Vulnerable. It was how he had felt for the past two weeks: vulnerable, insecure, and incredibly self-conscious that any little mark he made on his skin would be seen by a certain blonde-haired Turk.
Rufus spent the last two weeks thinking of nothing but Elena. That's not to say he was unproductive in his work, but she always seemed to be at the forefront of his mind. Every little thing made him think of her and he kept contemplating what he would write to her next. Nothing seemed good enough. He could try to be cliche by writing something flirty on his arm for her or he could give her a phone call and ask her out to dinner. He could send her flowers or accompany her on her lunch break to the same little cafe down the street that she seemed to go to whenever she had the chance. There were a number of ways he could get her attention and a number of ways to speak with her again. All of his ideas seemed to be focused on a grand romantic gesture he could make, though he was unsure if a relationship with Elena was even what he wanted. He figured it must be due to the fact that she never left his head, but he couldn't convince himself that it was a good idea. The professional risks were too great, in many ways other than just reputation. Her line of work was dangerous and he was afraid to put her into more danger than she needed to be in.
Two weeks Rufus argued with himself whether he should talk to her or let the whole thing go. Two weeks of silence on his end and not a trace of Elena either. He always seemed to miss her on his adventures to the Turk floor where he would use the excuse of his meetings with Tseng to be there. She made no attempt at reaching out to him either. Rufus didn't expect her to, but he would have liked it if she had. A lot of trouble would have been saved on his end.
Going into the meeting that day, Rufus started to worry. Not about what he was prepared to talk about with his board members (or better yet, his father's board members that Rufus allowed to stick around), but because of Elena. He always liked for his Turks to be present at the board meetings. They were an integral part of his security and they deserved to know the inner workings of each department. This time, however, he would have liked to excuse them all, save for Tseng, from the conference. He knew the second he did so, Reno would become suspicious. The Turk's second in command already had an inside perspective on the situation Elena and Rufus had found themselves in. No doubt Elena continued to share her concerns with him. The moment Rufus decided to excuse the Turks from this meeting, Reno would know the reason why. Rufus would never hear the end of Reno's lecture on his cowardice towards a woman he could potentially find himself having feelings for.
With that outcome in mind, Rufus decided to keep the meeting as planned. He would have to sit painfully through his subordinates ripping each other's throats out as they begged him for more money, all while the preoccupation of his mind sat silently a few chairs away. He hoped by the end of the meeting he would be able to hang back, knowing Elena took a moment longer than everyone else to pack up her things, causing her to be one of the last people to leave the room. Reno always had a habit of waiting on her, though Rufus figured he could glare at the red-head until he left the room. Surely Reno could read him well enough to know when he was an unwanted presence.
With a plan made, Rufus walked into the conference room. Once decorated with red carpet and gaudy golden wall paper in the style his father preferred, it was now more professional-looking in Rufus's opinion. He decided to keep the wooden table instead of a replacing it with a glass one, which was more his personal style. The glass tables looked nicer, though his executives (especially a Mr. Palmer) had a habit of slamming their fists into the table with great force. He much preferred the table stay in one piece and important member of his team didn't receive sever injuries from shattered glass. The rest of the room was decorated with black carpets and leather chairs. A projector screen was set up behind Rufus's chair at the head of the table. The wall-papered walls were painted over with an off-white matte paint and a single piece of glass with the Shin-Ra logo printed onto its surface hung mounted to the wall. The room was the best he could do in a short amount of time, but it served its purpose and didn't give Rufus a headache.
The moment he walked into the room, his eyes met Elena's. She had looked up as the doors opened while everyone else in the room continued speaking loudly in a heated conversation ignoring his appearance completely. He broke the eye contact quickly and took his seat, clearing his throat loudly to get the attention of the room's occupants. He started the meeting, mentally preparing himself for the outbursts of a certain Heidegger and Scarlet.
Throughout the meeting, Rufus would steal occasional glances towards Elena as someone spoke about whatever topic he had previously presented. He got away with the first few glances, though he soon noticed Elena looking up every now and then and catching him staring. He looked away with an almost invisible smirk every time, knowing that her stare lingered for a fraction of a second longer. Half way through the meeting, however, after Reeve had brought up the issue of rebuilding Sector 7 and Scarlet rudely interrupted him to talk about funding for he department, Rufus noticed that every time Elena caught him looking at her, her expression turned to that of annoyance. It worried him at first until he noticed Elena's glare at Reno and Reno's chair tip back against the wall. He was able to conclude that her annoyance was not with him after all, but with Reno who had been annoying her one way or another under the table.
Soon, the meeting had ended and the executives packed up their papers and left the room. Rufus stayed seated, pretending to look over some notes from the meeting. He glanced up when the room became quiet and saw Elena packing up her belongings hurriedly and Tseng making his way out of the room. Reno hadn't waited for Elena this time and she seemed intent on catching up with Tseng. He thought about asking her to stay for a moment, knowing Tseng would consider it none of his business and continue on his way. However, as soon as the idea came into his head, Elena was out the door, nearly running after the Turk's leader.
