Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Connected ❯ Between the lines ( Chapter 9 )

And I really gravitate to your will
Are you here to fetch me out?
'Cause I've never had this taste in my mouth

Oh you're not old
And you're not familiar
Recently discovered and I'm learning about you…

New - No Doubt

 

Rufus decided to be charming. It was the least he could do for such an amusing display. He smiled at the top of Miss Guerin's head. “Pleased to meet you again,” he said and waited for her to look up. She muttered something. “I'm sorry,” Rufus said, his smile growing strained. “What was that?” Miss Guerin shook her head still looking at the floor. “Nothing.” She said, barely audible. Reno laughed again and poked her in the side. “Buck up kid, he doesn't bite. Well, not much anyway.” Rufus frowned slightly and headed for his office, an impatient movement of his hand signaling Reno to send his Miss Guerin after him. Rufus opened the door to his office, scanned it out of long habit and then headed for the window directly behind his desk. He could hear Reno's whispers as he walked away. He was giving the girl some last minute encouragement no doubt, some sort of joke and the reminder that this was only temporary. Rufus walked to the window behind his desk and stared unseeing out the window and over the city that was only now becoming a shadow of its former self. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy knowing that his Turk was out there grooming a friend to face him.

Part of him missed the days when it had just been him and his Turks, when the rest of the world was decidedly against them and there had really only been the five of them. Every other relationship had been suspect; even Reeve had been scrutinized all over again. Tseng, Reno, Elena and Rude had stayed as close to him as possible for months, even after he was cured of Geostigma. He knew it was to comfort themselves as much as it was to protect him and even as he privately worried about living up to their expectations he had basked in their single minded devotion. But the world had settled and the Turks were stretching out, establishing new boundaries by making friends and pairing up. It felt odd to watch them setting up lives outside his sphere. Part of him wanted to stop it, to call them back to where they belonged, namely with him at all times in his office or his bed or where ever else he saw fit to have them. He'd quickly come to the realization that while that is exactly what he would have done before everything had gone to hell, he just wasn't that man anymore. Rufus wanted the Turks to be happy. And while any of them would sever their new ties if he asked it, would climb back under the covers with him without complaint, hell even enthusiastically, he knew they would eventually resent it. The five of them were bound together, that would never stop, but it had become more elastic.

Rufus pulled himself from his musing and focused on the situation at hand. He turned to find Ms. Guerin standing behind the chairs in front of his desk, hands clasped behind her back and feet set a little over a foot apart. Her stance was somehow familiar and he resolved to ask about it at another time. In the mean time Rufus used the opportunity provided by her inattention to study her. He had, of course, seen her before but obviously she hadn't been at her best in the elevator. She was dressed adequately well if not in the best quality clothing. He made a mental note to have Elena take the girl shopping. She was pretty enough, that was a relief. While he didn't need his secretary to be stunning it helped if they were perhaps a little better looking then the average. People responded well to the physically pleasing, a fact that he put to use his entire life. Ms. Guerin's face was a bit long and sharp for his tastes but her even features made up for it. She had wide brown eyes, an inoffensive nose and… Miss Guerin bit her lower lip. It was only for a moment but the motion was more then sufficient to temporarily derail his train of thought. Where was he? Brown eyes, proportional nose, a small full lipped mouth… right. Rufus frowned slightly and continued his perusal. Her hair was black, short and slightly wild. She looked, Rufus thought, like she had just rushed in from another room.

Miss Guerin finally sensed his regard and turned to face him, once aging nibbling on her lower lip. The motion was, Rufus found, rather distracting. She stopped almost immediately however and he blinked, somehow annoyed. Lifting his eyes from her mouth Rufus met her gaze for a moment before moving forward to take a seat at his desk. He knew she was watching him intently and trying to decide whether it would be better to take a seat or remain standing. He looked up at her and let his eyes drift to the chair she was standing behind. With no further prompting the girl moved forward and sank quickly into a chair. Rufus noted that her posture was so correct it bordered on stiff. Something about that was familiar as well… Rufus was pleased to see that she responded promptly to non verbal signals. Some people needed to have every directive spelled out for them in the plainest language, something for which he had little patience.

