"Nick? Nick? You there, buddy? Buddy...?"
"Whu..t?" Nick woke up from his slumber, and took in his surroundings. Ben, with a concerned look upon his face, stood in front of Nick, cup of coffee in his paw.
"Did I fall asleep at my desk?" Nick looked across the room at his clock only to find that it was morning. "It's Friday?!"
"Wow, Mr. Workaholic, calm down. The day's just getting started." He gestured to the cup of coffee, "Here, this is for you. I thought you might need it. You have to go to the elementary school today, remember? They invited you to their career fair. It's at 10."
Nick slumped back into his desk chair, coffee in hand, and took a giant gulp. "Thanks, Ben. Where would I be without you, man?"
"Probably still asleep at your desk." They shared a laugh. "Hey, Gideon's here by the way. You want a donut?"
Nick threw his head back in exasperation. He had to say something to Gideon about stopping by so frequently. He straightened his tie and followed Ben out to the reception area.
"Gideon! My main man! How are ya, buddy?" Nick extended his hand to Gideon, who took it graciously. He noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual baker's uniform; instead, he had on a pair of beige slacks and a checkered shirt.
"Nick! I could be better, honestly… Where are we going?" Gideon started, but Nick quickly interrupted him, guiding him back to his office.
"Huh? What, nowhere? My office? Yeah, we're going to my office. Anyway, what's going on? Is the bakery not working out? Hey, it's never shameful to call it quits." Nick ushered Gideon into one of the seats across his desk, and shut the door behind him.
"What? No, that's not what I was going to say. Actually, the business has been going pretty good. I wanted to talk to you about Judy."
Nick froze at the mention of her name but regained his composure. He diverted his attention to gazing outside his window, afraid that his face might give him away. "What about Judy?"
"Well, I wanted to ask you if you think she might want to go out for drinks with me. I've been coming in every day for the past two weeks, and she hasn't shown much of an interest in me. I'm just really at a loss here…Well, what do you think? You've been her friend for years, much longer than I have. Any advice for a fella like me?"
Nick drew in a sharp breath. "Uh, no…I'm not sure what-"
"Ah, Nick, don't try that crap with me. I know you have to remain professional and all since you're the Chief, and she's one of your employees, but I really need some help here. I really like her. Surely, you have some advice for me? Any tips for a country fella like me?"
Nick could feel his blood boiling. He had been on dates in the last few years but they had never blossomed into relationships. He turned to face the country fox who was looking up at him with earnest eyes, "Gideon, you're right. I am the Chief and Judy is one of my employees. This is completely inappropriate behavior from you and I. As Judy's superior, I do not comment on the personal matters of my officers, especially my female officers, to strange men who deliver donuts. Now, please. It's time you high-tail it out of here, and stop trying to hit on the members of my force. We have a job to do here." He stood up straight, and delivered his message sternly.
Gideon's mouth dropped a bit until his shocked expression turned to that of anger. He huffed and stood up out of his chair. Pointing a finger at Nick, he said, "Huh, if I didn't know any better I might have thought you two were together. You do remember that we're cousins, right? You have to be willing to help me out sometimes, man. We're family. You never acted like this when you were busy going out to bars with all those female foxes." Gideon turned to leave, but Nick was quicker, and ran in front of the door, blocking the only way out. He sure wasn't going to let Gideon leave his office without a final warning.
"Listen, bud. I know we're cousins. But I like Judy. There, I said it! I'm taking her out on a date tonight, and it'd be best if you just get out of the way," Nick felt himself going rogue, back to his primal ways. He snarled and bared his teeth, his ears back. He felt scared of what he felt capable of doing, but in a way, he felt surprisingly good. It was hard to put a word on that feeling until it finally came to him. He felt powerful.
It felt as if an eternity had passed between the two. Nick was ready to clobber Gideon, when much to his surprise, Gideon broke out in an all-out laughter. Nick, taken aback and utterly shocked, let his guard down just a bit while Gideon regained his composure. He was doubled over clutching at his sides, crying at the sheer amount of laughter that was coming out of his mouth. Nick dumbfounded, he stood there watching him.
"Whew…oh my golly…Nick," Gideon tried to say between laughs. "I have never seen you so…worked up…about a girl ever…before…in my life." Wiping tears away from his eye, he continued, "For a second, I thought you were going to hit me…But we all know who would have won that one, huh? Nick, if you really like this girl I'm happy for you. I really am." He brought Nick in for a hug, only to pull back suddenly, joking that he was afraid Nick was going to hit him. Feeling a rush of embarrassment, Nick profusely apologized. He shouldn't have acted that way with his cousin, fully knowing that he's a bit of a playboy, and would quickly move on after using Judy.
