II. Double Date
"Things do not change; we change." –Thoreau
Los Angles, USA
November, 2011
A pet peeve of Claire's was tardiness. She was always good about showing up on time, so why couldn't the other person return the favor and arrive on time? She knotted the strap of her purse around her hand, tapping the tip of her converse on the pavement, eyes looking amongst the crowd. She jumped a little when the man next to her placed a hand over hers, stopping her from twisting the purse strap anymore.
"Calm down, Claire," Leon spoke softly into her ear, "They're coming. Just be patient."
Claire snarled, but complied. She hung the strap over her shoulder and looked at Leon with an irritated expression that wasn't directed towards him. "I'm not very good at patience, Leon. But I'll try."
"That's my girl," he said, planting a peck on her temple. She smiled and leaned into him, eyes still searching the crowd.
Another five minutes, Claire caught sight of a tall, muscular man. Once she noticed the pissed off look on his face, she knew it was her brother, Chris. A small woman followed behind him, looking around the crowd with wide eyes. Claire knew this was Jill.
"He looks pissed off," Leon whispered to Claire.
"He always looks pissed off," she whispered back.
When Chris and Jill were near enough, Claire could feel the tension immediately. This tension had grown to be accustomed for the couple, no matter what kind of mood they were in.
"You had to choose the busiest steakhouse in LA," Chris stated in an annoyed voice.
"Calm your tits, Redfield," his sister muttered to him. "It only got busy in the last ten minutes. But maybe if you showed up on time, it wouldn't be so full of people."
"Alright, alright," Leon spoke up, standing in front of Claire and giving her a stern look. She sighed heavily, but went with his lead and walked to the entrance of the restaurant.
After being shown to their table, Leon and Claire sat on one side of the table, leaving Jill and Chris alone on the other side. The redhead of the group studied her brother and his companion. She didn't know any better words to call his and Jill's relationship. They sat a good two feet away from each other, so Claire knew that they had gotten into some type of fight before they got here. Chris still looked pissed off, but slowly he was calming down to be in the presence of his sister.
"The prick wouldn't send over the information," Claire spoke about her work, cutting her steak into cubes. "But that figures, because he works for," she glanced at Leon and then whispered to her brother, "The federal government."
"I can hear you, you know," Leon nudged her with his elbow.
She stuck her tongue out at him with playful humor. Chris held back a gag when the two whispered to each other. He could only imagine what they were saying and honestly, he rather not know. He looked to Jill on his right, trying to avoid eye contact.
Jill poked at her food, still having yet to eat at all. She could feel his eyes on her and she felt as if the entire world was scrutinizing her. Avoiding looking back at him, she looked around the restaurant, studying the families, couples and friends. There was one particular couple on the other side of the place that caught her eye. The woman wrapped in her partner's arms had beautiful brown curly hair, pale skin and shimmering blue eyes. The man was a little darker in skin tone, with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. He wasn't the most handsome, but Jill could see from the girl in his arms that she adored him.
The sight of the couple made Jill's mind wander to this afternoon, when she had spent time with a certain someone. She could feel her cheeks redden from the thought, and when Claire called out to her, she completely ignored her, lost in thought.
"Jill?"
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and looked to Claire. "Yeah?"
"I need to use the little girl's room, wanna come?"
Jill knew what that meant. She wanted to talk about something. She nodded and stood from the table, daring to glance at Chris. He was talking to Leon about something, his mind elsewhere. She followed Claire into the restroom, bringing her purse with her.
"Spill it," Claire demanded when the door closed.
"What?" she replied with raised brows.
The redhead rolled her eyes and sat up on the counter, "C'mon, Jill. Obviously you two had a fight. What happened?"
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Jill turned away. She hated seeing the blonde hair and the dark circles under her eyes. "Just stupid stuff," she murmured, looking at the floor.
It was already a proven fact that Claire wasn't a patient woman, but she did her best to go at Jill's pace. She knew that the blonde was fragile—even though she'd been fragile for over two years now and Claire wondered how long this phase would go on. She cursed herself mentally; it wasn't Jill's fault that she was in such a delicate state, so Claire shouldn't test her or accuse her of abusing the attention. Again, Claire wasn't a woman of patience.
"What happened, Jill?"
Sighing, Jill leaned against the counter, facing away from the mirror. "I was just running late. I started getting ready too late."
She lied. Jill Valentine lied to someone she used to be extremely close to. She was honest about being late, but for a completely different reason. She had been with someone and had completely forgotten that she was supposed to go on a double date with Chris, and Claire and Leon. She had gotten caught up in the lunch meet up she had had with an old friend. But the real reason she and Chris got in the fight is because Jill refused to tell him where she was. It was silly, really. Having lunch with Carlos Oliveira was an innocent hang out. At least this is what Jill told herself over and over again. However, in her gut, something was telling her that she needed to be guilty for keeping it a secret.
