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Chapter XII

Amanda's Parents

Ophelia got out of bed and, looking at Jacob who was still lying in bed, said, "Jacob, we need to go see Amanda today."

Jacob looked at his wife questioningly and asked, "Why?"

"Because I want to go see her. I want to make sure she's doing all right."

"Ophelia, of course she'd doing all right. Otherwise, we would have heard something."

"Jacob!"

Sighing in resignation, Jacob said, "All right, Ophelia. Let me get dressed and we'll go see Amanda."

Jacob got out of the bed and started getting dressed while Ophelia did, too.

*****

As Michael watched Amanda sleeping, he suddenly felt her lips on his; yet, there she was, asleep. He reached up and touched his lips; he could feel the softness of her lips pressing against his. He realized that his mind was playing back the times she had kissed him last night. He shook my head. "This is wrong." He thought. "She's not human. I shouldn't have enjoyed those kisses. She was drunk, too. She had no control over what she was doing last night. So, why do I feel the urge to kiss her now? God! Help me! Show me the right way to go!" He shook his head to clear the vision and feeling from last night from his head.

Amanda stirred and whined a little. Michael looked back down and realized he had stopped his gentle scratching of her scalp. He resumed and she settled down. He smiled as he imagined her seeing her grandmother scratching her scalp. She moved her head slightly to increase the pressure of Michael's scratching and, in the process, turned her face toward her. Once again, as he looked at that tiger striped red fox face, He felt the urge to kiss her. "No!" He thought. "Even if I could convince myself it was all right, I can't take advantage of her. She's asleep and unable to tell me no or she might dream it's someone else and be disappointed if she was to awaken suddenly." Michael leaned back, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shook his head again.

As he sat like that, Michael heard a sweet, soft, feminine voice saying, "I love you."

Once again, Michael looked down at Amanda's face and saw her mouth move as she said, "Michael, please don't leave me. I love you."

Once again, the mental struggle started raging. Michael was thinking, "I can't allow her words to make up my mind for me. I have to leave this to a higher power. Besides, what would my mother think if I allowed myself to give in? Could she, would she, accept me bringing home a red fox humanimal and saying, 'Mom, meet my girlfriend.' No, she wouldn't."

As he thought this, Michael's eyes popped open as he heard a key being inserted into the door lock. He snapped his head toward the door as he heard the key unlocking the door. He started to panic as he saw the door opening. He nearly fainted when he saw an older red fox vixen enter the living room. The vixen was followed by a red fox dog. Michael thought, "This has to be Amanda's parents." Their eyes met and he managed a sheepish smile.

"What the Hell are you doing in my daughter's apartment!?" The vixen yelled.

Her mother's voice brought Amanda to a sitting position. "Oh, God!" Michael thought. "That isn't going to be easy to explain to an angry parent."

Michael managed to say, "Good morning. You must be Amanda's parents. I'm . . ."

"I don't give a damn who you are! Answer my question?"

"Well, I was going to; but . . ."

Amanda managed to focus enough to realize that Michael was talking to her mother. "Mother! What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure my daughter is all right. I see I arrived just in time to prevent a tragedy." Turning back to Michael, she said, "Who are you and what are you doing here!?" He just stared at her, anger starting to seethe. "Answer me!"

Calmly, angrily calmly, Michael said, "Are you going to allow me to answer you this time?"

"Don't get flippant with me, young man."

The dog said, "Ophelia, you've interrupted him every time he started to answer you. He's starting to get angry. I can see that. Now, let him speak." Turning to Michael, he said, "What's your name, son?"

"Michael Thomson. Yes, like the gazelle."

Dad chuckled to himself before saying, "I guess you've been asked that question more than once." Michael nodded.

Mom said, "This is no laughing matter, Jacob. What is he doing here? Has he violated our daughter? What . . ."

Jacob stopped Ophelia with a look. "Go ahead, Michael. Please tell us why you're here."

"Mr. Fuchs, I work with Amanda at SoGa Industries. I've worked there about two months. Last night, a coworker invited me to Bruno's Tavern for a couple of drinks and to get to know some of my coworkers better. I don't drink much; but, I thought it would be a good idea to get to know some of the people I work with.

"When I entered Bruno's, I heard a familiar voice calling me; it was Amanda. Right behind her was a rather short Arctic fox. Amanda wanted me to rescue her from that . . . fox; so, I acted like she was my girlfriend and I joined her and three other girls we work with at their table. I thought it would look strange, me sitting with three ladies; so, I invited the guys to join us. Amanda kept drinking and got drunk. Around 1800, I brought her home, put her to bed and left my phone number for her to call me if she needed me to help her with her hangover. She called me at 2400 and I arrived around 2430. I've been taking care of her since then. I prepared her some breakfast. I warned her to eat slowly; but she ate like a ravenous . . . ravenous . . ."

Jacob looked at Michael and, smiling, said, "Wolf?" Michael smiled sheepishly and nodded his head. "Don't worry." Jacob said. "We know, understand, and, quite often use, the old sayings that you might think we'd find offensive."

