Animal Café Ch. 31

After purchasing the big snack, Lucy resumed her course to a local restaurant for sale downtown while her two young friends distractedly followed her while chewing on the pastry. Beatrice may have been a pig, but she never hesitated to share her precious food with a friend.

Through some work contact, Lucy had heard of this small pub for sale. The owner was older and wanted to retire. Having no kids to pass down his business and with a burning desire to return to his hometown somewhere in Europe, all he wanted was a decent lump of cash, something that would be enough to put his dream into action. A perfect opportunity for a woman who had recently decided that her life needed a new direction.

Working at the insurance company for so long and seeing Shane every day grew old. She wasn't unhappy per se, but perhaps heading in a new direction was a better course of action to turn her life around. After all, when she was young, she had joined Shane in his adventure, but this time, she would be creating something from the ground up. At this point, it was just an idea to explore because running a restaurant was not something she was remotely familiar with, but just considering it had put some life back into her.

When they arrived at the place, Lucy had some difficulty understanding her own feelings. This little two-story building, which was quite rare to find downtown, had its charm. It was not pretty, but this glass door in one corner and those large square windows populating the entire front had some retro feel. She could see a few tables inside and people eating unhealthy food. It would be a perfect burger place to exploit.

"Wait for me here. I don't want you to mingle with my business strategy."

"Okay."

"Yeah, Vicky and I will go to the sex shop across the street instead."

"What!? No! Trixie! I don't want to go there."

"Sure you do. You love latex. Let's go find you a sexy suit!"

"AArrr! Don't say that out loud!"

That was interesting. Lucy turned to Vicky and crouched a bit to look under her hoodie.

"Oooh! My little Vicky has a little deviant side?"

"Aarrr! LUCY! Go visit your stupid restaurant!"

"I could totally see you wearing something sexy like that."

"... AARRRR!"

"Haha. Alright. Go have fun with your girlfriend at the sex shop. I'll be back in about thirty minutes."

"Trixie and I are NOT dating!"

"Yeah, yeah! Whatever you say, Vicky!"

Proud of having embarrassed Vicky further, Lucy turned heels and headed to the restaurant to meet with the owner. She couldn't help but think it would be nice if those two young girls could work for her. The chemistry was already there.

***

The sex shop was nice. It was the biggest in town, and it was not even creepy. Everywhere where eyes would land, something was interesting to look at. Beatrice was totally comfortable in this environment, but Vicky, not so much, so the blonde girl led the visit and decided what was worth touching and trying, resulting in those small friendly fights.

"Haha! Wear those!"

"Awww... no! Trix! Not here!"

"Wear them, I said!"

Beatrice was one of the only people who could force Vicky to pull back her hoodie in public. For some reason, her presence reassured the small traumatized girl. She knew that if someone were to make fun of her scars, Beatrice would kick them in the nuts really hard.

So when her friend approached her with a pair of fluffy fox ears and tried to place them on her head, Vicky didn't object too strongly. She always liked foxes a lot, and those ears were definitely cute, so she half-reluctantly let her friend install them on her head.

"Awww! This is SO you!"

"... I dunno about that..."

"Come on, Vicky. Look at yourself in the mirror."

"Aaaaah! No! Not the mirror! I don't want to see what I look like."

"Enough. Stop worrying about your scars for once. Trust me. You are SO adorable. Just imagine you are going to the bathroom to brush your teeth. You look at yourself in the mirror when you brush your teeth, no?"

"Mmm... Yeah... but it's not the same."

Nobody could get mad at Vicky for having trouble coping with her physical appearance. What she went through as a kid when this demonic black dog had attacked her was no joke. Even an optimistically supercharged Beatrice knew that Vicky required a lot of guidance and support whenever a challenging situation arose. This uncomfortable trait was certainly a problem at times, but on the other hand, it was also what made Vicky so cute. When a bit shy or cautious, Vicky's body language turned into something out of the ordinary; this, paired with her small size, just motivated Beatrice to hug her and cuddle with her. If there were a bright side to Vicky's trauma, it was that it had turned her into something extraordinary.

When Vicky arrived in front of the mirror and looked at herself, she saw two things. The cute fox ears on her head, making her almost squirm of adorability, and Beatrice's chin on her shoulder, who shared the reflection. By pressing her soft cheek on hers, the blonde girl managed to hide most of her friend's scars. Beatrice was very pretty with her pale skin and blue eyes. She was even hotter since she lost half of her total weight in the past couple of years. Vicky placed her hand on Beatrice's cheek.

