Being the temple point of gossip in an office working space can be both a blessing and a curse.

One of the many things that Benjamin Clawhauser lives and breathes for is gossip. As the receptionist of the most busiest precinct of the city, he gets his daily dose of gossip straight from the various mammals that he meets everyday.

And of course, if he is prone to listening to gossip, then he is equally susceptible to give gossip of his own. His system is quite simple: Give gossip, Get gossip; that's the deal.

Though, despite of his love for this unusual hobby, there were of course some things that the chubby cat knew that he could never tell anyone.

The one of many rules of gossiping, most of which Clawhauser had invented himself, was to distinguish the difference between a juicy tidbit and a potentially life destroying secret. One has to know which is safe to share and which ones to keep to himself for fear of ruining somebody else's credibility.

Clawhauser knew a few of those secrets, two to be exact, both he had found out him self. One of which was that one time he caught Hopps and Wilde rutting in one of the interrogation rooms. Obviously he was sworn to secrecy, but just for good measure, half a dozen boxes of Kitty Kremes appeared at his desk one morning after the incident. The cheetah didn't need to put two and two together to know where they came from, as unnecessary at as it was he gratefully took the boxes and the topic was never brought up again.

And the most recent one. The one secret that if it ever gets leaked, two lives, two careers and two names will be dragged through the dirt.

Never in a million years, that Clawhauser would've imagined his boss being involved in a secret love affair.

His boss, Chief Adrian Bogo, caught up in a controversial relationship.

By all means, it doesn't make a shred of sense. For all the years that he's been working for the Buffalo, not once has he broken any kind of strict rule. And the Chief has lived by those rules, following it almost religiously.

Why now, that the ever stoic Chief decided to go against those rules and have himself get tangled in forbidden love?

Fraternization between two public figures, who by the way works for different offices, different positions and different ranks, is grounds for suspension at best and termination at worst.

These types of situations could only happen within three reasons: The first one is sex, the second one is money, and the third one would be love.

The first reason is a common factor in secret affairs. And in Clawhauser's mind, it made sense; Both bovines were relatively quite young, in the prime of their lives in fact and not to mention both mammals were attractive, it only made sense that the two of them would be drawn to each other.

But then again, Clawhauser knew the Chief rarely dated, with the Buffalo being married to his job and whatnot. He didn't seem like the type of person to throw away his career for something as carnal and unnecessary as sex. Or sleep around with some woman for a night or two.

Money would be totally out. To the cheetah's knowledge, Chief Bogo was relatively well off and his salary was decent. And knowing Ms. Grazer's position as Assistant Mayor of Zootopia is self explanatory enough.

That leaves love.

The chubby cat paused.

Could it be? It wouldn't sound ridiculous. Chief Bogo might be hard as a rock most of the time but he WAS a mammal. Mammals have feelings, a mammal can fall in love.

It would be hard to imagine at least, but surely not impossible.

The big cat mentally chuckled.

Love.

Chief Bogo, willing to throw his career away for love.

Now that he thought about it, it really did sound ridiculous.

Ridiculous and hard to imagine.

But...

All the same...

Not impossible.

He'd have to think about that some other time, perhaps right after his shift ends.

VVV

Quitting time.

Pack up all the things and head out for the night. Go home, get a drink, go to happy hour, it's anyone's call really.

For Clawhauser and everyone else in Precinct One, nothing else felt more sweeter than checking out for the day and looking forward to the coming weekends.

And as Clawhauser put away his bronze desk plaque and tidying up anything else in his post, he noticed Chief Bogo about to pass by him. The hulking Buffalo sported his bluish black coat over his Police Chief uniform, with his phone in one hoof, tapping away with the other. Upon observation, Clawhauser could only manage to see a twinge of a smile ghosting his lips.

"Evening Chief Bogo." Clawhauser greeted, making the bovine glance up from his phone, "Got any plans for this weekend?"

The Buffalo grunted flatly, "No, haven't made any.

Clawhauser tilted his head slightly, "Really?"

Bogo raised an eyebrow, "Surprised?"

To which the cheetah merely shrugged, "Most mammals usually make plans for weekends."

The Chief grunted once more, "Well, I'm not most mammals, Clawhauser. I prefer to spend my weekends quiet and alone."