"Well, anyway, as a result of eating that way, she got sick and had to rush to her bathroom. After she relieved her stomach of its contents, she didn't have an appetite anymore and wanted to lay on the sofa using my lap as a pillow. She even asked me to scratch her head like her grandmother used to do. She fell asleep as I did that and that's why she had her head in my lap."

During this explanation, Mrs. Fuchs was seething; Michael could see it in her eyes. Her eyes narrowed and her pupils enlarged until he couldn't see her irises at all. He thought he detected a slight feral snarl forming on her lips. He had never seen a humanimal act so much like an animal in the nearly six months since his awakening. He was beginning to fear she would attack him.

Finally, Mrs. Fuchs couldn't stand it any longer. She said "I don't care what he says, Jacob. I want him out of this apartment. I don't want him to ever return here for any reason whatsoever." She turned to Michael and said, "Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry you feel that way; but, I accept your demand."

Amanda spoke up. "Wait . . . one . . . minute, Mother!" Michael had never seen or even imagined that sweet young lady being angry; but, he was about to see it. "You have no right to say who I can and cannot invite to visit me. If I want to invite Michael to visit, I will! If I want him to spend the night in bed with me, I'll invite him to spend the night in bed with me! You can't stop me because, by law, I'm an adult and I have to deal with the consequences of my decisions!"

"On the contrary, sweetheart. Your father and I hold the lease agreement; you are merely the person who's authorized to live here. Therefore; we can decide who's allowed in here and I don't want this . . . this . . . human in here. It's bad enough that you associate with bears, badgers, wolves, cougars, and mixed-races; but, you will not be friends with this human."

Amanda exploded. "You will not tell me who I can be friends with, Mother! If you won't let Michael visit me here; then, either I will visit him in his home or I will move out and find my own apartment! Michael is the nicest, sweetest guy I've ever known and I will not lose his friendship because of your bigotry!"

Michael stepped over to Amanda, took her by her shoulders, turned her toward him, and, in a calm voice, said, "Amanda, calm down. She's your mother and deserves your respect for that reason if no other. Don't worry about her bigotry toward me. Throughout history there have been bigots in every culture and every race. I won't let her attitude bother me."

"But, Michael, she doesn't have the right to say . . ."

"Hold on. I've got news for you. According to the laws governing this country, she has every right to say what she thinks, no matter how hateful it is; however, I don't have to listen to her; therefore, I'll leave. I'll see you at work Monday."

"Oh, no, you won't!" Ophelia said. "Amanda is not going back to work! I won't let her. I'll have Edward Blaidd fire her. I'll have her electricity and telephone turned off and she'll have to move back home where she belongs." She glared at Michael and added, "I'll have your electricity and telephone turned off as well. Then, you'll be forced to live where the government can keep an eye on you to prevent you from harming another humanimal."

Michael said, "Mrs. Fuchs, you can't do that. I do know a bit about the law and, just because you don't like me, you don't have that right."

Amanda said, "Mother! Stop . . . running . . . my . . . life! I am eighteen years old. According to the law, I'm an adult! You can't tell me how to live my life any longer! You might hold the lease to this apartment; but, I will find my own place and, if I want Michael to visit and sleep with me, I'll do it! Do you understand!?" By this time Amanda was nose to nose with her mother. Michael knew somebody had to do something; so, once again, he reached for Amanda's shoulders and started pulling her away. Jacob must have had the same idea because he was pulling Ophelia away from Amanda.

Michael stepped in front of Amanda, again, and said, "Amanda! Calm . . . down!"

In tears, Amanda yelled, "Let me go, Michael! I hate her!"

That struck Michael like a slap in the face. Calmly, sadly, he said, "Amanda, don't say that."

"Why not? I won't let her talk to, and about, you like that!"

"Why not? Because she's your mother, that's why not?"

"So?"

"So? So?" Michael looked at her with a mixture of sternness and sadness. "At least you've got a mother to be angry with."

That stopped the fight dead in its tracks. Mrs. Fuchs said, "What do you mean?"

Michael looked over his shoulder and practically growled, "My mother's dead! She died almost 20,000 years ago; that's what I mean. I'd give almost anything to be able to lose my temper with her; but, I can't." The anger and sadness he was feeling brought tears to his eyes.

Amanda said, "I'm sorry, Michael. I forgot about your situation."

Michael looked from Amanda to Mrs. Fuchs and added, "Now, if you two will calm down, I'll honor your request, Mrs. Fuchs, and leave."

As Michael started toward the door, Jacob said, "I'll accompany you to your car . . . if you don't mind. I think it would be best if these two ladies were left alone for a couple of minutes to think about what has been going on here today."

Michael shrugged his shoulders non-committally as he wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "I don't mind, Mr. Fuchs."

Michael and Jacob walked to the parking lot before Michael remembered. "Damn."

"What's wrong?"

"My car's at home."

"How did you get here?"

"I walked. I live just a few blocks away."

"Why did you walk?"

