Chapter 30

It had been a busy day today. It shouldn't have been really, traditionally Tuesdays were quite dead, particularly at this time. Herman assumed some kind of special meeting was about to take place, or there was some sort of seminar. He should keep up with such events, really, so he could plan promotions ahead of time and arrange when to have certain staff members in, but he never did. Thus now, as his restaurant became nearly filled to the brim with customers, he found himself seriously understaffed and overworked. He was now working himself as a waiter, and the chefs were cooking three or four things at the same time, trying to remember which foods were in which ovens and when to take out said foods before they got burned.

As the owner of the restaurant, Herman had little choice but to blame himself for the incident. Luckily for him, he had no boss to answer to, and thus if a few customers got angry, as they would undoubtedly do, there were bound to be one or two mix-ups, long waits and burnt food items, he would have nobody but himself to answer to. It wouldn't lead to a noticeable drop in custom, but the less bad word spread about the restaurant the better, especially as his reputation was, as of late, very strong. He had top executives, high-class military personnel and many celebrities even make an appearance in his restaurant recently, causing reputation to skyrocket. As he made his way over to another table, getting out his notepad, preparing to take another order. Hopefully custom would drop during the lunch hour, as everybody seemed to be eating earlier than normal. As Herman got out his notepad, he happened to turn to the entrance, and proceeded to gasp. Business had just picked up, big time.

"I've heard this place is really nice." Angela said, tugging Rufus's arm in the direction of a small, foreign themed restaurant. It bore the name "Benedachi's", and was wedged between a clothes shop and a small insurance office. There was, Rufus had to admit, a delicious smell coming from the restaurant. He wasn't usually keen on going out to restaurants, partly because he didn't like people doing things for him. He would prefer to cook his own food, then knowing without a doubt that whatever entered his mouth had only been touched by him and thus the only person he'd be able to blame if he became ill was himself. However, this first annoyance led to another fear he kept concealed from everybody other than himself. The fear of poison. Assassination. Whilst it would be extremely difficult, virtually impossible, to poison the leader of ALIEN inside his own headquarters, it had been done before. It is how his father was killed after all, and undoubtedly that was the rotten root of his paranoia.

"From who? Those stupid girls you gossip with?" Rufus rolled his eyes. He wasn't particularly fond of his fiancé's friends. Sure, they were giggly and upbeat and talkative… but above all else they were stupid, and stupidity was a pet peeve Rufus had always had.

"They aren't stupid…" Angela sounded a little hurt, but she'd heard plenty of disparaging comments before from her husband about her friends, and it barely surprised her anymore. "Actually, I was told by the wife of the security general. She said they both found the service and food to be exceptional. I think we should go here!"

"Whatever. Let's just eat." Rufus eyed the building once more, somewhat suspiciously. He shook his head, trying to shake his feeling of apprehension and followed his fiancé to the entrance. They were barely inside the doorway when a balding man with a drooping black moustache and beady eyes had stumbled upon them. He was grinning vivaciously and blurting out language Rufus could not understand.

"I'm sorry." Angela held up her hand, smiling politely. "Could you speak a little slower?"

"Yes, yes…" The small man composed himself nervously and took a deep breath. "Welcome to Benedachi's, where foreign tastes come home. My name is Herman Benedachi, owner of the restaurant. It's wonderful to see you here, Mr and Mrs. President… we're honoured you would step foot onto our premises. What is it we can help you with?"

"We'd like to eat." Rufus replied simply, used to but tired of this kind of reception.

"Of course! Only the best table for the president and his lady! Please follow me! We have a special table reserved for esteemed guests such as yourselves, away from the hustle and bustle!" Herman wheeled round, prepared to lead Rufus and Angela to a table at the back of the restaurant. Angela began to follow him, but Rufus didn't move.

"Wait." He said sternly.

"Y-yes?" Herman jumped back round, alarmed he had offended Rufus somehow.

"I would prefer to choose where I sit, thank you." Rufus cast his eyes around the restaurant, as Herman mumbled apologies whilst darting his eyes from Rufus to Angela. The restaurant was busy, and Rufus noted every single customer was glancing this way every so often, surprised at seeing the President here, no doubt, but not wanting to catch his attention. Rufus preferred being among a crowd, he enjoyed integrating himself into the common world and wished he could do so more often. Eventually, he spotted a small table, only built for two people, more or less in the centre of the restaurant. Satisfied, he strolled over to the table and sat down on a red chair which fit him quite perfectly.

"Ah, what an excellent choice sir! You have excellent taste, no doubt about it." Herman smiled and took out his notepad. Rufus saw the small man's hands were shaking – whether with excitement or fear, he could not tell. Angela was regarding him curiously, sitting down with her usual grace and picking up the menu.

"Oh, what an amazing choice of food." She commented, her eyes roaming across the menu ravenously.

"Only the best for the president and his lady! In fact, if you know of a type of food you'd like that isn't on our menu, we'll gladly take your request and do our best to serve the best replication possible!"

