Sometimes it's Worth Taking a Risk

The stallion held a small envelope in his hands. There was nothing special about it. Just an ordinary piece of folded and glued paper. The only thing that stood out was a bit of dirt there on one corner next to the stamps, yet his hands were shaking when he opened it. He pulled out a letter and two small slips of paper, two tickets to a concert that was scheduled for later that week. As he read the letter and then looked at those tickets, he smiled brightly, finally even kissed the two glossy slips cheerfully.

He had spent a big portion of his paycheck to get these tickets. The concert had been sold out. But this was the last time Alex’s favorite singer, Lady Gaga, would give a concert anywhere near them for the foreseeable future. Even as he imagined the joy in his girlfriend’s eyes, he couldn’t stop smiling. Ever since she had told him about how much she loved the eccentric popstar, he had been on the hunt for tickets. A mission that seemed almost hopeless unless he was going to take out a loan or rob a bank. But just a few days earlier, he managed to snipe two tickets. The two he now held in his hands. A typo in the title of the online auction, a lucky break for him. Not the best spots, but better than nothing. Better than taking the risk of not seeing the singer for at least a few years.

His heart was beating fast and he quickly went back inside their shared apartment. Luck would have it that he managed to get that letter out of the mailbox without Alex noticing. After that, he didn’t want to screw things up by having her find out he had those tickets sooner than he wanted her to.

===

It was Thursday night, three days later, the stallion was laying on the couch in the living room. He had his laptop set up on his belly and was still typing away at some code, finishing up some things for work. He just wanted the time to pass until Alex would come home. His ears wiggled when he heard the beeping signal sound from her holding her keycard up against the reader and he frantically typed to finish the block of code he was working on. With a dramatic gesture, he pushed the save button, still had his hands in the air when the tigress stepped into the living room.

He smiled at her, closed the lid of the laptop and put it down onto the ground before getting up and walking over to her. There was a bit of a frown on Alex’s face when he looked at her, and he leaned his head to the side. They walked towards each other and hugged tightly. “Good evening, love… what’s wrong?” Tashi asked after they kissed. Alex leaned against him and curled her tail around his leg. “Today was just very stressful. Only one other waiter around, and so many guests coming in! My back hurts a little.” Tashi rubbed his muzzle against her cheek and carefully picked his girlfriend up off the ground. He put her down on the couch and rubbed her belly gently. “Sorry to hear that… I assume they didn’t hire more staff yet, then?”

The tigress sighed as she relaxed, but then she shook her head. “Not yet… I’m not sure they are even really trying.” She frowned, turned around to lay on her belly, and Tashi started massaging her back and shoulders gently. It was the least he could do, knead her sore muscles to help her relax. His job was stressful in its own way, but at least he mostly got to sit around all day. Word had spread that the tigress had come from the bottomless district and so people were somewhat hesitant in giving her tips. Her boss knew he was doing her a bit of a favor in even hiring her. He wished she was treated more fairly, but at least she earned more per hour than in her old job and didn’t have to commute there and back for over sixty minutes on each way. “But they are still closed for renovation this weekend, yes? We have those two days together?” He asked and bent over to kiss her neck. “Yes! But they’ll probably get me to help them clean on Monday!” – “Then let’s make the weekend count, mhm?” Tashi asked, scratched her back, and got back up to walk over to the small cabinet.

Alex raised her head to look after him. “Yes! Let’s do something nice. Did you check the film guide? Is there some movie we could go watch together?” The stallion shook his head. “Didn’t look at it, yet. But I can do you one better, I think!” He pulled out one of the drawers, lifted some old gaming magazines from years ago. Underneath, he found the envelope with those concert tickets, he took it out, and closed the drawer again. He playfully dropped the envelope in front of Alex’s face and walked past her. “Go ahead, have a look inside…” He said, chuckling happily. At the same time as Alex got her hands on the envelope and peeked inside, he got onto his knees next to Alex’s hind paws and started giving those some love. He gently kneaded her toes with his hands. Right up to the moment where Alex screamed and pulled her legs up, one paw kicking right against her boyfriend’s face. The stallion fell back onto his butt and laughed.

“Are you crazy? You shouldn’t have!” She was now sitting upright, staring at the tickets, then at Tashi. “Ahh! Yes… you are crazy!” She almost screamed again as she jumped off the couch and right onto the stallion’s lap. Alex hugged him tightly, kissed the cheek she accidentally kicked, and wiggled on his lap. Tashi put his arms around her as well, caressed her back, brushed over her hair, and just kept laughing. “You know I had to. You knew the moment you told me how much you loved her, right?” He said and leaned back to look into her eyes. “It’s a bit crazy… but come on. Can’t take a risk! You said yourself she might stop being on tour for a while.” The tigress stared at those tickets that were like a little dream come true. Then she just kept kissing Tashi’s face all over. “Thank you, Tashi… thank you, thank you….” She kept whispering
After sharing that moment of joy for a few minutes, Tashi got back up onto his hooves and pulled Alex along with him. “One more day of work… Saturday evening we’ll be good to go!” He said as he gently rubbed her belly. “Want to go out to have a sandwich at the diner around the corner, Alex? I’m starving… it’s on me. Let’s celebrate!” – “Yes, let’s go. I’m very hungry, too! I’d love to have a salmon sandwich.” – “Sandwich… and iced tea it is then!” They carefully put the tickets back into their safe spot and then went out together. Tashi held Alex’s hand the whole way, and even though the trip only took a few minutes, they couldn’t get there without the tigress jumping into his arms for another hug - twice.