Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil. It all belongs to CAPCOM.

Outsider

Chapter 3

Misapprehension and Realization

A lorry wheezed heavily as it wheeled round the corner. Claire stopped by the pavement, waiting for the enormous metal beetle to finish its crawl on the road. She glanced at the watch on her wrist and heaved an impatient sigh.

Claire must hurry. For Leon S. Kennedy was waiting for her in the cafe.

At this moment Claire still found it unbelievable, not to mention how shock she had felt twenty minutes ago. She was brushing her teeth sleepily when she went to check the voicemail box of her telephone. She literally had her jaw dropped and her toothbrush noiselessly fell to the ground when she heard the husky voice played after the sharp beep sound, saying, "Claire, This is Leon. Could you come down to that cafe we usually go? II'll be here waiting until you come. See you there."

Having the faded red paint on the truck still lingering in front of her sight, Claire used the spare time to tidy her bangs a bit and yanked her yellow T-shirt straight. She hoped her look wouldn't look so gross as she hadn't prepared much before she burst out of the home door. As long as the tail of the truck faded out of the corner of her eyes, and seeing no other cars turning to this street, the redhead immediately dashed to the opposite pavement and turned the corner. She could see the wooden shop sign of the cafe at the other end of the street and trod towards its direction briskly.

Claire regulated her breath by slowing her pace a bit, at the same time scanning at the cafe interiorly through the transparent floor to ceiling windows. It was a bit vacant for such a refreshing Monday morning, so Claire quickly spotted Leon sitting at the by-window table like the last time. He stared into the distance in the street, seemingly thinking of something. Claire wondered if she could sneak into the cafe and surprise him. Just then Leon pulled back the gaze and looked at his reflection on the glass instead. He looked at it more intently and raised a hand to smooth a few unruly strands of sandy hair and carefully pushed them away from his eye. Claire couldn't stop chuckling at Leon's move and how she wished she had a camera in hand to capture this notable scene. She turned to push open the door of the cafe. Leon noticed her and greeted her with a nod. Claire waved back as she walked towards his table, with the smile at the corner of her lips that could not be concealed. As a considerate and kind friend, she decided not to comment to what she'd seen and just let herself take a mental note of Leon's interesting side.

" Hi."

" Hi Leon," Claire took the seat opposite to Leon. " Sorry I've keep you waiting. "

" Not at all, thought I had to wait till 10 o'clock something."

" No, I am an early bird," confessed the red head. She got up at six every day. " What about you, Leon? Get enough sleep?"

Leon nestled his head against his palm and confided, " Not really. I've only napped in the plane when coming to the city."

" You cannot overwork yourself and enough rest is essential. You should have used the time to have a good sleep rather than meeting me... "

" I'm okay. Don't worry, Red. I'm calling you out because I have something to confirm with you... Of course I miss you and want to see you."

Claire felt heat from her cheek and she lowered her gaze onto the table.

Leon cleared his throat and added, " Well, a cup of coffee will help me to stay awake. Would you like to order now?"

" Okay," Claire nodded and Leon beckoned to a waitress. There were a few tables of customers at the time of early six thirty, so the brown-haired waitress immediately trod to their able and asked in a cheerful tone, " Good morning! What would you like to have?"

" Triple Expresso." The waitress quickly wrote down Leon's order.

Claire waited for the waitress to finish writing and spoke to her, " A Latte, thanks."

" Triple Expresso and Latte, okay," repeated the waitress. " And would you like to have a sandwich? Carprese sandwich is our today's recommendation!"

" Um, I'll have bacon and cheese sandwich ," answered Claire.

The waitress wrote the order down and turned to look at Leon, who was frowning mildly.

"... Do you have pasta here?"

The waitress shook her head and apologized, " I'm sorry that pasta would only be avaliable from the lunchtime..."

Leon humphed in response and Claire eyed at him curiously.

" Sir, would you like cakes, perhaps?" suggested the waitress, trying to be helpful. " We have blueberry cheesecake, fresh and delicious."

" I'll have sandwich." sighed Leon.

" definitely, sir. What kind of sandwich would you like to have?"

"... Hero..."

" Okay, a hero sandwich... What else would you like to order?"

Leon shook his head and Claire whispered, "No, thanks."

The waitress said " You're welcome." and turned to inform the order to the kitchen.

"HERO," Claire joked, " That's what the mankind needs, huh?" Smiling mischievously, she gazed at the man in front of her, who had fought against numerous zombies from the Racoon City incident to the recent Harvardville Airport incident. And unlike her, the Government Agent stayed at his position, to continue to fight against the fearful bioterriost attacks with armed strength. He was undoubtedly a Hero of the world himself.

" Hero..." Leon rubbed the bridge of nose roughly with his knuckles and whispered," I'm tired of it... " He heaved a sigh and said in a louder voice," And you know? I've been eating sandwiches these day. On mission, you know."

"Oh yeah?" Claire proceeded to ask," Then why didn't you just change and get the food that you want?" She was concerning not really the sandwich but his job if he had felt tired to it and possibly Leon had got her meaning. Considering not really appropriate to continue asking such sensitive questions, she commented as to switch the conversation back to its right track, " Well, I think the sandwiches and coffee here are good. So I sometimes come to have a tea or something like that... And you would probably have a lot delicious cuisines to try out in you coming day offs, right?"

