Sci-Co's main headquarters in Junon wasn't the impressive monolith that the Shinra tower had been in Midgar. The management of Sci-Co had, perhaps prudently, decided to try to keep a lower profile than their failed predecessor. The building was neither the tallest nor the largest structure in Junon. Even so, it was nothing to sneeze at. It took up perhaps half a block of space just west of the airport. It was asymmetrical, the roof of the building rose up in steps on one side, so that the tallest part of the structure was on the left instead of centered. There were no sharp angles or corners. It looked downright crooked to Reno. The architect had said it was a comment on the 'off centerness' of life, but Reno suspected it was more a comment on the 'off centerness' of the architect. The walls appeared to be made up entirely of green tinted glass. The whole thing looked like it could be taken down by a mischievous child with a stone, but Reno knew for a fact that that the windows had double reinforced security glass that a bullet wouldn't even make a dent in.
He sat at a small table in a glass covered courtyard near the center of the building. It was right off the employee cafeteria, and was obviously meant to have an outdoor feel without actually being outdoors. The doors to the cafeteria were open, resulting in the odor of fried fajitas lingering in the air, not that Reno noticed with a cloud of smoke from his cigarette wafting about him.
The ground was covered with white flagstones. On each side of the courtyard was a raised area covered with flowering plants. Each table had it's own umbrella to provide shade for those sitting there. The umbrellas were multicolored and had the brand name of a common liquor company written on them in bold white letters. It was all very bright and colorful. Done, Reno supposed, to give the employees a serene and comforting environment to relax in while they ate their lunch. In other words, entirely too cheery for Reno's taste.
However, he wasn't here to relax. He wasn't an employee, he wasn't even supposed to be here at all. Security on the upper floors of the building was tight, but the ground floor saw a lot of visitors, businessmen from other companies, couriers carrying messages or letters, clerks, government officials, resuppliers, repairmen. If you knew where to go, you could get in without any identification at all, and once inside it was unlikely anyone would question him. Everyone was too busy going about their own business. Sci-Co spent all it's gil on security for the upper floors. That was where all the important information was kept. All the important information, that is, except for what was inside of the employee's heads. After all, even the top execs had to eat.
Reno took his cigarette from his mouth and tapped the ashes into the plants behind him, right below the No Smoking sign. He lifted his coffee to his lips and took a sip. He had been here over an hour but the cup was still half full. He wasn't here to eat either. He had picked this spot because two of the top executives from the company had been at the table right next to him. He had taken his seat and listened discretely, but to his disappointment they hadn't talked about anything interesting, just how their kids were doing and where they were going on their next vacation. Bullshit stuff like that. They had left about fifteen minutes ago, and no one else around seemed likely to know anything of significance. He really should be moving on himself, but he just didn't feel like moving. He really didn't have anyplace else to go.
He worked down at the docks now, but old habits died hard. There was always the possibility that someone would let some piece of valuable information slip out while he was listening, a piece of information a rival company might be willing to pay for. It had happened a few times already. He had made some gil off it but nothing to write home about. He was well acquainted with Sci-Co, having tried to get a job with them shortly after it had become obvious the company was going to be a player, but had been turned down. He had then proceeded to get turned down by every other company that he offered his services to. Appointments were canceled, old acquaintances still in the business suddenly couldn't be gotten hold of. Both he and Rude had become persona non grata. Though no one said anything directly, it didn't take a genius to figure out he had been blacklisted because of the Turks failure to protect Shinra.
Reno took another sip from his coffee, then looked down at it and frowned. For some reason the coffee here always left a bad taste in his mouth.
Still, that didn't mean he was shut out completely. He still had a reputation of some sort, diminished though it might be. He knew a lot of people working for Sci-Co. A lot of them had their fingers in more than just this company. They occasionally needed someone to do something that no one else needed to know about. He had let it get around he was available for such jobs, and not very often, but occasionally, someone would take him up on that, if they needed something done quietly without anyone else knowing, and if it wasn't too important. It wasn't anything near what he used to do, but it was better than nothing.
