[Vfw-times] Cassie's Band story-Tea for Two part 2 of 2

[Rufinoform at aol.com]

part 2 of 2

"Thank you, Victor," Cindy replied, "I admit I don't know a lot about 
classical or folk
music, but I sure wouldn't mind learning more!"  Victor smiled, "Well, I can 
tell you more,
if you have the time to spare."  Cindy made no objection, and the two quickly 
settled
down into a friendly conversation.  Their companions just looked on with 
smiles on
their faces.  "I could be wrong," Laretta whispered to Bob, "but I think 
Cindy's really
taking a liking to this guy!"  Bob chuckled and said to Bill, "Maybe we 
should just let
them alone for a while.  They seem to really enjoy each other's company."

Laretta grinned and nodded, taking one last look at the two companions 
engrossed
in conversation.  Finding herself with little else to do, she strolled around 
the
bar, occasionally grabbing a glimpse of young people dancing about on the 
dance floor,
and gave herself a slightly disappointed sigh.  "At least Cindy found someone 
she really
seems to like," she thought to herself, "If only I were so lucky."

She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, trying to find something to 
distract
her thoughts, when suddenly Bob came running back to her.  "Hey, Laretta," he 
said
excitedly, "I almost totally forgot.  There's someone else with us tonight 
who really
wanted to meet you!  We owed him a favor, so I was just wondering..."  
Laretta smiled
and replied, "Why of course, I'd love to meet this friend of yours!"  She 
grew hopeful
again, thinking that her luck was about to change.

"That's great, Laretta!"  Bob replied, "This guy, I have to say must be your 
biggest fan!
I know he'll be very excited to see you.  I should warn you, though, that 
he's really not
like a lot of other people you'd know!"  He carefully lifted a specially 
designed duffel
bag onto a table, "For one thing, it's not easy for him to just meet people!"

"I see," Laretta nodded, "Is he just really shy?"  The coyote grinned, "Er, 
not exactly."
He unzipped the front of the mesh bag, and peeked inside.  "Come on out, Ben! 
 She's right
out here, I kid you not!"

Laretta was at first incredulous about what she saw.  At first, she thought 
he was
playing some sort of prank on her.  Then, however, she saw the form of a small
light-furred mouse, about two inches tall, stroll out of the bag and onto the 
table.
The bipedal rodent was even wearing clothes, a loose light-colored shirt and 
tan shorts
with cargo pockets.  He had a large smile on his cheerful face, and his 
whiskers twitched
with excitement.  "Laretta, meet Ben Moss," Bob smiled.  "He may be a mouse, 
but he's a
really smart, helpful, and friendly type of guy.  A real swell fellow, if I 
do say so myself!"

Laretta still had to get over the shock of her initial surprise.  Throughout 
the history
of anthropomorphic genetic evolution, the natural process favored 
anthromorphs taking on
the general size and shape of human beings, to ease their adaptation into 
society.  There
were certain cases of smaller animal types such as squirrels, birds, and mice 
remaining
their natural miniature size, and many of these "mini-morphs" lived together 
in
protected "colonies" in sparsely populated areas of North America, Australia, 
and
Asia.  Nonetheless, small anthromorphs were rare compared to their larger 
counterparts
and typically did not venture into heavily populated places, so Laretta was 
doubly
surprised to find one here.

"Thanks for the intro, Bob!"  the mouse spoke up in a faint voice.  "No 
problem, Ben!"
the coyote grinned.  "Well, Laretta, I hope you two have a nice time 
together!"
Laretta nodded, though with slight uncertainty, "Okay, and thanks again for 
introducing us!"

With that, she turned her attention to the mouse.  He certainly seemed nice 
and
pleasant enough, but Laretta was still at a loss of how to approach him 
without
seeming threatening.  She lowered her head close to the table (this made 
hearing him
easier, as well) and started to speak gently, "So, Ben, how did a mouse like 
you end up in
a place like this?"  Ben chuckled warmly and replied, "I can tell that you 
wouldn't expect
a guy my size to be around here, but I really can explain!  I work as a 
freelance
electronics engineer.  I'm a 'troubleshooter', if you will, for anyone who 
needs the aid of
my expertise.  You see, I can get into a lot of little nooks and crannies 
that a lot of
larger people can't reach.  That puts me in very high demand!  I was fixing a 
circuit
blowout for the radio station those guys work at, and when they mentioned 
Cassie's band
was going to be in town, I just had to know how I could meet you!"  He 
grinned nervously,
"I guess it was just luck that we both happened to be here tonight!"

