CHAPTER XXV

"Hey."

"Hello Reno."

"Whatcha doing?"

"Cleaning the bathroom, actually. Or I was until the phone rang."

"How exciting."

"Yeah, not much fun but it's got to be done."

"I guess. So, how would you like to get some lunch? My treat."

Tifa looked at the clock. Almost one. She hadn't eaten yet. She wiped her brow. It was hard work cleaning out that tub and not fun at all. She had been at it all morning and could use a break.

"All right, but one condition," she replied.

"What's that?"

"I'll pay," she said.

He didn't reply and for a moment she thought he was going to give her a hard time about it, but then he said; "Okay."

"All right, what time?"

"I don't know. About an hour?"

"Sounds good," she replied. That would give her enough time to get herself cleaned up. "See you then."

She hung up the phone. A few minutes later she was in the shower. By the time Reno arrived, she and Karisa were all ready to go.

"So, did you have some place in mind?" Tifa questioned as she locked the door behind her.

Reno looked down the road, squinting in the sunlight. It wasn't quite as cold today as it had been lately.

"No, not really," he replied. "I know a few places, but they're across town, closer to my place. Don't suppose you want to walk that far?"

"There's a decent diner not too far away," she replied. "Remember, the one we went to that time you took me grocery shopping?"

"Oh yeah," Reno replied. Funny, that seemed so long ago now. "I suppose that will do."

Holding Karisa's hand, Tifa started off, with Reno right beside them. It didn't take them long to reach the diner. After they had taken off their coats Reno sat down and flipped open the menu in front of him, making a great show of examining it's contents while clandestinely glancing at Tifa, who was looking at her own menu and didn't really seem to be paying any attention to him. They hadn't seen each other since that night he had gotten... a little free with her, to put it mildly, and he was wondering how she was going to react to him. Honestly, he couldn't even now quite remember all the details of what exactly had gone down. He knew he had tried to, well, force himself on her, and that he had eventually come to his senses, and that she had said she would help him when she found out he had been evicted, but not much else in between. The fact that she said she would help led him to believe she wasn't mad at him but he wasn't completely certain. He still couldn't believe he had done what he had done, found it even harder to believe she hadn't kicked his ass for trying. He'd certainly deserved it. He'll say this for her, she was a hell of a lot more forgiving than he was.

Then again, that wasn't something he didn't already know. Sometimes she was just too damn nice for her own good, but in this instance, he was grateful.

She hadn't said much in her apartment or on the way here. He looked at her as she leaned over to Karisa, telling the young girl the choices on the kiddie menu. He couldn't really tell what she was thinking, whether she had really forgiven him or what. He wondered if he should tell her he was sorry. Not really his thing, he wasn't normally one to apologize for anything he did, but even he had to admit he had gone too far that night.

Still, she didn't seem to be making a big deal of it. Even if she hadn't said anything he could tell by her attitude and posture towards him that she wasn't mad. He had been around her long enough to get a good idea of how she felt just with those simple clues. She wasn't one to conceal her emotions. If she was mad at him, he had a feeling he'd know by now. The mere fact that she had agreed to meet him went a long way toward telling him all was forgiven.

No, he'd save the apology for a time when it was really needed.

The waitress came over and took their order. When she walked away Tifa lifted her head, looking out the window. She hadn't failed to notice the lack of discussion herself. It was true, she had forgiven him for what happened that night, more or less. The fact that he had stopped himself, of course, had a lot to do with that. Still, she wasn't to forget what he had done, and wasn't sure she should forgive so easily. She had thought about refusing his request when he had called, she had even thought about confronting him and telling him in no uncertain terms just what she thought of such behavior. Not saying anything at all about it might just make him think it wasn't so bad, that he hadn't done anything to regret. Was she just reinforcing his childish behavior by not getting on his case about it? Maybe she would be doing him a favor. Maybe what he really needed was a good kick in the ass.

Maybe, but that wasn't really something she was very good at. She had a feeling anything she said about it would almost certainly lead to an argument, and she really didn't want to fight with him in the middle of a restaurant, with her daughter sitting right next to him. If she wanted to tell him off, it would be better if she did it when they were alone. And yet she knew that wouldn't happen. In battle she knew she could be as tough and as brave as anyone, but when it came to telling someone off, she was a wimp, she thought disgustedly.

