Chapter Five – Doubt

A week, it had been exactly one week since the children had gone. The very first morning since they had left, Tifa had barely coped. It had become a part of her daily routine to produce breakfast for them, to have their assistance in setting up the bar as well as tuck them in bed. But on that particular morning when Tifa had awoken, the children's departure seemed to have slipped her mind. She had brushed her teeth, and then descended the stairs preparing breakfast for three. After setting up a table, she gazed up at the clock to see that it was 8:15 am. Shaking her head, she ascended the stairs to the kids' room.

When she reached their room, she opened the closed door only to be staring at Denzel's and Marlene's untouched beds. It then suddenly dawned on her that the kids she loved flawlessly had left yesterday with Barrett for school. Painful memories came flooding back of the previous day where she had said goodbye to the children, and Tifa remembered everything. She sorely missed them.

Stepping into the bedroom, she peered around. It was empty of Denzel's and Marlene's belongings and was so lifeless. The curtains were open as the morning sunlight seeped through the window. Slowly, Tifa rested on Denzel's bed and began reminiscing. She remembered the times when Denzel was ill and had stayed in bed most of the days. And then she recalled the day when he had bathed in the 'healing water' with Cloud and other children. The smile on the little boy's face was absolutely priceless. Tifa also recollected memories of Marlene being by Denzel's side, always keeping him company when he was robbed of his energy from the awful syndrome. Flashbacks of the past with the children danced across her mind as she breathed in the scent of their room. It smelled of flowers, flowers which Marlene loved to pick.

As she stood downstairs, Tifa sat at the table in which she had earlier set up for breakfast. Gazing at the food, she couldn't eat. With her appetite lost, she packed away the three untouched meals and commenced in opening the bar with no assistance. With no common morning laughter from the kids.

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Already a week later, Tifa had managed to settle in with this new lifestyle she had. The bar was busy with people ordering meals and drinks. It was a beautiful day with blinding sunlight shining through every window, illuminating the bar. As yet another customer exited, a new one entered and took a seat at the table she had just finished wiping down. She stacked the dirty pile of dishes into the already full sink as she came back to serve the new customer. Writing down the order, she managed a small weak grin before a voice rang through the already noisy bar.

"Tifa?" Called a woman.

Tifa shifted to face the source of the noise to discover it belonged to one of the lady's who owned an antique store nearby. She was quite short and stout, middle aged and had light brown hair and was wearing an apron, as if she had been doing some house cleaning just moments before.

"Hello," Tifa greeted as she paced up to the woman who was standing at the bar entrance. "Would you like a seat?" Tifa offered moving a hand in a gesture as she usually did with customers.

The woman shook her head. "I'm fine, just here to chase up a matter." She replied then her eyes seemed to be searching the room. "Is Cloud around?" She queried.

Tifa shook her head, "No, Cloud left early this morning to make deliveries." She informed as if the woman's last remark was a funny statement.

The woman had a look of surprise on her face, as a frown became visible. "I made a phone call to Strife Delivery Service today really early in the morning. I was quite surprised when Cloud had picked up the call because usually it's you that passes on the messages. Anyway, I needed an expensive antique to be delivered to my store; he said he would be there by ten in the morning. Now it's almost one in the afternoon and I was wondering where he was." The middle aged woman explained.

It was Tifa's turn to be astonished as her eyebrows were raised and then pulled together to form a deep frown of concern. It wasn't like Cloud to be so late with a delivery; he always delivered on time, which was why the service was doing so well, because of his accuracy.

"I'll try to contact him, if I do get a reply I'll come by alright? I'm sure he must have been caught up with something, I do apologize." Tifa said apologetically.

The woman patted Tifa on the arm softly and nodded. "No rush dear, I'll be waiting." With that she turned to leave but paused in her step. Peeping back into the bar, she saw Tifa still staring at her. "You do know where to find me?" She inquired as Tifa gave a smile in reply as if to say 'yes'.

Moments after the middle aged woman left, Tifa found herself worrying about Cloud. She served another customer before disappearing upstairs to his room to make a quick phone call.

Grasping the receiver in her hand, her slender fingers tapped the buttons to his mobile. It was a number she knew well off by heart and could type backwards and forwards. Now as she waited for her call to be answered, her fingers had started drumming vigorously on his desk situated in his room. When the line had disconnected after a number of rings, Tifa redialed only to come up with the same result: no answer, just a dial tone. She found herself calling numerous times, until she finally left a voicemail for him.

"Cloud," Tifa started. "The owner of the antique store just came by; she's been waiting for your delivery. Is everything alright? Please be careful, I'm" she paused and took a deep breath for the words she was about to say was hard to speak. "I'm worried." With those words to end the voicemail, she hung up and stared at the phone for a few minutes in hopes of him returning her call.

Five minutes past, but there was still no phone call. Curiosity as well as worry was eating away at her as she stared at the stationary phone. She was curious in whether Cloud had made any deliveries at all, and yet she was worried of what the result might be if she called to check up. In the end, curiosity got the better of her as she made a call to one of the customers for the day. After spending five minutes speaking and making a few clarifications, she hung up the phone with a muffled 'Thanks'. That was when the doubt had begun to seep through her when she received the news that Cloud hadn't made a single delivery today. Is he going to return? Why won't he answer my calls? And he hasn't made one delivery yet. Tifa thought. Heading back down to the bar, she busied herself with serving and cleaning, ceasing all thoughts of Cloud.

A/N: Okay, I know I've just updated Ch. 4 not long ago, but with the New Years coming, and the site going under construction soon, I decided to work my fingers off to present Ch. 5 to my readers! Hrmm... This chapter shall be dedicated to the readers! Happy New Years Guys. Keep safe all. This chapter I would like to think will leave you hanging. But no worries, I shall be back with the next one next year! Review please! I would with honor, love to read your opinion(s).