VIII. First Day at the Office
"At first sight, his address is certainly not striking; and his person can hardly be called handsome, till the expression of his eyes, which are uncommonly good, and the general sweetness of his countenance, is perceived." —Jane Austen, 'Sense and Sensibility'
Outside of Kijuju, Africa
March, 2009
Off the bat, she didn't know what to think of the American. He was obviously late, so that lead her to think that either he got lost or showing up on time wasn't important. Though, hearing about Chris Redfield's dedication to his job, she leaned to believe the former of the two guesses.
While she was waiting inside the rundown, messy bar, she heard the people speaking in Swahili about 'an American that looked like a hairless ape' close by the walls of Kijuju. Thinking that most likely this was Agent Redfield, she left the bar where they were originally supposed to meet and started walking towards where the locals were speaking of his location.
She easily spotted the BSAA issued Humvee parked by the side of the road and slowly made her way over to the man digging around in the backseat. As she got closer, she could see him stiffen. Quirking an eyebrow, she stood right behind him and greeted him.
"Welcome to Africa," she chirped, waiting for him to turn around.
He did after a quick second, an odd look on his face. She introduced herself and shook his hand, feeling a slight spark when their hands touched. Ignoring the sudden electricity, she noticed he looked her up and down very quickly, so she did the same.
The first thing she noticed was how big and muscular he was. He was tall, pretty much towering over her with his large and broad frame, intimidating her. His biceps were the size of her head, if not bigger. Deciding that he was huge compared to her, she studied his face. He had a strong jaw, deep set brown eyes, and a smirk that was translating so much. He wasn't an old-fashioned kind of handsome, rather rugged and maybe even slightly boyish. And most definitely, he was not a hairless ape. He looked American and it reminded her of her time in the states when she'd see all these older men and she could just drool over them all the while guys her age were chasing her around the city. Chris Redfield was definitely a man she could drool over, that was for sure.
As he introduced himself, his eyes squinted just a little but he showed little emotion. And once he declined the addressing of 'Mr. Redfield', she could read him like a book. He was guarded, the most obvious. But he was also personable on some level, and if she was right, he was protective. Sheva had always been good at reading people and by far her favorite pastime was people-watching.
Once they spoke of the mission and where they needed to go, she began to walk away, already knowing he was going to look at her derrière. All the men did, and she would even catch the jealous women looking at her. She told herself that these women weren't jealous, rather observant. But then they'd frown and then look at themselves. Even though it was flattering to know that women envied over a body like hers, all she ever wanted was to make people feel happy about ones self, feel comfortable in their skin and have pride in their lineage.
She could feel his eyes all over her body and she didn't stop the quick smirk. Erasing the grin, she turned to him and he caught up with her. Yep, she thought while peeking at him through her peripheral, I can read him like a book.
Los Angeles, USA
November, 2011
Unconsciously, Sheva's foot tapped on the red carpeted office floor as she waited to meet her new director. That morning she had gone to sign the papers to her new home very close to Claire, got the keys and called Josh up to let him know to send her stuff over. Now here she was, waiting in the office of her new director to receive orders so she could get to work. Not a second later, the door opened behind her and an older man with graying hair walked in.
He had a kind smile, his blue eyes would wrinkle behind his silver framed glasses, and he was tall but skinny. Sheva had to admit that he looked to be the intelligent man by the way he stood straight and held his hand out for her to grasp.
She took his hand after standing up. "It's nice to meet you Mr. King."
Giving her small hand a shake, he walked around to his side of the desk. "Please, call me Lewis. And it's very nice to meet you as well, Ms. Alomar."
"If I get to call you Lewis, then please call me Sheva."
Nodding, he offered her another one of his kind smiles that showed the laugh lines around his mouth. "I must say what an honor it is to have such a transfer. I'll tell ya, the London branch is kissing their own butts because I was able to get you transferred here. The Los Angeles branch is growing to have the best agents and all I can do is brag, so pardon me."