Leon smiled slightly as he willingly carried on talking about this topic, " No worry, Claire. You gonna taste the good food with me. And well... thanks for your invitation."

" Erm... Leon? About the last phone call..." Claire pressed her lips and thought for a moment. Thinking about her awkward call had made her feeling embarrassed. " Sorry that I really sounded odd that time, I..."

" No, of course not, Claire," said Leon with a small chuckle. " It's me who responded so awkwardly... You don't know how I feel surprised to hear from you that..."

Claire nodded her head hardly with embarrassment. She could not handle to look at Leon. Oh no. Leon must be thinking that I like to date him out and be her girlfriend... No wonder he's asking me out to decline me and say it clear face to face... What should I do? Perhaps I just tell him the truth that Angela...

" Leon..." began Claire but just then the waitress returned to deliver the food they had ordered. The tasty-looking sandwich and hot latte were placed before her. " Perhaps let's have our breakfast first?"

Leon nodded in agreement. He was gazing down at his hero sandwich when Claire ate her sandwich in silence. She felt the soft cheese on her tongue but could not really taste it. She was down into her thought, trying to make a draft of script in her mind, preparing to spill the beans to Leon before he rejected her and declined her offer. She soon lost into her thought and when she finished her sandwich, wiping her mouth clean with tissue paper and looked up, she met Leon's constant gaze at her.

" I'm thinking..." said Leon, breaking the awkward silence. " I'd better take this sandwich away." Claire followed his gaze to the untouched poor sandwich in front of him and nodded idly. Leon beckoned the waitress to help him pack up the sandwich while Claire swirled the hot liquid in her cup and took it sip by sip. She always hoped to see Leon and have a chat with him in a restaurant, just like this, but now she really couldn't enjoy this gathering much. She felt the mixture of vexation, strain and other unnamed emotions, knotted together in her body.

Leon drained his coffee and placed the empty cup onto the table. Claire asked, rather abruptly, " Are you leaving now?"

Leon gave her a light smile and replied," Not at this moment. Not before I've got my mission done." He pulled out a card from the pocket of his trousers and handed it to Claire. " I've booked the table. Hope the restaurant I've picked could fulfil your request."

Whispering " Thanks", Claire received the small card and glanced at it, reading the name of restaurant printed on it with golden printed letters. She had heard of this restaurant, which was the most high-class restaurant in this city, famous for the luxurious French cuisine and grand ornamentations. She looked up at Leon, who was also eyeing her expectantly. " This... I thought you were going to reject me."

Running his fingers through his sandy hair, Leon chuckled, " Why, Claire? You should know I'm more than happy to go out with you, though I've never been to that restaurant before. But it sounds good, right?"

" I've only heard of its ' incredible' price," said Claire, though not really joking.

" Don't worry. It'll be my treat," promised Leon. Usually Claire declined him for paying the bill, but this time she thankfully accepted his offer. Afterall, he couldn't let Angela pay for the date, right? Better to let Leon to have this preparation for the expense of the date ... especially in such grand restaurant.

" You let me pay today's bill and you'll get yours for the date... the dinner," corrected Claire immediately. Well, in fact it would be really date of Leon and Angela, not that she'd like to mention. Anyway.

" Deal, Claire," nodded Leon confidently. " And what about I pick you up at seven on Wednesday, for our date?"

" How kind of you. Thank you," Claire told herself that all she said were speaking for Angela, but having the illusion of her having a date with Leon had made her feeling dizzy in the head.

" You're welcome," Leon swifted to stuff the sandwich in his case. " Now my mission is completed. Thanks for the time, Claire."

Shaking her head with a smile, Claire swifted to beckon the waitress and paid the bill. After that, they got to their feet and left the cafe. Sunshine glowed gently and the street became more dense with passengers as Claire glanced at her watch it was six forty now.

" Where are you going next?" asked Claire as they began to saunter along the pavement.

" Washington D.C ," replied Leon. " Time to see the President and give a report before I could take my days off."

" Then... " mused Claire over his words. " All you spent to travel is just to tell me about the dinner?"

Leon shrugged casually, muttering, "Sort of."

" Oh Leon! You should have used the time to have a proper rest." Claire said immediately, " Not that I'm blaming you. But ... you could have phoned me instead."

" Like what I've said at the beginning, I'd like to see you today..." He fiddled with the bang that fell onto his eye. " I couldn't wait to see you before we formally have a date on Wednesday."

Claire froze for a moment until she felt sparks of happiness in her mind, stupefying her senses. She met Leon's suggestive gaze and she felt completely lost. " Thank you, Leon. Thank you for your generous."

" Don't mention it, Claire," said Leon, grinning. " Well, I think I'd better move for the flight."

" Um," nodded Claire, casting Leon a sideway glance before casting her eyes on the ground. " Have a good day and well, see you on Wednesday."

" Certainly," said Leon as he lifted his case, adjusting its position. " See you later."

" Bye, Leon," Claire waved to Leon goodbye as she took the opposite direction to home. She couldn't help turning back after some seconds, and she was stunned to see Leon was doing the same thing also. Leon responded with an embarrassed grin as he raised a hand to wave. Then he turned back, leaving Claire still in her astonishment. She realised something. She could now name the feelings that had been held for these years. But She was afraid that the realization was too late.

A/N: Thank you for the reviewers for my previous chapter. Your suggestions and advices helped me a lot. So What do you think about this chapter? I'd really like to know!

15/4/09-6/5/09