"What are you thinking about?" Reno questioned, finally breaking the silence.

She looked at him, and she could tell her thoughts had shown by the look on her face.

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head slowly.

He continued to look at her, as if expecting her to elaborate, but she said nothing further. Instead she made a great show of inspecting her silverware. She wasn't sure what to say to him, what to talk about. Every topic she could think of was a potential minefield. She wanted to ask him if he was looking for a job. An obvious question now that she knew just how little gil he had, but the last time she had asked him about this he had snapped at her for 'lecturing' him. She wanted to ask him if he had found a way to come up with the rent money, but again, she didn't want to delve too far into that topic for fear he might cross examine her on exactly how she planned on helping him. Tomorrow was Friday. She couldn't believe how fast these last few days had gone by. Reno knew nothing about her plan to help him, about what she was going to do. She wasn't sure how he would react if he did. She wasn't sure if he would be mad. It didn't seem like a thing he would get mad about but she just wasn't sure. Even if he was, what difference did it make? It was none of his business, really. Besides, knowing the kind of guy he was, he'd probably like the idea, in fact... oh god, what if he wanted to be there? She hadn't thought of that. Knowing Reno, he could very well want a front row seat if he found out. It was bad enough what she was doing, it was hard enough to get herself to contemplate doing it. With Reno watching, she'd just die of embarrassment.

Not that she wouldn't necessarily die of embarrassment even if Reno wasn't there. She still couldn't believe she was doing this. She couldn't believe what a mess her life had become since she had met Reno. Okay, it hadn't been a bed of roses before she met him, and also some of it, like what happened with Karisa, wasn't his fault, but still, she had to admit he'd played a large part in the disruption of her even keel. But what had she expected? It seemed to be Reno's nature to disrupt the keel of everyone he met. It seemed, in fact, to be his goal in life.

And she had to admit he was quite good at it.

In any case, regardless of his reaction, she desperately did not want him to know what she had planned for tomorrow night and that left her in a quandary. She knew what a bad lair she was. She knew if the subject came up he'd be able to tell right away by the look on her face that something was up and once he did he'd almost certainly be able to drag the truth from her. Which pretty much left her afraid to open her mouth at all. She was almost afraid that anything she said would somehow give her away, even if it had nothing to do with Reno's problem.

Their food arrived, leaving Tifa feeling relieved that they had something else to concentrate on then the growing silence between them. Reno ate, but did not dig in with his usual relish, instead eyeing Tifa every once in a while and noticing that whenever he managed to make eye contact with her she turned away. It was becoming more and more apparent that something was on her mind and he could only conclude it had to do with what had happened the other night. Maybe she hadn't forgiven him after all, or at least, not completely.

"You're awfully quiet today," he commented.

She looked up at his query, but then lowered her head.

"I've... got a lot on my mind," she replied. This wasn't a good idea. She shouldn't have agreed to see him. She should have made some excuse, waited until the weekend, after it was over. She should have told Bernard she would do it the next day like he had wanted when she first asked. It would have been over with already. She should have stuck to her guns and never suggested doing it at all.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda. It was all too late now.

Reno leaned back in his chair, looking at her between mouthfuls.

"So which is it?" he said eventually.

She looked up again.

"Which is what?"

"Earlier I asked you what you were thinking and you said nothing," he replied. "Now you say you have a lot on your mind. Which is it?"

She tried not to show her displeasure at that question but she didn't think she succeeded very well.

She shrugged.

"I don't know," she replied and it sounded excruciatingly lame even to her.

"You don't know?" Reno repeated, apparently feeling the same way. "What's that supposed to mean? You don't know what you're thinking?"

"I... yeah, well, of course I do," she said, obviously flustered, and annoyed at herself for making so obvious. "Its just... stupid stuff. Nothing important."

She didn't think he'd go for that and she was right.

He leaned forward, putting his fork down to give her his full attention.

"Stupid stuff," he repeated. "Like what?"

She frowned. It hadn't taken him long to get her off kilter, now had it? She had a feeling it was mostly her fault too.

""Nothing," she said again. "None of your business."