Laretta smiled and rested her chin on her hand.  "That's very interesting, 
Ben," she
replied, "and you're a big fan of Cassie and the band?"  The mouse smiled, 
walking closer
to Laretta's nose, "Absolutely!  I must honestly say, though, that you are 
without a doubt
my favorite in the whole group!  You're just the most beautiful wolfette I've 
ever seen, and
I love how you sing!"  Laretta smiled and gently rubbed Ben between his ears. 
 He giggled
and nuzzled her finger, while she grinned, revealing her sharp fangs.  She 
couldn't
imagine what that must have looked like to Ben, but he didn't show any fear.  
The mouse had
a very kind and sincere demeanor, and Laretta appreciated that.

They continued to chat for a while about various subjects, though Laretta 
held Ben in her
hand so they could talk to each other more easily.  Laretta talked happily 
about all
her experiences in Cassie's band and all the fun she had with her new 
friends, while
Ben talked a little about his own background.  Laretta was amazed to hear 
that he served in
a special division of the armed forces, sneaking into enemy bases and 
gathering
intelligence.  "When I was discharged, I was so attached to getting along and 
working
with 'the big people' that I wanted to find a line of work that let me work 
with them a
lot.  My friends and family thought I was pretty strange to do this, but it's 
what I
really wanted to do, so here I am!"  Laretta grinned, "You know, it sounds 
like we have a
lot in common, Ben!"

They took a small break from their conversation, watching everyone have fun 
on the
dance floor.  From a quick glance, Laretta could tell that Cindy was still 
engrossed in
her conversation with Victor, so she knew she was in no hurry to leave.  "It 
sure would
be nice to be able to dance with you," said Ben, "but I guess I can't ask for
everything."  Laretta looked out to the dance floor, it didn't seem quite as 
crowded
as before.  She smiled down to Ben, "I don't see why we can't!"  Ben looked 
surprised
as Laretta lifted him up in her hand, "What are you talking about?"  She 
lifted him up to
her shoulder, "Hang on to my collar.  Let's at least pretend that we're 
dancing
together!"  The mouse nervously held on to Laretta's collar, unsure if this 
was the
safest thing to do.  Still, he was happy to be close to the lovely she-wolf.  
"All right,
I trust you," he smiled, "Let's go!"

She walked down to the dance floor and found a spot safely away from the other
dancers.  "Holler and tug on my fur if start moving too much!" she said to 
Ben, who smiled
and nodded.  Nobody would have thought it possible, but they were going to 
dance the
night away!  Laretta moved about rhythmically, swaying back and forth, side 
to side,
and wagging her tail in time with the music.  Ben held on tightly to her 
black leather
collar and laughed as they moved together to the music.  They were both 
enjoying their
time together immensely.

Meanwhile, Cindy was enjoying her conversation with Victor equally immensely.
"That's amazing, Victor!" she remarked, "I didn't know you went into rehab, 
too!"  The
white tiger smiled, "I've been sober for almost a year now."  He frowned 
slightly,
remembering his life as a struggling musician when frustration drove him to 
drinking and
drug abuse.  Cindy sympathetically held his hand,  "When did you realize you 
needed to
quit?"  He frowned slightly,  "One night, when I nearly overdosed on booze 
and poppers.  I
was so wasted, I couldn't find my way home, got caught in the rain, and 
nearly died
of pneumonia!  My brother found me and got me to the hospital, though.  When 
I woke up
and found myself with about a dozen tubes plugged into my body, I knew I 
couldn't go on
like that."  He smiled and looked into Cindy's green eyes, "I checked myself 
into rehab,
and it totally changed my life.  I found new inspiration, and I started 
playing better
music than I ever thought I could!"  He played a short, beautiful melody on 
his mandolin
for Cindy.  "That's really nice," she smiled, "What do you call it?"  He 
chuckled,
"My mandolin."  They both laughed as Cindy gave him a hug.  For just a 
moment, their
tails curled together in an embrace.

"Say, isn't that your friend on the dance floor?"  Victor asked, his 
attention drawn away
for a moment.  Cindy glanced in Laretta's direction, noticing how Laretta was 
happily
dancing, by herself it seemed.  "I believe you're right," she said.  "It's 
nice to see
she's having a good time, even if she's by herself," she sighed, leaning next 
to
her companion.  "What about you, then?"  Victor asked, running his hand 
through her
hair.  Cindy grinned, rubbing her leg against his, "I think you know the 
answer to that."

