SABRINA

a story by

CHRIS YOST

(c) 1998 by Chris Yost. All rights to story content reserved. Characters Sabrina the Skunkette, Amy the Squirrel, Tabitha, Carli, and Tammy Vixen (c) Eric W. Schwartz. Character Roxikat (c) John Barrett. Character Thomas Woolfe (c) Michael Higgs. Characters Chris Foxx, Susan Felin, Cindy Lapine, Amy Squirrel, Clarence Skunk, Dexter Collie, Angel Collie, and Wendy Vixxen (c) Chris Yost. Character Florence Ambrose (c) Mark Stanley. Character ZigZag (c) Max BlackRabbit. Character Cyberhorn (c) William Morris. All rights to additional characters reserved by their respective owners. Story based on characters and situations created by Eric W. Schwartz.

Wendy brushed her paw over Chris' left cheek. His eyes were still slightly swollen; a half-hour car trip for a heartbroken man can take its toll. The smell of gravy on his breath barely covered the odor of his having been sick. But Wendy couldn't have cared less. She slid a paw behind his head and gently placed a small friendly kiss on his cheek. She wanted to behave herself … under the circumstances she believed she could. Very deep down however, she didn't want to. She brushed Chris' hair back and smiled, warmly, understandingly, friendly …

Chris managed a smile the best he could. "I, uhm, was hoping you might be … y'know … free to talk or … something … "

'Or something'? Wendy giggled to herself. "I heard about you and Sabrina breaking up. Chris, I am so sorry."

"Thanks." Chris sniffled. "I'm sorry to bother you like this. I really shouldn't … "

Wendy touched his cheek again. "Hey, yes you should. You need someone to talk to right now. Come on in." Wendy slid her other paw on Chris' back and guided him to the couch. "Sit down, please. I'll put on some tea."

Sabrina woke up. She stretched looked at the clock on the VCR. "After nine-thirty … oh, where is he?" Some thoughts went through her head. Thoughts that were very much not pleasant. Thoughts of what a man might do in this kind of a situation. This ran a shiver through her.

She sat and thought for a moment. "Dexter … he might be with him." Sabrina got up and sprinted into his bedroom.

"So many memories … " Sabrina looked on Chris' dresser and found his pocket planner. Leafing through the back he found his list of phone numbers, not in any particular order. She scanned down the list and found Dexter's phone number … and at the bottom, below hers … "Wendy Vixxen?"

Sabrina placed her thumb under Dexter's number until she got to the phone. She dialed … one ring … two rings …

"Hello?" said the female voice on the other end.

"Angel? It's Sabrina. Uhm … is Chris there by any chance?"

Wendy set her cup on the end table. "Feeling any better?" she asked.

Chris nodded. "A little." He let out a short laugh. "I have this effect on women, I guess."

Wendy cleared her throat. "Look," she said, "I know this really isn't the right time to say something like this." She tried not to stammer by taking a deep breath. "I'd like to remedy what I did to you, somehow, if I can."

Chris was slowly shaking his head as he set his cup on the end table nearer him. "Wendy … "

"I know!" she said quickly. "I don't mean anything romantic. I mean, we can be better friends, can't we? Closer than we've been, but not 'involved' or anything … I want to be here to help you." First.

A sigh came from Chris.

"I do still care about you, you know."

"I know." Chris turned to Wendy and finally was able to smile. He scooted himself closer. "You don't know how I pined for you when you left me … "

Wendy nodded. "And I never forgave myself for leaving you." She watched Chris edge closer. She reciprocated, unbuttoning an upper button on her blouse. "I want to make up for it all. And I want to start by helping to take you mind off of her." She let her big brown eyes lock onto Chris' big green eyes …

knock-knock-knock-knock-knock

They blinked.

Wendy checked the time on her watch. "Who in the world could that be?"

