Okay, there's the love interest. Now enter…dum dum dum SOME PLOT!!! And the French fry stealing that was mentioned in the intro. Yay! Anyway, enjoy!
***
Chapter 2: 'The Usual'
When Bill's alarm went off at five O'clock the next morning, he nearly pushed it off of his nightstand. After banging the clock several times with his fist, he finally managed to silence its screaming. (then suppressed a slight temptation to stick his tongue out at it.) He rolled over on his pillow with a grunt, and stared up at the ceiling, letting the whimsical images from the night before recur in his mind. I'm all alone with this one, he thought. How could I ever let this happen? With a shameful sigh, he rolled out of bed, dressed, and made his way into the hall, which was already filled with the hustle and bustle of early morning.
"Good morning, Commander." Didi Packard, the upstairs secretary, smiled cheerfully over her half-moon glasses. "Sleep well?"
"Very well," Bill lied. "And how are we this morning, Didi?"
"Oh, we're just fine," she grinned. "All of us."
Bill chuckled, and poured himself a cup of coffee from the freshly brewed pot next to her desk. The smell alone was very soothing to him. It helped to suppress the subtle thoughts he kept getting about slinking back to bed. "Hey! Hazelnut… My favorite," he commented after taking a sip (or was it a gulp?)
The old woman smiled. "I know."
"Didi, you're a saint."
"Well…" She sighed, "at least I didn't make the mistake of getting almond roast again." She looked slightly ashamed, frowning up at him apologetically.
"Didi, quit kickin' yourself for that. It's my fault. I should've told you I was allergic. Stop blaming yourself, okay?"
The doe rolled her eyes slightly, and nodded, blowing a strand of grey hair out of her face. "So, how was the dance?" She said quickly, changing the subject.
"It was fun. Though I don't think I saw you there. You usually go."
"My son was visiting from Fortuna, and I haven't seen him in over three months. Those scientific types you know… can't even find time for their own mothers…" She paused, and glanced over his shoulder, smiling brightly. "Well good morning Effy, dear!"
The very sound of her name caused Bill's stomach to do a back flip. This reaction was incredibly strange to him. Though he didn't know it, Effy was doing her best to avoid him that morning as well. She managed a smile, and turned to them quickly. "Morning Didi… Hey Bill."
"Hey Ef." He could never recall wanting to be nearer to her than he wanted just then. But at the same time, he couldn't help wishing to be as far away as he could possibly manage. Such mixed feelings would not be easy to live with, surely. But what choice did he have?
"So…um. What are you up to?" Effy poured herself a cup of coffee as well, and then stood there fidgeting with it.
"Well, you know. It's a Saturday. So as usual, I'm going to The Usual."
She nodded and took a gulp of her own scalding wake-up call. "Oh."
Didi frowned confusedly through her glasses. "What? Am I missing something here? The usual?"
Bill grinned at her, despite his sleepiness. "It's kinda an in-joke between Fox and I, Didi. The Usual is a restaurant where we meet to catch up on things every Saturday."
"Ah. Thanks for enlightening me." She smiled sweetly up at him. "At least I know you'll be eating today, then. Look at you. So skinny." The deer tsked in a motherly fashion as she turned back to her computer.
Bill glanced at Effy, half expecting a wry comment from the peanut gallery, but the tawny lioness was staring into her coffee cup as if it held the mysteries of the galaxy. He finished his own in one more gulp. "Well…I guess I'll be going then."
"What? Oh. Yeah. See you later." She hadn't looked up.
"Uh, yeah." Were all his conversations with her going to be so awkward now? With a quiet sigh Bill turned and walked off.
***
He stepped into The Usual Bar and Grill and immediately spied Fox sitting at their (heh) usual booth, playing absently with the saltshaker. The husky quietly walked over to his friend's turned back, without arousing his notice.
"Hey," he said loudly.
Fox jumped a foot. Salt went everywhere. "Shit!" He turned and glared up at his friend. "That's not funny, Bill."
"Yes it was. Were you…having fun with the salt?"
Fox smirked in embarrassed humor. "It's good company. I had to do something to pass the time…because SOMEBODY is late. No names mentioned, of course."
"Sorry about that. I'm having kinda a weird morning." Bill plopped into the seat across from the fox. His floppy ears bounced against his forehead as he did it, as if they had a mind of their own. He frowned up at them, before rolling his eyes and focusing on Fox once more.
The vulpine smiled slightly. "I already ordered," he explained. "Weird how?"
"Ah, you know. Just this, that, and the other thing."
"Oh. I hate those."
"Yeah."
A waitress came over with two plates, each laden with a cheeseburger and enough French fries to fill the Cornerian capitol building twice over. Fox smiled at her absently and dug in. "Not bad. Their food's improved since last week."
"Uh."
The red furred canine glanced over at the lack of response his joke had gotten. Bill was staring down at his burger vaguely, as if he expected it to do something. Then he picked it up and took a bite, chewing slowly. This wasn't like Bill. Normally, food was just an excuse to get someone to sit down long enough to talk to. The gregarious dog usually took twice as long with his meals than anyone else because every other bite was sandwiched between excited sentences. Now, he was barely producing grunts.
Fox narrowed his eyes slightly and slid one hand across the table to the other's plate. It was a running joke between the two that he had never been able to steal one of Bill's French fries. Ever. The chair he was sitting on could disappear from underneath him and he wouldn't notice, but if you even thought about snatching one of his fries, you would risk losing a hand. But now Fox took one without the husky noticing, and then another, and even a third. He looked down at the three French fries in his hand, and then back at his friend, who was still chewing determinedly on his mouthful of burger.
