Chapter 7: The invitation

It had been an enjoyable evening for both the fox and the doe who chatted with each other for another 2 hours after they had finished drinking their coffee. It had been a very long time since Nick had felt so comfortable in someone's company aside from the Finnick person he spent his days with, Judy was the first female character in a very long time that made the fox feel really good. Due to the fact that he was a fox his life in the neighbourhood was not exactly easy and pleasant as it might seem, although he was friendly, stereotypes prevailed and thus conversations with neighbours were limited to saying "good morning" (as always Finnick and Suzanne were the exception).

The clock struck 10.00 p.m., Nick and Judy didn't even realise when the time had passed so quickly. Lis compared the fast three hours to the three hours at work and decided that if the time went by so fast at work he would be happy to work even on Sunday, just to occupy his time. It was already quite dark outside, there were only slight red streaks in the sky, left after the sun, which was already hidden behind the horizon. However, this did not bother the talking couple, the doe turned on the light in the kitchen, so they could continue their dialogue, which already required 2 rounds of glasses of tea. It could seem that both of them didn't care about the fact that they had to get up in the morning for work tomorrow and then work for a few hours, they didn't care, all that mattered was the present moment, during which they were talking to each other pleasantly spending time with each other.

"You know what, when I was getting acquainted with my new house yesterday I decided that this Sunday I would organise a meeting with the neighbours...you know, to get to know everyone and feel more at home. Will you be able to drop by?" Judy asked.

"Are you inviting me to a sit down?" Asked Nick in surprise.

"Well yeah...you know, you're the first person I've met here and you're really nice...why are you so surprised?" Judy replied. She was a little surprised by Nick's reaction, who looked like he had won the lottery. She was surprised by his reaction, but seeing the slight smile on his face she guessed that he would accept the invitation.

"Ekh, well...maybe I'll tell you another time alright?" Replied Nick with uncertainty trying to sound calm. Judy nodded quietly focusing her gaze on her empty glass.

"Unless you'd rather watch the race..."

"What, no, no! You know it's a subject I wouldn't want to bring up right now. But yeah sure, I'll come to the meeting" replied the fox immediately. He didn't want to spoil this nice moment that had already lasted for a good few hours, and this topic would certainly spoil their mood as it is a bit painful for the fox.

"Alright. I also don't know where there's a shop or something like that. I feel silly asking for so many things from you, but would you have time on Friday or Saturday to show me around? We could take a walk around the area, I hear it's really nice here and it's good to take these walks in the evenings..." Judy asked. Nick's heart sped up when he heard the proposal. He himself didn't know why, but when he looked at the doe's amethyst eyes he felt warm inside...it was a strange feeling, if it wasn't for his reddish fur she would have probably managed to notice the slight blush that covered his face. The doe herself also seemed a little embarrassed by the boldness of her proposal, but still had the courage to stare into the fox's emerald eyes the whole time.

"Heh...you seem brave don't you?" Nick asked, breaking the moment of silence.

"You're my neighbour, you're not going to do anything to me are you?" Asked Judy ironically. Nick laughed quietly nodding with a movement of his head. He glanced at the clock, it was getting really late, it was already after 10 p.m.

"Of course not, even though I'm a fox."

"So what? Who pays attention to genre these days?" Judy asked. The fox again felt a positive surprise from the doe. He had not expected such an answer, which made the fox very pleased and feel very pleasant around the doe, who had surprised Nick more than once during that evening with her views. Despite her very good answer, the fox was reminded of his neighbours who had slightly different views on the matter, but he didn't want to bother with them.

"Well yes, you're right... thanks," replied Nick after a brief hesitation. He looked at his reflection in the glass. He could see how happy his expression was, it had been a long time since he had felt so comfortable in the company of the female sex, it had been a long time since he had had such a pleasant conversation.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Me? Ugh...for the time, it was a really nice evening, if there was an opportunity to have such a nice time more often..."

"If you want, you can come to my place in the evenings, I am grateful for your help with the furniture...and you really are a very nice guest" replied Judy sending a slight smile in his direction. She was having a nice time too and it was evident from her. Her face was covered with a slight blush and the smile did not disappear from her face for most of the conversation. She was active in the conversation the whole time and her smile manifested itself in various forms in which Nick was staring and he couldn't get enough of seeing her.

Fox rose from the table and was ready to leave before he stopped in front of the door having one thing to doe.

"What about the fine? Can you level it for me?" Nick asked. Judy got up from the table approaching the fox laughing nodding her head.

"Sure, I can. I'll do it when you show me around" replied the doe. Nick lowered his eyebrows but felt amused by his neighbour's advances. Trying to be threatening she looked more cute than threatening.

"Okay, well let it be. Does Friday night suit you?"

"Friday evening? Yes, absolutely," Judy communicated.

"Okay, so then we'll go for a walk."

"A walk sounds very...inviting."