So she refused to tell him where she was, leading to the fight, making them late to the double date. And his sister was trying to get her to open up and tell her, but she couldn't. Jill couldn't just tell her, 'Oh, I had lunch with Carlos Oliveria. The guy that I left Chris for a long time ago. Remember him?'
"That's all?" Claire inquired with a perfectly plucked arched brow.
She avoided eye contact, staring at the ground, "Mhm."
Claire wanted to interrogate, but from the look on her face, she avoided delving more into the topic. She hopped down from the counter, fixed her hair, checked her teeth for any surprise crumb, and motioned for Jill to head back to the boys.
Keeping her eyes from the mirror, Jill followed behind. She bit at her nails, which is only something she'd ever do when she was nervous. Her nerves shivered because she had to look at Chris and feel the guilt she had for lying about where she was today, and that she was off spending that time with her ex. She continued to tell herself that it was just a simple lunch date for friends to catch up. Yes, that was it, just an innocent lunch with an old friend.
After finally agreeing to split the bill, Leon contemplated the idea of asking Chris about the situation between him and Jill. He wasn't the kind of guy to ask about personal problems, but since this was his girlfriend's brother—and no doubt she'd push him to talk to her brother anyway—he decided he'd break the ice and ask.
"So what was it this time?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Chris looked to the man sitting across from him, trying to decide if he was truly curious. Chris always had a hard time warming up to Leon, but he had saved his sister more than once and he was grateful. When he and Claire finally started trying out dating after Harvardville, Chris did his best to accept the guy. Slowly but surely he did, even though he still rather Claire single and celibate, but the world wasn't perfect.
"She's keeping secrets."
Intrigued, Leon leaned forward a tad, "What about?"
"I don't know," he said with a shrug, "I asked what she did today and then she blew up and said I needed to get off her back. I think she was out with someone, I just don't know who."
"Any ideas?"
Chris rubbed his eyes and held back a sigh, "I have a clue but I don't want to think about it."
Watching closely to the man across from him, Leon studied him and could see that his mind was working. "You think she's cheating." It was a statement, not a question.
"I never said that," Chris replied quickly, "I just can't be sure about anything right now."
"Are you going to confront her?"
"And say what?"
Leon thought for a moment, but he went with what first came to mind. "Talk to her about it like you'd want her to approach you."
Chris narrowed his eyes at him, "What are you getting at?"
He could see the warning Chris was giving him in his glare, but Leon liked to make this guy angry. So he kept going. "I'm talking about Sheva. You never told Jill about what happened. But if Jill came to you about it, wouldn't you want her to be civil? Talk to Jill the way you'd want her to talk to you."
"That doesn't count," Chris said in a low voice, eyes checking to make sure Jill wasn't around.
"Of course it counts. You slept with Sheva."
There was fork next to Chris's hand and Leon's hand was resting flat against the table. He could just grab the silverware, aim, and then whoops-a-daisy. He fought back the urge though. "It doesn't count. Jill and I hadn't gotten back to together yet. And it was just a one night stand. I won't ever see her again."
Claire hasn't told him yet, Leon thought. His only response was, "Ah."
"'Ah' what?" Chris probed.
"Nothing. But you're obviously guilty about this 'one night stand' because you never told Jill and whenever I bring it up, you make sure she's nowhere near."
"Shut up, Kennedy," he growled, leaning back in his chair. "It still doesn't count."
Leon could see the girls walking back, so he stood and held his hand out for Claire. She looked at Chris and nearly scoffed to see the pissed off expression back. Her brother stood and looked to Jill, not saying a word. Jill didn't look back though; she just stared at the floor in silence.
Sighing, Claire smiled at Leon, "Well, I think we better get going. We have to be up early in the morning."
Leon fought the smirk coming up on his face, waiting for Claire to explain their reasoning to be up early. He couldn't wait to see the older Redfield's expression. He cared for the ape but what's a good friendship without a few punches?
Walking out of the restaurant, Jill spoke for the first time in front of the boys, "It's Saturday tomorrow, why do you have to be up so early?"
"We have to be at the airport," Claire responded. "We're picking up Sheva."
Chris was fishing the car keys out of his pocket when Claire gave the news. His eyes went wide and he started coughing uncontrollably. His sister put a hand on his arm, Jill stared at him like he was running around naked, and Leon was stifling a laugh.
"Chris, are you alright?" Claire asked in a voice of worry.
He took a few deep breaths and his coughing soon stopped, but the hard thumping of his heart wasn't slowing. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's the pollution," he said, trying to recover.