Rufus quickly gathered his notes together and made his way out as well. When he stepped into the hall of the 66th floor, he saw Elena standing next to Tseng, staring at him with admiration. Tseng caught her staring as the elevator doors opened, but said nothing to her. They stepped on the elevator and let the doors close. Rufus felt a pain in his chest as he saw Elena's affectionate stare towards Tseng and decided he didn't want them alone together in the elevator. He walked quickly while still keeping his dignity as the elevator doors were closing. Before they had the chance to slide all the way closed, he stuck out his hand and forced the doors back open. He stepped into the elevator, noticing Elena's shocked expression and the look of judgement Tseng gave him. Rufus smirked and casually shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't sure what was going through Tseng's head at the moment, but he seemed to not care enough to push the topic.
Rufus decided to talk business with Tseng because it was comfortable and familiar. He could have started conversation with Elena, but no topics came to mind and his nerve left him the moment he even thought about talking to her. Ignoring her all together, against his better judgment, he conversed with Tseng. True, they talked all business on their ride up, but Tseng was an easy man for Rufus to talk to, despite his calm and collected mannerisms. He was reasonable and offered valuable insight. Not only that, but he listened to every word Rufus spoke, able to pick out every important detail. Tseng was perhaps the one person in Rufus's life he would truly call a friend. Their personal conversations were few and far between, but Rufus valued every single one of them nonetheless.
Soon, the elevator doors opened on the Turk's floor and Elena quickly stepped off. Realizing Tseng was not behind her, she quickly turned around to hold the elevator doors open. Tseng waved her off, saying, "Go ahead without me."
Elena nodded and released the doors, allowing them to slide closed. Rufus watched Elena through the increasingly small gap between the doors and decided to say, "Have a good evening, Elena," before they could cut him off from her. He thought it better to acknowledge her absence than to appear cold by continuing his two-week-long silence. Tseng looked at Rufus with an eyebrow raised— another look of silent judgement. Instead of continuing their previous conversation, Rufus decided this time to acknowledge Tseng's silent inquiry.
"What is that look for?" He asked, trying to seem nonchalant about it.
Tseng chose his words carefully before speaking. "Nothing," he finally said, "though I have never seen you take so much interest in one of your employees before."
"How do you mean?" Rufus replied. There was absolutely no way Tseng could pick up on Rufus's feeling for Elena by five small, meaningless words.
"Perhaps it truly is nothing, but I've noticed your strange behavior these past few weeks. You've visited my office more often than usual, taking the long way to walk past Elena's office, no doubt. Plus your continuous staring during today's conference? Perhaps it truly means nothing, or perhaps I'm on to something here." Tseng's tone remained calm and cool throughout his accusation, though it was clear to Rufus of the judgment behind his words.
Rufus couldn't bring himself to reply. Instead, he stared at his reflection in the spotless silver doors of the elevator, his expression one of thoughtful confusion. He couldn't think of any words that would form a reasonable explanation, so he decided to remain silent. Before he knew it, the elevator doors opened to the floor right below his office. Rufus stepped off quickly and with purpose.
"Rufus," Tseng called behind him, keeping a hand on the elevator doors. "Put an end to whatever this is now. Nothing good could come from it." Tseng released his hold on the elevator and the doors closed once again, taking Tseng back to his office's floor. Rufus knew what Tseng was talking about, though he appreciated the vagueness of his statement. There was no need for his secretary, who sat a mere few feet away from the elevator, to be informed of his private affairs. Though, he couldn't help but wonder why Tseng was so against Rufus pursuing a relationship with Elena. True, it could put them both in more danger than was necessary for them, but at the same time they both were perfectly capable of holding their own in a fight. It had to be something more than that…
Rufus made his way into his office and as his thoughts continued, he felt that same pain in his chest, the one he had felt as he left the conference room and saw Elena fawning over Tseng. Could this mean he was jealous of Tseng? There was no possible way Tseng was pursuing a romantic relationship with Elena himself. Why, then, did Rufus find himself filled with so much envy? Rufus paced in his office for a few moments, staring out the large floor-to-ceiling window that took up the back wall of his office. He looked out unto the bustling city below as he tried to gather his thoughts. He definitely had feelings for Elena and he was going to win her over, if for no other reason than because Tseng told him not to.
Rufus sat down at his desk, pen in hand, and was ready to write a romantic message for Elena, when he thought of a better idea. He wanted her to feel noticed, but he didn't want her to feel forced into anything. The strange connection between them was a sweet way for him to reach out the first time, but she did not posses the same ability to reply to him, thus giving her less of a say in the matter. Instead, he set the pen down and took out his phone, typing Elena's number into the recipient box of the text message. He typed out a short message and sent it: Dinner tomorrow night at 8? His heart pounded so fiercely and he regretted his message instantly. What if he said the wrong thing? What if she rejected him? Why hasn't she responded yet? Every thought of doubt went through his head and he was unable to do anything as he awaited her response.
AN: Sorry for how long it took for me to update. I've become more motivated to continue this story so hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently now. Thanks for all of your patience!