Chapter One
7 Hours Bad Luck
Namine
"Crap, crap, crap," I swore as I laid on my horn. Traffic wasn't moving… I was literally sitting in my car helplessly watching the minutes pass by as I became progressively more late to work. One of my most important clients was probably sitting in my chair at that moment, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for me to show up. As a hairdresser, being late was a huge no-no. I used to pride myself on showing up early to everything, but that morning had quickly become the bane of my existence.
As soon as traffic began to move I turned down a side street that was usually a 25 mph zone and just took off going as fast as I could in hopes of getting there before my client gave up and left.
The salon was in sight. I could picture myself pulling into my parking spot, but when I heard the chirp of a police siren and saw the flashing lights in my rear-view mirror my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. I pulled over literally yards from the salon, fumbling through my purse for my license. I could actually see my client's faded brunette hair through the front window of the building and all I wanted to do was just get out of my car and sprint there.
Moments later, I heard a tap on my window that nearly gave me a heart attack. I rolled it down, looking up at the police officer sheepishly. "Good morning, Officer ...Strife," I said, looking at the name on his uniform. "I… I know I was speeding…"
"Ma'am, you were going over 60 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone," he said, taking off his aviator-style sunglasses. He was actually very handsome… for someone who was ruining my day, that is.
"I know, but… see, I work at that salon right there and the lady in the window is my highest-paying client ever! I mean, she tips me $50 every time I see her! But she's always in a rush and if I don't get there soon she's going to leave and I'm not going to be able to afford my rent and traffic wasn't moving and I panicked and I just-!"
"I need to see your license and registration, ma'am," he cut me off in the middle of my rambling, his deep blue eyes dead-panning me.
I handed them over, my hands shaking as he took them from me. He disappeared and I leaned forward, bashing my head against the steering wheel a few times. How could I possibly be this stupid?
He returned a few minutes later to find me continuing to hit my head on the wheel. "Namine?" he questioned, cocking an eyebrow as he called me by my name. "Because this is your first offense, I'm going to let you go with a warning. But if you get caught speeding like that again, there are going to be very serious consequences."
"Believe me, I will never… ever speed again. I feel like I'm about to throw up," I let out a huge sigh of relief, my body still trembling a little. "Thank you so much, Officer Strife."
"The name's Roxas…" he said, flashing me a smile. Shit… he wanted to chat.
I nodded, taking back my license. "Well, thank you Roxas. Now, if you'll please excuse me…?"
"Go on a date with me," he said suddenly, making me jump a little at the blatancy.
"If I say yes, will you please let me go to work?" I quipped, about ready to just run him over.
He shrugged, "Sure. Friday night at 5? I'll pick you up."
"You do have my address," I joked with a little tinge of annoyance in my voice. "Fine, Friday at 5… Can I please go now?"
Stepping away from my car, he nodded, "Just drive the speed limit, please."
I hit the gas immediately, pulling into the parking lot and running inside. My client was still there, and she actually didn't look too pissed. "I am so, so sorry. Everything was just going wrong for me this morning," I apologized to her as I started to set up my station.
"It's okay, Namine! You've never been late before, so I figured that it was just a fluke," she said, shrugging a little. "Besides, I saw you flirting with that hot police officer."
"Aerith!" I exclaimed, giggling a little. "He pulled me over!"
She smirked a little, "He totally had the hots for you, Nami. Believe me, I could tell."
"Well… actually, he asked me out," I admitted, blushing softly as I unwrapped my flat iron cord.
"Ooh! You scored big time, Nami… You'll have to let me know how it went next time I'm in!"
I chuckled, parting her hair out for her color service, "You're such a gossip, Aerith."
"I have to draw amusement from somewhere! You just have such an interesting life."
"I have one of the most boring lives ever, actually. Today was one of the most exciting mornings I've had in awhile," I told her. It was true… Back in cosmetology school everything was always dramatic and fun, but when I graduated and ended up living nowhere near any of my friends… my social life kind of went into the crapper.
Aerith laughed, "Well maybe it'll all go up from here!"
She had a point. Dating a policeman would certainly be… interesting.
x-x-x-x-x
Sora
"Damn it, Xion… Come on, I have a class in 20 minutes…" I growled at the clock, wondering where the hell she was. Xion was always late picking up our daughter, Reagan.
"Daddy, where's Mommy?" she asked me, the 4 year old begging for me to pick her up.
