[i]Rrrrriiing! Rrrrriiing! Rrrrrii-[/i]click.
   "Y'ello, Dusty Nevada here."
   "Dusty, hi! It's Minty."
   "Oh! Heya babycakes, whassup?"
   "A big-ass meeting, that's what. It never fails, they always do that at the end of a Friday afternoon. I'm gonna be stuck at work for at least a couple more hours. When you pick up the girls, could you tell Sophia I won't be able to come pick her up until at least tonight, please? I won't even make it before dinnertime."
   "Oh! Gaw, that sucks, darlin'. Yeah, no prob, I'll keep 'er 'ere till yer done at work, an' it won't be no prob to 'ave 'er stick around fer dinner neither."
   "Thanks, Dusty. Sorry for springing this on you at the last moment, but that's kinda what they did with me too, I got the memo for the meeting exactly two minutes ago."
   "Heh, no worries, sweetpea, I know the feelin'. 'Swhat they use'ta do back at RST where I worked afore all the time too. Ya jus' get yerself through that meetin', an' I'll keep an eye on the kit till yer done. Should I be savin' ya some dinner too mebbe?"
   "No, don't bother, Dusty, but thanks. If this is anything as bad as the memo made it look, then we won't be done here till seven or eight. It's quite likely they may even send out for some food during the meeting, and otherwise I'll just grab something on my way home."
   "Gotcha. We'll be seein' ya tonight then, sweetpea."
   "Thanks again, Dusty."

Ringing off and putting down the phone, Minty leaned back in her chair and held a paw over her face while drawing in a deep breath. Fffff... [i]what[/i] a way to end the week. As if she hadn't been busy enough already! She reached out and snatched the memo off her desk again, looking at it and reading the words with a slightly grumpy expression. "To every department: there will be a meeting in the board room at 17:30 hours to discuss changes for the future of the company in general and the Amity branch in specific." Vague. Vague and kinda ominous. What was this supposed to mean? What might happen? Were there going to be layoffs? The company had been doing so well that they had to open the extra branch in Amity a couple of years ago; surely it could not be that things were now going badly downhill so that they would need to fire people again? Could it?

Minty quietly mulled it over in her mind. As head order processor, she oversaw and processed every order the company made and got, so she knew by and by what the cash-flow should be, or at least how the company's financial health was looking. And as far as she could tell, that was looking good. As a matter of fact, it was going so well that the work was every now and then beginning to overwhelm her. The green mouse had actually informed about the possibility of getting a secretary or assistant assigned to her to take some of her work off her paws. And it was only recently that two new drivers had been hired, plus a...
   "Minty? Minty? Miss Mouse!"
With a bit of a squeak, Minty sat up straight in her chair and looked around, realizing after a moment it had been her intercom. She leaned over and pressed a button on the small device.
   "Sorry, yes, what is it?"
   "The meeting starts in fifteen minutes, Miss Mouse. Could you get to the board room already and bring the order summary over the past eighteen months please?"
   "I'm on my way."

The green mouse sat back again, running a paw over her face. Oh, that was just wonderful... the past eighteen months? It was going to be a [i]long[/i] meeting.

It was. In keeping with how company meetings should go, it dragged on and on and on in a slow, boring manner for hours. The only good thing about it was that Minty's fears did not get confirmed - in fact, the green mousette's fears were totally disbanded by the things she heard at the meeting. Not only that, but she even got a pleasant surprise from the news that things were going so well with the Amity branch of the company that they needed to expand even more, which also meant that as the head of order processing, Minty's workload would increase so much that she was assigned an assistant to help her with the extra work. The company had already interviewed several people for the position and had come up with a very good candidate, which would be introduced to Minty the coming Monday.