"Kinda sounds boring though." Clawhauser said.

"It's been a long week," Chief Bogo elaborated, "I'd deserve a little peace and quiet after all."

"Well, if you put that way..." The spotted cat shrugged and finished stowing away his stuff.

"Be seeing you at Monday, Chief." He waved goodbye at his commanding officer as he got out of his desk. Walking towards the direction of the locker rooms in order to get a change of clothes.

The Buffalo made a small grunt and replied, "You too, Clawhauser."

The phone in Bogo's hoof vibrated.

'Got my bags ready, darling." The text read.

Right underneath the message was a heart emoji.

Bogo smiled again, wider this time.

VVV

"Okay, I'll take a hot Grandé Chai tea and two glazed donuts please."

The wolf cashier nodded with a smile, "Absolutely, your order will be ready in a few minutes."

She paused and took a marker near the cash register and a medium.

"Your name, Miss?" She asked.

"Suzie."

As the cashier wrote down the name onto the cup, Suzanne sidestepped in order for the next customer to have their turn.

She thought this day would never end. As soon as her shift ended she immediately got a craving for something sweet. So she quickly set out to find it.

She stumbled upon here, just four blocks away from City Hall.

Bouts of cinnamon, sugar, coffee and whipped cream wafted in the air conditioned room. Cozy couches and adorable wicker seats complemented the many coffee tables of the café.

How she loved Snarlbucks.

Finding a place to sit and wait for her order, she brought out her phone from her pocket and promptly connected with the WiFi. Immediately training her hoofed finger on the MuzzleBook app.

Not much to be seen there. Three notifications, all unexciting and unimportant enough to be ignored. No messages as well. She hummed indifferently; it wasn't like she was expecting anyone to contact her anyway.

'Being single stinks sometimes' she bitterly thought.

Laying her phone down onto her table, she opted to glance around the café in order to occupy herself as she waited. The place was rather lax, considering there was only a fair amount of mammals present this evening. The buzz from their collective chatter blended with the chill atmosphere; loud, yet the sound of the bell perched on top of the door as it opened did not escape Suzanne's attention.

In walked in a rather chubby cheetah, wearing an orange button up shirt and a pair of simple blue jeans, whom promptly walked up to the counter and gave the wolf cashier a friendly wave.

A regular no doubt.

VVV

Benjamin Clawhauser loved Snarlbucks.

He'd been coming to this particular branch for nearly three years now. He knew all of the staff by name. Right after changing into his casual clothes that he keeps in his locker, he arranged a Zuber and went straight here.

How fortunate that as he walked in, the last costumer had just finished putting their order down, leaving the counter free.

With a pep in his step, he approached the counter and waved at the cashier.

"Evening Kate!" He greeted.

'Kate' looked up from the register and smiled at the cheetah.

"Benny, Hi!"

The cheetah readily returned her smile, "How's it going?"

Kate shrugged, "Can't complain, I'm finally gonna have that faucet fixed in my bathroom."

"Noise keeping you awake?"

"Ugh, like you wouldn't believe," she rolled her eyes, "Anyway, the usual?"

"Yes please."

"Coming right up," Kate paused, "Oh wait, just gotta do this one thing."

The she wolfed pulled at the bendable microphone right next to her and promptly spoke into it.

"Ms. Suzie?" she called out, "I got a Grandè Chai Tea and two Glazed donuts for Ms. Suzie?"

VVV

Upon hearing her name being called, Suzanne pocketed her phone and went up to the counter to retrieve her food. She observed that the cheetah had remained where he was, still talking to the cashier.

She can assume that they were close.

"Hey what a coincidence," the cheetah suddenly said, "that's what I ordered too."

Suzanne didn't expect the spotted cat to speak to her. She didn't mind as much... Although, she could faintly remember hearing his voice before.

She offered a smile, she didn't know why exactly, only because the feline was smiling at her.

"Funny how the world works, eh?" She said, hoping he would say something back.

"Yeah," he agreed, "Pretty neat."

There was no doubting it, she had heard his voice before.

Quizzically she stared at the rotund feline as she tried to recall the last time she heard his voice. She remained where she stood, making sure she looked unsuspecting yet close enough in order to hear the spotted cat.

