Chapter 6: Judy

When the hour to finish work struck, Nick felt free at last. Even though it was a fairly leisurely day at work and he didn't have to do too much that day, he felt weary of sitting in the same place for several hours. He would love to go out somewhere with someone, preferably Finnick, he has the best relationship with him and he works quite close to him, so he would definitely have time to go for a beer or dinner together sometime.

After clocking out at 5.00.p.m., Nick tucked his notes into his briefcase, cleared away the dirt and disorder that reigned on his desk. Throughout the day, the desk top had managed to become covered with all sorts of dirt or papers. After cleaning them up, the fox took the finished briefcase and picked up his jacket, which had been hanging on a hanger for most of the day. He was ready to leave the establishment of his agency. Before he could do so, however, he locked his office (each agent had a key to his office; the only spare key was held by the caretakers who cleaned the halls in the evening), stamped his work card and went down to the ground floor of the building. As he did, several other employees were already leaving the agency putting their jackets or waistcoats on to make themselves comfortable. Everyone was turning in different directions, everyone was dispersing, but Nick guessed that everyone or at least most were going home to rest before tomorrow's rerun.

The evening was a little cooler than Nick had assumed. The first white streaks of clouds gathered in the sky. It was cooler than the day before, there was now a cold wind blowing the drugs which meant that the suit jacket came in handy, it kept the fox from getting cold, during the afternoon break Nick going out for a walk didn't even consider taking his jacket with him, it was too hot in his shirt, let alone a full set! Although it was a little cooler, the weather was very pleasant, the setting sun was always a sight that triggered in Nick the feeling that he would like to see it together with some important person who would admire the phenomenon as much as he did.

As Nick walked to his car, with the keys to his silver car ready, he noticed a yellow paper inserted under the car's wiper.

"What is this..." Thought Nick with curiosity. He bent down to pick up the piece of paper, pulled out the swatch in a nimble motion and his eyes opened wide with surprise.

"A fine! You've got to be kidding! And it's $50! Slander!" growled Nick in surprise. It was another fine this month. The previous time he got it for speeding in a built-up area. He was in a hurry to meet a client then, but it ended up that he was late for a client meeting and got a ticket in the process. Fox looked at the sign that indicated a parking meter in the car park.

"Scandal," Nick said more quietly. He clutched the ticket in his hand, opened the car door and jumped in.

"Ticket for not paying for parking, fine: $50. What a stupid idea for company employees to have to pay for their parking? Well, at least I didn't get penalty points like last time..." Acknowledged Nick more calmly. Although he was still irritated by the fine he had received, he reassured himself with the thought that the fine could always have been more, and that just $50 wasn't much to him. When he rushed to work he got a fine and 2 points, so it could have been worse. After a brief contemplation, the fox put the paper down on the other chair and headed for home.

Nick walked home at a slow pace, trying not to get himself into even more trouble. On the way he read the note several times, why he got it and the amount of the fine. He wasn't thrilled with what he read, but he couldn't help it. In his head he admitted it, he had expected that no one would check if he had bought tickets for stopping, to his bad luck it happened to be so. After reading the card, the fox put it into his trouser pocket enjoying the sunset, and it was really nice.

At 5.30p.m. it was getting a bit dark, the sun was setting slowly, but it was still warm enough to go out in a sweatshirt. There were light streaks of clouds in the sky, but no one expected rain or thunder from them. They were aesthetic additions to make the slightly orange sky look more rich. It had been so hot for a few days, the previous week had been cooler, alternating sunny days with cloudy ones where you had to wear a sweatshirt, a t-shirt alone was not enough unfortunately. It even rained once, but it was literally five minutes long and it was weak enough not to get anyone more wet.

As Nick pulled into the driveway of his house, he noticed that his new neighbour was standing by the car with the furniture looking at it. She looked a little overwhelmed and demotivated, which made the fox curious, and he watched her more closely. After observing her more closely, he managed to notice that she was holding gloves in her small grey hands. Nick quickly guessed that the doe was planning to move furniture into her house and would most likely need help. Before he drove deep into his lot he stopped at its height and used his horn to attract attention. Rabbit shook herself off and a smile immediately dawned on her silver-white face, which was directed towards the fox who had lent her the sugar that morning.

"Maybe I can help?" Nick asked pointing to the furniture. Rabbit looked at the two cars and after a brief thought nodded with a motion of her head.

"I would be very grateful for your help" replied the doe.

"I'll be there in a minute" Nick communicated. He drove up to the garage door and then got out of the car. He headed for the house so that he could get ready to help his neighbour.

Entering the flat, Nick immediately went to his room, where he immediately took off his business clothes, placed them on the ironing board, which stood unfolded the entire time, at the ready. After undressing, Nick searched through the contents of the furniture, from which he pulled out a grey shirt and tracksuits.

'This will be good for helping out' thought Nick. Although he felt a bit sorry for the branded tracksuits he decided that they were too small anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to stretch them out a bit. He put on the clothes he had taken out and left the room to go then through the door in the hall to the empty garage. The garage itself was a rather large room that would most likely fit two cars. Across from the garage door were cabinets and shelves with all sorts of tools like screwdrivers, pliers, knives and such. Lis had practically everything a mechanic might need in his garage, even though he himself did not spend much time here. With that, everything lay there in its place and he immediately picked up the gloves lying on the desk. He put them on his hands and then left the house to help for his neighbour who was waiting for him by the cars.

"So where do we start?" Asked Nick looking at the goods that were in the carts. Waiting in the vans were several cardboard boxes, some kitchen furniture, or gadgets for sports such as barbells and the like. The latter surprised the fox quite a bit, who did his new acquaintance have to be if she walks in dressed in white in the morning and trains at home?

"How about we start with the cardboard boxes and then we'll get down to the other items" the doe suggested. The fox didn't seem to mind, so he picked up three cardboard boxes from the doorstep of the car, the glassy one hearing the sound of hitting glass and china.

"Just please be careful with those cartons, there's some pretty delicate stuff in there" The rabbit communicated as he saw Nick violently pulling the packages out of the car.

"Sure...and where do you put it?"

"In the living room" replied the doe. Nick nodded with a movement of his head then set off towards the house to unload the cartons.

After more than an hour of unpacking the furniture, the cars stood empty and ready to leave. Most of the furniture was moved without any problems, as it was quite light and comfortable to carry, Nick mostly moved it himself as he didn't need any help, but he also didn't want to tire the doe too much, who had slight problems with the boxes. With some of the furniture, for example the old richly decorated table, they both had to move it because its richly decorated legs were too heavy for the fox himself, so the doe helped him by catching the table by the other end. Most of the furniture found its place in the living room, while the other doe carried it to her room alone (to keep it private). The cartons were left unpacked, but by arranging them in small towers they took up little space in the corner of the living room.

By this time it had also become darker. The first street lights had already come on and the temperature outside was lower, requiring a sweatshirt to be put on in order to be comfortable with the temperature. Fortunately Nick and his neighbour had finished their work before complete darkness, so as soon as they had done their work they went to the rabbit house to, as she thought, account for the work Nick had done for her.

"Okay, so how much do I owe you?" Asked the doe as she went to the living room to get her wallet. Nick looked in surprise at the rabbit, who was looking into the wallet and most likely counting how much money he had to hand over.

"To be paid?" Asked Nick with uncertainty, to be sure he understood the rabbit's intentions correctly.

"Well, yes, for helping me move this furniture. Is $100 enough? " Asked the rabbit. He put the money on the table and was about to close his wallet when Nick took the money in a quick motion and before the rabbit could close the wallet pocket, he put the money in there.

"You don't have to pay me for this. After all, we're neighbours aren't we? It's enough for me if you make coffee for me...I don't think I'll bother you if I stay here for a while do I?" Nick asked. The doe's face lit up for some vague reason with a smile and a slight blush which caused the doe's warm smile to cause the fox to involuntarily smile too and even quietly giggle at her reaction.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you. Sure, you can stay...actually I'm glad you want to do this...I'm only here for the second day, but I'm feeling a bit lonely" the doe replied. She asked Nick to sit down at the table then went to the shelves herself, which held various types of coffee.

"Soluble?"

"Yes," Nick confirmed.

The two of them were currently in the kitchen, which overlooked the living room where a large television stood. The flat was a little different from Nick's house, but most of the architecture was the same. The bigger differences were the colours of the walls, or the patterns on the kitchen furniture, which seemed to be slightly darker than his. The rest of the things, like the layout of the corridors, rooms and stairs were the same. This gave the fox a certain boost of comfort that made him feel almost at home.