"Those ears... They are very cute."

"No, Vicky. YOU are very cute."

"I... I can't see my scars."

"That's how I see you all the time. You have no scars. You are just very cute and sexy."

"Where are my... scars?"

"Today, you don't have any."

Vicky turned to Beatrice and looked into her eyes for a long moment. How could she do this? How could she make her feel so good? Vicky wrapped her arms around her friend's neck and kissed her, which only caused the blonde girl to laugh.

"Hahaha! Vicky! Stop! Stop! We are in a shop. Even me, I know better!"

"Oops..."

"Hey! No! Keep your ears on, Vicky! We are totally buying them."

"Okay. But don't tell Lucy, or else she will make fun of me again."

"Nah! Lucy is nice. Alright. Come. Let's find more cool stuff like... OH MY GOD! VICKY! LOOK!"

Beatrice sprinted to the very end of the alley like a bullet and landed on a rack full of shiny clothes.

"VICKY! LOOK! LATEX SUITS!"

***

"Wow... I didn't expect this. So the top floor is empty? And the basement is also empty?"

"Yes. We never had the money to finish the renovation. I know it is less appealing, but I think I'm asking for a fair price to compensate for this."

"No... no... On the contrary. I love it."

"Really!?"

When Lucy climbed upstairs to visit the restaurant, she only found half-finished rooms and many empty spaces. For some reason, it didn't turn her off, and in fact, it was even better. Not only would the purchase price be lower, but on top of it, this discovery was convenient.

"See, I'm not entirely sure what kind of restaurant I want to run yet. So starting with a blank slate is a great thing."

"I suppose it makes sense if you planned to renovate the place."

"Alright. So that would be it for today. Thanks for letting me visit. I will contact you back very soon."

"... With an offer I can't refuse?"

"Hahaha. Possibly."

Business humor was reserved for business people because it wasn't funny. Even though this building wasn't perfect and that Lucy would need more time to make up her mind about this transaction, it couldn't hurt that, at the very least, the owner seemed to understand her world.

After a good handshake and polite goodbye under the gaze of the staff who were wondering if their jobs were in jeopardy, Lucy exited the place to return to her two nineteen years old balls of craziness.

But when she stepped out, she didn't see them. Lucy entertained the idea of tossing some chips on the walkway or hitting a can of soup with a metal spoon to attract Beatrice, but instead, she sighed.

"Aaah! Don't tell me they really went to the sex shop. They are so impatient. Ah well, I suppose I could go take a look over there."

Lucy never had a problem with kinky stuff. Her personality has always been a bit wild, and even though she had never really needed extra spicy things in her life, she fully understood why people were attracted to new ideas. Perhaps they were right, and she should have jumped on the bandwagon of kinks as well, but it was a bit unappealing without a partner, at least one with whom she would share a bed.

Without any shame or fear to be seen, she crossed the street and headed straight to the large sexy store. It was much bigger than her potential restaurant.

Impressive.

That shop was vast and well supplied. It was a beautiful store, actually. Somehow they managed to evacuate the creepiness from the place, which meant there was not a row of fake oversized penises on the first shelf in front of the door. Instead, it was a lovely silver mannequin wearing a very classy nightgown. Without thinking about what she was doing and being a sucker for cute lingerie, Lucy pulled the bottom of the skirt using her fingers, feeling the satiny texture sliding between her light grip.

"Mmm... Oooh, that's nice. Okay, I'm in trouble."

As she attempted to locate the price tag to figure out how much money she would spend today, a feminine voice interrupted her.

"Welcome to our store. May I help you?"

"Oh... Ah, yes. I'm looking for my two little friends. A girl with a hoodie and another with blonde hair. You can't miss her as she is probably chewing on a shoe or something."

"Ah, yes. They are at the back of the store near the fitting room."

"Fitting room?... oooh... perfect."

"Do you like this nightgown?"

"Yes. Very much so. But I'll come back for it a bit later."

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do."

Armed with precious information, Lucy crawled like a leopard toward the back of the store. She could already hear Beatrice's loud voice from afar, and clearly, she seemed to be doing something a bit too exciting to spoil, so she hid behind a clothes rack and raised on her tiptoes just enough to scan above it.

