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As word got round of Tifa and Vincent's photos, many of Tifa's female co-workers would give jealous glares at her as she passed by. Tifa wasn't the only victim of jealous glares as Vincent would get some from the male co-workers who tried just about anything to get the attention of the beautiful PR.
Suppressing a groan from getting another glare, Vincent picked up his mail list and began sorting out the different packages. Five minutes to his lunch break, Reno came into the mailroom with a letter in his hands.
"Hey Vinny the mail boy!"
"Re-Axel…what can I do for you." said Vincent with a forced smile.
After the first week of seeing his two best friends in the office, Vincent swore that they were doing this to get on his nerves; little did he know that they were there to find out more information on Tifa.
"Vinny, Vinny, Vinny…" said Reno with a smirk as he noticed how Vincent's eyes narrowed at each time he said 'Vinny'.
Vincent looked around the mailroom, once he was sure that no one was around, he turned to Reno and said in an annoyed voice: "What do you want?"
"Vincent, how rude…" said Reno with a smile, "I just want you to give this message to Seph."
Thinking back to his first three days, Reno had told Aeris and Elena that he and Seph knew Vincent really well. Having heard that, Aeris and Elena had gleamed as much information on Vincent as they could without rousing suspicion, while he did the same for Tifa. Eventually he learned of Elena and Aeris' plan to get Vincent and Tifa together, so he played along with their plans.
"Why don't you just give it to him yourself? He's just down the hall."
"You're the mail boy here right? So I would think that it would be your job to give messages." said Reno with a grin
Vincent glared at Reno and grabbed the letter and walked out of the mailroom mumbling, "Asshole."
Taking a sip from his glass of water, Sephiroth turned to the letter he just received from an annoyed Vincent and opened it, while reading the letter the smile that he had slowly turned to a smirk. Folding up the message and placing it into his breast pocket, he excused himself and closed the door to Rufus' office and turned to the men's room.
"Yo!"
"Reno…"
"Seph!"
"I got your letter; let the girls do as they wish." Closing his phone before Reno could respond, Sephiroth left the washroom and headed towards the cafeteria.
"Why didn't you tell us about your steamy photos with Valentine." said Elena as she wiggled her eyebrows and nodded towards Vincent who sat at a table with 'Axel' and Sephiroth.
Tifa then lightly punched Elena's upper right arm, "It's not like that!"
"Tifa, you're in denial, c'mon look at him, he's gorgeous." said Elena with a sigh
"Since you're so into him, why don't you chase him down?"
"No way, girl, he's yours, besides I heard he stayed over."
"Where-
"Axel, he and Seph are close with Valentine."
Tifa then scowled and continued to attack her garden salad, "I invited him up and he fell asleep on the sofa, and that's all that happened, alright you two." She lifted her fork and pointed it at Aeris and Elena for emphasis, ignoring the lettuce that was falling off it.
"Sure…" Elena then leaned back on her chair before Tifa could kick her in the shin.
"Vince, man you should have told us that you were with her for that photo shoot." said Reno with a nudge at Vincent's side and a wolfish grin
"Shut up, and eat your burger, hedgehog." said an irritated Vincent
"Hey! I-
"Axel…we don't want to make a scene now, do we?" said Sephiroth in a calm smooth voice that gave Reno goose bumps as he shut his open mouth.
"I take it that after the photo shoot, you drove Ms. Lockhart home?"
Vincent turned to Sephiroth and sighed, "Yes, and you know that your not in court right?"
Ignoring the exasperated look on Vincent's face, Sephiroth continued with his 'cross examination', "So you drove her home and she invited you up…"
"Yes, and I fell asleep on her sofa, end of story. Now are you finished harassing me, or do I need to call my lawyer?" said Vincent as he got up from his seat to throw out his trash.
"C'mon Tifa, I was only joking…look out!" Elena then cringed as Tifa collided into Vincent and spilled her triple chocolate latte onto him.
"Shit, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" said Tifa as she took a bunch of napkins from Aeris' hand and began to dab at his shirt.
"I'm fine, it wasn't hot and I should have been watching were I was going." said Vincent with a weak smile.
