Disclaimer: Final Fantasy does not belong to me...however much I may like it to. I own no characters, places etc. etc. so please don't sue me! I'm a nice person :)
Author's Note: Chapter Thirteen...PLEASE review as I really enjoy reading your views and they inspire me to get better! It would make me very very happy! Anyway stop reading this and get on with reading the fic! Hope you enjoy! :)
Chapter Thirteen: Golden Men and Musing Afternoons
The soft, finely woven fabric which hung up against the window, rippled ever so gently as a light, almost unnoticeable afternoon breeze flowed by the small opening of the latched window pane. The peaceful atmosphere that had been slowly building since the day's arrival, was one of calm delicacy, as though each and every citizen of Edge had taken an unspoken vow to remain within the most quiet of boundaries. There was no doubting that it was in fact, a Sunday.
A few of Rufus's silver-gold strands began to fall forward, half shielding his icy blue gaze, which had been fixed upon some nameless spot across his living room floor. He did not move immediately to brush the away, instead choosing to allow them to linger out of place for a few moments, before swiftly flicking them back, freeing his concentrated gaze once more, though not so much out of necessity or want, but rather out of some sort of self-dignity.
He was not one to enjoy such a day, although technically there was no fault to be found with it. It was calm, quiet, some might have even gone so far as to say idyllic, but to him, it was all too close to being boring.
It would be true to say he wasn't exactly one to go off mountain biking, or indulge himself in long, over-expensive shopping trips on the few days he allowed himself to be free from the entanglements of work, but there was no hiding, from himself at least, that spending these long passages of time somewhat held within the confines of his own echo-ridden house, was slowly becoming less like pleasurable relaxation, and more like a strange new form of mental torture.
The company of course was still active, after all, Shin-Ra was not the kind of facility that was able to close down for an hour, let alone a day, and it did not a President to view each and every aspect, it was bigger than that, it would never stop.
A pale, china white plate lay upon the chestnut polished table, a few creamy trails of liquid still visible across its centre, bearing flicks of darkened green herbs, though any other food partial seemed either consumed or too minuscule to be visible.
The image presented minutes before, of the mighty President of the Shin-Ra Company, eating his early dinner alone, legs tucked in underneath the table's edge, and chair placed perfectly in line with the plate mat, silver clad knife and fork slicing through fish and various greens with the clear precision and yet gentle etiquette, might have appeared strange to others, wistful, lonely even, but to Rufus, it was the norm.
A fingertip stroked absent-mindedly along the cold metallic cutlery with an almost hypnotic consistency, as both his gaze and his mind remained focused upon other things.
Three full, long days had passed since the young brunette had stormed so confidently into his office, filled with both self-righteousness and fiery temperament which had melted and mingled so suddenly with the more weaker of human emotions.
The words, the actions, the memories, every detail was still all to clear within the young man's mind, as though their confrontation played out mere moments earlier, and yet it also had gained a twinge of the surreal, as though, in fact, it had never taken place to begin with.
Rufus had never experienced such a sensory state, after all, such outspoken events had been been a constant factor in upon his life's time-line, especially with a person so lacking in both importance and speciality.
Sure he had seen women before, he'd practically spent the entirety of his early teenage years surrounded by the desirable type, but it was always so structured, so formulaic, as though his chosen companions had been selected and trained to perfection, so much so that he knew exactly what to expect from them. They bored him. But she, Tifa Lockhart, seemed to refuse to follow such codes. It excited him. She excited him.
Some part of him had hoped that their conversation turned out differently somehow, although it had certainly gone more to his liking than hers, it still seemed like something had been missed, like their battle between minds hadn't even come close to ending.
There was no denying that he had been rather enjoying the slow, lingering torment bestowed upon her by his own hand, and yet he wouldn't have described himself as being sadistic, no, his actions were down to something else, interest, curiosity, maybe even hope that it would lead him to something even more worthy of his attention.