“Good afternoon sir!” she said as soon as she was seated. Apparently in the space of the time it took the girl to sit down she had regained her equilibrium. Rufus decided to see this as a positive although he couldn't help but be somewhat suspicious. Previous experience had taught him to be wary of his secretaries and sudden mood shifts. “I wanted to apologize, sir,” she said. Rufus inclined his head and waited for her to continue.

“I'm sorry about that scene in the outer office. Rest assured you won't see that sort of behavior from me again.” Miss Guerin's tone was perfectly earnest as was her expression so Rufus couldn't pin down why he felt like there was something off about that previous sentence. “Shall I list off what I've done for the day or will you simply read Tseng's report?” Miss Guerin asked having taken his silence for the acceptance of her oddly worded apology.

Rufus narrowed his eyes. There was no way that Tseng would have told her that he was going to be presenting him with a report about her. Miss Guerin opened her eyes a bit wider sucked in a breath and said slowly “Was I not supposed to mention that?” Rufus just looked at her. “Hmmm.” She said. “Sorry. I just figured he would be keeping an eye on me because of the trouble you've had before…” Miss Guerin seemed to realize what she'd said and just who she'd said it to just prior to the end of her last word. To her credit her pleasant expression remained in place except for her left eyebrow which climbed slightly.

Rufus allowed himself a nearly imperceptible sigh. It was with a hint of regret that he dismissed the idea of just sending Miss Guerin back to Reeve. Focus on the positives, he reminded himself. She hasn't set fire to the office. She hasn't tried to make a play for you. She insulted Reno in an amusing manner. She must be fairly competent or Tseng would have sent her back or at very least called you. She's nervous. Try to think of her like you do Elena. A capable employee sometimes prone to fits of verbal diarrhea. Rufus refocused on Miss Guerin, doing his level best to imagine her as something of a little sister. She looked back, her brow furrowed. Almost as if she couldn't help herself she bit her lip for a moment. Well, he thought wryly. There went picturing her as a little sister…

“Let me begin by thanking you for coming in on such short notice Miss Guerin,” Rufus said. “I'm regret that I was unable to greet you as soon as you arrived but I had a meeting that could not be moved.”

Ms. Guerin smiled. “I completely understand sir. If you weren't busy you would hardly need me would you? I do feel bad for whatever poor soul is picking up my slack though. Would it be possible for me to speak to Tseng about some sort of training? I would like to do more then sit behind that desk.”

Well, Rufus thought, she's confident in her abilities. That's a plus. Her confidence and capacity to project calm poise were both marks in her favor. See, his inner voice said, obviously more then willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. She's capable of reasonable behavior. The key seems to be to keep her away from razors, alcohol and Reno. Of course, that's the key to avoiding so many problems…

“I'm glad to hear that you feel your first day here has gone well. I'm sure Tseng will say the same.” There was no point to denying that Tseng was keeping an eye on her, especially since she brought it up. “I am not an unreasonable man and I ask nothing of my employees that I don't ask of myself.” Pause for dramatic emphasis, drop voice just a bit to convey slightest hint of menace. “It is my sincere hope that you will not fail as others have before you.” He smiled. Ms. Guerin frowned, blinked and then frowned harder and shifted a little in her seat. After a moment she spoke.

“Was that meant to be ominous?”

It was Rufus's turn to blink but he maintained his composure. He said nothing instead letting his small smile become a smirk. He watched as his secretary's eyes widened to an impressive degree. Forgot I was dangerous for a minute there didn't you? Rufus's superior train of thought was derailed when Miss Guerin stood up and headed for the door at an impressive clip. She was just this side of running actually and while the idea that he scared her was balm to Rufus's sensibilities he was not at all pleased by her planned escape. His smile vanished back into its cage and he opened his mouth to call her to heel.

