Chapter 22: They Think It's An Alpha World
Marie faces more than just discrimination because she is classified as a predator, but also because she is a female in a male-dominated society. She also finds out something cute about Jake.
"We may be evolved, but down deep we're still animals." Mister Big
The ewe laughed because they hadn't even left the city limits and Marie was already on the phone with Jake. "Sweetheart, we're only going to be there until Wednesday!" Elouise laughed once the raccoon finished talking to her boyfriend. "He has never called you this much before."
"Our relationship has gone up a few notches in the last few weeks," the raccoon replied with a small smile.
"About time! You've only been dating for almost eight months."
"Has it been that long?" Wow, I guess I didn't realize that."
"So are you going to explain what you mean by up a few notches?" the ewe snickered while she maneuvered the minivan onto the freeway. "Does that mean you two have done the dirty deed?"
"No!" Marie answered as her ears were laid back in embarrassment. "We are just waiting for the right time."
"Well, that time is coming up soon! It was about this time last year that you went into heat, I hope you brought your pills."
"Yes! I feel like I'm already on the edge of it too."
"Having an attractive male around will cause that," the ewe cautioned.
"I know! Gods I know!" the raccoon snapped while she looked sullenly out of the van's window at the winter scene. The bleak brown and grey winter landscape didn't do much to improve her attitude. All she could think of was his scent, that heady musky male scent…Stop that! She thought to herself. You're going to cause yourself to go into heat!
"There are bottles of water in the cooler on the backseat," the ewe spoke, causing the raccoon to jump slightly when her voice jarred her out of her thoughts. "It would be nice for us gals if they would do this conference during the summer. I've always suspected that they do this around mating season so they can take advantage of us to get laid."
"That's sexist and wrong!"
"Marie, you are also a raccoon and that makes you exotic, even more, desirable to some of these sleaze bags. A few years ago there was a sand cat who went into heat and had forgotten her pills, she got drunk and spent the weekend being passed around from one guy to the other. Her career was ruined, they nicknamed her Double Trouble. Because she…well you know, did it in both ends at once."
"That's not going to happen to me! I'll show them that this lil' old farm girl can handle herself and isn't going to put up with any sexual harassment."
"You're damn right it's got going to happen! Because even though I'm not a ram, I can still take down any lowlife who tries."
They changed the subject to Elouise's son's latest bouts and after several hours they finally arrived at the beach resort, the old Victorian-era building seemingly loomed over the empty and dreary-looking windswept beach. It was somewhat of an eerie sight from a distance.
"Only a bunch of accountants would have a convention at a seaside resort in the dead of winter, the ewe complained while they unloaded their luggage while a cold wind baffled them. "On the other side of the strait is Sahara Square with all that heat! Sandy Cove has plenty of resorts, why can't we go there? Oh well, it may be cold and miserable outside, but it's warm and cozy inside."
Looking up at the imposing aged structure with its many turrets and the huge wrap-around porch, Marie grinned before commenting, "It looks like something from a slasher movie. The old creepy hotel looking over a bleak unforgiving sea, I'll bet the place has ghosts."
"It's much more hospitable looking in the summer with the gardens in bloom and the sun shining."
They checked in at the front desk and took their luggage to their room. The room was filled with antiques and had two twin-sized feather stuffed beds for large-sized mammals which were larger than the raccoon's double bed in her apartment. A window looked out over the cold surf crashing onto the greyish tan windswept sand two stories below. After unpacking their clothes, Elouise said that they need to check-in at the Association's hospitality desk to get their dinner seating assignments for the evening.
When she entered the room, everyone turned their heads and looked her over. There was whispering a few of the males lewdly stared at her with what could only be called the closest to a predatory grin that any prey animal could make. "Marie Millbrooks," she announced to the groundhog who was sitting behind the desk.
"Welcome to the conference Miss Millbrooks!" he said with a smile when he handed her a name tag. "You're assigned to table seven for dinner." She gave him a frown when she noticed on the chart that she was supposed to be at table five with Elouise, but her name had been crossed out and reassigned to the other table full of guys only.