I lifted her up in my arms, sitting her on my lap. "She's just running a little late, honey…"
"Am I gonna have to go to work with you again? It's so boring…"
Chuckling, I shook my head, "No, baby girl. I'll just cancel class if she doesn't come." I taught Statistics at the local college, but I was close to losing my job if I couldn't find full-time care for Reagan. Xion was incredibly unreliable, and I was on my last string with her.
It was another few minutes before I heard her knock on the door. I flung it open, glaring at her.
"Sorry I'm late," she said, sounding bored.
"Seriously? You know when my classes are. I'm going to be super late," I told her, handing her Reagan's bookbag.
She just shrugged, "I was busy. Besides, it's not even my day to have her."
"You'd think you could be more excited to see your own daughter," I mumbled, gathering my bag and my coat.
"Whatever," she scoffed, standing aside as I brushed past her to leave.
"Lock the door for me," I yelled to her as I ran to my car. I knew she wouldn't, but I always asked anyways.
As I quickly drove to work, all I could do was worry about Reagan. She'd told me multiple times that she hated going to her mother's crappy little apartment, and I didn't blame her. I'd talked to a lawyer about suing for full custody, but my job occupied too much of my time and I didn't have child care.
I never really believed in daycares… I felt like it was an incredibly impersonal way to raise a child, and I wanted to be in Reagan's life as much as possible. But maybe it was time to consider one. She was a little older… and if I could keep her mother from ruining any more of her life, it'd be a huge bonus.
Xion and I had a drunken one-night stand about 5 years ago. She was a friend of a friend of a friend, and I must have been just incredibly wasted to even consider sleeping with her. I was 27 and I still wasn't letting go of the party-boy title I'd carried all through college. But now at 32 with Reagan in my life, I was finally becoming a rather mature adult.
I only ended up arriving a couple of minutes late to class, which was fine. However, halfway through class Xion showed up at the classroom door with Reagan in tow.
"Excuse me, please," I told my students, pulling her into the hallway. "What the hell, Xion? You couldn't even handle her for an hour?"
"She's complaining that her stomach is upset and I can't get sick right now," she said, seeming incredibly disinterested in the situation.
I rolled my eyes, completely floored by her lack of any mothering qualities. "Xion, I can't take her right now. I'm literally in the middle of a class!"
"So sit her in the back! She won't bug anyone."
"Fine," I growled lowly, taking Rea's hand. "Come on, honey… I'll get you set up with a coloring book."
Xion all but ran out the door, and I pulled my daughter into the classroom. My students were not unfamiliar with her, and they'd seen Xion pull this crap before.
"All right, let's get back into stats," I tried to lighten the mood, turning back to the whiteboard.
I was only able to teach for a few minutes without interuption. "Daddy? My tummy hurts…" I heard Reagan's tiny little voice whine from the back.
"I'm sorry, honey… I'll be done soon," I tried to assure her, my heart breaking a little bit.
"But it hurts really bad…" she pouted, tugging at my heart a little more.
I battled inwardly, but I knew that she wouldn't let it go until I paid attention to her. "All right… we're going to end here for today. Keep working on your projects, they're due at the end of the week."
As the students began to file out of my classroom, I headed to the back where Reagan was. "Daddy, it hurts…"
"Okay, baby… we'll get you to the doctor…" I told her, gathering her stuff back into her bag and lifting her into my arms. I had to find a solution for this… or I was going to lose my job.
x-x-x-x-x
Zexion
"Hey Zexion, how's business been?"
I looked up to see my friend Roxas on his daily patrol, which often brought him by my bookstore. "Same old, same old," I told him, shrugging. "How're you doing?"
"Totally amazing," he said with a huge grin on his face. "Got a date with this girl I pulled over."
"Another one?" I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. This guy had a different date every night. "What about that other girl you were seeing… Xion?"
He grimaced a little, "Ugh, no… she has a kid with some random guy she doesn't even know. Sorry, but I don't want in on their baby drama."
"Oh wow… I totally don't blame you," I laughed a little. He somehow always found the weirdest women.
"How're things with Vanitas? He treatin' you right?"
I sighed softly, looking at the floor, "We've been fine," I lied, grateful I was wearing a shirt that could cover my bruises.
"Zex… I've told you time and time again. All you have to do is file a formal complaint," he reminded me, fully aware of the problems I've been having with him.
