Stained Halo
Chapter 6: She Moves She
The party was, in usual Luke-fashion, painfully classy if not topped with just a touch of ridiculous extravagance. As Aeris and Gloria entered, they were met with the sight of fire dancers performing on elevated pedestals scattered all around the club. The flames glittered madly over the crowd, illuminating those dancing in the center as well as everyone by the various bars and lounge tables. Gorgeous cocktail waitresses wearing tiny golden dresses were carrying trays covered with the finest complimentary champagne. Everything was a shimmering gold or a deep maroon, creating a lusty, dark mood. The guests were strict Midgar A-listers; it was a congregation of the city's wealthiest and most powerful people, which meant everyone at the top of Shinra and Luke's world.
Gloria pointed to a grand staircase in the back of the room leading to the upper floor, which was visible beyond the balcony overlooking the dance floor.
"That's the VIP room, Luke should be there."
They made their way through the crowd, which parted easily for the likes of Gloria. After climbing the stairs, they found themselves face to face with one of Luke's bodyguards. He let them by and pointed to an area by the balcony, where a group of men were beginning to rise from their seats and move to a private room. Luke was among them, too involved in a conversation to spot Gloria and Aeris, so that Gloria caught him by surprise when she grabbed hold of his arm before he walked into the other room.
"Hello darlin', love what you've done with the place," Gloria crooned as she moved in to kiss him. Luke, however, moved away briskly. The pleasant look he carried when he was speaking to his colleague was replaced with an agitated one.
"I told Todd not to let anyone up here," he muttered in an irritated tone after he excused himself and began to lead her and Aeris back towards the stairs. There was a visible look of hurt on Gloria's face, which quickly turned into anger. She stopped and glared at him.
"Well, I didn't know I was just 'anyone.'"
Luke looked equally aggravated.
"That right there was President Shinra," he hissed through gritted teeth, "And we're about to discuss our first project. I don't have time for this."
"I thought this was supposed to be a party, not a damn business meeting. I wouldn't have shown up if this…" But Gloria was interrupted before she could finish. A blonde woman wearing a scarlet dress emerged from the room.
"Luke, we're ready to get started," she said with a smile, moving closer to him than Gloria liked.
Luke smiled back, "I was just finishing up." He shot Gloria a look that very clearly told her that the conversation was over, and with his hand on the small of the blonde's back, retreated to the meeting.
Aeris was halfway afraid to look at Gloria; she couldn't help but feel embarrassed for her. The woman was staring at the shut door with an expressionless face. Aeris knew the look, it was one she wore when she was trying to compose herself. The scene was very hard to watch.
"Gloria let's just go."
But Gloria quickly shook her head. She grabbed hold of Aeris' hand and began to walk down the stairs.
"You and me are going to have a good time. That's why we came, right?"
Aeris was sure this was a bad idea, but followed anyway. She certainly didn't come with any illusions of a good time, and would have been more than happy to go home. With all the Shinra people surrounding her, she could not help but feel a tiny, familiar sense of panic in her gut. But after the fiasco that took place with Luke, she was willing to stay with Gloria if that would make her feel better. She'd never seen him treat Gloria so rudely. He hadn't even bothered to introduce either one of them to the blonde that came over. He had been in far too much of a hurry to get rid of them.
Gloria finished her champagne, and exchanged the empty glass for a full one when she passed a waitress. She gave one to Aeris as well, who tried to give it back to the waitress, but couldn't, as Gloria pulled her along too quickly. They settled on a couch in the lounge between the bar and dance floor. Gloria already had her unfazed, graceful demeanor back.
In a low tone, she told Aeris, "Two can play this game." And with that, emptied her second glass.
"Another beer."
"Sir, you're on your seventh, I think you may have had enough."
With a flash of black metal, the bartender found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"I don't believe I requested that you state what you think."
The bartender swallowed hard. A mixture of surprise and fear ran down his spine and kept him rooted to the spot with his mouth and eyes wide open. It was such a comical look that Reno, who was sitting on his stool at the bar, with his right arm extended, holding the gun, lost his serious expression and burst out laughing. He lowered the gun and waved with his other hand as if the bartender was crazily overreacting.
"Nah man, I'm just kidding with ya."
The bartender let out a big sigh of relief, shutting his eyes temporarily to regain his posture and dignity.
"But seriously, get me my beer," Reno ordered, "Or else…" Mockingly, he formed a gun with his right hand and pretended to shoot the bartender. Needless to say, the man didn't question Reno's sobriety a second time.