He hadn't even bothered to glance at that little icon upon his charged computer screen, though not out of guilt, or remorse, but rather general dismissal, the whole situation somewhat losing its edge since she had revealed her discovery of the hidden surveillance, now, if he watched through those glassy lenses it would seem too much like some sleazy sideshow.
Plus his mind was almost complete in the certainty that the brunette would have made some attempt to remove them, or at least would have tried to cover them.
Rufus, although he would never allow the confession to pass his lips, found talking to the young Miss. Lockhart rather challenging, as, even though almost every partical inside him desired his words to play out with the most cruellest of whips, he did, sometimes, feel as though some other, insignificantly small part of him, wished to show her something else.
But he was good at keeping things from those surrounding him, he had made it somewhat of a necessity, spending most of his childhood years building up such walls of both emotional and actionable strength, meaning nothing, nothing at all, could penetrate them.
Like that moment inside the old Shin-Ra Headquarters, before it was destroyed in a ray of burning fire, both pure in direction and intent to turn everything in its path to nothing but dust. Who would have believed that the Planet would hide something so powerful, so dangerous, as its protection.
Within that office, that room, that plain, ordinary room, he had stood, waited, and watched as they hit, as the area around him burned away. It was his moment to shine, his moment to show his steadfast will, and beautifully strung defiance, and yet, there was no-one their to see it.
The young blonde finally managed to rise from the finally crafted chair and take a short stroll over to the nearby desk, were he proceeded to pull and lift its hinged lid open, and lean a single hand against its edge, as his five free fingers riffled through a few selectively similar looking papers he had some responsibly to read, though as his eyes began to fall upon their contents, something else drifted into his line of sight.
He allowed his hand to linger over the papers for a few more moments, before directing it towards one of the desk's inner hatches, and slowly gripping the end tip of the item which had attached itself to his attention with such precision.
As it slide out from the straight-lined cubbyhole, the item was revealed to be a simple, long, leather detailed, rectangular box, that looked almost out-of-place within the President's refined fingertips.
The cushioned material was soft against his skin, with each gentle pressure applied forcing it to crease and wrinkle, and yet it still remained beautifully resilient to the impact, soon springing back to its unmarked perfection within moments of its release.
He studied the item for a while, as his sensitive finger-tips traced patterns upon its surface, before running themselves across the hinged line, seemingly transfixed by the idea of viewing its contents once again, and yet also he seemed scared, or maybe apprehensive, at what opening the box would do or mean to him.
The lid's click was muted as it fixed into place, whilst its white, satin lining began to simmer with the delicate rays of pale afternoon light, though it was not the interior that he had so desired to view, but rather what was nestled so coldly upon it.
Every silver link was unscratched, unmarked and still glistened with an aged perfection, with each stone placed between them giving out an almost pearl like shine, and yet it also held hints of the deepest sapphire and the earthiest emerald, as though the stone itself could not decide on the more beautiful shade.
Rufus withheld from stroking it, with his own touch being denied by non-other than himself, and yet he still felt like he was being denied, but he did remember it being possessed with a different, ever-so softly feminine hand, one which had always meant so much to him, in the form of such solitary kindness, and yet he could no longer remember the face it was shared with, all that he could connect with it now was a few wisps of golden hair and the gentle smell of flowery citrus which would cling to the thin folds of cotton fabric that hung against her form.
His mother. She had been so unknown to him, so fragile and yet so resolute in her demeanour, after all, she had chosen his father as a partner. He'd taken the necklace from her things, she'd only been gone a few moments before the room began to be cleared. His father didn't seem to bothered by its going missing, though maybe he just hadn't noticed.
Although he could not longer picture the neck upon which it hung, he still knew it was hers, and that it was something worthy as an item of remembrance.
Rufus had always wondered whether he would be remembered, what item or piece of himself would be taken by his own, well, by someone who felt enough for him, though, there was no doubting, that it would be his name, and his company that would outlive his own personal fame.
