For ClotiConfessions2020! Happy White Day!
It wasn't that Tifa was a jealous person, just that Cloud was acting suspicious, and it was piquing her curiosity. She tried to stay hidden in the small crowd at the Edge market while also watching Cloud, who was ten yards away and heading towards a store. Which wasn't strange, except for the circumstances.
He was in front of a lingerie shop with a very attractive lady.
She was wearing a navy blue dress, her hair copper and curly and held up with a small tiara. She was just a bit taller than Cloud, besides the high heels on her feet. Tall, lithe, with a carefree smile Tifa couldn't manage after everything that she had gone through.
Who was this woman, and why was Cloud with her?
Tifa watched as the woman pointed at the shop, then took his arm and led him inside. Hot fury bubbled up inside her as she twirled around and marched back to the bar. She barely held onto the canvas bag full of groceries she bought for their dinner.
Who was that woman? Why was Cloud with her? Why was Cloud with her in a lingerie shop? What had she done, or didn't do, that made him sneak off with a mistress…?
What was wrong with him?
She slammed the door shut, the pictures on the wall shuddering as she stomped through the bar, haphazardly tossing the grocery bag on the prep counter. Tifa smoothed her hair back and sighed heavily, thinking of what to do. What to do?
Tifa headed into the garage; she would beat an idea out of her punching bag.
Wrapping her hands in gauze she had on a table next to the wall, she rolled up her sleeves and began throwing punches and kicks into the worn, red bag that hung in the corner. Every so often she would look over at Fenrir, the bike silent on one of Cloud's days off. Their day off. He should be here with her, not some hussy!
She punched harder.
She should have known something was wrong. He said he needed to go out this morning after a late breakfast, and when she had gone to market was when she had seen him, with her. They could have gone together, but he had insisted he had business elsewhere.
The kick she sent into the bag made it flop about.
Why? Why was he doing this? She was sure he had been happy. He had been so happy with the chocolate box last month, too. It...wasn't like him. Did she really know his heart? Or had it changed to something she didn't recognize?
Why was he doing this…
Tifa punched the bag hard one last time before grabbing it, leaning on it for some sort of support. Sweat slowly trickled down her brow, more from frustration and less from the minor exercise of practicing her weaker attacks. Why?
"Tifa?"
There were footsteps in the bar. She didn't call out to him, didn't want him to find her. He was back so soon after gifting his mistress a new pair of fancy panties. When was the last time he had given her anything? Besides the intricate Mideel trinkets he bought last week. But that wasn't intimate, and he had someone else on the side, and who was she anymore if he was courting a second woman?
His footsteps disappeared, thank god.
Was she being replaced? No, no...because the kids. But that never stopped things like this from happening, she reasoned. What were they going to do? What was she going to do? Tifa straightened up and punched the leathery bag once again, hard. The surface split a little.
What was she going to do…
"There you are."
She held her breath, a feeling like ice water running down her crown and enveloping her entire body. Slowly she turned to look at him as he stood with his hands behind his back, the blond spikes, the turquoise eyes, the still boyish face. A face full of blind ignorance to the fact that she knew. A face she still loved, even when she could barely stand to look at it right now.
"Cloud. You're...home."
His smile was subdued, but eager. "Sorry it took me so long. I had a few trips to take."
Anger flashed in her eyes, but she pushed it down. "Oh. Where were you?"
"Well…" Carefully, he took a fancy pink bag with white tissue paper out from behind him. "Happy White Day, Tifa."
She felt her jaw move, but no sounds came out. Tifa kept her shaking hand as steady as she could , taking the package and then rustling around the paper. She found a black box of chocolates and a pair of ebony lingerie, made of embroidered silk. Her face was numb. "C-Cloud, how...I…"
Was this a sick joke?
"Oh, um…" He rubbed the back of his head and blushed. "I-I asked Lizz for help."
"Lizz."
He nodded. "Yeah, he's the drag queen he lived next to after Meteorfall, remember? I-it's not like I could've asked Yuffie for help."
Her eyes widened and began to water and her heart soared as her suspicions dissipated. "Oh, Cloud! Thank you!"
e was going to have to somehow one up this amazing gift...