A shiver overtook Judy as she walked out of her apartment. Unlike the day before, it was overcast this morning, and the sun's radiant heat was completely blocked by a layer of thick clouds. The air was much colder as a result—according to the weather app on her phone, it would not warm up past freezing today—and she had grabbed a heavy winter coat to compensate.

It wasn't enough.

Judy tucked her ears inside the back of the coat, shoved her paws in her pockets, and sat down on the top step, huddling her body as tightly as she could while she waited for Ricky to show up with the limo. Part of her wanted to rush back inside and wait in there instead, but she pushed the temptation aside. She wasn't that cold, and besides, she did not want to be impolite and force Ricky to wait for her, even for just a few seconds.

To her delight, she did not have to wait long anyway. Just a minute or two after stepping outside, she saw her limousine round the corner. She stood up eagerly, and hopped from foot to foot to keep herself warm until the limo stopped in front of her building. Without waiting for Ricky to get out and open her door for her, she leapt to the door herself, threw it open, and jumped inside before the vehicle had even come to a complete stop.

Ricky was caught off-guard by her urgency, and he flashed her a worried look in his rear-view mirror. "You're not being chased, are you?"

"Yes!" Judy pulled the door closed behind her and sat down in the first seat she could find. "I'm being chased by Old Mammal Winter!" She put on her seat belt, grabbed the remote control, and pushed the button to turn on the seat warmer. Instantly, she felt heat radiate out of the seat and into her legs, back, and tail. She let out a long, satisfied moan, and slumped further into the seat in pure relaxation. "But I'm safe now, thanks to you," she smiled.

The tiger let out an amused snicker at her response, and then let out a sigh of relief. "You really had me there for a minute." He turned his attention back to the road and started driving again. "But remember, if you ever do need a quick getaway, I'm your guy."

"Okay, I'm counting on you." Judy flicked on the massager and closed her eyes as the seat worked its magic on her body. "I might have to buy one of these for myself," she murmured.

"A massage chair or a limo?" Ricky called from the front.

"Both, maybe."

"Well, if you get a limo, just remember, it needs premium gas."

"Oh, that's a deal-breaker." Judy chuckled. "The high price tag, no problem. Lack of parking space, I can manage. Hiring you any time I need to go to the post office, sign me up. But premium?" She opened her eyes again and shot Ricky a sad look. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"That's such a shame," Ricky groaned. "I like driving my clients to the post office. Always turns a few heads." His frown turned into a smile, and he shot her another glance in the mirror. "So, what did your date think of the dress?"

Judy turned off the massager so she could focus on her conversation with Ricky. "Oh, he loved it!" she exclaimed. "He was speechless when he first saw me—and trust me, he is not an easy mammal to make speechless."

"Oh yeah? Was he surprised to see you all beautified?"

"Yeah…" Judy's smile faded as she thought back on the night before. How she had been so excited for Nick to see her all done up, how disappointed she was when he had not reacted the way she expected, how sad she was when it was all wiped away, and finally, how happy he had made her once again by saying just the right words. She was still trying to process the mixture of emotions, even now.

But then her thoughts turned to what happened later in the apartment, and her smile returned, this time mischievous. "But he wasn't as surprised to see me as the girl who was waiting for us when we got home." She kept her statement intentionally vague, just to mess with her driver.

Ricky blinked at that. His face scrunched, then his eyes widened, then, finally, he simply shrugged and went back to focusing on the road. "Don't ask, don't tell," he murmured. "That is way above my pay grade."

Judy giggled at his reaction, then reached to the fridge in the center of the room and fished out a bottle of Cowca-Cowla. She then leaned back in her seat, took a sip from her drink, and spent the rest of the short ride in silence.

Steve Hoppkins' first appointment today was at a law firm just a few blocks away from Judy's apartment, so it only took a few minutes for the limousine to pull up to the appropriate building. As they approached, Judy was surprised to see Hoppkins already standing outside the front door. His arms were crossed, his foot was thumping, and a scowl was on his face.

Judy groaned. She already had a good idea of why Hoppkins was in such a sour mood, and she was not looking forward to being confronted over it, but there was no avoiding it. She waited for the limo to fully stop, then reluctantly left her comfortable seat and let Ricky walk around to her door and open it for her.

The door barely opened a crack before Hoppkins loudly huffed, "There you are! I've been waiting for you, Judy!"

Judy hopped out of the limousine and offered Ricky a gracious smile. "Thank you for the wonderful ride, Ricky. I look forward to the next one later today." She spoke slowly, dragging out every word as much as she could, knowing it would annoy Hoppkins.