"He's just going through a rough time. Every since he got fired from the auto shop he's just been…"
"Hitting you?" Roxas cut me off, narrowing his eyes at me.
I glowered right back at him, "I was going to say depressed. Look, Rox… I love him. He just needs to find a new job that keeps him working with cars."
"Why don't you offer him a job here in the meantime?" he wondered. I owned a bookstore/café downtown that was actually starting to do really well.
"I did… he said he'd never work in a place like this. It's just not him. Which I get," I said, knowing that my boyfriend would never ever want a job in a bookstore. He needed to be working with his hands.
Roxas just sighed and leaned against the counter, looking out over the store. "Why don't you ever get any live music in here? I mean those poetry readings are kinda cool, but you could put that stage in the corner to much better use…"
"I've thought about it a few times, actually… I just don't know anybody who could do it." I let my eyes travel over to the empty stage as well, agreeing with him on that.
"Hm… oh, actually I might know someone. I arrested this guy for public indecency once down at the ocean for trying to swim naked. He brought his guitar into the holding cell and totally blew everyone away," he mentioned, "I could definitely get you his name."
"So… you want me to hire a delinquent nudist to come sing at my café?" I stared at him with skepticism.
He chuckled, shaking his head, "He's not a nudist… he just really likes the water. Actually, you'd probably find him down at the pier right now. He's sort of a street performer as well, I guess."
"I don't know… what kind of music does he play?"
"Really mellow, soft stuff. The kind of shit you'd love to have here," he told me, making it sound like a pretty good idea, actually. "He's all acoustic and his voice is kind of amazing."
I thought about it for a second, "Yeah… maybe I'll check him out later."
"Seriously, I think he would bring in a ton of people," Roxas assured me. It almost sounded to me like he was overselling it a little, but I'd have to see for myself. "I can give you a ride down to the pier if you want. I was on my way there anyways."
I glanced over at Marluxia, one of my favorite employees, "Hey Marly! Would you be okay if I stepped out for like a half hour or so?"
"No problem, man," he replied in his usual easy-going way.
But of course, the moment I turned to leave a crowd of people came in and began lining up at the counter for lunch. "Ah… scratch that idea, Rox. I gotta stick around to help with the rush."
"Well how about I just send him your way?" he offered on his way out.
"Sounds good," I called after him, scrambling to start filling some of the orders coming in.
By the time the lunch rush was over I'd almost forgotten about the musician that he was going to send over, but lo and behold… about twenty minutes later this tall blond guy walked in with a guitar slung over his shoulder. He was …interesting, to say in the least. I think he had some kind of weird fauxhawk thing going on with his hair.
"Hey, where can I find Zexion Lang?" he approached the counter, staring right at me.
"Uh… that's me," I told him, stepping out into the store and shaking his hand. "Are you the singer Roxas was telling me about?"
He nodded, "Name's Demyx. So you're looking for someone to play here?"
"Yeah… I'd like to have some live entertainment around lunchtime. Maybe some occasional evenings," I explained, pointing him towards the small stage. "Is it something you'd be interested in?"
"Definitely! I've been looking for work lately. I'm a surf instructor down at the beach but when I was arrested a few weeks ago business kind of went down the crapper…"
I laughed a little, "Yeah, I heard about your little escapade…"
"Swimming in clothing isn't natural. It just doesn't feel right!" he exclaimed dramatically, making me laugh even more.
"I don't swim, so I wouldn't know…"
The look on his face was absolutely priceless, like I'd kicked a kitten or something. "How can you not swim?! We live so close to such a gorgeous ocean!"
"I'm just… not an outdoorsy guy I guess," I shrugged, smiling at him.
"Outdoorsy or not, you have got to get in the water sometime. Like seriously, I'll take you down there right now," he said, and I could tell he was indeed absolutely serious about that.
I chuckled, "How about you just play me a couple songs? You remember why you came here, right?"
"Yes, the music! The second half of my soul. All right, I'll play a couple different pieces for ya."
He hopped up onto the stage, pulling the barstool in the corner up to the mic and getting situated on top of it with his guitar.
When he started playing I could actually feel my heart slow down a little, and then get much quicker. His music was just… beautiful. I'd never heard anything like it before. It was perfect for what I wanted at my store, and he was already drawing a crowd.
As he finished his second song he looked up at me and I quickly realized that I'd been totally zoned out while I listened to him. "So… do I get the gig?" he asked, looking incredibly hopeful.