The green mouse was shown the file that had been compiled on the candidate. It was a squirrel woman by the name of Phoebe Vandermeer, aged 34, widowed, with a five year old daughter. Minty found it a bit amusing that the assistant she would be getting, the woman who would be working under her, was a woman eight years older than she was herself. She was also informed that Mrs. Vandermeer would be arriving at the company the coming Monday to be introduced to Minty, to be briefed about her duties, and that Minty was going to show her around. The green mouse quirked an eyebrow when the CEO mentioned that last, and raised a paw.
   "Excuse me, but what do you mean by showing her around? Like, walk her through the company to show her where everything is or something?"
   "That is not quite what I was getting at, Miss Mouse," the CEO answered - even on the workfloor, Minty was called by her lifelong nickname even by her superiors. "The thing is, Mrs. Vandermeer is currently living in McMinnville. She is willing to relocate to Amity; we have offered her help in finding a home and offered the services of a moving company to transport her belongings. However, as she will be working directly under your command and it is important that you establish a good relationship with her, we would prefer it if you could perhaps help her finding a vacant home she could move into and show her around town as well, as she will need to enroll her daughter in school here, for one thing. We thought it would be better if she would be shown around town by someone who lives here and who knows the surroundings."
   "Oh, I see."
   "I do hope it is not a problem, Miss Mouse? You will be granted some expenses; a day off with full pay, fuel declaration and a dinner voucher so you can take Mrs. Vandermeer to a restaurant for dinner."
   "Accepted," Minty nodded. "No, it won't be a problem at all, as a matter of fact I have done something more or less similar for an old friend of mine recently. I just wanted to be sure of what it was that was expected of me in that regard."

Which was understandable, of course. And Minty had to admit; the company's offer was quite generous as well. But then again, she did know from her own experience that they tended to take very good care of their employees.

They also tended not to drag things on for too long and run the risk their employees got dreadfully bored in the process. Therefore the meeting was called closed only a little while later, after it had also been mentioned that due to the increased capacity and demand on the company, they would be acquiring an old, defunct plant outside of Amity which would be refurbished and remade into a paper plant from which the Amity branch would be directly provided. This meant even more job openings would be filled in the future - Minty admitted to herself she was glad to hear of it, not only because it meant she did not have to worry about her job nor her income at all, but also because it meant the prosperity of Amity would most likely increase a good deal. And despite the fact she had not lived there for very long yet and had not made many new friends there yet, Minty loved the little town, so she was glad to see things were looking so positive for its future.

All in all, the meeting had taken only about two hours. That still meant it was half past seven when Minty finally got to go home, and with the drive to Willamina it was a decent deal after eight o'clock when she finally got to pick up Sophia at Dusty's place and bring the kitten home with her for the weekend. And even though Minty's job was not directly affected, the green mouse still had a lot of work to do at home in preparation for the coming Monday. She would need to ask the woman who would be her assistant certain questions, she would need to show the woman the ropes of the job, and there was even a lot more involved in showing the woman around town as well. As Minty had never had a child of her own, she of course did not know the exact location of all the schools in town, so that was something she needed to check out, and she needed to do a bit of research on which houses were for sale in Amity as well. In regard to that, she had asked to see what the salary for her assistant would be, which would give her an idea of what the woman would most likely be able to afford on a mortgage.

[center]* * *[/center]

That Monday. If she had to be perfectly frank with herself, Minty was a bit excited when she came into work that morning. From what she had read in the file at the meeting the previous Friday, the woman she was about to be introduced to was a very nice and kind person, and the small picture that had been in the file showed she was very pretty too, with blue fur and green curly hair. The woman's eyes looked quite pink in the photograph though, but that was probably due to the flash, Minty mused.