"When Amanda called me, my car was at Bruno's." Jacob looked at him and Michael added, "Amanda was too drunk to drive last night; so, I drove her home. Since I couldn't drive both cars, and no one else lived this way, I drove hers. I called Bruno after Amanda called me and he's supposed to have delivered my car to my home."

"Bruno's good like that. I've known him since college.

"Here, let me give you a ride home. Where do you live?"

Michael told him and said, "Thank you. What was Bruno's field of study in college?"

"Computer Assisted Drafting."

That shocked Michael and it showed when he asked, "Why does he own a bar?"

"Bar and restaurant, actually. As I understand it, he wasn't too keen on going to college to begin with. He was born in Grrmany to an Amurican father and a Grrman mother, both Doberman Pincers. He lived there until he was about 10, when his parents decided to move back here. He is highly intelligent and outstripped his classmates in learning. Although he spoke fluent Anglefish, he had his accent. Personally, I believe he cultivated it.

"I'm guessing he's a genius because he can learn almost anything. He enjoys meeting people; so, he chose to own a bar. His father loaned him the money to start Bruno's when he was 23 and, in less than a year, he had paid his father back, with interest. He's been in the same location ever since he opened over 20 years ago."

"Wow!"

"Well, here we are. Michael, you impressed me with the way you handled Amanda earlier. I'd like to talk to you more. How about meeting me at Bruno's this evening around 1200?"

"Sure, Mr. Fuchs. I'd like that."

"Good. Till this evening, then."

As Mr. Fuchs drove off, Michael thought, "I wonder what he wants to talk to me about."

*****

After Michael and Jacob left, Amanda turned to her mother and, even though she was still angry with the way Ophelia had spoken to her and Michael, said, "Mother, Michael's right. Even though you've never really shown me any love, you are my mother and I respect you for that but, understand, I'm not going to give up my job. I love Michael; other than dad and Marshall, he's the only guy that's ever treated me with respect."

Ophelia was still seething over Michael's being in Amanda's apartment. "Amanda, he's a human. You know what humans did to us before the changing."

"Yes, Mother. I remember history in school. I also remember how, once the courts emancipated the humanimals, most humans changed their attitude toward us.

"Michael has always treated me with respect and as an equal. He's never once even tried to take advantage of me. On the day we met, I accidentally knocked him down and he wrapped his arms around me as we fell. When we landed on the floor, he asked me if I was all right. He never said a single negative thing about how I should have watched where I was going. He even said it was his fault that we had run into each other. Does that sound like a bad person?"

"I don't care, Amanda. He's human. That's all that matters."

*****

Michael went to his mailbox and retrieved his car keys. Then, he walked up to his apartment, looked at the clock and saw it was 0403. He went to his bedroom, got undressed and got into bed. He was emotionally drained because of the fight that Amanda had had with her mother. While he could live with what Ophelia had said about him, he was hurting for Amanda because of the hateful things her mother had said to her. He could still see Amanda's tears as her mother threatened to have her fired from her job that she loved so much, to have her evicted from her apartment, to have him arrested for just being a good friend to Amanda, and demanding that he no longer so much as even say, "Good Morning" to Amanda. Other than the fact that he considered Amanda a good friend, Michael couldn't understand why her mother's attitude toward her hurt him so much.

Mr. Fuchs amazed him, though. Michael could tell that Jacob wasn't overly happy with his presence in Amanda's apartment; but, he pretty much kept his unhappiness to himself. Michael was amazed at Jacob's offer to give him a ride home and his knowledge of Bruno. He didn't seem anything at all like Mrs. Fuchs. Michael found himself wondering how they ever met and even how they decided they were so much in love that they just had to make it legal and all. Michael lay there thinking these thoughts for several minutes before he could finally fall asleep.

*****

The next thing Michael knew, he heard his phone ringing next to his head. He had forgotten that he had left it in his bedroom. He picked up the receiver and in a semi-somnambulistic state said, "Hello?"

Michael heard Richard's voice saying, "Are you still asleep? Boy, you must have really tied one on last night."

Michael laughed and said, "No, Richard, I didn't tie one on last night. I spent the evening with some coworkers and we didn't leave until almost 1800. I got awoken at 2400 by one of them; she wanted me to help her with her first hangover. What time is it?"

"Waitaminute. Her first hangover? Her as in female her?"

"Is there any other kind of her?" Michael laughed. "Don't get any ideas. She's Mr. Blaidd's secretary and she's very sweet. She's only eighteen and had never tried alcohol until last night. So, needless to say, she got drunker than she expected and woke up with a grade A, U.S. choice hangover."

"Really? What's her name? Is it someone that mom and dad are going to have to approve of?"

"Her name is Amanda Fuchs."

"Amanda Fuchs!? You were with Amanda Fuchs last night."

"Yes, and, no, your mom and dad aren't going to have to approve of her. She's a tiger-striped red fox vixen humanimal. Like I said, she's just a coworker and a friend."

Just then, Dr. Leo's voice came over the phone. "Did Richard say you were with Amanda Fuchs last night?"

"Yes, sir. Why?"

He paused before saying, "Oh, nothing. Have you met her parents yet?"