Chris took Wendy's hand and squeezed. "You go check," he said to her. "I'm going to use your … y'know." They got up together, Chris found his way down the hall, and Wendy answered her front door, and gasped!

"Sabrina? Hi! How are you?"

Sabrina smiled wide. "Fine, thanks." She was trying to look over Wendy's shoulder. "Ah, I saw Chris' car out front. I was wondering … is he here, perchance?"

"Chris?" Wendy glanced behind her quickly. "Uh … yes, he's here."

Sabrina saw Wendy's slightly nervous grin. She grinned too, a faint hint of her teeth showing. "I really need to see him," she told Wendy. "Mind if I come in?"

Wendy began to stammer, and when she saw Sabrina casually slide a foot into the door … "Uh, look," she said, straightening her back, "let's get something straight here. You left him."

Sabrina put a hand upon the door and pushed. "You should talk." She let herself completely in. "You don't worry, I'm just here to tell Chris I can't marry him."

Wendy put a hand on her hip. "For someone who says she's leaving him," she told Sabrina, "you're sure putting a lot of effort into it."

Both hands went to Sabrina's hips. "For someone who claims to be 'just an old friend', you're sure not wasting any time moving in!"

Wendy brought her hand up and gave Sabrina a slap! across her cheek! Sabrina rose her hand to strike back and Wendy caught her by the wrist. Sabrina pulled Wendy's hand away with her other hand and slapped! her back!

"AAAUUGGHHH!!!" Wendy grabbed Sabrina and pulled her by her shoulders! Sabrina spun and caught herself from falling by grabbing a handful of Wendy's hair, and the two girls fell to the floor!

Sabrina took a poke at Wendy, Wendy bared her claws and swiped, tearing Sabrina's tee-shirt across the front. She pulled her down onto the floor and straddled her, Sabrina raising her arms to hit and Wendy catching them expertly. Sabrina pulled and writhed under Wendy's weight, but Wendy growled and tried to pin her wrists to the floor. Sabrina pushed with all her might, brought one leg up and bent it at the knee, and used it to push herself up and break Wendy's hold on her.

With a tear and a hail of tiny buttons, Sabrina tore Wendy's blouse wide open. They rolled onto their sides, panting and gasping from the exertion. Wendy flailed her leg, finally bringing it down to tear into and down the side of Sabrina's pant leg as Sabrina pulled at her hair again, eliciting a loud yelp from Wendy, who pushed at Sabrina and tore her shirt completely down the side as she fell back. Sabrina turned completely around and landed on all fours, and raised her tail high in the air!

Wendy suddenly jolted! Oh that's right, she's a skunk!

sigh Wendy rested her head on her closed hand, her elbow on her desk. How can I win this fight?? She thought back before it had started, when she and Chris were sitting quietly on her couch. "Why can't it just happen that way in real life?" she asked herself.

Slowly her monitor came back into focus, as did her desk and cubicle walls. "Not that I'd ever wish anything that drastic on Chris," she told herself. And why would I imagine Sabrina with anxiety cramps like that? And that entire fight … Wendy scratched the back of her head. … I want to be friends with her when she starts working here. I had fun when we had lunch together, after all.

"God, I must be terrible," Wendy faced the corner and told herself in a low voice. "Why can't I just accept the fact that he's gone?"

A tapping came from the doorway of her cubicle and made her spin around in her chair. A friendly ocelot in a dress that almost perfectly matched her fur stood there with a small stack of memos. "Hi, just me," she said and handed Wendy one. Wendy smiled and took it from her. "Thanks, Marci," she smiled back.

Marci took a step away, then turned when she saw the red and white baseball cap with the ear holes on top of her monitor. "You're a Buffalo Bills fan?" she asked with an edge of excitement in her voice.

Wendy shrugged. "Oh, kinda I guess. I lived in Buffalo for a couple years, and a wolf I was dating then gave it to me. Boy, he loved his sports. I hated 'em, but football I could sort of tolerate."

