I.
Riza Hawkeye, 1st Lieutenant to Colonel Roy Mustang the Flame Alchemist, lowered her pen and with her other hand, rubbed her eyes. She looked at the clock mounted on the wall. It was 10:00pm; they were supposed to have gone home at 8 with the others. However, Riza was used to these late nights at work with her incredibly lazy and frustrating superior officer. As everyone at Central knew, the Colonel had a bad problem with procrastination. He would do anything and everything humanly possible to i not /i do work, and then panic when time had run out and he wasn't finished yet. Riza, of course, could have gone home when everyone else left, but she knew that if she wasn't there, Mustang would never get his work done. So she sacrificed her nights to ensure that he would not sacrifice his life goals. It was the least she could do.
She glanced down at what she was working on. Routine paperwork, nothing special or very important, but her vision blurred for a second. i 'Lord, I'm getting tired…' /i she thought, then turned her gaze back across the room to where the Colonel sat behind his large wooden desk. She was very pleased to see that he was actually working diligently, tongue slightly out to the side of his mouth in his extreme concentration. Satisfied with the view, she went back to her own work, the paperwork she would have to give Roy tomorrow. i 'Another late night, no doubt,' /i then her train of thought was interrupted by a sudden sigh of relief from the Colonel's desk.
"I'm finally done," he said as he stood up and stretched, letting out a mighty yawn in the process. He was like a big kid; it was as if he never grew with his body. Riza would have thought it was cute, if it weren't for the small fact that he needed to be taken care of like a big kid as well, which was just a big pain in her rear. The Flame Alchemist moved from behind his desk and crossed the room to the door, grabbing his jacket off the rack and flinging it over his shoulders in one smooth motion. "Good night, Hawkeye," he muttered as he opened the door. Riza also stood from her desk.
"Good night, Sir. See you tomorrow," it was what she usually said before he left, nothing strange about it, but for some reason the Colonel let out a small laugh and turned around to face her.
"Tomorrow?" at her puzzled look he continued, "Tomorrow is Saturday. I don't know about anyone else, but I won't be here!" How could she have forgotten it was Friday? Then he added, "It's also Valentines Day. I hope I'm not prying, Lieutenant, but do you have any plans with anyone special?" He seemed genuinely interested in the answer.
"No, No plans…" She never had any plans on Valentines Day.
"Is there a specific reason as to why?" he pried further.
"Sir, I have better things to do with my time than run around all giddy and starry-eyed over some man who has absolutely no interest in me." Roy smiled once more.
"Good night, Riza," he stated smugly as he exited the room, disappearing from her sight. Riza's hair stood on end as he said her first name so informally. A small shiver ran down her spine, but she shook it off and strode off to the Colonel's desk. Something didn't seem quite right with the picture. She looked closer as her anger rose to new heights. She flipped through the stack of paperwork Mustang had been working on and sighed in frustration. He hadn't even touched them! No, wait, that wasn't true, he touched the first one long enough to write a capitol 'R' in the corner surrounded by a red heart with an arrow through it, and that was it. Nothing was signed! No reports marked! What the hell had he been doing this whole time, then! Riza got her answer when she lifted the stack to get a closer look. A female lingerie magazine fell to the floor from somewhere within the pile. Riza stared down at it, then a very naughty word escaped from her mouth before she kicked it under the desk and flung the paperwork Roy had yet to do back onto his desk.
"He's completely hopeless!" And now he had double the amount of work to do when he got back to the office on Monday. "He brings these things upon himself… Sometimes I really worry. I predict heart attack." She continued to complain aloud to herself about the Colonels unprofessional behavior as she tidied her desk up, turned lights off, grabbed her jacket, and left the dark room to itself.
She made her way quietly down the deserted hallways out to the street. With a polite nod to the security guards at the front entrance, she descended the flight of stairs at a slight jogging pace. She had to hurry home and let Black Hayate outside for a little while.
She didn't get more than a few blocks down the street before she halted. She glanced down at her right hand as she pulled it out of her pocket. She held a small folded piece of paper. She looked at it inquisitively, wondering where it had come from. She kept walking at a slow pace and unfolded the paper to read what was written on it.
"My angel, My all, My very self, I wake from slumber deep filled with thoughts of you. Dearest, - I wish I had the gift of making rhymes, for I believe there is poetry in my head and heart since I have been in love with you. Words do not do justice for this feeling within me." Riza was walking at a faster pace now. This was a love letter for her? Who would do such a thing? Curiosity engulfed her as she finished reading. "I only ask one thing of you. Meet me in person at the corner café when the sun rides highest in the skies on that day which is holy amongst lovers. You will know me when you see me. Until then, sweet lady. Adieu. –Your Secret Admirer." She stopped and reread the whole letter one more time, making sure she got every ounce of information out of it as was possible. This was a puzzling and new experience for her. She didn't quite know how to react. It was slightly frustrating too, she didn't like surprises like this, and she most definitely didn't enjoy the game that was being played with her. So she made up her mind, she wasn't going to the café at noon because she was interested in the mystery man in the least. She was going to the café at noon because she simply wanted to know who it was. That was it, not a date; she wouldn't even let him see her. She merely wanted to know who was pulling her leg.
So with that settled she tucked the letter away safely in her jacket pocket where she had found it and continued on the rest of her way home to her dog and her life, the whole while she fingered the edged of the note gently.