“Miss Guerin, we haven't finished.” He said imperiously, annoyed at the fact that he had to raise his voice to be heard because she was already two thirds of the way across his massive office. She sped up ever so slightly and stumbled. Rufus thought she might go down for a moment but she caught herself, albeit clumsily and reached the door without further incident. Rufus wondered if she would have the audacity to ignore him and leave the room. Miss Guerin paused at the door, her hand on the knob, the jerky movement of her shoulders indicating her heavy breaths. She took a very deep breath and whirled to face him, her pleasant expression back in place, heavy on the cheer.

“I'm sorry sir!” she practically sang. Her voice was slightly brittle. “I just wanted to be out there to greet your clients. You have a meeting starting in just a few minutes.” Rufus flicked a glance at the clock on his desk and glowered. She was right; he did have a meeting in just a few minutes and he was damned if he was going to start late just for the pleasure of berating the help. That being said he did have about five more minutes to make the little lunatic squirm. The impulse to just let her escape warred with the spiteful desire to force her to stay just a bit longer. See if he could make her uncomfortable enough to do that lip thing again…

“Reno can show them in.” he said calmly. Spite 1, Charity 0. Miss Guerin smiled a little too widely.

“But its Reno sir.” She said as if that explained everything. Sadly, Rufus thought, it explained a hell of a lot. He narrowed his eyes at Miss Guerin but said nothing more. She was odd in the extreme but she couldn't be much worse then Reno. The man had an uncanny ability to offend, intimidate or just generally bother most clients. Miss Guerin turned the door handle and Rufus looked at his desk, intending to make sure he had the documents for the meeting. When he didn't hear the door close after a minute he looked up to find Miss Guerin standing in the doorway. He raised an inquiring brow and she grinned, again, a little too widely. “Don't worry sir,” she said. “I promise I won't fail like the others.” With that she slipped out. Once again Rufus was left with the uncomfortable feeling that he had just been handed some sort of ambiguous warning. Why was he putting up with her again? Cue his helpful inner voice, the one that sounded not unlike Tseng.

Because you can survive WEAPON but you can't find a decent secretary. Because you're at your wits end and after this you're going to try Reno's trained chocobo idea. Because you told Reeve you owed him and since you know he's going to call in the favor one way or another you're determined to get the most out of it. Because she's interesting if nothing else. Because she does that lip thing…

Rufus frowned. All those reasons were valid, (except the last one), particularly the one about Reeve. The former Shinra executive might be a shameless idealist but he had a practical streak that impressed even Rufus. It had to, otherwise there was no way he would have funded the W.R.O. Reeve was never one to turn down the possibility of more money; he'd take advantage of Rufus's offer of payment whether Ms. Guerin stayed or not. Hell, the bearded goody-goody would probably laugh about getting one over on his former boss and he wouldn't be the only one amused. Rufus glowered as he imagined Reno's smug expression as the Turk escorted the girl back to the W.R.O.'s offices. The redheaded menace would never let Rufus live it down. But worse then that smirking idiot's infantile jabs would be the careful blankness on Tseng's face. Anyone else may have thought the Wutain didn't care but Rufus would know the dark haired man would be silently questioning the point of going to all this trouble. Tseng never said `I told you so', he just let people stew in the knowledge that he could say it but was far too polite to do so.

Rufus exhaled slowly and focused on giving the documents in front of him one last going over and pushing the vexation that was his new secretary to the back of his mind. He had survived worse then her for longer then two weeks. Either she would rise to the challenge and he would keep her, (after a strongly worded lecture about exactly how things were going to go on if she was to stay), or she would reveal some deeper level of insanity and he would send her back to Reeve with a haughtily worded note. The idea of lording over Reno and Reeve that their little girlfriend was a nut case was an enjoyable one and when his clients entered the room they were met with rare enthusiasm.