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A** ct One: "A Boring Day"**

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For everyone who had a job, it was that frustrating time of year again. Really, it had only been several days since the beginning of the New Year and already things were taking a turn for the worst for everyone involved with a business. Now, with everything covered in heaps of snow as well as sheets of nearly invisible ice, with the outside world being the coldest in history since the very start of winter back in the middle of last year's November, with the roads everywhere looking rather bad, it was only natural that all things - people, activity, even time itself - would slow down.

And slow things were these days. They were very, very, very slow indeed.

Not only were all things slow these but just like the aftermath of every New Year, it was almost as if nothing was alive anymore. For the last few days, apart for people going to or coming from work, there had been little to no bustle of traffic on the terrible roads. In turn, with no one wanting to go out for anything, business leaders were forced to begin making cuts to save what money they could until the arrival of spring. Thus, with hours being cut, workers too were forced to begin planning their own reduced budgets more carefully in the future.

Yet, what was worst of all about this chilly time period was that even if someone was working hours almost every day of the week... there was usually nothing to be done but the same old things over and over again; wash down the work area, organize stock, look over past transactions, sit around as well as try not to look too stupid all day every day without so much as a potential customer coming through the front door even once.

Honestly, the start of the New Year was the same old, same old, same old boring event that brought about little excitement. Well, that was the idea that the twenty-four year old human, August Cousiteau, had come to inherit over the years about the beginning of the New Year, anyway. Seriously, the beginning week of February was predictable in his case. He knew it was the slowest week in existence. And that was why he now felt so patient with today's - February 7th's - wintry, slow, boring work day.

Unlike his fellow waiters for the last three years, having successfully worked at the local County Seat Restaurant in his hometown of Kreenville during all of those said three, August had come to be familiar with how slow the work days became . He was all too familiar with the way his other employees now sat at the empty bar chatting away the hours, doing no business in the slightest but distracting themselves with things on their phones. If they didn't have phone at hand, they then had headphones plugged into their ears, playing all sorts of music.

In August's opinion, it was always something of a funny experience to watch someone come in to work at the County Seat these silent days to take over for whoever was finishing his or her shift. For every time that certain person came in to begin working, with management even bored out of their skulls, they never said a word or did anything but rather took off their coats, took a seat at the bar as well as begin to entertain themselves during what would be... a most uneventful six hour work shift.

Still, where most of his fellow workers passed the time with their electronics or through talk, August had forever had some kind of book at hand to read. True, despite his nature of liking being alone, he was a cyber, electronic junky when he wanted to be. Yet, during days like this where everything was quiet, where there was no pressure to do one's job, where he had a seat at a corner booth all to himself and a free cocoa drink at hand, he just couldn't resist the feeling of wanting to open a novel, of wanting to read, of wanting to feel paper flipping through his hands.

So, with the clock over the bar currently reading three in the afternoon, having four more hours of his seven hour shift to pass without any customers for him to possibly please at the moment, having done all of his cleanly duties a total of four times already like everyone else, August was comfortable sitting in a booth. There, while everyone else messed with their gadgets at the bar, he intently read a book he'd been slowly yet surely working his way through during the course of the last month.

The book he read in question was a fantasy, adventurous, romantic type of work called "Never Losing Hope". It featured a commoner fox girl, "Ruby", whose town of "Portly" was in danger of losing many of its people to disease and famine thanks to the awful weather. Thus, to save her town from suffering so many casualties, following an old riddle of her family's, Ruby had to venture through the wild northern lands f her world, avoid slavers along the way and with seek out the advanced race of humanity who would more than likely have cures for her town's illnesses, supplies to feed her people as well as weapons to drive off the slavers coming after her.

Truly, Never Losing Hope was a grand story. It was a whopping 357 pages long and August was on page 310 where Ruby had just managed to find the humans, told them her journey along with received their promise that they would be more than willing to help her. Thus, seeing as he currently had so much time on his hands with nothing else to do, having come to perhaps what would be the best portion of the tale, the human man sitting by himself in his booth was determined to finish reading Ruby's book.

