Forgive Me, My Love ~ ReddNook

Chapter 31

When Tom reached the resident services, he spotted Kicks at the plaza. The skunk nodded politely to him. "Good morning, Mr. Nook." Tom raised his paw. "Morning," he greeted him shortly. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to chat because he was too late anyway.

He threw open the doors and saw Isabelle, who was sitting at her desk and looked up in surprise. "Oh! Good morning, Tom!"
"Hello Isabelle. Sorry for keep you waiting." The dog smiled lovingly. "No problem! Everything is going great."

The tanuki dropped himself into his chair and realized that he urgently needed a coffee. His paws were a little shaky. Isabelle blinked at him. "Shall I make you a coffee?" He smiled. She just knew him too well.

"If you don't mind," he replied. She wagged her tail. "Not at all!" She hopped off her chair and went into the break room. Tom leaned forward, opened his laptop and turned it on.

As it started up, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and picked up without looking at the screen. "Tom Nook here, what can I do for you?"
"Nooky!" Tom's ears twitched when he recognized the voice.

"Redd? What's wrong? Has something happened?" Concern gnawed his stomach. "Uh..no, actually not." The tanuki suppressed a sigh. "What do you want then?"
"I just wanted to hear your voice." He could literally feel his teasing grin through the phone.

"Is that why you're calling me?" Tom asked gruffly. "It's boring without you!"
"Then watch some TV, or read a book. There is a large shelf full of books in the living room. There is definitly something for you."

"Reading is boring," Redd muttered. The door of the break room opened and Isabelle walked over to him with a cup of coffee. She handed him the steaming drink and he nodded his thanks. Turning to Redd, he said, "I have to hang up now. I'll see you later."

Sighing, Tom stowed his phone in his pocket and devoted himself to his coffee. "Who was that?" Isabelle asked after he took a sip and savored the pleasant bitter taste.

"Redd. As it turned out, it wasn't that important." She eyed him with interest. "How is he doing?"
"He's slowly recovering," Tom replied. "The fever has already passed." Isabelle smiled.

"Then you seem to be taking good care of him." He shrugged his shoulders. "I do what I can."

Around noon, Lucifer showed up briefly to withdraw a questionable amount of money from the Nook Stop. Tom had no idea what he needed so much bells for. It would make more sense if he finally paid off his loan!

Sometimes he just didn't understand that boy. But who does that? During the lunch break, Tom stood in front of the open window, already eating his second sandwich while watching the residents.

Poppy was sitting under a shady tree and reading a book. Raymond sat motionless on the bank, fishing. Further back he saw Skye chasing a butterfly, while Mathilda was picking pears from a tree.

Everyone looked satisfied. That pleased Tom. His ears straightened up when he saw Lucifer dragging a huge television with him. The redhead met Tom's eyes and waved excitedly at him.

"Yo, Tom! Check out my awesome telly!", He called and pointed at it. "For the next few days I'll be sticking on Netflix. See ya!" Whistling, he trotted on. Tom rolled his eyes. "So that's why he needed so much money," he muttered to himself.

"What a waste." He had eaten the last bite of his meal and was wondering whether it would be wise to treat himself to dessert, even though he had vowed not to eat so much sugary foods.

Suddenly his phone vibrated. Tom looked at his display and his heart skipped unintentionally as he read Redd's number. He answered. "Tooom!", Redd howled into the phone, so Tom had to remove the phone from his ear.

"Gosh, why are you yelling like that ?!" the tanuki growled. "What do you even want?"
"I miss you, Nooksie! That's why I had to call you." For some reason, Tom was a little happy about that.

"You're acting like a child again," he clarified. He glanced at the clock and realized it was time to to start working again. "Listen, Redd," Tom began. "I can understand that it has to be boring. But I beg you: Only call me if it's an emergency. Do you understand?"

"Got it, but you can't expect me to do that," the fox joked. Tom whipped his tail angrily. "Redd, I'm serious!" He giggled. "Okay, okay! Got it."
"Good. See you later."
"Bye, bye!"

He hung up and ran a paw across his face. "Oh man ..."
"Are you okay?" Tom turned and saw Isabelle closing the doors of the resident services behind her. "Yes, yes," the tanuki answered. "Redd just annoyed me again."