Lee paused in his work as the status bar showed an incoming email. Stretching and taking a break, he pulled it up; the subject brought a smile to his face and he grinned as he read:
Sent: Monday, 10/06/99 1400 Hours
From: Joe McDonald
To: SET Members and Associates
Subject: Good News!
We have just been informed by the Customer that the prototype installation we worked strenuously on last week has satisfactorily completed all tests and, accordingly, that a contract has been signed for the modification and rework of the rest of the fleet. The high regard shown for the needs of maintenance furs was especially cited.
Kudos to all of you for a job well done.
Joe McDonald
Manager, Special Engineering Team
"Yes!!" He shouted as he pumped his arm.
"What's up?" inquired his partner as he looked over form his workstation.
"Check out your email, we did good last week and got the contract to upgrade the entire fleet."
The fox-wolf's mouth split into a wide grin. "This calls for a celebration!! Trattoria Salvatore?"
"Definitely!" The feline furrowed his brow, "How 'bout we ask Rava? She picked up the check on Monday after all."
"Sure; go ahead and call her."
Lee picked up the pawset and punched her extension. "Rava? Lee; seen the email? Yeah, we thought we'd go out to celebrate and wanted you to join us at our treat. We'll take my car." He listened and nodded, "Fine, we'll meet you at the door and bring you back later for your car." With an exchange of grins, the two friends returned to finishing the day's work.
Three pairs of eyes widened in dismay as they took in the crowded parking lot at Trattoria Salvatore. But only the driver's eyes tracked the tall, long-tailed collie-fox cross as he headed to the parking lot. Checking traffic, Lee whipped into the parking lot and was there, waiting, when the fur reached and entered a mid-eighties full-sized Caprice station-wagon loaded down with books. Pulling out of his parking place, the stocky fur gave a smile and a wave as he drove off.
Padding into the restaurant, the trio was approached by the panther maitre d', "Signore Evans, signore Aquilaferi, so good to see you. And who is this lovely femme with you?"
"Allow me to present our co-worker, as talented as she is beautiful, Rava Purr. Have you a table for three?" Responded Lee.
"Pleased to meet you, signorina," came the maitre d's response as he kissed Rava's paw. Turning to Lee, he replied, "Alas, no; we are quite filled tonight." Consulting his seating chart, he continued, "We could, though, set you at a table with solely one other fur. Would that be acceptable?"
Lee looked at his friends, received approving nods, and conveyed his agreement, too.
"If you good furs will wait here," replied the pleased panther, "I will check on your table."
As they waited, Lee looked around the waiting area; some furs were reading, some were waiting with varying degrees of patience, and, in the back, a pair of casually dressed business furs were using their time to go over something on a laptop. As he watched, they came to a smiling agreement and the bespectacled silver-black tabby spoke, “Now that’s a good agreement, Nevwyn. Both of our companies will do nicely.”
“That’s the idea, Mat,” answered the reddish-brown furred wolf-sheppard mix. “Something that builds both our companies.”
Josh took his time eating, savoring the tastes of his dinner, while observing the furs around him. I really lucked out, he mused, this crowded and I've got a table to myself. The approaching maitre d' interrupted his reverie.
"Pardone, signore," said the panther with a bow, "we have a party of three we wish to seat immediately. Would you consider sharing your table?"
I guess I thought too soon, grinned the fox. But I might get some interesting company if the restaurant is this interested in them. Aloud he just replied, "Of course, they’re welcome to join me."
"Grazie, signore," responded the now smiling fur. "We will, of course, give you a discount on your bill for your willingness to assist us."
The fox raised a paw, "That's not necessary."
"Per favore, signore. It is for us."
At the resulting shrug and smile of agreement, the maitre d' padded back to the dining room entrance. Shortly, the maitre d' lead a party of two cats and what appeared to be a wolf-fox mix toward Josh’s table. The male cat stepped up and extended his paw, “Thanks for sharing your table. We really didn’t relish the idea of waiting for one to become free."
The fox rose and shook offered paw, "My pleasure; I'm Josh Fox, welcome to my table."
