Chapter 2
The One pt 2

The day before...


Vrrr! Beep! Beep! Vrrr! Beep! Beep! “Nnngh.” a black fur hand search for the phone on the nightstand. The hybrid grabs the phone then looks at the time. 9:00 am glowed on the screen. She rises from her purple and blue galaxy theme sheets. She rubbed her sleepy eye before stretching her body. The fokey pulled the sheets off her before getting off of her bed.


The fokey approach a long and tall mirror leaning back on the wall. She looks at the female with wild bed hair and tail. Wearing a purple pajamas t-shirt with a white crescent moon on it. And blue pants with patterned white stars. She gives herself a serious face and places her hands on her hips, “Today is a new day!”


The fokey walks into the small cramped bathroom. She grabbed her blue toothbrush from its cup and begin brushing her sharp canines and teeth. Next, she uses her purple hairbrush to tame her tail and wild long hair. Then the hybrid fixes it into a ponytail. Last, she splashed water on her face.


The fokey walks back into her bedroom. She opens one of the drawers of the wooden dresser and takes out a blue camouflage shirt. She then opened another drawer and pull out some blue jeans. The fokey place her clothes on the bed before stripping into her matching blue bra and panties. She threw her pjs on the bed and put her new clothes on. Last, she put her phone in her pocket.


The hybrid walks into a small living room and kitchen. She approaches the kitchen grabbing a bag of ground coffee. She poured the measured coffee into the coffee filter. The fokey press the button starting the coffee maker. She walks to the matted beaten brown couch then sits down. She grabs her sneakers beside her on the floor. The hybrid slipped them on and tie the shoe strings tightly.


DING! “Oh. Coffee is ready.” she gets up from the old couch to the kitchen. The hybrid grabs a blue travel mug out from the cabinet. She grabs the coffee pot then pours the coffee in her travel mug. She screwed the lid back on the mug. In the corner of the fokey’s vision, she notices a paper under her front door. “Hmm?” she walks toward the paper and picks it up.


The hybrid begins reading the paper while sipping her coffee. She spits out her coffee then look at the paper in panic, “What?!”


An old raccoon cat hybrid lady wearing glasses watering her potted plant on the front desk. She patted the pot, “There you go, Mary. All watered.” The old lady turns her head at the sound of steps running down the stairs. The fokey runs to the front desk then show the paper, “Two weeks?!” “Hmm?” The old lady fixed her glasses staring at the paper. “Oh. I am sorry, dear. But you haven’t paid your rent for two months.” the old woman spoke.


“Oh yeah. Heh.” The fokey laughed nervously. “Ever since I quit that last job. That bastard manager wouldn’t stop harassing me.” She growled at the last sentence. “Is there anything else I can do, Ms. Porter?” the fokey asked. “No, dear. All you can do is pay the rent.” the old lady looks at the fokey in concern. “Okay.” the fokey look down in disappointment. “Sorry, dear.” the old lady spoke sadly. “No, it’s okay. It's not your fault.” the fokey reassured the old lady.


“Still searching for a job, dear?” Ms.Porter asked. The fokey sighed then nods, “Yeah. No luck yet.” The old lady reaches out and caresses the fokey cheek, “Don’t lose hope, dear. A miracle will come.” The fokey smiled, “Thanks.” “No problem, dear.” The old lady smiled.  


Back in the apartment, the fokey finished her coffee and grab her crossbody strap light blue bag from the coat rack. She stands in front of her door and grabs the knob. She inhaled then exhaled, “Today is a new day.” she reminded herself. The fokey turns the knob and walks out. She locks the door before walking past a couple of doors then down the wooden stairs.


The fokey walks past the front desk waving at the old lady, “Wish me luck!” The lady wave back, “I will, dear.” The fokey pushed through the glass doors to outside. She walks a couple of blocks, past buildings, and street lights to the nearest bus stop. She waited by the sign till a limousine past by. The fokey watched the car drive away in the distance, “I wish I could be in one of those. That would be fun. Oh, well. I can dream.” she smiled at the last sentence.


A blue transit bus stopped in front of her. As the door slide open, a chubby male pug wearing a uniform greet her with a smile, “Hey!” “Hey, Lewis! How are you today?” The fokey asked with a smile. “Oh, the usual. How about you?” The pug watched her climb on. “Not much. Still searching for a job.” the fokey pull out some change and put them in the slot of the fare box. “Ah, don’t worry. You’ll find one.” The bus driver smiled. “I hope so.” The fokey walks to her seat.


The hybrid sits down as the bus began to move. She looks out of the window watching buildings and street lights pass by. Half an hour later, the bus reached a stop in front of a mall. “Hope you land a great job.” the bus driver watch the fokey step off. “Thanks! And I hope you have a great day.” She smiled at the driver. “Thanks!” The driver smiled before closing the door. The bus drove off.


