13. The Big Gala (1)
==Nick==
*Plock*
The door unlocked tougher than I wanted. With a simple flick of my wrist, I flung my keys onto the table, where the potted plant Judy had given me a few weeks back, brought them to a halt. I pushed open the door and placed the bags of new clothes inside my bedroom. I stuck my head back into my 'living room' and looked at my clock. Four and a half hours left before the gala would begin. Plenty of time to get ready and make dinner for when Judy'd come by.
I returned to the novel additions of my wardrobe. On my pillow lay the most expensive one of them all. Bearburry, the letters wrote on the outside. Apart from that one, I spread the clothes out on the bed. It made confess that the things they had persuaded me to buy, were indeed nice. Without further dawdling, I stored every piece in the, by me assigned, appropriate drawer, leaving only this evening's outfit. I took off my clothes, stuffed them into my washing machine and stepped under the shower. After having dried myself and brushed the tangles from my fur, I ventured back into my bedroom. On hands and knees, I reached into the bottom of my closet until my hand came into contact with an old, damaged box. The cardboard was bruised and soft due to its age, though the contents were not that vulnerable hence it sufficed. Blindly ploughing through the items within, I ultimately withdrew a small sack, , sallow-black of colour. I untied the yellow knot that kept it closed and shook the two cufflinks onto the palm of my hand. Their silvery glance reflected the sunlight that entered through my window. All those years in the closet didn't seem to have affected them at all. The round buttons were engraved with a single letter each: one with a 'P', the other with a 'W'. Once they decorated my father's suit on the day of his marriage to my mother…
I sat down on the bed and mused about a sudden, extreme fantasy that popped into my mind. Judy as my wife, that was a very weird thought. Surely I loved her like no other, but marriage… It seemed so intense, so life changing. I didn't even have the guts to tell her how I felt, let alone ask her to share our worlds. Besides, I had for as yet no idea if she liked me back. And if so, would she be willing to marry a fox. No. I was getting ahead of things too much. Maybe one day this topic would matter, not tonight. Tonight, it was going to be me, her and a room stuffed with zooicidal criminals. That reminded me not to forget why we were going to be there. We had to pick out the most likely suspects for the attacks on Mr Big and his employees.
*Buzzzz*
The vibrating phone rattled on the cupboard next to my bed. It was a message from Judy.
Hey Nick. Gotta cancel dinner. Sorry! Fru Fru and I are just done shopping. Eat at her place. Cya tonight xx
I checked the time in the top corner of my phone. It was five o'clock. They had actually managed to spend over five hours at the mall. Thank goodness I escaped with Finnick when I had the chance. Although sad that we weren't gonna have dinner together, my eyes wandered off to the pair of crosses at the end. Kisses. I smiled. It didn't matter to me that she always ended her texts with it, it made me very warm. I asked myself out loud if she'd end her texts to everyone with them. Even that thought couldn't supress the joy the two letters gave me.
After a few seconds of staring dreamily at the ceiling, I put on a t-shirt and shorts. It would be better to eat first and dress afterwards. Imagine arriving there with stains on a two months' salary suit.
==Judy==
"Was everything to your satisfaction, sir?"
Vincenzo, a short stocky boar with a thin, curling moustache and Mr Big's Cook, humbly informed after his boss's opinion on today's work. Slightly bent forward and facing his own feet, he waited as the shrew calmly wiped his mouth with a napkin. He had appeared as soon as we had finished the last dish and the mammals responsible for clearing the table had been summoned.
"It was, though shouldn't you be posing that question that to our guest?"
"Of course, sir. You are right, sir." He agreed.
The fact that this punishing remark did not unnerve the cook, suggested that he was probably in Big's service for quite some time already. Following this interaction, the boar positioned himself in front of me in an equally respectful posture. I spotted some stains on Vincenzo's white costume which had hardly been notable at a distance, yet drew attention now that he was this close. This pleased me, for it led me to believe that he wasn't one of those chefs that only gave orders to servants, but actually made the dishes himself.
"Was everything to your satisfaction, milady?"
It was funny to be called a lady. After this flamboyant dinner, it was another taste of the luxurious air that was part of daily life in these circles.
"It was delicious! You did a great job!"
"Milady is too kind." He responded unmoved.
