Tifa was laughing in an uproarious way that came of being tipsy from consuming glasses of expensive champagne and the goodwill of all those finely dressed to the nines had proven infectious as they heralded in the New Year in style at a glitzy party hosted by Rufus Shinra. She clinked her glass against his and laughed when glitter confetti rained from the ceiling and covered them both at midnight. She smiled up at him as he leaned in close and then….
To get on the guest list was a hard feat unless you were a friend of Rufus's…or an important employee of his; that automatically got you an invitation to his events as a token of appreciation for a job well done.
Reno was actually surprised by who his date was. Normally he didn't bother attending such events. For him to move amongst the rich and famous wasn't normally a good idea given his reputation with the ladies and sordid past. He was way too likely to run into wives of the upper crust he had slept with or the mistresses of their husbands and things could get ugly as result.
He had been looking at his invitation to Rufus's event and wondered if there was anyone he could think of to give them to.
"Did you really get tickets to Rufus's New Years Ball?" Tifa said with a sigh in her voice as she noticed them.
"I get an invitation to all of his events. I don't attend for personal reasons" he replied as she set a beer in front of him.
"But they're supposed to be so much fun. It sounds so romantic getting all dressed up and dancing the night away" she said with a sigh.
"If you want them, you could take Clou…." Reno said and noticed how this caused her face to fall.
Reno knew where Cloud was even if Tifa didn't, it was his job to know the location of people Rufus wanted monitored. He was out near Bonetown and had established headquarters for his delivery outfit out of a farm house and it looked like a permanent move. He apparently was surly with the junior Turk agent who watched him, but would often bring him coffee when he spotted him to show he was onto him. He was as void of character as ever but had helped the agent by changing his tire one time when he got a flat on the bumpy road. "I meant. What time should I pick you up?" Reno finished. So with that he had a date.
He wore a black tuxedo with a red tie and black vest beneath.
She wore some kind of glittering red dress with a trumpet skirt and sweep train. On other women, her dress would have looked tacky, but she looked simply lovely in it. She had her hair in a half updo and had the rest of her wealth of dark brown hair tumbling down her back. She wore only a tinge of red lipstick to match her dress and wore a simple necklace with a glittering snowflake set with rhinestones and red stones. She was easily the most beautiful woman there.
Tifa seemed determined to have fun and soon dragged out of him the secret why he didn't like to attend the parties. "How about her?" she whispered to him as she indicated to each woman she expected he'd slept with.
"Nah; I slept with her mother" he explained and she gave him a wry grin at this.
"How about her?" Tifa asked.
"That's the Baroness Dumont. She doesn't go in for men, a habit she shares with her husband. He's known for having an eye for the ladies, but maintains a single lover…..the Duke Elliot" he said, pointing to a handsome young man who was holding court before an audience of admiring females Reno proclaimed, gesturing to him.
"You like men too?" she asked him with a barely repressed smile.
"Sorry the Goddess created this body to please the women of the world" he in a snobby sounding voice said and that set her off snickering while he snagged two more glasses of champagne.
Their conversation got more risqué as time went on.
"The weirdest place I ever did it was the bleachers at school" she said.
"In front of everyone?" he said in surprise.
"It was late at night" she said. "How about you?" she asked him.
"A woman's mother's bed" he replied.
"What's strange about that?" she asked him.
"Her mother was fast asleep beside us hopped up on sleeping pills" he said and watched as her lips curled in a way that was becoming familiar to him and a dimple appeared in her left cheek and she laughed uproariously. Neither were drunk, just merely tipsy and enjoying themselves. They had forged a tentative friendship with time that the night was starting a bridge between them.
The meal was stupendous and she dragged him onto the dance floor as soon as the band started. Neither one had ever danced together but they seemed to just naturally glide across the floor as people smiled at how graceful they were together. Neither could stop looking at each other but blushed when the countdown began and he uncomfortably pressed an awkward kiss to her blushing cheek that left her feeling more disappointed than she felt she had a right to and him, like a virginal teen again.
Around one they decided to leave as Tifa was having Denzel dropped off in the morning.
Reno was going to call a cab when Tifa stepped out to exclaim it was snowing and asked to walk. It wasn't too far from their places and with her wearing his tuxedo jacket and her walking in her kitten heels, they set off.