Giggling softly, she replied, "It's nice to know that so many branches wanted me to be a part of their team, but I'm glad to have gotten the LA branch."
"That's the spirit. Well, I'm sure you want to know what you're going to be doing for the first few days and where your office will be," he assumed. He continued when she nodded. "It's that time of year when a ton of recruits enroll, a lot from the military. What I need you to do is go through their files, check them out and watch them as they train. Once they are approved and observed for their best assets and skills, you will interview them and assign them to teams; such as Alpha, Delta, Echo, or maybe if they'd be best for a different branch. There will be a lot of files, but I'll start you off easy and send you to the shooting range and observe the recruits. But first, get familiar with the place. Your office is on the fourth floor, room C7. And I made sure to get you good office, not next to the boisterous ones. The office right next to you is one of our proudest members, Rebecca Chambers-Coen. She's a lovely woman, but watch out, she can talk your ear off about anything."
Sheva laughed lightly and thanked him for the information. She stood when he did and shook hands with him one more time before leaving his office to find her own. She hadn't realized how big the branch was, but it shouldn't have surprised her so much. Claire had given her a ride to work, carpooling with her on her way to TerraSave. That was another thing she needed to do, get her American drivers license and a vehicle. Oh, the responsibility!
"C9, C8, C7!" She pulled the key that was in the lock, waiting for her to retrieve it. Her key ring was growing by the minute. Closing the door behind her, she got a look of her new office. It was big and spacious, with floor to ceiling windows on the far wall that over looked LA. It wasn't the best view given that she was only on the fourth floor, but palm trees peaked at the bottom of her window as if saying hello. The sun shown into her room and illuminated the beige walls and dark oak bookshelves. The desk was big, perhaps too big for her, but she would make use of it.
As she was getting comfortable in the large spinning chair, a knock came at her door. She called for her visitor to come in, slightly stunned at who could be visiting her already. The door opened and a small woman walked through.
"Hi there! I'm Rebecca, you're office neighbor, and I just wanted to come say hello and introduce myself."
"I'm Sheva. It's nice to meet you, Rebecca," she introduced herself with a warm smile and stood to shake her hand.
"Please, call me Becca, everyone does," she insisted taking a seat in front of Sheva's desk.
Becca was cute and pixyish. She had a petite face and figure, her eyes looked to be smiling at all times and her voice was high and gentle. The real thing that caught Sheva's eyes was that her belly was very slightly protruding. She kept tight lipped instead of asking her. She was aware of the wrath women had when you just assumed they were pregnant. But Sheva didn't need to ask because Becca explained without request.
"I just came back to work three days ago. I just had a little boy with my husband, Billy. It's our third and the first boy. I miss him so much. It was so hard to leave him the first day to go to work, but he knows mommy will see him soon. Now I just have to get rid of the leftover baby belly and fat. Let me tell you, Sheva, if you hate trying to lose weight, never have kids because it is a battle!"
Sheva giggled at Becca's comment. "Congratulations on the baby. What did you name him?"
"I wanted to name him after his father, so we named him William. Billy and I decided that his nickname will be Will, though, so we don't confuse anyone. And our two daughters are Avery and Alice, they're twins. Hold on, let me go get their pictures from my office!"
Before Sheva could decline—even though she wouldn't—Rebecca was off and back in less than a minute with three picture frames in her hands. She trotted her way around to Sheva's side and sat on the desk. She handed her the first photo of two dark haired girls, both had shinning blue eyes, like Becca's.
"That's Avery," she pointed out, "She's the older one by 6 minutes. And that's Alice." She gave Sheva the next frame of a newborn boy. His dark hair was wispy on top of his head and his eyes sealed shut from sleepiness. "And that's my William. He looks so much like his father, it's wonderful."