Reno looked at her distastefully. None of his business? He hadn't heard her say that in a long time. Were they back to that again? He'd thought they'd gotten past that point by now. It was obvious something was bothering her. She must be pissed about what happened the other night after all. Perhaps it was time for that apology after all.

"Look," he said, his fingers drumming on the counter. "I'm... I'm sorry about what happened the other night. It was stupid of me, I admit it. I... I won't let anything like that happen again. I promise."

Tifa just sat there looking at him for a lot longer than he thought necessary. And indeed, his sudden apology had taken her totally by surprise. She realized immediately, and to her great relief, that he was assuming that what had happened between them the other night was the reason she was acting so strangely. He had completely misinterpreted what the problem was. What a stroke of luck.

Even so, she wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to get into a fight about it but still didn't think she should give him a free pass for what he had done.

"Just... just don't ever try that again," she said slowly. "Cause if you do, I won't hold back. I really will kick your ass."

He nodded slowly. He knew the only course of action here was to act contrite, whether he liked it or not.

"All right, I get the picture," he replied. Then, after a moment, "so, can we have a conversation now?"

"I never said we couldn't," she answered. The fact that he had misinterpreted her nervousness actually made her feel a lot better. "What would you like to talk about?"

He thought about that for a few seconds.

"I don't know. Got any suggestions?"

She really didn't. How's the weather? Obviously lame and she couldn't see it leading to anything interesting. It was cold. It was always cold.

"Umm, if you had a million gil, what would you buy?"

He gave her a look at that, but she just shrugged. He had asked, now hadn't he? Besides, a conversation about money might steer them in the direction of what he was doing about his own money situation. She had to know if he had any plan at all on somehow getting the gil himself for his rent. If he did, then maybe she could abandon her own plan. It would really suck if she did what she was going to do and he somehow managed to obtain the gil himself.

"Only a million?" he asked.

"That's not enough? How much do you want?"

"Not sure," he replied. "A mil won't last long these days."

"I'd take it," she replied quickly.

"Oh yeah, I wouldn't turn it down," he answered. "But as long as we're wishing, why don't you make it a decent amount, like a hundred mil or something?"

"A hundred mil? What would you possibly do with all that money?" she questioned.

"That's not that much," he countered. "Not these days."

"It is too," she insisted. "I wouldn't even want that much."

His look told her what he thought of that.

"Oh yeah right."

"It's true, I wouldn't," she reiterated. "That's too much money. It's more than I could spend."

"You can never have enough money," Reno told her.

"Yes you can," she replied. "Its ridiculous the amounts of money some people make. What can you ever do with it all? After a certain point the amount you have becomes meaningless, or just a status symbol. There are people in the world with nothing."

"Yeah, there are, and its their own fault," he agreed. "The people with nothing had just as much chance to make that hundred million gil as they guy who has it, they just blew it. That's their tough luck."

She looked at him for a moment.

"Sounds kind of funny coming from you," she said.

He shrugged.

"Hey, I'm well aware I'm on the nothing side of this equation," he told her. "I screwed up. I backed the wrong company. Sucks for me but that's the way it works. I'm not going to whine about it. I'm not going to feel sorry for myself, not any more than I would for someone in my state if I really did have all that money."

"You think it's fair though, what happened to you?"

"Yes!" he said. "It's my own fault. I was stupid. I put all my gil into Shinra. It was a calculated risk. Shinra was growing by leaps and bounds. It seemed like a sure thing. I figured I'd take a chance. I bought as much of their stock as I could, figuring it would skyrocket, that I'd make millions. I thought I had it all figured out. It might have worked to, if it hadn't been for you and your friends."

Tifa looked a bit contrite herself at that, though she had no idea why. She certainly didn't have any reason to be. She had done what needed to be done. Besides, he didn't seem bitter.

"But like I said, I'm not going to whine about it," he continued. "I'm not blaming anyone but myself."

She had to admit that was a pretty mature attitude, especially considering it was coming from Reno.

"So it was desire for more money that led to you losing it all," she observed.

"Yeah, I guess so," he acknowledged. "My greed did me in."

"And you didn't learn anything from this?" she asked.

"Sure I did," he replied. "Next time I'll diversify."

"Do you think they'll be a next time?"'

