Mature Content Warning: A cute girl doing cute things

Author's Note: so, we begin setting up for the next story arc. :)

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Chapter 20.1: Business Fox

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The soft laughter of people who are paid very little to do a lot can sometimes be a heart-warming thing. Of course, that laughter often derives from impolite statements at gestures. However, when the object of that laughter can actively hear them despite the distance, it can be problematic.

“Yeah, Tits has been hiding in her office a lot of late.” said Eric Greene; a hardlines associate team member whose sole position in the store was to straighten items on the shelves. It was a simple and repetitive task that required a lot of time, but was often performed at a sub-optimal pace due to the tendency toward idle gossip.

“Heh, Tits McPouts. Perfect name for her.” said another team member.

Ashton sighed softly then hugged her clipboard to her chest. She was one of the youngest store team managers in the company, and she received about as much respect as that fact would allow. She knew who had crafted that nickname, but she had originally thought it hilarious when she had heard it for the first time. Now though, it just reminded her that the one person in the store who actually made her day pleasant had not been to work in a while.

Her hair twitched slightly and she winced. Ashton placed her hands atop her head then headed for her office once more. This was becoming ridiculous. Why had she accepted that offer?

Once she was locked inside her office, she relaxed and a slight shimmer rippled through her body. Triangular ears rose up atop her head. Her canine teeth became sharper, more like fangs. Her finger nails became like delicate claws, and a bushy tail lifted up and out of her khaki pants.

Ashton sighed then shook her head. She sat at her desk then propped up her arms with her elbows. She leaned forward and held up her head in her hands and tried not to cry. It had seemed like a great thing. She loved things like anime, and had always had an infatuation with the so-called Kitsune, or fox girl. It made perfect sense to her to accept the offer to become a fox girl when the dream world had presented the chance. It was just a dream, why not live it?

Since then, everything had gone to hell. Her heightened senses had allowed her to smell things, to hear things that she could not smell or hear before. Her fiancé had reeked of the scent of another woman, and the obvious sex that they’d had. She was not the jealous type, so she had not noticed that sort of thing about him before. However, it was impossible not to notice it now.

The phone rang and she sighed loudly. She left it ring a few more times then slowly reached over and picked it up. The voice that came across the line caused her eyes to widen. “Scott!”

“Hey, Ashton. I’m sorry that I’ve been absent of late.” said Scott.

She shook her head. “No, you’ve had a health issue, right? Did you go to see the doctor?”

“It... Well, that’s not really something I would be comfortable speaking to a doctor about.” said Scott.

Ashton immediately wondered if he’d picked up some sort of sexual disease. She bet that one of those nice girls was at fault. It was probably that Sonja girl. She could smell his scent all over her. Served him right... Though, it was sort of sad to know that she was a disease ridden skank. She had seemed like such a nice girl. She was quite pretty, as well.

She blinked as that line of reasoning invaded her thoughts. Why would she even care about that? More to the point why did she think about Scott so often of late? She had always enjoyed their shared work shift, but since her change she had grown strangely attached to his presence.

“Anyway, do I still have a job?” asked Scott.

“Hmm? Oh, sure. We’ve had a lot of absences of late. The changes in the world are causing a lot of people to sort of space out. We could use anyone we can get to actually come in.” she said.

A soft string of curses that would normally be too soft for her to hear came through loud and clear. She smiled gently. The idiot always made a big production about not wanting to work here, but he still came to work most of the time.

“When do I come in?” asked Scott.

“You can come now if you want.” she said. A slight blush crossed her cheeks as she realized what she had said. Seriously, what was wrong with her? Every time she thought about him since her change, she had the strangest feeling inside.

“Oh, Ok, I’ll come. How long?” he asked.

“H-how long?” she asked; her eyes wide in surprise. She had heard his simple answer in a decidedly odd way.

“Huh? Yeah, how long do you want me to come for?” ask Scott.

Ashton’s face reddened considerably and a small, but excited, growl rumbled from her soft pink lips. Her fluffy tail began to swish gently back and forth. She managed to get it together long enough to continue the conversation, but it was hard.

Scott’s innocent statement had caused all manner of hormones to start surging inside of her. “How long do you want to come for me, Scott?” she asked softly.

There was a brief awkward pause on the other end of the line. When Scott finally answered, he said. “How does four hours sound?”

Ashton giggled softly then curled the cord of the old-style phone around her finger. “Mmmm, Perfect....”

“Right...” said Scott, a strange tone in his voice.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked, after the odd moment passed.

Ashton’s breath caught in her chest and she bit her lower lip, such a question to ask... How bold of him. She responded with a soft, throaty, chuckle. “I think you should work with me directly, today. I already have the front-end covered.”

“You sure you won’t want me to work in the back a bit?” asked Scott. There was always something to do in the backroom.

She blinked then her tail swished once before it hiked up gently into the air. “That... We can discuss that later.”

“Sure... Alright, I’ll be there soon.”

“Hurry.” she said sweetly.

After Scott hung up, Ashton laughed a little then flicked her ears. She did not know why she was so excited at the moment, but that conversation had perked her up considerably. Maybe working alongside him today, would let her discover why she felt warm and fuzzy when he was around.

Before her change, she had liked his work ethic, even if he had a tendency toward dramatic complaints and oddity. After her change, she had found it hard not to try to be around him when possible. He had made her day better, and despite his dislike for his job he still did it. Though, he did exude a strange scent that might have something to do with her newfound interest. Did he have a special cologne or something? It was quite intoxicating. She could stand around him and smell that scent all day if she did not have other business to attend to most of the time.

Ashton truly adored his work ethic and his scent. He made the workplace fun and still did his job, not like those gossiping guys in hardlines who could not even be trusted to straighten a box of crackers properly, and smelled uninteresting in general.