Some may assume that Joanne has had an easy life. She came from old money and she kept building it up. She has managed her husband's fashion company well after his passing and Animalia has made her even more profit with their demands for new clothes to fit their anthro bodies. However, all this success had an unseen cost. Joanne had been raised to always keep her emotions in check, to never let an outburst potentially tarnish her image. And there were so many social obligations she was involved with as part of the upper class. And none of them allowed an outlet for all the pent-up stress and emotions she kept bottled up inside. And sooner or later, it became too much for her to repress.
That 'sooner or later' turned out to be her daughter, Nicole, leaving her. The two of them had been arguing through most of Nicole's adolescence, but it eventually came to a head and Nicole finally left, taking only a few of her belongings and moving to Animalia. After that, Joanne's issues started boiling over. At first, she tried to keep up a veneer that everything was fine, but the paint quickly started to chip. After that came the alcohol consumption, starting with wine but then going to brandy, tonic, and pretty much anything to keep from being sober. Eventually, depression managed to overcome even the buzz of alcohol.
Fortunately for Joanne, she hadn't dismissed her servants or they wouldn't have been there to stop this depressing final from reaching its ultimate conclusion. Admittedly, Joanne did manage to slit her wrists, but her servants had found her, staunched the bleeding, and got her to a hospital before it was too late. At this point, extreme measures had to be taken. The servants were of one mind that Joanne needed to be converted. It may be the only think to pull her out of her funk and it would be able to bring her closer to her estranged daughter. It took a while to get the idea through to Joanne's head. Part of it was because of the depressing haze she was in, part of it was the morphine she was on to keep the pain of her wrists down. When Joanne understood what they were telling her, she immediately said she wanted to be the same species that Nicole was. She didn't even bother to check what that was. All she wanted was to get her daughter back.
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Joanne felt better after her conversion, though she was not expecting to turn out as she was. It wasn't much of a surprise that Nicole had chosen to become a fox, but she would have expected a red fox or an arctic fox, not this big-eared desert fox. She had to say she looked good, her double-dosing giving her a younger, fitter body. Her enhanced curves would take a while to get used to, among other things. But right now, Joanne's biggest concern was seeing Nicole.
She had expected Nicole to be at that modeling school they had in Animalia. To her dismay, she was led to the Meat Market. But she wasn't about to complain about where her daughter worked now. She didn't want to push her away again. At least the Meat Market wasn't too crowded, considering the corona virus going around. Joanne hoped no one she knew was aware of Nicole's current career.
Joanne had spoken with one of the people in charge, a certain Miss Fabina who was some sort of big white dog. Miss Fabina arranged things so Joanne could have a private word with her daughter. Presently, Nicole appeared and Joanne tried to restrain herself from making any comments about her appearance. It wasn't much of a surprise that Nicole was dressed skimpily, considering she was working in a strip club. The tight garments she wore made it clear that she had been blessed with plentiful curves by her conversion. And it was really no surprise that Nicole had her large ears pierced several times. She was wearing enough earrings that her head jingled when she moved it. But the most discomforting thing that Nicole was wearing was the cold look she was giving her mother.
"Hello, mother," said Nicole in a cool tone.
"Nicole...I see you're doing alright for yourself," said Joanne, keeping her tone even.
"And I see you've finally taken the leap," said Nicole.
"Yes, I'd say you've got good taste for choosing this," said Joanne.
"Yes, shame it makes you a hypocrite for changing," said Nicole
"What?" asked Joanne.
"You didn't join Animalia because you believe in their message. You're just here for the health benefits," said Nicole.
"I'm here because I want to be close to you," said Joanne.
"How thoughtful," said Nicole, "But I'm doing pretty well without you. Let me show you." With that, she walked onto the stage and started dancing. Apparently this dance was meant specifically to spite her mother, showing her that Nicole didn't need her around.
Quite obviously, this would take a lot more work to patch things up between the two of them. As such, Dr. Jones asked Tiffany and her mother to try to talk to the two fennecs. It may take some time for mother and daughter to patch up their differences. But at least they have plenty of time to do it now.