And maybe he would have indeed finished Never Losing Hope... if a most cute, familiar she-otter waitress hadn't taken a seat in the seat opposite of him next moment.

Truth be told, the attractive otter maiden who had just taken a seat across from August out of nowhere was no stranger to him. She was something of a close friend of his. For the last eight months, having worked to pay for her college classes in accounting, he'd come to formally know her as "Amber Harrington". Every other guy in the waiting business had come to know her as a piece of hot action, however. A piece of action they'd been most eager to try to cozy up to as well as try to make friends with when she'd first started working.

Yet, such behavior from the rest of the guys in the County Seat was more than likely the reason for why Amber had forever taken a liking to August who, being the supposed weird waiter out of the bunch, had never invaded her personal space or tried to show off or attempted to tell her a dirty joke or two like he was some kind of cool jock. No, rather, he'd always been a gentleman when around her.

And despite his being average in most every way - from his short, dirty brown hair to his sapphire blue eyes to his mediocre weight to his slightly above average height as well as decent body build - he'd always been a friendly supporter of hers without needing any kind of reward. In short, he was proud of being himself. In turn, he'd earned Amber's respect along with friendship. Lucky him.

For being a common she-otter like she always tried to say but failed, Amber truly was a piece of hot action, mind. Even August knew this although he, unlike the rest of the male employees, had always kept it to himself. Underneath her work outfit, it was clear that the otter maiden had a perfect hourglass figure of a body with a slim tail that went well with her elegant limbs. With her sleek body fur colored a muddy brown shade, framed by her combed ebony black hair tied into a ponytail with a cherry blossom adorning the crown of her head, her emerald eyes stood out brightly from her adorable features.

Amber was a natural beauty. She was a catch for any guy. Yet, she had a brain too and that was something of a double whammy in August's opinion. Truly, she had his deepest respects for having ahead on those gracious shoulders of hers.

For example, where others would have, not once had Amber fallen for the charms of the more handsome waiters in the restaurant who were known to consider girls like trophies. Not once had she enjoyed being bumped or touched or having her personal space intruded upon by any of the confident guys in the workplace. Instead, despite her usual shy manner, she'd rejected every fella that'd tried to get her attention. She'd instead taken to being near August who, ahem, was something of a target from the rest of his jealous co-workers.

But hey, haters were gonna hate, weren't they? Why of course. That was the way immaturity went and there was plenty of it in the County Seat each day.

Regardless, whether or not anyone liked her doing so, Amber had taken a seat at the booth with August who didn't think twice nor show concern about her being in his company. He, like her, didn't exactly care what the other guys had to say about them being together. For the she-otter and human had become good friends during work for the last eight months. They had become confidants who were able to share their thoughts with one another without fear.

And that, in this crazy world, was a very hard thing to come by. Harder still was it to hold on to.

Moving on, brushing her dark hair out her sparkling eyes, smiling a pretty smile which August humbly returned before trying to focus back to reading, Amber leaned back against her booth seat with a most weary sigh. Her tail playfully flicked out from underneath the tail, nudging her human companion to try to get his attention focused on her.

"August... What is happening?" Amber groaned, sounding very energy drained as she stared up at the ceiling, "Why are we even working when there's nothing to work with? Why is no one coming in? There's nothing to do at all around here! UGH!"

Next, when she didn't get any answer from her friend, feeling quite curious, Amber laid her head upon her arms on the table top before her. Positioned like that, she gradually took interest in what it was that her human fellow was reading quietly to himself. Therefore, wanting to know what exactly had him so hooked if not quiet, the otter waitress got up, moved around the table, then forcefully if not teasingly squeezed into the seat beside humored August.

By the bar, the other waiters saw the whole thing... and wished August would die sometime soon.

"Wow, I didn't know people still read off of paper nowadays. With all of the electronics and internet these days, aren't books becoming like fossils?" Amber giggled, giving her quiet human friend a teasing smile before asking to take the book from him to study, "Here, let me see what's got you so interested other than in little ol' me."

