5. Red Flags

Quistis blinked several times, hoping to clear the blurry vision that had invaded her eyes as she looked at the screen of her laptop. When all the numbers on the screen remained jumbled and illegible, she briefly shook her head, blinking several more times. She glanced over at the digital clock on her mahogany desk, able to read the large red numbers, though they were not entirely clear, either. 2:38 a.m.

She released a tired sigh, and leaned back against her office chair, about to close her eyes when she heard a key in the lock of the front door of the small house she shared with her husband. She glanced over to the door as it opened and Seifer entered, his eyes immediately spotting his wife, reclining in her chair.

"Hey, babe," Seifer greeted her, shuffling over to her. He bent down and kissed the top of her head, sighing in concern. "You should be in bed."

Quistis chucked, raising her head to kiss his lips. "You say that every night."

"I mean it every night. You've been working too hard. You need sleep."

Quistis let out another sigh and rubbed her eyes under her glasses. "I'd like to get more, believe me. I just can't right now. These people have me on a ridiculous weekly deadline, and these records are a mess. If I don't do this, I'll never finish in time."

Seifer frowned as he leaned against her desk and looked at his wife, seeing the dark circles around her eyes as she tried hard to blink the sleepiness out of them. "If you don't sleep, honey, you're not going to be thinking straight and you'll make a mistake."

He quickly realized that he'd said the wrong thing when she shot him a hard glare.

"I won't make a mistake," she hissed, defensively.

Seifer let out a frustrated sigh and threw his hands up in defeat. "Okay, Quistis, sorry. Didn't mean to imply that you weren't utterly infallible. Jesus. I'm going to bed."

He pushed himself away from the desk and turned to walk away, his jaw twitching, but he was stopped before he made it too far by her hand grabbing his. He turned back toward her, not meeting her eyes. "Yes?"

Quistis stared at him for a long moment, not letting go of his hand. It hurt her that he wouldn't look at her, and she felt her throat constrict a little.

This happened a lot, more than she was willing to admit. Their schedules clashed enough as it was when she was working normal business hours, but she'd started working overtime nearly a year ago and hadn't stopped, and though she didn't want to admit it, it had started to take its toll on their relationship.

She couldn't quite explain what drove her to stick to it. She was sure she could figure it out if she spent enough time delving into her psyche, but maybe that was the very thing she was avoiding.

Taking in a shaky breath, Quistis spoke softly. "I'm... I'm sorry. I just need to do a few more things and I'll be done soon. I promise."

Seifer's eyes remained down, and he didn't move or speak for several moments while Quistis waited with baited breath, hoping to at least get the small signal of acceptance, as usually happened.

She received nothing of the sort this time as he removed his hand from hers and turned around once again, then headed off in the direction of the bedroom. Quistis swallowed hard as he disappeared around a corner and she heard the bedroom door close.

Glancing at her computer screen, she cleared her throat and concentrated on the task at hand. After a few moments, she spotted something that didn't make sense, just a tiny discrepancy in the numbers. Unless she'd made a mistake, which she was sure she hadn't, then there may have been a problem, something that was likely to be easily fixable if she reviewed the entire record once more.

Inwardly, she was glad for the distraction, and she straightened herself in her chair to focus on the job in front of her, wiping away a stray tear that somehow found its way to her cheek.

"I can't go to the bar with you tonight, Rinoa, I have to work late," Jax's voice said in her ear through the receiver.

Rinoa groaned. "Again? That's the sixth time in almost two weeks. What the hell are you doing over there, Jax?"

"Rinny, I just have a lot of work to catch up on. Look, if I get out early enough, I'll meet you over there later, if you're still gonna to go."

"Yeah," she said, coldly, "later."

She hung up the phone, not waiting for a response. This was something else. Never before had Jax worked a legitimate job, but now he was working overtime every opportunity he got. She didn't want to jump to conclusions that he was cheating on her, but he was sure making it difficult.

She climbed off the hotel bed and went to her suitcase, deciding that she didn't need him to have a good time. She sloppily rummaged through her clothes, trying to figure out just what she was going to do tonight after all and what the hell she was going to wear. Getting frustrated, she put her hands on her hips and groaned.

They had been planning on stopping by the Wooden Nickel to see Squall, but she wasn't so sure that she wanted to go alone for a number of reasons, the first of which, she was willing to admit, that every time she'd been around him recently, the tension just got thicker between them.

