Little Black Book
Chapter Eleven
Little Black Book
Chapter Eleven
"Hello, Seifer." The blonde looked up at the doorway to see Laguna Loire standing in front of him.
"President Loire!" Seifer shot up, knocking over a stack of papers. "Uh…Squall's not here. He has a headache and went to go lie down."
"I was actually looking for you," Laguna grinned and let the door slide shut behind him. Warning signals began to go off in Seifer's brain.
"Me?" Oh, well wasn't this interesting. "What for?"
"Kiros told me that you were interested in retiring from Balamb-G and moving away." Seifer frowned and settled back down into the comfy leather
seat."What about it?" Something about the President's expression was making Seifer feel uncomfortable.
"Well…I've been thinking…" There was a bright flash of a smile and Seifer bit back the harsh retort of 'It can think? Wow!' "I may be able to help you out."
"Oh really?" Oh yeah, something here felt very, very wrong. "How? Every single school I've tried to get into won't let me in because of my…"
"Previous discrepancies?" Laguna tossed in.
"Something like that." The older man simply smiled. Seifer's skin crawled. "And you can help me out?"
"Yes, actually…" Seifer was pretty sure that he wasn't going to like his part of this 'bargain.'
"Why?"
"Because you've been doing Cid a great service, acting as Commander while Squall…found himself." Seifer stared at Laguna. Like he was really going to believe that. Right.
"Cut to the chase, President Loire," Seifer snapped, growing weary of the older man's mind games. "I've got paperwork to do. And lots of it."
"I'm here to make a deal with you," Laguna said bluntly. "You make my son love me and open up, and I'll open doors for you that you've only dreamt about."
"How? Even with your influence, most people would be just as happy to see me dead as to do anything you want them to." Seifer raised an eyebrow in blunt challenge.
"Squall's personal…preference lies towards men."
"Tell me something that I don't know," Seifer yawned.
"You get him to love you, the world will see that you really aren't that bad of a person." Laguna smiled thinly while Seifer's expression dropped.
"What?"
"I do not believe I need to repeat myself…" Laguna told him.
"You want me to…to…how does that benefit you?" Seifer's mind was fogging over. This was way over his head.
"I'm going to need someone to take over the country for me. I'm not as young as I used to be and there hasn't been any interest from anyone to run Esthar. However, Squall has made quite a reputation there for himself as being a scholar and a leader. But he won't even talk to me. So, you get him to open up and, since you're such good friends Kiros, you'd spend a lot of time with me and him…and help me get my son to love me."
"And in return…you'd do what for me?" Seifer frowned, a bit uncomfortable at how this was intriguing him. He shrugged it off, telling himself that it was just curiosity. If anything he could blackmail the President. He tried to ignore the fact that he was lying to himself.
"I'd give you power and a good reputation," Laguna told him plainly. "Think about it." He moved towards the door. "Let me know soon, though." The President left the room, leaving Seifer to sit there and contemplate…everything.
This man was offering him something he had been working towards for years. Something that, no matter how many good deeds he did, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get. But…Squall could barely stand him, how the hell was he going to make him fall in love with him? …If he did it, that is. Which he hadn't decided. But…what if…
Seifer stood and pushed himself away from that infernal desk. He needed to think, to get the facts straight. Fact, he had been infatuated with Squall for most of his life. Fact, it was borderlining on being in love with the poor boy. Fact, Squall was just getting out of a very abusive relationship - he didn't need to worry about dealing with another boyfriend. Fact…he wanted Squall to love him. That had kinda been the intended goal before Laguna came along, right? So why shouldn't he get something out of it…?
Because it was wrong.
Because it would hurt Squall.
…But what Squall didn't know, couldn't hurt him, right?
Right.