Maybe I was a bit too enthusiastic. Nick had told me it wasn't customary. Maybe Vincenzo was wondering why Big had invited such a lowborn rabbit like myself. I needed to act more dignified next time.
After thanking Mr Big a second time, the cook departed, leaving just Mr Big, Fru Fru and me.
"Are you looking forward to the gala?" She asked me.
"Sure, don't you?"
"Oh I'm not attending."
"What? Why not?" I uttered downcast.
"The evening will be too crowded for her. She's due next week, so we need to avoid too much stress."
"Ah, I understand."
"Speaking of the gala."
Big waved his fingers over his head, gesturing to one of the cupboards against the wall. Koslov accepted the command without producing a sign that he did and made his way to the designated object. He retrieved something from the top drawer and came back to us. He held out his paws to me, presenting a small, navy blue box. It looked even tinier in the huge white hands that supported it. I took it over and placed it in front of me on the table. Staring at me was a pair of glistening, white-gold earrings. An inch long and shaped like ties, a lozenge tanzanite embedded in the middle. Just the sight made my heart beat faster. They were breathtakingly beautiful and undoubtedly very, very expensive.
"Consider it a late birthday gift. Fru Fru reminded me that I had never attended it last month, so that needed to be rectified."
"But I…"
I hesitated. Getting things like these during an ongoing investigation came awfully close to a bribe.
"Fru Fru also advised me" Big proceeded unruffled, "that rabbits don't usually wear earrings because they don't want to puncture their ears. Therefore I had these adjusted to clip-on's instead."
I picked one of them up to ascertain that he was right. Dangling from in between my fingertips, the lilac gem radiated gorgeously in the yellow light of the chandeliers. My head told me to turn it down, yet that thought weakened as the jewels mesmerized me with their beauty. I meticulously put it back in the box and closed it.
"I-I'm not sure that I can accept these." I said, despite my immediate love for the earrings.
"Hehe, afraid I'm trying to bribe you?" Big laughed.
Of course he could deny it today, however if he needs me tomorrow, he could resort back to this gift, could he not? My instincts might tell me Big wasn't the type for that, my superficial knowledge of his business was evidence contradicting that sense. Still. They were so pretty…
"Are they not too expensive? I'm afraid they're worth more than I am myself." I said in a last effort to reassure myself.
Big made a scornful noise. The topic of price tags clearly didn't please him.
"Money is not an issue. This is simply a gift to symbolize what you mean to my family."
"And, they match your dress perfectly!"
A knock on the door and another black-suited polar bear entered through one of the side entrances. He hastened himself towards his employer and whispered something in his ear. The addressed animal nodded seriously and beckoned Koslov.
"I hear that our first guests are here… Ladies." He excused himself and after he was picked up, the three men left.
I looked up at the carved wooden clock on the other side of the dining room. It was seven fifteen. Whoever these guests were, they were quite early. When we waited for the last dishes to be taken away, Fru Fru reassured me that, despite not being present, she'd help me dress for the gala. Then she jumped from her chair and landed flexibly on her feet. Covering a total height of more than a metre, I questioned the true depth of her 'impairing' condition.
"Oh I'm fine." She said. "It's not that I'm handicapped or something."
"Really? You are pregnant after all."
She looked herself over as if she hadn't even noticed it.
"My dad's just overprotective that's all. The only reason I'm not going to the gala, is because he doesn't want me to. If it were up to me, I'd already be muzzle-deep in my make-up box!"
We began walking towards the giant, marble hallway from where we'd be going upstairs to her room.
"Then why don't you?"
"Well. That I feel fit, doesn't mean I am. It is possible that I'm overestimating and start puking halfway the evening and that's not very glamorous. Trust me, I've been there."
I chuckled.
"When it comes to your own wellbeing, friends and family sometimes know better than you yourself."
I realized that this is exactly what I learned when Nick confronted me after the accident. He had convinced me to see a doctor, which turned out to have been necessary. Since then, he had been monitoring my health a lot better than I had myself.
At the bottom of the stairs, we ran into Big and his first guest. To my surprise, it was a fellow lagomorph; an arctic hare with snow-white fur, a little above my size, in a grey suit with black stripes running vertically down his outfit. From underneath his sleeves and collar, a lavender shirt jutted out. The two seemed to have a business conversation and I tried to sneak past without interrupting, yet the moment the hare's gaze met my own, he tightened his tie and called me over.