They'd all hung out together a couple of times since the night she'd stayed at his place and instead of things blowing over like she'd thought they would, they found themselves discreetly flirting, even if only by throwing small mischievous smirks in each other's direction, or by not-so-unintentionally brushing against one another whenever they 'had' to walk past.

They hadn't quite gotten as close as they had the morning she left him at his apartment when she kissed his cheek, but it still hadn't made a difference. The sexual tension, at least, was elevating to dangerous levels, and luckily they'd been experienced enough at this to be able to hide it from everyone else, but she just wasn't sure how long it would last before someone, mainly Jax, caught on.

The second reason she was leery of going to the bar alone was that there was always a preconceived notion that if you went alone, you were looking to pick up or be picked up, and Rinoa most certainly wasn't up for dealing with drunks with bad pick-up lines. She visibly shuddered at the thought.

She began pawing through her suitcase again, when the phone rang. She threw herself back across the bed and swooped up the receiver. "Yeah?"

"Rinoa?" Squall's voice said over the line.

"Hey, Squall!" she said, cringing at sounding more excited than she'd liked.

"Hey, you guys still coming?" He nearly yelled it at her, obviously having difficulty hearing himself over the loud noise in the busy bar.

"Well, Jax won't be, that's for sure," she replied, raising her voice a little so he could clearly hear her. "He's working late again, so I'm not sure if I should go or not."

Squall heard the trepidation in that statement, though it hadn't been overt, but he ignored it anyway, and spoke again as he poured a drink for a waiting customer, the phone wedged between his shoulder and ear. "Aw, come on. I'll keep the slobbering drunks off ya, I swear."

Rinoa chuckled, both at the offer, and at the fact that he'd nailed one of her concerns, while deliberately avoiding the other. "Well, maybe I will..."

Squall smiled. "Besides, Selphie's on tonight, too, and we're having a lot of fun talking shit about the customers, and there are lot of good ones to laugh at right now... no, I don't mean you, sir..."

Rinoa laughed as she heard the last comment. "Uh oh. No tips for you, buddy."

Squall chuckled. "Come on. Get your ass over here. We need you on our team."

Rinoa released a breath. "Okay, okay, give me a few minutes."

She didn't wait for an answer and hung up the phone, then hopped out of the bed once more and began to look through her suitcase again. She deliberated a good ten minutes before choosing a pair of slim, black pinstripe slacks and a white button-up shirt. She was careful in the decision, purposefully dressing nice, but keeping it conservative enough that she couldn't be accused of trying to attract Squall's attention... er... anyone's attention.

She yanked her hair back into her standard chop-stick held bun of sorts, applied a little mascara and a dab of concealer here and there, slipped on a pair of low-heeled strappy sandals and headed out the door with her red purse in hand.

She approached the bar and took a deep breath, all the loud noise from inside contributing to her nervousness at going in there alone. After a moment, she pulled the door open and stepped into the smoke-filled room, her eyes doing a quick scan over the place. Nearly every table was occupied and there were only about three open seats along the bar itself.

She caught sight of Squall, who apparently hadn't noticed her yet, as his back was facing her behind the bar, while he mixed a drink. She strode toward the bar, snagging one of the empty seats, a few feet down from where Squall stood. She observed the room once more, sending a smile toward Selphie at catching her eye, then continued, taking in her surroundings.

She turned back toward Squall, who still hadn't seen her, and guiltily took the opportunity to study his frame, clad in a snug-fitting black t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans. She absently bit her lip as she watched the slight movement of his back muscles under the fabric as he worked, and up to his face, where she could see his profile, a slight smirk on his face at a comment that Selphie had made nearby, though Rinoa couldn't hear what it had been. Quickly, she realized what she was doing and released her lip, hoping that no one saw the obvious display of lust. I'm such a whore, she though amusedly, letting out a small chuckle.

Squall finished his task and turned around, setting the drink in front of a waiting customer, then caught sight of Rinoa, sitting a few seats away. He gave her a grin which she readily returned and sauntered over.

"Hey, come here often?" he drawled, leaning on the bar in front of her.

"Ugh, I thought you were gonna protect me from bad pick-up lines," she groaned, a smirk playing on her lips.

He chuckled. "No, I only said I would keep slobbering drunks off of you. Big difference."

