The Wild Side of Us

Chapter 2 - Welcome to My Work

My break time came faster than I expected. Just to clarify, I go to work at 8 a.m. and leave at 4 a.m. My break times are 10:30 to 10:50, and 2 to 2:20. My lunch is at noon to 12:30. I have to keep track of myself because no one lets anyone know when their breaks are, except on the first few days. After that, you have to remember your own breaks. If you happen to go on break too early or go back to work too late, you get scolded, even if you literally forgot the break times. The same applies if you eat lunch at the wrong time.

As I was saying, my back was currently leaning on the side of a railing located on the rooftop of the building. I could see nearly the entire city surrounding me, if it weren't for the metal railing surrounding the entire rooftop. However, I could see the people down below were marching like ants. Vix stood a few feet away from me, on the side of the doorway that lead back inside. He held a half empty coffee cup in his hands. That was Vix for me, always careful and always drinking coffee as if it gave him life.

"You sure you should lean against the railing like that," Vix asked me, sipping his coffee.

"Come on, Foxy," I said. "I've done this plenty of times. Leaning against the railing is nothing. If you want to see real danger, then allow me to demonstrate a circus act for you." I took a deep breath, then climbed onto the thin, metal railing. I balanced myself out, but kept my arms to my side and walked on the railing in front of me.

"Frost." Vix's tail puffed up slightly, and he stopped sipping his coffee. "Get down from there. Who knows what could happen if you fall. Or worse, if you get caught."

"You think getting caught is worse than falling?"

"Well, considering you're a cat, you'll survive that fall with a few crackled muscles. But if you get caught, Mr. Blaze is going to chew you out like a plate of grass."

"Ouch. I thought you were against all that animal stereotype stuff, like me." My foot slipped a little, and my arms flew out as a reaction, but I made it look like I was fine. Since I was one step to the right away from falling from a skyscraper, I was obviously scared, but like Vix said, my cat instincts will save me when in situations like this.

But what Vix doesn't know was that I did this more often than he thinks.

"I am, I just fear for you. That's all." He sipped his coffee again, never letting his eyes turn away from me. "Us carnivores have to stick together, like you say."

"Nah, I think you fear for me because you don't have another friend to hang out with. Especially a charming friend like me."

Only the wind answered for us. 

"No, I don't, Frost," mumbled Vix. "You know me as much as my wife knows me. I struggle to talk to people, even other carnivores or omnivores. We've only known each other for around a couple years, but you've been like a little sister to me. If I lost you, I wouldn't know what to do. One thing I know is that I'll be scared to meet another person like you and become their friend. But what I'm mainly scared about is if they'll accept a boring old person like me. To be honest, I have no idea why you became my friend of all people, but I'm grateful for it." Vix gently smiled at me, and his tail returned to its normal fluffy size.

I stopped walking and turned away from Vix's kind stare. "Darn you and your little cunning fox shenanigans," I said, hiding my smile. "Fine, I'll come down so you don't get a heart attack and-"

The rooftop door flew wide open and slammed against the wall on the outside. This started me. So much so the sky turned into the city below me, the only difference being it was upside down. 

Wait, that isn't right. So that must mean...

"Frost!" I heard Vix's voice screech my name, but I couldn't see him anywhere.