"Forgive me, miss, I hadn't had the pleasure?"
He courteously bowed forward and reached for my paw. To avoid awkwardness, I gave it to him. He pressed a gentle kiss on it, unfortunately not letting go afterwards. He eyed me extensively, making me highly uncomfortable.
"Hopps, Judy Hopps."
"A name almost as pretty as its owner..."
I felt a nausea coming up.
"… Jake Hare, at your service. Always a pleasure to meet congener in this line of work, wouldn't you agree?"
"Actually, Miss Hopps is a member of the ZPD." Big corrected him.
Deriving from his tone, he was happy to break it to him. Simultaneously, I too hoped that this would scare him off. There was something about this guy that was creepy. Even though he was good looking, I couldn't shake the unpleasant vibe occupying every fibre of my body. As if my gut warned me that he was bad news.
"Really? How intriguing." He said, undeterred by the notification. "And are you here too for the gala, Miss Hopps?"
"Indeed I am." I replied, still trying to free my hand from his.
"Judy. Are you coming?" Fru Fru demanded from atop the stairs.
"In a second!"
At last I regained control of my own limb and climbed up the stairs.
"I look forward to seeing you again tonight."
I shuddered and quickly tailed my friend to her room. Glancing back at the hare, who had meanwhile resumed his conversation with Mr Big, I prayed that not everyone was going to be like him tonight.
==Nick==
In contrast to yesterday's visit, the parking garage was a lot fuller today. After parking, I made a short stroll and to watch all the bolides that stood on display. There were high ranking brands, like Furrari and Mouserati, but also more modest vehicles like my own sedan. Raymond, who had been assigned the duty of guiding the guests to the front door, glared at me menacingly. He remembered my former schemes and did not like me hanging around the cars of the others. I couldn't really blame him for that, so I quickly stuck to him on route to the mansion. The warmth I had felt at home upon putting on the suit was sucked out of my body in seconds the moment we got outside. The meandering path to the main entrance was lighted by small spots that kept themselves snow-free with the heat they generated. Another paradoxical feeling in comparison to yesterday was that I got more excited with every step closer. I looked forward to showing off my Bearburry suit with complementary shirt and bow to Judy. I had even spent time to brush my fur. Tonight, I was going to be the best looking chap at the party. Or so I hoped.
Inside, I found that the hallway had for occasion been turned into a cloakroom. On the right, an elongated table with a white tablecloth offered the guests the opportunity to drop off their coats and bags, after which they'd be distributed over the hooks in a numerical fashion. On the left, the two doors leading to the huge ball room of Big's villa were closed to keep the gala sheltered from the wardrobe. I could hear a lot of animals already being inside. The other doors of the building, for example those that lay past the giant stairs, were barricaded by steel poles, tethered together with a thick, maroon ribbon.
Raymond left me at the desk and returned to his post outside. I guess he was so gruff because he had to stand outside all night. Since I solely wore my suit, there was nothing for me to declare at the racks, however the line that waited for entry deliberately led past this point, hence I had to wait for everyone in front of me. In this line, I soon recognized a few faces.
One of them was Vladimir Lupinski, a long, male grey wolf. He was exceptionally tall for his kind and strong too. He was flanked by three of his men, although I was not familiar with their names or faces; all of them in steel-blue suits with ties in matching colour and shirts of white, like mine. Vlad was the alpha of a group of mercenary timber wolves, the same group that Mayor Lionheart had recruited to abduct and hold the savage animals. He was infamous for his brutal regime amongst his employees, which in his opinion bred an organisation of powerful soldiers. Despite that advantage, the downside to this approach was that more than often his leadership was disputed by a lower in command. This could then, according to the rules Vlad had set up, only be resolved through a bloody form of paw-to-paw combat in a location of the challenger's choosing. Thus far, he had always been able to fight off his opponents by means of his sheer size and strength. It was my belief that that was the reason he had made this rule; paw-to-paw combat leaning dominantly on the power of both contesters, it gave him a clear advantage from the start.
Two mammals in the row behind Vlad stood Marilyn, an amur leopard in a long dinner dress as black as the night. I came to the realization that I didn't even know her last name. She was a renowned bounty-hunter and had earned her fortune with taking out some very important and inaccessible animals. Nobody knew exactly how she had become so efficient, although it was clear that she was someone to be cautious with. I had spoken to her once, on one of Big's previous galas as fate would have it. She had explained to me that she had attained so much wealth that, nowadays, she only took jobs that appealed to her.