"Oh! Don't bring her mother up. Jeez! What a shrew! No offense to shrews. She shows up unexpectedly at her daughter's apartment and starts screaming at me and Amanda. She threatened to have me arrested for violating Amanda, even though I didn't do anything to her. She threatened to have me arrested if I so much as looked at Amanda ever again. She threatened to have Amanda fired from her job and evicted from her apartment. She threatened to have my phone and electricity cut off. She threatened to have Amanda's phone and electricity cut off. She made all these threats unless Amanda agreed to move back home where mom can protect her from the likes of the, how did she put it, oh yeah, human."

"Wow! You made a good first impression." Dr. Leo said, laughing.

"I don't think there's a way to make a good impression on her, if you're a human. You know, Dr. Leo, she reminded me of that red fox vixen I met at The Blue Deer. The thing I found most funny is that Mr. Fuchs is practically the polar opposite of his wife. He was understanding, quiet even. He offered to give me a ride home when I realized that my car was still at Bruno's when I left Amanda's apartment. He said he wants to talk to me later this evening." Michael paused for a couple of seconds in thought. Then added, "I wonder why?"

"I may have an idea; but, I believe it would be better if you heard it from Jacob."

"All right. What time is it again?"

"It's 0607. If you get up now, you'll have enough time to eat a light lunch and be at the gym by 0700. Now, get your lazy ass up and put it in gear."

"Yes, sir, Drill Sergeant, sir." Michael replied, laughing.

"And don't you forget it." Michael heard Dr. Leo laughing as he hung up the phone. Michael lay there for a couple of minutes. He looked at the other side of the bed and thought he saw a red fox vixen with strawberry blonde hair, golden yellow eyes, tiger stripes, and tiger's muzzle lying there naked and giving him a shy smile. He shook his head and looked again. The vision was gone. He got up, got dressed and fixed himself a light lunch.

*****

Michael left his apartment at 0630 and headed to Max's Gym. Max is a 6'3" tall, 225 lb. snow leopard who takes pride in how his body looks. Although he's a snow leopard, he was born outside of Catlanna in Hawkville, Gargia; therefore, he has a Gargia accent which always makes Michael smile when he hears it. Like Bruno, Max generally greets everyone that patronizes his gym, when he isn't on one of his weight machines. Today was no different from normal.

"Good aftuhnoon, Mahkul. Doc Leo an' Richahd ah waitin' fer yuh."

"Thanks, Max."

Michael walked over to Dr. Leo and Richard grinning like a mule eating briers. (Okay, so I use old country idioms. Sue me.) Laughing, he said, "Do I sound like that, Dr. Leo?"

"Like what?"

"Max."

Dr. Leo and Richard both laughed and said, "No. You've got a college degree and, obviously, overcame your accent; although, when you get upset or excited about something, a little of it comes out."

"Well, let's get to work."

*****

It was Michael's turn on the bench. With each rep, he could hear Dr. Leo and Richard encouraging him. All of a sudden, Richard got quiet; a couple of seconds later, Dr. Leo also got quiet. Michael could see that Dr. Leo had turned as he did his press. Michael had to admit that he was more than a little curious as to why they had ceased their encouragement; but, he kept up his work. Finally, Michael finished his reps and eased the weights down. He lay there for a few seconds as he caught his breath.

Michael sat up and almost fell off the bench. There standing at the door was Amanda talking to Max. Michael could feel Dr. Leo's and Richard's eyes on him. He felt his heart beating slightly faster as he saw Amanda in a workout leotard. She was shapelier and more toned than he could have even remotely imagined her being. Michael looked at Dr. Leo and Richard and said, "What?"

Richard said, "That's Victoria's oldest and closest friend, Amanda Fuchs. I was wondering if you were talking about her on the telephone. What is she doing here? She has never been one to allow herself to become out of shape."

Dr. Leo said, "Richard, she works with Michael at SoGa Industries." Then, he looked directly and questioningly at Michael.

"Hey, Doc, don't look at me. I merely told her which gym I go to."

Richard said, "Oh! She's coming this way."

Richard seemed overly nervous. Michael assumed Richard had a crush on Amanda. For some reason this thought bothered Michael a little.

Michael heard Amanda's sweet voice say, "Hello Dr. Leo. Hello Richard."

They replied, "Hello Amanda."

Michael heard Richard saying, nervously, "Where's Victoria, Amanda?"

"I haven't seen her, Richard. Why do you ask?" There was a short pause then Michael heard Amanda say, "I'm not here to pester you, Richard. I came to watch Michael work out. I'm thinking about possibly joining."

Michael sat up and said, "Did you and your mother get everything worked out?"

Petulantly, she said, "No. But, she calmed down a bit after you told her about your mother. When Daddy returned, he told her that I wasn't going to move out unless I wanted to. Mother seemed a little upset; but, she didn't say anything."

Amanda and Michael talked for a couple of minutes when a wadded-up towel hit Michael on the side of the head. Without turning his head, Michael said, "Richard, I'm going to beat your ass."

