Chapter 14: Disappointed
The next morning:
"Err…" A hesitant Rikku began, her body hunched over on the couch as she laced up her boots. "You sure you wanna do this today?"
"Of course I am." He responded in confidence, eyes fixated on the reflection inside the wall mirror as he adjusted his collar. "Today is as good as any." He was trying not to sound too suspicious as to cause concern to Rikku. He had decided the night before that he was just going to forget about his 'Isaaru' problem for now and focus on the present, which included Rikku and meeting her father; if he wanted to keep her in the dark about it, he had to make sure he wasn't acting out of the ordinary, especially to her.
Noting she hadn't made any comments from his last statement, Baralai glanced over his shoulder, looking in her direction with a curious eye. "Is there a reason I am unaware of as to why we couldn't see your pops today?"
"Um, not at all, heh heh." She said with an awkward smile, followed by a nervous hand to the nape of her neck. "He'd be happy to meet you." Rikku herself was doing her best to come off as convincing, considering what had transpired the last time she tried to tell Cid of Baralai. "Are we ready? I gave pops a call and told him we'd be there in about twenty minutes! Let's shakey shake it!" leaping to her feet, she grabbed him by the shoulders and playfully directed Baralai out the front door.
Bikanel: Cid's factory
Cid started his morning in the place he always did- at work. It would seem he actually lived there with the amount of time he'd spend day after day. It was nice for him to know he'd finally found his niche. Either that or he was just trying to occupy his time since for the first time in a while, he was truly alone. Brother was too busy traveling on the Celsius with Buddy looking for new spheres; the two had decided they didn't want to stop looking for the mysterious recordings, even if they were only of scenery and such. Just the thrill of the hunt was something they couldn't resist after their adventure with Yuna and the girls.
As for Rikku- well, he knew she was busy with her life too. Cid was proud of her; she had come to be more responsible, even going as far as to have her own enterprise. He always knew she would be the one of his children to succeed. Sure, Brother was well… special in his own way, but Cid just connected with Rikku better and saw the potential inside her to do something really great with herself. In addition, it seemed from the call he'd received from his daughter earlier that she finally found herself someone to marry like he'd always desired for her. Luckily for Rikku, Cid didn't happen to remember their conversation just a couple of days previous.
Preparing for the business of the day, Cid sat at his desk and clutched his coffee mug. He was a firm believer in the steamy, brown java; having a cup always seemed like the best way to begin a productive morning. The first thing he'd noticed upon his pile of mail was an unopened envelope from Bevelle. It was the letter he'd been waiting on from the praetor of New Yevon concerning the financial boost he'd requested for his company.
"It's about damn time it got here." He grumbled, tearing hungrily through the parchment corners. Unfortunately though, the gray papers- each embossed with the New Yevon seal and written on with red ink, didn't supply the answer he'd hoped for. He slammed his coffee mug violently on the desk, shattering it into fragments; coffee splattered about the wooden surface, soaking the papers, pencils, and knocking over a picture of Rikku and him onto the floor.
"How dare he do this to me!" he ejaculated to no one, standing erect amongst the clutter and disorder in his chambers as a dictator would; the chair, desk, and filing cabinet doubling as his faithful, blind followers hanging on his every word. "I can't believe this! That little Yevonite punk doesn't know who in Spira he's dealin' with!"
Meanwhile, Rikku and Baralai were making their way down the dimly lit factory corridor towards Cid's office door. She was just about to open it when Baralai grabbed hold of her hand and stopped her.
"Now wait a minute." He began, gulping loudly. Baralai may have been confident at the house, but the closer they were to meeting him, the more nervous the young man had become. Sweat beaded down his neck and his face felt flushed; and in an instant the color seemed to drain away from his face. Rikku turned to him and laughed, placing her hand upon his silken shoulder.
"Calm down, Baralai. It's just my father." She teased, rolling her eyes at him mockingly. "He's a real nice guy once you get to know him. Give him a chance! Now come on, he's right inside." Without another word, Rikku swung open the door and smiled. "Hey there pop… what the heck? DUCK!"