Ricky tipped his hat and gave a short bow. "It was my absolute pleasure, Ms. Hopps," he replied in an equally slow voice. "It is my job to make my customers happy, and it brings me joy to know that I have managed to—"

Hoppkins reached into his coat pocket, grabbed a handful of dollar bills, and threw them angrily at the tiger. "Here's a tip," he snapped. "Don't spend it all in one place." He didn't even wait for the money to finish floating to the ground before he turned back to Judy and glared at her. "Come inside. We need to talk."

If Ricky was offended by Hoppkins' outburst, he hid it well behind a pleasant smile as he began picking up the bills spread along the sidewalk. Judy wanted to apologize for Hoppkins' behavior, but the buck was already starting to walk inside the building, and she did not wish to further aggravate him. She settled with giving Ricky a parting wave, then rushed inside after Hoppkins.

Hoppkins stomped past the front desk, completely ignoring the sheep receptionist when she gave them a cheery greeting, and led Judy to one of the small offices that lined the hallway. Judy expected for a lawyer to be waiting for them inside, or at least a businessmammal of some kind, but the room was completely empty, only furnished with an empty desk.

"Close the door," Hoppkins ordered.

Judy stood still, crossed her arms, and glared at him in defiance. "I will not," she responded.

For the briefest of moments, Hoppkins seemed shocked at her disobedience, but the shock was quickly replaced by frustration. "Judy, I must insist. This is important." He started walking to the door, intent on shutting it himself.

Judy stepped in front of him, preventing him from moving. Her eyes narrowed, and even though Hoppkins was a few inches taller than she was, she still found herself standing over him assertively. "Let me make this absolutely clear: I am not comfortable with the idea of being locked alone in a room with you."

Hoppkins gasped dramatically. "Not comfortable?" He forced a toothy smile and spread his arms. "Judy! All I want to do is have a little chat with you! That's all!"

"And why does the door need to be closed for this 'little chat'?"

"Because it's a private matter, of course." Hoppkins did not seem the least bit intimidated by her, and he even gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "What kind of security officer would you be if the whole world could hear that the great Hollywool plutocrat Steve Hoppkins is going to be eating lunch at Sam & Ella's today?" His eyes widened. He glanced at the wide open door behind Judy, then slapped his forehead with a paw. "Hoppkins, you idiot!" he swore.

Judy found herself relaxing a tiny bit. She had fully expected for Hoppkins to interrogate her about why she had not checked into her hotel room the night before, but to her relief, it seemed the rabbit was more interested in focusing on her job for the day.

Maybe he learned his lesson, after all.

Hoppkins lowered his paw, flashed his all-teeth smile again, and asked, "So, why didn't you check into your hotel room last night?"

Judy's face fell into a scowl. Or not… "What makes you think I didn't?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"Well, I might have called up the front desk last night, and I may have wanted to send you a bouquet of flowers, but they probably told me that you never picked up your room key." Hoppkins glanced at the door again. "You know, I'd feel a lot better about this if we were alone."

Judy shoved her paws into her pockets and stood her ground. "And I wouldn't."

Hoppkins waved an arm dismissively. "Fine, fine, door open." He sat on the edge of the desk, his giant feet dangling just above the floor, and faced Judy with his stupid smile again. "You know, Judy, I spent a lot of money to book that room for you. It would be a waste for you to not take advantage of it, and besides, our contract gives you full access to the hotel's amenities."

Judy leered at him. "And how is sending me flowers part of our deal?"

"It's not like you were there to receive them," Hoppkins answered, dodging her question. "And besides, it's not like flowers have to mean something. Maybe I just wanted to send them to you as a token of gratitude for your hard work yesterday."

"And maybe I'm not a flower person," Judy countered. "Too much work to keep them alive. You've gotta find a vase, and keep them watered, and make sure they get plenty of sunshine—"

Hoppkins threw his paws up. "Okay, okay, so you're not a flower person. I probably should have guessed when you insisted on that Passion Fruit Flower clause." He lowered his paws and took a deep breath. "Listen. I think you might have the wrong idea. All I want to know is why you didn't check in last night, nothing more than that. Why don't you want to talk about it?"

"Because you obviously want more than to just talk about my hotel," Judy huffed. "Asking me out on a date, trying to send me flowers—even hiring me for this job in the first place. You specifically asked for a female bunny to work for you, and you've done nothing but drool all over me ever since you first came to Zootopia."