Lee returned the pawshake, "I’m Lee Evans; these two are my good friends and coworkers, Lyman Aquilaferi and Rava Purr." After they'd all shaken, Lee assisted Rava with her chair as Lyman sat down.
"Another old-style gentlefur," quipped the grinning fox.
"But, of course," replied the grinning cat as he seated himself.
"So what brings you three here?" Inquired Josh.
Lyman answered as the waitress brought menus, "We won a big contract, today, and we're celebrating after the hard work we put in to help win that contract and the additional work it will mean."
"Understandable," responded the fox, grinning.
Dinner was quickly ordered and the company fell to small talk. Lee looked the fox over quizzically, I swear I've seen him before, and wasn't surprised to see a similar look on his face. A similar look on Rava's face caught him by surprise, though.
Through a sly smile, Rava purred, "So where are your two 'partners in crime', the wolf and the mangy ferret?"
"They were busy tonight and I wanted Italian," replied the fox. "Hey, how'd you know about them?"
"I've seen the three of you having fun in Furry's often enough," returned the amused cat.
Josh nodded.
A ferret! Thought Lee. Now I know where I met this fur. He grinned to himself. Nudging Lyman, he whispered, "Recognize our host now? After that clue?"
The fox-wolf whacked Lee with the tip of his tail as he whispered back, "Sh-h-h, Rava doesn't need to know about that."
Rava's ears perked up, "About what, hon? No use trying to hide it now."
Lyman groaned and blushed as he replied, "We ran into our host and that 'mangy ferret' a couple of weeks ago at The Gentlefur's Club; though we didn't get his name at the time. His ferret friend sure seemed set on embarrassing him."
"The Gentlefur's Club?" Rava's eyebrows shot up; as the fox's bright blush and unintelligible mouth movements confirmed the tale. Turning to Lee, she pointed to the fox-wolf, "I might have expected this of him, but not of you."
The brown tabby grinned and shrugged, "What can I say? It was my first and only time there, thanks to this character." He pointed at Lyman.
The white cat purred as she turned back to Lyman, "Why would you drag him there and not me?"
Lyman blushed further; then replied, "It was a 'guys' night out'. I've had a membership for some time, even if I didn't go as often as our host's friend – who seems to know everyfur there."
The femme slowly nodded, "That the only reason?" She looked steadily at both of her friends.
Lee blushed, "Well, no; it wasn't. It seems Lyman had an additional motive. It was the week after I first met Debbye and, the way I was acting, he figured that a visit there was necessary to see if it was love or lust. He just suggested we take a break from studying and get some air; the next thing I knew, we pulled in there."
Rava turned to glare at Lyman, "And you say the gauntlet I put guys through is barbaric?"
"A gauntlet?" questioned the fox.
The fox-wolf blushed even brighter as he nodded, "Yeah; she tests a prospective guy's limits and pushes him to them to see what he's made of. That is barbaric!"
"What do you call testing Lee, humm?" snapped the femme.
"Well, I'd've enjoyed..."
"I’ll bet you would," growled the white cat as she turned to Lee. "I take it that it was more than lust?"
"Way more," responded the male feline with a smile, "None of those femmes affected me the way Debbye does."
Rava smiled, "Good, I think she is a sweetheart. Besides," she chuckled, "I didn’t think you were like that anyway."
Chuckling in return, the brown tabby answered, "Far more between us than 'simple lust'. Though I'd be lying through my teeth if I said there wasn't a strong physical attraction on both sides."
The white femme cat grinned at that; then glared at the wolf-fox. "Lyman, I should smack you! You've been a member and you've never taken me there?" She mock-pouted.
Lyman looked poleaxed. "I never even considered that," he responded.
"Pity," answered Rava with a sly grin, "you might have gotten lucky." She winked at him.
"Darn," whispered the blushing fox-wolf, "I never thought of that."
"Well start thinking about it," responded the femme. "But," she purred softly, "now that I know this little secret of yours, you are going to limit your check-ups on me to once a day, like Lee, aren't you? I'm sure the guys at work would love to hear about this."