Taking the two frames from her, Becca handed her the last one. It was a photo of a couple; Rebecca was hugging a man tightly who Sheva could only assume was Billy. He looked scary in a way. He had narrow, dark eyes with slicked back hair and a large tattoo adorning his arm. Not someone she would imagine someone like Rebecca to be with, but she had to admit that they were an adorable couple.
"That's me and Billy on our honeymoon in Florence. Those were great times but now they are even better because of all the kids. I'm thinking I want another in a year or two."
Sheva gasped. "Another one? I would think three is a handful."
"It all matter's how much you allow yourself to hold at once. And I think I can hold one more," Becca boasted happily.
Nodding and smiling softly at the pixyish woman, Sheva noticed she had a small pile of files on her desk. She reached to them and while doing so, Rebecca noticed and jumped off her workplace.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you have work to do. "
"No, it's alright," Sheva insisted. "Lewis King said that he was taking me easy today and I only had to watch over as the recruits trained at the shooting range."
"I can show you there, if you like," Becca offered, walking to the door. "It's the second lower level where the range is. I haven't said hi to Barry yet today. C'mon."
Rebecca was already on her way out and Sheva got up quickly, holding the files, and followed after the small brunette. Returning the pictures back to her office, Becca led the way and chitchatted the entire time. She was a talkative girl, Sheva decided, but she was pleasant company. All you had to do was say one word and Becca would take the conversation on from there.
The whole way there, coworkers and friends of Rebecca's called out to her. She would say that she was showing Sheva around and she would introduce her to everyone. There were too many names for Sheva to remember, but she managed to remember all their faces. After a lot of greetings and introductions, Rebecca and Sheva made it to the second lower level. Instead of going to the balcony to watch all the recruits shoot, they went to a soundproof room that overlooked all of them.
Immediately, as they walked into the room, Rebecca squealed nosily and skipped to a man who looked to be in his early fifties. Brown hair was slicked back on his head and a grisly beard decorated his jaw and chin. He was tall, broad, and if you gave him an axe and flannel shirt, Sheva would tell you he looked like a lumberjack. She realized this was Barry Burton when he and Rebecca greeted each other.
"Barry, this is Sheva. Sheva, this is Barry."
Smiling and offering a hand shake, Barry towered over her. "I've heard plenty about you, girl. Lewis went on for days when you accepted the transfer how much he would like to see the London branch's expression that he got the agent. And of course, I heard plenty of you after the Kijuju mission in Africa. You're pretty much a celebrity, kid."
Sheva could feel her cheeks redden with modesty but grinned humbly. "Thank you very much. I'm happy to be here, but I don't think I'm much of a celebrity. Everyone Rebecca introduced me to had no idea who I was."
"Oh, she's being modest," Becca exclaimed. "Everyone was just star struck that's all."
They talked for a while about what things Sheva could do to get used to the city. Becca told her about the best bookstores and spas and Barry told her the best places to fish outside of LA. Of all, the bookstore was the most compelling, but the luxury outings would have to wait for Sheva until she got all the responsibilities done.
"I really need to go furniture shopping and go to the MVD to get my license," Sheva listed off.
Rebecca's face lit up and she smiled brightly. "I love furniture shopping! We'll go after you're done with the files, yeah?"
Sheva had to shake her head to understand how fast Becca went with talking sometimes. "I don't know how long the files will take and I'm sure you want to get home to your baby."
"Oh, phooey," Becca said with a wave of her hand. "Billy is at home right now and I need some girl time. C'mon, we can get to know each other more and I'm sure it won't take long to do whatever you need to do. Lewis is always good to the agents on their first day here."
Thinking for a moment, Sheva gave in and nodded, receiving a happy giggle from Becca. Barry nodded to the files in her hands, "What is it you need to do today?"
"Oh, Lewis said that I needed to watch over the recruits here and see their skills and marksmanship. He only gave me five files to fill out."