"Sure. Take a look." August replied simply, hesitating in handing over Never Losing Hope to say one more thing in his own teasing tone, "Ah but hold on. Do I detect a hint of jealousy in your voice, Amber? Are you insulted that I'm paying attention to this book rather than to you?"

"What you do is your business, April." Amber answered back, humored to see that her saying "April" rather than "August" still made him roll his eyes in annoyance, "I'm not complaining or anything about you not giving me attention. I get too much attention from the rest of the guys around here already, you know. No, I just want to see what you're reading. It looks cool enough."

"Oh it's cool enough. It's honestly one of the best stories I've read in a while." The young human man explained to the she-otter thoughtfully flicking through the pages of his exciting story, "And if today is going to be as slow as the last few we've had around here, I plan to finish this tale today before I head back home."

"Oh? You want to get done reading this before you leave for work today?" The otter waitress wondered next, giving the human waiter a playful glance, "Could you maybe hold off on that for a while? Like until tomorrow? I have nothing else to do around here except talk with people and I can't talk to anyone but you, August. Are you really going to leave me hanging?"

"You can't talk to anyone else? Seriously?" August said back, feigning annoyance which made his otter maiden friend stick her tongue out at him, "Oh, wait, right, I understand. You can't go to any other guys apart for me because they'll not be interested in words but something else. Something else that will be a bit dirty like always."

"Hah, yeah. They won't be looking at me, hun'. They'll be looking at, well, you know, these confounded things." Amber admitted, glancing down at her chest and finding it quite humbling how August did not fall into her tease like any other guy would have, "Hmph. Soemtimes, it's more of a curse than a blessing to deal with these things every day."

"Moving on." August cut in, doing his best not to blush or anything at the openness of the conversation happening, "So you can't talk to any other fella but me. Roger that. What about girls? Oh, wait, the girls around here won't talk to you either because they're jealous that you're supposedly hogging all of the guys' attention for yourself."

"Yes, because I try so very hard to get all of the inappropriate looks, actions as well as words directed towards me from the opposite sex. I try to get the opportunities to deny every guy that has come my way in this place." Amber grumbled back, giving the book back to her friend who chuckled to himself for he knew her pain after having heard her complain so much about the unwanted attention at work, "And I just love having management tell the guys stalking me to knock it off unless they want to lose their jobs."

Resting her face in her hands, winding a piece of hair in her fingers, the she-otter grumbled to her half listening work pal, "Honestly... there has to be a better way for me to pay for college than to keep going through this crap day after day."

"And there probably is something better out there in the working world for you other than coming back here to the same old shite all day every day." August said, opening his book back up to the page he'd left off in before putting a bookmark there and setting the item aside to kindly converse with his needy she-otter friend, "However, with the way these days are, I believe you're stuck here with me in slow land. Businesses won't be hiring. You'll just have to wait until spring."

"Oh no... Whatever shall I do until spring?" Amber sighed, laying her head onto her arms once more as she added with a snicker, "Well, at least you'll suffer through this season with me, right, August? That's at least encouraging. I mean, me being honest right now, if you weren't here, hah, I would quit. I would have quit a long time ago if hadn't been for you."

"Is that so? Consider me honored." August said modestly, watching the otter maiden look up at him while still lying down on her arms, "Still, while you didn't quite because of me, your supposed bodyguard, a lot of guys around here have gotten annoyed. It's rather funny, actually, seeing that you and me together like this has such a frustrating effect on everyone around here."

"I know, right?" Amber sniggered, closing her eyes to try to cope with the boredom settling over her, "It's funnier that most of the guys in this place didn't known what "NO" meant until you had to have management threaten them with unemployment. Until then, I thought I was fighting my battles on my own."

Next, fluttering her eyelashes, Amber momentarily rested her head on her human friend's shoulder while she said modestly, "How very nice it was to have you stand up for me back then. And not because you wanted from me what the rest of the guys wanted. You just did it because you were a stud as well as a gentleman. You were epic."

