Love Around Us

Chapter 21: Bouquet of Roses

Chapter 21: Bouquet of roses

After Nick had dealt with Dennis to the end and given him the keys and documents to the flat he was free to go home. His day at work was a bit longer this time as he couldn't leave the office until after 6 p.m., which already made him a bit more tired than usual. In the car he was still wondering how it could have happened that he accidentally said what he was doing with Judy last night! It made so little sense. In the car he laughed about it out of nerves, but going back to that situation he was still burning with shame thinking about it let alone really going back to that moment! It had been a long time since a fox had made such a slip-up, nay, he had never made a bigger gaff! He felt very foolish and couldn't imagine doing it again. He explained it to himself by not getting enough sleep, by having a headache, but he had to admit one thing - the night with Judy had gone deeply into his head. Granted, nothing had happened between them at the time, but the mere fact that they had accidentally fallen asleep together caused the distaste to linger and it was evident when they ate breakfast together.

"Okay...let's hope no one finds out about this again and we'll be fine...no more gaffes like that " Nick decided in his mind as he summed everything up in his head.

When he was already on his estate and about to turn the corner into his yard he noticed Finnick in his plot waving his paws for him to turn into his plot. Fox saw that Suzanne's car wasn't there, so presumably wanted to talk to him until his girlfriend returned. Having no objection he turned in his direction stopping under the closed garage.

"Well you've finally arrived! I thought you were staying the night at work tonight!" Laughed Finnick as Nick stepped out of the car.

"I had a different job today...guess who sold another flat " replied Nick sarcastically. The friends greeted each other with their special gestures after which Finnick invited Nick inside the house.

"Where did Suzanne go? She's usually home by this time," Nick asked curiously as they both headed into the living room where they traditionally watched their races.

"She was supposed to go to work.... some emergency, but that's not really important" replied Finnick. He took a red wine from the liquor shelf and poured one for himself.

"Willing? You need to relax after a long day at work?" asked Finnick. Pouring the blood-red drink into his goblet, he stared at Nick, who laughed brightly as he slid the goblet over to the bottle.

"Woah, what is this, some special occasion?"

"Does there have to be an occasion to treat your friend to this drink?" Finnick asked.

"Heh...Okay, but just one glass," confirmed Nick.

After 3 hours of casual conversation and sipping alcohol in the process, a cultured conversation on rather interesting topics turned, in time, into a stress-free conversation between two already quite drunk friends. Suzanne's absence from the house and the new wine, which Finnick described as "a drink to try" was completely drunk and all that was left of it was an empty bottle, which, in time, was broken by them while throwing it into a bin that was behind the house in the allotment. It didn't cause them any trouble what-so-ever. Nothing got them into trouble, most of the time they laughed at anything and made fun of everything. Nick himself succumbed to the temptation of his friend, who poured a whole cup every few minutes, which was then drunk by them in no time at all! It turned out to be an engaging game, which meant that they were now sitting without alcohol trying to maintain their seriousness and, above all, their balance.

"And how are your affairs with Judy going ? " Finnick asked at one point.

"No issues at all ! I've been...seeing her recently to help her out a bit. She was feeling bad yesterday," replied Nick calmly.