"A force of nature when you're determined," answered the chagrined wolf-fox, "Agreed."
The cat femme turned to the large muscular fox, “He blew his latest chance and I know Lee’s taken; so, interested in taking a femme there, hon?”
Josh turned red again as he stammered, “I – I – I’m already seeing someone and we’re playing it exclusive for now.”
“Um – hum,” nodded Rava. “Then just why were you there?”
Before the fox could answer, Lee interjected, “Somewhat for the ‘dark side’ of the reason I was there. That ‘mangy ferret’ certainly set out to embarrass this guy. Our host here was fairly overwhelmed with what happened to him there. For that matter,” he turned to Josh, “Has your ferret friend used those pictures yet?"
Josh grimaced, "No, he hasn't yet but I'm sure he will when it'll embarrass me the most."
The white cat nodded and smiled at the fox, "So what did happen to you?"
The fox blushed even deeper, "I'd rather not say."
Lyman gave a sly grin, "Something that I wouldn't mind have happen to me."
Rava turned to a furiously blushing Josh and winked, "Into that type of thing, hon?" The fox could only shake his head "no", not trusting himself to speak. The femme turned back to Lyman, "This might make up for not asking me to The Gentlefur's Club, but tell me more."
Ignoring the glare from the blushing fox, the wolf-fox continued, "you remember what happened to Evan at his 'going away' party? Think 15 times worse!"
Noticing the intense embarrassment the fox was showing, Lee interjected, "I'm sure she's got more than enough imagination to fill in the details."
The femme cat chuckled, "Especially after working with the guys in the shop for so long."
The three males chuckled with her as Josh added, “If they’re anything like some of the crews I’ve worked with, that’ll be more than enough.”
The white cat nodded, “And where might that have been, hon?”
“Well,” replied the fox, “I’ve worked as a security guard a number of places, including some rock concerts. You don’t want to know how raunchy some acts and their roadies get, especially when the groupies start swarming around.”
The three engineers laughed knowingly in response; then Rava turned on their “host”, “So, hon, Lee’s told us how he ended up there; how’d you get into a place where your mangy friend could set you up?”
"Well," answered the fox, "I'd just started seeing that 'someone' I mentioned earlier and matters were progressing well. For me, that's something of a new experience and he said he wanted to buy me dinner to celebrate that; I had no idea he'd take me there. Though," he mused, "I should have expected something."
"Why's that?" asked Lyman.
"He's somewhat obsessed with sex, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he knew everyfur there and was able to set this up. I just never imagined he'd set me up like that," groaned Josh.
At the others' chuckles, he joined in. As things died down, Rava turned to Lee, "Speaking of things not imagined, how's Debbye going to react to your trip there?"
The brown tabby grinned, "She already knows; I told her last Saturday. She's a bit unhappy with Lyman for taking me there, but rather flattered by the reactions I mentioned earlier."
Rava grinned and turned back to the fox just as their orders arrived and delayed further discussion. Any talking at all as they devoured the excellent food was devoted to a particular item on the menu or to general small talk.
As Rava finished her dessert, she sighed, stretched, and turned to Lee and Lyman, "I'll have to thank you two for bringing me here, that was delicious." Turning to Josh she grinned, "So, what led your ferret friend to set you up like that?"
"Well," answered Josh with a blushing smile, "It started when I needed to get Rob, my ferret friend, out of my fur for a while when I was shopping." He went on to describe how he and Blue, his wolf friend, had set Rob up in the mall. He continued with the situation that led to the visit to The Gentlefur's Club and finished by regaling his tablemates with his view of the events there.
Lee chuckled, “And what did your femme have to say about that night?”
“Uhm”, blushed the fox deeper, “I haven’t told her yet. It's kinda hard to work that into the conversation; I’ve been way too embarrassed to tell her.”
The brown tabby nodded with a grin, “I can see that. Still, you need to be the one to tell her; it goes over lots better than if she finds out about it else. Imagine the effect if Rob shows her those photos and catches her by surprise.”