"I'm no stud. Maybe a gentleman, I don't know. Either way, for your benefit, I did my best eight months ago. For this workplace, I do my best." The human waiter admitted to the otter waitress, nodding his head at the memory of the day he'd reported the unwanted behavior of the guys against Amber, "I never was a popular guy around here to begin with. I had enemies even before you showed up, Amber. And when you did show up, well, you were something of a key for me getting back at those who didn't even seem to think I existed. Not until I reported them, anyway. Then I was suddenly on their radar all of the time."

"Ha ha! To you, I was something like a crack in their foundations at the time, eh?" The otter lass laughed, cutely snorting a bit during her mirth, "I see now. I'm not your friend. I'm just your means of getting back at guys you don't like."

"You and I know that that's not true. I'm a perfectly decent fella. I just happen to be a hard worker who appreciates having employees doing their own jobs rather than chasing after all of the girls in this place." August explained, becoming serious, "And if I have to say something about the declining work ethics around here than I'll say something. In fact, I already did say something. That's why all of that unwanted attention against you has vanished, Amber. That's why I've been told that I'll be a possible candidate for manager in the future."

"Seriously? You're a possible candidate for being large and in charge around here?"

"Well, it's all hushed-hush at the moment so don't go telling everybody about it - wait, hah, you can't go telling everybody about this because no one talks to you apart for me." The human chuckled, earning a playful punch from his she-otter friend, "Ha ha, anyway, yeah, I was actually approached by Gary last week and he wants to see if I'm available to begin managing sometime soon. Whoopee, look at me. I'm the dirtiest player in this place and I get promoted? Talk about kissing ass, huh?"

"Oh, c'mon. You do not kiss ass." Amber snickered, sweeping her hair back out of her eyes, "You kick it instead. You kick it back into work mode and out of chasing annoyed girls mode. It's a brilliant strategy."

At this news, at hearing that Gary Manwell, the owner of the County Seat Restaurant, had approached August about taking up a management job, Amber's spirits seemed to lift. She was suddenly smiling all of the time without being able to stop herself.

Why was obvious; if August was in charge, her work conditions would undoubtedly improve more than they had already. He, as the mature if not straightforward kind of guy, wouldn't be playing favorites with her, of course, but he would undoubtedly do well as a leader kind of figure. The only issue with him becoming a manager at the moment... was that it would be for meager County Seat here. If he could land a leader like job in this place in little old Kreenville then surely he didn't intend to spend the rest of his life here.

Come this spring, he had the skills to go off and land himself a better paying, more respectful career elsewhere. Where would he possibly go, though? The she-otter had to ask. She couldn't resist.

"So, August... will you take the manager position if it's offered to you soon?" Amber wondered gently, watching her human friend closely.

"No experience is wasted experience." Was August's swift reply, nodding his head thoughtfully, "If I were to become a manager here then that would help my resume for future jobs in the least, right? Right."

"Then if you become a manager here, I might just stick around a little while longer. I'd like to see how you handle things here and how much everyone will hate you by the time you leave." The otter waitress chuckled, grinning deviously, "Still, you've been here for three years, haven't you? Now you might be becoming a manager? Be careful. Heh, you might end up spending the rest of your life here if you don't watch out."

"No. I won't spend the rest of my life here. Don't joke about that. That's not funny." August stated, grimacing at the thought of him being stuck at County Seat forever and ever, "I admit that I've made some memories in this place but not enough to make me want to stay here forever. Especially with the way most of the other employees here keep giving me hostile looks."

"Then if you won't be here forever, where is it you want to end up, August?"

There was a moment's hesitation of silence between the otter waitress as well as the human waiter at their seats at the booth. With such a deep topic evolving between them, one friend looked at the other with many thoughts going through their minds.

Then, August finally admitted while holding up Never Losing Hope, "I wouldn't mind becoming a writer someday. With everything I've seen up to this day, I'm sure I could write about some things that would get me some fans. For instance, I could write about how you and I first met as well as became friends after I reported your stalkers to management."

