Moving Forward - Chapter 19

Eve's paws padded against the concrete as she walked across campus. The leaves on the trees had turned shades of red and orange and started to fall. Campus crews always did a good job making it look nice, but there was nothing better than the vibrant colors of fall.

The quad was surprisingly quiet. Eve thought for sure they'd be fighting for a table. She opened the glass doors and looked around. Lumina and Kris were seated across the dining room, seemingly a mile away.

As she navigated the sea of misplaced chairs and tables, she passed by someone working hard. He was older than most "standard" college students, and had a certain level of professionalism about him that made her wonder who he was. His white button up was neatly tucked into the plain black slacks he wore beneath him. A simple black tie was tightly knotted around his neck and square glasses framed his thin face.

"Hey, watch it!" his smooth voice rang out as he swatted away Eve's tail hanging precariously close to his work.

Eve looked back, a blush coming over her, "Oh, I'm so sorry." She turned around, looking around to ensure she hadn't knocked anything over.

"Do you know how much bacteria you've got in that thing? And you just swiped it over all of my work." His big ears twitched with irritation, falling back on his head as he brushed away some fur.

"Did you just refer to my tail as a thing?" She sneered, pulling it up into her arms, as if it were a small child needing protection. "And for your information, I know how to practice good hygiene. I work in the food industry and happen to be very aware of safety precautions regarding my tail so buzz off."

"If you know how to keep your tail clean, then why are you letting it flair around, touching god knows what. I doubt you even know where it's been."

She took a few steps closer, leaning in with a sultry voice, "Trust me, I know exactly where my tail is. Always."

"Then wh-" he started, but Eve had already walked away. Eventually, the serval figured out precisely what she had meant.

"What was that?" Loomy asked, a sly grin on her face as the blue cat walked up.

"Oh nothing." She shrugged it off, unsure of how she felt after the encounter.

Kris blushed, uncomfortable with their outward flirtation. You'd think that she'd be used to the shenanigans of the two by now, but that was not the case. "Let's get some food." She stated, changing the subject.

Lumina rolled her eyes as Eve took her spot next to them, glancing over the menu.

"What can I get you to drink, ma'am?" The waiter walked up, notepad in hand.

"Just a-"

"She'll have a glass of champagne." Lumina interjected, "Actually, we all will."

"Loomy!! It's the middle of the day!!" Kris' voice had gone high and shrill.

"Whatttt? We're celebrating!"

"And what exactly are we celebrating?"

"May I see some ID?"

Each girl passed over their ID's one by one, staring at each other in anticipation. "You'll see." Lumina finally spoke, causing frustrated groans from the other girls.

They were quiet, unable to spark up conversation as each of their heads whirled.

Eve began guessing internally, trying to spoil the surprise before she'd been given it. She's pregnant. Eve thought, No, she wouldn't be getting champagne.

Kris's mind swirled with thoughts of Gwen. They'd been talking on and off over the last month, but still hadn't gone on that date. Midterms had really thrown a wrench into Kris's timeline for it all.

Lumina bounced with anticipation, it becoming increasingly hard to keep her mouth shut. You managed to keep it from Eve all last night. You can make it another few minutes. She thought, giving herself an internal peptalk.

The silence was broken with a gasp from Eve, just as the waiter walked up. "You got a promotion didn't you???"

"Eve, you bitch." Lumina laughed, slugging her on the arm, "Yes, I got assigned to channel 7 news as their data analyst."

"CONGRATULATIONS!" Kris and Eve said together, each taking their own glass of bubbly.

"Thank you." She was beaming, proud of how far she'd come over the last few months. The trials they'd been through. "I didn't just ask you guys here for me, though. Eve, you went to your first therapy session yesterday, and Kris got herself a crush. I just thought that it all called for a toast."

"I concur." Eve smiled, filling with pride of her own.

"Me too." The last of the three of them held up her glass.

"To moving forward."

"To moving forward" All three of them spoke and unison, their glasses meeting with a small clink.