Judy Hopps And Nick Wilde: Loving Carrots

Chapter 7: Growing Cracks

Turns out dawn was a load of -

"No." She answered firmly, breaking free from his hold. As soon as she did, the cold air hit her like a dozen small knives.

"Oh come on, It'll be fun." His smile turned sinister, "Like a game."

Absolutely not. "I know this won't make sense to you, but my career, my reputation, isn't a game."

She knew that would get to him, after all, all of this was for his career. It was mere weeks until reelection and she knew he was anxious, though he hid it well. It's hard to hide things from an investigative journalist.

With all of this farm smashing business his position as mayor was definitely on the fence. To secure his job, he was expected to snuff out the vandal.

The problem with this was that everyone had already chosen who they wanted to blame. They just needed a public confirmation from Richard to justify their prosecution.

Because of his hesitancy, his integrity was being put into question, people were labeling him as a predator sympathizer. Which of course, was really a reflection of what was wrong with the town, not him, keeping him in office was what was most important right now. Without him the town would never have hope of change.

Violet was shocked to realize how firmly she believed that. He was exactly what they needed. When he governed, people were being fine tuned without even realizing it. Mostly due to his charm, but also his unwavering patience.

The kind of patience she never had, the kind of patience that made Judy their parents' favorite. She clawed that last thought out of her head, not wanting to be stalled by the ever growing bitterness in her heart.

"What if I ask nicely?"

"Hard pass." She strode ahead of him, not sure of a direction at the moment.

"What if I ask very nicely?" His voice became heavy with implication.

"Oo, well then, in that case, very hard pass."

The feeling of him smiling at her back, made her want to be prickly. How she hated over confident males.

"How about a deal?" There was something different in his tone then, less joking, more real.

🥕🥕🥕

And that was how she found herself at his office an hour later.

Just as promised a candlelight feast was laid out on his desk, roses scenting the air. Who he had gotten to this setup was a mystery. Not one that was at the forefront of her mind though when she beheld the menu. The cake had been good, but the carrot salad before her looked even better.

"You can start without me," Richard said, eyes glowing with mirth at her eager expression. "This phone call will just take a minute."

"But oh how I'll miss you," She joked, the sight of a meal improving her mood.

"Cute." But he looked pleased as he stepped out of the door.

She sat down excitedly, but decided to wait for Richard, and instead took a moment to study her surroundings.

This was her second time in this room, and even so she could tell it provided a sort of sanctuary from the outside world. Everyone needed relief from what was expected of them from time to time.

It felt like him.

There were stacks of old looking volumes taking up almost all the floor space. Files and paperwork covered his entire armchair. Calendars, reminders, and other sort of mayor-ly things hung up on the dark walls. To an outsider it would look like a scattered mess, but she knew better, this was just proof of how much he cared about his job.