"Yeah… you got the gig, Demyx."
x-x-x-x-x
Axel
"Oi, watch it!" I exclaimed, but it was too late… one of the new waiters came crashing into me, soaking me from head to toe in the soup of the day and other miscellaneous food items. "Fuck…" I swore under my breath, grateful that it was the end of my shift.
"I'm so sorry Axel…" he squeaked, bending down to pick up the broken plates.
I rolled my eyes, stepping over him to leave, "You've got to be quick on your feet in this industry, kid."
"I'll keep that in mind," he said, looking up at me with fear in his eyes. Did I really scare people that much?
"Axel, wait up a second!" I heard a familiar squeak of a voice behind me.
I turned to face Shiki, the restaurant greeter, "What's up?"
"Why are you covered in old food?" she stopped, suddenly looking confused.
"Ah… Pence decided to show me today's menu," I laughed softly, smiling at her. She was young, but it made her cute and naïve.
She giggled in her usual high-pitched manner, "It's kind of funny… our head chef looking so normal for once."
"Shiki, is everyone here afraid of me?" I asked her blatantly, really wondering why everybody treated me like an alien.
She just shrugged, "Our last head chef was a total head case… incredibly concieted, yelled at everyone, etcetera etcetera…"
"So they think I'm the same?"
"It's kind of a package deal with chefs at 4 star restaurants. They know how amazing they are and… so does everybody else," she said, her honey brown eyes sparkling up at me.
I sighed, leaning against the front window. "I'm not like that… I don't think I'm better than anybody else… I just happen to know how to cook."
"Then you really are the best chef around. You know… I've always wondered where incredible chefs take girls on dates," she stepped towards me a little, batting her eyelashes, "Like… you work at the only decent restaurant in town, so…"
"So I cook for them at home, obviously," I chuckled, used to her incessant flirting. She never really gave up with it. "Hey Shiki… I don't want to offend you or anything, but how old are you really?"
She cocked her head to the side, "I'm 18, why?"
"You know I'm 30, right?" I pointed out, hoping that maybe that would put an end to her creepy obsession with me.
"You're 30? But you look so young!" she exclaimed, clearly surprised by that.
I raised an eyebrow, "I wouldn't say I'm an old man, either… but do you see what I'm saying?"
"I will… back off," she said, blushing intensely as she stepped back behind her podium.
"Good thinking," I smiled, turning and heading outside.
Not to mention, I was married. I didn't really tell anybody at work because… does it matter? Either way, I hoped she would be at home waiting for me.
"Axel!" my bundle of love tackled me as I walked through the front door of my apartment.
I planted a big kiss right on her lips, grinning from ear to ear, "Yuffie, my love! I missed you today."
"I know… you work too much," she giggled, wrapping her arms around my waist. "Rufus missed you too," she added as our little pug waddled into the room and lazily tried to jump on me.
Leaning down a little, I scooped him up and held him between us. He immediately started slobbering all over both of us, covering our faces with kisses.
"Listen, Axe…" she suddenly seemed serious, and I knew immediately what was coming. "They're sending me away again… Three months this time."
"Yuffie… You know I can't handle being away from you for that long… Can't you just quit? Find another job?"
She sighed, sitting down on the couch, "I wish it was that easy, Axel… but my bags are already packed. I leave tomorrow morning."
"I hate your job… what do you even do again?" I teased her, laying next to her on the couch.
"Funny funny, Axe…" she mumbled. She was a product rep for a huge cosmetics company, and she was so good at her job that they often sent her out of the state for long periods of time. We'd only been married for a year and a half and she'd been out of town about four times.
"I'm not kidding, love… what am I going to do without you?" I groaned, hugging her tight while Rufus struggled to pull himself up onto the couch.
She lifted him up and pouted up at me, "I wish I could at least take Rufus… I'm gonna miss this pudgy little guy…"
"He's never right when you're gone… he just mopes," I mumbled, "Kind of like I do…"
x-x-x-x-x
Author's Note: So obviously this story is starting out very raw, with some very odd pairings happening. Please note that NONE of the current pairings will make it to the end of the story, so don't give me shit because you don't like them.
This story might be slow right now, and maybe a little confusing… but this first chapter was meant as nothing more than an introduction to set the scene. Please keep an eye out for more! It's going to be… interesting, to say in the least.
Love you all!
-EtherealLove15