With one swift motion Rikku dove on top of Baralai, and the two tumbled down to the concrete floor with a crash. A desk lamp flew over their heads just seconds after and met its end against the far wall of the hallway. Lifting her head up slowly, she peeked into the disheveled office to see her father standing there; his eyes wide open and his hands covering his mouth in embarrassment. Seeing it was safe to stand, Rikku sprung to her feet and pulled Baralai up with her. Cid approached his daughter and patted her shoulders.
"Are ya alright? I didn't hit you, did I?" he asked, quite concerned for Rikku's well being, dusting her off. "It's good to see you." He muttered, turning around to enter the office.
"What are you doin', pops? Why is your place such a mess?" Rikku stepped over the chaos of papers and office supplies behind him, heading for his desk.
Still not facing her, Cid reached for a cigar from a box on his bookshelf and lit it up. "It's that damn praetor again." He exclaimed between puffs. "He's denied my request for the extra Gil we need." Cid continued to grumble. "Now how are my people supposed to make ends meet? Bastard. Like hell they'll help us. Lousy no good…"
Baralai interrupted his future father in law's rant.
"But sir- I didn't deny anyone anything. I know not what you're talking about."
Cid spun around faster than a child's toy top at the sound of Baralai's voice. In an instant, his eyes seemed to turn from their usual emerald green to a fiery red; and his blood began to boil. He glared at Rikku like a common madman, becoming someone she'd hardly recognized.
"WHAT is this incompetent, lying sonofabitch doing in MY office?" He screamed, pointing at Baralai as he charged toward his daughter. Before he could get any closer Baralai jumped in front of him, blocking her from any potential harm Cid had planned.
"My apologies to you Mr. Highwind for this-"Baralai began, his arms outstretched in a 'T' position; his eyes as sharp as an eagle's fixated steadily on Cid. "I assure you this is merely a miscommunication somehow. As to why I am here?" He put his arms down and wrapped one around Rikku. "I'm with her."
"Yeah pops." Rikku began, resting her head on Baralai's chest; the smile on her face growing broader with every syllable. "He's the one I was telling you about. We're getting married!"
Cid's draw dropped to the floor; his face relaxed, but his upper lip was curled upward in confusion. Was he hearing correctly? Did his daughter- his flesh and blood- really just say she was getting married? And to the Praetor of New Yevon; the one in charge of his people's payroll? He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Breathing a heavy sigh, Cid sunk his head and collapsed into his chair. He put his face in his hands and exhaled once more. Rikku approached the front of the desk and leaned into her father.
"You okay Pops? What's the matter?" There was a brief silence as Cid slowly rose from his position. Then, cocking his head to one side, he looked up at her and scrunched his brow in annoyance.
"Are ya kidding me, Rikku?" he asked sarcastically, resting his arm onto the mahogany surface. "You've just come here telling me you're marrying the source of my troubles and you ask me what the matter is?"
"He just said he didn't have anything to do with this- unless you don't believe him." She glanced over at Baralai and back at her father. "You do believe him, don't you?" when she stared directly into the swirls that made up Cid's eyes, she could sense they were saying what his mouth was not. "You don't. I can't believe this pops." She said in utter disbelief, backing away from the desk and toward her fiancée.
"I'm sorry Rikku." He began trying to reason with her, but he could tell it wasn't working. "You can do whatever ya want. You're an adult n'all, but that doesn't mean I have to approve. This man is going to be the downfall of your people- just keep that in the back of yer head when you walk down that aisle. He can't be trusted. Not after this." He gestured in disgust to the paper laying on the wooden surface next to him.
"Fine pops." Rikku huffed, grabbing Baralai forcibly by his arm and dragging him against his will off to the exit. "You'll see you're wrong," she threatened, standing in the doorway, "and hopefully for you it won't be too late." Rikku glared at her father angrily and back handed the door shut behind her. The two disappeared into the factory, blending in with the other employees rushing around to get to their work stations before the morning bell. Cid sighed and began cleaning up the mess he'd made, throwing away coffee stained papers, shards of his coffee mug, and the also now shattered ceramic frame with their picture in it that fell on the floor before. It was only fitting that the picture was torn in two from the impact, since that pretty much mirrored how they both felt at this time.