Josh nodded and shuddered, “I hadn’t thought of that; I wouldn’t put it past him now that you mention it.”
Rava chuckled, “I can’t speak for her, but if some fur tried that with me, I’d give my guy the benefit of the doubt.”
“After giving him how much ‘nonsense’?” asked Lyman.
"What do you mean?" replied the white cat.
"C'mon, Rava, we know you better," continued the wolf-fox.
Lee turned to Josh, "I apologize for her treating you to the same questioning she gives friends."
The fox relaxed and waved a paw, "Not a problem, I think I'd much rather be treated as one of her friends than one of her enemies."
"You got that right," laughed the brown tabby.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rava asked Lee, sharply.
"After seeing the gauntlet and watching you keep guys on their toes, you'd really 'just' give one the benefit of the doubt?"
"Well, he might have to do a 'little' proving," answered the femme with a hint of a blush.
Lyman grinned, "I'll let this drop, but I gotta ask about last weekend. Why did it take an outsider for you to drop your defenses and open up when your friends here" he gestured toward himself and Lee "have been waiting for you to open up so we could help?"
"That's just it," answered the white cat, '"I know you two and Cathy all too well and I'd have trouble looking any of you in the face afterwards. Jim was someone I don't see every day and I could be open to him."
The fox whispered to the tabby cat, "What's that all about?"
"She's been under a lot of stress,' Lee whispered back, "and she finally broke down and talked to someone. He's a bit miffed she waited so long and didn't talk to one of us or any of her other close friends."
The fox nodded, "I hope it helped her; carrying too much stress can snarl you good."
"The cat nodded, "It was showing, she needs some time off to really let it out of her system.' As the level of discussion behind him increased in volume, he turned, "I think I'd better step in, we want to come back here. Pardon me."
Josh nodded and waved, with a small grin.
Lee turned to his two, now arguing, friends. "Does it really matter where or with who she got help?" he asked Lyman.
"No, not really, but..."
Turning to Rava, "Did you really mean to leave us out of helping?"
"I'd never hurt you like that, Lee. I..I just didn't want to add to your burdens."
The brown tabby shook his head as he briefly took her paw, "Helping friends isn't a burden; you know how you'd feel if we went to some other fur for help."
The femme nodded, "Yeah, I'd wondered how mad you were." She turned to Lyman and extended her paw, "I'm sorry we got into this."
"Peace," agreed the fox-wolf as he shook her paw.
All the parties at the table turned as the waiter brought their bills. Before Rava or Lyman could grab their bills, Lee had theirs and his. "My turn to pay tonight," he firmly stated. "Rava paid Monday night and you,' he gestured to the fox-wolf, "can pay next time the three of us go out. We'll be certain to find a suitably expensive place; right, Rava?"
The white femme cat merely grinned widely and nodded as the wolf-fox groaned theatrically.
Josh chuckled as he paid his bill, "Now that sounds familiar; Rob, Blue, and I have gone through that more than once.'
"And what makes you think we haven't?" laughed the brown tabby as he cheerfully paid. "We've been friends ever since we started together and this isn't the first round by a long shot."
The fox grinned as the waiter returned with their receipts, "It's still good to see friends who can deal with their differences and stay friends. You wouldn't believe how the other two and I get on each other some times."
Lee gave a wry grin, "From our performance a little while ago, I think I would." He extended his paw to the fox, "It's been a pleasure to meet you, I hope we run into each other again."
"Likewise," returned the fox as he shook paws. "Though I don't know when that'll be."
The tabby shrugged, "You never know, probably sometime when we least expect it."
The three co-workers waved to their new acquaintance as the two cars pulled out of the lot. "I'm glad I was upfront with Debbye about that night," chuckled Lee. "I don't think I'd care to leave that kind of surprise out there. Especially not with a friend like this 'Rob'."
"That's you," chuckled Rava, "some furs prefer a bit more 'edge'."
"Obviously," interjected the wolf-fox, "I just wanna be outside the blast radius when his femme does find out."
The trio chuckled as they took the white cat back for her car.