Working Towards Happiness Chapter 2: Flowers of the Heart

Suki's morning went relatively uneventful, with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happening. Executives went about their business on the floor and supervisors stopped frequently by to check that work was being done. At around 10 the coffee and doughnuts arrived and Suki finished typing the tenth report as she nibbled on the chocolate frosted doughnut. At lunch, Suki sat with her two lower co-workers, Nada and Reba. They talked about the day's events, fantasized about their perfect boyfriends, and talked briefly on the matter of the overwhelming load of paperwork. When lunch was over, however, things took a slight change.

Guided by soldiers, the girls were lead into one of the main conference halls. Puzzled by the development, Suki wondered if there was a bomb somewhere in the building and that this was a safety precaution. When all of the girls were gathered, one of the soldiers jumped upon the small platform near the front and began to read the speech on the document in front of him.

"Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the creating of Shinra Inc. As in tradition, the annual employee ball will be held tomorrow night in the grand ball room from 6 P.M. until 1 A.M. However, due to the discrepancies over dates and clashing dresses from the previous ball, special measures will be taken."

Suki frowned at this. What kind of special measures? True, the last ball had been a mess. All of the girls had argued about dress color and everyone wanted the same date!

"Starting with the highest girl authority, you will, one by one in descending order, draw a number from the box on the platform beside me and then you are free to go back to work. All of the men are in a separate and are also drawing numbers. You date will be the person who has the same number as you, although you won't find out who that is until tomorrow night. Also, do to the color issues, each couple will be assigned a color by random slots drawn by the guys. You ladies will receive a corsage that matches the color you dress must be before dismissal today. Please make sure you dress matches the flower color or you will not be allowed to attend. There is to be no trading or exchanging of dates or colors. Now, please line up and draw a number."

Suki shrugged and got into line in front of Reba and Nada. Well, if anything this was a way to eliminate everyone swarming over the same guy. When it was her turn, Suki reached into the box a picked out a paper slip, then went back to her desk to wait for Reba and Nada. Upon sitting down, Suki opened her slip and looked at the number inside. It was 77. Reba soon joined her, having picked number 223, and Nada came three minutes later with number 698. Silently wondering just who her date was, Suki went back to work on the seemingly endless pile of paperwork in front of her.

At three, Suki, Reba, and Nada took their 15-minute afternoon breaks and sat upstairs in the cafeteria drinking coffee.

"I heard from on of the guys a few floors down that EVERY guy drew a number, even the members of the Turks and President Rufus. I envy whoever gets that hunk for a date." Reba commented.

Nada cringed. "If they drew lots, then you can bet Hojo and Heidegger did, too. I'd hate to have one of them as my date."

Suki laughed along with the two as they walked back towards their desks. "Knowing my luck, I'll get someone high up and be so nervous I'll trip and embarrass myself! Either that or get a tacky color like neon yellow."

"Speaking of colors" Reba began, "Our corsages are here."

Upon every female's desk rested a box with their name printed upon the top. Reba picked hers up and opened it. The flower inside was a pale blue. Reba smiled, knowing the blue flower would go nice with her dark hair. Nada picked her box up rather nervously and then thrust it at Reba.

"You open it and tell me if it's a good color or not." Nada told her.

Reba shrugged and opened Nada's box.

"Don't worry. You always do look good in dark blue." Reba told her, holding up the dark blue flower.

Suki smiled, happy for her two friends, but also amused that they both got a shade of blue. She picked up her won box from the desk and cast a glance at Reba and Nada that said 'wish me luck'. Opening the box, Suki smiled. The flower was pure white.

"Well, it looks as if we all got good colors, huh?" Suki asked her two friends. Both nodded in response and then all three went back to the paperwork, heads filled with thoughts of just who their dates could be.

The next day, every employee that arrived at Shinra had a box and a long dress/tux bag with them. Suki, Nada, and Reba spent the morning and afternoon like always, save the presence of the corsages and dresses nearby. Come afternoon break, the entire building was abuzz about the ball and rumors about certain numbers were flying about. Suki could hardly wait to tell Reba and Nada what she had seen earlier. However, only Reba arrived on time, and Suki decided to tell her the big news.

"Hey, listen up." Suki started. "I was walking down the hall earlier to hand in those papers to Greg and I bumped into Reno."

At the mention of the red-headed Turk's name, Reba became very interested in what Suki was talking about. It was no secret between the three girls that Reba had the hots for him.

"…And he accidentally dropped his number." Suki continued.

"AND?" Reba asked, impatiently.

"I hope you have fun at the ball with him, Reba." Suki grinned.

Reba squealed like a high-school girl and hugged Suki. A date with Reno had been Reba's dream! "Who's Nada's date?" Reba asked Suki, after she had managed to calm down.

"Oh, she said earlier it was a guy from a floor down. You know the black haired Asian guy?" Suki said, trying to remember more details from an earlier conversation with Nada.

"Oh…she must like that."

"I think so. Hey, where is she anyway?"

Reba shrugged and she and Suki went back to their drinks. Three minutes before break ended Nada ran in the room and joined the pair.

"Suki, what number do you have?" Nada asked her, out-of-breath.

"Uh, 77…why?" Suki told her, taking a moment to examine the number in her pocket.

"OH MY GOD! YOU ARE SOOOO LUCKY!" Nada practically screamed.

"Why? Who's Suki's date?" Reba asked her.

Nada called Reba over and whispered in her ear. Reba's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Really?" She asked Nada.

"Yup."

"Oh my word…I envy you Suki." Reba told her.

"So, are you two going to tell me or not?" Suki asked, half annoyed that she was being left out of an issue that directly concerned her.

Nada started. "Yeah, okay. It's-"

"President Rufus!" Reba cut her off.

Suki blinked, and then did what almost anyone in her position would do: she fainted.