Author's Note: Many, many apologies for those who were waiting for this third chapter. It was cruel to leave you guys on a cliffhanger and on an unfulfilled promise. I wish I could excuse myself by saying college and work have overwhelmed me, but that isn't the case – I simply was lazy and unmotivated. So, once again, my deepest regrets and apologies. Also, I would like to truly thank those who have reviewed; twenty-seven on just two chapters is more than I could ask for. Thank you so much. I'll add commentary next time, since I'm too ashamed this time around. Well then, it's time for me to stop delaying and go onward with the story.
Office Love
"Chapter III: Dismal Waters"
"I'm sorry." – Aerith
After what seemed like an eternity, Aerith managed to stand up, her balance still weak. Her eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting in the room, but remained half closed in pain. She brushed her hand across her stomach, feeling the soft fabric of her vest – no rips, no blood.
Surprised and somewhat confused, Aerith turned once again to flee the room, feeling the presence of a person before actually seeing a faint silhouette emerge in front of her.
Aerith opened her mouth again to scream.
Not surprisingly, a small hand clamped itself tightly upon her mouth, followed by a feminine voice. "Shh! You're making a scene. Just be quiet, and no one gets hur—ow!" The girl clutched her shin as Aerith bolted towards the doorway.
"Hey, hey!" the girl hissed. With well-trained agility, the mysterious stranger leapt from the floor and landed behind Aerith, grabbing onto her ankles and taking her down with her. Both of them fell to the floor with a dull thump. A handheld device attached to the girl's belt clattered to the floor and slid towards Aerith.
Taking advantage of the situation, Aerith instinctively got up on her feet and grabbed it before the girl could respond. "Stop right there!" she said firmly as the girl began to rise.
The girl allowed herself a grimace of dismay before flattening herself on the ground again.
Aerith proceeded towards one of the copying machines and opened the lid, allowing light to filter into the room. "I guess we'd better start with the basics," Aerith began. "I want to who you are, why you're here, and of course, what this is." Aerith waved the device about as an indication but otherwise kept it trained on the girl.
"Okay, okay…you got me, but could I please at least get up?" she inquired with a lilting voice.
"No, you can speak perfectly fine from the floor. You're doing a very good job at it, in fact."
"Aw, nuts. Pretty please?"
"Fine, fine—but no tricks."
"No tricks." The girl then proceeded to get up slowly and sat crossed-legged on the floor. "My name is Yuffie, what's yours?"
Aerith was stunned by the apparent openness of the assailant, but recovered quickly. "I'm Aerith…now please finish answering the questions…truthfully." She barely managed to conceal a note of irritation from her voice.
To her surprise, Yuffie grinned widely and fiddled with her green bandana. "If you must know, Aerith, I'm from Wutai INC. My father is the president. I'm from the world renowned Kisaragis, you know. I was sent here to gather some of Shin-Ra's secrets. Umm… like the next big thing and all that other mumbo-jumbo you guys always come up with. And…um, that thing you're holding belongs to me. I use it mainly to extract some data from these machines, but it also has the added purpose of functioning as a stun gun. You're so lucky that I only used a small charge for you—although perhaps I should've upped it a bit for you." Aerith scowled, but Yuffie continued, oblivious. "If you don't mind, I want it back."
Aerith furrowed her brow in thought, once again eying the girl suspiciously. "That was a little too easy, and why should I trust you after you tried to kill me? Besides, what kind of father sends his daughter to do the dirty work? Furthermore, what kind of person looks for classified information in a copying room? Ridiculous. You would think they'd be smart and try for the president's office."
Yuffie, finding her abilities questioned, did not bother to hide the prideful indignation in her voice from the Shin-Ra employee. "First, I am President Kisaragi's daughter, and I was trained as a ninja, so of course he would trust me most to infiltrate Shin-Ra. You won't believe how easy it is to penetrate the building by going up the staircases. Secondly, I did not try to kill you… just knock you out for awhile. Thirdly, you're so clueless. Going to the copying room is one of the best places to gather data. Since everyone makes copies, all I have to do is install a recording device and come back again later to extract every scanned document."
Aerith frowned and asked, "Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid I'm going to report you?"
"Not at all. You see, Wutai INC is corporately almost as powerful as Shin-Ra, in terms of worldwide influence. So you see, it's in Shin-Ra's best interest to release me if I was ever caught. We're rivals, so it'll destroy any hope of an alliance if they denounced me. I'm sure you've heard of the talk of an arranged marriage between me and President Rufus. He's hot, but…" Again, Yuffie grinned widely. "See how smart I am?"
Aerith nodded and returned the device. "So if I tell on you…they wouldn't believe me. And since I can't tell on you, I'm a fellow conspirator, so I would be just as guilty." Aerith sighed. "That's a nasty paradox, and I'm still mad at you for trying to kill me."
"I did not try to kill you!" Yuffie huffed. She paused for a moment, then: "Hey, I hear someone coming… I better split. Pleasure meeting you Aerith, I have a feeling we'll see one another again some other time. Thanks a bunch for helping me with my work! Father will love these." With that, Yuffie hopped over to the ventilation shaft and disappeared.
What a strange girl. Aerith quickly gathered the copied files and left the room, only to come face to face with the tall handsome stranger from earlier.
She smiled, but it immediately faded when she noticed the agitated look on his face. "Is something wrong…?"
"As a matter of fact, there is. I believe this filth is yours?" With one violent sweep of his arm, a folder with a pink tab slammed unto the floor several feet away, papers hesitantly streamed downward and scattered on the floor, oddly reminiscent of their earlier encounter. Damn it, that's not what I wanted to do…
Before he could apologize for his brashness, Aerith brushed past him and gathered the mess, sending a bewildered gaze at the half-bent files. Her brow furrowed with confusion when she recognized the sketches. Slowly, she stood up and faced Cloud.
"I don't understand, these are mine. How did you get them…?"
Cloud drew in a deep breath, torn between shame and anger. "I… that time when we met, something must've…" He paused, and his anger overcame his shame. "You did it on purpose, didn't you? I should've known… and you played it all off like it was some sort of accident. You could've cost me my joball so that you could get promoted." Cloud clenched his fist stiffly at his side. "Seems like you succeeded, too. I just talked to Reeves, and he told me about how wonderful our beloved new employee is. Practically singing praises. I hope you're goddamn happy with yourself, Aerith Gainsborough."
Aerith stood rooted to her spot, one hand shading her eyes, and the other clutched tightly to the folders. The stresses of the day had finally reached a climax within her. She inhaled a shaky breath, and her lips trembled as she spoke. "I'm… sorry. I am truly so, so sorry for…" Everything. For everything. "…for everything." Aerith bowed her head slightly, and the tears glimmered in her eyes as she rushed down the hall. A veil of sorrow hung thickly in the air.
It was then that Cloud's shame overcame his anger.
Written: January – March 26th, 2005
Submitted: March 27th, 2005
Last Edited: September 16th, 2006