Suddenly, I felt a strong grip around my throat and I was lifted two feet off the ground. As I tried to free myself from the tough hided snake that coiled around my neck, my assailant turned me to face him.
"I don't know how you managed to slither your way in here, but soon you'll wish that you hadn't, old friend."
A fear crept up on me as the speaker that held me was certainly not a friend of mine. Ganesh, an Indian elephant, had sworn to kill me the first best time we would ever meet again. This was of course after I had ripped him off for about a thousand bucks. Clearly he hadn't forgotten about that promise yet. Even if I could've produced a reply, which was kind of difficult with my larynx being squashed, I wouldn't know where to start.
A yellow-black blur flashed by my eyes, paralyzing the gripping trunk and resulting in me landing on the floor. As I gasped for air, I noticed it was Marilyn who had come to my aid.
"What for the dickens?!" Ganesh cried out, rubbing his sore trunk.
"Big told us that there were going to be no fights on this gala. What makes you so eager to antagonize him so soon on the evening?"
"This fox is a bloody thief, that's why! No doubt he only came here to steal and…"
He was silenced by a powerful paw on his shoulder.
"He came here" Big interrupted, "on my request."
Koslov's paw rested on Ganesh's shoulder as he held his boss in the other. The polar bear more than matched the elephant in length and judging from the painful grin on the latter's face, also in strength.
"Y-your request?" Ganesh stuttered nervously.
"My request."
"For the devil why? He is –"
"You may not know it, Ganesh, but Nick here is a ZPD officer nowadays."
"An officer? Him?!" Ganesh scoffed.
"Yes. And he and his colleague are good friends of mine. That's why I invited them. I hope you don't have any issues with that?"
Big's tone was neither friendly nor unfriendly. It was surprisingly calm and low, giving it perhaps an even more menacing touch. The elephant apologized and quickly went inside the ball room. Marilyn helped me back on my feet.
"You alright hon?"
"Yes. Thank you." I coughed.
I looked at her quizzically.
"If I may, why'd you help me out?"
She smiled.
"That's what friends do, Nicky."
"We're friends? Oh sorry, didn't mean to be rude." I added.
"We've met at a gala similar to this one, remember?"
I nodded.
"I do, I just didn't think you would either."
She shrugged.
"Sure. You were one of the few who had spoken to me without an ulterior motive. I'm so tired of everyone just trying to get me to like 'm, just so they can ask me for favours. When I saw you on the news a few weeks back and saw you'd become an officer, I started following your feats. You're quite a celeb in the papers lately."
I laughed.
"I guess that's what you get when you're teaming up with Zootopia's most notorious copper."
"Big mentioned a colleague…" She said, evidently asking whether that colleague and my partner were the same.
"Yep, that's Judy alright. It's her that I'm waiting for actually."
"The bunny, right?"
"That's the one."
"Then I think your wait is over." She said, nodding to the stairs.
"Hmm?"
I followed her gaze and found what she meant. The moment thereafter, everything around me fell away. All I could see, was Judy in her tea length ball gown. It was a simple yet elegant design, the lilac colouration identical to that of her irises and contrasting her grey and white fur beautifully. The top of the dress covered her upper arms and chest, not her shoulders, went on into a tapered waist to eventually flare out and fall just below her knees. The overall shape of the dress accentuated her beautiful, slim figure and the fabric shimmered dazzlingly as it followed her every move as she treaded down the stairs. Her fur was brushed to the extent where it almost glimmered in the faint gleam of the artificial light. I blinked a few times to see whether it was really her, realizing that she was also wearing a pair of silver earrings. Embedded within were gemstones that in turn matched the purple shade of the dress. The rings themselves were attached to the lowest part of her ears, just above her head, where they dangled cutely like the carrot-hangers on the rear-view mirror in her car. I never thought she'd be able to look prettier than usual, however tonight her grace rendered me speechless. Behind my back, I pinched myself in the arm to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
"Aw!"
"What?" Marilyn asked.
"Nothing." I rubbed my arm.
"She looks beautiful."
"Absolutely." I agreed without hesitation.
If others said it too, it had to be true and there would be no suspicion in me agreeing to that.
"So, she's gonna be your date for tonight?"
