Boss: Change of plans. We're not going today
Boss: I have a better idea
You: ?
Boss: See u tmrw. HD's Sector 0 showroom. 9pm.
Last night's text messages from Zack don't make any sense.
The plan was to go to Hardy Daytona's officiation of their new motorbikes, which was scheduled on Saturday, 9am.
Zack cancelling on that plan isn't an issue because maybe, the man just wants to check out the showroom some other time.
Him rescheduling their Hardy Daytona visit to a Sunday, 9pm is what's odd.
Their showrooms aren't even open at that hour. They close exactly at 8pm.
So why Sunday, 9pm?
Cloud thought about prying on the details but ultimately chose not to. He had a feeling that even if he did, Zack would probably not reveal anything.
It's Sunday, 8:52pm when Cloud reaches the showroom.
Just like he expected, the entire building's pitch-dark and the doors are locked. Not a single person's at sight – not even Zack.
He fights the urge to blow up at Zack in texts for fucking him around.
There's a couple more minutes before their actual meeting time and he's willing to give the other man the benefit of the doubt.
Sure enough, Zack arrives a minute or two ahead of 9pm, clad in his favourite black leather jacket and matching faded blue jeans.
Cloud quietly gulps.
Zack's wearing something he normally does but… the man looks like he's walking under a spotlight.
Bright and never not breathtaking.
"The showroom's closed," Cloud remarks, trying his best to readjust his focus on what really matters at the moment.
He spots a cunning smile on Zack's lips as the man casually replies, "As it should."
"So… what are we doing here?"
"Oh, we're still going in, just not from the front doors."
His brows crinkle in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Still mystified, he doesn't follow when Zack heads to the side of the building until the man calls him, "Are you coming?"
Zack brings him to the backyard and he can hardly see what's there except for two large waste bins tightly secured with hooked bungee cords.
They hover by the back entrance door and Zack starts tinkering the keyhole with a small hex key.
"What are you doing?" he probes, face marked with concern.
"We're breaking in."
"We're what?" His jaw drops. "Have you lost your mind?"
He hasn't yet fully processed what Zack said to him when he heard a clicking sound coming from the door.
The door opens and Zack flashes him a triumphant smile.
The other man slips into the building without a second of hesitation, then looks at him – motioning for him to join.
As much as his rationality's trying to repel him from taking part in Zack's unhinged ideas, it loses to the man's persuasive grey blue eyes.
Or truthfully, he's just weak against anything that Zack's capable of doing to him.
He enters the building and finds that they are at the far end of the showroom.
Zack fiddles with a set of switches somewhere on the left walls. Corner by corner, the lights flicker open, brightening the showroom like it's operating hours again.
Cloud notices cameras hanging at the ceiling edges. Their red lights blinking, a hint that the video recordings are on.
"They're gonna see us…" he tells, inching very slowly to Zack who's already loitering around the new motorbikes on display.
Zack glances at the objects of his worry and shrugs them off. "Don't worry about them."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Breaking into the showroom. We could have come some other time. You know, when it's perfectly legal to do so."
Zack runs a hand along a motorbike that has evidently caught his interest. "There's only a specific mile we're allowed to cover when we're doing test drives… and I don't like that."
He can't believe what he's hearing.
"Are you saying… you're going to drive one of these bikes out?" he asks, flabbergasted.
This man has no self-control!
"No, we are."
"What? No, I'm not going!" he protests, taking a step back.
Zack laughs, chest heaving up and down with amusement. "Oh come on, Cloud! It'll be fun!"
He clicks his tongue and looks away.
How did he end up here, on the verge of committing a crime?
He looks back at Zack and finds that the other man's smiling at him like a dog would when it's staring at you, wagging its tail.
A few minutes goes by without him saying a word before Zack spreads his arms open and declares, "The floor's yours. Choose whichever motorbike you want to try."
Zack has accepted his silence as his agreement… and there's no winning an argument against the man.
He randomly points to a motorbike – a metallic grey one with 8-lug chrome wheels.
Zack does a two-finger salute. "Roger."
"Where are you going?" he asks as Zack makes his way to what seems to be the storage room.
"To get the keys."
"Aren't they locked in the cabinets?"
He worked part-time at a car dealership once a lifetime ago and he knows that keys are stored safely in electronic cabinets. It's impossible to unlock them unless you've access to the passkeys.
Zack grins. "I have my ways."
Zack does come out with the keys and Cloud refuses to ponder about how the man managed to get them.
The less he knows, the better.
"I can't drive this…" he reminds Zack while the other man's unbolting the front entrance doors.
"That's not a problem," Zack counters. "It's self-driving, remember?"
