A/N: So much for posting Chapter 4 soon after Chapter 3. Oh well, better late than never.
Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia (If I did there would be a sequel already)
Chapter 4: First Day on the Job
At 10:00 a.m., Judy Hopps rolled out of bed feeling refreshed. After ending her check in call with Wiley, the optimistic bunny immediately hit the sack. She walked over to the window and threw open the blackout curtains to reveal a gray overcast sky.
"I've only been here two days, and I already miss the sun," she said to herself. After pulling on a pair of comfy sweatpants and a spaghetti strap tank, she walked into the small kitchen to make breakfast which consisted of a cup of coffee and soy yogurt topped with granola.
After finishing her breakfast, she walked to the door to her apartment and picked up the newspaper that was there. She walked over to the large comfy chair and sat down to peruse the day's top stories. After concluding that there was nothing going on in Zootopia that could hold her interest, she turned on the TV. For some reason, the only thing on TV that time of day was mind numbing reality shows.
"Keeping up with the Catdashians," she said, "Pass. The FurReal World. Boring."
She shut off the TV and pulled out her mp3 player. She popped in her ear buds and started listening to some music before drifting off to sleep.
Hours later, Judy shot up in her chair. She looked at the clock on her wall and saw that it was 2:00.
"Damn," she said, "I don't think I remember the last time I took a nap. I'm so bored."
Seeing that four hours had passed since she had breakfast, she made herself a light meal of tossed salad and some sweet tea. By the time she finished, it was almost 15:00. She picked up her cell phone and dialed the check in line. She heard the other end pick up, "Undercover work is boring."
"Well hello to you too Carrots," Nick's voice came over the receiver.
"Nick," she said excitedly, "Why do you have Wiley's phone?"
"He's busy right now," Nick said, "We're at the second victim's house in Tundratown."
"Selina Winters," Judy said, "Have you found anything?"
"Her neighbor is a piece of work, but we found out that a few days before her disappearance, she was accompanied home by a female arctic fox."
"That sounds familiar," Judy said, "Wiley told me the same thing about the first victim."
"Lorena," Nick said, he noticeably shuddered, "Yeah. This case is messing with me, Carrots."
"What do you mean," she asked concerned.
"Everything about it," he said, "Rabbits going missing, all employed by the same gentleman's club, the same club that my best friend who so happens to be a rabbit is currently investigating undercover."
"Are you really that worried about me," she asked slightly taken aback.
"Of course I am," he said, "I wish they would just tell me who and where you're investigating."
"Sorry, need-to…," she started.
"I know," he interjected, "It's need-to-know, and I don't."
"Did you learn anything else," she asked.
"Yes, actually," he said, "The horrible speciesist neighbor noticed someone sneaking around a few nights ago, and we found evidence that someone had picked the front door lock. Oh, Wiley's back."
Judy could hear the sound of the phone being passed to the Inspector, "Hopps."
"Good afternoon Inspector," she said, "Nick told me that you found out a few things about activity around Selina's house."
"Forced entry," he said, "but we haven't been inside to look around yet. I'll talk to you at 0300."
With that the line went dead, "Such a jerk. Well, at least I got to talk to Nick."
She looked at the clock again and decided to start getting ready for work. She walked to the bedroom and opened her wardrobe. She pulled out another skirt similar to the one she wore the previous day and a white button up blouse. She also selected a purple bra and panty set. After changing into the clothes, she looked into the full length mirror. She reached up and unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse to expose some cleavage.
"Something's missing," she said. She opened the jewelry cabinet and pulled out a gold chain necklace and put it on. She also grabbed a pair of costume black rimmed glasses. Once adorned, she looked back into the mirror, "Sexy librarian. Works for me."
She looked at the clock and saw that it was 4:00, "Time to go."
As she walked through the front door of the Warren, she was met by Piotr and Sergei.
"Good evening Miss O'Hare," Piotr said, while Sergei nodded.
"Hi," she responded, adding a light nervous tone to her voice.
"Don't worry too much. The patrons can be perverted ass-hats sometimes, but they usually are too focused on the dancers to bother the wait staff," Sergei said before adding, "However, if anyone does give you any trouble, let us know. We will show them the door."
"Good to know," she said as she walked pass them and into the club.
She walked over to the bar where the cheetah, Lightning, was in the process of restocking his bar.