Having only gone into her office to instruct her replacement for the day on what to do, the green mouse was waiting in another office together with Arlene Johnson, a pink-furred cat lady of the hiring committee, for the squirrel woman to arrive. They were calmly chatting a bit to kill the time.
   "So how did you find this lady?" Minty inquired.
   "Well, prior to the meeting of last Friday, several job openings for various positions were put on the market by us," Arlene said. "Our committee has spent the entire last week interviewing applicants, and she was one of three who applied for the opening of senior processor assistant." She pink cat chuckled softly. "She was by far the most qualified; one of the other three had not even finished high school yet, and the other one had no experience with order processing whatsoever."
   "So she pretty much already has the job then?" Minty asked.
   "As far as we are concerned, yes," Arlene nodded. "Of course, it also depends on you; since she will be your personal assistant, you have to get along with her and find her suitable as well, obviously." A light grin. "But frankly? I think mister Donovan already made up his mind and you will just have to accept her as your assistant, like it or not."
   "Wonderful," Minty smirked with a giggle. "Well, good thing I get along with women amazingly well, and from what I read in that small file you guys had compiled about her, I think I will get along with her very well too; she sounds like a nice person."
   "Good, that'll make things a bunch easier," Arlene chuckled, looking up when a knock on the door sounded, followed by the door being opened as a raccoon man showed the blue-furred squirrel woman inside. "Ah, thank you, Bernard. And welcome, Mrs. Vandermeer. Please, do have a seat," the pink cat smiled, motioning at the chair in front of the desk she and Minty were sitting behind.
   "Thank you," the woman said with a small smile, sitting down on the chair and holding her purse in her lap.

She was indeed a quite pretty squirrel woman, her fur a clear blue with very light blue accents, her long curly hair a soft green with dark and light accents, and her eyes were indeed a deep, warm pink in color. She also seemed to very deliberately make sure she sat in the chair in such a manner her large, bushy tail was immobilized between her back and the back of the chair. Clutching her purse in her lap with both paws, she sent a smile at Arlene whom she had apparently met before, and after a look with an initial flash of surprise, she also sent a smile at Minty.
   "It is a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Vandermeer," Arlene said, confirming the thought they had met before. "Allow me to introduce you; this is Miss Minty Mouse, she is our..." Suddenly, the pink cat checked herself. "Oh, I do apologize! I mean, this is Miss Mindy Verde, she is our head of order processing."
Minty let out a light giggle as she rose up and reached across the desk to shake paws with the blue squirrel.
   "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Vandermeer. And Mrs. Johnson is correct, my real name is Mindy Verde, but I have been called Minty Mouse since my earliest childhood on already, so it's the name I tend to go by. Even everyone in this company knows me as, and calls me, Minty Mouse, so I advice you to do the same as I will most likely not know who you are addressing when you call me Miss Verde."
   "Thank you, I will keep that in mind," the blue-furred squirrel smiled, returning Minty's pawshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Miss Mouse."
   "Now then," Arlene took the word again. "You applied for the job of senior processor assistant, and your being the best qualified person from the applicants we have spoken with is the reason of your being here today. There are merely several formalities we have to go through today, as well as some... well, informalities, you could say. First off, we needed to formally introduce you to Miss Mouse, as she is the person whom you will be assistant of. Miss Mouse..?" she prompted, looking at Minty.
   "Ah, yes," Minty nodded. "I have seen your references and the experience you have listed on your CV, Mrs. Vandermeer, and that is all looking very good, there is in fact nothing I need to ask or remark about that. You simply seem perfect for the job. What I do want to ask, is; what is your reason for applying for this job? Especially since it seems to be a fair distance away from where you currently live."
   "Thank you," Phoebe Vandermeer smiled softly. "Well, in all honesty, the main reason for me applying for this job is that in the job I currently have, things are not going too well. That company is needing to tighten the belt a bit, and along with several other of my co-workers, I was given the option to either work significantly more hours for the same salary, or keep my current amount of hours and take a cut on my salary. Neither of them will work for me, so I have been looking around for a new job."
   "That is understandable," Minty nodded. "Why a new job so far away, though?"
   "Well, there was not really anything available in my home town," Phoebe said with a very light shrug. "Vacant jobs in my field are thin on the ground, and the few I did find would either have less salary or more hours than my current job as well." She smiled lightly. "I do not mind this job requires me to relocate to a new town; I kind of have been feeling it was about time for a change."
   "That I can also understand," Minty smiled with another nod of her head. "And let me tell you, Mrs. Vandermeer, that I am convinced you will enjoy working for this company. The atmosphere here is quite relaxed and informal; I will be calling you Phoebe, and you will be calling me Minty, for one." She smiled deeper. "I'm sure you have also noticed that this company is very helpful towards their employees, right?"
   "I have indeed noticed that, Miss Mouse... Minty," Phoebe nodded. "They have offered me help in finding a house here in Amity, and the use of a moving company."
   "Right," Minty smiled. "I have been asked to show you around town to look at some houses I know are available, as I have lived here for a couple of years already, and it will be my pleasure to do so. I understand you have a daughter?"
   "Uhm, yes, I do," Phoebe said softly, nodding again. "Lily, she's five years old now."
   "That's a cute name," Minty smiled. "I merely asked, as it is something to keep in mind when looking at potential homes for you; after all they would need to be roomy enough for both yourself and your daughter."
   "That is true I guess," Phoebe nodded quietly.
   "Right," Minty said again, in a cheery tone. "What do you say, shall we get at it? I will show you around the company for a bit, show you your office, and then I can show you around town as well."
   "I would like that, yes. Thank you," Phoebe said with a soft smile.
   "And I would like to add a warm welcome into our company, Mrs. Vandermeer," Arlene said, standing up from her chair and holding out her paw.
Both Minty and Phoebe also stood up, the blue squirrel shaking Arlene's paw.
   "Thank you very much, Mrs. Johnson. I will do my best not to let your company down."
   "I know you won't, m'dear," Arlene smiled. "Now, you have a two week's notice at your current job, is that correct?"
   "Yes, that's correct."
   "Right. I advice you to give them your notice first thing coming Monday morning, and if you have any vacation days left, I advice you to take those at the end of your two week's notice. That will give you time to arrange your move into this town." She handed Phoebe a business card. "Call us when you're ready to move so we'll know to send a moving company. You will basically be starting your employment here the second Monday after next, however if you need more time to fully move into your new home here and arrange school for your daughter and whatnot, let us know by next week at the latest, alright?"
Phoebe took the card, glancing it for a moment before putting it in her purse with a nod of her head.
   "I will, Mrs. Johnson, thank you very much."
The pink cat made a dismissive gesture with a paw.
   "Arlene, m'dear, Arlene. Minty was very correct when she mentioned the informal atmosphere we have in this company. It's one of the main reasons why our company works so well, or at least this branch of it, as we're all so friendly with one another." She smiled. "Now, go on, Minty will show you around the place and then show you around town. We told her to take you for dinner as well."
   "Ah... alright then, thank you, Mrs... Arlene," Phoebe said.