"That should be easy then. Come over here," he waved for her to follow him to the window overseeing all the recruits hitting the paper cutout targets. "You can oversee here and watch them as long as you need. They have about another 10 minutes of this, and then they're off to strength courses and the next group comes in."
She could see the entire shooting range from where she was. There were only about 15 men and women holding up guns while about 4 other people were shouting and pointing to the targets. She guessed these were the coaches that taught the recruits and trained them. She studied them all closely when her gaze stopped on a familiar figure. She hadn't realized she was gnawing at her lip as she watched Chris speaking much more calmly then the other coaches to the recruits; giving them all tips and advice. She was staring when Barry asked for the second time if he could look at the files of recruits she needed to report on.
Nodding sheepishly, she handed him the files and watched as he quickly scanned through the five names.
"You got lucky, kid," he claimed. "All the recruits you need to watch are all in this timeslot."
"Really? I guess that is lucky."
"It is," Rebecca spoke up. "When I had to file last time, I was in here all day because every recruit had a different timeslot."
Barry pointed to the all the recruits she needed to watch specifically. Three men and two women. She was engrossed with people-watching when Barry pressed the intercoms 'on' button and leaned to speak into the microphone that connected to the speakers in the shooting range. Blush rose to her cheeks as he talked sternly into the mic.
"Well, boys and girls," he started. "Some of you are being watched today by Agent Alomar, so you better make an impression. And a good one at that. She determines where five of you will stand once boot camp is over. Don't screw up now."
Everyone looked up to the sound box where she stood and watched over them. Some smiled, some frowned in intimidation, some didn't bother looking, and one just looked to her with little emotion. Chris was the one with little emotion. She couldn't read anything on his face as he looked up at her from the range.
"Do your best," Barry spoke again into the microphone. "She's a hard ass."
Despite not knowing Barry for long, Sheva punched him in the arm which in turn caused him to grasp for his limb to keep any more blows from hitting him. Chuckling, he spoke again, "Stop gawking and get to work."
Sheva could see the slightest smirk on Chris's face as he turned back to the recruits. The recruits looked more scared after Barry's words, except for one. This one recruit looked at her with the smallest grin pulling at his lips. From what Sheva could see, he looked young; maybe her age or a little younger. His hair was a brown shade, neatly spiked up at the front with hair gel and his eyes drew her in. Even from here, she could see that they were green and confident. Before she could study him anymore, he turned and prepared his sniper rifle.
"This time they are all practicing sniping," Barry informed as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. He quickly pointed out all the targets that were meant particularly for sniping. "Most of them are fairly easy if you have a steady hand. But there's one that's never been hit before."
Sheva squinted to where he pointed but couldn't see much. Noticing this, Barry handed her a pair of binoculars from his desk and pointed again. She could see it this time. It was a tiny target, maybe the size of penny.
"The recruits always try to go for it and they get pretty close. But no one has been able to at least get a foot close," he informed some more.
A red light came on from a wall lamp on the wall from inside the range and all the recruits prepared their rifles with scopes attached. A yellow light came on next, signaling for them to turn the safety off and take aim. Then a countdown started and once the green light came on, they all took their shot. A few hit at the clearer targets and about 6 took a shot at the tiny target that Barry was telling Sheva about just a moment ago.
Barry gasped and from what Sheva could see Chris did the same. Pulling the binoculars to her eyes, Sheva mimicked their reaction. Someone had hit the target dead-on. Bull's eye.
"Holy shit!" Barry exclaimed.
Pulling the goggles from her face, Sheva looked for who could have made the shot. Her eyes stopped roaming as they landed on the recruit she had been studying just minutes before. He was looking back up at her with a smirk on his full lips. Before she looked away, she caught sight of a quick wink he sent her way.
"Who is that?" she queried from Barry, referring to the male recruit who was obviously the one to hit the target dead on. And the one who was flirting with her.