Unaware of the pig sow observing him, Clawhauser blissfully continued to converse with the wolf cashier.

"So how's work been treating you, Benny?" Asked Kate.

Clawhauser shrugged, "Same as always; sat down, made calls, receive calls, process some thug for custody. You know, receptionist stuff."

Kate chuckled and drawled, "Man, they're realy working you to the bone, aren't they Benny?"

He laughed back, "All in a day's work at the ZPD."

Suzzane's memory jolted.

'Of course!' she mentally exclaimed, 'I spoke with this cheetah this morning on the phone during work.'

She gave the spotted cat a quick once over.

'For a big guy, he looks kinda cute."

A beat passed.

'Where the hell did THAT come from?'

Quick to get her mind back on track, she focused her hearing on the two conversing predators once more, forcing that little mental slip up at the back of her mind.

The she-wolf had just given the cheetah's order, whatever they had talked about about before that Suzzane had missed it. The cheetah said thanks to the cashier and made his way to seat himself at a table, coincidentally one that was placed just a mere feet away from the one where she previously sat on.

She weighed her options in her head; sit somewhere else or sit close to him and look like some sort of stalker.

For some unfathomable reason, she chose the latter choice and walked up to her previous seat and sat herself down.

The cheetah remained unresponsive to her, Blissfully chewing away at his first glazed donut; bits of crumbs and white sugar clung to his whiskers with every bite he took.

Blood coursed into Suzzane's ears as she discreetly stared at him. She suppressed a tiny squeal when his pink tongue darted out and licked the side of his muzzle for a stray bit of sugar.

She didn't know why, but she had always found that certain perk in felines (especially male ones) to be rather adorable.

'What's the harm?' she asked herself, 'You're only looking, there's no shame in that, right?"

It was there that she heard a faint rumbling sound coming from the big cat. A low purr resonated from him as he took a sip at his tea. A blissful smile stretching his lips.

'Yeah,' she mentally concluded, 'There's no shame in looking.'

VVV

If there was one thing that Clawhauser prided himself with is that he was a lot more intuitive and alert that he let on.

Does he know about the pig sow staring at him from one table down? Yes, yes he does.

Is he freaked out by it? No. She hasn't given him a reason to be freaked out.

Does he mind the staring?

...

He's not one to be self conscious when eating in public, why start now?

Besides, it wasn't the kind of stare that came off as rude and distracting. More so it was the kind that looked curious and inquisitive. And maybe a bit of amusement?

No... That's just silly.

'Who in the world would be amused to see me eat?' he asked himself.

Should he say something? Should he wait if SHE would say something? What are the odds that maybe she wasn't even looking at him in the first place and he's just imagining things?

He glanced up and looked at her just to test that theory.

His eyes met up with hers briefly before she darted her eyes away from him, and for an added effect, she tried to be inconspicuous by hiding behind her chai tea; taking a sip from the cup as if nothing had transpired between them. She visibly chocked mid gulp for some reason.

That's all Clawhauser needed.

As if on cue, this pig sow looked back at him. The cheetah tested a smile and sent her a friendly wave.

VVV

'Oh crap he knows.' Suzzane mentally panicked.

'Quick, look unsuspecting as possible.'

She then proceeded to take a casual sip of her chai tea. She nearly pulled it off, she just didn't realise that the tea was still a little too hot for consumption and it scalded the inside of her mouth on the first gulp causing her to briefly choke as the hot liquid came in contact with the back of her throat.

'Yeah way to go, Suzzane.' she thought sarcastically, 'That didn't look weird at all.'

Against her better judgement, she hazard a glance at the cheetah once more. Her embarrassment doubled as she went eye to eye with the spotted feline; a hard blush stained her cheeks when he saw him smiling at her with a friendly wave.

Suzzane sighed and waved back. So much for being inconspicuous.

"Hi." The cheetah greeted.

"Hey there." she returned sheepishly.

Her heartbeat doubled in its pace as the rotund feline got up from his seat (not before taking his food with him) and made his way over to hers.

"May I?" he gestured to the only vacant seat.

"Sure," she answered, "Why not?"

He nodded once and promptly sat himself down.