"Don't see why not," he replied. "It may not be so easy this time, but I pulled myself out of the crapper once. No reason I can't do it again."

She wasn't sure what to say to that. Reno might have gotten adept at reading her, but after spending so much time with him she was starting to be able to read him a little better too. She had a feeling he wasn't near as confident as he sounded.

"I would think a better lesson would be, be happy with what you have," she said.

"Not so easy when you have nothing," he returned.

"Oh yeah, but that wasn't your situation when you were with Shinra," she replied. "You had a decent job, a decent salary. Instead of spending all that money on stock, you could have socked some away in savings. You could have been a little less adventurous. You had a little bit of money and that made you want more. That's the problem. People get a taste of money and they like it, and then they want more. And then they get more and that makes them want even more. Eventually, the accumulation of money becomes an end to itself and you end up with people like those at Shinra, or Psi Co, greedy bastards who are only interested in lining their own pockets with gil, even though they've already got more than they'll ever need."

"Greed is what makes the world go round, honey," Reno stated.

"Greed sucks!" Tifa exhorted.

"Oh please!"

"Its true!"

"So what are you saying, that you wouldn't want the money?" Reno questioned. "Lets say a long lost relative of yours died and left you a hundred million gil. Are you telling me you wouldn't take it?"

"Of course I would," she replied. "But I'd probably give most of it away."

"Yeah, right," he said skeptically, sounding more skeptical than he actually was. Knowing her, she probably would do something like that. She was foolish enough.

"Be happy with what you have, what kind of attitude is that?" he continued. "Are you telling me you're happy with what you have?"

"Well, no, not really," she replied. "I'd like to do a little better, but it could be worse. I can pay my bills. I can take care of Karisa. Sure, I'd like to buy her some better things, but it's not bad. I'm getting by. I don't have much to spare but I'm not going to obsess over that."

"Yeah, now you're doing okay, but you never know when something will happen to upset that balance," Reno replied. "How much did Karisa's sickness set you back."

"I don't know exactly. Quite a bit," she replied, which was the reason she didn't have the gil to give to Reno right now.

"And what if something else happens? Wouldn't you feel better if you had a little cushion?"

"Yes, a little one," she replied. "That's not what I'm talking about. Trust me, I'd take the million gil! That's more than enough though. I'd be very happy with that."

"Sure you say that now, but you'd change your mind if you had it," Reno replied. "Once you realized how little it was, once you saw it would be gone in a year or two."

"I wouldn't spend that much gil in a year or two," she returned. "There's not really all that much I want."

"What do you want?"

"I don't know. Not much, like I said. A house. Guess that would be at the top of my list. Some new clothes for Karisa, and yes, I admit, for myself as well. A motorcycle..."

Reno raised an eyebrow at this.

"A motorcycle?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"You don't really look like a motorcycle type of person to me," he told her.

"And what exactly does a motorcycle person look like?" she responded.

"I don't know," he replied, eyeing her. "Not like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Don't get all defensive. You just don't seem like the type. You know. I picture a motorcycle chick with tattoos and... crap."

"They don't all have tattoos Reno."

"Yeah I know that. I just..."

He fell silent, not sure how to explain it. She just didn't seem tough enough to be a motorcycle chick, but he knew better than to say that to her!

"Okay, okay, motorcycle it is," he gave in. "So why don't you get one then? They're not that expensive."

"I still can't afford it," she said ruefully. "Besides, it wouldn't really be all that useful. I can't go around toting Karisa on it."

"Well, you could," he said.

"No, it's too dangerous," she said, shaking her head.

"So then you'd need a car too."

"Yeah, I suppose I would," she conceded.

"See that, already your list is growing," he pointed out. "I bet if you sat down and thought this out, you'd find a lot more things to add to it and pretty soon that million gil would look like a lot less than you thought."

"I don't think so," she replied. "Not that much, anyway. I don't have a problem with people wanting to be rich, as long as it's within reason. It's the people who have more money than they know what to do with and yet still aren't satisfied that get me. I swear, there ought to be a law saying you can only make so much money and that's it. After you get to a certain point, what difference does it make anyway. Would it be that big of a hardship for them to share the wealth?"

