Jill doesn't hear from Chris the next day, probably because he doesn't have her number nor do they meet for their Saturday hike. She doesn't mind the emptiness of her apartment. In fact, she spends the weekend reveling in the loneliness and even has a chance to read a book for the first time in months. Still, she finds herself anxious to get back into the office, wondering if Chris (or anybody for that matter) has any memory of that night.

Monday finally arrives and Jill tries to burry her giddiness as much as she's able. God help her, even she's taken aback by her reaction. As always, she's the first in the office, already sorting through case files and doing her damned best to stay focused on the task at hand. Barry and Enrico enter first, talking about their wives and laughing about something before going their separate ways.

Then Brad and Richard, followed by Edward, Forest, and Joseph, Kenneth is surprisingly late. So, of course, Chris is the last one in, the one… well, okay, maybe not the one day Jill wanted to be alone with him, but still.

The day crawls by, but it only takes an hour before the typical banter starts in earnest.

"So, Jill, are you stealing our girlfriends or what?" Richard asks.

"Pft." Jill chuckles, a blush creeping up her neck.

"Um, girlfriend and fiancée." Edward corrects him.

"If they leave you for me, I can't do anything about it." She claims with a smirk.

"What are we talking about now?" Barry asks.

"My fiancée and Richard's girlfriend made a Jill sandwich on Friday." Edward claps his hands to drive the point home.

"You're so gross." She laughs, "You make it sound so nasty, but it was just innocent fun."

"Oh yeah, you were so innocent alright." Joseph chortles.

"Elaborate for me, what do you mean?" Jill asks with a laugh.

"You were asking for some kind of attention and I hope you got it." He winks at her before taking a seat.

"You're too much." She rolls her eyes, sparing a glance at Chris. If she didn't know better, she'd say he looks furious… or maybe he's just focused?

"I'm pretty sure that was you." Brad jumps in.

"You know what? I am so sorry that you had to recognize that I'm a woman like that, but you were bound to find out eventually." She teases.

"Sounds like there was a lot going on." Barry shakes his head, still not totally following what happened.

"You had to be there." She claims.

"Yeah Barry, you really missed out! Jill practically rode Edward's fiancée!" Suddenly, at Joseph's comment, Chris gets up from his desk and storms out of the office without a word. Jill feels worry rising in her gut as the door slams shut.

She's the first to speak up, "Uh should-"

"I've got him." Forest gets up from his desk and follows Chris out of the room.

"What's his deal?" Barry asks.

"Probably got upset that his dream girl was grinding on someone else." Edward shrugs.

"That's no way to talk about Brad." Joseph quips.

"Man fuck you guys."

Jill's lost interest in the conversation, eyes having dropped to the work before her as Barry follows Forest after Chris. What's Chris's deal? Is everything okay? Is it about her? Is he possibly mad at her? It's not like she did anything wrong, and he even admitted that he has feelings for her, so what's the guy's problem?

She empties her mind as she fills out documents, but no matter how mindless it is, her mind keeps turning back on to think of Chris. Nearly ten minutes pass before Barry and Forest enter the office again, Jill tries not to look up as quickly as she does, but she hardly has control over herself.

Joseph asks, "He okay?"

"Yeah, just needed to get out for a bit. I sent him to get lunch, on me for missing your thing, Edward." Barry walks up to Jill's desk as he speaks. "He's sorry by the way."

"Sorry?" She asks, heart sinking low in her chest. Every STARS member goes silent at the mention.

"Yeah, wouldn't tell me why, but said he made an idiot of himself."

Jill would hate to say she's afraid of what he could possibly mean, but she lets out a laugh.

"Oh, I get what you're saying." She lies easily.

"What happened now?" Richard asks.

"Chris just got really drunk on Friday and he vomited in front of me, it was no big deal. Happens sometimes, you know?" She knows that's not what he's talking about, but the guys can't know that.

Forest gives her a quizzical look that she tries her very best to stomach.