She clearly was not used to such an informal atmosphere on the workfloor. Still, she did her best not to blush at it, sending Minty a smile again when the green mouse stepped around the desk and motioned at the door. Following Minty, Phoebe looked around her a bit as she was led around the company, nodding every now and then as Minty explained what the different departments were for while she led the way to where her office was.
   "Now then," the green mouse smiled, gesturing at the door. "I'm glad I'm getting a direct assistant, for several reasons. Firstly, I have been asking for an assistant for a while already as the workload is beginning to grow over my head. Secondly, now that you will come to work here as my assistant, I get a bit of an upgrade too." She chittered a soft giggle. "This here is my current office, just a small space for little old me. But during the time you will take care of moving to this town, I will be moving as well, to..." She led the way further down the hall and pointed at a door, "...this office here, which is bigger because the front part..." She opened the door and showed Phoebe into a small office space that held a desk with a chair, computer, telephone and intercom, a couple of filing cabinets against the walls, a notice board and two large [i]Schefflera[/i] plants in pots, while in the far wall was another door as well, "...is your office, and my new office is through that door there."
   "Oh, this is nice," Phoebe said with a soft smile as she looked around the small office. She even let out a soft giggle. "A real office, even, so much better than the cubicle I work in at my current job."
   "Isn't it?" Minty smiled, leading the way back through the corridor and taking the elevator down to the first floor so she could show Phoebe the cantina, then taking the elevator further down to the ground floor, leading the way outside after they had gotten their coats. "Alright, so, I assume you have a car?"
   "Mm-hm," Phoebe nodded. "Bit of an old one, but it runs good, never let me down."
   "Good," Minty smiled. "I'm also assuming you parked on the parking spaces in the front?" Phoebe nodded again, and so did Minty. "Right. Well, when you work here, you can use the parking spaces in the back; they're employee-only. You'll get a pass for the automatic bar, and you'll get a gas card as well. Would you like to drive yourself, or would you like to ride along with me when I show you around town?"
   "Oh, that's very nice too," Phoebe nodded. "Uhm... well, I suppose... it might be handier if I ride along with you?"
   "Yes, I was thinking that too," Minty smiled. "Where's your car?"
   "Oh, it's over there," Phoebe said, pointing at a 1998 Chevrolet Lumina LS in mouse-grey metallic parked on the row of parking spaces by the front of the building.
   "Ah, alright," Minty nodded. "Wait by it, I'll get my car and stop by yours so you can get in."
   "Yes, alright, that sounds good," Phoebe smiled.