"Glad to see that Mr. le Roux didn't scare you off last night," he said upon seeing her, "Lola said that you weren't feeling to well when you left."
"Hi Lightning," she said, "Yeah, I'm not used to drinking cocktails. I grew up on a farm; we drank homemade wine. Bloody Marys' are too heavy for my stomach."
"That may be true," he responded, "Also, I know that Javier tends to pour heavy, so each of your drinks was probably poured as a double. If your stomach isn't settled yet, I can get you some ginger ale."
She shook her head, "No thank you. I'm fine."
"That's good," he said, "because I'm going to give you a quick course in mixology. As a floor waitress, you need to be able to mix simple drinks for our patrons. Most of our clientele are simple. They mostly order things straight or with a single mixer, so I'm going to teach you how to make the most common orders. If you get an order for something more complex, tell me and I'll make it."
Over the next hour and a half, Lightning showed her how to make various two-ingredient cocktails as well as a White Russian, a Bloody Mary, an Old Fashioned, Martinis and a few other popular drinks.
Around 6:30, Judy saw that more employees began showing up, including the dancers. They all waved at Lightning as they headed behind the stage to go to the dressing room.
"Okay then," he said, "Mr. le Roux wants you to take drinks back to the dancers. They have standing orders, so you need to learn them, and the best way to learn them is making them. Natalia gets a Gibson Vodka Martini."
Judy picked up a tall glass, filled it with ice. She picked up the bottle of top shelf vodka and measured it before pouring it into the glass. She did the same with dry vermouth. She took the mixologist spoon and stirred it quickly before straining it into a stemmed martini glass. She used a pair of tongs and gently placed two cocktail onions in it.
"Well done," Lightning said, "Next is a Classic Dry martini for Misty."
Once again Judy mixed a martini; this time however, she mimicked Javier's steps from the night before.
"Jessica gets a Bourbon on the rocks."
She grabbed a rocks glass, filled it with ice, and poured a shot of top shelf bourbon over it, "That was easy. Next."
"Aisha gets a Gin and Tonic."
Judy grabbed a Collins glass, filled it with ice, measured a shot of Gin and topped it with tonic water before stirring it.
Lightning picked up a small bottle and a tiny clay dish, "Beli gets Nigori, so there's not much preparation. Just shake the bottle a little before opening it. Finally, Lola gets your new favorite drink, but she likes it prepared a specific way, so I'll mix it this time."
He grabbed a highball, pour a shot of vodka in it and topped it with tomato juice, leaving a few millimeters from the top. He picked up a bottle of hot sauce and proceeded to dump it in, "She like's it hot." He sat the bottle down and stirred the concoction before garnishing it with a pepperoncini pepper, and a carrot.
"Now, who gets what?" he quizzed her.
"The Gibson goes to Natalia, the classic to Misty," Judy said as she pointed to each drink, "The whiskey goes to Jessica. The one that smells like a tree goes to Aisha, and Beli gets the Saké, while Lola gets my waking nightmare. I got it."
"Well done," Lightning said, "Now, do you know which dancer is which?"
"I've already met Lola and Natalia," she responded, "Beli is the mongoose, Aisha is the meerkat, Jessica is the badger, and Misty is the otter."
"Again, well done," he said, "Can you handle a tray with six drinks on it?"
"I'm the oldest of 200 siblings," she said, "I may have carried a heavy serving dish or two in my time."
"Have at it then," he said, "The girls are in the dressing room behind the stage."
Judy nodded, took the tray from the bar and headed to the back.
Soon she was standing outside the dressing room. She knocked hard enough to cut through the sound of music that was blasting from the room ahead of her, but too hard to be a nuisance. The door swung open, and she was met by the inquisitive glare of a mongoose.
"H…hi," Judy said with a slight stutter, "You must be Beli. I'm Alexis, the new hostess. I have your drinks."
Beli cocked an eyebrow and swung the door wide open for her to enter. She walked in, carrying the large tray of drinks.
"I see that Felipe didn't scare you off," Natalia said from her position in front of a vanity, "I'm glad."
"Hey girl," Lola shouted from the pleather loveseat that she was sharing with the badger, Jessica.
"Hi Lola," Judy said, "Nice to see you again."
"So are you going to serve us our drinks or not," Beli said as she sat next to Aisha on a large chair.
"Don't be rude babe," Aisha said playfully, "She's new."
