The Able Sisters

Chapter 40

Two years seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye. Labelle was now in her early twenties and conquering the world. She had been able to afford a nice penthouse in the city that was a short distance from the store. Gracie had increased her pay, and Labelle worked long and hard with Gracie to design. The giraffe had even let her sell a few items of her own.

In her free time, Labelle liked design and create her own items. Her creativity was sparking now more than ever. She couldn't believe how a few years ago she had been down in the dumps, unable to draw up a single clothing item, and now, her dreams had finally come true.

Whatever mere thoughts she'd had of Sable and Mabel a few years ago had passed. She had not seen the raccoon since, even if she did think of him from time to time. Her sisters had made no effort to contact her, and she certainly wasn't going to be the one to start the contact.

Out here, on her own, she was thriving. She seemed to have everything she wanted in life--a nice place to live, an exciting city life, her dream job. She couldn't imagine what it would've been like if she stayed in Animal Village.

It was summer now in the city. The sky was nearly always clear, the weather was hot, and she could hear the faint chirping of cicadas wherever she went.

She realized, for a second, that Mabel's birthday must have come and passed only a month before in May? How old would she be now? 8?

Either way, it didn't matter. Labelle reminded herself that she had resolved not to think about her family or her home. She had created this life for herself in the city, and she was going to enjoy it.

As she headed into work, Phineas was out front with his cart of balloons and goodies.

"A pinwheel for you, miss Labelle?" he asked.

"I don't really have ti--"

"Nonsense!" the sea lion exclaimed, handing her a multi-colored pinwheel. She shoved it into her bag and thanked him before quickly heading into work.

"Sorry I'm late," she told Gracie.

The giraffe was sitting at the desk. Her eyes glanced up at the clock, and then back at Labelle.

"What? By a minute?"

Labelle took a lot of pride in her work, and that often meant showing up to work early. She never had the impression that Gracie would fire her, but she wanted to make sure there was never an opportunity for that.

Of course Labelle had plenty of bells saved now if the situation ever came, but she loved her job, and she didn't want to lose it after she had already contributed so much to the store.

"So for tomorrow, I was thinking you could look at my sketches some more," Labelle told Gracie.

Gracie glanced at her. "We're not open tomorrow."

"Yes we are," Labelle told her.

"I am requesting you take a mandatory day off."

"But I can work!" Labelle urged.

"Yes, but I can't. Sometimes I need a break every once in a while. You have the day to yourself, you can go and do something fun."

"Something...fun?" Labelle questioned.

"There's a lot to do, you know. You live in an exciting place, after all."

"But what would I..."

"Don't you have any friends to hang out?" Gracie asked.

"Um..." Labelle paused. She sometimes ran into Harriet every now and again, and Phineas knew her name. Perhaps if she ran into Dr. Shrunk, he would still know her...

"Hmph," Gracie said, placing whatever documents she was looking at away. "Sometimes I think you're too caught up in your job."

"Well, you're my friend, aren't you?"

"Accomplice," Gracie told her.

"Well, why don't we hang out tomorrow?" Labelle suggested. She had to admit, as soon as she said the words, she realized how stupid it sounded. Hanging out with her boss? Sure, Labelle was pretty close to Gracie, but the giraffe still intimidated Labelle. She stood nearly two feet taller than her.

Gracie laughed. "I'm taking the day off for rest and relaxation. You do something fun, okay?"

"Something fun? Okay," Labelle agreed.

"Something fun," Labelle muttered, sitting in her apartment. The sky was clear, the day was warm, but Labelle had absolutely no idea what to do.

She could go see Dr. Shrunk--but would that be too awkward? Or maybe she could get a little makeover from Harriet. Maybe even getting a fortune from Katrina would be more fun than sitting indoors.

None of those options seemed really fun to Labelle, but she had to get out of the apartment somehow. She grabbed her things and headed out into the sun.

The city was packed as it normally would be on a warm summer day. Labelle wandered around, but there wasn't much to see. She could always check out that new shop run by that fox--whatever it was called. But that didn't seem very fun either.

She lingered around outside for a good hour before gravitating toward GracieGrace. With a spare key, she slipped inside and headed into the back. She could maybe work on some designs or organize. That was fun...wasn't it?

She ended up finding a box of ribbons in the back and sorting them all by color. It was too hot outside anyway. At least it was nice and cool in here and she was doing something productive.

She heard the door open and continued working before she heard a startled screech. She turned around to see Gracie, who had apparently nearly had a heart attack over her presence.

"Hey!" Labelle said, raising her claw up in a wave with the ribbon still in her hand.

"What...are...you...doing...here?" Gracie growled.

"Having fun!"

"By organizing?" Gracie asked.

"Well...I couldn't really think of anything..."

Gracie snatched the box of ribbons from her claws.

"You go home right now, you hear? I thought someone broke in when I saw you. This is your day off."

"Yeah, but..."

"GO!" Gracie shouted.

Labelle sighed and dejectedly left the shop. It was true she had never done anything too fun in the city, but she did enjoy work. Why couldn't Gracie understand that?

"I propose a nice day sitting at home and sketching," she told herself as she began to walk in the direction of her apartment.