"Miss Millbrooks will be at my table this weekend Phillip," a heavily accented voice said from behind her before she could object about the seating arrangements. "I'm sure that you can make the necessary arrangements."
The groundhog threw an aggravated look towards the middle-aged white-furred arctic hare in the black three-piece suit. He appeared ready to object until he saw the rabbit's companion, a tall polar bear in a similar black suit.
"I'll make the arrangements Mister Rabitwoski, Phillip meekly replied.
The hare smiled and nodded before turning to the female raccoon. "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Millbrooks," he said to Marie. "My name is Lavrentiy Rabitwoski, but please call me Larry. Welcome to the conference."
She shook his paw and it was apparent that she was confused at what just happened because she tilted her head in that peculiar canine way, a habit she picked up growing up around the seasonal coyote farmworkers. "Thank you, but should I know you two?" she asked.
"You're just as pretty as Jake says you are," the grinning polar bear chucked before he offered his massive paw to her. "My name is Kevin, I'm a friend of Jake's."
"Are y'all both accountants?" the raccoon asked.
"I am," the hare answered. "I handle Mister Runnel's business accounts and Kevin is my associate."
"You're his associate?" Marie asked. "What does that mean?"
"I drive the limo, carry the luggage, keep undesirables away from my friend's girlfriend, and whatever is necessary" the bear rattled off when he shrugged. The look he then gave the group of males at the door sent them scurrying away.
"Did Jake send y'all to keep an eye on me?" the raccoon suspiciously asked the bear. "I can take care of myself."
"Whoa, there little lady! He has no idea I'm here." the big bear said as he raised his paws.
Elouise stepped in behind her. "This will make my life easier," she whispered. "Now I won't have to worry about some prick slipping you a mickey or something. They had their eyes on you earlier."
She introduced Elouise to Kevin, the ewe already knew Larry from previous conferences. That evening while they were dressing for the dinner, the ewe pointed out something that Marie should have realized. "I know Jake is a friend of Mister Big's, Tundratown's richest businessmammal, but to send a bodyguard to watch over you is something unique?"
"Mister Big and Jake are close friends. He saved Mister Big's life and in return, Mister Big assisted him in starting his business. I think Jake sees him as a mentor, almost a father figure."
"Well, the bear sent those deviants running. I think that slimy little shit Diego, you know the mara with the funny accent, peed himself."
"The way males treat us females, I'm getting tired of it! It's like we're second-class citizens, sex objects…whatever happened to female equality?"
"All talk and no delivery. I've seen it all my life, males are the alpha. Just how many females are really in charge besides the mayor?"
"She seems to have a firm grasp on the city government, but she doesn't seem to care for us predators much," Marie shrugged.
"She has never spoken against predator equality," Elouise replied.
"It's that she never advocates it either. It just gets tabled and booted down the city's agenda. They say that some of her big supporters have a history of being speciesist."
"I never heard that? Rumors maybe, but who really knows? One minute you're the city's darling and the next someone is tearing into you online, who can trust anything you hear nowadays, even in the press? Any time you hear someone claim that they heard something from anonymous sources in the city government say, that just means that they are making something up. Oh well, enough about politics, at least Jake doesn't seem to treat you like that."
"Well Mister Runnel is going to learn that I'm not some helpless lil' old damsel in distress," Marie growled before she reached for her phone. "I resent having someone checking on me!"
"Slow down girl," the ewe cautioned her. "Remember that Kevin said that Jake didn't have any idea that he was here. Besides I find Mister Rabitwoski pretty charming, especially with that northern accent. So let's just have fun tonight."
"No more politics!" the raccoon agreed while she finished dressing.
Their dinner was pleasant enough, but she was intrigued that Kevin was not present. The food was mediocre at best consisting of a bland pasta dish with roasted vegetables as an appetizer. The main dish was a salad made from fresh hay and oats that was totally inedible for her, but Elouise seemed to enjoy hers immensely. Of course, there was no offering of fish or poultry for the pawful of omnivores and carnivores present, not that she would show bad manners by eating meat in front of her herbivore companions.