The hybrid turned facing the big building in front of her. She walks toward the building entrance and went inside. She begins to approach shops asking if they are hiring. The fokey found a few, but none will hire right away without an interview. She walks out from a clothing store disappointed, “If I don’t find a job soon. I’m screwed.” She looks around then notice a shop with a sign said CHA BUBBLE TEA with a chinese symbol. The shop is at the food court area filled with tables and people.


The fokey adjust her bag strap a bit, “Maybe I should go relax a bit.” She walks in the direction toward the shop. As soon she entered the shop, the fokey ordered herself a coffee flavored bubble tea. She finds herself a table and sits down. She takes her phone out of her pocket at the same time she sips her drink. The fokey looks at the screen wallpaper of three foxes behind her smiling with her. One older male, one older female and one male nearly the same age as her.


The hybrid looks at the screen as tears fell from her cheeks, “I’m so sorry. Sorry for being a failure, mom. Dad. I’m not as great as Evan.” She wipes her tears, “But I won’t give up. Just need to keep searching that job.” She sips her drink and starts searching for jobs near her on the phone. A mysterious male in a business suit sitting in the corner eyeing her. He hands a card to a brown striped cat in driver uniform, “Give this to her.”


The fokey keep swiping on her phone till. Tap. Tap. A clawed finger tapped her shoulder. She turned and look up at the brown striped cat. “Hello, miss. My boss wanted me to give this to you.” he hands her a business card. The fokey takes the business card and reads it. On the card is bold words said POISON KISS with a green kissing lip beside it. “Poison kiss?” She read the logo with one eyebrow raised.


“My boss wants to hire you as a barmaid in the stripper room of the casino club.” the cat spoke. “Yes! I’ll take the job!” the fokey gets up and grabbed the cat’s hand. She shakes it roughly and fast. “That’s great!” the cat smiled and pulled his hand away. “When do I start?” the fokey asked. “Uh-” RING! RING! The cat takes his phone out of his uniform pocket and looks at it. He looks at the fokey, “Tomorrow.”


“Oh thank god. What time?” she asked. “Five pm.” he answered. “Wow. I’m very lucky to get the evening. I’m not very much a morning person.” the fokey laughed nervously. “Also, Where is your boss? I want to thank him.” she asked. “Oh. Um… He rathered not be bothered right now.” the cat spoke smiling nervously. “That’s alright. I understand. I’m sure he is busy and rather have his quiet time. Send him my thanks.” the fokey smiled. “I will. Have a good day.” the cat walks away waving.


The hybrid waved back then looks at the card smiling. She holds the card close to her chest with a joyful squee.


Back at the bus stop, the fokey runs to the apartment building then went inside. She approached the front desk smiling, “I got a job!” “Oh! Congratulations,dear!” the old woman smiled. “Now I just got to cross my fingers and hope to pay off the rent before the two weeks.” the fokey crossed her fingers. The old raccoon cat lady takes the fokey hands, “But I hope the same miracle for love falls on you.” The fokey face grew warm, “Um… I don’t think I have time for such thing like that right now.”


“Love will always find a way to your heart, dear. Don’t fight it.” the old woman spoke. The fokey move her hands away looking down, “I still rather be on my own right now.” She walks away and up the stairs. The old woman sighed, “Poor, dear. I pray love will find her soon.”


The fokey sitting on her bed holding an aluminum crochet hook and purple and green dyed yarn crocheting a scarf. She looks at her sketchbook of a drawing design of a scarf. She turns her attention to her phone. 7:30 pm glowed on the screen. Brrring! Brrring! A picture of her parents appeared on the phone. The fokey swipe to the green phone logo then press the speaker phone option.


“Hello?” the fokey answered. “Hello, sweetie! How are you?” an older sweet woman voice spoke from the phone. “Oh. I’m doing fine. How about you guys?” she asked. “We are doing great!” an older man voice answered. “How about Evan? How is he doing?” the hybrid asked. “Your brother is doing fine. He made several new friends at the university.” the male voice answered.


“Have you meet any boys yet?” the female voice spoke. The fokey face grew warm and her eyebrow twitched in annoyance, “No, mom. Can you please stop asking that question every time you call?” “Oh, but sweetie. You know how much we wanted grandchildren.” the female voice spoke. “Ugggh.” the hybrid facepalmed. “Oh! Did you guys find any information on my biological parents?” she asked. “Unfortunately, no. But we’ll keep looking.” the male voice spoke.