It didn't happen very often. Usually he just wasted his time when he came here. If he thought about it, he had to wonder if he was just here to feel like he was still part of something, even though he wasn't anymore, to pretend he actually worked here, that he was still a big shot, that being a Turk still meant something. Most of the time, he didn't think about it.
A man stepped out of the cafeteria and Reno instantly stiffened. He glanced behind him for a moment, looking for a way to make a quick exit, but when he realized the other man had already seen him and was coming over, he sank back down in his chair.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" the man said slowly. He stopped beside Reno and looked down at him, a crooked smirk on his lips, a smirk contorted by the scar that ran up his cheek. He long black hair was neatly tied back in a pony tail. His eyebrows were darker than the hair on his head. They were thin and looked like they had been tweaked to look that way. He had icy blue eyes and the look and manner of natural predator. "If it isn't Reno. What, have you come to see how the other half lives?"
"Hello Drax," Reno said slowly. "What are you doing here?"
Drax plodded himself down in a chair without being invited.
"What am I doing here? I work here, as if you didn't know that. The better question is, what are you doing here?"
Reno shrugged.
"Just stopped for a quick cup of java," he replied.
"In a restricted area? You're not an employee here Reno. I could have you thrown out with a wave of my hand."
"Wouldn't be the first place I've been thrown out of," Reno retorted, appearing unconcerned, "or the classiest."
The smirk on Drax's face grew, which made the scar stand out even more. The scar twisted the smirk, making it look that much more malicious. Reno suspected the scar would turn even a smile from the man into something dark and dangerous. Not that Drax ever smiled anyway, unless he was torturing someone, that is.
"Pretty smug for someone who works fourteen hours a day hauling cargo down at the docks," Drax stated. "Whats wrong, getting tired of manual labor? Thinking about trying to get your suit back?"
Reno's expression remained unchanged. He was surprised and a bit amused that Drax knew where he worked. Even now his old rival was apparently still keeping tabs on him.
"Not with this company," he said.
Drax gave him a long look.
"What, do I detect sour grapes? Sci-Co not good enough for the big man from Shinra? Say, I have an idea. Why don't you let me put in a good word for you? Anything for an old friend, you know? Maybe I can get you a job...oh I don't know, cleaning the floors or something."
"I see you're still the same sarcastic son of a bitch you always were," Reno observed.
"Yeah, well, you know me," Drax replied unapologetically. "I don't think you can blame me for rubbing it in a bit. After all, I didn't see you bending over backwards to get me a job with Shinra when you were a big wheel there."
Reno remained silent for a moment. He had known right from the start that was what this was all about. It felt good to know that little omission obviously still rankled.
"You didn't get hired by Shinra because you were a reckless sadistic bastard whose only interest was in killing or intimidating others to make yourself feel like a big man," Reno said coldly. "Tseng knew that as well as I did. He wouldn't have hired you even if I had given you a good recommendation, which I didn't."
He looked at Drax for a moment, but a glint in the man's eyes was the only change he saw.
"Besides, you should have been glad you didn't get hired by Shinra," he continued, a little less pointedly. "Once I left the old gang that paved the way for you to become leader. That's what you always wanted, wasn't it?"
For a moment they just looked at each other. It was all part of the game, each one throwing barbs at the other, looking for a reaction, while trying to appear unruffled themselves. They had been playing it since they were teenagers vying for the leadership of the street gang they belonged to back in Midgar, and both of them were very good at it. It was game, but it was a game they both took very seriously.
"Well, that's water under the bridge now, is it not?" Drax posed, leaning back in his chair. "And besides, it all worked out in the end, didn't it? You had your turn in the sun and you blew it. Now it's mine."
"For the moment," Reno conceded.
"For the moment? What's that supposed to mean? What, are you planning on taking down Sci-Co? Is that why you're here?"