She walked over to where her car was parked, waiting calmly by it while looking at Minty stepping around the building and disappearing from sight. Only a few moments later, Minty returned, driving from around the side of the building and pulling up to where Phoebe was waiting. The blue squirrel blinked in surprise when she saw the rusty old Chevrolet Bel Air convertible with its dulled and faded mintgreen and white paintjob that Minty pulled up in.
   "That's you car?"
Minty chittered softly as she looked out the driver's side window she had rolled down.
   "Bit of an even older one than yours, isn’t it? But yes, this is my car. My parents gave it to me when I graduated from college." She gave a small smile. "They passed away about a decade ago, and I've kept the car ever since."
   "Aw, I'm sorry," Phoebe said softly. "It's a real nice car though."
   "Thanks," Minty smiled. "Well, hop in, and I'll drive you around town."

Phoebe nodded and stepped around Minty's car so she could get in on the passenger's side, letting herself slide into the seat with a certain degree of carefulness. Minty giggled softly to herself about it, waiting till Phoebe had buckled up before driving past the parking spaces at the front of the building and onto the road. Calmly talking a bit, the green mouse started driving around town, heading towards the northern outskirts first to show Phoebe where the elementary school was.
   "Does your daughter go to school already?" she asked as she parked along the curbside. "She's five years old you said, right?"
   "Yes," Phoebe nodded. "She's been in kindergarten in McMinnville, but she was not yet going into elementary school yet. I'll still need to enroll her here once we're settled down though, she'll be six in April, so it's best if I enroll her already to make sure there's a spot in class for her once she's turned six."
   "Makes sense," Minty nodded with a smile, gesturing at the building across the road. "Well, this is the Amity elementary school, so now you'll know where to find it when you need it. It's kinda good she's not yet in school in McMinnville, too; that'll make the transition into living here a lot easier for her."
   "That's true, yes," Phoebe smiled. "Do you, uhm... do you have children?"
Minty chittered a soft giggle.
   "Sort of."
   "Hm? What do you mean?" Phoebe blinked.
Minty giggled again, pulling away from the curb and turning her car around on the elementary school's parking lot.
   "I don't have any children of my own, but a little over a week ago I was driving home from the Silverton airfield and I very nearly ran over a young kitten girl who tumbled down the embankment and onto the road. I brought her home with me to clean her and nurse her injuries and all, and it turned out she had run away from her foster home in Salem. With the help of my best friend Dusty, who knew someone who works for the foster agency there, we managed to arrange that she and I would become a shared foster home for that girl; I have her in the weekends and school vacations. So I kind of have a part-time daughter, you could say."
  "Ohh, I see," Phoebe understood, letting out a soft giggle. "That's somewhat funny, I bet you get a lot of people confused when you say it like that."
   "Quite," Minty giggled. "I also managed to make some of my old friends who know me very well look very surprised by simply saying I have a daughter now, because they all know that's something that normally would be pretty impossible for me."
   "Why is that, if I may ask?"
   "It's because I'm devotedly lesbian," Minty chittered with a little wink.
Phoebe blushed and looked down at her purse she was holding in her lap.
   "O-oh... I see. Yes, I... suppose that would be a... good reason why you wouldn't have kits."