He laughed and protested, weakly, "It wasn't me; it was Dad."

"Yeah, right." Michael looked at him and said, "What!?"

"You're up."

"I'll be right back." Michael said to Amanda.

Michael went to the leg press and settled into the seat. Amanda had followed him to watch. Leo and Richard had set the machine to 250 lbs., relatively light for Michael. As he did his leg press reps, Michael could feel Amanda's eyes on his bare legs. He could feel her watching every contraction and flexion of his thighs. When he moved his feet to allow him to work his calves, he felt her eyes move there.

After he completed his reps, Michael turned to Amanda and said, "Would you like to try?"

A slight look of panic crossed her face. "I--I don't know if I can push that much."

"Well, not now; however, with practice, you should be able to press at least twice your body weight with your legs. So, I'll set it for half your weight, 60 lbs." Michael set the weight. "Now, sit in the seat." She sat. "Put your feet in a comfortable position on the plate." She did. "Now, grab those bars by the seat."

"Why?"

"To give you a bit more leverage." She grabbed the bars. "Now, push that plate up." She did. "Good. Now, ease it back down; but, don't let the weights touch each other." She eased the weights back. "Good. Now, try to do that nine more times." She looked at him with shock.

"Michael, it hurts already."

"Well, try to press it five times."

"Counting that time?"

Michael laughed and said, "Yeah."

When she pushed the weight up the fifth time, Michael told her to stop. "Now move your feet until just the balls of your feet are on the plate." She did as he instructed. "Now, using just your calves, push the plate five times."

Michael could see the pain in her face as she did this. "Okay. Good. Now, put your feet back on the plate and gently--gently ease the plate back down until the weights touch."

When she got the weights back down, she turned her head and, looking at him in shock, said, "And you did that with 250 lbs.?"

"Yep." Michael said, laughing. "And, I pressed the weight twice as many times. Oh, yeah. That was just a warm up for me."

The look on her face was almost comical. "Warm up?" She asked.

"Yeah. Normally, I leg press over 300 lbs."

She rolled her eyes up into her head causing Michael to laugh. He helped her up out of the leg press. "Maybe I should forget about joining. I doubt I'll ever be able to do that."

"Perhaps not 300 lbs.; but, you'll never know unless you try. Besides, in every endeavor, you should start with baby steps. Remember, you've never lifted weights before; so, you should start with as light a weight as possible but, at the same time, heavy enough to cause resistance when you press. When you believe that you are no longer gaining anything from that weight, you add weight. You keep doing this until you reach your goal, whether it's a certain weight or a certain look. Me, I'm going for a certain look."

"I think I'll do it, Michael. You make it sound so simple."

"Believe me, my dear, it's anything but simple." Michael turned and said, "Dr. Leo, how long have you been lifting weights?"

"Over 25 years."

"Richard?"

"Almost 10 years."

"You see, Amanda, it takes time."

She smiled and said, "I understand. If Mother finds out that you're a member of this gym, she'll blow a gasket and threaten to either shut the gym down or force me to quit; but, you know, I really don't care. She's got to understand that I'm an adult now and I have to decide with whom I associate."

"Just don't ever say you hate her. I guarantee, when you said that this morning, it hurt her more than a slap in the face."

"I know. After you and Dad left to take you home, I apologized to her. I told her that I had been angry and I didn't mean it. I said that I meant I hated the way she runs my life and that she should trust me to come to her, if I have a problem."

"Did she understand?"

"I don't know; I doubt it. I do know that, when I said that, she did something that I can't remember her ever doing. She hugged me and apologized for being angry with me; however, she still doesn't want me associating with you."

"Well, I can accept that, if it allows you and your mother to stop being angry with each other."

She laughed and said, "I told her that I was not going to give up my job just because of her prejudices. I also told her that I meant it when I said that I would find my own place, if she tried to force me to move out of my apartment; then, I threw my trump card."

"What was that?"

"I said I would move in with you, if necessary."

Michael stared at her face for a few seconds before he could speak. "You were just saying that to make her give in. Right?"

She gave a non-committal shrug and said, "Wouldn't you like for me to live with you?"

"That's not the point, Amanda. I like you; you're a sweet, pretty, caring, loving girl. But, we're too different."

"You mean I'm a humanimal and you're a human. Right?"

Michael could see the sadness building in her face. He wasn't sure he knew which tack to take; so, he threw caution to the wind and said, "Amanda, that's only a small part of it. Like I've said, it isn't you; it's me and my upbringing. I will admit that I'm flattered that you would even consider the possibility of being my roommate and I'm also strangely drawn to you, both physically and emotionally; but, mentally, I'm fighting a major battle."

"Against prejudice?"

"No. Against my upbringing. Don't forget, Amanda, 20,000 years ago, humanimals were only in the realm of science fiction, Japanese, Carpanese, anime and web comics. Naturally, since you aren't 100% human, my upbringing says a relationship that's stronger than friendship is wrong. Do you understand?"

Sadly, she answered, "Yes. I--I think I do."