What she saw was amazing... It would earn Vicky and Beatrice years of endless teasing.

"I'm going to eat you!"

"Noooo! I'm just a little bunny!"

"And I'm a fox! Raaawr!"

It was incredible. Vicky was wearing a fiery red latex catsuit, molding her frail body to perfection, along with two fluffy ears and a fox tail. Her friend Beatrice, wearing some blinding white rubber with a pair of bunny ears, pretended to cower in fear in front of the fox girl who attempted to eat her playfully. This scene had a feel of an elementary school theatre show mixed with some poor adult roleplaying.

Lucy wanted to hug them both so badly. They were the most adorable thing she had ever seen since Sammie. That said, she knew it would be highly inappropriate to interrupt them. She knew it would embarrass Vicky like there is no tomorrow. She knew she was much older than them and should let the young adults do young adult things...

She knew that...

But... But...

"AWWWW! A FOX AND A RABBIT! YOU ARE SO ADOOORABLE!"

"GAAAAH!"

"YAAAARH!"

The overly emotional Lucy ran from behind the rack and wrapped the two glossy cute girls in her arms. They could scream all they wanted, but Lucy's day just got a whole lot better all of a sudden.

***

"Lucy! That was wrong!"

"Pfff... Vicky, you two were too adorable to resist. You should have bought those costumes."

"Absolutely not! We were just... playing... We didn't like wearing those..."

"I did! Loved it!"

"Trixiiie! Don't encourage her!"

"Whaaat!? I felt super sexy as a bunny!"

While walking out of the sex shop, Vicky's face was still as beet red as the latex suit she had worn. Lucy was almost a mother to her, and the fact that she caught her wearing a very skintight latex suit along with fox ears had been so humiliating. On top of that, Lucy had loved it excessively and even went as far as trying to polish her skinny rubber body to make her look even sexier. Her birth mother would never have tried that, but since Lucy was very bold and had no family ties, nothing had prevented her from trying to take advantage of this golden opportunity.

While Vicky ran away from her oppressor, Beatrice was more than willing to receive that special polishing. Lucy had always been fun to be around, so confirming that she was this open-minded made her look even more awesome.

Beatrice pulled her rabbit ears from her little shopping bag and placed them on top of her head, making Vicky feel even more uneasy.

"Look, Vicky! I'm a rabbit!"

"Aaah. Trixie. Take those off. People are staring at us."

"Here are yours."

"No! I'm not wearing them outside!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No! No! No!"

"Okay, enough, you two. We have a bit of time before going to the art show. Do you want to go eat a burger?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

This moment felt surreal. Lucy had offered free food before their next activity and only obtained half of the votes. But what was very unusual this time was that the negative answer came from Beatrice, a living stomach. Both Vicky and Lucy shared the same thought.

Did Beatrice just refuse food?

Together, they stared at the bunny girl who was distracted by her shopping bag. Somehow, Vicky's ears didn't fit inside it anymore. Maybe it was because of that fluffy tail. But after battling this problem for a moment, she leveled her head and felt observed.

"Uh? What? What did I do?"

"... Did you just refuse a burger?"

"Well, yes! Lucy! We eat burgers all the time. Nobody eats burgers anymore. It's not trendy!"

"Not trendy!? What are you talking about? Everybody loves burgers."

"False! Look at me. I lost all this weight. Do you really think I want to get it back?"

"... Some days I wonder..."

"Ah! No! Burgers are evil."

"Okay... No burgers then... What do you want to eat, then? Veggie egg rolls?"

"Ah! No! Vegetarian food is gross! I want CAKE!"

"... Cake? Where does that come from? And how is that supposed to be healthier than a burger?"

"It's not. But at least they are tasty. Right, Vicky?"

"Yeah. I mean, I could go for a cake too."

Left, right. The two girls in front of Lucy had definitely grown up. They had ingested a majestic amount of burgers during those movie nights since they were young, and now they wanted cake.

Vicky pulled her phone out and located the nearest cake shop.

"That way!"

***

"They were SO good!"

"I told you, Lucy. Burgers are not trendy. It's all about cakes now."

"I believe it. Maybe I should start a cake shop instead of a restaurant."

"It would be wise."

Rubbing their bellies, the three women walked out of the cake place, stuffed with sugar and coffee. It was way worse for health than a burger, but Lucy could see the point, cakes were delicious.

Food for thought.