In all truth he did not yet feel satisfied, with either his company achievements, or his personal ones. He was still somewhat waiting to become the man he had wanted to be, the man his mother had wanted him to be. He was sure they had shared the same ideal, one in the same when it came to true contentment.
But then, his mother was just another person, someone that had become connected to him with only a few simple acts, none of which mattered, not really. He did not feel the need to 'impress' her, the same way he never did feel the need to impress his father, the father whom had always been so strangely inferior to him, somewhat likeable to the difference in stature between a wasp and a bee; his father was weaker, and he appeared as such, with no-one citizen able to fear him the same way the would his son, Rufus was the one that would leave more than a single sting in his wake, and he would not fall so easily.
It didn't matter anyway, they were both gone; his mother bared little renegotiation within him any more, and his father had been dead to him so some time before his last few breaths had been forced to leave his waning body.
His cold, hollow gaze lingered upon the piece of ageing jewellery for a short while longer, as he wondered, if maybe, sometime within his own future, he would in fact be expected to give it to his own chosen companion, after all, such a piece would add an almost prefect balance of beauty against a soft, pale nape, amongst strands of deep brunette.
As soon as the idea was allowed to form within his mind, his lids narrowed and his hand had swiftly returned the leathered box to its closed state and replaced it inside the deepened cubbyhole.
He remained there only briefly, before making his way form the room and into the hallway, where he proceeded to pull on a mid-length, darkened blue jacket, which hung impressively about his lower thighs with a light, gracefulness, the piece of clothing being both detailed in button work and uncreased in material.
The young blonde gave the collar a definitive tug, before reaching over to a nearby side table, and grasping up the set of metallic pieces that would lock away his personal life from unwanted, prying eyes, and within moments his form had swept itself away, leaving the house as empty and silent as it had ever been.
The air had taken on a slight chill since its time breezing through Rufus's latched window, and the paling light which had began to appear, marked the transition between afternoon and the on set of early evening.
It was a somewhat rare occurrence for the young President to wander outside alone, without guard or waiting vehicle, but it was one of those quiet days, without filled streets or darkened clouds and he found the idea of accompaniment to be all to unneeded.
Though, he did, of course, still carry with him, an easy to conceal, and precise to use weapon, with his five slender fingers ready within moments to wrap themselves around its metallic frame and empty any level of skilled attacker, after all, he would never allow himself to trust the 'commoners' of his world.
Much to his own, personal delight, the street was rather free from civilians, meaning that, for now at least, he could go unnoticed, though, even the area's emptiness didn't stop his grip tightening with every passing movement, though not sudden and disconnected, but rather swift and graceful.
His chosen path was not one he was particularly familiar with, though the address and detail map had been easily committed to memory, and with every employee's living arrangements held on file within Shin-Ra's company system, it wasn't hard for him to look them up at a moments notice, nothing was beyond his knowing; he had access to everything and everyone.
A thin smile dared to tug at the corner of his pale lips, as he listened to the light echoing of his small heels shoes upon the pavement. There was no denying the fact that this little freedom from suited company was pleasurable in the most insignificant of ways. Even if it had been a working day for the blonde, he would have, never the less, wished to go alone, after all, the subject matter was private and even he was not completely sure as to what he was actually intending to after his entrance. He just wanted some knowledge, some small pieces of information; the kind his computer could not tell him, not in the same detail he would receive first hand. He needed control.
Rufus's pace quickened slightly as he neared his destination, whilst his eyes narrowed as the rest of his face cringed. There was no hiding it; he was not impressed. The area was clearly quite a bit lower than his desired standard, and he was almost annoyed at the idea that one of his employees, on of his Turk, had been allowed to live within such a place.
He entered the building with an unhindered ease, and again he found himself pleased at the seamless desertion he found himself within, all complex's inhabitants all apparently either too busy, or too scared to hang about outside the barrage of safety their own doors supplied.
The young blonde studied the communal hallway for a few moments, before swiftly turning towards a green lacquered door, a door which he knew for a fact, was not the Turk's, but, of course, it was not the Turk he was looking for, he knew his whereabouts already, no, what he was looking for was just pure and simple information.