Minty nodded with another soft chitter while she drove back into town from the elementary school. Using a list she had taken from her pocket while they were parked by the school, the green mouse drove through town, stopping by several addresses that were listed as for sale. Of course they could only look at the houses from the outside, but when they reached a mid-sized rectangular house with a built-on garage that was second-last in the row of houses making up one side of Rosedell Street, Phoebe got rather enthused. It seemed like just the perfect house; not too big, but roomy enough for a mother and a small child to live in, and it was only three blocks away from the elementary school as well. As the blue squirrel got more and more convinced that that would be the house for her, Minty called the broker's office to arrange for a viewing of the house's inside as well. Funnily enough, the representative showing up twenty minutes later was the same black cat by the name of Arthur Stevenson who had shown Minty and Angie the house at Enos Street that Angie bought only a few days earlier.

The black cat made a cheerful remark over how the Down Home broker's office was beginning to get very fond of Minty as the green mouse had been bringing in new customers so much lately, playfully asking Minty if she would maybe want to have a job at the broker's office while he gave the green mouse and the blue squirrel a tour of the house. Phoebe smiled softly to herself over the cheerful conversation between the green mouse and the black cat as they toured the house; that was just the kind of small-town friendliness and mentality she knew and appreciated.

She absolutely loved the house as well. It had a large living room, kitchen with adjoining dining room, toilet and even a rather large guest room with its own small bathroom and toilet on the ground floor, plus a large master bedroom and two smaller guest rooms and a large bathroom with tub, shower booth, full-body dryer booth, toilet and washing basin on the first floor. By the time they were back outside after having toured the inside of the house, Phoebe was without a doubt convinced; this was going to be her new home in Amity. An appointment was made for her to come to the broker's office so she could make all the paperwork in order, after which Minty drove the blue squirrel over to the bank where Phoebe could open an account and make arrangements to have her running account transferred from the bank in McMinnville to the bank in Amity, and while she was at it, she right away applied for a mortgage for her new house as well.