She was like a kid as she stuck out her tongue to catch snowflakes on her tongue as she clung to his arm and he liked her body warmth and slight floral scent of her perfume. They laughed and walked like a couple as other finely dressed people wished them good luck on the New Year and they wished it back to them.
Reno wondered what the couples saw when they looked at them. They didn't know they were ex-enemies. Did they see a young couple hurrying home to celebrate the New Year by making love? Did they see them as rushing home to pay their babysitter? Reno idly wondered at this.
"Looks like we're here" Reno said as he walked her to her front door.
"Why didn't you kiss me properly before?" she asked him as she unlocked her door.
"I didn't think that was on the table" he said with an awkward blush that he hoped she couldn't see in her porchlight.
"Would you like to kiss me now? I haven't taken my mistletoe down" she said pointing up at it.
"Do you want me to?" he asked her as he put jacket back on.
"I'm certainly willing to" she coyly said.
"Well in that case…." He said as he stepped forward but a slim hand placed on his chest hauled him.
"Before we do. I need you to know, I was always the kissing booth girl in my high school. I'm famous for my kisses and won't unleash my super powers on you without you being aware of them. If I were to kiss you, I would ruin you for life for anyone else. You would burn your black book and try and make you mine for as long as you live. You will pledge yourself to me in every way and give me a ring to secure me and become my willing love slave and husband for life. You would change aspect of yourself to be with me, even give me children to keep me if I desire them. What you are now would become a thing of the past. That is if you kiss me. Please be warned" she intoned to him in a deadly serious tone that made shivers go up and down his spine.
"Come on, all from a kiss?" he scoffed. "I'm willing to take my chances" he replied, crossing his arms over his chest but the deadly serious tone in her voice gave him pause.
"Pucker up and close your eyes then. Remember, you've been warned" she said, he did and felt a kiss on his cheek and a door slammed.
"Come on, what was that?" he called through her door.
"I'm your hero. I just saved you from having to turn in your bachelorship card" she called back while she giggled at him.
"So you weren't serious?" he called to her with what could only be described as a pout on his face, like a toddler disappointed to find out that Santa Claus was only his Mommy and Daddy filling his stocking.
"Oh I might be or I might not be. I guess you'll never know. Thanks, I had a great time tonight" she called and turned off her lights to go upstairs with a smile on her face as she kicked off her shoes and descended the stairs, basking in the memories of that night. Remembering especially like how he held her gently as if she were made of spun glass while they twirled together. She could feel his body heat and every nuance of his powerful body against her own when he held her in his strong embrace, yet his heart seemed to be racing...
Reno was chuckling when he walked the few blocks to his own apartment but found himself somewhat disappointed that he didn't know if she was serious or not. He remembered how she had clung to him as they walked as if he were her significant other and revelled in the remembrance of how soft her skin had felt.
He had slept with lots of women but didn't recall what had transpired between them and who they even were in the end.
Yet he somehow knew that his body would always remember Tifa's innocent touches on him.
He went home to his empty apartment and got ready for bed.
He glanced from side to side was if someone was watching him doing a dirty deed and pulled out a photo taken during the fall.
It was at a mall opening where Rufus had gone to cut the rope to let people in. He had given a speech and then Tifa as his once opponent had appeared for publicity as the pretty girl who now loved Shinra. She had given her rah rah speech, the oversized scissors went snip and in people went.
Reno could never resist photo booths, they were so outdated but he loved the candid film quality you got from them and hard to find that he was surprised to find that Rufus had put one in just for him. There it was; he opened it and" frowned to find someone in there. "Pardon me" he said.
"Sorry, I love these things. I know it sounds vain to want to have a photograph taken of yourself..." Tifa said.
"But you get to make so many goofy faces in between flashes" he said.
"Ah you know. Wanna do it together?" Tifa asked feeling bold.
"Sure" he said, stepping in and taking a blushing Tifa into his lap on the stool and putting the gil needed in.
"Just relax and smile" he said as she stuck her tongue out at him. The next one was her messing up his spikes, the next him bitching at her for messing up his spikes and the next him sticking his tongue out at her.