"Black or blue?" I said, entering the kitchen.

"Huh?" Xavier mumbled, lifting his head up from the newspaper he was reading.

I mouthed the word 'shoes' and pointed down at my feet, my left foot had a blue heel on and my right had a black one, and in my left arm I held the mates to them.

"Blue." He said before turning back to the paper. I sat down across from him at the table, slipping off the black heel and replacing it with the mate of the blue one.

"Is it really that wise to wear heels and a skirt to a interview that requires fighting?" Kalie spoke up, seated between Xavier and me, on the right side of our square, little kitchen table.

"Shut up, Kay. You're just jealous she can kick ass in heels and you an barely walk in them..." Xavier said, not even caring to look up from the paper.

"Someone's cranky today." She murmured under her breath.

He sighed before looking at her long and hard, "I'm tired, I worked til 2 am and have to go back in at 10 am. Cut me some slack." I heard him say something barely audible about "at least I have a job" as he turned away.

I got up and grabbed his empty coffee cup and walked to the counter. I did feel bad for him. The poor guy did nothing but work, his job at the hospital had him on call all the time, and last night was no exception

"Anywaaaay," I started, break the cold chill that entered the room, but before I could continue Kalie cut me off. "Annie, think you could do me a favor?"

"What's that?" I said, reaching up in the cupboard for a mug for myself.

"Can you hook me up with that boss of yours, that guy not only has money, but he is amazing to look at."

I let out a chuckle as I started pouring coffee in the two mugs. "Couple things about that. One, he's not my boss...yet. Second, the Shinra Company isn't the way it was, it's not a bazillion dollar company raking in the money." I walk over and placed the coffee in front of Xavier before sitting back down.

"So? Still a nice piece of meat, and beside they'll be back on top soon."

I chuckled again and shook my head.

"What is the company up to anyway?" Xavier asked, looking up, taking an interested in the conversation.

I shrugged my shoulder and took a sip of coffee. "No clue, guess I'll find that out if I get the job."

"Well," he started, getting up and setting down his paper. "If they need any one in their medical and science labs, assuming they still have them, put in a good word for me."

"Haha will do." I finished my coffee before standing up and putting it in the sink. "I should probably get going, it's already 9:30."

I started to walk out, grabbing my bag. "Good luck" I heard from Xavier.

"Hey, don't forget, give Shinra my number, kay?" Kalie shouted, I laughed before nodding and shutting the front door.

Getting in my car, I took a deep breath before starting it. So much was going through my head; it was to the point where it was overwhelming. I was worried, what if I wasn't as good as the other people I'm up against, what if I fail miserably in front of all these people. I put the car in gear and started my 15-minute drive to the Shine Company building. Shuffling through my iPod, I picked some music to fit my mood, to pump me up for what was to come.

Music blaring, I pulled up to the building, finding a parking space close by. Taking another deep breath, I got out the car and popped the trunk. I walked around back to grab my sword, but at I started to bend down my thoughts were cut off by "Well, look who made it to round two."

I turned around to see who was talking to me and smiled.

"If it isn't John Listred," my biggest competition, a former 2nd class ex-SOILDER, which meant he had a sort of seniority and pull over the company. I met him last interview, and before he had went in for his, we made acquaintances.

"Excited?" he asked.

"Worried would be the term I'd use." I said, turning back to my trunk. I picked up my sword and closed the lid.

"Yeah, well you should be, cause you're going down," he gave me a playful shove as we started walking to the building.

I know he was joking but it knocked me down a bit in the confidence sense. And I'm pretty sure he noticed.

"Hey, woah, I was just joking," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Tell you what, winner takes the loser out to dinner."

I tried to keep a cool demeanor but in my head I was thinking "Fuck..." Don't get me wrong, he was a nice guy, but I was not interested in him that way what so ever (plus, between you and me, he wasn't strong in the looks department), and it made me uncomfortable that he was hinting to a date.

I decided to joke it off, "Puh-lease, if I get this job, I'm not sharing my winnings with anyone." I opened the door to the building and before he could reply I was already at the front desk, checking in.

"9th floor," the secretary said unenthusiastic, not even looking up from her crossword puzzle.

"Thank you," I said, walking to the elevator, John not far behind. "Great, a long elevator ride with a guy hitting on me" I thought.

I entered the elevator and leaned against the back wall, and John got closer to me. "Okay, if you get the job, I'll still pay. You, me, dinner, deal?"

I started to shake my head and say something but he stopped me "No, don't answer yet, think about it."

This guy just wasn't getting it. I looked at the ground; at least I could say no and after this never have to see him again. Sometimes I hate the fact that I can't be mean to people...well when it comes to situations like this.

After a few more seconds of awkward silence, the elevator finally stopped and opened. There, in the waiting room were three doors and two other people, some buff guy that looked like he overdoses on steroids and a woman that looked the same and also gave me the creeps.

I took a seat open at the far end, hoping no one would join me, but that plan obviously didn't look promising as John sat right between me and the other two.

It was only a five-minute wait before a door opened and in walked the president and the 4 others from the interview.

And then the president began a speech: "Welcome and congratulations on advancing to the next step in employment of becoming a loyal Turk. This part will address you fighting skills. You will soon enter our training room where you will prove yourself by fighting 5 enemies. Should at anytime this becomes too much for you, there will be a red button by the entrance that you can press to will stop the fighting. In conjunction with that, if we see that you are in danger and the enemy has overcome you, we will stop it ourselves. At this time I would like to introduce the current members of the Turks, the ones you will be working with should we choose you. First you have the commander, if you are hired, he will be your superior; Tseng." I looked to the man who stepped forward, the Wutain man with long black hair.

"Next you have Elena." The short haired blond gave a small wave.

"Rude." The bald man there nodded his head.

"And Reno."

"Yo." The red-haired man with goggles and tattoos gave a two-fingered wave.

Reno? The same man who called me on the phone, the same man that made me blush at the interview, the same man that I could now see was even cuter than I thought he was in that dark interview room.

"Fuck Annie, get a grip, now is not the time to think like that." I scolded myself in my mind.

"They, along with myself will be watching you as you fight. You'll be going in alphabetical order, starting with Belder. That is all." He turned and started to leave but before he did, he turned his head towards us and said: "Oh and one other thing, no magic" And that was it, he turned and left, followed by the Turks, last leaving was Reno, giving me a quick glance and smirk before leaving.