"No, it was my fault, do you have a change of clothes?" asked Tifa as looked at the chocolate stain on his white dress shirt.
"No-
"Okay, come with me." Tifa then grabbed his hand and headed towards the elevators.
"You know that you didn't have to do this much for my shirt." said Vincent as he took off said shirt.
"It's not…not…a problem." said Tifa as she quickly tore her gaze from his chest and went into her bedroom and searched for a suitable shirt.
With only fifteen minutes of their lunch break to spare, Tifa tore through the midday traffic and drove Vincent over to her apartment to get him a spare shirt. Now that the adrenaline in her system was wearing off, she suddenly realized the absurdity of her actions. Turning around at the smell of chocolate, she all of a sudden realized just how close she was to a topless, chocolate covered Vincent.
"I…"
"Tifa…"
Both of their gazes locked on each other, Vincent slowly lowered his head, as Tifa raised hers, just as their lips were about to touch, the ringtone of Axel F began playing.
"I think its yours." said Tifa as she quickly stepped back from Vincent and continued with her search.
Vincent then turned around and walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Pulling out his cell from his pocket he sighed and sat down on the edge of the tub, guessing that it was 'Axel' on the phone, he let it ring for a while longer.
"Yo, Vince, took you long enough, you better not be doing anything naughty."
"I'm not, you prick, why the hell did you change the ringtone I had set for you?"
"So you noticed-
"Who wouldn't notice Reno, it's annoying."
"Hey! It's Axel, A-X-E-L, get it memorized! Hey, no- Vincent?"
"Seph, what's-
"You got five minutes to get back here, before Tseng comes around, I'll buy you some time." click
"Fuck…" Vincent then closed his phone and quickly cleaned himself, just as he opened the door a burgundy Harvard Varsity T-shirt was thrown at him.
"We have less than five minutes to get back." said Tifa and Vincent at the same time.
Quickly pulling the shirt over his head, he raced after Tifa who was waiting outside her apartment to lock up.
The drive back to HQ was quick after running a few red lights and luckily not getting any tickets, Tifa and Vincent made it back in time for Tseng to give Vincent a funny look at his Harvard Varsity T-shirt and black dress slacks and shoes.
"Ms. Lockhart and Mr. Woods, I'd like to see you two in my office." said Tseng after a shake of his head at Vincent's attire.
Taking a glance at Tifa from the corner of his eye, he followed Tseng and Tifa with dread. Thinking back to what happened, he couldn't think of anything that he had done wrong; yes, he was slightly out of breath at the moment and looking quite ridiculous in the small T-shirt, but that didn't mean that he would be fired, right?
"Close the door please, Mr. Woods." said Tseng as he took a seat behind the mahogany desk.
Glancing back to Tifa as he closed the door, he noticed that she was calmly standing in front of Tseng's desk with her head held high. He then stood next to her and waited for the verdict.
"Take a seat." said Tseng as he waved a hand towards the two black chairs, once he saw that the two of them were seated comfortably, he cleared his throat and began, "I have seen those photos…"
"…And I understand from what Ms. Gainsborough has told me, you have a background in visual arts, is that correct Mr. Woods?" said Tseng with a raise of an eyebrow.
Letting out the breath that he didn't realize he was holding, Vincent slightly nodded his head, "Yes, I do."
"Good…because I want you to work with Ms. Lockhart, she will be organizing the annual Shinra Entertainment Gala Charity Dinner. We do not have enough people in the art department, and we are fortunate to have someone of your caliber, so you will have to do your duties as well as assisting Ms. Lockhart, any questions?"
"No."
"Ms. Lockhart, do have any objections?"
"No, and thank you." said Tifa with a smile, in which he gave a small smile in return.
Noting that everything that needed to be said was said, Tseng then handed Tifa a thick manila folder, and added dismissively: "That is all."
Getting up from their seats, Tifa and Vincent walked towards the door, opening the door for her, he was about to follow her out when he heard Tseng say: "Oh, Mr. Woods…"
Turning around to look at the stern man, Vincent gave him a questioning look, "Yes?"
"Please refrain from wearing this kind of attire…."
Chocolate and Vincent...need I say more?
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