Chapter 3 – The Date and a Talk:
The whole way home, Nick was sweating and getting more nervous with every block he passed. He really was going to do this.
"Come on, Nick!"Nick said to himself. "You've eaten lunch with Judy before! It's not hard!"
When he got home, he took a shower, combed his fur as good as he could get it, put some deodorant on his armpits, and got dressed. After dressing, he looked at himself in the mirror, then put some cologne on.
"Alright. Let's do this!" Nick said quietly.
He grabbed his wallet, keys, phone, and comb and walked out the door. He got in his car and drove to the nearest car wash.
He paid for it and drove in. In less than five minutes, the old car was fairly clean.
The car was a 70's Plymouth Barracuda muscle car. It was red at one point, but it's a bit dull now. It could really use a new paintjob and a wax. The manual shifter knob is a bit loose, too, and the clutch sticks sometimes. But for all its faults, it still gives a powerful 450 HP from the V8 OHV Hemi engine, as well as an average 20 MPG. Nick had even gotten it to 120+ MPH once, too (the speedometer stops at 120, so Nick isn't sure of the exact speed). The sound system has a large subwoofer under the seats, as well as large speakers in the doors. It was Nick's car, and he never wanted to sell it.
Nick drove as fast as he could to the Grand Pangolin Arms.
.
Judy got home in about four minutes and ran inside. She grabbed all her shower things and ran down the hall to the showers. She spent almost fifteen minutes in the shower, trying to look and smell her best. She knew Nick had a better nose than her. She put on a dress she had bought for this night almost the day after Nick asked her. It was red, Nick's favorite color. She put it on, then got to work on her makeup. After that was done she brushed her fur. While she was brushing, she looked at the clock, 9:34.
"Oh no! I'm late!" Judy said quietly.
"Better get out there!" yelled one of the neighbors. Judy couldn't tell who it was.
She grabbed her keys and phone and ran out the door. She got outside and saw Nick, standing there in his suit, holding the door open for her. He looked very handsome. Judy walked down the steps and got in the car.
"Thank you, gentleman," Judy said.
"You're very much welcome, ma'am," Nick said as he shut the door and walked to the driver's seat. He got in, started the car, and pulled out. He drove down a couple of streets Judy had never seen before. This was the richer area of Zootopia.
"I'll need you to cover your eyes for the surprise," Nick said after a couple of minutes.
"Ok," Judy said as she put her paws over her eyes.
Nick drove up to the Délicieux Volaille et Légumes and parked. A valet ran up and Nick handed him the keys. Nick walked Judy up to the front door.
"Ok, open your eyes."
As Judy opened her eyes, her face lit up. "Nick! The Délicieux Volaille et Légumes? It's the most expensive restaurant in all of Zootopia!"
"Well, I think you're worth it," replied Nick.
Judy smiled and hugged Nick. "Thank you so much," Judy said.
Judy pulled out of the hug and looked at Nick confused. "How could you pay for this?"
"Well, I looked at the prices online, and almost any meal for two would cost almost as much as one of my paychecks." Judy started looking a little sad. Nick continued, "So I told Chief Bogo I was taking you out and how expensive it was, He actually said he would pay for the bill himself."
Judy looked confused, then relieved, then she hugged him again. "You're the best fox ever, Nick."
"And you're the best bunny ever, Carrots."
Judy looked confused again. "Why would Bogo pay for you to take me out? Isn't that against policy to do that?"
"It's complicated. I'll explain sometime later, alright?"
"Ok."
"Shall we go in?"
"Yes, we shall."
Nick and Judy walked up to the door holding paws. A bunch of animals started staring at them. Nick just stared back and they stopped. Nick looked at Judy. She looked a little uncomfortable.
"You ok, Carrots?" asked Nick.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I just don't like people staring at me."
"Just stare back. Watch this." Nick stared at a wolf that was looking at them and the wolf turned around and walked the other way. Judy giggled a bit.
Nick opened the door for Judy and walked in behind her.
"Hello. Do you have reservations?" asked a very silky black female panther from behind a stand.
"Yes we do," said Nick.
"What is the name?"
"Wilde."
"Oh, yes. This way please."
Nick held Judy's paw as they followed the panther down the rows of seats. She led them to the medium sized seats, to a table with two chairs. Nick pulled Judy's chair back for her and sat down at his own chair. The panther handed them each a menu.
"Ah... This is nice," said Nick.
"Oh, yes. It's very nice," replied Judy.
Nick started looking at the menu. "OMG! Fifty bucks for half of a grilled cheese!?" Nick exclaimed quietly.
"Well, this is the most expensive restaurant in Zootopia," Judy said.
"I think I'll just go with the chicken platter with a fruit salad on the side, and a drink of water. What are you getting, Carrots?"
"I think I'll get the carrot salad with water."
An otter walked up to them. "Do you know what you'll be having, Sir?"
"Uh, yes, I'll have the chicken platter with a fruit salad and water."
"Ok, and the lady?"
"I'll have the carrot salad with water, please."
"Yes very good. Do you want an appetizer, Sir?"
Nick looked at Judy, then at the menu. He hadn't thought of that!
"Uh, how about some mozzarella sticks?"
"That's fine," said Judy.
"Very good, very good. Your order will be out within thirty minutes." He took the menus and walked off to the kitchen.
"You ever had mozzarella sticks before, Carrots?"
