Chapter one


"I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it."

– Marilyn Monroe


"We are in tough economic times," he said menacingly, making sure that every soul in the room got a piece of that frightening glare. "And in this climate, you need to stand out from the crowd."

From across the country, sixteen of Midgar's brightest business potentials have come to Shinra. Out of the candidates who have flocked in their thousands, only these sixteen have pulled through the nit picking that is President Shinra's method of employment. Such gruelling approaches are sometimes necessary, especially for this job, because there's only one of it in the country.

And this job is to be President Shinra's Chairman of the Board.

He paused for a moment, the tense atmosphere thickened like gravy as the big boss took a sip of water.

"I'm not interested in any Steady Eddies or Cautious Carols." The President almost spat with absolute callousness, "I'm looking for someone exceptional."

He motioned towards a shiny new filing cabinet behind him, it was black all over and it reeked of money. "I've read through all your CV's and frankly, on paper you look good. But so does fish and chips…

"Welcome, this is the job interview from hell. First prize, you get to work for me. Second prize, don't exist."

Enter Claire Farron.

'Lightning' is what they call her, a sort of praise if you may, for her 'tell-me what-to-do-and-I'll-do-it' attitude to work and thus getting the job done in the speed of lightning (a hyperbole of course). She prefers to be in control and likes things to run as she sees fit, no other standard is as good to her as her own. Having three years of business experience she is one of the underdogs of this game since the desired position requires top level management (which she undeniably has) and extensive experience in the field (which she hasn't). But these things are pardonable; Claire is young, optimistic and inexplicably serious in all things in life and in all honesty, her short-tempered tendencies far exceeds that of a menopausal 50 year-old.

"Seriously" Noctis sighed, running his fingers through his dark hair.

Noctis Lucis Caelum: friend to Claire and a rival to Claire. Noctis is older by a few years but his self-esteem does not agree. Unlike Claire, whose approach to her colleagues is akin to a boss-employee relationship, Noctis is much more cooperative and lacks imagination. He often needs someone else's idea for a stimulus in order to work forwards, like fuel to a car.

"Calm down, Noct." Claire chuckled as she laid her tray of lunch onto the table, she handed him a can of soda. "It hasn't even started."

"Yeah, but you have to admit," He replied, "Granted that the process of filling in a few sheets of paper is hard enough as it was, that meeting was absolutely…"

Claire watched her friend as he silently fumbled for the appropriate word, she swallowed her bite of Panini and suggested, "Shit-stopping?"

He snapped his fingers and grinned toothily, "Yeah, that's the word!"

She snorted, "I have to admit, it was intense in that board-room, but let's celebrate for now."

The chinked cans and rejoiced their progression. Sometimes the perks that come with the job is outweighed by the belligerence of the boss, however, the many thousands who have sacrificed a lot – and this is to even just apply – is enough indication that the boss's intimidating behaviour does little to dampen the spirits of hopeful applicants.

"I am assigning you all to do a bit of interaction to our candidates."

Before him stood sixteen men and women, clad in black suits and ties, they are the Turks. Despite their professional likeness, they are able to carry out the roughest of jobs. But for today they will have to settle for professional. President Shinra tossed the cabinet key towards the squad leader, Veld, who caught the object in mid-air with a swift swipe.

"For a fair test, I'd like you to pick any file at random, and I'd like you to write your name on the front."

"Like lottery, yo."

"Shut up, Reno."

After a quiet and arduous process of following the instructions set, they were finally self-assigned to their own person.

"Your task is to do research, your restriction is divulging your real objectives, be whatever—change your name if necessary, be crafty with this task, it's flexible."

Reno groaned, "I don't like what I see, yo."

He flipped a few pages and completely gave up, shutting the file and dropping it onto the coffee table; spatters of milk stained the document. Reno slouched beside his partner, Rude, and ogled his file.

"Noctis—eh? That's a weird name." He grunted.

Rude adjusted his glasses and turned the page, "He's good, but I doubt he'll last."

"Hah! You haven't seen mine, I mean she's young and pretty, but she's all serious, not my type at all."

"Who said you're meant to date her?"

"Well, how else would I get myself involved with a girl, yo?" He winked.

"By being a friend is good enough."

"That ain't crafty at all!" He quoted the President, throwing his arms out in light exasperation. "A way to a woman's bed is a way to a woman's head!"

"Stop that, it's annoying."

"That is a quote from a professional ladies'-man." He smirked.

"Don't start."


Disclaimer:

I own the plot and some made up characters, but that's about it. And I am definitely not making money out of this!

Author's note:

Okay, I've decided to place the disclaimer right at the bottom because it'll mess up the layout of my story if
it was at the top.

Anyways, I absolutely have no confidence on this story, but I'll never know if I never try! So please review, and
if I get enough (and reviews that at least suggests that you like my plot) I will continue! I'm also open for suggestions
because my mind often runs dry of imagination, so There you go people, I'm giving you the steering wheel for my story!

(Pairings might gradually appear plus a genre change - but it all depends if you have enough energy to click that button!)