Chapter 3
~ Opened Mouth Inserted Foot ~
She wasn't able to talk to him for the next day. In fact she avoided him altogether.
How am I going to explain myself out of this?
She knew Cloud, and though she'd never seen that face before, she knew what she had done when she'd looked into those stone-blue eyes of his, and then watched him walk casually back up the stairs as if he'd never come down in the first place.
"It's hardly anything significant to me," repeated over and over in her head. Of course she hadn't meant it that way.
She buried her face up into the palms of her hands and groaned. She stayed like that, listening to the faint sounds of everyday life bustling in the streets outside.
But then another thought suddenly occurred to her: how long had he been in the doorway like that?
What if he'd heard...
There was a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Oh no..." she murmured into the damp air of the storeroom.
If it was that too, how would she explain herself out of the fact that she loved him? What if he now knew?
She slid her face further into her hands, her elbows perched on the edge of a dusty shelf. Hanging her head, she was now ready to die.
Impossible...
"Tifa?"
Cloud was calling to her through the door. She seized on the spot.
"The alcohol delivery guys are here."
She listened as he moved away from the door and his footsteps died as they ascended the stairs. He had sounded calm, but then he always sounded calm. Either way, she still wasn't ready to face him, but at least now it was safe. She came out of the storeroom with the bottles of soda she had gone to retrieve a good twenty minutes before and looked around for the delivery men.
They weren't there.
She headed down through the garage to find they weren't outside either. Perplexity started to overcome her. Taking one last look down the side street she turned back towards the bar.
She was still approaching the door when it closed suddenly at only metres away, causing her to jump. Cloud emerged and began to walk down the steps to the rough concrete floor, descending one step at a time with his calm stride and heavy boots, looking straight at her with his piercing eyes. She felt sick again, but she sighed in defeat.
I guess it's best we get it over with now.
"It may not be important to you but it's important to me," he said firmly as he approached her.
She was taken off guard by his tone. It was a mix of annoyance, anger and frustration.
"What do you mean?" she asked him cautiously.
He stepped forward, took her right hand in his left and turned it over so that the Cloudy Wolf ring was in plain view.
"I gave you this because you're important to me. You, Denzel, Barrett; all of you. I don't want you to ever forget that."
He seemed so determined, so passionate.
"Promise me you won't forget," he commanded.
"...I promise," she stammered.
With that he was satisfied, turned, and strode back up the steps and into the house. She was stunned.