"Benjamin Clawhauser," he introduced himself, lending a paw at the pig sow for her to shake.

She made an effort to smile, "Suzzane Sowell."

She took the spotted paw into her dainty hoofed hand.

'His paw is so soft.'

The inside of her ears burned at that realization. Mercifully, he let go of her hand before she burst into flames... Not literally though, but to Suzzane, it felt quite close to that.

"Are you okay?" he asked suddenly.

She wasn't prepared, "What...?"

"I mean, is your throat fine?" he clarified, "You took a big gulp of hot tea too quickly and I saw you choke."

"Oh no, I'm fine," she coughed, only now the after effects of the hot tea can be bareable.

"You saw that, huh?" she asked sheepishly.

He chuckled, "Hard not to when you're basically sitting right in front of me."

"Oh." she blushed.

'Of course he saw me.'

"You know," Clawhauser started, "This is the first time I've seen you here, are you new in town?"

She shook her head, "No, I've lived in Zootopia since I was a piglet, I've only come across this branch of Snarl Bucks this evening."

"Any reason why you came here?"

She shrugged, "Don't know; I got off from work, walked around, I saw the place and went in and here I am."

The cheetah took a sip from his tea before asking, "So you work nearby?"

"At City Hall four blocks away." she answered.

His mouth twitched slightly as she said that. Of course Suzzane noticed but didn't pay it much mind. Must some kind of mannerism that he had.

"Oh wow, City Hall." he said, "Must be exciting."

"Meh," she shrugged, "I mean I'm just a receptionist, it doesn't get much exciting than that."

"Hey, I'm receptionist too." he declared, "What a coincidence."

"Yeah... I kinda knew." Confessed Suzzane.

"I'm sorry... What?"

"I knew you were a receptionist," she clarified, "You work at Precinct One."

Benjamin smiled, clearly amused, "Okay, I'll bite. How'd you know that?"

"Your voice sounded familiar."

The big cat bobbed his head curiously, "My voice?"

"This morning, I called Precinct One and you picked up."

"I don't know, I took a lot of calls that morning."

"Don't you remember?" she asked, "It was about rescheduling a meeting between Assistant Mayor Grazer and Chief Bogo."

"Oh... Oh!" Benjamin's face lit up with recognition.

"That was you?"

"Yes," she nodded, "And it was a rather unusual day concerning that meeting."

The cheetah squinted, "What do you mean?"

"Well..." she paused, suddenly apprehensive, "I don't know if I should tell you this, I mean we just met."

"Why, what is it?" he urged.

"I...", She stopped and looked around.

The café looked more crowded now than it did twenty minutes ago. Among the sea of costumers she managed to spot a vacant table in the far corner of the room; Sufficient lighting, right next to a window and with less mammals around.

"Come on." she quickly got up from her chair and made her way towards the other table.

Surprised by her sudden movement, Benjamin quickly scooped up his tea and donuts, he did well not to forget Suzzane's and grabbed them too before following the pig sow.

"Okay, " Suzzane said as they sat down, "What I'm about to tell you is extremely confidential."

"Alright." answered Benjamin, "So is this like a gossip exchange?"

"You could say that."

"Oh nice," he smiled, "Lay it on me."

"You swear you won't tell anyone about this?" she asked with a serious tone.

"Yes, receptionist's honour." the big cat held up a paw and drew a cross on his chest.

'Cute.' Suzzane thought.

"Okay," she whispered, "This morning, Ms. Grazer has been acting a little strange."

VVV

At the mention of the Assistant Mayor's name, a feeling of anticipation pooled within Clawhauser's stomach.

"How strange?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know. She seemed antzy when she came in for work this morning. I can only assume, but I think it had something to do with this bull she met today."

"A bull?"

"I have no idea who he was. It couldn't have been Ms. Grazer's boyfriend because she didn't seem to enjoy seeing him."

"Might be an Ex." Benjamin suggested.

"You think so?" she wondered.

"Could be, I mean you said it yourself she didn't seem too happy to see him. Maybe they had a nasty break up and that bull visiting Ms. Grazer is an attempt to make her take him back."

Suzzane could only stare at him in disbelief, "That's a rather specific theory."

"It's the most likely scenario," he said, "So then what else happened?"