"Like I said, I'm just here for the coffee," Reno replied. He drained the last drop from his cup. "Which, as you can see, is finished now. And so is this conversation."
Reno stood up. He wasn't really in the mood to play this game. Considering the circumstances, Drax held most of the cards.
"Leaving so soon? I thought you might stay awhile and chat about old times," Drax commented.
"Old times don't interest me," Reno replied.
He walked away. He looked back when he reached the door to the cafeteria. Drax was still looking at him, the smirk still painted on his face. Reno continued on his way. He didn't look back again.
He knew Drax worked for Sci-Co. News like that got around. He knew they were making a mistake, but who listened to him, and it wasn't any of his business anyway. Drax was good, all right, he'd give him that, but what he's said to the man's face was true. He was more interested in getting his jollies by scaring the shit out of people than getting the job done. It was only a matter of time before he screwed things up. The man was poison.
Not that he gave a rat's ass.
He emerged from the building, heading west on Krondor Ave, not really paying much attention to where he was going, or what he was doing. He glanced at his watch. He still had the whole afternoon ahead of him. He didn't have to be to work until four.
He started in the direction of his favorite bar, but slowed down after a short distance. He looked around.
He wasn't that far from Tifa's place.
He had thought about her a lot since they had met three days ago. Well, not thought about her so much as the little mysteries she had presented. It was obvious she had secrets, secrets she didn't want him to know. Something like that posed a challenge, the kind of challenge he found almost irresistable.
He stood there for a moment, then walked on, turning left at the corner, headed for her place.
Meeting Drax had put him in a bad mood. He needed something to cheer him up, and hounding Tifa seemed to fit the bill nicely. He just needed some excuse to give her as to why he was there. It didn't have to be anything fancy. She was so naive she'd probably buy any story he gave her, no matter how far fetched. Perhaps he could claim he left something behind, or maybe he could offer to buy her groceries to replace the one's she'd lost. He kind of liked that idea. He could make it seem like he'd turned over a new leaf, that he'd suddenly become a thoughtful and kind person.
The more he thought about it the more he liked that idea.
By the time he reached her door he already felt a lot better.
Tifa opened her eyes and saw her Karisa looking at her. For a moment she just stared at her daughter groggily, not exactly sure where she was or what she was doing.
"Mommy, mommy,!" Karisa was saying, tugging on her arm.
Tifa sat up on the couch, realizing she had fallen asleep. She forced the cobwebs out of her head.
"What is it honey?" she asked.
"Someone's at the doooor," Karisa replied.
Tifa pulled herself to her feet. She looked up at the clock on the VCR. Just past noon. She had been sleeping almost two hours! She hadn't meant to fall asleep. She had just lain down on the couch for a moment's rest from her morning housework.
She heard a rapid rapping on the door.
"See?" Karisa said.
"Yes, I hear it," Tifa acknowledged, getting to her feet. She walked over to the door, smoothing her hair as she went. She must look a mess. Who could it be? She wasn't expecting anyone.
"Who is it?" she questioned when she reached the portal.
She heard a voice outside, but it was more a mutter than anything else. It sounded familiar however.
"Who?" she asked.
"It's Reno!" came to her, quite clearly this time.
For a moment she just stood there, then she pulled the door open. The Turk stood before her, arms folded across his chest.
"Bout time," he stated.
"Reno, what are you doing here?" she questioned, the tone of voice making it clear she wasn't in the least bit thrilled to see him.
It wasn't lost on him.
"Are you really that happy to see me?" he asked.
"What do you want?" she said. Whatever he wanted she didn't have time for it. Her unplanned nap had put her behind schedule. She'd have a hard time getting her housework done now before she had to go to work. She hadn't seen Reno since that night she had rescued him from the alley, nor had she expected to see him again.
"There you go with the hostility thing again," he stated. "Not even a hello for an old friend?"
"Reno, you're not my friend and I don't have time for this," she said. She still wasn't completely awake, and that left her in no mood to be polite.