Reno turned to his partner, Rude, who hadn't bothered to glance at Reno once while the scene had unfolded. With his back to the bar, he stared into space while working on the drink in his hand.
"Thinks I've had enough, can you get a load of that?"
Rude shrugged. He was used to his partner's antics. Reno was notorious for giving people a hard time just to see them get all riled up. The truth was that there wasn't a chance in hell Reno would've done anything to that bartender. Despite his mischievous ways, he was an extremely level headed person. The only time any of the Turks got violent was either on the job, or when some poor idiot who didn't know who they were gave them trouble.
"You better tip him well after that."
Tseng, who was sitting on the other side of Rude, was giving Reno a teasingly condescending look.
"As if I could with what Shinra's paying us these days," Reno muttered, taking a sip of his beer.
Tseng and Rude raised their bottles to that.
"Can't even take girls on dates anymore," Reno continued, "had to skip dinner with the last girl. Picked her up and cut straight to taking her back to my place."
He scratched at his chin thoughtfully.
"On the other hand, maybe I don't want a raise after all."
Rude grinned and Tseng shook his head slightly. He, too, had somehow grown quite fond of Reno's way. While much more serious himself, he couldn't help but enjoy being around the guy. He was always good for a laugh, and certainly made the company parties bearable. Besides, no one could blame Reno for joking at the wrong times. When it came down to the job, the man was as tough and cold as steel.
The three remained at the bar, drinking in silence with the exception of Reno's occasional comments. It was like their usual night off, so they didn't mind having to attend the celebration of the merger.
"Now don't get me wrong, I love these things for the drinks," Reno said quietly, leaning over so Tseng could hear him, "The open bar is quite possibly the best concept to ever exist. But for fuck's sake, is there not one girl here that isn't attached to the arm of a fat business man?"
Reno shook his head at the sight before him. Sure, it was a congregation of Midgar's most beautiful women, but they all flocked to the rich old farts. Not a single one by herself…
And that's when he saw the knock-out blonde across the room. He gave a low whistle under his breath. She was a woman with the kind of looks that would've had him approaching her even if she were attached to President's arm. To his good fortune, she was sitting alone with a younger brunette. With one last swig of his beer, he rose from his seat.
Tseng looked at him questioningly.
"I found the one thing better than the open bar."
Aeris spotted him approaching before Gloria did. He stood out easily among the crowd due to the mere fact that he was one of the few males under forty. Not to mention that his messy hair tied back in a low ponytail, and untucked shirt were unlike anything anyone around him sported. As soon as she saw him grab two champagne glasses and walk towards them, she knew what was coming. Gloria, however, did not so much as notice.
"Hey darlin', I'm going to the lady's room real quick. Damn champagne. Don't move, okay?"
And with that she was up and off, without so much as having glanced at a now very perturbed Reno. He wound up a few feet away from them when Gloria walked away, and wore an obvious scowl. But he recovered fast, and smiled down at Aeris.
"Mind if I have a seat?"
She didn't bother to stop herself from rolling her eyes.
"Actually, it's taken."
Within a second, Aeris regretted her response. She'd just confirmed Gloria would be returning. Not having missed a beat, he sat down with the clear intention of waiting.
"You look like you could use the company," he winked.
"Is that so?" she asked in the most disinterested voice she could muster.
He shrugged and shot her another smile.
"Alright, maybe I'm the one that wanted the company," he pointed behind him, towards the bar, "My two friends back there are nice and all, but they're not so big on the dancing."
Looking at the bar, Aeris saw two somber looking men grimacing at the attention Reno was bringing upon them, and she couldn't help but laugh.
He acted shocked. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a smile."
Pursing her lips together and narrowing her eyes, Aeris planted the most ridiculous frown on her face that Reno had ever seen..
"You're out of control, kid," he laughed.
Mocking his earlier shocked look, Aeris clasped a hand over her mouth and widened her eyes.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have something other than a pick up line."
"Hey now," he retorted, his sea green eyes sparkling mischievously, "Don't knock it. It works on all the ladies, no lie."
Aeris raised a brow, "I think that says something about the kind of women you're dealing with."
He leaned in and whispered, "Hell, it got you talking, didn't it?"
She smiled slightly, avoiding his eyes to elude admitting defeat. With her defenses down, Aeris was about to give in and introduce herself properly. But just as she opened her mouth, Gloria appeared again.