I thought to hear a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Yes she is." I answered proudly.
"Then you'd better hurry to make sure someone else won't take her."
Clueless at first, I soon spotted that I wasn't the only one who took an interest in Judy's entrance. More mammals around me had their sights fixed on her and one, a pale hare, even went as far as going over and kissing her hand. Immediately I felt an unreasonable jealousy. He was flirting with her. With my Judy! Well, technically I didn't really have a right to call her that, but she… Wait, why was I pondering about this! I stop loitering and get my tail over there!
"Would you excuse me." I made an obeisance to Marilyn.
Marilyn smiled and spread her paw as to allow me to leave and not a second later, I hurried myself to the bottom of the stairs.
==Judy==
Fru Fru's idea of a making a spectacular entree to the party was a great success, however I didn't quite know whether I was content about that. I cast down my eyes to avoid staring straight into the curiosity of the animals in the hallway. I didn't like getting so much attention, it made me nervous. And to make it worse, Jake Hare returned to stalk me.
"It appears that you are shy of a male counterpart for the evening, Miss Hopps." Jake smiled, once more seizing my paw.
"Not at all, mister Hare, I-"
"Jake, please."
"Jake." I repeated uninterested, "I'm sure he'll be here soon."
"Why wait? Why not let me guide you inside?"
This guy was begging for a slap across the face. It was time to follow Fru Fru's advice to be more direct and I pulled my hand rudely from his clutches.
"I'd rather not, thank you." I replied haughtily.
"Alright then." He said agitated. "Should you change your mind, you know I'll be around."
When he left, I felt some regret with respect to my bluntness. Sadly, Fru Fru had been right when she had said it was the mere thing this guy would understand. I flattened my gown to make sure I looked at my utmost when Nick would arrive and adored its beauty once again. Another thing Fru Fru had been right about: this dress was absolutely gorgeous.
"Good evening, Milady."
I turned around to see another man bent forward. He had also already taken the liberty to kiss my paw. This was going to be a long night if all I met would impertinently press their lips on my hands. When the male reared upright however, I got a surge of surprise and excitement.
"N-Nick?"
He grinned at me.
"Hey Carrots." He said, dropping his random gentleman act.
"I hardly recognized you."
Being used to the occasionally overly-casual appearance Nick used to uphold, the groomed fur, dark bowand neatsuit were an astounding change. His suit was as black as a raven's feather and fitted him excellently, the edges curving around his shoulders just right and the folds in his pants aligning with his own stature. From below his jacket, a brand-new white shirt betrayed its presence around his collar and his wrists; the bottom edges of its sleeves decorated with silver cufflinks. Without asking, I lifted his arm and to get a good look at them. Each was marked with their own letter: 'P' and 'W'. As I let go of his arm, the suit hardly rumpled, underscoring the good quality of the garments. That, together with the perfect fit made me confident that it was like to be tailor made and as such, had likely cost him an arm and a leg. My own dress too had been expensive, yet for me, Fru Fru had paid the check. Her idea of birthday shopping meant paying for everything.
"Nor I you. Look at you!"
I blushed and twirled proudly. Hopefully he loved this dress as much as I did.
"You like it?"
"Sure do. You look amazing!"
"Thanks. You too."
I was disappointed that he had beat me to complementing my outfit. Now my comment sounded like it was made out of decency rather that honesty, and I really wanted him to know that I appreciated how well he had dressed. He tugged the sides of his fuscous bow and held out his arm to me. I curled my paws around it and together we walked towards the ballroom. I looked him over through my peripheral vision. He was so tidy and handsome. The idea of him wearing a slobby, green shirt seemed nigh unimaginable. I unwittingly bit my lip; why couldn't he always look like this?
Hey fans, me again.
As you noticed, I denoted the title with a (1). My original intention was to put it in a single chapter, but I realized that I wanted to put in so much that I would become an enormous chapter and I don't want my chapters too big, cause then too many typos escape me. Additionally, I hope I can manage to update part (2) before I leave on holiday, where I'll not have a lot of internet within reach and as such probably can't update for some time, however I'm not sure I can make that happen. Still need to fix some stuff for my thesis as well. What it boils down to is that it is possible that the next update takes a while longer, so basically this is just a notifcation to keep people from giving up on this story because they think I abandoned it.
Kind Regards,
J. Caesar