~*~
"I'm gonna go get some air, Meg." Sally looked up from her handheld and the notepad on the table as I gestured to the door. "I'll just be out front; let me know when you're ready to head out with those appointment times."
"Okay, Zell." And she immediately went back to work.
I closed the door behind me and then pulled my phone from its holster to search through the phone book in its memory. I hit the call button as I stepped away from the building and into the square.
Yesterday Sally and I must've walked around the entire town and everything near it twice. She showed me where they were thinking of building the Garden and then nonchalantly showed me where the questionable characters lived. We saw more chocobos--didn't make it to the farm--walked through the flower fields, and I found out that Sally absolutely loved the little town.
We conversed some with the locals, exchanged war stories, and invited several of the people to stop in at Laguna's place for a cold one while we were here. A couple of the locals had taken us up on the offer that evening. Not many today, though.
Good thing. I wanted to get Sally to the chocobo farm today--"Yo, Laguna. 'Sup?"
"Zell Dincht! How's it going over in Balamb?"
"Great! Really hopping. You and Ellone should come and say 'hi'."
"I wish we could, Zell, but things have gotten a little tense over here recently. Rumors and things, you know."
"Dude. That sucks." I moved the phone to my other ear.
"Yes, well, unfortunately it comes with the job. But the good part of my job is I get to make proposals that'll help. For instance, a Garden in Winhill."
"Yeah. I know. We're here checkin' it out right now."
"Oh really? Wow. And here I didn't think the Network took my proposal seriously. Zell, do you mind letting me know what you find? I'm serious as all get out."
"No doubt."
"I'd appreciate it."
I smirked. "Hey, sure. Just call me. I'll let you know what I can."
"I owe you, Zell. Just name it."
Booya! "Actually, I kinda wanted to ask about your house here."
"House? In Winhill? The two-story just to the left of the bridge into the square?"
"Yeah. That's the one."
"What'd you need to know? Anything wrong?"
"Well." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I was kinda lookin' at buying it."
"What?" Laguna chuckled. "Aren't you a little young for real estate?"
"I'm serious, dude. Really."
"Hm. To be honest, I hadn't thought about selling it. Never crossed my mind."
"Oh." Damn. "Well, just let me know when you do. Though I guess I could make an offer anyway."
"An offer? You're kidding, right?"
I smiled. "Seriously. I've been saving for a while."
"For a house?"
I laughed. "I didn't know I was gonna buy a house, but you never know when you need some quick cash."
Laguna laughed. "Isn't that the truth, and I had to learn the hard way. Tell you what, Zell. I'll seriously think about it and let you know."
"Sure. That'd be great--"
"Zell?"
I looked over my shoulder. Sally headed down the steps of the porch. "Yeah!" I focused back into the phone as Sally approached. "I'll email you."
"And I'll talk to Ellone about the house, too."
"Thanks. Later."
I terminated the call and smiled as I faced Sally. We both wore our SeeD uniforms for the job of passing out the appointment time schedules.
"Ready?" I asked.
She nodded and released a deep breath. "Yep. Let's get this over with."
I chuckled. "I still can't believe you volunteered for this just so I could come over here."
Sally took hold of my hand. "You would have done the same for me," she reminded softly.
Damn straight! "I guess," I told her with a sidelong glance. She only smiled and continued looking at the ground at her feet. Okay, okay. So I woulda done it in a second. I couldn't let her think she had me wrapped, could I? Okay, so maybe that isn't such a bad place to be. "Okay," I finally said, "so I would."
Sally giggled. "You're so silly."
Not even gonna go there. "So, are you gonna want me to be the strong, silent type? Or do you want me to grunt meaningfully?"
Sally laughed--Booya!--and then she nudged at me with her shoulder. "Strong, silent type will be fine, sir. Then, if they threaten bodily harm, you can grunt meaningfully."
"Any bashing of heads?"
She shook her head, smiling brightly. "No. We want them to come to the appointments."
I snapped my fingers. "Right."
And we were coming up on the first house. Sally freed her hand from mine and pulled her handheld from its case on her belt. She checked some information and then tucked it away again. Then she intertwined her fingers with mine and sent me a smile. Booya!
I returned it. "Not this house?"
Sally shook her head. "Nope." She moved her focus to the road ahead.
I watched her profile as she stared straight in front of us. "What should I expect?" I asked, and I couldn't help sounding serious.
Sally lowered her gaze to the road. "Not really sure," she admitted softly. "The first gentleman to get an appointment card is a veteran of the Sorceress War. Demolition Expert. He has a spotless war record, commendations, medals, but Seifer says something doesn't feel right."
I kept watching her face. "He give you any details?"
"Not really. He just wants me to ask a lot of questions about his time with the service, paying a lot of attention to detail and repeating details wrong later in the interview."
I nodded. "Got it." I moved my focus ahead and narrowed my eyes against the glare. "The next one?"
"Surveyor who had to quit due to his wife's sudden illness."
"Okay, so we check up on just how sick she is. Got it." I looked again to Sally. "Next?"
"A foreman who spends too much time drinking," she said sadly. "Lost two brothers and a niece to the Galbadian Army."
I swore. He was the only guy I'd excuse for hating the military enough to sabotage Garden. I wouldn't let him do it, if he tried it, but I could definitely understand his reason for it. Sally sent me a sidelong glance. I intercepted it with a 'Don't sweat it' smile. "Anybody else?"
"A couple of landowners that own property near the acreage we want to buy for the Garden."
I nodded. "Okay. Let's get this over with so we can go play."
Sally smiled.
Life's Lessons on Stress Page 24
