"No, no, no...n...La...Lazard...just...just listen for a second...n...no stop with the..." Tseng sighed and threw his feet up on the edge of his desk. "You drive my blood pressure through the freaking roof. I want you to know that. What kind of freak show are you running down there? I mean that in the most respectful way possible but now you're telling me that you think Genesis is up to something?" Tseng sighed again and reached for his pen. "Okay, okay. Tell me where that particular laptop is located and I'll have it hacked by the end of the day. Yes...yes I can hack most all of our computers. Well, it's not that hard. Our technology security is surprisingly weak. Alright...alright...put me through to Rufus afterward."
Rude was walking down the hall toward the refrigerator. He looked up but didn't pay much attention. However, when what he saw finally registered made he did a double take. He looked around. He could see Tseng throwing a hand in the air and talking to Director Lazard, Cissnei was nowhere to be seen. Reno was in his office and Elena was upstairs. He looked back at the refrigerator and all around him once more. Finally, he took his dark glasses off. "Hey! Hey did anyone know there are magnet letters all over the fridge?" he said to no one in particular. He looked at the top freezer door: IT JUST HAPPENED was what was spelled out in brightly colored capital letters. Of course, there was a slew of other letters adorning the fridge too, not arranged in any particular order. Rude's moment of pondering was interrupted by Reno yelling.
"Oh my god I just ruined another shirt! This ink pen exploded!" he complained.
"How have you been?" Rufus asked as he sat at his desk with Elena on the opposite side of him.
"I've been well...you?" she asked nervously. She could smell him, which only reminded her of him being on her. She hated the way he watched her with those eyes of his.
"Good. I hear you performed a marvelous interrogation." Rufus scooted his chair in farther underneath his desk. Elena smiled nervously and shot her eyes to the glass covering on his desk.
"Well I...I don't hardly think it was...I mean I was just...Tseng thought it best that I do the interrogation instead of him." she answer. She could feel herself shaking from nerves.
"Yes...he normally does the interrogating. It's good...to do what the boss says, Elena." Rufus put his hand on hers. She swallowed hard as she felt herself shaking more. His voice was wrapped in seduction.
"Uh huh..." she replied trying to sneak her hand away from him. He must have sensed here discomfort because he quickly took his hand off hers but the firery look in his eyes hadn't changed.
"Tell me...do you do everything...the boss tells you to do?" Rufus interlaced his fingers and leaned in closer to Elena. His voice was low and His eyes spoke multitudes. She realized where this was going and she knew that if she could interrogate the way she had...she could also play Rufus's game. With a new found degree of confidence, she too interlaced her fingers and leaned in toward him.
"Yes...everything." she answered him raising here eyebrows. Her voice was even softer than his.
"No matter how dirty the job, huh?" he asked her leaning in farther.
"The filthier the better." she answered without taking her eyes off him. Suddenly she had turned the tables as she noticed Rufus break his gaze somewhat and tug at his collar.
"You dirty...dirty girl." he said quietly.
"I know...it's too bad I saved all the really dirty stuff...for the boss...isn't it?" Was she crazy! This was the president she was talking to! But she was playing his game, and she was winning.
"So...you'd do anything?" he asked her feeling his pulse pound in his neck and trying to elude her previous statement. Elena leaned in farther, to the point where her breath hit his chin.
"Oh yes, Rufus...I'd do anything the boss says..." she licked her teeth. "...anything."
There was silence between them as Rufus lost his composure a little more. "You know Rufus...we call him boss for a reason. I think it's probably because...he knows how to be in charge. You know...really...take the reigns. Every man likes to be in charge, Rufus...but only one can be. Now, if you'll excuse me I have a job to do and I expect a conversation like this to never again happen between us, yes?" Elena stated just above a hushed whisper with more confidence then she ever thought she would have as she slowly stood up.
"Yes, ma'am...anything...anything at all, Elena. I understand. " Rufus choked. His mouth had gone painfully dry.
