Chapter Eight
First Daze
Knock Knock-click clunk--“Sally? You decent?”
I peeked my head around the door of the bathroom, brush in hand as Zell surveyed the room looking for me. He saw me peeking around and smiled before coming in the rest of the way. He still wore his Balamb-blue sweats and gray sweatshirt with Booya across the front.
“Hi, Zell,” I greeted as he approached. “Did I leave something in the T.C.?”
“Nah. I wanted to see if you needed a pep talk for your first day with Seifer.” He leaned back against the bathroom door frame as I returned to the duty of brushing my hair to braid. “Seems to me you were stressing a little during workout.”
I slowly set the brush down as I sent Zell a sidelong glance. “I know. I was.”
Zell crossed his arms and watched me in the mirror as I began braiding my hair. “So, you want me to come with? I can make an excuse. Cord's been an ass more than usual lately. I could put his butt on report.”
“I would love it,” I whispered. I glanced toward him. “But if I can't handle the first day by myself, which is always the hardest, I won't be able to handle the others? Right?”
Zell smirked and straightened. He moved to stand beside me, leaning against the sink counter and again crossing his arms. “Yep.”
I released a deep breath as I finished my braid. “Sure I'm scared to death, I'm scared of almost everything, but I've got to do this. If I'm going to be a security SeeD, or a SeeD at all, I have to.” I sent Zell a glance. “But I really wish you'd at least come down in the elevator.”
Zell chuckled and reached out to gently squeeze my arm. “Sure thing, Meg. No sweat.”
I smiled. “Okay,” I sighed. “Thank you.”
He gave my braid a tug. “This's pretty out-there, huh? You working in security, I mean. You'll get to push people around, on computer of course.” He chuckled. “Make people toe the line, that's my kitten.”
I flushed and then turned my focus to the mirror and my reflection. I released a slow breath. “SeeD, Zell,” I whispered. “I'm a SeeD.” My eyes glimmered. “I made it.”
Zell watched my face, slightly smiling. “Yep.”
I quickly wiped an escaped tear from my cheek and glanced toward him. “I better go, huh? I don't want to be late on my first day in security. Not with Seifer as my boss.”
Zell gently caressed my left cheek with the back of one of his fingers. “You'll be fine, Sally.”
I slightly nodded, fighting back the tears of joy to be a SeeD, terror that I was a security SeeD, and happiness that Zell was in my bathroom--don't ask.
Zell straightened. “Come on. Let's go get you settled.”
I nodded again and followed after him, taking his offered hand in a very tight clasp as we made our way from my room and down the side-hall to the main corridor.
“If you need anything,” Zell said suddenly, “you just come a-looking for me. OK? Seifer mouths off? You come to me. The last thing you need is Seifer giving you more stress than you already give yourself.”
I smiled, loving every minute of the attention. “I will.”
“And the same goes for Fujin and Raijin. I know Raijin isn't around very much because of the fact that he's always off doing some kind of top-secret delivery to some place to hell and gone, but when those three get together, they make hell for the little guys. So you tell me if they mess with you. Got it?”
I nodded again, still smiling. “Got it.”
We stood in front of the elevator, and Zell pushed the button for the Basement level. “If they over-work you, you tell me. They bitch about something you did when you didn't do it, you tell me. They pull a prank, you tell me. I'm serious, Meg. You tell me,” he insisted gently.
I followed him into the elevator, nodding, smiling, and dreamily drifting on a cloud of boy-driven craziness. “I will.”
“And if you want to drop down to working out only–”
“No!” I vigorously shook my head, eyes wide. “No. I don't want to stop working out at all. Please?”
“Sally, if it's gonna cause more stress.” Zell smiled. “Okay?”
I lowered my gaze, lower lip protruding slightly. “Fine,” I agreed morosely.
“Come on. Don't do that.” Zell pulled me into a tight hug. “I don't want to not workout either, it’s a blast, but I don't wanna give you ulcers like Zone. That would suck, and you know it.”
I giggled. “Yes. I guess it would.” I tightened my arms around him and sighed. Then the doors of the elevator opened. “Aw.”
Zell chuckled and pushed back. Then he gave my arms a squeeze. “I'll come down with lunch about 11:30. Okay?”
I mutely nodded. Kiss.
One side of Zell's lips twitched. He looked out the elevator, peeked around the corner, and then gave me a pair of simple and warm kisses. “See ya later, kitten.” Then he kissed me again and set me outside the elevator with a gentle push, a wink, and then his salute of finger to forehead before the elevator closed.
I sighed--my smile was pretty sappy and silly--shrugged both my shoulders, and then headed deeper into the security office. Then the dreamy fog drifted to reveal the security office in its real form. My steps slowed down the main hall, just past the office that was labeled ‘Fujin’, and began to worry my lower lip. Help.