"Relax, I'm here you repay you."
"Repay me? What are you talking about?"
"Your groceries got all messed up in the alley when you helped me out, right?" he said. "Well, I'm here to take you grocery shopping to replace them."
For a moment she just looked at him. What the hell was this? She didn't believe for a minute that was the real reason he was here.
"Why that's very kind of you, now what are you really here for?"
Reno looked pained.
"Hey, can't a guy return a favor without having his motives questioned?"
Tifa just looked at him.
"Reno, you don't strike me as the type to be gallant."
"You just say that because you don't know me that well," he replied smugly.
She didn't know how to reply. What kind of game was he playing?
"So, are you ready?" he asked.
"Ready? To go grocery shopping?"
"That was what we were talking about, wasn't it?" he asked.
Tifa ran her hand through her hair. She could feel knots in it. She must look a horror.
"You mean now?"
Reno gave her his typical sardonic look.
"Yes now. When else would I mean? I'm here, you're here, the grocery store is...somewhere around here."
She just stared at him for a moment. Just like Reno to spring something like this out of the blue, to just show up expecting her to drop everything and go...grocery shopping? It was ridiculous and yet it had a certain Reno logic to it.
"You don't have to pay me back," she told him. "It was just a bag of groceries. It was no big deal."
"Hey, a debts a debt, and I always pay back my debts," Reno said.
She looked at him again. Somehow she doubted that, but he did seem serious. Still, she couldn't help but think there was some other motive behind this, though she hadn't the faintest idea what it might be.
She glanced back inside. Karisa was standing behind her looking at Reno curiously.
"Reno, you can't just come over here and expect me to grocery shopping out of the blue," she said.
"Why not?"
"Because I have things to do," she replied. "I have housework, and what am I supposed to do with Karisa."
"Bring her along," he replied.
Again she hesitated. She hadn't expected him to want Karisa along for some reason. Still, the whole idea was nonsense. She should tell him she didn't have time. She should tell him if he wanted to do something like this he should have warned her first. She should just say it wasn't necessary to repay any debt. She should tell him that he didn't owe her anything.
Instead she found herself inviting him inside.
"I don't have much time," she said curtly as he closed the door behind him. "I have to be back here by three to met Priscilla. Just let me get cleaned up a little."
"You look fine," he told her.
She gave him a look but did not reply as she walked into the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face, looking at herself critically in the mirror. She didn't look as bad as she had thought. She opened up the medicine cabinet, took out a brush and straightened out her hair. She couldn't believe Reno had come back, nor could she believe she was actually going along with whatever scheme it was he had in mind.
He couldn't be on the level here. There had to be something else involved than gratitude. She knew Reno too well for that.
Didn't she?
It had been a long time ago, what had happened to them. Was it possible he could have changed in that time? Was it possible there was a decent bone in his body after all?
It would take more than this to convince her.
She emerged from the bathroom, walking over to the closet across from it.
"C'mon Karisa," she called out. "Get your coat on. We're going out for a while."
Karisa obediently ran over to her, excited about going out. Tifa helped her get into her coat, then put her own on. She looked at Reno.
"Okay, we're ready," she said, still hardly believing she was doing this.
Reno nodded and they walked over to the door again, exiting the apartment. Tifa locked it up behind them and they started down the street.
It was cold but clear. The sun shining over their heads provided little warmth. Junon seemed even colder than usual for this time of year. It was only September but Tifa has seen a few flakes of snow falling the other day. It looked like they were in for a long cold winter.
She didn't want to think about that right now. It was good to be out, in spite of the cold. The fresh air felt good after being cooped up in her apartment all morning, in spite of the faint odor from the chemical plant down the block.