"So you're going to take her out on a date, huh? Damn, I really thought I was a better baker than that, Nick. Anyway, I'll see you at your mom's house for dinner on Sunday, right?"
"You know she'd kill me if I didn't make it."
Just then there was a knock at the door, and Judy popped her head in. "Hey, Gideon. Hey, Nick. I heard you're going to do a presentation for the Career Fair at the elementary school? Mind if I come?"
Gideon gave Nick a knowing smile. "Well, I have to get going." He took Judy by her paw and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Judy, nice to see you again."
Once out of sight, Nick smiled at Judy and reached his paw out to her. She took a few steps forward, so that their bodies were almost touching, and slipped her paw into his.
"Of course you can come with me. Are you ready for our date tonight?"
"Hell yeah. Drinks and a movie, right?"
"Mhm…" Nick trailed off, smiling, as he became increasingly aware of how close they were.
"Ready to go?"
"Um, yeah. Definitely." Nick cleared his throat and let his paw fall gently from hers. "Let me just get my keys."
Once they were at the school Nick and Judy were ushered into the school gymnasium by the school secretary. It was empty for the most part, but there were some teachers decorating. Judy recognized Mr. Monroe, an elderly elephant, trying to use a tiny tape dispenser.
"Mr. Monroe! Can I help you with that?" Judy bounded over to the teacher, with Nick following closely behind her.
"Judy, how nice of you. I was hoping you'd be here. How are you, sweetheart? Not working too hard, I hope." Judy cut about a dozen strips of tape for the elephant, while the elephant finished taping another poster. There were tables set up for all over the gym, some of them decorated already. There was a table for accountants, firefighters, librarians, all sorts of things.
"Well, the days are long but I wouldn't be me without my work. This is my boss, Nicholas Wilde." The two men shook hands. "How's Alice? I heard you guys have a new grandbaby? Congratulations!"
"Yes, yes. We do. I have photos if you'd like to look at them later." The proud grandfather beamed at Judy. "Well, Judy it was nice to see you again. I hope we have time to catch up later on, but I'm sure you guys have to prepare for your presentation. I have to finish setting up the rest of these posters, too. The principal's been up my butt all day long about having the tables decorated for each profession. Your table is over to the right, by the entrance to the girl's locker room. It was one of the first ones we set up today. I'll see you two around. It was nice meeting you, Nick!"
"Likewise, Mr. Monroe." They both headed towards their table, admiring all the decorations the kids had made for each one. The gymnasium was starting to fill up with animals, and in a few minutes, the teachers had arrived with each of their students. The principal started off the event with a little speech. He reminded them to take notes of the careers they were interested in because they would have to hand in an essay about the career fair next week, which all the students groaned at.
The next hour flew by as Nick and Judy hurriedly tried to spend time with each student who passed by their booth. They were, by far, the most popular booth out of the whole fair. It wasn't until they were out that Nick and Judy got a chance to talk with each other.
"Wow! That was fun. Some of those kids remind me of a younger version of myself. You did great, by the way."
"You, too Judy." Nick opened up his water bottle and drank all of it down in one huge gulp. "Wow, I almost lost my voice."
"Well, kids are loud," Judy paused before adding something else. "Nick, did you notice the kids who were mixed species? I guess it's just more common nowadays."
"Yeah…it's great, you know. The fact that animals are more accepting nowadays. Some animals are still…ignorant, to say the least."
"You know, I wouldn't mind having mixed children," Judy teased.
"Judy! What are you talking about? We haven't even gone on our first date yet," Nick laughed.
"What are you talking about, Nick? Oh…you thought I was talking about us having kids. Where in the world would you get that idea from?" She let out a huge giggle, jogging ahead of Nick to the police cruiser.
Nick felt a sudden rush of desire for Judy and caught up to her just as reached the driver's side. He swept her up into his arms, simultaneously picking her up off the ground. "You think you're so funny, huh? Toying with a man's heart like that? Hey, Judy. Aren't you ticklish?" Nick playfully responded while Judy's eyes widened, knowing that she had been beaten.
Thank you for all of your support! Seven Years Later is an ongoing story, so make sure to follow this story to get updated when I upload a new chapter.