“Okay. Thanks anyway.” the hybrid answered. “Well, we better go. Take care of yourself, sweetie. We love you!” the female voice spoke. “I love you too.” the fokey answered with a smile. “Remember, you can always come back home.” the male voice spoke. “I know, dad.” she answered. “Bye, sweetheart.” “Bye.” the hybrid press the red phone disconnecting the call.


The fokey pick up her yarn, hook, and sketchbook. She walks into the living room/kitchen and put the items in her bag. She walks back into the bedroom then into the bathroom. The hybrid grabbed a towel and place it on the sink counter. She strips all of her clothes then thrown them in the plastic hamper. She walks inside the shower and slides the glass door closed. The fokey turned the water on and steam filled the room.


After a shower, the fokey slide the door opened a little. She reaches for the towel, but it’s a bit far for her. “Why do I keep doing this?” she asked herself. The hybrid reaches out her hand again, but this time without really reaching for it. She put all of her attention and focus on the towel. The fokey blue eyes glowed. The towel slowly lifts itself in the air then fling itself toward her.


 “Wait! No, no, n-oof!” the towel hit itself on her face. She takes the towel off of her face, “I still don’t get the hang of it yet.” The hybrid wraps the towel around herself before stepping out. She dries her fur off then her hair with a blow dryer. Next, she brushed her hair and her matted tail.


The fokey walk into the bedroom still wrapped in a towel. She grabs some panties from the drawer then grab her pjs and put them on. Last, the hybrid plugs the charger in her phone nearby the nightstand. “Alright. Tomorrow is a new exciting day. The first day of my new job.” she spoke. She flipped the switch turning the lights off in the room.
The fokey get herself on the bed and pull the sheets over her. She slowly closed her eyes putting herself in darkness. She opened her eyes then gasp. Floating in darkness with her is a familiar female hooded figure. The figure wearing a dark long cape covering her body with a hood over her head. The shadow from the hood covering half of her face.


“It’s you again.” The fokey spoke. Silence. The figure reached out a hand toward her. Like a mother reaching out for her child. The hybrid slowly reaches her hand out toward the figure’s hand. She then pulls her hand back, “Tell me. Tell me your name! Tell me where I can find you!” Silence.


The figure lowered her hand back inside her cape. Tears begin to flow from the fokey eyes, “Please! I want to find you! You can’t keep doing this every night!” Silence. “Say something!” the hybrid shouted. She gasps as the figure float toward her. The fokey close her eyes as the figure got closer. She felt a soft touch on her cheek.


The hybrid opens her eyes. The figure was caressing her cheek. More tears flowed as she touches the figure hand, “Why? Why I have this feeling you're my real mother?” Silence. The figure pulls the fokey close to her body in an embrace. The figure moves her lips close to her ears and whisper, “To protect you.” The hybrid eyes widen.


The fokey awoke with a loud gasp and beads of sweat on her face. She picks up her phone from the nightstand and looks at the screen. 10:00 am glowed on the screen. She runs her hand through her bangs looking down, “What does she mean ‘to protect you.’? What is she protecting me from?”  The fokey looks at the screen, “Well, I got hours till I have to go to work.”


As hours passed by, the bus stopped in front of the big building. The fokey stepped out of the bus then looks up at the building. The big neon sign matched the logo on the business card. “I guess this is the place.” she looks at the sign before walking inside. She stopped and looks around at her surroundings.


Poker tables, slot machines, and restaurants with bars around her. The fokey walks on looking for this so-called ‘stripper room.’ She noticed a tinted door with a neon sign above it says Club Secrets. Beside the sign is a stripper dancing on the pole.  “That’s maybe it.” she spoke before entering.


“Speaking of which. Here she comes now.” A female white wolf spoke behind the bar looking at her. The fokey notice two calico cat girls sitting on the stools by the bar looking at her. And a red horned beast standing beside them staring at her in awe.


“Umm, Is this the stripper bar area?” she asked twisting her purse strap looking down. “Yes. Are you the new barmaid?” Fedora asked. “Yes.” the hybrid answered. The wolf chuckled at the beast as she noticed the way he is staring at her. She turns her attention back to the hybrid, “Let’s start with our names. I’m Fedora. I’m the bartender. And these two are our pole dancers, Lo-” “ I’m Lora! I’m Patty! And we are the calico twins!” the two spoke the last sentence at the same time smiling big.


“And the one with the horns is our bouncer of this place, Drake.” Fedora spoke. The red beast kept staring not saying a word.  “Uh-oh! Someone must be in - Mmf!” “Let him talk, Patty.” Lora spoke covered her sister mouth with her hand. The hybrid giggled with a smile.


“And what about yours?” the wolf asked. “Oh! My name is Jess.” The fokey smiled.