There was a grocery store just a few blocks away. It was a large gray building that used to be an old warehouse but it had been refurbished and was now actually one of the more attractive buildings in the area. Tifa got a shopping cart and placed Karisa in it in front of her, her legs dangling. They walked down the aisles, Tifa picking out things she needed. She wasn't sure how much to buy. She couldn't remember exactly how much she had spent that day. She said she had enough after only a few items but Reno insisted she get more, saying there must have been more in her bag than that. She didn't know what to make of this at all. She still couldn't believe he was offering to do this, much less being generous about it. Perhaps he had changed after all.
Even if he had, could that make up for what he had done?
She didn't know. She didn't know what to think, or how to act around him. The whole thing was just so weird!
She stopped for a moment to place some cereal in her cart. There was racks of candy on the opposite side of the aisle. Karisa spotted some and whined for it.
"That's not good for you," Tifa told her. They hardly needed to be spending Reno's money on such non-essentials.
"Oh let her have some," Reno countered. He grabbed one of the candies that Karisa had been pointing to, ripped open the package and handed it to the young girl.
"Reno!" Tifa exclaimed. "You can't do that!"
"Give her a break," Reno said calmly. "She's just a kid, her teeth can handle a little sugar."
"I has nothing to do with sugar content," Tifa continued. "You can't open that!"
"Why not?"
"We haven't paid for it yet!"
"So? We'll just give them the wrapper when we get to the counter."
Tifa placed her hands on her hips.
"That's not the way it's supposed to be done!"
"Who says?"
Tifa stood there for a moment, exasperated.
"I do!"
He just looked at her, then shrugged.
"Suit yourself."
They stood there for a moment. Tifa wasn't sure quite how to respond, or if she should respond at all. She looked at Reno, then looked at the candy, and her daughter happily eating it. Her first thought was to take it away, but she knew Karisa would start wailing if she did and she really didn't want to deal with that. She realized there was no good choice here. If she took it away she was a stick in the mud and if she didn't she was teaching Karisa a lesson she didn't want the girl to learn. Dammit, he'd somehow managed to make it a no win situation for her.
"Just don't do that again," she admonished, talking to him just as she would to Karisa, hoping showing her displeasure so openly would get her point across to her daughter.
"Right," he replied, obviously blowing her off, something she hoped her daughter wouldn't notice.
They continued on for a bit more, Tifa stopping every so often to say she had enough, but each time Reno prodded her to get more.
"This is more than enough," Tifa finally told him. "It's much more than I lost."
Reno gave in and they walked over to the checkout counter and the Turk paid for it all.
"Thank you," Tifa said as they left the building. Until he actually paid she had half believed he wasn't going to, that at the last minute he would come up with some excuse, but he hadn't. She was surprised and had to admit that he had gained a bit of respect in her eyes. Not much, but a little.
"Have you had lunch?" Reno asked.
She frowned. They hadn't. She had slept through it. She had almost forgotten.
"No," she said.
"C'mon, there's a diner," he said, pointing across the street. "My treat."
"Reno, you don't have to do that," she said, really surprised now.
"It's no bother," he said. "I'm sure you must be hungry by now. You're hungry, aren't you Karisa?"
The little girl nodded rapidly, chocolates stains still on her face.
Tifa looked at Karisa. The girl seemed perfectly at ease with Reno now. She seemed to have forgotten all about the boogie man episode. A little chocolate can go a long way, Tifa thought.
She shook her head.
"No, really, you've done more than enough. Besides, I have to get these groceries home and put away."
"You can do that afterwards," he told her.
"Some of these things have to be refrigerated," she said.
"So it's not cold enough out here for that?" he pointed out.
"It won't be cold if we go inside," she said.
"So we'll just leave them outside," he countered. "Look, there's a bench right in front of the place. Just leave them there."
"Someone will steal them," she retorted.
"We'll sit by the window, right in front of them," he replied. "God woman, must you worry about everything?"
"Yes," she responded. "I don't need you to buy lunch. You've done enough. I'll eat when I get home. I just got groceries, you know."
"Yeah, but then you have to make something and you already said you were pressed for time," he told her quite logically.