"Tsk, Aeris, I leave you for two minutes, and you're talking to boys."
Reno looked away from Aeris, and up at the blonde woman standing before him. He rose from his seat and made a gesture towards the couch.
"Didn't mean to take your seat." He looked her straight in the eyes, with a more serious expression than what he wore to speak with Aeris.
Right, Aeris thought.
Gloria, who Aeris suspected must have been quite tipsy at that point, bowed her head appreciatively, and sat down.
"You know there's plenty of room for the three of us," she offered.
"Oh, you're too kind," he replied, winking slightly.
Dear god, is that a blush? Aeris stared at Gloria, who was looking far too affected by the guy's obviously fake show of courtliness.
"The name's Reno," he said, taking Gloria's hand in his, "And I am extremely pleased to meet you."
Definite blush.
Watching the two begin to converse, Aeris noted that Gloria's behavior had somehow reverted to that of a giggly school girl. Sure, the woman was sort of heartbroken and well on her way to being drunk, and sure, this Reno character might be as smooth as Luke himself, but the point was, that he wasn't Luke. She had never pinned Gloria as the type to flirt with other men to make her feel better about herself. And that was clearly what she was doing now; if she couldn't get the attention from Luke, she'd get it from the next guy over. It was immature and below her, and Aeris rolled her eyes at every laugh that Reno got out of Gloria.
After a good ten minutes of sitting next to the flirtatious pair, without ever having been spoken to, Gloria suddenly turned to Aeris with a sly grin on her face.
"Me and Reno are going to go dance. Will you be alright here?"
Not that it really mattered, but Aeris nodded anyway. She watched Reno lead a giddy Gloria to the dance floor and disappear into the crowd. Sitting by herself, she had nothing better to do than to watch the crowd.
So much laughter everywhere. But it seemed that the closer she observed the people's expressions, she found a sort of desperation to it all. People weren't laughing because they were happy—they were laughing because they had to. Because they were the richest, the most beautiful, the most powerful in all of Midgar. Isn't that everything anyone could ever want? Not smiling now would mean they would never, ever smile.
The emptiness of the glass pressed to her lips snapped Aeris' attention away from her drifting thoughts. Unlike most seventeen year olds, she'd never been that curious about drinking. Growing up in the household of a drugs and arms dealer, cleared her interest in anything that could lead to any kind of addiction. But momentarily the champagne tasted unusually good, and the numbing haze that was spreading throughout her body definitely didn't feel bad either.
She rose from her seat and made her way towards the bar. Not bothering to ask the black haired man next to her whether the seat was taken, she plopped down on the stool and waited for the bartender to notice her.
"What'll it be?" he asked, once he'd worked his way over to her.
"Champagne, please."
"You go to the waitresses for that, want something else instead?" Embarrassed at her lack of knowledge about bars, she shook her head hoped no one noticed.
"You can have this one."
Looking up, Aeris found herself facing the black haired man. He was holding up a full glass of champagne.
"The waitress just dropped it off a second ago. But we've already got beers."
After giving him a shy "thank you", she took the glass. She considered getting up and leaving, in case he'd taken their exchange the wrong way and would see it as an opportunity to hit on her. But after giving him a closer look, she concluded that he didn't seem the type, and was just being polite. He had a very dignified look about him. Despite the length of his hair, it looked very neat the way he combed it back. His eyes were dark and serious. He sat with perfect posture, and observed the room with a very neutral expression.
So she decided to go ahead and remain seated where she was. Her glass was halfway empty before the dark stranger spoke up again.
"I know how this sounds, but, do I know you from somewhere?"
Aeris turned to him and was met with a searching gaze. She shrugged.
"I'm Luke Cole's daughter."
"Oh, of course."
He seemed satisfied with the answer, but Aeris was feeling quite unnerved. She was fairly certain that the man worked for Shinra, and could only hope that the reason he recognized her really was due to her relation to Luke. If it were for other reasons, it could mean a world of trouble for her.
She avoided eye contact for the next few minutes, trying to keep herself looking unfazed. Thankfully, it was only a matter of minutes before a blonde man in a white suit approached her neighbor to lead him away. The dark haired man gave her a small nod before leaving, and Aeris could've sworn there was something in his eyes that told her he was still trying to figure out his connection to her.
Don't be an idiot, that all ended years ago.
Still, she felt an increasing need to leave the party right then. But with Gloria and Luke nowhere in sight, the night still threatened to be very long.