"No. But I'd love to try them."
"Oh, you'll just love them."
Before another minute passed, the otter brought two glasses of water and set them down and left again.
"How are you feeling about going 'you know what' tomorrow?" Judy asked.
"Oh, I guess I could be a little more exited, but I'm not really looking forward to it," replied Nick.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not with all these other animals around."
"How about we can go to your place after this and talk about it."
Nick had never really had to talk about his feelings or his fears before, but somehow, he couldn't say no to Judy. She just wanted to help him overcome his fears. "Ok, Carrots," replied Nick. Judy smiled a bit.
"Here you are, Sir," said the otter as he lowered a basket of steaming mozzarella sticks onto the table and two bowls of marinara sauce. "Is everything ok, Sir?" asked the otter.
"Yes, everything is perfect."
"Very good, Sir." The otter walked off again.
"His voice reminds me of that computer from Iron Wolf," Nick said.
Judy just giggled and smiled.
"Ah!" Nick yelled as he put a steaming mozzarella stick with marinara in his mouth. "It'th too hot!" Nick set the stick on one of the small plates on the table and took four long sips of water. "Whoo! That's hot!" Nick said, much quieter this time.
"Of course it is, dumb fox," Judy said, then she started laughing. Nick joined in laughing too.
This could be the start of something great! thought Nick.
.
"That was a great dinner, Nick. Sorry about the spilled water on your lap, though," Judy said as they walked into Nick's apartment.
"That's ok. I'll just be a minute." Nick ran into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.
Judy walked over to the couch and sat down. She saw a couple of pictures on the end table, one was a picture of two young foxes laughing as they held up a stack of money to the camera. Nick walked in and saw Judy looking at the pictures. He saw the one she was focused on.
"That was me and Finnick after our very first hustle," Nick said.
"We had conned a guy out of $50 for a watch that we found on the side of the road. The watch was fine, it worked great, but it was made of plastic with some metal around the face. We painted the whole thing gold and made that guy think it was really gold." Nick laughed. "I still remember the look on my dad's face when I and Finn came home with 50 bucks. We were so happy, he thought a picture of us holding the money would be nice. I've had that picture ever since."
"What'd you do with the money?" asked Judy.
"We split the money between us and I spent it on a pocket knife. I'm not sure what Finn spent it on," Nick replied.
Judy laughed and Nick laughed too. "What about this one?" asked Judy, picking up another picture.
"That's my family. The vehicle in the background was when my dad had just bought the first brand new car in his life. He was so proud of it. He waxed it and washed it almost every other day. Granted, it wasn't anything fancy, just a base model Zonda Zivic, but was he proud. When he was ran into by a drunk driver and totaled the car, he felt like his life was ripped from him. If you ask him today, he'll tell you that that was just him being stupid."
Judy remembered her own parents and wondered what they would say if they saw her here. "I wonder how our parents would get along together?" asked Judy.
"Why do you say that?" asked Nick.
"Well, my dad was really proud of the first new tractor he bought. It was actually pretty fancy, I don't even know where he got the money for it. He still has it today. Our parents might like to tell each other their stories."
"Maybe. But aren't your parents, like all, you know, anti-fox?"
"They're getting better. They're business partners with my reformed childhood bully, who is a fox."
Nick didn't know that. "Maybe someday they'll be ready to meet me and my parents," Nick said.
"I don't think they'd react very well if they found you were a fox. The relationship with Gideon is strictly professional," Judy said.
Nick walked over to the window and looked out. Nick sighed.
"So Nick, about what we were going to talk about…" Judy said.
I knew that was coming next, thought Nick. Nick took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.
"My friend Archie and I were about eighteen, and we were taking a walk down Savannah Central in the night. Archie saw this old warehouse and wanted to explore it. He always was adventurous. Well, he went inside, and I heard a muffled yelp. I went in after him, and when I got inside, they had him pinned up against the wall, and one lion had this large knife.
"The leader, a lion as well, said, 'Leave and don't tell anyone of this.' I just was paralyzed with fear. He held the knife to Archie's throat and repeated what he said. When I finally got the nerve to speak, I said, 'Ok, We'll…leave…and never tell.' 'Nice try, fox! I won't trust your kind!'
"And right there, he…slit…,"
Nick started sobbing. Judy put her hand on Nick's shoulder.
Nick continued, "They grabbed me…right after and…they threw me against the wall and pinned me down. They threw me into the alleyway…and then…threw…Archie's body…next to me. I was…so scared, I just ran away.
"When I got home, I ran to my bedroom and just started sobbing. The gang moved his body outside town to keep the police away. I didn't go to his funeral. I felt it was partly my fault. I never told anybody this, not even my parents, but I think they had a hunch something was wrong. But they never said anything."
Nick just put his head in his paws and started sobbing harder. Judy hugged him and started crying with Nick.
"Nick, I'm glad you told me," Judy said. "You'll feel better soon, but you'll have to face them again, Nick."
"I know. That's why I don't want to do it, but I have to. Knowing Bogo, he wouldn't let me out of this because I was afraid." Nick just laid down on the couch and quietly sobbed into the arm, while Judy was stroking his back.
In an hour, Nick had finally stopped crying, and he sat up. He took a deep breath, rubbed his eyes, and then looked at Judy.
"Ready to go home, Carrots?" Nick asked Judy.
"Yes, Nick," Judy replied.