She sighed.
"You have an answer for everything, don't you?"
He grinned.
"See, there are some things that you do know about me."
"I could go home and put the groceries away, then we can come back," she suggested.
"And walk all that extra distance? We want to eat now, don't we Karisa?"
The little girl nodded once again. Tifa frowned, wondering how her daughter and Reno had managed to become partners in this against her.
"Fine," she said, capitulating, "but if the groceries are gone when we come back out, I'm going to march you right back to the store and make you buy some more!"
Reno grinned again but did not reply. They walked across the street, putting the groceries down and then entering the dinner. It was one of those retro ones, with old style tables and chairs and oldies playing on the jukebox. Tifa had been in here once or twice before. The food was pretty good, compared to most diners anyway.
They sat down in a vacant booth right by the front window. The groceries were in plain view.
"See, we can keep an eye on them," Reno said as he slid into the booth.
Tifa helped Karisa remove her coat and sat down as well. It was true, they could see the bags plainly, however, if someone decided to take them, she didn't think they could get out of the diner before the person was already far down the block, but she no longer saw much profit in arguing the point.
Instead she pulled open a menu and looked it over.
The waitress came by a short time later. They placed their order, Reno selecting a large, fattening, cholesterol filled bacon burger, something that didn't surprise Tifa at all. She ordered a kiddie meal for Karisa and just coffee for herself.
"That's all you want?" Reno questioned. "C'mon, have something decent to eat."
"I'm not really hungry," she replied and stuck with that response in spite of his cajoling.
When the waitress left Reno sat back and looked out the window.
"So what are you doing in Junon?" he asked.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "It's as good a place as any."
"Perhaps," he said, looking at her carefully, "but I don't think of you as a Junon type person."
"It's not that much different from Midgar," she observed.
"Yes, exactly," he responded. "I thought you'd want to get as far away from a place like Midgar as you could."
She didn't reply for a moment. He was right. She had thought the same thing many times herself.
"I don't know," she said. "I don't know why I'm here. I just ended up here one day. It wasn't really a planned thing."
It wasn't. Was it? It didn't have to be Junon. It could have been any town. She had just wanted to get away, to start a new life. Anyplace she hadn't lived before would have sufficed, and Junon was close by...
"Have you seen any of your Avalanche buddies lately?" he questioned.
She looked at him for a moment, frowning.
"Did you ask me to lunch to pump me for information?" she questioned.
"Hey, I'm just trying to make conversation," he said innocently. "What are we supposed to do, just sit here looking at each other without talking? I don't understand what the big secret is anyway. Your life isn't all that interesting to me."
She looked at him for a moment, then turned away sullenly.
"Yeah, whatever," she said. Then looked up at him again. "How did you end up here?"
"It seemed like the best place to get a job," he told her. "I moved here right after meteor tore up Midgar. See, I have nothing to hide."
"Did you get one?"
"One what?"
"A job."
"Yeah, I work down at the docks as a longshoreman," he replied.
"Longshoreman? That's quite a jump from thief and murderer," she said dryly.
He looked at her for a moment, but refused to rise to the bait.
"Yeah, well my stock kinda went down went Shinra took a dive," he said.
Tifa made no reply. She didn't feel good that she and her friends could be considered the cause of that little problem, but he didn't seem to hold it against her, and she certainly wasn't going to apologize for toppling Shinra! If he lost out because of that, it was his own fault. He wasn't stupid. He had known full well what he was getting into when he joined the Turks.
"So, getting back to my original question," he contained, "have you seen any other Avalanche members lately?"
She hesitated a moment, trying to figure out why he would want to know that. She had been questioning everything he did since the moment she had met him, yet he hadn't done anything untoward. Nothing major anyway. He had paid for the groceries, just as he had promised, and he was treating her to lunch now. She thought she knew him but that been years ago. Maybe it was time she started to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I haven't seen anyone," she finally admitted. "Well, not in a long time anyway. I saw Barret, I guess, maybe two years ago. He's back in Corel, working on rebuilding it and raising his daughter. Damn," she shook her head. "Marlene must be eight now. I'll bet she's grown..."