"You lived in Buffalo?!" Marci asked. "Where??"

Wendy started to take the conversation more seriously, leaving her fantasy for the time being. "Sheridan Drive," she answered.

Marci gave Wendy a wide grin. "I was born and raised in North Tonawanda," she told her. "Small world, huh?"

"Sure is! I see you escaped those winters too."

"They're not so bad," Marci said with a shrug, "once you get used to them after 18 years or so." They laughed together. Then, "Hey, can I join you for lunch? You think Chris would mind if I crashed in on you two?"

Wendy shyly let her head droop, giving an embarrassed smile that only she understood. "Well," she said, "since Chris ran out earlier and won't be back until Friday I guess, I'd love the company." She raised her head. "Besides, I kind of miss Buffalo; it'd be nice to talk about it again."

"Great," Marci smiled. "See you at twelve."

Wendy watched her go on to the next empty cubicle, where she left that person's memo on their chair. She turned back to the spreadsheet she'd been working on. "Time to refocus." She positioned her cursor over a cell, and the system instantly froze.

"AAAUUGGHHH!!!"

Enroute to his house, Chris stopped by the Post Office to collect his mail. He opened his box and removed his bills and junk mail, and among them all was a white business-sized envelope. The back flap had the imprint of a hotel on it, and the corner for the return address on the front said simply Sabrina.

"A hotel?" he wondered. "That's why I haven't heard from her in three days," he said aloud to himself, "she's been kidnapped."

Well, c'mon, Wendy has her fantasies, Chris has his.

Chris zipped back out to his car and tore the envelope open! Pulling the letter out he settled back in the driver's seat.

Hey, Sexy! it began.

"Hey, yourself," Chris told the letter.

I'm sooooooooooooo sorry to write you this letter. I kind of got shanghaied into a business trip with ZigZag and a couple others -- and you'll never ever believe who she just hired!

"Hmmm," Chris rubbed his chin. "Wonder if she got my resume." ::grin::

I never had time to tell you -- forgive me? ;)

Chris' grin grew wider. "Ooooooooh, we'll work something out, Kitten!"

The hotel's cost for long distance is OUTRAGEOUS, so I thought the next best thing was to write you. I'll be home late Thursday or early Friday, depending on the mail you may see me before you even get this. GOD I MISS YOU!!!

"I miss you too."

Oh, and something else I forgot! I cancelled my SABRINA1 Internet account -- I have two accounts, and it's getting expensive. Besides, I'll have to start a whole new one pretty soon, won't I? You were the only one I used that account for anyway, it's my original. Remember BRINA1? Use it from now on, okay?

Chris nodded. "I can do that."

Take care of yourself until I see you. I'll meet you Friday evening at your house if that's okay -- if it's not please let me know, otherwise I'll be there!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Sabrina

Chris smiled. "I love that little flower she puts over the 'i'." Chris put the letter down and heaved a very heavy sigh. "So Amy and Thomas went too? Who cares, she's okay!" Chris glanced out each side of the car, and quickly put a tiny kiss on the letter over Sabrina's name. "WOO-HOO!"

Chris read the letter over a second time. Now, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "Now, what do I do with a day and a half off and nowhere to go?" A sigh, a shrug … Chris started his car and made a U-turn to head back to work.

"Hey Debbye, waddaya think?"

Debbye studied Susan as she held a blue knee-length dress in front of her with the hanger folded under her chin. "It looks nice," Debbye admitted. "Only that skirt's kinda long for you, isn't it?"

"I know, but I love the material!" She held up the tag with the line drawn through the price. "And at this price, I can afford to have it altered. Oh, it's nice having a trust fund." She turned away from Debbye and to the triple mirror. "It does look good … " She bent and tried to look normal holding the hemline above mid-thigh and the neck of the dress at her own neck.

"Why don't you try it on?" Debbye suggested.

Susan swung her tail around and compared the slightly darker fur at the end against the blue of the dress. "Think I will."