The sadness in her voice really tugged at Michael's heart. He reached for her hand; but, she moved it before he could touch it. That hurt him more than anything else she could have said or done, even losing her temper and telling him to never talk to her again because he knew that what he had said had hurt her feelings.

"I need to go home, Michael. Mom is expecting me to have dinner with my family this evening. Thank you for showing me about lifting weights. Maybe I'll be back soon and we can lift weights together. I'll see you later."

"Bye Amanda. Please don't hesitate to come back. I'll be more than a little happy to help you with your weight lifting goals."

She hesitated before she said, "Yeah. We'll see." Then, she left.

Michael watched her leave feeling a tightness in his chest and throat knowing that he had chosen the wrong tack to take with her. Just as he was about to turn around, someone slapped the back of my head with a big hand. He turned and saw Richard standing there with his hands on his hips, glaring at him.

As Michael looked at him, Richard started to slowly shake his head. "Boy, I've seen some half-witted idiots in my life and I'm one of them; but, you take the cake."

"What? What do you mean?"

Still shaking his head, Richard continued, "Man, can't you see how what you said hurt her? All she wanted you to do was say that you would have welcomed her presence in your apartment as your roommate. She had no intention of moving in with you. It would go against her principles. Jeez!"

"I know it hurt her, Richard. It hurt me to say it; but, I want her to understand why I can't reciprocate her affections. You should have seen her this morning. She answered her door in the nude. She insisted that I sit in the bathroom while she soaked in a tub of cool water. She insisted that I brush her back fur while she talked to Michelle Tierboskat, even though she has a special brush to brush her back fur. She insisted that I allow her to sleep on the sofa with her head in my lap. As much as I hate to admit it, I really enjoyed everything she did this morning, even her walking around nude. But, I knew I shouldn't have enjoyed any of it, especially her walking around nude in front of me. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Dr. Leo walked up as Richard and Michael were talking. He said "Michael, you have to let go of that ancient, outdated way of thinking. What you were taught 20,000 years ago doesn't apply any more. Humans are going extinct, unless the therapy that Tigresa and I developed to help you works in the general human population. You have a chance to be with someone who obviously loves you and I can tell you love as well."

"Dr. Leo, I have no response to what you just said, except this. I'm trying to not hurt her. She's a sweet girl, despite what Richard thinks of her. I've started dreaming about her; I've had visions of her in my bed; sometimes, I can even feel her kissing me when she's nowhere near me. I just don't want to hurt her that way."

Richard said, "You shouldn't want to hurt her at all."

"You're right, Richard; but, if I have to hurt her, I would much rather hurt her with the truth. That kind of hurt is much easier to forgive, if I should change my mind; besides, her mother would never accept me. I've got a meeting with her father tonight at Bruno's. For all I know, he's going to tell me to leave her alone."

Dr. Leo said, "I doubt that, Michael. If I know Jacob Fuchs, he's going to ask you what your intentions toward Amanda are. He's from a small town in south-central Gargia and that's the way they do things in small towns. Even though he's a bit of a speciesist, he loves Amanda enough that he wants to see her happy, no matter who it is that makes her happy. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, sir. I do. I'm going to spend as much time as possible reflecting on my feelings where Amanda is concerned.

"Well, I need to get home myself. I need to eat dinner before I meet with Mr. Fuchs. I'll see y'all Monday evening."

"All right, Michael." Dr. Leo said. Then, he added, "Oh! Tigresa would like to have you for dinner tomorrow afternoon."

Michael stopped, turned and, smiling, said, "I hope you don't mean that literally."

Richard started laughing loudly. After a couple of seconds, Dr. Leo joined him.

*****

Michael got to Bruno's at 1200 just as Mr. Fuchs requested. He saw Jacob waving him over to the table. Michael was still a little upset over the fact that he had hurt Amanda's feelings at Max's earlier; so, he was afraid he wouldn't be much of a talker. Michael didn't realize that Mr. Fuchs was going to do most of the talking. However, as Michael approached the table, he saw Mr. Fuchs studying him and felt fairly certain that Amanda had told him what Michael had said to her at the gym while at dinner.

"Michael! I'm glad to see you here. After what Amanda told us at dinner this evening, I wasn't certain you would show up."

"Thank you, Mr. Fuchs, I always try to keep my promises. That's why I make so few."

Jacob laughed and said, "You know, Amanda defied her mother earlier today, don't you?"

"No sir. How?"

"She went to see you at Max's gym."

Jacob studied Michael for a second to gauge his reaction. When Michael didn't outwardly react, he said, "What would you like to drink?"

"I'm not much of an alcohol drinking. I prefer to keep my wits about me; however, I wouldn't mind a glass of wine."

"All right." Jacob left and, a couple of minutes later, returned with a glass of wine which looked and tasted like White Zinfandel and a drink that looked like a martini.

"Michael, I want you to know up front that I'm a bit of a speciesist."

"Really? Funny, you don't act like one."

"Oh, really? How does a speciesist act?"

Michael paused for a minute as he thought. "What DOES a speciesist act like?"

Michael said, "I would think that they act like racists."