Zack helps him power up the engine, then points to a button somewhere on the instrument cluster. "Just press this if you're ready to go. It will move the car without you having to press the pedals. You just have to control the speed with the clutch and navigate your way with the handlebar."
He sighs and settles onto his motorbike.
Zack's chosen motorbike is dark blue in colour, with 4-lug steel black wheels. The engine turns on and he's firing up the exhaust, which tells Cloud that he has no intention of using the self-driving function.
Billows of smoke from the exhaust pipes are clogging the air and Zack finally yells, "I'll go first!"
When Zack speeds away, he's still having a hard time believing that it's happening.
That they really just broke into Hardy Daytona's showroom and are now briefly stealing their motorbikes away.
But it's too late to change what's already happening.
So he presses the auto-drive button and accelerates his motorbike a little to catch up with Zack. He trails behind the other man as they drive down the road that splits into a three-way fork leading to highways towards Sector 1, 2 and 3.
Zack directs them to the left lane – the highway towards Sector 3.
Cloud has no clue as to where Zack's bringing them but he doesn't raise a question.
He's just silently watching the other man riding ahead of him.
Zack's controlling the motorbike with confidence. His sable black hair's swaying, blown by the cool evening breeze. Every now and then, he lifts an arm up and lets out cries of excitement.
Cloud feels like his heart can knock out of his chest just by observing the other man.
"It feels good, doesn't it?" he hears Zack shouting.
"Huh?"
"The wind on your face. It feels good, doesn't it?"
He smiles. "It does."
Soon, they're entering a vacant lot and driving up through a winding path. Zack begins slowing his motorbike down until he stops at what appears to be the top of a hill. After parking the motorbike right next to Zack's, Cloud joins the other man as he sits on the ground.
Below the hill, Midgar shimmers bright from dots of light and neon billboards.
"That's one hell of a ride!" Zack cheers, clearly pleased with himself.
"How does it feel, riding a motorbike for the first time? It's not so bad, wasn't it?" he asks, eyeing Cloud closely.
"No, it's not."
"You had fun, didn't you?"
Cloud doesn't answer.
Zack nudges him by the arm. "Come on! You had fun, didn't you?"
"I did," he finally admits.
Zack giggles. "I knew you would."
Zack retrieves a packet of cigarettes from one of his pockets and lights one up.
"Aerith would've liked taking a ride too…" Cloud hears Zack suddenly mumble.
His ears twitch at the mention of the woman's name.
He wonders where the conversation's going.
Acidic smoke drifts into the air as Zack takes several drags.
"Aerith and I… we met when I was 18 and she's 16. Just two foster care kids with fucked up family histories. It was an instant connection. I gave her a reason to live – or so she said. I mean, don't get me wrong. The Gainsboroughs loved her but Elmyra thinks Aerith's a lost cause – can't seem to disconnect her from the killer blood that runs in her. I don't think Aerith ever looked up to her as a mom either."
Zack pauses, as if he's searching through the reels of memories playing in his head.
Cloud's still trying to figure out why the man's telling him all this.
"After 2 years of being friends, we're finally fucking each other. I don't know how things got way too serious between us. It's never in the plan. Serious relationships just aren't my thing. But somehow, she's the first person who made me feel like I could do it, you know? Because she makes me feel loved. Really loved. Really cared for."
Cloud doesn't even realize that his hands are already balling into fists as he listens to Zack rattling on.
"I know I've been nothing but an asshole to her. But that's because I'm struggling. I'm struggling with this whole serious relationship bullshit. I'm doing it for her. If not for her, I wouldn't even dream about doing it. She really means so much to me and I'm not saying it just to fuck people around."
"Yeah, I get it, Zack…" Cloud says, opening his mouth with hopes that the other man would just stop talking.
He doesn't want to listen if Zack's just going to keep declaring his love for someone else, especially that woman.
"But Cloud, you mean so much to me too," Zack presses, gazing at him now. "What we have? I don't have that with anyone else, not even her. I can't… I can't lose you."
Not a word comes out of Cloud's mouth. His throat feels a little too dry and he's scared that if he speaks, he would just be squeaking like a dying pig.
"Things can just go back to the way things were… if that's what you want," Zack suggests, probably thinking that his silence signals his unwillingness to reconcile. "We can just be… friends again."
There's a sharp pain poking at his chest but he socks it all away.
"Fine. Let's be friends again."
That's what he said. But he knows that it's not what he wants.
Zack breathes out, gusting more smoke into the air. Relief relaxes his previously tense shoulders. He crushes his cigarette onto the ground, then smiles widely at Cloud.
"Let's return these motorbikes and stop over at Johnny's! I need a drink!"
Zack happily rushes back to his motorbike, completely unaware of the turmoil that's brewing in Cloud.