Barry quickly went through the files she had offered him earlier. He stopped on the fourth file and read the name quickly. "His name is Piers Nivans."
Author's note: Let's give a welcoming hand to Piers, shall we? So now he is introduced and officially made his debut in the story. Who was expecting that? I just want to say before anyone freaks out; the name 'Billy' is short for 'William', so don't worry. Rebecca's kids are Billy's kids.
Sheva Redfield: Aw, I'm sorry. Parent's divorcing is a really hard thing to go through. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you. :) Did you have a good time driving? Yeah, New Mexico is nice, just boring. :P Claire is such a cutie and whoop whoop that Sheva and Chris are actually getting along! :D Hope you had fun! XOXO
HolleringHawk69: Oh my, this calls for ceremony of welcoming! I hand you the Creva pin (via internet) and along with my fellow Creva's, welcome you into the House of Creva/Crave. XD
Lollipop Lolli: Thanks, I'm glad it wasn't boring. :P Gosh, that game was SO good. I actually cried at the end! Hmm, are you talking about the ending where Clem is in the farmlands and she sees the two figures? If so, then yes, I saw it. Who do you think those two people were? Yummy, I love coffee. You can never have too much! :P
JustSomeGirl17: Haha, I'll go back and forth. Good and sucky. ;D Ugh, it's terrible. Just update! It's all I ask! Haha, those people like to shake things up and pronounce stuff different! :D When people do call me Sorry, I just immediately say, 'It's okay, it's suh-rye.' :P Haha, Claire/Sheva is definitely new to me! Girl, you can my foods and I'll just get hungry rather than insulted. :P Arrivederci, my little croissant!
Mss. KB: I'm glad you liked the longer chapter! I'd be nervous to meet the famous Chris Redfield, so I'd imagine that Sheva would be, too. She'd just keep her cool a lot better. ;) Thank goodness for Claire being there, otherwise these two would just avoid each other. I'd imagine when Sheva went house hunting, she'd be overwhelmed by the spacious and seemingly cold homes in the west side of America, because they come across that way to me! Marvin as a protagonist, I love it! He's a fat cat, that's for sure and on the brink of obesity. Basically, the chunk needs a diet. :P I was nervous because I felt like people were expecting Chris and Sheva to be really cold or awkward with each other, but I want them to have this easy and effortless chemistry like they did in the game. So that's why they are so calm with each other. :) Thank you for your sweet words! Hugs :)
borismortys: Claire is the ultimate ice breaker and matchmaker! I'm glad you like the last chapter. :) Those are good options for Carlos. I'd imagine that maybe he's gotten his citizenship for America, right? So maybe he can work for the US Military or something like that. Oooh, as an ambassador of sorts. I don't know yet. :P
toby7400: Yes, sisters tend to troll on their brothers. I know I do. I'm glad to hear you approve of the flashbacks, I'm excited for them. Someone has to be honest about the chunkiness that is Marvin. We call him Fat Marvin for a reason. :P I'd like to do a Leon/Claire story someday, I think that'd be a lot of fun. I'm working on a story right now that won't be posted for a long time that'll be focused on them a lot, but not entirely. I'm really bad at writing mission/action scenes. I really need to bone up and try it out, but it just makes me nervous. That's the great thing about writing, you can write something and come back years later and it's still waiting for you.
wolfspiritqueen: I introduced like three people in this chapter, but Piers was the main debut! :) Not much about Chris and Sheva in this except for the flashback, but next chapter there will be more.
Sorry for the late update. I know this may not seem late, but considering that I used to update every two days, this just seemed like a long time since I last posted a new chapter. But I've been really sick (and been glued to the TV playing The Last of Us) and I'm finally coming back to health and the ability to write something again.
In the next chapter, we get fed another flashback that I think is leaning on more humor and kinda silly in the point of view of Chris. In the present time, Piers and Sheva have their first conversation and it leads to Chris trying to prove something to his self…
-Sarai
