Aeris Kills Cloud (Maybe)

Aeris smiled, opening the boxes. They had a fun time at dinner, Sora was talkative. Afterward he went to his room, trying to devise a plan to get his parents back together. Aeris finished her pieces and took the dishes to the sink. She was elbow deep in bubbles when the doorbell rang.
"Cloud can you get that?" She asked him.
It was Damon, Aeris had left her portfolio at the bar and he had forgotten to give it back to her earlier. Except he didn't really forget, he wanted an excuse to drop by again.
"Hey." He said, surprised to see a guy. He thought she lived alone.

Cloud was helping her dry off the dishes when the doorbell rang and he nodded, heading over. When he saw a man he raised his eyebrows, wondering if this was the guy she went out.
"Hey, yourself." he said looking him up and down. He was handsome.

"Aeris left this at the bar when we were out earlier." He said after a moment, raising an eyebrow as Cloud looked at him. "I'm sorry, we haven't met." He smiled politely, but he was fishing. "I'm Damon."

Cloud nodded, and he extended his hand to shake his.
"Cloud." he said. "Nice to meet you. I'll hand that over to Aeris for you."

Damon didn't hand the document over though, but he did shake Cloud's hand.
"I hope you don't me asking, but are you her father?" He said, a genuine curiosity in his eyes.

Cloud raised his eyebrows and he tilted his head.
"Do I honestly look like she could be my child?" he scoffed, "I am Sora's father, though."

Damon didn't blush, or show any sign of embarrassment. Aeris was a catch, witty, funny. If he needed to compete for her he would. And if that meant messing with Cloud's head, well, it had to be done.
"Ah, I didn't think you were in the picture." He said after a moment.

Cloud shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm in the picture." he said folding his arms over his chest. "So...you going to hand over the documents or do you want to see Aeris?"

"In Sora's picture." He said, one eyebrow cocking as he smirked slightly. Not Aeris's. "Actually yeah, I'd feel better handing over her portfolio directly to her, if you don't mind."

Cloud nodded, not caring about the jab. He shrugged it off and headed over to the kitchen.
"Loverboy is here." he said. "He forgot to give you something at the bar. Starts with the letter D."

Aeris raised her eyebrows before she burst out laughing, looking at Cloud.
"You have the only letter D I'm after." She told him, splashing him in the crotch before going to the door. Five minutes later she came back, documents in hand. "So what'd you think of him?" She asked Cloud.

Cloud chuckled and he shook his head. When she came back he shrugged his shoulders.
"Besides the pissing contest...he's good looking. I'll give you that." he mumbled.

"What pissing contest?" She asked, amused. "Are you jealous?" She smiled, approaching him while eying him.

Cloud squinted at her and turned away from her, messing with the wash cloth.
"Of course not..." he mumbled.

Aeris took it like he meant it, not advancing him toward him any longer. She was glad he was facing away from her because for a second her face fell. She composed herself and sat down on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her.
"I wouldn't be if you met someone either." She said softly.

Cloud raised his eyebrows and glanced over at her as she sat down. He moved to sit down next to her, but he stopped himself. Then why was he here? He knew it was mostly for Sora, and they did have fun together, but why drag this out if that was the case? He would care, but if she didn't...then that meant his feelings were one sided. Why would he get in the way then.
"I should go...I have a job in the morning and the boss is kind of strict for being on time..." he mumbled.

Aeris nodded, not going to argue with him. She wasn't supposed to have feelings for Cloud. She was supposed to screw him, let him and Sora bond, and that was the end of it. How could she have been so dumb? The soft kisses, the 'family' time together, how could she have thought that was a good idea?
"Yeah. Take care." She told him after a moment.

Cloud nodded and he exited the apartment. He wouldn't care. They're relationship can be whatever it was for now, and if she decided to move on, he would to. He would go back to visiting once a month...leave it at that.

A few weeks later, Aeris sat through meeting after meeting. She tried to pay attention, but she was thinking of Cloud. She hadn't seen him since. Maybe he had found someone to move on with. She didn't realize she was being spoken to until Damon tapped her shoulder.
"Hey, everything okay?" He asked her. "You seem out of it lately."

Meanwhile, Cloud's bosses daughter Evelyn came to visit. Evelyn was a bit snooty, and definitely more high class and high maintenance. She was wearing a black cocktail dress, her hair done up in a bun on her head. She was stopping by to attend a fundraiser with her father, who had asked Cloud to come along as well. In the limo, she looked at Cloud, admiring him.
"Cloud, this is my daughter Evelyn." Jack said.
"I usually just go by Eve." Evelyn told Cloud, offering a kind smile.

Cloud didn't want to go to the fundraiser, but he didn't want to be rude either. He wore a simple button up shirt with a jacket, looking out the window when Jack introduced him to his daughter.
"It's nice to meet you, Eve." he said politely. His thoughts went back to Aeris, wondering what she was up to.

Aeris arrived with Damon and a few other colleagues at the fundraiser she was first to speak that night, and she was nervous. She sipped from a champagne glass, wishing she was at home in her pajamas with Sora. She had worn a red dress, strapless, and she was regretting it. Almost everyone else was in black and navy.

The three walked into the room and Jack went to socialize, while Evelyn immediately grabbed a drink, sipping.
"I think our table is over there." She said. "A3."

It was directly behind Aeris's table, Aeris's back to them. Her hair was drawn into a sleek ponytail, the tattoo that ran around her neck visible from their point of view.
"Here." Eve smiled, sitting down.

Cloud nodded, and made his way over to the table. He noticed the tattoo in front of him and he raised his eyebrows. Of course. He slowly made his way up to her and touched her gently on the shoulder.
"Hey there." he said quietly.

Aeris felt the tap and looked up, her features softening as she saw it was Cloud.
"Hey." She smiled, one dimple showing.
"Aeris, I brought you a drink." Damon said, coming up to the table, his eyebrow raised at Cloud.
"No thanks. Excuse me." She told the man, standing and looping her arm through Cloud's walking away from the table. The band was playing some soft jazz number. "What are you doing here?" She asked Cloud, surprised. "You look nice."

Cloud glanced at Damon, giving him a polite nod. When Aeris declined the drink and walked with him away from the table, he couldn't help but smile. He missed her. A lot.
"My boss invited me." he said. "I couldn't say no...especially when I could get a permanent job, you know."

"A permanent job?" She asked him, making a shocked face before she smiled. "That's a big commitment." She said softly, tilting her head. "Here, or are you looking to transfer somewhere else?" She asked. She had to fight the urge to hug him, to lie her head on his shoulder and melt the room away. She knew she missed him, but it was worse than she had thought.