"It's okay, she can be a nuisance but I'll keep her under control." Rufus replied, also picking up a menu. He felt a kick from under the table and looked over the top of the menu, seeing Angela pouting at him, he couldn't help but grin. Herman chuckled nervously, gulping and trying to look as calm as possible. He couldn't believe he was serving the president and his fiancé! It was a dream come true! What a huge boost this would be for business! After Rufus and Angela had placed their orders, Herman bowed, stuttering praise for their choices and then scrambled into the back, putting both orders at number one priority.

"What's wrong, baby?"

Rufus turned his head up, Angela was looking at him worriedly. She stretched out her hand, smiling. He chuckled, taking her hand gently and shaking his head.

"Nothing… it's just…"

"You're thinking about your father."

"Yeah. It's stupid, really, but ever since that day…" Rufus closed his eyes, willing the memories to go away. They floated murkily on the surface, but never became full-fledged recollections. He opened his eyes again and allowed his senses to fill his mind quickly with data that would further shove those memories into the background.

"It's not stupid. I worry about you too…"

"Oh, is that right?" Rufus smiled teasingly at her, and saw her pout return.

"Of course!" She smacked his hand lightly and sighed, looking straight at him now, deadly serious. "Rufus… you know how much I love you, right?"

"Yeah…" Rufus laughed a little, but she did not return his laugh.

"Then I need you to make me a promise." She gripped his hand tighter now, biting her lip slightly.

"What kind of promise?" Rufus was curious now.

"I need you to promise me you won't die on me… not until we're old and grey and sick of each others company…" She managed a giggle, but it was half-hearted at best. Rufus now noticed shadows had begun to creep around her eyes, and stress lines had appeared on her face where he was sure they were not before. Perhaps he wasn't paying enough attention to her.

"First off, I'll never get tired of being with you." He replied with a smile. "Now, why would you ask me to make a promise like that? Have I scared you being like this?"

"No…" She shook her head slowly, sighing. "I've been worried for a long time now. People… they're talking about these rebels that have infiltrated Midgcar… saying they're aiming to destroy ALIEN… from the top to the bottom. One of my friends…"

"Oh great, one of those airheads scared you." Rufus growled.

"She made sense, Rufus! What better way to send your message, if you're a terrorist, than by killing the leader of the organisation you're fighting? Not only is it demoralising and frightening, but it'd put the organisation briefly into disarray, a perfect chance to strike!"

"So, that's what you think, huh? Some rebel is going to take me out?"

"I don't know…" Angela bowed her head. "It just scares me. I couldn't bear living without you… I keep having nightmares of a funeral…"

"Stop that…" Rufus noticing she was beginning to shake a little. "Babe, I understand your concern, but really, there's nothing to be afraid of. You think it's easy to get at me? I'm surrounded by security whenever I'm out of this building, and the building itself, as you know, is submerged in security, not only in the form of guards but technology. To kill me would be an incredible task for any person, trust me. These rebels will be caught soon enough… but baby, I can't get out of this now. You believe in what I'm doing, right?"

Angela nodded. "Yes…"

"Then you'll know I have to continue along this path I walk. If I turn back now the entire continent will head back into the darkness we were submerged in before. The sooner this continent is united the better. We know the Ultima sphere was preparing for war – the previous governing body were not going to retaliate because they were afraid of upsetting the Ultima sphere and provoking war. But you know what else they were scared of? Putting their own lives at risk. That's something I'm not scared to do. I know you're worried, baby, but in any revolution there has to be a figurehead… somebody who's willing to put their life on the line for the ideals they believe in. I'm trying to be that man now. It's time to end this war of the spheres and prosper as a united continent… not a separated one."

"I know, but…"

"No buts! Because of the Ultima sphere we can only get resources from the back end and centre of our sphere! All the resources in the outer lands can't be extracted because of this stupid treaty we signed last time the wars were ended! Our defences from continents across the sea are split in two! If we ever get attacked by sea… we'd be an easy target. They're in the same boat, obviously, and it's hurting the continent as a whole. If we don't act soon those barbarians on the other continents will realise and come to attack us. Divided, we will fall. United – we'll drive them out of our lands."

"You're right, of course." Angela whispered, brushing her hair back behind her ears. "Every time I hear you speak… I can't doubt you." She genuinely meant this, too. Rufus had a quality about him she could not deny, the ability through speech and action to make you believe that he was telling the absolute truth, that he was both a prophesier and a saviour. It was how he came to be in power today, and as long as he wasn't killed, she imaged he'd be able to stay where he was for a very long time. She only hoped she'd continue to be there with him, through thick and thin.

"Good." Rufus grinned at her, squeezing her hand. "You're really beautiful, you know that? I don't tell you that nearly enough."

"Don't you try to suck up." She kicked his leg playfully. "I'm still upset about you calling me a nuisance, you know."

"I'll make it up to you." He winked. "Promise."

"Will you make the other promise, too?"

"Alright. I promise I won't die before you're sick of me."

She laughed. "I was only joking about that… but thank you." The stress lines on her face disappeared, as did the shadows around her eyes. Her face was glowing once more, and although Rufus knew he could not really be sure about the promise he'd just made, at least for now it had made her happy. That's all that really mattered.