"Hah! That'd be awesome. Seriously, I'd pay to read that story if you wrote it." Amber snickered, very much enjoying the thought of her friendship with August being written into a story, "But what I mean, August, is what do you want to do in between writing? You have to have some income during your story making, right?"

"Right." August said, becoming thoughtful again before admitting, "I could see about taking my uncle's advice and join the air force. I'd not only get plenty of good experience from that but my college for foreign languages would be paid for at the same time."

"That's a terrible idea." Amber pouted, shaking her head quickly, "If you go off to the air force then we won't get to see each other anymore. They'll keep you all to themselves."

"I'd skype to you." The human said at once, looking a bit humored to hear that the she-otter was so reluctant about having him leave her, "I'd write to all of my friends. It's not like I'd die over there."

"It's still a horrible idea."

"Why?"

"Well, duh, I need you close by to tell my troubles to." Amber declared smugly, crossing her arms and raising her nose to the ceiling like she was spoiled... which she kind of was, come to think of it.

"That's... rather selfish on your part, Amber." August replied, joking along with cheerful.

"Heh, you're not the first to tell me that. I'm a selfish person. I'm apparently selfish each time I reject a guy when he's trying to get my attention around here."

"So, instead of rejecting me like the rest of the guys around here, you're instead selfish by coming over here and telling me how to live?" August laughed, quite humored at the turn the conversation had taken, "Oh joy. I'm set for life. But wait, maybe I'd prefer the being rejected like the rest of the guys rather than having you try to tell me what to do. Yeah, that sounds better. I'd like to decide things for myself, thanks. No offense."

"Okay, okay, I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your life, August. It's just that... um, er, you've been there for me ever since I started working here. I don't know how my life wasn't absolutely boring without you around to help brighten it up." Amber honestly said out of the blue, sounding a bit embarrassed as she took to shyly examining her hands, "Seriously, August, call me weird but I seriously believe that you're one of my best friends. Not only in the workplace but outside of it. Where today would be so slow, you talking with me has helped speed things up. Look, a whole forty-five minutes have gone by since we began chatting."

"I'm a best friend to you outside of the workplace?" August wondered honestly, feeling a bit perplexed, "Huh. I never imagined me skyping with you every other night made things so cheery for you. I mean, I knew that you enjoyed our talks but... I'm no freakin' ray of sunshine. Anyhow, if that's the case then why haven't we ever gotten together for some fun?"

"Welllllllll..." Amber admitted, brushing her hair out of her eyes playfully while looking at everything but at her curious friend, "You never asked."

"Ah, I see. I never asked." August replied, smiling a knowing smile, "I never realized it was_me_ who had to ask. Not until now anyway. I apologize."

"That's right. You should apologize." The she-otter said, pretending to be insulted when she was actually becoming thrilled over the subject, "You should feel sorry. It's common worldwide knowledge that it's always the guy that asks the girl out. Not the other way around. Sheesh."

After their happy little exchange of hinting at maybe doing something together outside of work, there was a long pause of quiet stillness throughout the County Seat. Expectedly, Amber watched August who didn't seem to be paying her any attention but was back to reading.

Finally, feeling a bit tense that she had to say something about them possibly getting together outside of the work place, the otter waitress innocently began, "Soooooooooo..."

"Soooooooooo..." The human waiter innocently replied, doing his best not to grin or begin laughing at the obviously teasing tone in his friend's voice, "What?"

"So what?!" Amber exclaimed at once, shoving her chortling friend against the booth seat as he began to laugh at her reaction to his words, "Duh! Did we not just hint at doing something outside of the workplace? Or did I just lose my mind for a moment here?"

"Okay, okay, okay, relax. Stop hitting and let me catch up here. Yes, we were discussing about how we haven't met outside of the workplace. We were also talking about all I had to do was... ask if you wanted to get together outside of work, right?"

"Yep."

"And you're serious about that?" August said, abruptly looking a bit shocked, "You would want to get together with me on a day when we're not working?"