"I'm glad we're clear sir. I'm sure I'll talk to you again soon. Have a wonderful day." Elena said as she stood up and backed away from his desk, inching toward the door. He nodded at her as he was at a complete loss for words. Once outside his large office doors, Elena quickly pressed for the elevator and pulled her cell phone out. She leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath. "Hey." she said.
"Well?" Tseng answered her. He was still on the other line with Lazard.
"He will honor any request I make. If you think the MAKO reactor should be built on that site all I need to do is bring him the paper and show him where to sign." Elena said stepping into the elevator.
"You know, this is the only thing me and Rufus have ever disagreed on…in three years of working together. He won't regret this decision. I'll have the document drawn up first thing tomorrow. I'm sorry we…had to do what we did to get him to crack. I've never…manipulated Rufus before and furthermore I've never used a woman to get to Rufus before. I feel badly on all accounts." Tseng said.
"It's okay. I don't think Rufus would have backed down so easily for you. Besides, I was only doing my job…baby."
"You know what it does to me when you call me that." Tseng said seriously.
"That's why I do it, baby. Hey, you're on your own for lunch. I'm gonna watch Cissnei's endurance test. I'm going to meet her now." Elena said stepping off the elevator onto another floor.
"Alright. Damn, I still have Lazard on hold. Talk to you later." Tseng said remembering he wasn't through with Lazard.
"Bye." Elena hung up her phone. She made her way down around a corner only to find Cissnei changed and ready to run. "Hey, you ready?" Cissnei was laughing at something as she tossed her phone aside.
"Yeah, yeah I'm ready. Best get this over with." Cissnei said pulling her hair back off her neck.
"Okay, hold on. Let me pull your chart up." Elena said. Cissnei stretched a bit while Elena flipped through the computer files to find her chart. If Elena's body was a ten…Cissnei's was a 9.99. "Here we go, ready when you are." Elena said. Cissnei took a deep breath.
"Gotcha. Here we go."
"You're sure about this?" Rufus asked as he glanced over the document and then looked up at Tseng. It hadn't been thirty minutes since Elena had left Rufus's office.
"I assure you this is a positive move for the company. I was going to have Elena bring this document to you but she's monitoring Cissnei's endurance test." Tseng explained.
"I see." Rufus picked up the document and clicked his pen. "You know, Tseng. I trust you on this. Though I'm not sure I'm completely behind this decision I trust you." Rufus said leaning forward in his chair and resting the document on his desk again. He glided his pen flawlessly over the parchment surface leaving a beautiful 'R' in it's wake. Tseng watched him intensely as the prospect of a MAKO excavation and reactor build became a reality. Rufus put his pen down and turned the document toward Tseng. He stared at Rufus's black signature: RUFUS M. SHINRA. Now he could sign the document on the line below Rufus's signature.
"Let's talk money." Rufus said with his elbows on his desk as Tseng pulled the pen across the paper.
"Alright, let's." Tseng said not looking up.
"You get ten percent of the excavation revenue." Rufus said matter of factly. Tseng looked up rather surprised.
"Ten?" Tseng asked, a peculiar look on his face. He shoved the document aside and pushed Rufus's pen back toward him.
"Yes. Ten." Rufus said not wavering.
"Okay, it's just that in the previous site expansion you had given me seventeen percent." Tseng said leaning back in his chair.
"Yes…yes…well…we can't always get…what we want, my friend." Rufus lifted a finger to his lips. Tseng was suddenly rather alarmed by the tone of Rufus's voice and the look on his face. "We are friends, right?" Rufus questioned.
"Of course, friends and colleagues." Tseng said sitting up a little straighter.
"You see, Tseng…I have something you want…and uh, you….you have something… I want." Rufus said as he turned his chair sideways and stared at Tseng. Tseng examined wild blue eyes as he suddenly felt rather threatened by the man with whom he had worked so closely over the past few years. "You…are going to keep….what I want…and I…am going to keep…what you want." Rufus paused. He didn't take his eyes off Tseng and Tseng didn't take his eyes off Rufus. "Please…please rest assured that I have…no hard feelings. When you find something...beautiful...shall we say...it's best to keep it for yourself." Rufus turned his chair to face his desk once more. Tseng squirmed a bit, uncomfortable in Rufus's gaze. "Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Tseng said clearing his throat. He watched as Rufus stood up behind his desk. Tseng followed in suit. Rufus extended his hand toward Tseng. It was an awkwardly firm handshake. Tseng nodded uncomfortably. After finally releasing Rufus's hand, he quickly picked up the document and headed for the heavy doors of Rufus's office. Tseng hadn't expected Rufus to use such leverage.
