The next day Riza tried to forget what had happened that night. Whatever her heart said, life would go on. This was the way she had lived for years, pushing away her feelings, and hiding behind her indifferent mask. As much as she longed for him, she was a soldier and Roy was her commander. That was the way things had been between them from the day they had met. It was just fact of her life.
But it still hurt. Every day Roy talked to her, never guessing how deeply her feelings for him went. Every day he casually flirted with her, and her heart broke knowing that he didn't mean it.
Today is a new day, Riza thought to herself. Maybe I will finally be over him. Or maybe, the traitorous part of her heart said, he will finally love me back.
Shaking her head at herself, Riza stretched out one hand and opened the door to Roy's office. The room looked the same as it had last night. There were piles of papers leaning against the sides of Roy's polished desk. The window in the back of the room was slightly open, light filtering through the dusty panes. And the chair she had pulled over last night was still there.
Today however, it was colonel Mustang sitting in it, not her.
"Hello sir," Riza said.
"Good morning Riza, was Mustang's reply. He looked up from the newspaper he had been reading to stare at her. "You're looking good today."
Ignoring Roy's casual compliment, Riza asked: "Sir, where are the others?"
Riza was not the only soldier that worked under Mustang. With her were Heymans Breda, Jean Havoc, Kain Fuery, and Valto Falman. Together those four added humor and life to an otherwise boring workday. They also, she noticed now that they were not there, eased some of the tension between her and Roy.
"Don't you remember Riza? I gave them the week off."
"Why, Sir? There is so much work to do."
"Well…" Roy said, his face taking on a slightly peevish look, "because you are so good at these kinds of things, I figured you would help me get it all done."
"Sir!" Riza said, exasperated. "I am your lieutenant, not your secretary."
"Well…" Roy said again, changing tactics, "it's a good opportunity for us to spend some time together, you know?" He grinned, not noticing the very slight blush that rose to Riza's face.
"Very funny sir." Riza said, trying to calm her heartbeat. How could Roy not notice what he was doing to her?
Two tense hours of paper shuffling later, (tense for her anyway, Roy seemed positively cheerful.) there was a loud knock on the door.
Riza jumped a little in her seat, and Roy looked up. He was just about to say something, but was cut off by the door creaking open. A winded and red-faced messenger stepped through the gap, panting hard.
"Colonel," he said, looking at Mustang and gasping for breath, "I have an important message for you."
"Yes?" Roy asked, standing up. "What is it?"
"It's the Elric brothers sir, they need your help."