"Hah, my next day off is four days away. I can't wait that long." Amber replied sweetly, very serious about the subject at hand, "How about you and I go off on adventure tonight after our shifts? How about that?"

"Uh, well, I..." The human waiter muttered to the beaming otter waitress, suddenly seeming to lose his nerve over the topic, "You want to do something together tonight? Isn't that a bit rushed?"

"Is it?" Amber innocently replied, looking confused, "I'll be free by seven tonight. And I don't have a curfew or anything, silly. I have my own apartment. I'm my own boss. Wait, do YOU still live with your folks, April? Do YOU have a curfew?"

"Hardy-har-har-har. Are you sure you want to be an accountant and not one of the worst comedians in the future?" Was August's growl of a response, looking at his giggling companion with an annoyed glint in his eyes, "I also happen to have my own apartment, smart mouth. I just don't want us to be rushing anything when we could plan and-"

"Oh come on, come on! What have we possibly got to lose?" The she-otter exclaimed, tugging on her human fellow's cheeks who grunted in pain, "Kreenville is a place of many different attractions. Attractions that mostly don't close until midnight. You and I can go out there without a plan and have fun along the way. Trust me. I've done it many times before."

For the umpteenth time since they'd begun chatting so easily with one another in their booth, there was a silence shared between the otter waitress as well as the human waiter. This was a different kind of silence, mind, where Amber seemed to spot a glimmer of uncertainty in August's eyes. In turn, she put her hand on his shoulder and said what he needed to hear.

"We'll go out tonight as friends, August. That's all. It won't be a date. I'm not talking about us being boyfriend and girlfriend. We'll just have fun outside of work. We'll have a peek into the lives of each other. It'll be a blast and you know it. You can't deny it. C'mon."

The reason for August's hesitation in agreeing to Amber's plans for tonight was plain to the she-otter. Having skyped him for several months now, she was aware that he wasn't someone who got out very often. Like he did at work, he mostly kept to himself when not working. He was a reclusive, quiet yet mature soul who was somewhat hard to get to come out of his shell.

Still, when he did come out of his shell, he was a blast to have around. He became a fantastic rollercoaster ride. All that he needed to become such was to be given a little... nudge by a best friend of his.

On a side note, August wasn't good about relationships higher than friendship. It wasn't that he didn't like the idea of becoming Amber's boyfriend. It was just that he didn't want to risk the good thing that they had at the moment; friendship. And she, ignoring the sudden hurt she felt at being friend zoned by him, understood that. For failed love had a way of... ruining even the best of friendships.

Nevertheless, when Amber gave him her biggest eyes, when she put on her puppy dog pout, that was all the budging that August needed to give in. Soon enough, writing things down on his pad of paper meant for order taking, the human boy was exchanging addresses with the she-otter as they went over the plans for the coming night that would hopefully change the pace of their otherwise dull lives.

"Okay, so, you get out an hour before me, August. That'll work. We'll make it work." Amber explained happily, organizing the plan while grinning with excitement, "When it gets around to eight at night, I want you to come over to my place and pick me up. We'll begin our friend date - er, adventure - at my apartment. Agreed?"

"Agreed." August concurred at once, exchanging a bright smile with his otter friend before noticing the hostile looks he was receiving from his eavesdropping fellow employees at the bar, "Heh, I don't know if the rest of the guys watching us agree as much though. How much you wanna bet that they hope that I crash tonight while coming to pick you up, Amber?"

"Well, whether they're glaring at you or not right now, you better not crash while coming to pick me up." The otter maiden stated, feigning a look of seriousness, "If you do end up killing yourself before our adventure, I won't forgive you. Understood?"

"Ha ha, understood." The human waiter said back, unable to keep from laughing at his friend's half caring-half serious words, "I just, ahem, hope... I won't suffer some kind of stalker hate hex tonight from all of these haters hating on me. I mean look at those guys. I'm surprised my head hasn't lit on fire yet. Sheesh, lay off fellas."