"Want to talk about it?" he asked.
Bill swallowed. "Bout what?"
"Whatever it is that's bothering you so much that I was able to steal three…Count 'em, THREE of your French fries."
"You…what?" He looked down at his plate, and his head whipped up again. "Hey!"
Fox smiled. "Well, there's a delayed reaction. So, what is it?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, come on."
"Nothing's wrong!"
"Bill. This is me you're talking to."
The husky sighed, and then nodded. "Okay. I'll spill. But this is going to sound really, really stupid."
"Don't worry. I've come to expect that from you."
"Hey, shut up. None of your comments. This is really difficult."
The fox straightened his face. "All right. No jokes. I promise."
"Okay. You know the annual dance that goes on every year?"
"As opposed to the annual dance that doesn't go on every year, I suppose."
"Hey, I said no jokes!"
"Sorry."
"You should be. Anyway, I was there with Effy. I mean, I was there with everyone, you know. But I was hanging around with Effy because, you know, she's my friend, and stuff. And, um…this slow song came on and…well. You know…stuff happened."
Fox raised an eyebrow. "What sort of 'stuff'?
"Nothing like that! Shut up! I thought we had a deal, here. I just…okay. I noticed how pretty she was, and stuff. Because she is! Have you ever seen Effy?"
"Um, yeah Bill. I've met her before. She seems nice. I'm happy for you."
"Well, save the praise for now. I didn't tell her anything about how I felt. I mean, how could I?! As far as Effy knows we're just good friends! I don't want to mess that up."
Fox nodded, and stated bluntly. "So you love her?"
Bill stared. "Duh."
"That wasn't an answer."
"Well, you think I'd be obsessing about this so much if I didn't?!"
"You still haven't said it, Bill."
"Ah…alright! I…love Effy. There. I said it. Happy?"
The other gazed at him intently. "No, because you aren't. I think you should tell her. It's the only way you're ever going to be able to deal with this. The dance was last night, and you haven't even been able to make it through noon yet. I mean, what were you going to do? Try to hide this from her forever?"
"Hah. If I have to."
"But that's not being fair to Effy, Bill. And its not being fair to yourself, either."
Bill shook his head in negation. "She doesn't love me, Fox. Did you know that? How can I tell her?"
"How do you know she doesn't?" Fox countered.
"Call it a guess."
"Fine. But a guess only takes you so far." And with those words, the vulpine stood up. "I have to go. I'll see you later, Bill. Think about it." He turned and walked out.
Bill Grey sat for a long time at that booth, staring at his cold fries.
***
Bill flicked on the lights in his office and dropped his coat on the coat rack. Then he stared tiredly at the large stack of papers sitting in his 'in' box. "Great," he muttered. "I knew I shouldn't have stared at those French fries for so long." With a sigh he sat down and picked up the first thing on the pile. It was a new recruit file, the first of a long line of them waiting for inspection and approval. They came in waves, varying from fifty to over a hundred on a bad day, and each one took about an hour to fill out. Fun.
Well, the pile wasn't getting any smaller with him just staring at it. He opened the document in his hand up and read the first line. Just then, a pile of new papers landed in the 'in' box with a whoosh. He looked up and saw Effy standing there.
"Just thought I'd help," she said.
"Oh, Goo-die." He glanced plaintively at the now massive pile. "Thanks ever so."
"Anytime." She didn't seem to be her smug self somehow. The slim lioness glanced at him almost nervously, and then dropped her eyes. "Well, I'll just be…going now."
"Effy, wait!" he called as she turned and headed out. His subordinate paused, looking back inquisitively.
"What?"
"I…Well…What I mean is, I …" Just at that moment the bottom seemed to drop out of his stomach, and it wasn't from nervousness. Bill clutched his midriff as a sudden pain bubbled up. "…feel sick."
She crossed her eyes. "Pardon?"
"Ah…I don't feel so good."
"And you…called me back to tell me this? Thank you so much, Bill. I'm glad you think so highly of me." She gave a sniggering laugh.
"No, I didn't mean you! I meant…ow. I think I'm gonna barf."
"Oh, well that's so much better. Thanks."
He opened his mouth to reply again, but the truth of his words hit home just then and instead he bolted for the bathroom. Three minutes of interesting sounds later, Effy wasn't laughing anymore.
"Wow. You really are sick, aren't you?"
"No. This is just how I relax," wafted out from the bathroom.
"But, what was it? Was it something you ate?"
"I don't know. But, if it was…it's not anymore."
"Eew."
"Thanks for the commentary." He cut off suddenly.
"Your welcome. Anytime." Silence. "Bill?" Concerned, Effy walked over to the partially open door. Not that she wanted to see anything, mind, but Bill didn't normally leave a good insult alone. He would have said 'shut up', at the very least.
"You okay in there, Bill? Other than the obvious, of course." Still nothing. Well, there was nothing for it. With a grimace Effy pushed the door the rest of the way open and looked inside. Bill was lying on the floor, fur soaked with sweat, his eyes closed.
"Bill? Oh my god!" She rushed forward and shook him, trying to wake him from his daze. His ears flopped, but other than that there was no reaction. The husky was out cold. Not waiting another second, Effy scrambled to her feet and raced to his desk, slamming one finger on the com-link button.
"Phil! Get Nurse McNeil up to Bill's office at once!"
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