Hoppkins simply shrugged. "Is it a crime to find you attractive? You're the most beautiful bunny the world has ever seen!"

Judy might have otherwise been flattered by what he said, but his behavior over the past two days had left a bitter taste in her mouth, and his words now felt like little more than a poor attempt to butter her up. Her fists tightened inside of her pockets. "I am going to tell you this one time, Mr. Hoppkins: I am not your mistress. I am not your girlfriend. And I have absolutely no desire to be." She tilted her head at the open doorway behind her. "And if you say one more word that I don't like, then I will walk out that door and never see you again."

Hoppkins was quiet for a second. He seemed to sink further into the desk; his feet sagged closer to the floor, his chin tucked into the extra folds of his neck, and his ears hung against the back of his neck. His smile remained, but it was not so broad as before, and when he spoke again, his voice was noticeably quieter—sad, even. "You are free to do that if you wish, of course." He hopped off the desk and stood up. "However, if you do, you forfeit your paycheck, including any time you have already worked for me."

"Not according to our contract." Judy half-turned her body to the door to let him know she was serious. "I can leave whenever I want and get paid in full, if you so much as hint at wanting to get physical with me. Our contract is clear."

"Our contract—yes, let's talk about our contract." To her annoyance, Hoppkins did not seem the least bit worried about her threat. In fact, he became all the more animated now that their agreement had been brought up. "You did read over the whole thing, didn't you?"

"Of course."

"Then you'll recall that you are required to stay at the Palm Springs Hotel while I am here." He stuffed a paw in his pocket, whipped out his phone, and held it up for her to look at. "See? It's not optional."

The contract was already brought up on his phone screen, and Judy found herself staring at the clause in question. She had somehow missed it before, but just as he said, she was required to stay at the room at the Palm Springs Hotel that he had booked for her. There was some small print afterwards—clarification that this was to more efficiently work as his security, as well as all the other stipulations that Judy already knew about, such as the fact that Hoppkins would not be allowed in the room itself at any time—but the main text itself was clear that Judy had to check into the hotel in order to fulfill her end of the contract.

She felt a mild panic rise inside of her. Hoppkins was right: if she left right now, she would have nothing to show for it. In fact, she risked losing her paycheck anyway, since she did not go to the Palm Springs Hotel the night before. She mentally kicked herself for not paying closer attention when she had first signed it, but it was too late now, and she had no one to blame but herself. Hoppkins had not slipped this under her nose; she had signed this very agreement, with both eyes wide open, and now she had broken it, no matter how unintentionally.

Hoppkins studied her face, and upon seeing her eyes widen and nose begin to twitch, his expression softened. "You really didn't know?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

Judy shook her head. "No…"

Hoppkins slowly nodded. "Ah, I understand now." He withdrew his phone. "This is why I wanted to have this conversation with you. So, you thought that the hotel was just a bribe. That explains everything." He snorted. "And to think this whole time I thought you were just blowing me off."

Despite her unease with the rabbit, Judy did not have the heart to tell him that she was, in fact, just blowing him off. She had made the decision the previous night to skip out on the hotel after her date with Nick, mostly because she had a feeling Hoppkins would inevitably make her stay uncomfortable. She was not at all surprised to learn he had intended to send her flowers, and while that might have come across as harmless, she knew better. Hoppkins was not evil, but he was powerful, and a simple bouquet of flowers one day might turn into matrimony the next if he had his way.

Hoppkins offered her another smile, unsavory as always but not particularly sinister. "Tell you what. I understand, sometimes the little details slip through the cracks. I'm willing to amend this for you, Judy. If you check into your hotel room today after work, I'll consider your end of the contract honored."

Judy stared at him uneasily. "And what's the catch?"

"No catch." Hoppkins looked down to his phone and began typing on the screen. "I'll send a note to my lawyer right now. It will be a quick fix!" Judy tried peeking at the phone, but Hoppkins' paws blocked her view. He glanced back at her and chuckled. "What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"

Judy pulled her paws out of her pockets. "Not really." She lifted one of them and held it out to Hoppkins.

Hoppkins' voice echoed throughout the room, sounding more muffled than before. "I'm willing to amend this for you, Judy," he said. "If you check into your hotel room today after work, I'll consider your end of the contract honored."

Hoppkins' face contorted into shock as he examined the carrot-shaped pen Judy held in her paw. Judy smirked at him as her own voice emerged from the pen. "And what's the catch?" Hoppkins' voice answered, "No catch," and the recording ended.

