Claire was woken up by a loud bang on her door, "Hey, um, I think you're going to be late for work." He awkwardly talked to Claire's door. "Ugh, I can't hear you, come in." She grunted. He led himself in, and stood by her doorframe. "I said you're going to be late for work, Claire." He said more sternly. "I'm taking a day off. Why do you think I scheduled the lunch?" She groaned, pulling the pillows over her head. "I thought you were going to head out from work for lunch to meet up with them and then go back to work. What did I say about skipping work for me?" Leon nagged her.
"Don't be too full of yourself; I didn't skip work for you, honey. I was tired." She mumbled in her pillow. She was never an early riser. Only when forced to. Like, work. "Hey, I rescheduled my afternoon for you. The least you can do is not making me feel like I should have just gone back to bed." Leon said, though still in boxers, was ready to head out to grab some Chicago pizza. "A) you rescheduled your afternoon for my brother, not me. And b) Just go back to bed, Kennedy." She grumbled. "I am not functioned to work that way. Once I'm up, I'm up. Standard Operating Procedure." He joked.
She peeked through her pillow at him, red hair a tangled mess in front of her. "Since you mentioned it, can you make me breakfast?" She asked. "Already have." He replied. She rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. "That was a trick question; I have hardly anything in the pantry to make cucumber slices." She eyed him. Leon smiled, "That's only because you don't have cucumbers." "I know I told you I picked up some things in the grocery store yesterday, but mind you when I say that I mean I picked up Lighter Fluid. There is no way you could have done anything with a tub of ice cream, a can of beer, a tube of honey and three slices of yesterday's bread." Claire said. "You'd be surprised."
Reluctantly, she got up and stopped at the door. "Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek gratefully and dragged herself into the kitchen. Leon smiled. He has gotten kissed by a number of women, out of pity out of false emotions, but when Claire did that, he genuinely felt something run down his back. Obediently, he tailed her. This too was the first time he'd ever seen her in just pyjamas and he's glad to know he is contented with what he's seeing. Claire, wearing cotton shorts and a simple white tee looked radiant in the bright sunlight, with no makeup.
She kept her hair in a messy ponytail. "Definitely doesn't smell like my kitchen." Claire commented on the mouth- watering aroma. She sat down and saw the breakfast spread; scrambled eggs, baked beans and ham, two pieces of toast, and orange juice. "The last I checked the day old toast was pumpernickel, not white bread." Claire commented on the difference of bread, rather than the presence of the other foodstuff that had not belonged in her pantry. She opened the cabinets to take two plates and a pair of cutleries. "I dropped by the grocery store an hour ago." Leon admitted as he sat down and took a portion of the breakfast he had cooked up. "Did they teach you how to impress ladies in your training course?" She laughed, eating the eggs and baked beans. "My mom did." He winked. "I feel really bad now. You're my guest and I didn't even put in effort in making you feel at home. "Claire admitted. "Having me, as your guest, I think that's enough of a punishment already. The least I could do is serve you breakfast." Claire smiled. "Charming, as always. Too bad I'm not buying it." Leon threw his hands up. "I've given up. You're going to live your life a spinster. And there's nothing I can do about it." "A spinster never has to care about people. Just, herself." Claire said. "Mmmm, last night it sounded like you were mocking Jill about not getting married. Looks like you're on her side after all. Maybe one day you'll find out that you might like the idea of having someone taking care of you." Leon added, in all seriousness. "Leon?" Claire suddenly spoke in the midst of chewing her food. "I believe that is my name." Leon said, hoping she was going to add to what he had said to her. "Did you walk down to the grocery store in your boxers?" Claire said in sudden realisation. "Don't you?" Leon asked mockingly.
"So, about Chris, what's he up to now?" Leon asked. "He works still works for BSAA, with Jill. They've been travelling around quite a bit. The only reason why their relationship can work out is because she's travelling just as much as he is and most of the time they travel together." Claire mentioned. "How sly of the BSAA... Making them work on the same projects to save cost on hotel rooms." Leon laughed. "I'm surprised he could still handle going to work. I mean he is reminded about all the bioterrorism incidents every day. When I went back to Spain to save Ashley Graham, and when I saw those beings... I thought I was going to go insane, because here I am a few years later, faced with the same nightmare as before." Leon said. "Chris is different in that way, I suppose you can say. He believes the only way he can find peace and closure is when he wipes the face of the earth clean from Bio terrorisms. Jill too." Claire said, as she finished her breakfast and pondered on what to do next. She never takes a break from work and all the free time left her clueless.
"Where are we going and what time should we meet them?" Leon asked. "I told them you wanted to try a nice Chicagoan pizza. So we're meeting at the pizzeria not too far off from here. Walking distance. We set the time to 12.30; I hope you're okay with that. I can always take you out for coffee if you're hungry before then." Claire said, playing hostess. "You do know it's 11 now, right?" Leon raised an eyebrow at her remark on his appetite. "I just had breakfast." He reminded her.
Her grey eyes grew wide. "Don't look too surprised, Claire. I did." Leon laughed at her expression. "No, wait, it's 11?" She asked again, hopping up from the dining table. "11.03, to be exact." He said. She cursed under her breath and scrambled to her study and shut the door. Leon shook his head in laughter to pick up her plate to do the dishes for her. "You okay there, Claire?" He called out to her. Her reply was silence. He quickly rinsed the plates off and chucked the plates in the dishwasher. Making his way to the study to check on her, he stopped at the door. "Yes, Dr. Wilkenson, I need to reschedule for today. Yes, I know I'm really last minute, I was supposed to call in yesterday to tell you but I completely forgot and told myself I'll call you in the wee hours of the morning. Yes, everything is fine. Tomorrow, 11am? Fine. "She said, and hung up. Leon rushed off to the TV room to avoid looking like he was eavesdropping. So she wasn't fine after all, Leon thought to himself. He decided not to push her to confess about her troubles, instead letting her come to him whenever she feels like it.
"Work related, huh... Are you alright?" Leon asked Claire nonchalantly as she came out of the study. "I swear to God, if you ask me that question again, I will not hesitate to actually pull the trigger on you." Claire sighed, almost in a serious tone. Leon tried bringing the mood a little brighter; "You wouldn't do that. For one, you really hate house chores; you wouldn't want to clean up after all that blood splatter." "Who says I'll shoot you at home?" She countered jokingly, voice a lot calmer. "Anyway, I hope you have plans tomorrow afternoon, I'm going back to work tomorrow, probably will pop out during lunch time but I hardly have time to meet up with you." She said. Leon knew instantly what she was up to. "Yeah, of course. I told you not to worry about me. I'll go check out the local gun shop tomorrow. See what delights Chicago has to offer, armour wise." He said. "They have customization in the shops here. Maybe you can score yourself one with little hearts and butterflies on it. It would show your personality." Claire joked.
"Shouldn't you get ready?" Leon reminded her.