Debbye watched Susan take two more outfits with her and walked her to the dressing room. "I wish I had your budget for clothes," she said. "I have to worry about eating."

"That's the beauty of buying clothes," Susan explained. "You fish so you can eat, right?"

Debbye scratched behind her ear. "Uh, right."

Susan held up the three dresses on her arm. "My dad says 'sometimes you have to dress up the bait to get a bite'." She grinned and closed the curtain. "Of course, now that school's out for the summer, I may be eating at home a third day a week or so, but meanwhile … "

Debbye shook her head, laughing. "You sure know how to play the system," she told her.

Susan pulled the curtain on the dressing room back. "You're still young," she said. "You'll learn."

Debbye wandered through the store while Susan wiggled her way into her first dress. She picked a swathe of hair from her eyes and walked to the sale rack near the front entrance. As she looked through the selection of tops she lifted her eyes and looked out into the mall. In surprise she left the one she was interested in on top and leaned on the rack to look into the masses, and at the front of the bookstore across the arcade.

"Oh my word, they're holding hands!"

Cindy walked out of the bookstore with Clarence, each carrying a larger bag from some clothing store in the mall. She couldn't make out what they said to each other, but she did make out their laughing.

"They're holding hands, and they're laughing!"

Cindy pointed to something down the way. Clarence nodded. As they started to turn Cindy caught sight of Debbye, smiled and waved. Debbye smiled and waved back, and waited for them to come across.

And when they didn't, Debbye unconsciously walked back to the dressing rooms with the undersized top she'd picked up by mistake. "Susan … "

"Hey, wait 'till you see this dress, Deb! It fits like a glove! Dad would say it's supposed to fit like a dress, but that's just Dad."

Debbye leaned against the wall next to the curtain. "Cindy and Clarence are holding hands."

The lioness' head popped over the top. "Say what?"

"Cindy is serious about Clarence."

Susan came out of the dressing room in the blue dress, the tag dangling from the shoulder strap. "Where?" she asked.

"They went thataway," Debbye pointed in the direction of down the hall. "Holding hands, laughing, shopping together."

Susan's eyes were wide, her mouth open. She turned to Debbye. "Who would ever have thought?" she asked rhetorically. "She used to kid about him just the way we did." She put a hand on her hip. "I feel really rotten now about us having done that."

Debbye nodded in agreement. "It never really was nice. Funny yes, but not nice."

She looked up at Susan; she was making a face. "Maybe not so funny after all." Then, "Hey, dress fits. What do you say we try to catch up to them?"

"We can do that." Debbye went back to the sale rack to browse while Susan got changed.

Friday afternoon couldn't have come soon enough for Chris. Munching his potato chips he zinged his way down the road into the borough he called home, slowing down for the local speed limit. His mind was awash with everything he wanted to talk to Sabrina about, trying to second-guess everything that went on with her boss being there, and he couldn't help laughing out loud at some of the scenarios he'd envisioned during past two days, and one or two that weren't so laughable at all when you stopped to think about them. He drove through the intersection and placed a paw on the turn signal as his driveway came nearer.

As he pushed it up he saw the blue Civic in the driveway, down near the garage. With his eyes wide open and his heart beating faster he pushed the accelerator just a bit more than usual and skidded slightly in the slag as he pulled in and parked. He opened the door and stepped out of the car just as he saw her poke her head around the corner from the back deck.

Sabrina came running down the steps as fast as her feet could carry her as Chris ran up to her. With a push off of her right foot she sprung herself into his open arms and they hugged and spun completely around twice, their mouths finally finding each other and draining each other of any memories of anything this past entire week.

Their kiss eventually broke, and became a series of small kisses over each others' cheek and neck. When their eyes finally locked Chris said it all in three little words.

"Welcome home, Kitten."

Sabrina hugged Chris and placed her head on his chest, smiling big.