Judy twirled the carrot pen in her fingers, her smile broadening while Hoppkins' face turned a pale shade underneath his brown fur. She pointed the pen at the phone that the larger rabbit was now gripping tightly in his paws. "Go ahead," she instructed. "Send your lawyer the message." She waved the carrot pen in front of Hoppkins' nose. "And make sure it's precisely the same as what you just said to me."

Hoppkins continued to stare at the carrot pen for several long seconds, before finally lowering his head and focusing on his phone again. He typed out his message, this time much more slowly than before, and even turned the phone around to show the message to Judy before sending it. She looked over it, gave him an approving nod, and he hit the button on the screen to send it to his lawyer back in Hollywool. He shoved the phone back in his pocket and stared back at Judy with a grumpy look on his face. "Satisfied?"

"Very." As Judy pocketed her carrot pen, her fingers grazed a small piece of plastic she had nearly forgotten about. "Oh, yes." She fished out the credit card and held it out for Hoppkins to take. She had to fight off a snicker as he stared at it with a look of uncharacteristic apathy. "And thank you very much for buying my very expensive dress for last night's dinner. I'm sure I shall wear it many more times in my future!"

He glimpsed away from the card long enough to shoot her a scowl, but he finally snatched it out of her paw without protest. "Yeah," he mumbled. "My pleasure."

It was his way of letting her know that she would have no issue keeping the dress. She nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you. Now, don't you have a meeting to get to? I don't want for you to be late on my account." She threw him an exaggerated look of pity, sticking out her lower lip and batting her eyelashes.

The rabbit stood still for a few seconds, unamused by her mocking tone, but he ultimately took a deep breath and heaved a heavy sigh. "Right. Meeting." He started walking past Judy again, and this time she did not stop him from making his way to the door. "I suppose I've kept them waiting long enough."

Relief overcame Judy as she fell into step behind him. Even after the tense conversation she had just endured, she was much more comfortable working for Hoppkins for the next two days. She had made it clear to him that she was ready to walk away if he came onto her, and he had clarified to her that he was only interested in making sure her contract was fulfilled—although, in the back of her mind, she still knew that he was very much attracted to her, and would undoubtedly try and weasel his way through a loophole in the contract if he saw the opportunity. Still, he had proven himself capable of handling her rejection in a mature manner, and also that there was a shred of integrity buried somewhere deep underneath his chubby lupine skin.

Hoppkins paused at the door, turned around, and once again smiled at Judy with his annoying grin. "Well, I'm glad we got that all settled!" He flashed her a thumbs-up. "And now you've got a hotel to look forward to tonight!"

The fact that Hoppkins would know exactly where she slept tonight made Judy's skin crawl. It was the whole reason she had skipped the hotel in the first place, but now she had no choice. Still, she would have the one and only key to her room, and it would be easy enough to keep Hoppkins as far away as she wanted.

She smiled pleasantly at him. "Oh, yes, I'm very excited." She held up her paws and pushed down on her fingers one at a time as she spoke. "I've got a resort hotel, with a swimming pool, and a giant bed, and a great view of the city, and free room service…" She dropped her smile and glared at him in warning. "And no flowers."

Hoppkins nodded dutifully. "No flowers. I swear on the name of my good friend George Lucats, I will not send any flowers."

Judy blinked. "You're friends with George Lucats?" she asked, impressed with Hoppkins for the very first time.

"Of course! Well, kind of. Sort of. Not really. No. But I did take a leak next to him at the Ramys last year." Hoppkins turned back around and walked away. "Come on, Judy, we've got a day to get through."

Judy once again followed him, though regardless of his assurances, she still dreaded that he would not leave her alone tonight at the hotel. For a second, she considered asking Nick to go with her, but it was Saturday, and Nick usually spent Saturday nights playing games and watching movies with the other nocturnal mammals from the ZPD. She knew that she only needed to ask, and he would drop it all in a heartbeat to be there for her, but this was not an emergency, and she was sure there were other options she could consider first. Perhaps one of her other friends at the ZPD, or one of her siblings who had moved to Zootopia, or the brown bunny doe she had become friends with, or…

An idea popped into her head. An idea so good, she completely stopped in her tracks, wiggled her tiny tail, and bit her tongue to keep herself from squealing. She quickly started walking again, catching up to Hoppkins just as he came across the first meeting room of the day.

Suddenly, she was excited to finish up her work for the day. But not even Steve Hoppkins could ever guess what she had planned for tonight.