"Awe, Redfield's embarrassed." Joseph coos.

"Just don't give him shit for it, please?" Barry sighs, walking back to his desk.

Just before Chris returns with food, Wesker walks out of his office to give assignments. When he notices Chris's absence, his gaze lingers on Jill for just a second too long before moving on to the next task. As everyone else is filtering out of the office, Wesker approaches her, Barry, and Enrico.

"Enrico and I will be in a meeting this afternoon; you, Chris, and Barry will be taking calls." He says boredly, producing file folders of cases. "I hope you three will be able to get along."

"We'll be fine, sir." Jill says confidently.

"Even with Chris acting up? It's quite unlike him." Wesker looks at her and she can almost make out his irises from behind those glasses.

"I'm sure he's alright, just a little stir crazy." She claims again, "Right, Barry?"

"Yeah, he's alright." Barry agrees.

"Hm." Wesker gives a sort of semi-smile, "You'd think after the night you all had, he'd be rearing to stay in."

"You know about that?" Jill asks, fighting to keep any embarrassment from flooding her senses.

"Word travels fast… and you were in public." He says as if to remind her.

Jill's voice gets caught in her throat as he continues. "You seem to forget that I don't live in this office, Jill."

"It's not that, sir, I just don't normally act like that." She says, nerves nearly getting the better of her.

"I'm sure you don't typically dress like that either." He says the words and her skin turns to fire.

Holy shit, there's no way in hell Wesker saw her like that right? He couldn't have. If he did, she'd be practically vomiting at his feet.

"Good god, no!" She tries to laugh and pass it off as a joke, but Barry gives her a knowing loo., "Yeah that's not… I don't usually even leave my damn apartment, so… That will not be happening again. Probably ever."

"Oh, don't worry, I have photos." Wesker says it so offhandedly, so flippantly Jill is surprised she hears him.

"What?" She asks, gaze darting to Barry and Enrico, who both seem unfazed.

"What?" He returns the question.

"You have pictures of me?"

Wesker gives her a smirk, a short laugh, and pats her shoulder twice before turning on his heel leaving for his meeting. His head shaking as if to say, 'don't you worry about it', or 'I don't have pictures of you I'm just teasing but I'm not enough of a person to know how to make a proper joke'.

"That was creepy, right?" Jill asks, Barry shrugs his shoulders while Enrico responds.

"Wesker's a creepy guy."

"That's fair, but… still." She shudders internally at the thought of him having photos of her… God it's like high school all over again.

"He's probably pulling your chain." Enrico passes it off with ease.

"Sick joke." Barry scoffs, "You shouldn't talk about your coworkers like that."

"Besides, since when does Wesker make jokes?" Jill crosses her arms self-consciously.

"Just try not to overthink it, Jill, it's probably nothing. Will you guys be okay by yourselves?" Enrico gives her a smile to reassure her.

"Of course." Barry nods, allowing Enrico to follow after their boss.

"Please tell me I'm not crazy, Barry."

"You're not crazy, but I think Wesker is harmless. Kind of a creep, but harmless." He assures her, "Let's get some work done, okay?"

Jill agrees reluctantly.

About two minutes later, Edward drops by to let them know lunch is in the break room. She lets Barry go in favor of mulling over Wesker's words. Is it possible that he has photos of her? Could he seriously be trying to make a joke? Is the guy on fucking crack?

Suddenly, a Styrofoam plate of spaghetti is placed on her desk with the arm of Chris Redfield attached to it.

"Thanks." She says, looking up from her work.

"Didn't want you starving yourself for the RPD, not worth it." He says as the first hints of a smile grace his face for the first time that day.

"Oh? You don't think the citizens of Raccoon City deserve the very best?" She asks gratefully picking up the plate.

"Never said that." He claims, scratching his forehead as if he's ready to speak, but holds back from doing so.

"You scared the shit out of me, Chris." She tells him.