"Well, after I alerted Ms. Grazer about the bull, he went up to her office and he didn't come out for a while. That was when Chief Bogo and two of his detectives showed up for their appointment."

Clawhauser knew about that part quite well. He could remember telling Chief Bogo that his meeting with Ms. Grazer had been rescheduled, he could recall how the buffalo's face slightly sadden as he heard it.

And when the time to go to City Hall was near he had been raring to go, urging Francine and Fangmeyer to hurry up. His urgency disguised under the pretence that showing up late would be highly unprofessional.

But Clawhauser knew the real reason behind it all and he found it rather adorable.

Chief Bogo rushing out to visit his lover. How romantic.

"Interesting," responded Benjamin, "Then what happened?"

"That bull came back down just as I was about to give Chief Bogo the sign in sheet. And the bull did not look happy."

This doesn't sound good.

"Did Chief Bogo see him?" Benjamin asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "And it was a tense moment, let me tell you. Like two alpha males sizing each other up."

"Did uh.. Did they say anything to each other?"

"Thankfully no," she paused to take a sip from her tea, "They just stared at each other for moment and he left."

"And Ms. Grazer?" he inquired, "What about her?"

"I'm getting to that," she waved a hoofed hand.

"So the bull leaves and I alerted Ms. Grazer that Chief Bogo and his detectives have showed up through my desk phone intercom that connects directly to her office.

"When she answered, I got a bit alarmed when I heard her sniffle, like she had been crying or something."

"Did the Chief or the detectives notice?" Clawhauser asked.

To that she shrugged, "I'm not sure, I think Chief Bogo did notice. As for the other two, I wasn't really paying them much attention."

"What did the Chief do?" Clawhauser inquired. He chose his words carefully as he added, "Was he acting a bit off?"

"Well, Kinda." Suzanne answered, "I mean right after writing his name on the sign in sheet he quickly made his way to Ms. Grazer's office, he didn't even wait for his two detectives."

"Did anything else happen after that?"

She shook her head, "No, not for a while. Not until the two detectives went back down to the lobby without Ms. Grazer and Chief Bogo."

"Interesting." The cheetah hummed.

Obviously he knew why both bovines took too long to reappear.

And as much as he wanted to tell Suzzane about their respective bosses relationship so he could get it off his chest and finally talk about it to someone, he just wasn't sure it would be the right thing to do so. It was just too risky.

"You know," Suzzane started, "I can only be assuming here, but I think there's something going on between Chief Bogo and Ms. Grazer."

It was a good thing the Clawhauser wasn't taking a sip from his tea at that very moment. He would've either choked or did a spectacular spit take.

"T-that's quite a big assumption," he stammered, "What er... What makes you say that?"

"Well, it was when Ms. Grazer and Chief Bogo finally got back to the lobby together." she said, "And I noticed that she was smiling a bit differently. I've seen her smile before but not quite like a smile like that."

"That could mean anything." Clawhauser suggested, trying to look as oblivious as possible.

"It could mean everything," she corrected, "Whatever happened in those few minutes that they were gone could have had something to do with Ms. Grazer's mood improving."

"Maybe they just talked," the cheetah suggested, "I mean Chief Bogo was... Is a cop. Maybe he was just trying to help her."

To that the pig sow staring scoffed, "Oh come on, Benjamin. Mammals can't just talk about things as serious as failed relationships to random mammals. It's either they have a thing going on or Ms. Grazer is more open that I thought. And I have worked with that woman for long time now, she barely shares anything."

Clawhauser held up a finger, "Or maybe Chief Bogo just happened to notice her distress and just decided to help her. Like a good Police mammal would."

"What about the Chief?" Suzzane asked out of the blue.

"What about him?"

"Don't you notice anything different about him?"

The spotted cat cocked his head to the side in confusion, "I don't quite get what you mean."

A huge lie. He knows exactly what she means. His feigned obliviousness was a way for him to throw the pig sow off the scent, and she was getting close. He needed to act fast.

"Seriously?" Suzzane groaned, "Anything can be a clue. Has Chief Bogo been acting differently? Has he been smiling more frequently? Hell, does he smell like women's perfume from time to time?"