Reno and Rude were outside on the N wing helipad area. It didn't appear that they were doing a whole lot of anything productive. "I think you should do it. You said you been talkin' to this guy for over a month so why the hell not do something with him?" Reno said.
"I'd be way too nervous, man. I haven't…you know…been 'out' with anyone for like four years now." Rude said.
"So, Tseng hadn't been on a date or even gotten laid in like sixteen months either and look at him now." Reno said as they approached the hanger. Rude didn't say anything for a minute. "Look, you really should do it." Reno was distracted by the sound of a text message. He looked at it and laughed.
"You've been doing that like all day today. Who keeps texting you?" Rude asked. Reno was still slightly laughing at the message he had just received.
"Ah, it's nothin'…nothin'." He said texting something back.
"No, it's somethin'. You've been acting weird all day today." Rude observed.
"No I haven't! How have I been actin' weird?" Reno demanded.
"I don't know, really. You're just…you're smiling a lot today. It's…it's just way more than I've normally seen you smile in a day." Rude brought this to his attention.
"So? I guess I'm…I'm just in a good mood." Reno said.
"No, that's not it. There's something about the way you're smilin'." Rude said. "What did you do yesterday?"
"What did I do? Uh…nothin' really. I had lunch with Cissnei and then she and I went on a flight to the Bone Village. We had a great time. It was fun." Reno explained.
"It was fun, huh?" Rude asked taking his glasses off.
"Well, yeah. We…spent the whole day together. Talked the whole damn flight, ya know?"
"Huh…interesting." Was all Rude said.
"Come on! You're almost done!" Elena yelled at Cissnei.
"Aaaagghhh! These stupid endurance tests!" Cissnei panted as she tried to keep up.
"Don't talk! Just concentrate!" Elena told her. Cissnei took a deep breath and continued running as hard as she could.
"Twenty more seconds!" Elena announced.
"Twenty more seconds of hell!" Cissnei yelled over the sound of the treadmill.
"Focus!" Elena reminded her. The twenty seconds droned on as Cissnei counted them down. She slowed her pace as she came toward the end of her treadmill run. She was walking it out now on a flat incline.
"Do you have any idea how much I hate these things!" Cissnei asked grabbing a hold of the sides of the treadmill and walking out the strains of the endurance test.
"Well, you did fine even though you hate it." Elena reminded her. She let the computer take in the data of the last leg of Cissnei's run and pulled her a bottle of water out of the small fridge. Cissnei stepped off the treadmill with her hands on her hips. She was red faced and attempting to catch her breath. She walked over to the nearby chair with her suit wadded up on it and picked up her phone. She laughed at the text message she saw and practically choked on her laughter from not being able to catch her breath. "What in the world are you laughing at? You're been glued to that stupid phone for half the day." Elena questioned throwing the water at her.
"Oh it's nothing. Reno just sent me a text saying that Rude almost killed himself when he slipped on an oil slick in the hanger." Cissnei said.
"I see. Hey, you wanna come by after work today?" Elena asked her.
"Aren't you going to be underneath your Wutai prince?" Cissnei asked her. Elena laughed.
"No. He's gonna stay late tonight and have an online conference with Rufus and two others from the future MAKO site." Elena said.
"Oh well, aren't you just fucking mister important." Cissnei said picking up her suit.
"Are you just going to carry that upstairs like that?" Elena questioned as Cissnei wiped her face with a towel.
"Yeah, stupid thing's gonna be all wrinkled anyway." Cissnei said.
"Well, how about you come by just whenever." Elena said. Cissnei was laughing at her phone again. It was as if she didn't even hear Elena.