"And who's going to decide what's the cut off point?" he questioned. "Who gets to decide how much money is too much? You?"

"No, not me," she replied quickly. "I don't know. I didn't say I had the answers. If it were easy we'd have it all figured out already, now wouldn't we? All I'm saying is, the system is pretty screwed up the way it is."

"Yeah, well, I agree," he replied. "That's easy to say though. Hell, everyone says that, well, everyone except those obscenely rich people you were talking about. Saying it sucks doesn't change anything though, unless you have an idea on how to make it better."

Tifa nodded but said nothing more. It seemed that was one point at least in which they agreed.

“So wait a minute, you never answered my question,” she said instead.

“What question?”

“What you would do if you had a million gil.”

“Oh, that, you want the whole list?" he questioned. "Cause that could take some time."

"All right, what would be the first thing you would buy?"

“I don’t know. A life’s supply of liquor.”

“Figures,” she said distastefully.

“And all the women I wanted.”

“You can’t buy women.”

“Wanna bet?”

“All right, maybe some you can,” she conceded. “But is that really what you want?”

He stuffed the last of his food into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully before replying.

“No, not really,” he said. “I’m just pulling your chain. A bad ass car. That would probably be the first thing. I’d probably travel around the world. Got a taste of that with Shinra and I gotta admit grows on ya. A yacht.”

“A yacht?” she stated.

“Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” she replied. “Seems like what you thought about me and a motorcycle. Doesn’t seem like your ‘thing’. Have you ever even been on a boat?”

“Not a boat, a yacht,” he corrected. “You know, one of those hundred foot monsters, the kind with ten staterooms and a Jacuzzi? The kind where you don’t even know you’re on the water?”

“All right, yeah, maybe that does seem like you after all,” she replied. “What about a house?”

“Mansion, you mean?”

“Of course,” she said.

"I guess I'd have to have one," he said thoughtfully. "Probably wouldn't be spending much time there. Just someplace to store my shit."

"Must you use that language?" Tifa asked, nodding toward Karisa, who was using the crayons that came with the kiddie meal to draw on her placemat.

"Sorry."

The waitress came over and asked if they wanted anything else. Tifa shook her head and took the bill.

"Ready to get going?" Reno asked as the waitress left.

"Yeah, I guess," Tifa replied.

They got up and got their coats, Karisa insisting on taking her 'work of art' along with them. Reno grabbed it while Tifa paid.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Reno questioned once they were out on the street once more.

"I gotta get back home to get ready for work," Tifa replied.

Reno didn't say anything. They started back to her place, falling into silence once again. Tifa began to get nervous once more. She had to ask him what he was doing about the money. She had to know if he had any plan at all and this might be her last chance. She didn't know if she was going to see him tomorrow. She had intended to bring it up while they were talking about money but hadn't seen the opportunity. There was one other problem as well. She wasn't sure how long Reno intended for them to hang out together. She didn't want him following her to work. That marquee in the front of the place where she worked could hardly be missed. If he stopped by the Halo & Horns the game would obviously be up.

Well, one worry at a time.

"Have you got any ideas on how you're going to pay your rent?" she asked.

He looked at her for a moment, and she could see he wasn't all that happy with the question.

"Don't worry about it."

She wasn't any more happy with his response than he had been with her question. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about this, but what could she do? She had to have a response. She had to know if he at least had a plan.

"That's not a very informative answer," she said delicately.

"It's all you need to know."

She stopped. He walked a few more steps then stopped as well, turning to look at her.

"Reno..."

"Forget about it, okay?" he said. "It's my problem. Let me worry about it."

"Reno, I just..."

"Just drop it," he said sharply.

She frowned. It was just as she suspected. It was like he didn't want to talk about anything unpleasent, like if he ignored it it would just go away, or somehow magically fix itself.

"You're such an ass."

Instead of replying, Reno pointed to Karisa.

Tifa rolled her eyes, then looked down to see Karisa's eyes upon her.

"I'm sorry," she said, then turned to Reno again. "Fine," she said acidly. "Just answer one question."

He stood there for a moment before replying.

"What is it?"

"Do you have any idea at all where you're going to get this money? Just a simple yes or no and I won't bother you about it any more."

He stood there contemplating that for a bit.