Jacob laughed and said, "I've done some studying of your time and I should let you know that speciesists aren't quite like the racists of your time. Speciesists believe in keeping the species blood lines as pure as possible. We couldn't care less where, say, a bobcat lives or associates with. I'm surrounded by speciesists. My neighbor to my right is one; he's a timber wolf. My neighbor across the street is another one; he's an ocelot. We're all good friends and we visit each other all the time. I don't dislike my wolf or ocelot neighbors because of their species. I don't dislike them at all. That's the big difference between us and your racists.

"I remember when Amanda was born. She was a beautiful kit. When I was finally allowed to see her . . ."

"Wait! What? What do you mean, 'When I was finally allowed to see her'?"

"Oh! Fathers aren't allowed in the birthing dens. It's an ancient tradition based, no doubt, on our feral ancestors and the fact that the fathers were never around with the kits were born.

"I asked the doctor what happens in the birthing den and he said, 'After the kit is born, it's given to the mother to nurse in order to form the mother-kit bond. After the kit fills this initial need, and the maternal bonding is complete, about fifteen minutes or so, the nurse will take the kit; wash it, and this can be a problem since the kit usually has no desire to be washed; weigh it; and return it to the mother. Then, the father is allowed into the den to see his new kit.'

"So, as I was saying, when I was finally allowed to see Amanda, I took one look at that sleeping little bundle of fur and immediately thought she was the most beautiful kit in the world; but, as I looked at her, I noticed something strange about her muzzle. It looked . . . too short. I mean, being the youngest kit in my family, I hadn't had a lot of experience with newborn kits; but, it looked funny. It looked like the muzzle of a kitten. You know, too short and wide for a fox. I knew that had to be impossible because Amanda was born exactly eight months after Ophelia and I got married and Ophelia was a virgin when we got married; we had proof. When the doctor returned, I asked him about Amanda's muzzle. He looked at her muzzle an then, did a quick calculation and told me on what day Ophelia had conceived Amanda. It was our wedding night.

"So, I thought that Amanda had a minor birth defect; however, a week later, Amanda started shedding her birth fur. When her permanent fur started growing in, I saw her stripes. Now I panicked. What would our families think? Ophelia's family was coming from Molehio to see Amanda and my family was on its way from Alpaca. I just knew they would think that Ophelia had cheated on me before our wedding night. I was absolutely wrong.

"My family arrived and my grandmother held Amanda. Grandmother stared at Amanda for a long while before she said, 'Jacob, except for her fox markings, your beautiful daughter looks like my great-grandmother.'

"I said, 'What?'

"She said, 'Oh, that's right, we never told you. My maternal great-grandmother was a Javan tigress."

Michael interrupted and said, "I thought the Javan tiger was extinct."

"It was; but, about the time that you were put into suspended animation, viable DNA was discovered in a tiger pelt and, through surrogate tigresses, the species was brought back. Of course, just about the time the species was brought back, they were needed to help create the humanimals."

"Ah, I see."

"Anyway, when I told my grandmother the name that we had chosen for the new kit, she said, 'That was my great-grandmother's name. Good choice.'

"I was still worried about Ophelia's family, though. When they arrived, Ophelia's grandmother wasn't any more surprised than mine had been. She looked at Amanda, then at me, and said, 'You have tiger blood in your family. Don't you?'

"'Yes, ma'am. I found out the other day. How did you know?'

"She said, "Amanda's stripes are tiger stripes. She had to inherit them from you and Ophelia.'

"I said, 'Ophelia? What do you mean?'

"I know I looked my shock. I'm no geneticist; so, when Ophelia's brother, Marshall, our oldest son is named after him, who is a geneticist, said, 'Stripes are a recessive gene in foxes; therefore, for Amanda to have stripes, the gene had to come from both sides of the family. The further back the stripes are, the less likely they are to show up. So, you two are very lucky indeed to have such a beautifully patterned daughter.'

"Ophelia said, 'What are you talking about, Marshall?'

"'I'm talking about the fact that you gave a gene to Amanda's stripes just as Jacob did.'

"'Are you saying we're not pure blood foxes?'

"'Technically we are, Ophelia; we've got pure blood fox DNA for the last 200 years. Right, Grandmother?'

"'Yes. We all carry the gene because of my great-grandmother, Tereza. She was full-blood Siberian tigress.'

"Ophelia was both happy and bitterly upset. She said, 'Grandmother, why didn't you stop me when I would tell everyone that I was full-blood red fox? Now, I can't hold my head up in public anymore.'

"'Sweetheart, I tried to tell you; you wouldn't listen. You chose to be a damned speciesist because all of your close friends were. As for holding your head up, you continue to hold it up. You have a loving husband and a beautiful kit. If anyone wants to call you a hypocrite, let them.'

"'But, Grandmother . . .'

"'Ophelia, you are my granddaughter and I love you no less for the way Amanda looks than I am proud of the way you look. Do you understand?'

"'Yes, ma'am.'