While the keynote speaker droned on and on about some technical changes that had been proposed for next year's taxes, Marie looked around the room. There we just five attendees who were legally classified as predators and she also noted that there were only eight female accountants in the room. It's a prey male-dominated world, she sighed to herself. I wonder what that makes me, being a female predator, a third-class citizen? She felt Elouise kick her under the table and looked over at her with surprise.
"Mister Rabitwoski was asking if you would like to join us for a drink after the dinner is over?" the ewe asked.
"Sorry sir," she replied to the rabbit. "If you don't mind, I think I might get a snack because the food wasn't really that filling."
"Of course Marie. The dinner menu was rather limited in its offerings. There is an excellent menu at the pub downstairs which will have something more suitable for your tastes," the dashing hare suggested
After the dinner ended, she parted ways with Mister Rabitwoski and Elouise when she took the stairs down to the pub. As she entered the room she smiled when she saw Kevin sitting at one of the tables enjoying a very large tankard of ale and reading a book. He stood and smiled at her, waving for her to join him at the oversized table.
"I missed you at the dinner tonight," she greeted the large polar bear who was now dressed more casually in a black sports shirt and khaki slacks.
"Ah, I wouldn't have been caught dead in that place!" he laughed, his voice was deep and pleasant. "Besides, what did they serve you for dinner?"
"A salad with all kinds of grass and some fruit. I ate the fruit, but the remainder wasn't something I could eat without getting sick."
"If I had known, I would have brought you a filet of halibut. I would have loved to see those grass munchers' faces if they saw you eating some real food."
"Now be nice," she giggled. "Some of my friends munch grass."
"So do some of mine," he replied with a grin. "I just hate it that some mammals get their noses out of joint when they see someone eat meat, even a cricket. That's why I like Tundratown, folks are not as prejudiced on that side of the wall."
The waiter stopped by the table and the seal struggled with the oversized tankard of ale for the bear. She sighed in relief when Kevin reached down and plucked it from her grasp. "Sharleen, I told you I could have got it from the bar," the bear softly admonished her with a smile.
"This isn't a self-serve bar Kevin," she scoffed. "I've got to earn my keep too."
"You're a sweetheart," the bear laughed.
"Speaking of sweethearts, so what can I get you tonight besides a drink?" the seal asked Marie. "I take it you were at the dinner tonight, so you'll want some real food."
"A glass of that ale would be wonderful but in a much smaller tankard," Marie replied
"Thank you, I don't think my back could handle two of those in a row. The special tonight is a smoked salmon salad with fruit and it comes with or without the greens. We also have excellent clam chowder in a spicy tomato sauce with carrots and potatoes, it's nice and warm."
"I've seen enough salad tonight. A bowl of the chowder sounds divine."
"One bowl is on its way!" the seal announced before she waddled towards the kitchen.
While she ate, they spoke about Jake and she laughed at some of the stories Kevin told her.
"…so Ju Ju wasn't happy until she found a tiara and a princess party dress that fit Jake, everyone had to dress for her tea party," the bear laughed. "So next thing we know, there's a male raccoon in an oversized pink frilly dress and a purple cardboard crown holding a tiny teacup sitting next to a very happy shrew kit."
"She didn't make you wear a dress?" Marie giggled.
"Nope I was her knight, so we found a bucket for me to perch atop my head."
"You should have taken pictures. I would love to have seen them."
"He loves you," Kevin suddenly said. "He also respects and trusts you. I was only joking about keeping an eye on you for him."
"I know and it's good to know he has friends like you in his life," she said with a smile
The bear smiled back before he pulled out his phone and located a photo of a certain raccoon in an oversized pink princess dress.
Author's Note: Like our society, I feel that a male-dominated "Alpha" mindset also survives in my version of Zootopia. In a previous story that I wrote called Sins of Our Fathers, one of the main characters is a spotted hyena and his traditional society is female-dominated, putting him into a personal conflict between how he is treated at home and how he is treated at work.