Reno sat there in silence for a few minutes, letting Tifa think about her old friends. It seemed like something she hadn't done in a long time.
"What about Cloud?" he finally said.
Immediately her eyes darkened.
"What about him?" she said neutrally.
"Have you seen him lately?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"There you go getting all defensive again'" he said. "It's just a harmless question. What happened between you two?"
"It's none of your..." she began, then stopped, realizing her voice had risen. She looked around. The place was almost empty. No one seemed to have noticed.
Reno said nothing, but he could tell there was a good story behind this one. He couldn't wait to hear it, no matter how long it took to pry it out of her.
At that moment the waitress came up with their food. Tifa was grateful for he interruption and hoped that it would make Reno forget about this line of questioning. For a short time they were all silent as they ate, but it didn't take Reno long to get back to it.
"What, did he run off with another woman?" he said halfway through the meal.
Tifa put her coffee down and stared at him.
"I told you..."
"Yes, I know, it's none of my business," Reno finished for her.
She took another sip from her coffee. Karisa had only eaten half her meal and was now busy drawing with some crayons on the placemat. Reno ate a few more bites.
"She looks a lot like him," he commented.
Tifa just glowered at him.
"Same facial features, same blue eyes," Reno continued.
He looked at Tifa, but she remained stubbornly silent.
Reno put down his fork.
"Just answer that one question," he tried. "Just that one, then I won't bug you anymore. Is she Cloud's?"
Tifa glared. Even if she was interested in telling Reno any of this, she didn't want to discuss Karisa's pedigree in front of Karisa. She didn't want the young girl asking awkward questions.
"We have to go," she said.
She stood up, helping Karisa get up and picked their coats off the seats.
"Hey, hey," Reno said. "Lighten up, willya? Have it your way. I won't ask anymore questions. You can keep your secrets."
"No, it's getting late, I really have to go," Tifa said. "I've still got some housework to do, and I've got to get myself cleaned up. I still have to stop at the Halo and Horns and pick up my paycheck before.....oh shit!"
She stopped, looking at Reno. Maybe he hadn't heard of it...
"The Halo and Horns?" Reno said, his ears perking up.
Of course he had.
"It's none of your business," Tifa said quickly, but of course it was too late.
"What hours do you work?" Reno questioned.
She looked at him for a moment. Dammit, she hadn't wanted him to know that!
She glanced at Karisa, but the young girl didn't seem to be paying attention to them. Fortunately.
"I'm a bartender, not a stripper," she said quietly but firmly.
Reno held up his hands.
"Hey, did I say anything?"
"No, but I could see you drooling," she replied.
Reno gave her a look. He hadn't been drooling, or rather, he was certain he hadn't shown that he had been drooling.
"I thought they preferred to call themselves exotic dancers," he said.
Tifa just shrugged.
"I told you it's none of your business," she muttered without conviction. "Anyway, I have to go."
She ushered Karisa out the door. Reno hastily grabbed his coat an followed.
"It's no big deal," he told her. "I don't give a damn where you work."
"Promise me you won't show up there."
"Huh?"
"Promise me you won't go there," she repeated.
"Go where, the Halo and Horns?"
"Yes,"
"What's the big deal?"
"Just promise!"
He stood there for a moment.
"Fine. I promise. Sheeesh."
Tifa scooped up the groceries.
"It was very nice of you to buy the groceries, and the lunch," she said.
"What's your rush?" he questioned. "You've still got some time."
"Thanks a lot but I really have to go," she said, starting down the street. "See you around."
He walked after her for a few steps, but then gave up when he realized she wasn't going to change her mind. He stood there looking at her as she walked rapidly away.
"Yeah, see ya," he muttered, then turned and strode off in the opposite direction..