Since the arrangements at the bank took a little longer than expected, it was about dinnertime when Minty and Phoebe exited the bank again. Getting back into Minty's car, the green mouse drove the two of them to a restaurant where they took a table and ordered some drinks and a simple meal. While waiting for the food to arrive, they sat back comfortably and sipped their drinks.
   "Well, we have some time to get to know each other on a more personal level as well," Minty smiled. "So tell me something about yourself? Have you always lived in McMinnville?"
   "Yes, all my life, I was born and grew up there," Phoebe nodded, giving a little shrug and a smile. "I guess you could say I was the average of averages. If it hadn't been for the colors of my fur and my hair, no one would have even noticed me. I never really stood out at school, I wasn't overly good at anything in specific, I was just a bit good at everything; your typical average C-student."
   "I see," Minty smiled, taking another sip of her 7Up. "I like your colors, though. The blue is very nice, and the green of your hair goes very well with it."
Phoebe blushed a bit, holding her glass of sherry with both paws and looking down into it.
   "Aw, thanks..." She took a small sip, glancing at Minty over the edge of her glass. "I like your colors too, it's all green, but different kinds of green, it looks nice."
   "Thank you," Minty smiled with a soft chitter. "It's been the source of a lot of jokes though. For one, my name; even before I went to kindergarten, my parents already jokingly called me Minty Mouse, and that name has stuck forever. And I used to be called an alien lots of times as well." She chittered a giggle. "Heck, back in Portland where I used to live, that even was a running gag between me and the guys from the pizza place where I often ordered food from."
   "I like it, I think it's cute," Phoebe said softly, smiling a bit. She took another very small sip of her sherry, lifting her head a bit. "You lived in Portland, then?"
Minty nodded.
   "Yeah, that's where I was born and grew up and went to school and college. I'm quite the big city mousie, although I have to say I adapted very well to small-town life; I love it here, I wouldn't go back to living in a big city for the world anymore."
   "I can imagine that," Phoebe nodded. "I like a visit to a big city now and then, but I wouldn’t want to live in one." She smiled lightly. "May I ask what made you move to this town? Did you apply for a job here as well?"
   "Not really, I already worked at one of the main Weyerhaeuser offices in Portland as senior order processor when three years ago, they opened the branch here in Amity," Minty smiled. "Of course they needed to staff the Amity branch, but they only could get some base level crew from the Salem branch, so the big bosses of the Portland office approached me and asked if I would want a promotion to head order processor. The only condition that had was that it involved a change of address since the position of head order processor was at the new Amity branch." She shrugged. "I was about due for a change of scenery, and in all honesty, who wouldn't accept a promotion like that, even if it does mean you have to move to a new town? So I said, sure, I'll take it! Never regretted it for a single moment, either."
   "That's nice," Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, I suppose it would be rather dumb to turn an offer like that down, especially since it seems such a nice company to work for. I think I'll like working for them as well."
   "I'm sure you will," Minty nodded with a smile. "I'll admit, it was a bit more impersonal at the office in Portland, but that was mostly because that's one of the main offices and it's so very large; I believe they have several hundred people working there. Even so, they're mighty helpful even there; they gave me full assistance in finding a house here in Amity and they provided a moving company and everything, they really did everything they could to make the transition as smooth as possible for me."
   "That's nice," Phoebe said again, smiling softly. "Yes, I really think I will like working for them." She looked around when the waiter brought the food they had ordered. "Oh, thank you."

They sat in silence for a while, calmly eating and enjoying their food. Every now and then they looked up and at each other across the table, Minty doing her best not to giggle each time she caught Phoebe's look and saw the blue squirrel blushing when their eyes met. It seemed Phoebe was rather shy, although the blue squirrel did also seem to slowly get a bit more at ease around Minty. When the desserts were brought to their table, they sat back a bit again, resuming their conversation between bites of ice cream.
   "So, what's your daughter like?" Minty asked with a smile. "Does she have such a nice fur color as well?"
   "Yes, quite," Phoebe nodded with a soft smile. "My husband was a red squirrel, and with my fur being blue, Lil turned out light purple." She leaned aside a bit to take her purse, opening it and rummaging through it for a moment until she had found a photograph which she offered to Minty. "Here, look, this is her."