Though as his knuckles came down to brush against the painted surface, a lingering creak sounded from behind him, and soon it was followed by the gentle clack of feminine heels.
For a moment, as he turned, Rufus could have sworn the form he had caught within his gaze was one of soft curves and darkened brown locks, though when his own observant equipment steadied, he found himself staring straight into the glass, gold framed face of Jane Taylor.
Her mousey brown hair fell about her shoulders with an uncharacteristic informality, whilst her plained eyes blinked rapidly behind their reflective shield, and when she spoke, her body edged forward, even though it was shaking with the wave of nervous fear which she had every right to be experiencing, ''President Shinra?''
As his icy gaze surveyed the living room, the pale skin surrounding his nose began to crinkle in distaste, both his vision and his sense of smell detecting rather a large amount of oddity's which neither pleased, or comforted him.
Though, of course, Rufus hadn't really expected the red headed Turk to share the same clarity of taste, but he still found himself rather surprised by the flat's complete lack of light, both visually and atmospherically, and that the rectification of its condition had not even been attempted by the young, female secretary.
The young woman was standing quite still, and although there were mere metres away from one another, she had chosen to partition herself with the coffee table that stood between them.
Her hands fumbled with the arms of the golden rimmed glasses that balanced so carefully upon the edge of his nose, whilst her voice battled with the garble of nerves that had been enforced upon her by her boss's presence.
Although she had, indeed invited him in of her own accord, it did not mean that she wasn't capable of regretting the decision as quickly as it was made.
Eventually, after a few moments, the worst of her trembling subsided, though her eyelids still flickered albeit swiftly, and her voice was far from steady, ''Can I-...can I get you something to drink?''
The young blonde remained silent only briefly before responding, his tone both curt and low, as his lips curled into a half sneer, ''What are you doing here?''
''Tifa, I mean Miss. Lockhart...she...she asked me to stay.'' Jane diverted her gaze as a fearful pink blush began to dabble upon her cheeks.
Rufus observed her with some degree of disinterested amusement, before allowing a solitary eyebrow to raise, ''And you complied because?''
''I-'' Before her lips could even form a quiver of desperation, she was halted by the single motion by the young President, whom proceeded to take a long, drawn out step towards her, though they still remained separated by the piece of living-room furniture.
''I thought I'd put you under house arrest?''
Jane eyed his position, and tried to minimise her flinching at his pressing proximity, ''Well, I, I mean you did, but-''
''But?'' The blonde's lips twisted into a mocking grin,''There is no 'but', Ms. Taylor. If I give you an order I expect you to follow it, not take it apart and trample upon it like some ignorant child.''
''That may be true, but-'' The young Shin-Ra employee allowed a few seconds to pass before finishing her response, seemingly needing the time to gather both her thoughts and her confidence, ''She said I'd be ok...'' she flicked her gaze up to meet his own before adding quietly, though sincerely, ''...and I trust her.''
Rufus chuckled silently before narrowing her icy blue stare, his tone hushed, and yet somewhat uttered through clenched teeth, ''She is not here now.''
The young woman's fingers began to pick intently at the threads of partially unravelled material upon her cardigan, as her wording abilities became ever so slightly disabled with the jarringly truthful statement.
''I think it's time you went home.'' His voice was softly demanding, and although his air was steadfast in its authority, Jane dared to meet it with a flash of defiance.
''No.''
Rufus's brow rose with a hint of impressed surprise, though his tone was, once again, pure in its conviction, ''I'm your boss. Now do as you are told.''
She swayed up and down upon her heels in thought for a few moments before responding with her new found wave of courage, ''No. I need to stay here. You wanted me contained.'' One eyebrow twitched in an form of proud amusement, ''Does it really matter where?''
The young man's facial expression remained unchanged for sometime, as he studied the woman in front of him; their was a new spark within his secretary, and it was good, interesting even, though, of course, this did not change his opinion on the situation.