Clawhauser couldn't help but chuckle.

"If you think Ms. Grazer is secretive then you have no idea how guarded Chief Bogo is." he said as a matter of factly, "He hides his feelings behind a thick wall of stoicness so I couldn't have noticed if he's been acting differently. His smiles are about as rare as a solar eclipse and as for him smelling like women's perfume... Well... I don't really go around sniffing my boss in my spare time," he paused, "Yeah, that sounded way too weird now that I've said it out loud."

"Well, there has to be something between them." Suzzane groaned, obviously not wanting to drop the topic, "Ms. Grazer's got to be in love with somebody."

That last part took Clawhauser by surprise, "I'm sorry, she's what now?"

"She's in love." she repeated, "The signs are all there. She's deliriously head over heels for someone; Smiling, blushing, giddy behavior, it's all there. That's been going on for the past week or so and the only time she stopped acting that way was when her supposed Ex dropped by for a visit."

"Couldn't be that she's just really happy about something?"

"Well, that's the thing. I know what happy looks like. And when I saw the way she was looking at Chief Bogo this afternoon she didn't look happy, she looked like she was staring at a man that she was in love with."

Clawhauser shook his head, "I don't think that could be considered as actual evidence," he told her, "I mean don't get me wrong, this could very well be the most juiciest piece of gossip that I've ever heard, but without actual evidence to back it up, you're basically just spreading rumors."

"I'm not spreading rumors." she said, "And I would never lie about something this big. I know what I saw Benjamin."

"Well, I don't." he shrugged.

She didn't say anything else after that, merely she sighed and deflated.

A pang of guilt hit Clawhauser. He didn't want to lie about all of this but he needed to. He had to. Lives would be put at risk if other people knew what he knew.

And as much as he wanted to tell Suzzane about how true her suspicions were... Well... He had only met this woman this evening. How could he be sure that this pig sow can be trusted with such a heavy secret?

He observed her quietly as she took a sip from her tea. She looked like she was sulking. Probably thinking about how she could've been wrong.

If there was anything that a receptionist could pride themselves with, it would be there uncanny ability to notice things that other mammals fail to notice.

Clawhauser prided himself with it. Surely, Suzzane felt the same way.

At least, he had to make her feel better somehow. At least try to nurse her pride that he pretty much wounded with his white lies.

'Okay Guilt. I think I get it now.' he mentally whined.

"You know," he started, "You can't always be right about stuff like this. We're receptionists not psychologists."

"Yeah," she chuckled, "I guess that's true."

"And there's also a possibility that you could be right."

She quirked a brow, "What? But didn't you say-"

"I said that without any concreit evidence to back it up you can't prove it." he clarified, "All you gave me were loose circumstancial evidence."

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"I'm saying that you need to gather more clues," he clarified, "More solid evidence that could prove your claim."

"I don't think I have the skills to do that."

"You made it this far, right?" he pointed out, "And that was just you making observations."

She looked unsure, "I don't know, Benjamin."

"Look, this involves both our work places right? Precinct One and City Hall respectively. I'll do my own looking around and I'll give you updates with what I could find."

"Sort of like a stake-out or something?" she inquired.

"Well, if you wanna call it that, sure why not?" he smiled, "We could meet here every week and discuss our findings."

Suzzane mulled this over for a moment. Mentally weighing some pros and cons.

She glanced up and looked directly at the feline in front of him, still wearing a smile, eagerly waiting for her response.

"You know what?" she smiled back, "Let's do it."

Benjamin raised his cup of tea towards her in a silent salute.

"To the juiciest gossip." he declared.

"To the juiciest gossip." she repeated before touching her cup with his.

They drank the rest of their tea down and enjoyed their remaining donuts.

Clawhauser may not have been able to tell Suzzane about the actual truth right away and he'd always feel bad about lying to his new friend. He had rules when it came to gossip. But just like any rule, there is always a loop hole.

He may not be able to tell her about the secret, but it won't count as telling if they "Found out" by themselves. Of course, with a little help from him.

And it would be better this way. This would give Clawhauser the opportunity to see if Suzzane can be trusted to keep such a heavy secret.

A lot work needs to be done for this to work.

But for now, he can enjoy being in the company of a new found friend.