Laretta continued to dance enthusiastically, feeling the energy flowing 
through her body.
She never really liked to dance, but there was something about Ben's cheerful 
and
kindly personality that persuaded her to act differently.  "This is a lot of 
fun!  What do
you think, Ben?"  Laretta asked, taking a moment to catch her breath.  She 
didn't hear
any response.  "Ben?"  she asked, very worried.  She started to panic when 
she realized
he wasn't on her shoulder.  OH NO, WHERE IS HE!?!  she thought in a frenzied 
panic as she
came solidly to a halt, fearful that he might be on the floor.  She carefully 
lowered
herself down to her hands and knees, and started looking for him.

"Ben?!  Ben, where are you!?!"  she called out in terror.  The other dancers 
moved out of
her way, as bewildered as they were.  Laretta got some very strange glances, 
but she was
now completely oblivious to everything besides finding her small companion 
safely.  She
was almost ready to give up hope when she heard a faint voice from behind her 
head,
"Laretta!  I'm back here!"  She immediately froze in her tracks.  "Ben?"  she 
asked
calmly.  She felt a tickling sensation from the back of her neck as a small 
form crawled
over to her left shoulder.  "I'm over here, Laretta!  Don't worry, I'm okay!" 
 Ben called
out from her shoulder, waving to her.

Laretta breathed a sigh of relief as she carefully retrieved Ben from her 
shoulder.  "Ben,
I'm so sorry!"  she said to the mouse, holding him carefully in her hands, "I 
should have
been more careful!"  The mouse grinned, "It's all right, Laretta!  I must 
have lost my
footing and nearly fell off your shoulder, but I grabbed on to your collar 
just in time!
I tried yelling, but you must not have heard me.  It's not your fault, 
though.  That was a
lot of fun!"

Laretta rose to her feet, carefully holding Ben in her hands.  "I think 
that's enough
dancing for tonight, anyway," she smiled.  "I must say, Ben, you really are a 
nice,
charming fellow!  You really gave me a night to remember!"  Ben blushed 
slightly,
"Laretta, you really feel that way?  I mean, you're such a big, beautiful 
she-wolf, and
you don't care that I'm a little mouse?"

She leaned her muzzle forward and gave him a gentle lick.  "I don't care how 
big or small
you are!"  she giggled, "You're a real sweetie, and that's all that matters 
to me!"
Ben laughed and gave her a hug on her nose.  "Thank you so much, Laretta!"  he
happily replied, "I know now that the biggest thing about you is your heart!"

They decided that they had enough excitement for one evening, so they went 
back to where
Bob was waiting, so he could get Ben back home safely.  "Sorry to have kept 
you waiting
so long, Bob," said Laretta.  "No problem!"  Bob replied, "So did you two 
have a nice
time together?"  Laretta smiled and shook her head, "Oh, absolutely!  We had 
a lot of
fun together!"  Ben chuckled, "Except for the part where I nearly fell to my 
death!"  Bob
was bewildered for a moment, but he shrugged it off.  "Ben's always been a 
bit of a
thrill seeker, I know that!"  he chuckled, as Ben and Laretta also laughed.

"So where are you staying, Ben?"  Laretta asked.  "Well, right now I'm 
roomin' with Bob,"
Ben grinned.  "If you can call it that," Bob replied, "his home's a literal 
hole in the
wall!"  Ben just smiled and replied, "It suits me fine, for now, but what I'd 
really like
is to live somewhere on the beach!  A big, cool cave would be really nice."  
Laretta
smiled and patted Ben, "Well, as long as you have someplace to go.  I really 
did have
a wonderful time tonight!  Thank you."  The mouse churred and hugged her 
finger.
Without saying a word, she knew he felt the exact same way.

With a regretful sigh, she bid farewell to her two companions and went to 
find Cindy.
It seemed she had also reluctantly parted from her conversation with Victor.  
"You ready
to go?"  the snow leopardess asked.  Laretta nodded, "Yeah, it's been a long 
day.  I'm
ready for my beauty sleep!"

Cindy just chuckled and led Laretta outside.  When they got back to Cindy's
motorcycle, Laretta eagerly hopped into the side cab.  After her wonderful 
evening with
Ben, she had forgotten all about how scared she was the first time.  
Strapping on her
helmet, Cindy asked, "You ready?"  Laretta grinned, "You bet!"  Shrugging, 
Cindy kick
started the engine and revved the Harley into street.  This time, Laretta 
enjoyed the feel
of the cool wind on her face.  She could tell how much Cindy loved riding her 
machine.

