A/N: God, this took a while… Anyway, this is:
Chapter 3: Harder than Hell
Salvatrice didn't know how she had, why she had, or where she had gotten herself lost within the 5 elevators, 3 stairwells and 17 corridors between Rufu-… The President's Office and the building's main reception, but she'd managed. She was always getting lost these days. Wherever she was, it was dimly lit, full of huge water tanks and eerily silent except for the bubbling of the strange green-blue liquid. Salvatrice now knew it was a laboratory, at least.
"Hey!" A voice called. Salvatrice span around to face her challenger. A man with a bright shock of red hair was eyeing her up from several feet away. The way he was looking at her, Salvatrice couldn't decide whether it was attraction or caution, Probably both. She took a step back.
"Uh, what are you doing down here?" He asked.
"I'm a little lost, sir." She claimed, taking in the man's suit, however disshelved, as a mark of authority. He turned on one heel and waved a hand over his shoulder, walking briskly out of the lab.
Salvatrice went to follow before feeling something snag on her elbow, then turned around to see her jacket caught on a dusty metal plate. She ripped it off without hesitation and went on to follow the strange red-haired man through the 5 elevators, 3 stairwells and 17 corridors to the building's main reception to pick up her things and get to her desk.
The man she followed made no conversation to Salvatrice. The only words he spoke were to occasional passers-by, when he either came out with a crude one-liner or an overused chat-up line. By the time they were at the front desk, Salvatrice had only just managed to catch up with his long strides and sudden turns. He clearly wasn't used to acting tour guide. She still wondered why he was in the lab. They probably just sent someone down because they saw her on CCTV.
"There you go, lady. So uh, are you new here or something?" He questioned, breaking out a smirk. Salvatrice opened her mouth to talk but someone answered for her.
"Yes, thank-you Reno. She works for me." The President said.
"So does everyone else…" Reno muttered, but skulked away anyway. Salvatrice turned around to face the President, noticing the girl at the desk had braced up in her seat, and gave a warm smile despite feeling the man's cold persona had affected everyone in the room.
"I apologize, Miss Mantovani, for not sending you an escort from my office. I was slightly caught up in more… Pressing matters. Although I'm sure you could forgive me?" He said, smiling all the way. Salvatrice nodded, flustered, and turned to the desk. The woman passed her things over and gave a nod, then Salvatrice made her way to her office. Her office that was situated exactly 5 elevators, 3 stairwells and 17 corridors away.
Alicia had been waiting for some response, any response, from the blonde man across from her for about 10 minutes. That's what it felt like. His less artificial, more wooden desk was far less expensive-looking than his brother's, in great contrast with his suit, which looked a lot more striking and elegant than The President's. She shuffled uncomfortably in her chair.
"Hi, Alicia." He said. That was unexpected.
"Hi." She mirrored. No point being any less than he is. He raised his head to smile at her.
"So, I read through your resumé and found you perfectly capable for the job, although I need to put you on probation before I can officially hire you. This means you'll be on a third of the pay originally offered, although only for about a month, okay?" He explained, still sorting through papers on his desk in the meantime.
Alicia nodded.
"If you just make your way back down to the lobby they'll give you directions to the infirmary down at the SOLDIER dept., you should be OK from thereon." He explained, not looking at her once the whole time.
Once Alicia realised that the director had nothing else to say, she stood up and walked out, taking long, slow strides towards the elevator and down to reception for directions. Despite the in-depth descriptions from Clara, the desk lady, she had no idea where she was going. She simply followed any signs with the word SOLDIER on them.
She got there eventually.