If he won't say something, she has to.

"I, uh… don't mention it, please." As he says this, Barry re-enters the office, leaving her with a sinking feeling that something with Chris isn't okay.

"You can't expect me to give up that easily." She prods but is met with only a shake of his head. "Chirs-"

"Just stop, Jill, don't make me beg." She can see a mixture of regret, embarrassment, frustration, and even a little bit of sadness lingering behind his eyes. Jill drops the conversation, the weight of her heart close to unbearable as she answers a call from the evidence department.

The day melts away so agonizingly slow, Jill nearly loses her mind as the silence seeps into her skin. She and Chris have suddenly started a tense sort of game where they both stare at one another. Both are hyper aware of the other's presence, but neither will say a thing. The only crux they have is work and Barry to keep the tension from boiling over; though Barry keeps instigating conversation between them, hoping to ease the situation, but one of them shuts down at the mere idea of breaking the seal of their silence.

Barry is out the door at 5 on the dot, leaving Jill and Chris slowly gathering their things.

Finally, unable to bear it for a second longer, Jill says, "Walk me to my car."

Chris hesitates, face rifling through as many emotions as he is capable of before finally uttering a weak, "Okay."

She waits to speak again until they're in the parking garage, but when she does it takes far too much will power to keep herself from screaming.

"So, is this how things are going to be now?"

"What do you mean?" He asks, hand on the back of his neck.

"You know what I mean." She says resolutely, the afternoon heat heavy and dense in the air.

"I, uh…"

"You have to talk to me, Chris, I'm going to lose my damn mind here."

"Why?" He asks, voice harsh as she looks at him.

"Because I care about you, you big oaf." She gets in front him. His gaze is harsh on the ground, but she continues, "If you're mad about something, talk to me about it like a big boy. I'm not about to work with a child who can't manage his feelings-"

"You are such a bitch." He says suddenly, "I didn't mean that."

"Then what did you mean?"

He goes silent hand raising to his forehead. He rubs his temples for a second before letting out a sigh.

"I don't know."

"You can't just call me a bitch without giving me a reason."

"I'm sorry, I just can't… I just can't."

"Can't what, Chris?" She lets out a huff of a breath, "Am I your friend?"

"Yes."

"Do you care about me?"

"Yes."

"Then use your words and tell me what's bothering you."

"I can't Jill!" He says grabbing her shoulders out of nowhere, shaking her as he says it.

"Well, when you can manage to talk to me… You know where I fucking live. Swallow your damn pride whenever it suits you." Shrugging him off, she climbs into her car, watching him hesitate for a moment before moving towards his own vehicle.

This is exactly why Jill doesn't do office romances, why she doesn't do relationships at all. Fuck this. Fuck this. How dare he call her a bitch? Sure, she's been called worse, but it stings even more coming from the man she'd thought could change her whole point of view. Was she blind? He said… Never trust the words of a drunk man. She should know better.

In the back of her mind, she hears he mother's voice clear as day: "You are unlovable, no man will ever marry you."

Jill gets to her apartment, suddenly feeling so trapped she almost leaves, but where else would she go? Struck by the sudden loneliness, she wishes she could call her dad. What she wouldn't give to hear him laugh and have him ask her if she'd already forgotten the lessons he'd spent so much time trying to teach her.

She settles for stupid, mindless television, barely even noticing the setting sun, practically falling asleep on her couch. But there's something still stirring in her that keeps her awake, Wesker's comments from earlier. Where did he see her? How did he get pictures of her? Was he just teasing like an idiot?

Spurred from her seat, she stands up and starts going through the rooms of her apartment. She's on the second floor, but could he possibly be able to… God she's going crazy. Her bedroom doesn't even face the parking lot, let alone the street; the one window faces into the grassy patch of park in the middle of her complex.

Just as she's nearly calmed herself down, she glances out the front window of her living room; and her eyes catch a man standing in her parking lot, undeniably staring right up at her.