"Anyway, why do we have to go to this art thingy again, Lucy? It will be boring."

"It's an art show, not an art thingy. And it's because Shane and I are sponsoring it every year through our insurance company. It's to give a platform to the art student so they can show what they are made of."

"Painting... sewing... filming... musicing... How interesting!"

"Musicing is not a word, Vicky. And this sarcasm of yours is why I want you to come with me. It will open your mind to something other than TV."

"Pfff... We go every year. Can I not skip one year?"

"No. And let's go or else we will be late. It's at the other end of town."

***

"Awww! So cute."

"Questionable."

After traveling to the Art college, Vicky and Beatrice were let loose while Lucy went to take care of some sponsor obligations with Shane, who was already on site. For some reason, despite their less than ideal relationship, they had never abandoned their charitable goals, and they were always happy to participate together in this kind of event.

After roaming for a while around the busy exposition floor, Beatrice crouched in front of a little animal statuette... or toy... whatever it was. Black like night, this cat thing had a wobbly head, and its two eyes were mounted on little springs, making it look like something in between silly and monstrous. For a long moment, Beatrice, hypnotized, poked the black cat's head with her finger to make it shake some more.

"Vicky. Maybe I should buy it. I kind of like it."

"Eww, no!"

"Give me some money, Vicky."

"Nooo! You are not buying this thing with my money."

"But she is so cute."

"How can you even tell this cat is a female?"

"Her attitude."

"Ahan... Come, Trixie. Let's go see something else."

"No, wait... We can't abandon Misti."

"Oh, no! Don't start giving it a name."

"We are bonding."

"Arrr. Enough, Trix. Come."

"Alright. Alright. Stop pulling on my arm. We will abandon her. We will leave her behind in the cruelest way. But you'll see, Vicky. Because of your action today, one day, Misti will come back and haunt you."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, bunny."

"Misti will sneak in your bed and climb on top of you, and then she will have sex with you!"

"TRIX! Stooop! The cake burned your brain cells! Let's go. I don't want to spend the entire day here."

"Hahaha! Misti will haunt youuu!"

***

A bit later, in the college lobby, Lucy walked toward her two little companions with a big smile. That art show always cheered her up for some reason. Seeing all those young students displaying their talents for the public because of her generous donation had always made her feel somewhat satisfied.

"Aaah! That was great. Did you enjoy yourself, Vicky?"

"Not really. It was boring. That's why I don't want to go to college. I have nothing in common with those people."

"Well, they are art students. You are not the most artistic person I know. But I'm sure you'd be happy going to a different college and studying something else."

"Meh."

"And you should have seen the winner of this year's competition. She is a costume maker, among other things, and she was sooo pretty. She is by far the most talented artist I've ever seen, and it's only her second year."

"And her name was Lady Van Gogh?"

"No, it's Elizabeth. And watching her work gave me a great idea for my new restaurant."

"Are you going to open an artsy café for snob people?"

"Mmm... A café?"

What a grumpy Vicky had sarcastically suggested made Lucy react in a very unusual way. Immediately, the woman began imagining something new that she had not thought of before. For some reason, this busy day filled with pleasant surprises had shaped a set of new ideas into a vision.

As if all the pieces of her puzzle had suddenly fallen into place, Lucy placed her two hands on Vicky's shoulder and displayed one of those worrying devilish smiles.

"Vicky! You are a GENIUS!"

"Uh? Am I?"

"Yes! Let's go home now! I have work to do."

***

Two days later...

"Ah! Perfect! You are both here. Beatrice, make me a coffee!"

"Heeey! Why me?"

"Because you are small."

"Small!? But I'm the same size as Vicky! I even have bigger boobs."

"I let you stay in my penthouse for free! So make me a coffee!"

"Aaah! That's slavery!"

Without warning, Lucy had entered the penthouse, a binder pressed to her chest, and determined to keep the energy high, she ordered her fifth dose of caffeine of the day. As Vicky and Lucy headed to the dining room, Beatrice slammed a pod into the coffee machine before selecting the old mug with Shane's picture on it. That should be sufficient punishment for having been mistreated like this.

The coffee machine peed the dark liquid into the mug, Beatrice attempted to catch the steam with her little hands because it was fun, and quickly, she was ready to rejoin her companions in the adjacent room. Holding the overfilled mug with her two hands to make sure not to spill any, she tiptoed toward the dining room.