His lips parted, though didn't sneer, instead allowing his harsh arrogance to come through in the tone of his voice, ''I never really saw you as the impressionable type.''
Jane's brow furrowed lightly, ''Excuse me?''
''Miss. Lockhart...it's obvious she has had an effect on you.''
Anyone inside the room, and observing the young woman might have caught the shy glimpse of a smile upon her lips at the mention of such a thing, but it was halted swiftly in its tracks, as previously buried thoughts began to surface, and force her own composure to falter, ''I was just trying to help her...and Reno-''
She was cut of sharply by a rather mocking roll of laughter from Rufus, ''Again, you surprise me...I didn't think you cared so deeply for your red headed co-worker. If I recall you did rather disliked him...''
Jane's gaze lingered upon one of his jacket's golden buttons for a few moments before she managed a basic whisper of defence, though the strength displayed within his facial contours added a certain significance, ''Well...it doesn't stop me from being concerned.''
''Hm.'' He made a point to turn with the swiftest of graces, and as his harden souls brushed against the carpet on his way to the door, he called back to the still form of the young female, his confident smirk masked well behind his backed position, ''If Miss. Lockhart contacts you again, I'll require you in inform me immediately. If you fail me with this order, you shall find me rather less than forgiving.''
The secretary's voice rumbled through the air with a quiet delicacy, ''Yes...Sir.''
Rufus's brow softened as he reached for the chilled, metallic door handle ''Oh and Ms. Taylor?''
The short silent response informed him of her compliance, and before he swung the door free from its frame, and parted over its threshold, he tilted his head to face the young woman, and his lips hinted at a gentle content, ''I will expect you back at work on Monday.''
A sharp click sounded as the door was pulled sharply to a close by the young President, whom had already ridden himself of any previously displayed emotion, and had returned to a state of self-assured calm.
Some might have taken his earlier reactions towards the young, mousey haired secretary, to be rather too soft for one of both his standing and reputation, but, like so many others had discovered, albeit too late, his reasons were not always directed at the obvious.
As Rufus made his way over to the stairwell, he drew his fingertips up around a couple of the gold, smoothed buttons, and began to slot them inside the cut-fabric holes, though whilst the simple task was in the midst of its completion, a soft, gentle hum both sounded and actioned within one of the jacket's inner pockets, causing him to twitch ever so slightly, before reaching inside the silken lining and pulling out the small, part-plastic piece of communication equipment.
Upon reading the familiar name imprinted within the screens surface, the young man swiftly flipped the device to its opened state and held it up against his unmarked, pale brushed ear.
''Tseng.''
A few moments passed as he listened intently to the information being directly passed to him, and when the Turk leader had drawn to his, all too imposed, finishing statement, the young President responded with a certain immediacy.
''I'm on my way.''
Whilst the phone's muted beep began to fade with the call's ending, Rufus had already began to dial out one of the many numbers he held for drivers, after making sure to pick one whom knew, with a fine accuracy, the swiftest way to Shin-Ra's own medical facility.
A/N= *Phew* actually got it up on time! Sorry again for the delay in updates, but I was rather preoccupied! Anyway onto the chapter stuff...
Bit of a Rufus central chapter here, I don't know why but I've always found him rather interesting, mostly due to the fact that within the Final Fantasy VII story, we don't actually find out a lot about him, apart from the obvious...I mean even the Turks seem to get a good chunk of characterisation, and background info, but Rufus...well, he seems a bit overlooked.
Oh and the whole conversation with Jane...I'm not trying to replace or 'copy' the kind of atmosphere between Tifaand Rufus, with him and his secretary, but I did want to show (because of later chapter developments) that their is a sense of 'bond' between them, in the fact that he is definitely more lenient with her, than maybe he would be with other employees, but not because of any romantic interest...
Anyway, there is some more RufusxTifa interaction coming up soon XD So don't get to dismayed that I haven't even included her in this chapter :)