Claire looked him up and down, trying to decipher his expression. His eyes were still wide as he looked up at the night sky, his fists were clenched and his body looked stiff. She looked to Jill and was quite surprised by the look on her face. She was looking at the pavement but the gears in her head were working. She looked deep in thought and if Claire's eyes weren't playing games on her, she could see her lip curl up in a small smile. Claire and Leon said goodbye to the odd couple and went off to go home, get rest, and prepare for Sheva's arrival.
Jill's spirits were slightly lifting. She couldn't open up to Claire because she was Chris's sister, she couldn't talk to Carlos because he was the source of her needing to talk to someone, and she had lost contact with all her old friends to go to them. But Sheva might be able to be the friend that she could go to. In Africa, when they had spent little time together, Sheva seemed to be an unbiased listener, and that's what Jill needed right now. Maybe Sheva could help her through this.
While Jill was excited for Claire's new guest, Chris was freaking out. The woman he had fought beside in Kijuju, the woman that helped him and stood by his side to find someone who he wasn't even completely positive was alive, the woman that defeated his arch enemy with him. And ultimately, the woman he had spent an entire day with in bed; savoring her presence, tasting her skin, moving above her and wanting more than anything to be with her. And now she was coming to America, back into his life, and he didn't know if he could take it.
Author's note: Well, it's safe to say that Sheva's arrival is definitely anticipated, yes? The questions are building, and slowly but surely, answers will come. As for the quotes, lyrics, or proverbs that will be written at the first part of every chapter, has relevance and something to do with this story or chapter. Not necessarily the whole song is relevant, just the lyric that is posted. If you have any lyrics, quotes or proverbs that you love and think go well with Sheva and Chris, send me the passage and I will see if I can fit them in anywhere. Can't guarantee I will use your reference, but I'd love to see what you all have in mind. :)
Justsomegirl17: Yes, most definitely some time before the prelude takes place. Oh, you're good at a lot of things, and guessing happens to be one of them! :D Haha, it never made it to my home either, that's for sure. Thank goodness for YouTube and the people those are nice enough to upload walkthroughs. Chris is kind of a broken record calling Jill's name that much. :P Totally! I hope she drinks a Sex on the Beach for me! I wonder what that drink tastes like… :P I thought the roman/Greek outfit in RE6 was hilarious, but the sailor one took the cake! XD Well, I'm glad to hear no complaints! Arrivederci, toots!
Mss. KB: I'm curious to know what you think about what happened between Sheva and Chris. In this chapter is wasn't explained, but later in the story, we'll get the real details what went wrong. I love that you mentioned flashbacks, because there will be some. The flashbacks start in chapter 7! I'm so happy that my updates relieve some of the stress from university. :) Boring with Chris? Do you mean that it's probably boring in the states with him right now? If so, then you're probably right. ;) Sheva is fantastic! The arrival will be in the next chapter! Stay healthy and happy, K. \o/
toby7400: Leaving home is the worst, isn't it? Terrible feeling. I like you're thinking about Clementine. ;) What happened between Chris and Sheva will be revealed slowly through the story. And I don't know, I just always imagined Claire and Sheva being really good friends. :)
Sheva Redfield: Haha, Josh is crossed off the list. Oh, thank you, you're a very kind person, too, and you can talk to me about anything. :) No worries! Take your time with a review, whenever you feel good to write one. I'm just happy that you review at all! Some readers stay dormant… :o Don't worry, rambling is a good thing that people should feel free doing. If only you heard me talking in person, I ramble on and on. ;) Talk to you soon, XOXO!
HolleringHawk65: Haha, don't worry, when I go back and read these, I'm just wishing they were longer. But compared to my first story, these are novels! No, I kid. But they'll get longer as time goes on probably. Yay, I'm so happy that you're eager to read more! :D
wolfspiritqueen: Yay, I'm glad you're joining us with this one! Can't wait for you to read more and to hear what you think. Thank you so much! :)
ShevaGiulia: Aw, thank you dear. I'm so happy that you found them and that you like them. I write for the reader, not myself. So to know that it is liked means the world to me. :) I'll keeping going, I promise!
Aries: You're not late; you're fashionably late! Hope everything went good with the examinations. Oh, sorry about the computer. They're so sensitive! :P The prelude shows a depressed Sheva, but right now she's happy and after what happens in the prelude, things will become chipper. :) I hope you like RE6, good luck! Go kick some zombie butt! :D
Let me know what you guys think in a review, please. And feel free to ask questions. I do answer them, just maybe not directly because I want the words to reveal answers, not my need to spoil everything. I'll see you next time, Sarai.