Minty took the photograph and looked at it with a smile. It showed Phoebe by the entrance of some kind of theme park, holding a small and clearly quite young squirrel girl in her arms. The girl looked quite a bit like her mother, with indeed a soft purple tint to her fur, decorated with markings more or less similar to Phoebe's in a very light pink-ish purple tint, while her hair, tied into two cute pigtails, was a very soft, light yellow color. She had quite striking clear purple eyes as well, and what was visible of her skin showed as an almost peach-like yellow-ish beige tint, although Minty was not quite sure if that was due to the quality of the photograph or whether it was the girl's actual skin color.
   "Aww, she's absolutely adorable. Just as cute as her mother, if not more," Minty smiled, handing the photo back to Phoebe.
The blue squirrel made a soft squeaky sound and blushed again, looking down as she took the photo and put it back into her purse.
   "Ah... th-thank you," she said quietly, staring into her sundae a bit while curling her big bushy tail around herself and resting it in her lap, clearly making a strong effort not to hide in her tail.
   "You're welcome," Minty chittered, returning to her own sundae and calmly finishing it. After she had flagged the waiter to pay for the dinner - and get the receipt as she would be reimbursed for it by the company - she smiled at Phoebe. "So, is there anything else you would like to see of the town?"
Phoebe looked down at her tail resting in her lap, fiddling at tufts of fur with her fingers.
   "Uhm... I don't quite know... what else is there to see?"
   "Hmm... well, there's the Amity Market, that's the mall on the other side of the street here, there's the hair and fur salon, the library, the churches..." Minty summed up slowly while running a paw over her muzzle. "You know what, how about we just drive through town a bit and I point out everything on the go?"
   "Ah, yes, that sounds good," Phoebe nodded softly. "Thanks you, Ms... Minty, I mean." She gave a light smile. "That will take some getting used to, I've never really been used to being on first-name terms with superior staff."
Minty made a dismissive gesture with a paw as she rose up from her seat.
   "Don't sweat it. I may be your boss, but as far as I'm concerned that shouldn't make any difference for our personal relationship as acquaintances and probably good friends. And I reckon you are used to being on first-name terms with friends, right?" she chittered softly.
   "Boss... yes," Phoebe nodded slowly, rising up from her chair as well. "Ah, yes, you are right about that." She smiled a bit deeper. "Thank you again, Minty. It'll be nice having a friend here already by the time I move into that house as I will be a total stranger in town and a total newcomer in any social circles."
   "Indeed, and it will be my pleasure to help you find your way around and get a bit established in this town," Minty smiled, leading the way out of the restaurant.

Phoebe smiled as she followed Minty outside and across the parking lot to the green mousette's car. Minty calmly drove them through town, pointing out points of interest and explaining what everything was. Every now and then she looked aside, chittering to herself each time she found Phoebe looking at her and blushing when the green mouse looked back. That was so cute... it was almost like the blue squirrel was crushing on her like a school girl, but too shy to say anything. Giving her head a light, amused shake, Minty drove over to the park at the corner of 4th Street and Enos Street, having a feeling Phoebe would like to know where to find that as it had a playground for children and everything, and parked her car along the curbside near the park entrance.
   "Alright, this is about the last thing I think you may want to know about; the park," she smiled, motioning at the park, then looking at the underside of her left wrist where the clockwork of her small watch was. "I live quite close by here, would you maybe like to join me at my place for a cup of coffee or something? Or do you have to get back home to your daughter?"
Phoebe also checked her watch.
   "Well... I told my steady babysitter this morning to pick Lily up from the daycare and watch her because I would be out of town on a job interview, so they should be alright, but it is indeed getting a bit late, and it's a fairly long drive back to McMinnville, so perhaps I should better go back home now, if you don't mind." She looked up at Minty and smiled softly. "I'll take a rain check on that cup of coffee, though."
   "Sounds fair," Minty nodded with a smile. "I'll drive you back to the office so you can pick up your car."

Phoebe nodded with a smile, sitting back a bit and looking at the scenery as Minty drove them back through the streets and to the outskirts of town where the office building was. Parking by Phoebe's Chevrolet, Minty smiled and turned in her seat a bit.
   "Alright, here you are, Phoebe. Have a safe drive home, alright? I guess I'll see you in two weeks, and if, during the coming two weeks, there's anything you need help with concerning your moving here, don't hesitate to let me know, okay?"
   "Thank you, Minty," Phoebe smiled. "I will keep that in mind. And... well, I'll see you in two weeks then."

Minty smiled and nodded, leaning over to lock the passenger door after Phoebe had gotten out of her car, then sitting back up and waving at the blue squirrel through the driver's door window. Phoebe waved back as she got into her car, honking the horn as well while she pulled out of the parking space and drove off. Minty looked after the receding car for a moment, smiling again and eventually pulling off the parking lot as well to drive back to her own house.

She giggled a bit to herself. This were going to be two long weeks... because now that she had met the woman who would be her assistant, the green mouse couldn't wait! Such a sweet woman as her direct personal assistant, and such a cutie, too! Her workload at the office might increase a good bit, but this was making it very much worth it.