"And here I thought it was a package-deal."

Squall straightened up a little, still smiling. "What can I get ya?"

"Anything."

Squall raised an eyebrow. The word had been said wistfully, and he felt his face heat up a little. Rinoa's eyes flickered a bit, realizing that she'd sounded exactly how she hadn't wanted to.

"Um... I mean... whatever..." she fumbled.

Squall smirked and leaned back down against the bar, no more that a foot from her face. "How about I give you a screaming orgasm?"

Rinoa's breath caught in her throat and heat washed through her body, before realizing that he was offering her a drink. She coughed a little when she sucked in a quick breath, forcing herself to resume breathing.

"It's the house special tonight," Squall explained, coolly, inwardly kicking himself for so blatantly coming onto her, though he had to admit that he was pleased with her reaction. "Not that you have to pay, anyway."

Rinoa cleared her throat, and chuckled, shaking off the tension that had risen high enough to choke on. "Maybe next time... just give me a Cape Cod. With a lot of ice." It was damn hot in there.

Squall rose to his full height and got to work, his mind still reeling from his comment. What the fuck am I doing?

He knew he shouldn't have asked her to come alone. He was well aware of the tension that had grown immensely between them over the past week or two, and he was fully aware that they were getting a bit more bold about it each time they saw each other. But he just couldn't help it. He liked her company, and as bad as it was for both of them, he knew he secretly enjoyed the silent torture of their discreet flirting. Not that it was so damned discreet now. He made himself a promise that he wasn't going to go overboard like that again tonight.

He finished the drink and placed it in front of her, offering her nothing but a friendly smile as he did, then excused himself as he tended to other customers.

Rinoa took in another heavy breath, then gulped down her drink, her mind racing. She was starting to think things she shouldn't, but she couldn't seem to stop it, nor did she really want to. Well, she'd been thinking things she shouldn't for a while now, but it was getting easier to think them, and it made her will waver a bit. Her thoughts were turning to Jax, at the fact that he'd been working overtime a lot, seemingly out of nowhere, and the lack of trust was rearing its head, lingering there, chipping away her feelings of guilt over flirting with Squall.

This wasn't what she wanted. The damaged part of her wanted to believe that Jax was legitimately working, that for once someone was being faithful to her. But another other part of her, probably equally damaged, to be fair, wanted it to be what she suspected. She was attracted to Squall, and she'd never been one to really deny herself of the pleasures in life that she craved. This is so fucked up, she thought, chuckling humorlessly.

"What?" Squall spoke, suddenly, hearing the small laugh as he approached her again.

Her eyes darted up to him, having been jerked from her reverie. "Nothing... just... nothing."

He raised an eyebrow. "Right."

She shrugged helplessly, trying to get away from her thoughts. "Hey, can I bum a smoke?"

Squall reached into his pocket and got his cigarettes, then placed the pack and his lighter in front of her, and leaned down to her again, his elbows resting on the bar.

She mumbled her thanks and pulled one from the pack, then lit it, taking a long pull in hopes of calming her nerves a little.

Squall could easily sense the discomfort that radiated off of her like a fluorescent light, and he felt terrible for placing it there. "Are you okay, Rin?"

She nearly swooned at the concern in his voice, the look of worry in his eyes, the sweet way he shortened her name like that, and she nearly lost it. If she didn't look away now, she was going to grab him and kiss him.

She didn't look away. Her face flushed a bit and she found herself leaning closer.

Squall instantly saw the change in her. Her lips had parted slightly, her face had gotten closer to his, and he could feel the heat from her, and smell the cranberry, the vodka, and the smoke on her breath. It was intoxicating. He began to lean in, completely aware of what was about to happen.

Before she made it to him, she stopped, closed her eyes, and asked, breathlessly, "Can you leave your post for a few minutes?"

Squall glanced over the bar once, then to Selphie, and seeing that it wasn't terribly busy at that moment, at least nothing that Selphie couldn't handle, he turned back. "Yeah."

"Good." She got up and walked in the direction of the hallway where the restrooms were located.

Squall knew without a doubt that she wanted him to follow.

And he did, grabbing his cigarettes along the way.

A/N: Phew! Hope you guys liked it! There's still more to come!

Oh, and I hope you remembered your personal review replies, because from here on out, they're gone. Can't get in trouble, now!