Zootopia: Undercover Pursuit

Chapter 10: The Metting

Chapter 10: The Meeting

Nick, after hanging up with his friend, sped up his coffee consumption process in order to make it in time for the meeting at the cafe where he and his friend met when they had nothing to do or just wanted to write something up on the town.

"Why am I drinking this coffee if I'm going to drink with Finnick" thought the fox thoughtfully looking at the half of the coffee that was left in the cup. He didn't want to keep drinking it, with Finnick he would probably drink quite a lot of the beverage, so it was unnecessary to drink at home. He looked at the watch that hung on the wall. It was striking twelve o'clock, evenly midday. It had been six hours since Judy had left, quite a fast time. Narazi the fox felt no signs of longing, but he expected it would only be a matter of time when he would be lying alone in bed and imagining his girlfriend by his side. After sitting in the chair for a while, Nick rose from it to pour the rest of the coffee that was left in the cup into the sink, and put the dish in the dishwasher. He was dressed in his stanard clothes, a colourful, mainly green motif shirt, long jeans trousers. The only things he was missing were shoes and some extra clothing for his torso. He went to his bedroom and chose a white and blue hooded sweatshirt, his favourite for winter days. It was warm, had large pockets and perhaps most importantly Judy loved putting it on. She looked so cute with only her ears sticking out of her collar and only by their positioning did the fox know which way the rabbit was looking. If he had been meeting Judy he would have taken the jacket, but meeting his friends in a jacket is a slight embarrassment and it was a badge of softness and vulnerability that Nick showed little to no one. After putting on his sweatshirt, Nick took a white scarf from the wardrobe, which he tied elegantly around his neck, then walked out to the front door. He looked around the flat to be sure he had taken everything, then left the house locking it, which he then tucked deep in the pocket of his trousers.

Even though it was already midday and the traffic was quite heavy, the underground garage of the block stood practically empty, so Nick was able to get out without any problems onto the street, which, at first being a modest and quiet empty street, joined one of the main access roads to Zootopia. It was a junction where Nick would wait between 10 and 30. minutes, in fact it all depended on the number of people. However, this time Nick got lucky because he bumped into one guy who decided to let him go. Nick said thank you, then accelerated harder on the accelerator, trying to be slightly faster than the others on the road. With Judy not daring to do such manoeuvres, the rabbit keeps him very short and , when she notices in Nick's eyes that he wants to speed up, Judy utters the ceremonial "You'd like to speed up wouldn't you?".

Nick didn't respond to Judy's taunts, he just kept going trying through his nerves not to push the pedal harder on the right hand side.

Maestro Caffe (for that was the name of the café where the friends met) was just outside the city centre, a mile and a half east of the mall where Nick and Judy had bought their presents. It was the only pub in Zootopia where foxes were not treated worse. It was a very friendly place, where there are no problems about what breed you are rearranging with your body (and or soul). The pub was a quiet place, here no one ever fought with anyone, or at least Nick did not recall that. It was a fairly new place , they built it about 10 years ago. At that time there weren't many places like Maestro Caffe, so the pub built there was a very good choice, because almost as soon as it was built the customers came in crowds to drink coffee, espresso chocolate or capuchino (or something even stronger). The effect of the place's fame at the start meant that, to this day, there are many people in the pub who are eager to have a coffee in the comfort that can be compared to a home vault.

Fox had to follow the same road all the way around Zootopia to then choose the right exit that would take him straight to the café. He could have taken the first exit, but squeezing through downtown during peak traffic hours was not the best idea. The big problem with public transport in Zootopia was the traffic jam, which was on practically every road in the city. No matter where you wanted to go, what street you were on, you'd still have to wait for the traffic to pass before you could leave. This is the main reason why Nick and Judy, when they had a later shift, took the tram instead of the car. By tram, when there are traffic jams, it is much faster and also cheaper. By car, the couple would drive tens of minutes through the traffic, thanks to the trams they need a maximum of 15 minutes to get to the police station. The one-way fare costs $2, so it really isn't a high price. There were times when they had to choose to ride the tram because, due to Nick's laziness, they had little time to get to the police station, and by car it would be too long to get there. It was fortunate that there was a tram stop near their house.

Soon, Nick's peaceful journey on the snowy asphalt was over. He was able to pull over into the right-hand lane to exit the access road and then drive down to the smaller streets of the town. He then turned left at the first junction and drove straight ahead. A moment later a large building made of wood and with large windows appeared on his left. In front of the building was a sign: "Maestro Caffe" , in front of the entrance there was a granite staircase on which stood all sorts of shrubs, or decorative Christmas trees, on which there was now white fluffy fluff. In front of the stairs was a wide car park where cars stood. This place has expanded quite a bit in 10 years. It used to be a small building with one room for customers, but now inside there are two rooms, toilets, a modest buffet and a second floor. When the fox drove into the car park, he looked for the red van that his friend usually drove. To his surprise, the car was not there!

"Hm, it's 12.32 p.m., I don't think he's offended by the three minutes" Nick thought jokingly as he parked at the entrance, he was lucky to find a space here. With nothing else to do, he got out of the car being careful not to slip on the icy cobblestones. It's easy to slip on them and lose your balance, he and Judy know that, every time they walk in the park they push each other, innocently catching each other until one of them ends up lying on the ground. Nick arrived at the door, wiped off his black winter leather boots, then went inside looking for his friend who might already be waiting for him. There were already a dozen customers in the room, sitting across from each other chatting about various matters that concerned only them. Before going further into the hall, Nick took off his scarf and hat and hung the pieces of clothing on hangers that were arranged in rows at the entrance on both sides. He walked deeper into the hall and then turned to the left wing of the room, his eyes searching the low and white of his friend. Soon his eyes spotted a fox of low stature gazing out the window at the winter landscape of the city. A moment later he turned around, then a smile crossed his face. It had been a long time since he had seen Nick, and he was glad that they were finally able to meet face to face after two months of broken business.

"Hello Nick" said Finnick moving away from the table. They shook hands and offered a friendly hug. They sat down at a table covered with a snow-white tablecloth and then the waiter approached them asking what to serve for the two gentlemen.

Two cappuccinos, please. For me and my colleague," said Finnick. The waiter carefully wrote down the information on his notebook, then gave a nod in their direction and walked away towards the kitchen.

"Ah, the place has changed quite a bit hasn't it ?" Nick asked looking around the room. There were tables all around them, behind the tables on the opposite side of the entrance was the orchestra, and to their right was the kitchen and opposite the entrance was the reception desk. Behind the reception there were stairs that led upstairs. Everything was decorated in a wooden, classic style, presenting above all warm, orange and brown colours. It made a person feel warmer and especially in winter, when it's cold, mostly white colours outside.

"What doesn't? I remember when this was a humble pub, not what it is now. Look how it looks, despite the unaffordable prices I feel like I'm rich! Besides, it's better that the place got richer than it went bust" Finnick stated with a nod.

"I remember when we used to go to high school and drink away our sorrows, and our successes...ah, it's good to see you again" Nick replied with a hint of nostalgia. It's good to think back to those times when you used to look at your watch for 8 hours to check when the lesson ended and then you and your friend would go to your favourite pub to have a drink. The difference now was that before they were talking about current affairs and now they were reminiscing about their moments that happened in the past. As they were reminiscing about their middle school days in this way, a waiter approached them, who gave them a bow and handed them two cups of cappuccino on a tray and put a sugar bowl in the middle of the table. When the coffee landed on their table Finnick whimpered, his voice becoming as serious as his posture.

"Now let's talk seriously..." Finnick said taking a sip of the warm drink.