After a short while, they reached the front of the luxury hotel where Laretta 
had gotten
a penthouse suite.  Laretta climbed out of the cab, still a little shaky from 
the ride,
but this time much more at ease.  "That was some night, wasn't it Laretta?"  
Cindy
remarked, brushing her long silver hair back.  "It sure was!"  Laretta happily
replied, "Thanks so much for taking me to that place, Cindy!"

Cindy smiled, "Don't mention  it, Laretta.  We ought to do it more often!"  
Laretta felt
like talking with Cindy for a bit before turning in for the night.  "So how 
was that guy
you met tonight, Cindy?"  she asked with a grin.  "Victor?  Oh, he's a real 
nice guy,"
Cindy replied, "He's a great listener and he respects my intelligence.  He's 
also got a
real neat sense of humor."  Laretta pressed on, "Do you think you'll hear 
from him
again?"  Cindy shrugged, "I dunno.  I left him my phone number, so it's up to 
him if he
wants to talk to me again."

"So what about you?"  Cindy asked her friend, "Did you meet anyone special?"  
Laretta
replied with a big smile, "Oh yeah!  His name was Ben, a real sweet, charming 
guy!  We had
the greatest time together!"  "Really?"  Cindy asked, somewhat skeptically, 
"I saw you
having fun on the dance floor, but not with any guy!  Where was he?"  Laretta 
thought for
a moment before replying, "Well, he's kind of shy and doesn't really stand 
out in a
crowd, plus he's not really a dancer, but he really is a nice guy!"  Cindy 
nodded, "Oh well,
I guess that's all that matters."  Laretta smiled and nodded.

"Do you want to come up to my place for some coffee?"  Laretta asked.  Cindy 
shook her
head, "No thanks, I'm ready to call it a night!  You take it easy now, 
Laretta!"
Laretta waved as Cindy started up her motorcycle, "Thanks, Cindy.  You take 
care too!"
She watched as Cindy sped off into the night, her tail flailing behind her 
like a streamer.

Laretta made her way up to the top floor, where her suite was located.  
Normally she
wouldn't have minded sharing a suite with Cassie or the rest of the band, but 
this time
they all agreed that they could do with their own personal space.  After 
unlocking the
door and entering, she kicked off her pumps and pulled off her frilly ankle 
socks, and
rubbed her aching feet in the soft plush carpet.  She was still happy, but 
totally
exhausted and ready to finally rest.

Before turning in, she turned on her cell phone and checked her voice mail 
for any
important messages.

*BEEP* -- "Hi Laretta, it's Cassie!  You were excellent on stage, as always!  
I've got
some important news.  We're going to have to bump up our rehearsal schedule a 
little bit.
The Zetag executives need to come into town a few days early to discuss the 
details about
our next album with Foxonian and me, plus they want to hear us all play 
together.  Then,
we need to get together for mapping out our next tour.  Don't worry, though, 
we'll have
time off in between!  Drop me a line when you can, 'kay?  Bye!"

*BEEP* -- "Hello, Laretta, this is Ken Steele from Azure Horizons Real 
Estate.  I'm
calling with good news about that property by Lake Tahoe that you were 
interested in.
The seller likes your bidding offer, and would like to close on it soon.  Can 
you get in
touch with me as soon as possible to schedule a time for us to negotiate the 
contract?
I'll be away from the office until Tuesday, but any time after that should 
work great for
me.  Thank you!"

Laretta was thrilled to hear this last piece of news.  After visiting Lake 
Tahoe a few
months before, she immediately fell in love with the place and had her heart 
set on
purchasing a vacation home there where she could stay during the band's off 
time.
She immediately scribbled down a note to herself to call the real estate 
office right
away.  She picked up her shoes and socks and let out a contented sigh.  After 
thinking
for just a moment, she felt that she was in just the right mood to take a 
nice, relaxing
bath before going to bed.

She made her way to the suite's bathroom, where she found a soft bathrobe and 
a matching
set of plush towels, plentiful enough to dry out her fur.  What she liked 
most of all
about her suite was the bathroom's giant hot tub.  She adjusted the faucets 
so that
water poured into the tub at just the right temperature.  As the water filled 
the tub,
she started to undress.  First, she unfastened her wrist cuffs and removed her
fingerless gloves.  Setting those aside, she arched her back inward and 
reached towards
her back to unzip her bustier.  With a bit of effort, she removed her bustier 
and gave a
sigh of relief.  She hung the bustier on a rack in the corner, then 
unfastened the
hook holding up her leather miniskirt just above the base of her tail, slid 
the skirt off,
and placed it next to the bustier.  Finally, she unfastened her collar and 
hung it on the
rack last.  Out of habit, it was always the last article of clothing she 
removed, perhaps
a habit she picked up from Cassie, she thought with a grin.