"Unfortunately, Ophelia didn't take her grandmother's wise words to heart. She was the proper mother to Amanda, fulfilling all of her physical needs; but, emotionally, Ophelia was bereft of maternal instincts toward Amanda. She rarely held Amanda when she just wanted to be held. That duty was left to me after ten to twelve hours of work. As Amanda grew, Ophelia gave our other kits the love she denied Amanda. Amanda never showed the bitterness that I knew she felt for her siblings; she turned that to a desire for more education. She asked me to read to her every night. She had her favorite books; but, she was continually finding others she wanted me to read to her. By the time she started school, she was more advanced than all her peers. Because of this, she started being ostracized at school. She never showed it openly but I know that this hurt her as well. There were a few girls that she felt comfortable around. One was a lion-tiger mix named..."

"Victoria Panthera?"

Jacob was shocked. "Yes. How did you know?"

"Victoria is my adoptive sister. She told me about a friend of hers that she met in first grade and maintained ever since. But, Victoria only said her friend was a red fox. I didn't put two and two together until earlier today at Max's Gym."

"Yes, Amanda and Victoria used to harass Victoria's brother, Richard, mercilessly. I think he secretly enjoyed it, but, I'm not certain.

"Anyway, the other girls that Amanda was close friends with was an ocelot named Melissa Hanten-Neko and a raccoon-otter mix named Penny Wydra. Melissa was from a middle-class family. Ophelia always said that Melissa wasn't good enough to be friends with Amanda but she stopped short of outright banning Melissa from our home. She was afraid of what Amanda would do if she did. Ophelia just flat didn't like Penny because of her mixed blood. Penny was banned but that didn't stop Amanda. Amanda and Ophelia got into more arguments over Victoria and Penny than they did anything else."

"Wow, Mr. Fuchs! Your wife sounds like a work of art."

"Yes, she is but I love her and I'd do almost anything for her. I just wish she's stop finding fault with everything Amanda does and stop trying to run her life. This morning, for example, Ophelia flew off the handle if you ask me. She made accusations without giving you or Amanda a change to explain. For the first time in Amanda's eighteen years, Ophelia seemed hell bent to defend Amanda's honor and, because of your sense of honor, there was no reason to defend it.

"Amanda has always been a sweet, loving girl; however, because of her stripes she had to deal with our neighbors looking down on her."

"Why?"

"Because the cackling biddies that lived near us would imply that I wasn't Amanda's father, even when we told them about our ancestry. They thought that I was just making up my ancestry to protect Ophelia's honor. Eventually, the implications started to wear on Ophelia. She started taking it out on Amanda, especially after our next two kits turned out to look like perfect little red foxes. Ophelia would continually tell Amanda that she would never be able to find a good husband because she wasn't a perfect red fox. She even implied that, because of her stripes, Amanda would have to settle for being a prostitute or porn actress and satisfy the sexual deviants who wanted something out of the ordinary. I kept telling Ophelia she shouldn't talk to Amanda like that because, sooner or later, Amanda would get tired of hearing it and then she'd leave and never talk to her again.

"As beautiful as she is, Amanda never dated much when she was in school. At fifteen, she graduated from high school and chose a secretarial school over college. She could have gone to almost any school in any of the national districts but, she wanted to be a secretary. So, I paid for her secretarial training, convinced my friend, Edward Blaidd, to give her a chance and she hasn't let either of us down. Amanda is a premier secretary and Edward chose her to be his personal secretary, over several more experienced secretaries."

"I noticed that on my first day at SoGa. It isn't very often that an eighteen-year-old is chosen to be the personal secretary to the president of a large corporation, even if the secretary's father and the president are old friends."

"She didn't get the position because Edward and I are old friends. She earned it. Amanda's the kind of girl that, if she gets it into her mind to obtain something, she gets it. I don't know if she intended to be Edward's personal secretary but, she got it."

Changing the subject, Jacob said, "Tell me, Michael; has Edward told you about you being sent to computer trade shows to make certain our information systems are as up to date as possible?"

"Yes, sir. He did make mention of that."

"Did he tell you that a secretary will accompany you on these trips?"

Michael thought for a couple of seconds and then said, "Yes, sir."

"Amanda will be that secretary."

"What!? Are you kidding me!? Your wife will never stand for that, especially going with me."

"Well, my wife doesn't own or run the company. I . . . uh, Edward runs the company and makes all of these decisions."

"Your wife seems to think she can tell Mr. Blaidd to fire Amanda . . . and me."

"Oh, right." Jacob laughed a little and said, "I've already informed Edward to expect her call and politely refuse to fire Amanda. He can use any excuse he wishes to use."

Michael listened to Jacob and his mind was working overtime. Things weren't making sense to him. It wasn't any one thing in particular; it was everything in general. "What makes Mr. Fuchs so certain he can tell Mr. Blaidd how to run SoGa Industries, or Mrs. Fuchs for that matter? How does Mr. Fuchs know about the way the company is being run? He seems to know quite a bit about me and my abilities at the company. I doubt that Amanda has told him because she doesn't spend that much time around me. It's all so very confusing to me." Michael had a lot of unspoken questions when he saw something that shocked and surprised him.