There were desks along the wall on the left, farther down in front of me, and then rows of cubicles on the right. I passed a second office on the right, couldn’t tell whose it was, and then saw another ‘path’ branch to the right from the main one--
“Regal.”
I twitched, eyes wide as I looked to my right to see Seifer standing in the doorway of his office down the branching path. I swallowed hard and approached, fisting and unfisting my hands until they started hurting. I stopped. Moving to stand in front of Seifer, I saluted. “Y-Yes, sir?” I squeaked.
Seifer motioned inside. “Have a seat.”
“Y-Yes, sir.” And I scrambled into his office and sat in the chair across from his desk, hands tightly clasped. I twitched when a thick manual was dropped into my lap. Picking it up, I looked to Seifer with wide eyes as he leaned against the desk so very few feet away from me.
He pointed at the manual. “Read it. Study it. Know it. That's your life now. There will be an exam at the end of the week.”
I slightly nodded. Breathe. Breathe.
“You can keep the number and password I gave you before, I'll change the clearance from temporary to permanent.”
I nodded again, my eyes unable to look away from his. I think I'm going to be sick.
Seifer turned at the waist to retrieve another packet of forms and drop it on top of the manual. “Fill those out, sign them, and then return them to me.”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
Seifer straightened and walked to the door. “This way.”
I forced myself to stand and follow as he made his way down the aisle, passed the rows of cubicles on the right and another office on the left, to the first desk/workstation that was part of a set of at least 12 on the far wall.
He gripped the desk chair. “This is your space.”
I nodded while looking at the chair, the simple desk, and the computer.
“You can go.”
I blinked and looked up. “P-Pardon?”
Seifer pointed to the papers in my hand. “Study, fill out, return. Do you need it written out?”
I paled and took a step back as I shook my head. “N-No, sir.”
“Good. Exam at the end of the week. Nine o'clock. Here.” He waved me away. “Dismissed,” he commanded as he returned to his office.
I swallowed hard and blinked several times in succession as I turned and shuffled toward the elevator. If a person could feel bruised on the inside, that's what I felt. And I'm supposed to do this every day? I sniffed and sent a timid glance over my shoulder to my solitary workstation. Now I wasn't so sure.
My eyes started to burn as I stepped aboard the elevator and nud
ged the first floor button with an elbow. Then I focused on the papers and the manual in my hands. Yes, it had felt good to be complimented by Seifer when he'd asked me to join his team, but I wasn't safe there. I felt like a squirrel in a fox den.
I sniffed again and began worrying my lower lip. Do I want this? How do I know? I adjusted the papers in my hands and then stepped off the elevator to just stand on the threshold, not knowing what to do or where to go--
“Sally?”
I blinked and looked up. Commander Squall ascended the stairs. “Y-Yes, sir?”
“Are you all right? You look a little yellow.”
I tried to force a smile. “I'm fine, sir.” I looked back down at the papers and the smile warped to something pretty pathetic. I lifted my gaze to meet his again. “I don't think I want to work down there,” I confessed in a teary voice.
Commander Squall didn't say anything. He just watched me with a thoughtful look on his face. So, I lowered my gaze back to the papers. Library Network Admin won't be so bad. You like working on the system there. Remember? I sniffed. But it would have been nice to do something really important. Like catch bad guys.
“Why don't you fill out the papers and give them to me,” Commander Squall offered slowly, “study for the exam, and then make up your mind before you take the test? A week off would probably be a good thing right now.”
I lifted wide eyes. “Would that be fine?”
He sent me a small smile. “Sure, Sally. You've worked hard. You deserve the rest. All right?”
I slightly nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
“No problem, Sally. And I saw Zell going to the Quad with his guitar. Why don't you go study there?”
I reluctantly smiled. “Thank you, sir. I think I will.”
Then I turned and descended the stairs. I shouldn't tell Zell how much Seifer scared me, should I? Zell already knew. Hadn't I said so in the bathroom? I worried my lower lip again, still staring at the papers in my hands as I made my way around the corridor to the right and headed down the side-hall to the Quad. I'll just tell him... I shrugged and looked up. Why should I tell him anything? I was scared. He knew I would be. I knew I would be. I'll just talk to him about whether or not I should join the team after I've had a chance to study the manual.
I firmly nodded and then smiled when I heard and saw Zell playing guitar on the stage. He looked up when he heard my steps and gave a blink of surprise as he stopped playing, set the guitar aside, and then made his way off the stage and forward to me.
“I just have to fill out this paperwork and start studying the manual for the exam at the end of this week,” I told him.
“So you don't hafta go in until you pass?”
I nodded, smiling. “Uh-huh.”
“Dude! That rocks!” He took the papers from me and then walked beside me as we headed to the stage. “I'll help you study. Okay?”
I wrapped my arms around his left one and smiled up at him. “Okay.”