Seeing that the tub was nearly full, she padded over to the tub and turned 
off the
faucets.  The last thing that remained for her to do was to select a bottle 
of natural
fur conditioner, specially blended with herbs and oils for energizing, 
relaxing, or
balancing effects.  "I definitely won't be needing any help going to sleep 
tonight,"
she thought, setting aside the red tranquilizing conditioner.  She also set 
aside the
green energizing and the yellow rejuvenation liquids, since those would more 
likely keep
her awake.  She pondered between the blue energy balancing and purple body
soothing conditioners, settling on the purple to help her muscles relax.  She 
poured a
cupful into the tub, waiting just a moment for the liquids to mix and froth 
together.
When she was ready, she stepped up to the tub and carefully dipped her toes 
into the
water.  She twitched for a moment, adjusting to the temperature, but then 
gradually
lowered her foot into the comfortable water.  She planted her other foot into 
the tub,
then slowly lowered her body in, gradually immersing her legs, tail, torso, 
breasts, and
arms, until she was finally in the water up to her neck.

She smiled and let out a deep, contented sigh as the warm water and frothy 
bath oil
swirled around her and soaked into her fur.  She tilted her head back into a 
nook of the
tub, a separate compartment for washing head hair.  She turned on a spigot 
and deposited
some shampoo into her orange, green, and pink colored hair, and proceeded to 
lather and
wash the dye out.  Gradually, the colors rinsed out of her hair, which 
returned to its
natural black color very quickly.  She smiled and nearly drifted off to sleep 
when a
ringing noise caught her attention.  Perking her ears up, she recognized it 
as her cell
phone going off.  Fortunately, she left it near the tub in case she got a 
call, but she
was still slightly miffed to have her relaxing moment interrupted.  Shaking 
soap and water
off her paws, she reached for the phone and activated the speaker shortly 
after the
fourth ring.

"Hello?"  she responded as politely as possible.  "Hi, Laretta," a familiar 
voice started,
in a slightly nervous tone, "It's me, Ben."  Laretta replied happily, "Hi, 
Ben!  How are
you doing?  What a nice surprise, getting a call from you tonight!"  Ben 
chuckled,
still slightly nervous, "Thanks, Laretta.  I had such a wonderful time 
tonight that I just
had to call you!  I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Laretta smiled, as she lifted one of her legs out of the water, wiggling her 
toes so that
the soap and water dripped back into the tub.  "Not at all," she replied, 
"and I'm really
glad you called!  I really had a great time tonight, too.  Thank you so much!"

Ben chuckled again, happy to hear the delight in Laretta's voice.  "You're 
welcome!"
he exclaimed, "but there is something else."  "What is it?"  Laretta asked.  
"Well, Laretta,
I really like you," he said nervously, "and I'd really like to be able to see 
you again when
I can!  How long are you going to be in town!"

"Not very long, unfortunately," Laretta said with disappointment, "Tomorrow 
morning,
the band's getting back together for a short business meeting, then we hit 
the road back
to our main recording studio in New York.  There won't be any time for us to
meet, unfortunately!"  "Aw, that's too bad," Ben replied, "but we can still 
always stay
in touch, can't we?"  Laretta smiled, "You bet we can!  I'll stay in touch 
with you when
we're on the road, and keep you up to date with what we're doing!"

"That's great, Laretta!"  Ben replied happily, "You know, if you like using 
the Internet,
you can even catch me in chat rooms!  Let me give you my nickname - 
'Ben_Mouse'."  Laretta
was quite happy to talk to Ben again, since she really had grown a deep 
fondness for
him.  "Okay, Ben, I'll give it a try some time and keep track of you!  Thanks 
again
for calling!"

"Oh no," Ben chuckled, "Thank you for being the loveliest wolfette on the 
planet!"
Laretta giggled a Ben's wonderful sense of humor.  She turned her cell phone 
off and
drew herself back into her bath.  She sighed and smiled, remembering when she 
and
Cassie chatted about Cassie's love for Foxonian.  She remembered exactly what 
the vixen
told her, that everyone finds love at some time in their lives, and "once 
you've found
it, enjoy every minute of it!"  Even as she would drift off to sleep later 
and be on her
way early the next day, her thoughts would always be with the special little 
mouse who
just made her life so wonderful.

END OF STORY
Latest version:  October 15, 2001
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.integral.org/archives/vfw-times/attachments/20011018/c2f2709a/attachment.htm