"I know, that's why we're going for it" replied Nick. Judy giggled quietly, casting a last glance at the fox's emerald eyes. They both stared into each other's eyes until their gazes were interrupted by Nick, who turned his head away from her large, glassy eyes. He said goodbye to her then left the house.

It was undoubtedly a wonderful evening. It had been a very long time since he had last had such a good time with any girl who would be similar in his character. Judy, his new neighbour was certainly that. They had a lot of traits in common, Nick could pick that out almost immediately, although Nick had a very specific sense of humour, it seemed that the doe had a very similar one as she laughed at the same jokes as Nick. Fox felt that Judy was a really good person and after leaving her house his heart continued to work at an accelerated pace, even though the moment of looking at her amethyst eyes was behind him. Every time he recalled those moments, he felt something grow inside him.

The sky that night was uniquely embellished with stars and a moon that reflected light giving a glow to the ground, making it not so dark.

"What a beautiful sight" sighed Nick quietly looking around the sky. The scattering of glowing stars against the dark blue background gave an eerie feeling that made Nick forget to move from Judy's property. He was snapped out of his reverie by a doe who knocked on the window, drawing Nick's attention to her, who turned to show her the starry sky with her hand. The doe opened the window to lean out, then found the view amazing herself.

"Wow... it's actually a nice sky. I haven't seen such a starry sky in a long time. By the way, weren't you supposed to be writing papers for tomorrow? You mentioned something about them..."

"Papers! I almost forgot about them...I'm on my way, thanks for reminding me!" Nick replied. Actually the fox had only just realised that he had to complete his documents, for the time he had spent with the doe he had completely forgotten his duties. Deciding not to waste any more time, he ran back to his house to complete the paperwork as quickly as possible. Judy laughed as she watched the fox run across the property, then went to her room to mind her own business.

At home, Nick managed to calm down enough to decide to take care of the papers he needed to have ready for tomorrow. He headed to his room where he sat down at his desk firing up his computer where he accessed his work email. There were already several updated listings of houses for sale waiting for him, which had to be ready to be described tomorrow. Nick, however, was not feeling tired despite the late hour. He was in a very good mood after his meeting with Judy, feeling relaxed and not knowingly waiting for the opportunity to meet again. Within one evening he had taken a liking to her, she was kind, cheerful and positive about life, just like him. She was the first neighbour (skipping Finnick and Suzanne) who didn't look down on his kind, which wasn't very tolerated in the area. Fox didn't want to mention it for Judy so as not to spoil the evening, ultimately in hindsight he did well not to mention anything about it, he couldn't predict how Judy might have reacted if she had heard it. It might have planted some doubts in her mind about the sincerity of Nick's intentions to help carry heavy items into the house for free.

While transcribing documents, Nick turned on music on the second tab of his browser, a quiet sound that filled the silence in the house. Normally he never did this, preferring to stay focused on what he was doing and silently transcribed the documents trying not to make any mistakes. This evening, the fox was in such a good mood that he felt it would be useful to have something to fill the silence in the house, which had reigned for a long time...too long. He had been living alone in this house since he moved here, his neighbours weren't too convinced of Nick's character from the very beginning, but they didn't make any special annoyances directed towards him. Despite this, Nick felt a little lonely, he didn't have anyone to talk to until Finnick came along, who quickly befriended Nick, when he, like Nick, was not very well received by the neighbours. Still, together they gave each other plenty of reasons to laugh and enjoy themselves. All was well until Suzanne came into Finnick's life. They met at a party and Suzanne left her number for Finnick and that's how they got on. The friendship with Nick was very strong and important, but the girl in his heart meant that Finnick had to see his friend less. Nick had never had any luck with girls to be honest. He had tried a few times, twice he had even come close to getting a girl, but everything ended in unexpected ways that plunged the fox into a bad mood that had to be alleviated by Finnick, who could see that there was something definitely wrong with Nick. For the time being, he didn't try to think about Judy too much. I mean he liked her, she's a really good, quiet doe who is a good neighbour. Thank God, if there was a grumpy person around it would be hard to call this estate a good place to live. Nick was looking forward to meeting up on Friday, not sure why, Nick wanted to go for a walk with Judy, we had a nice chat and he definitely wanted to do it again. It was nice to talk to someone for real.

After finishing his work, the fox put his notes on the desk and went to his bathroom to do his daily evening toilette. As a representative of the agency, he had to look good, so he took a shower and brushed his teeth. After his bath, with his bathrobe on, the fox looked through the window in his room before going to sleep. The only source of light was a light on in one of the rooms of Judy's house. The fox stared at the place waiting for someone to appear in it, and I guess he had anticipated it this time, because a moment later a doe appeared at the window, who most likely like the fox wanted to look around. When she noticed the fox a sweet smile reappeared on her face with which she waved towards the fox. Nick returned the smile by waving back for the doe. All the while, the fox stared into Judy's eyes, which were almost mesmerizing. After a brief eye contact, they both went to their beds to sleep for tomorrow.