"Why are you so interested?" he finally asked.

She opened her mouth but nothing came out at first. Why was getting a simple yes or no answer out of him like pulling teeth?

"Is it that difficult a question?" she said finally.

He stood there for quite some time contemplating... well, she had no idea what he was contemplating. Why was he being so stubborn about this?

"No," he said finally.

She thought about that for a moment.

"No, as in, no it's not a difficult question, or no as in you have no idea where you'll get the gil?"

"I have no idea where I'll get the gil. There, are you satisfied now?"

"Yes, sheesh. I'm just trying to help."

"I don't need anyone's help!"

"All right, all right, fine!" she said, holding up her hands and taking a step away from him. "I won't step on your self reliance or whatever the h...," she stopped, glancing at Karisa, "...or whatever," she finished.

Reno just gave her a look. Tifa ignored it and started on her way again. A short time later they found themselves once more in front of her door.

"I guess I'll see ya," Tifa said as she unlocked the door and opened it.

She turned to face him, standing in the doorway so he couldn't invite himself in. It seemed that was his very intention because he had taken a step forward when she opened the door.

"What, you giving me the brush off?" he questioned.

"It's not the brush off, Reno," she said tiredly. "I've got to go to work."

Reno glanced at his watch.

"You've got some time yet."

"Yeah, and I'm going to spend it getting ready," she replied.

"So I can keep you company while you're doing that," he responded. "I figured I'd walk to work."

She felt her stomach twist at that suggestion.

"I don't need you to walk me to work," she retorted, more sharply than she had intended.

"Hey, I'm just trying to look out for you," he tried again. "It's a dangerous world, you know?"

Yeah, she did know.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she stated. "You know that as well as I do."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Still, it's much safer with the two of us, don't you think?"

"Why this sudden interest in my health?" she inquired.

"I'm just trying to be gentlemanly," he replied.

"That's a switch for you, don't you think?"

"Maybe."

He wasn't budging. She wasn't getting through to him and she knew if she protested too much he would be sure to get suspicious. Still, there was no way she wanted him to accompany her to work. She had to think of something, fast.

"Don't you think your time would be better spent looking for a job?" she questioned.

Reno's sardonic look vanished. The effect she had been shooting for. It wasn't her usual tactic, but she didn't know what else to do. If she nagged him about the job thing, if she steered the conversation toward that sore point, she had a feeling that would make him less likely to want to keep her company.

"I though you promised you wouldn't bring that up again," he said.

"I didn't promise," she told him. "You've got more important things to do with your time than walk me to work. Now I have to go. I'll see ya."

And with that, she led Karisa in the door. With a quick glance back at him, and before he could respond, she shut the door behind her.

Reno stood there for quite some time glaring at the door in front of him. What had that been all about? In spite of their earlier conversation, was she still sore about what happened the other night?

He didn't know. He was tempted to knock on the door. He wasn't sure she would answer and he didn't know what to say if she did. There was obviously still something there. Might be better just to get it out in the open.

Then again, maybe she was just in a bad mood. Maybe it was just that time of the month.

He turned and walked slowly down the road, headed back toward his place, but he didn't get very far, just down to the corner. The more he thought about it the more her behavior bugged him. She was upset about something, but he wasn't exactly sure what. Yeah, there was the whole the other day thing but he was beginning to think it was more than that. They'd hashed that out well enough, it seemed to him, for her to be over it, or as over it as she was going to get. Even if she was still upset, she was more the type to keep it in after she'd said her peace. Was there something else here that he was missing?

He wasn't sure. He went over everything that had happened to them lately, even today, and could think of nothing else he had done to upset her.

Maybe she didn't have a reason. She was a woman, after all.

Still, she didn't seem anxious to have him hang around with her, or escort her to work.

He thought about that for a moment, then started off again, altering his course to head for the Halo & Horns. If she didn't want him to hang around, well, all the more reason to do just that.

He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings. He knew the way well enough. He had things on his mind. Well, one thing. Well, one female, to be precise. He mulled over what had happened to them as he walked, still trying to figure out what the hell her problem was. So it was that he was standing right in front of the entrance to the Halo & Horns before he happened to glance up and notice the marquee leering down at him from above the entrance.