Sunday Snippet: Zootropolis

WooHoo! I have a new roof on my garage and both porches. Our back porch actually includes our bathroom and laundry room and we’ve had leaks for the past five years. Here’s to not having those anymore! We went with a blue metal and it looks terrific with the slate roof of the house. I’m thrilled the job took, I’m not kidding, a day and a half. I figured it would take a week to get it all done. Glad I was wrong.

Busy week on the work front. Finished up a project and started two more. I did get some television viewing in but had a light week.

I caught an episode of Riverdale and enjoyed getting back to the regular timeline. I’m completely creeped out with Cheryl’s weird deal with her corpse brother but I love the battle of wills she’s having with the new principal. Loved having some story with Reggie. Also liked seeing Mad Dog join the group. I want Kevin and Betty to get back to their usual friendship and I’m happy to see him kind of wake up to the evils of the farmies. Here’s hoping Fangs comes back to the fold.

I watched The Will, a Passionflix original movie, and thoroughly enjoyed it! The casting ended up being spot-on and I had fun watching this one. I’ll be looking forward to the next release Passionflix puts out.

Caught another episode of Danger Man aka Secret Agent. I forever have The Prisoner in my mind when I watch these episodes even if they’re not technically related. Probably because I watched The Prisoner first.

Watched the third episode of Midsomer Murders. Enjoyed it a lot. It had some good twists and turns I didn’t expect.

Viewed another first season episode of Peak Practice. I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to think about Will. The character is, I think, the only one who remained for all twelve series. Right now, he’s kind of a petulant, whiny child most of the time and I don’t know if I’m supposed to like him or not. Since it’s only four episodes so far, I’ll reserve judgment.

Finished up Classic Who season ten with Three and the end of Jo’s tenure as a companion. The Green Death episodes were a pretty interesting arc and I like how Jo ended her time with the doctor. Looking forward to starting season eleven.

Strike Back is back, as noted in last week’s post. I’m currently watching the first episode of the season and, wow, Coltrane definitely has a big-ass chip on his shoulder. He kind of acts like he didn’t have his ass saved by his team not so long ago. That said, I’m not all the way through the first episode yet so I’ll reserve judgment.

And that’s pretty much it for television this week. Tonight’s post is from Zootropolis, a contemporary novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here’s the mini-blurb:

Mackenna Sycks is looking to raise money for a wildlife refuge in Africa. When Walton Conley offers to back her project, she balks, thinking the hot shot playboy has ulterior motives. He does, but he's also a whiz with fundraisers and surprises Mackenna with gala affair dubbed Zootropolis.

And a snippety peek…

Mackenna stopped by the zoo and completed her exit interview. Normally, she had a uniform to fall back on, but she'd turned hers in when she arrived. Which meant her street clothes were now covered in muck and dung after the director asked her to check on a gazelle trying to deliver a newborn.

Mackenna slid behind the wheel of her jeep. "Nothing like a little free labor for a laboring cow." At least the mama and fawn were doing fine.

By the time she'd helped the vet with the distressed animal, accepted her eternal gratitude, and put down new bedding for the pair, she had less than ten minutes to get to Walton's office for the initial fundraising meeting.

Starting the engine, she shook her head. "Of all the days to not have a spare outfit." Mess didn't begin to describe her current appearance, but she didn't want to miss the meeting.

A quick call to let the office know she'd be a little late went to voice mail. Mackenna made the cross-town drive in record time and took an extra five minutes to clean up as much as possible. She traded her rugged tennis shoes—covered with things not really fit for the general public not to mention an office—for a pair of flip-flops, but she couldn't do much to remove the fluid stains from her cotton blouse. She shucked it off, choosing to go with only her camisole. Her loose-fitting pants were worse for the wear and she couldn't escape the clinging aroma of, well, animal, but Walton would understand. After all, he'd witnessed firsthand what her job entailed.

Swallowing down discomfort, she squared her shoulders. "It's just the two of us. If he wants to reschedule, at least I made the effort to be here." Strolling up to the main doors, she exhaled slowly and put a wide smile on her face.

A wasted effort because Walton got one look at her when the receptionist showed her into the conference room—where at least twenty people sat around the huge table—and nearly blew a gasket.

Pissed off but trying to hide it, he dismissed the group. "Uh, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we've had a breakdown in communication. Let's break this up and I'll schedule a time we can regroup." He shot Mackenna a scathing glance.

She hunched her shoulders and blinked rapidly. Who the hell were all these people? Carrie said Mackenna and Walton would still be discussing how to organize and plan the benefit. When did two become almost two dozen?

When the door closed, Walton whirled around. "Are you trying to shoot yourself in the foot? Look at you? What the hell happened?" He stalked back and forth, anger rippling off him in waves.

Mackenna's ire rose. "I didn't know people would here. Carrie didn't mention it. She assured me this was supposed to be you and me only." She planted her hands on her hips. "As to what happened. I helped deliver a gazelle fawn as part of my exit interview. Something I didn't expect, clearly, and instead of being a raging asshole, you might consider I at least showed up instead of ditching what I thought was a simple information exchange." And she did call … but not his cell phone as he'd requested … she left a message on the company voice mail.

Because she didn't quite know what to do with Walton yet. The attraction for him threw her off and she didn't want to cross into his personal sphere. Only, right now, the urge to smash him into the wall ranked well above what his looks did to her.

Walton frowned. "Carrie was supposed to let you know I pulled together a group of donors—the largest one I've ever accomplished, I might add—who'd be willing to foot the entire bill for the gala so all the proceeds would go to the rescue foundation." His brows furrowed. "Did she not pass that along?"

A surge of guilt rose because Carrie had called several times and Mackenna ignored each one. Her best friend liked to pry and cajole Mackenna into leaving her comfort zone. Putting her firmly in Walton's orbit would be a very Carrie thing to do. And Mackenna didn't need the help. She couldn't get him out of her mind without Carrie's added assistance.

Mackenna met Walton's gaze. "She might have tried calling but I've, uh, been a little busy. I don't know why she didn't just text me the update." Okay, a total lie, but Walton didn't need to know Carrie liked to play matchmaker. "And I left a voice mail on your main office line." Weak, so weak.

Walton's eyebrows shot up. "Did you lose my personal number?"

She couldn't meet his gaze. "No. But I had a rough morning and dialed the first number listed for you, which is the office." She shrugged. "I didn't mean to wreck your plans or make a scene in front of a bunch of donors." Turning away from him, she started an apology. "I'm truly sor—" The words died in her throat when she got a look at a fully realized mock-up of his plan for the gala event. "Holy… Wow." She spun back around with her mouth hanging open.

Walton's shoulder twitched. "I spent the past few days between phone calls putting that together. Sometimes, when an idea hits, I can't stop the flow." He moved forward and picked up one of the pieces, a paper-mache elephant.

Mackenna blinked, guilt surging upward again. "You … made the whole display?" It took up most of the credenza, full of animals, habitats, people, tables, chairs, and she had zero problem picturing what it would look like in her head full to scale.

He'd definitely gone above and beyond. And, dammit, the man really had a knack, which she had to acknowledge.

She huffed out a breath. "Damn, you obviously know what you're doing when it comes to pulling off the impossible."

I like the vibe between Mackenna and Walton. They’re willing to admit the attraction but neither will jump into anything with the other. It’s so much fun to write.

That’s it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin