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Guardians

Seifer Almasy glanced at his watch, a small smile etched on his aristocratic face. 'Ack; fifteen minutes late.'

His smile grew. A small ting sounded before the doors of the elevator slid open. Seifer passed by his father's secretary and winked.

She blushed under his hot verdant gaze, "Good morning, Mr. Seifer. Your father is waiting. You are late as usual."

Seifer ran a hand through his short blonde hair, "My, I really have no sense of propriety, don't you think?"

The secretary chuckled and waved as Seifer walked into his father's office.

James was not only vice president of Esther, but now he was running for presidency. It surprised Seifer how greedy and ambitious his father was.

Brad stood up as his son walked in without bothering to knock, "You're 20 minutes late."

"You're exaggerating. I'm only 17 minutes late."

James frowned, "Anyway, there is someone I want you to meet."

Seifer plopped down on a sofa, "Well?"

Brad nodded his head towards a figure looming in the shadows, leaning against the far wall.

"Whoa…when did you decide to appear?" Seifer joked.

Squall ignored that comment and stood straight.

"That's Squall Leonhart." James announced.

Seifer stood up as well, his eyes trained on the emotionless face just beyond his reach,

"Well, well…where did you find him?" Seifer chuckled more to himself than anyone.

James frowned, "Seifer, please concentrate with me for a minute."

Seifer shrugged, "Heya hot stuff…I'm Seifer Almasy and that stiff man over there happens to be my father."

Squall frowned at the nickname but said nothing as Seifer walked closer, "So are you his right hand or secretary?"

"He's your body guard." James spat.

The blonde's panther green eyes bore into Squall's wolfish ones and Squall tensed. "Really?"

Seifer finally broke the eye contact, "Since when do I need a babysitter."

Squall almost snorted at that comment. After only two minutes in the blonde's presence Squall had decided the job was going to be a bit too easy. Damn, the blonde seemed so relaxed that it bothered the brunet.

"Since I joined the board of senators, son. Believe it or not, I have enemies, and you need protection. You will not wind up like your mother with a man like Squall protecting you."

"A man! Father look at him…he looks more like an innocent boy to me."

Squall frowned, "Excuse me if I sound rude but I happen to be more of a man than a playboy like you."

Seifer's eyes widened at the harshness of the brunet's voice.

"Here, now that it's settled, please take him and leave, Seifer. I do have tons of work today."

"Wait a minute…what do you mean settled? I don't need a 'man' looking out for me…I can do that pretty well myself. And just the record, since when do you care about my well being, huh?"

"Seifer…believe it or not, I do."

"You don't even bother to call and ask about me!"

Seifer contradicted. "You're never home for me to call, son." James spat.

"Ha! Nice one…I almost believed you. You manage to reach me when you want to…What? Was it Lady Luck or Sir Chance!"

Brad growled, "What is done is done. Take the boy home. Squall is a great fighter and he would give you company. Just keep him for a while. Your mother would have wanted that."

Squall rolled his eyes, for heaven's sake they were talking about him like he was darn invisible.

Seifer looked pensive, "Are you sure he's not spying on me to report back to you?"

Brad smiled, knowing he had gotten his way, "No."

Seifer finally nodded and turned to the brunet, "Well then Squall, wasn't it?"

The brunet shrugged and followed Seifer out of Brad's office, his face as blank as the sky on a clear day, but unlike the sky, looking at it didn't give peace to the soul. Seifer was talking nonsense to a brunet that didn't seem to hear him.

Brad smirked; his future was set, while Seifer was busy taking wrong turns…and somehow this turn was going to lead him down the drain…