"She's right," Judy said, "That's why I'm here."
She sat down the tray and lifted the Gibson martini.
"Gibson martini for Natalia," she said as she carried the drink over to the fox, who nodded approvingly as she took the glass.
"Classic dry martini for Misty," she said as she handed it to the waiting otter.
"Thank you," she said as she took the glass.
Judy lifted the bourbon and bloody Mary and handed them to Jessica and Lola respectively.
Lola took a drink and smiled, "Perfect."
Judy nodded and turned to hand the gin and tonic to Aisha.
"Did you purposely wait to serve mine last?" Beli chided.
"I'm sorry," Judy said, "I just wanted to make sure that I served the Nigori correctly."
She handed the clay dish to Beli before lifting the bottle and lightly swishing it around. She uncorked it and proceeded to pour a small amount into the dish.
Beli took a sip, "Adequate."
Judy nodded, "Thank you."
She looked around to address the entire room, "Is there anything else that I can get for you ladies?"
Lola opened her mouth to say something, but Natalia beat her to it, "No. That will be all, Alexis."
Judy nodded, "Okay. If any of you need anything, don't hesitate."
She picked up her serving tray and headed out of the room.
"You survived," Lightning said when she got back to the bar. She sat the tray down with a sigh.
"That was intense," she replied, exasperated.
"They can be a lot," the cheetah shot back.
From the soundboard behind them came, "Pshh. You ain't kiddin'."
Judy turned and saw Lucius nod at her.
"Lola seems nice," she said, "but I couldn't get a read on the others. I don't think Beli likes me though."
"I think you'll be surprised," Lightning said confidently, "She's got a tough shell, but she'll lighten up."
He glanced up at the clock on the wall, "It's almost opening time. Get ready."
Judy nodded.
The night went as smoothly as Judy could hope. She took many different orders from many different mammals. The variety of species still astonished her, but she didn't let it show. Lightning was right in that most of the drink orders were for basic two ingredient mixed drinks or just beer. Before she knew it, the crowd started to thin out and the evening began to wind down. By now, most of the dancers were in their private rooms performing for the high rollers, save for Lola and Misty who were still working the stage.
Judy was at the bar when the phone rang. She looked at the caller id and saw that it was coming from Jessica's room. She answered, "This is Alexis; what can I get you?"
"We need a bottle of bourbon for the room," the badger responded, "and three glasses and ice."
"I'll have it for you right away," Judy responded.
"Bourbon for Jess," Lightning said, less as a question, more as an affirmation.
Judy nodded.
He grabbed a bottle of top shelf bourbon, three glasses, and a bucket of ice and placed it on a tray, "Take it to her room, but don't serve it. She'll do that."
Judy nodded before taking the tray and heading back. She made her way to the room with Jessica's name on it and knocked. The door swung open to reveal Jessica, clad only in a tight black thong and a pair of black stilettos. Behind her were a zebra and a kangaroo, sitting on wooden chairs, bound by the wrists.
"Thanks, sweety," Jessica said as she took the tray before leaning in to whisper into her ear, "Play along."
She pulled Judy into a sensual kiss with her free hand. Judy's eyes shot open as Jess's tongue shot into her mouth. Jess pulled away, and Judy saw the two males behind her panting hungrily, straining against their bonds. Jessica pushed her out of the room before closing the door and locking it.
Judy stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds before shaking her head, "Well that just happened."
She turned to head back to the bar when she saw a shadow go around the corner. She cocked her head in confusion. She slowly made her way to follow. As she reached the corner, she heard the sound of metal scraping metal before hearing a click, followed by a slight chuckle and a door opening. She stuck her head around the corner to see Lola's room hanging open.
'Someone picked the lock,' she thought to herself, 'I should go get Sergei or Piotr… Or I could just go in myself.'
She rounded the corner and made her way to the open door. As she peered into the dimly lit room, she saw the same rabbit buck that she saw the previous night, going through Lola's wardrobe, 'oh hell no.'
"Excuse me, sir," she said loudly and with authority, "This is a private room."
The buck jumped with a start, "Ahh, I'm sorry. I was looking for the bathroom and got lost."
"Uh huh," she said, "The restroom is down the hall to the left."
"Thank you," he said, "I'll be going now."
He hurried out of the room. Judy watched as he rounded the corner and headed towards the exit.
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