Mr. Cellophane
Shaking nervously in the mirror he checked his appearance. As always, nothing was worth observing other than the fact the suit he wore was slightly too large.
Not his hair which was boring and brown. Not his eyes... boring... brown.
Not his nondescript forgettable face.
He sighed.
What did he have to offer to a woman like her?
Every day for two years he visited the exact same bar, sat in the exact same seat, drunk the exact same drink and not once had she noticed him.
Until last week. A day that had changed his life.
He was sat in his usual spot just within ear shot so he could bathe in the warm intoxicating sound of her voice. But not too close that she would notice he was listening. He didn't want to seem like one of the other countless creeps who tried to hit on her, he was different than them, his feelings were different.
It was getting on to the later part of the evening, the part of the day he loved the most. Her voice would take on a huskier and more seductive tone from a full day of conversing with customers.
"Hi"
Those had been the first words she'd spoken to him and like an idiot he had continued to stare absently into his glass. Rarely had anyone approached or spoken to him before so it took a "helloooo, earth to Mr. dreamy" before he finally looked up to see her smiling brightly at him.
He'd choked. Stammered, floundered and silently flapped his mouth like a goldfish out of water. The recollection still made him shudder.
Why did he always stammer?
People usually walked off at this point, but not her. She continued gazing at him with those big gorgeous chocolate eyes. Eyes that had a richness and enticing glow he wish his had.
"So you ever been in here before?"
Only every day for the last two years
He didn't actually say that, although he wished he did, anything would have been better than the petrified silence he sat frozen in.
'So you ever been in here before?', those words were both painful and elating.
On one hand it was hurtful confirmation that not once had she noticed him despite the various occasions he'd convinced himself otherwise.
On the other hand she had really approached him and was actually speaking words other than "that'll be 3 gil please".
He sat mentally screaming at himself as she waited for a response.
Say something you idiot... something... anything! god please just say something!
His head worked in a furious panic while his face yelled 'rabbit in the headlights'.
Tell her something interesting about yourself
Nothing came to mind.
Tell her something interesting you've done
Again... nothing.
Oh god... what did he have to offer to a woman like her?
She sat patiently gazing at him with hypnotic kindness and understanding. His heart melted, just like it had the first time he ever saw her and every day since. Gaia she was beautiful. Falling into her stare his tongue unraveled and he finally began to form words.
"I wa..."
At the precise moment he was about to speak some greasy old drunk decided it was a good time to smash a beer bottle over some other guys head. It was one of those ridiculously cliché interruptions you would only see in a movie or a novel.
She dashed away to vacate the men from the premises, the main aggressor decided to fight back.
Bad move buddy
He'd seen her incredible fighting abilities on countless occasions, most of the time to deal with pigs who tried to grope her. He remembered the first time he'd seen her fight. He'd been walking back from where he worked as a clerk in a junk yard... glamorous right?
He was heading home, walking passed the bar he saw three men stumbling down the alley way that lead to the back of the building. Taking a peak he oversaw the men shouting derogatory and perverted obscenities at her as she was emptying the bins.
Adrenaline pumping he was about to jump in and fight them off, perhaps rescuing her would get him noticed?. He'd never been in a fight in his entire life, not even as a child attending a school in the slums rife with bullying, even bullies didn't seem to notice him. He probably couldn't fight, but for her he would try.
Her well-developed athletic body moved in a flash of lightning quick movements and the men were pummeled into the ground before he could even move. It mesmerized him how anyone could seem so delicate and gentle and yet dish out that kind of damage.
What did he have to offer to a woman like her?
He hadn't slept a wink that night, replaying their encounter at the bar over and over in his mind.
Tell her something interesting about yourself
Nothing came to mind.
Tell her something interesting you've done
Again... nothing.
Was this his life? even now without being locked under her mystifying stare he still couldn't come up with anything.
In that moment reality came crashing down around him. Though he breathed and moved and seemed alive, he had not lived a day in his life. The truth overwhelmed him at first, but with it came realisation that he was tired... tired of being alone.
It was at that point he decided it would all change. No longer would he be the phantom in the corner, no longer would he be the forgettable face or the silent dreamer.
What did he have to offer to a woman like her?... his heart.
He would offer it to her and whether she accepted it or not, it was hers and at least she would know.
He now stood outside the bar for the fourth day in a row feeling awkward, the flowers he'd bought were beginning to wilt. He'd happened upon a pretty flower girl in the local market, astonished that anyone had actually managed to grow flowers in Midgar, surely these would get him noticed?. Possibly even more amazing was that the flower girl had actually spoken to him in more than just the traditional obligatory customer service drone.
She had sweetly asked him who the flowers were for. He'd stammered to speak for an eternity... ok that might be a slight exaggeration, but do you realise how slow time goes when you're stuttering for a minute straight?.
Why did he always stammer?
Incredibly she too didn't just walk away. When he finally managed to get the words out that they were for a lady she wished him good luck with a comforting squeeze to the hand and said that 'she' was a lucky girl.
The contact left him stunned, someone else had noticed him as well! perhaps his life really was about to change!.
He had stood outside for four days as for some unusual reason the bar had been closed the last few nights. Perhaps it had something to do with the two Mako reactors that were all over the news after being blown up by terrorists. The whole world seemed to be going mad lately.
Four days and still he had not become any less riddled with nerves as he stood apprehensively scrunching and unscrunching his hand.
Please don't stammer, please don't stammer.
That's when the earth shattering explosion overhead erupted, shaking the very ground he stood on.
That's when he watched as the plate above crashed through the support pillars.
That's when he watched as people ran screaming in every direction for their lives.
But not him.
He stood motionless as the plate descended towards him, standing in the suit that had cost him 2 weeks wages and a bunch of flowers from one of the few kind-hearted people he'd met in his life.
Though a long tear raced down one cheek he couldn't resist the bitter short laugh that escaped him. The day he had planned to finally start living was the day he was going to die.
What did he have to offer a woman like Tifa Lockhart?... nothing now.
A/N
This is my first ever one shot so reviews and thoughts greatly appreciated.
Womble
xxx