"You know, I don't want to brag, but out of the neighborhood I'm the most laid back person...the other person like that is across the street, my friend who I was yelling with yesterday" laughed Nick. Doe giggled also nodding with a motion of her head as she poured water into the mugs. Two hot instant coffees were ready, the rabbit served them on small plates, slipping one of the coffees to the fox.

"I know, I noticed. I haven't met anyone from here at all except you," replied the doe.

"Well, here a lot of people work during the week and nobody wants to go out. You know, everyone wants to take a break from their work and be in peace and quiet".

"Then where do you work?" Asked the doe curiously.

"I'm a real estate agent. I work in downtown Zootopia, at the real estate agency by the central park. Pretty good job, you can do nothing all day, like practically today..."

"So you had a good day today, I had to work up a bit of a sweat because of the heat" replied the rabbit.

"I had a good one, but as always the police have to stick their noses into things that don't belong. I got a ticket today for not paying at the parking meter! Ah, what a stupid law it is, really if I met an officer like that..." Nick narrated, but stopped when he noticed the doe's ears drooped downwards and she lowered her eyebrows he stopped wondering if he had said something wrong. The rabbit looked quite irritated, but she calmly nodded with a movement of her head as Nick told him.

"Did I say something wrong?" Nick asked. Doe sighed, got up from her chair and headed for the living room.

"You obviously don't know where he works," said the rabbit. He went back into the kitchen and handed Nick a policeman's badge. When Nick realised the situation he felt terribly stupid! He felt like the latest clown to speak out on subjects he shouldn't. Fox laughed nervously handing the badge back to Rabbit who nodded with an ironic smile with a movement of his head.

"Guess by the agency your car was standing closest to the parking meter?" The doe asked.

"So it was you..."

"Yes, I'm the one who gave you the ticket," replied the rabbit. Nick felt even worse. He scratched the back of his neck pouting his reply while the rabbit put the badge back in its place.

"I'm sorry, I didn't...I mean you know, I got that ticket, I'm just a bit irritated about it, really..."

"Heh, that's okay...in general I don't think I've introduced myself yet, my name is Judy Hopps" replied Judy. She shook hands for Nick, who also introduced himself.

"Nick Wilde. Nice to meet you and I'm really sorry..."

"That's okay, most people react that way when they get a ticket. I'm used to it. If you bring it to me I'll rescind it for you" Judy communicated. Her sweet smile was back on her face, which reassured Nick, who was worried that she would spoil a nice evening for both of them by doing so.

"So you're a policewoman and you watch the parking meters?"

"Well, actually that's not entirely true...I've taken the job until the end of this week, due to the move I want to take up something lighter. My day job is patrolling Zootopia, catching criminals and that sort of thing" replied Judy. These words were welcomed by the fox, who was impressed by the rabbit's profession. The profession of a police officer was quite a responsible profession, but above all it was a dangerous one.

"It is quite a dangerous profession..."

"There's something about it, but I want to make the world a better place, I want to help others" replied the doe.

"Wow...I honestly didn't expect to have such a new neighbour" said Nick.

"You mean like this?" Judy asked curiously.

"Most of the people from here work in offices, they're the people who handle the paperwork like me...you're the one who keeps order...seriously you don't mind my shouting? I mean, others are bothered by it..."

"If it's related to passion I don't see why it should bother me. I'm even glad to see that you are so emotionally moved by what you are watching, some people don't have the courage to bring it out. It shows that you really love it and I'm a fan," Judy replied. Nick was seriously impressed by the rabbit's words. He had never heard anyone take his passion for Motorsport so responsibly and seriously. It sparked Nick's sense of affection for her. Although they have only just met, he has already started to like her

"Thanks, you're really the first person to say that..." Replied Nick with a smile. He looked down at his mug, by this time the mug was already empty, its contents had been drunk, as had Judy, who looked up at him with a benign look.

"So, how about some tea now?" Judy asked. Nick looked at his watch, it was already 7.30 p.m. it was practically dark outside, he still had some papers to write, but decided he could stay.

"Who could I be to turn down that pleasure" laughed Nick handing a glass to the doe.