stop being a pain in the ass to work with!"

"No." She picked a pen up, signing off on papers.

"And why not?"

"Well... for one thing, I find you absolutely intolerable."

"Intolerable? You're calling me intolerable?"

Kimbra nodded. "I am."

"Oh well, that's just hilarious !" Bud faked a laugh. "You say I'm the intolerable one, but I'm trying so hard to get along with you!"

"We have nothing in common. Why should we get along?"

"We have plenty of things in common."

Yeah, right.

"The only thing we have in common is we're both canines. That's all."

And we're both stubborn as hell, Kimbra commented to herself.

Bud noticed a shelf against the wall behind Kimbra's desk. Glancing at her for a second, Bud stepped over to it, inspecting it. He hoped to find something they had in common to prove his point. Several books on physics, chemicals, and a few mystery novels were housed on the top rack. He pulled out one that caught his interest.

'Nightingale: Whispers in the Dark'by L.R Wulfe.

"So you're into mystery novels?"

"No." Kimbra gave the book a quick glance before returning to her papers. "It's my dad's, he's a writer."

"Wait…" Bud blinked, trying to process the information. "Your dad is the L.R Wulfe?"

L.R Wulfe, a highly respected author who usually wrote in the mystery novel genre, created one of the best-selling series in St. Canard, Nightingale. Years ago, he stopped writing out of nowhere. The last installment of Nightingale, Nightingale: Daybreak, had ended on a thrilling cliffhanger. It had been over ten years since he published the book.

And yet, L.R still hadn't released the last edition of the series.

Kimbra nodded her head. "I figured it's obvious considering the last name."

In Bud's opinion, there could be tons of people with the last name Wulfe. Not everyone with the name surname was related. A simple mistake, really.

"Why did he quit writing?" Bud asked, shoving the book back into its place.

"My mom was sick for a long time. My dad went on hiatus during her last year." Kimbra answered, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat. "She eventually passed when I was thirteen and he just… sort of stopped writing out of grief, I suppose."

"Oh," was all Bud could think of to say. He then carefully searched for the right words. He didn't want to be insensitive towards a topic such as losing a family member. "I… I'm sorry about that."

"It was a long time ago, I'm fine." Kimbra brushed it off. She appeared unfazed, but could have easily been locking her emotions away.

The CEO figured he should quickly change the subject. His eyes lingered back over the shelves for another conversation starter. Among the books and trinkets sat a baseball. Some writing decorated it, which Bud assumed was an autograph.

He picked the ball up and turned to Kimbra. "You like baseball?"

"I do." Her tone said that it should be obvious.

"See? We have something in common!" He inspected the ball further. "Wait...it's signed by Rickey Flynn?"

Kimbra kept writing. "Yes, he's the star pitcher for the Condors."

Bud made a face of disgust as he set the baseball back down on the shelf. "You're a Condors fan?"

She paused and looked at him. "Yeah, is that a problem or something?"

"I'm a Jackals fan myself." He brushed his palm off on his suit coat, paying no mind to her. Touching a baseball autographed by a Condors player forever tainted his hand. He created a mental note to wash it later under scalding water.

Kimbra bit the inside of her cheek as she continued signing the stack of paperwork on her desk. "Why am I not surprised?"

Bud, for once, agreed with her. "I mean... come on. It explains everything."

The scientist raised an eyebrow as she still held the pen in her hand. "Explains what?"

"The tension between us." He motioned to himself and then to her with his right index finger.

"Tension?"

He better not say something gross.

"Yeah, it's why we can't stand each other." Bud sounded so sure of himself. As if he knew why they were at each other throats.

But he didn't.

"I'm hostile towards you because you're a no good sleazy businessman. Not because we support rival baseball teams." Kimbra attempted to return to her paperwork. As long as Bud Flud was in her office, she doubted she'd get anything done.

He was such a pain in her side. Like a splinter or something. Or an impacted wisdom tooth.

Bud sighed. "I don't know what it's going to take to convince you I'm a perfectly honest businessman."

Oh, that's a good one.

He claimed to be an honest man, but that was a blatant lie. His lies were slowly piling up, and some day they'd get knocked over and crash all around him. Kimbra hoped she'd be there to witness such an event.

She laughed as she set the pen down. "You? An honest businessman? Flud, please spare me the jokes."

"You know nothing about me! All you've done since we met is constantly degrade and judge me!"

True, but Kimbra knew how people were. Most only cared about making a profit. Few individuals actually cared for helping others. It seemed the entire world was selfish and self-absorbed.

"Fine," Kimbra sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Tell me about yourself."

"About me?" He dumbfoundedly pointed to himself, not really knowing what to say.

The purple haired canine slowly nodded. "You're the only other person in this room."

Bud had to stop and think for a moment. He didn't expect Kimbra to actually want to know about him. For once, he didn't speak. That question did silence him for a moment as he had to think about the answer.

Kimbra threw up her hands in frustration. "You can't even give me an answer for that!"

"I'm thinking!" He scrambled, trying to find at least one interesting fact about himself. Deep down he was now desperate to get out of this conversation. "Uhhh, I recently quit smoking."

"Boring."

"My birthday is in May."

"Again. Boring."

"So, you think you can do better?"

Kimbra scoffed. "I know I can."

"Go ahead then, prove your point."

I will.

"I graduated at the top of my class. I'm from a town up north that's over a thousand miles from here." Kimbra wondered why she was telling him this. Maybe out of pettiness to prove she's more interesting. "My natural hair color is white, I just dye it because—"

Kimbra stopped. She noticed Bud staring out the window, paying her no mind. An empty billboard a few blocks down held his gaze.

She waved her hand, trying to get his attention. "Hello?"

Bud didn't reply. He kept looking out the window, into the city skyline. Uninterested.

"Have you heard a thing I said?"

He finally answered, still peering out. "I learned to tune you out."

You literally said 'prove your point', Kimbra mentally grumbled. "Bud."

"Say it again." Bud turned to her, leaning against the glass.

"I said—" Kimbra almost repeated herself. "Never mind."

For once, she wished someone would listen to her.

"No, go ahead."

"No, I don't see why you'd care. You're only toying with my feelings like it's some kind of sick game."

"I'm not—" Bud began to defend himself, but decided against it. He knew she only wanted to argue with him. It was a waste of time. "If you don't mind, I have errands to run."

"Whatever."

"Oh, and tomorrow at lunch, we're meeting at my office to discuss the project."

"Why at your office?"

"I have so many documents to go over, so I'll be there all day doing that."

"I'm not setting foot in there."

"Yes you are." Bud persisted.

"No, I'm not."

"Guess I'll have to tell Ainsley about how you've been treating me."

How mature.

"Fine. I'll be there."

Bud gave her one last smirk before he said goodbye and left.

Kimbra wished she hadn't come into work today.