Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I only own Analuxia. No other profitable characters are mine.

It had been eight weeks since the students had graduated into professional Turks. In that time, they had signed up officially and had all gotten the keys to their new apartments. Analuxia was in her element. The apartments were fully-furnished and absolutely beautiful. It was clear that Rufus Shin-Ra only wanted the best for his new employees.

They were all offically going to start on Monday morning and although she was a little nervous, Analuxia was still excited. The front door knocked and Analuxia got up to answer it, not caring that she was in her bedclothes and that her hair looked an absolute mess.

"I'm coming!" she called, undoing all the latches and opening the door. There stood a delivery man, looking a bit bemused to see Analuxia looking so bedraggled at eleven 'o clock in the morning. Analuxia looked down at the package he was holding. "Is that for me?" she asked.

Analuxia felt excited. She had never received mail before. When she was lodging in the slums, no one had her address, when she was living with her mother before she was killed, she had been too young to receive mail. Ana's eyes wandered the packaging quickly and excitedly. She held out her hands to take it.

"Um, can you sign for it first please?" the mailman asked. Analuxia watched as he brought out a piece of paper and a pen, which he gave to Analuxia.

Ana was bemused. What was she supposed to sign it with? The mailman noticed her hesitation.

"All you have to do is sign the dotted line at the bottom with your name. It's not going to go anywhere. It's just for security reasons".

Ana finally understood. She put her name at the bottom and handed it back to the man, who in turn, handed her the packages.

"Thanks, bye" he smiled. Ana shut the door and made her way to the living room which had a large window which overlooked the skyscrapers of the city. From her window, she could see the tall buliding with "Shin-Ra Corporation" written on the side of it which was a couple of blocks away. That was her new workplace. Talk about close to home! From her apartment, Ana could walk to work.

Setting the mail down, Ana looked around to see if she could find any labels that would give a clue to where it came from. She eventually found one, and bent down to read the small writing.

To: Analuxia Lockworth
185 Moonbay Apartments
286th Street

From: Shin-Ra Corporation

The Shin-Ra corp? The packages came from Rufus? Opening the biggest one, Analuxia's expression changed.

"Oh my gosh!"

The phone in Elena's apartment trilled into life. Rushing to answer it, Elena wondered who would be calling her. "Hello, Locano household speaking".

"Leeny, it's me". Elena smiled as the familiar voice of her best friend, Analuxia traveled to her eardrums.

"Hi Ana! How are you? Excited about Monday?" Elena asked.

Analuxia groaned down the phone. "I was but not anymore. Have you seen what they expect us to wear?"

Elena nodded, although Analuxia couldn't see it. "Yes, I'm wearing it now actually. I don't think it's too bad, although it doesn't suit my hair much. What do you think I should do?"

"I think you should come up so we can find a way to make the hideous suits look better".

Elena sighed, "Okay Ana, I'll be up in a minute".

That was the great advantage of living in the same apartment block as your best friend. Whenever one of you needed advice, the other could take a short trip to arrive to you. Elena lived five floors down from Analuxia so an elevator ride was all it required. Soon enough, Ana's door was being knocked.

"Is that you, Leeny?" she asked.

"Yep" Elena answered. "Open up already!"

Analuxia opened the door and ushered Elena in, giving her a quick hug at the same time. She saw that Elena was indeed wearing the uniform of a dark blazer, matching smart pants and patent black heels. Her blond hair was half up-half down, so Ana knew that she had previously been trying out different styles.

"Your one looks better than mine! Mine is horrible!" Ana moaned. Elena bent down to pick up the pile of clothes that Analuxia had left on the floor.

"Well, I'm sure they're the same. Have you tried it on yet?"

Ana shook her head reluctantly. Elena rolled her eyes. "Well you can't say it looks bad yet! Try it on". Analuxia took the clothes from Elena's waiting hands and made her way to her bedroom.

"Fine. I'll be with you in a minute. And prepare to laugh at my hideousness".

The door to Rufus' office tapped a few times. "Come in!"

He watched as a mysterious-looking man in a navy blue suit with long black hair walked in. Rufus brightened up. "Tseng! How have you been?"

Tseng didn't speak for a while and it looked like he was thinking things through. Finally, Rufus got his answer. "I am fine sir. Nothing out of the ordinary".

Rufus nodded. Tseng never did talk much and it seemed like a vacation back to his home country of Wutaii did little to improve that fact.

"Good. Well, as you know, the newbies will be starting first thing on Monday morning. I would like for you to be in charge of them. Can you handle this task?"

Tseng nodded. It was barely visible but it was still a nod. "Of course sir" he clarified.

Analuxia struggled out of the bathroom, holding onto all the railings as she walked. She still couldn't walk in heels and guess what? Part of her uniform were high heeled shoes. When she finally made it to the living room she just stood there, not bothering to do any fancy twirls or anything like that.

Elena looked her over and frowned. "Hmm... you're going to need to learn to walk in heels Ana".

Ana rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know that. But what about the rest of me? Don't I look awful?"

Elena walked over to her and took Analuxia's mass of curls in one hand, using the other to wind a kirby grip into the tangles.

"What are you doing to my hair?" Ana asked, sounding slightly freaked out.

"I'm trying to make it look neat while it's curly" Elena mumbled, barely coherent with the five bobby pins that she was currently holding in her mouth.

"But why?"

"Because, you have to look decent on Monday. Which means, hair under control".

Ana sighed. Why couldn't she just be a Turk in whatever clothes she wanted to wear with her hair done however she wanted in done? Why did there always have to be these strict rules? Because Rufus Shin-Ra was in charge, that's why. "God, your boyfriend is so fussy!"

Elena did a double take. "What boyfriend? In case you didn't realise, I haven't got one".

Ana grinned. Now was her chance for some fun. "Well when I said boyfriend, I meant Rufus Shin-Ra". Cue, Elena's cheeks becoming scarlet red.

"He's not my boyfriend!" said. "He is just..."

"...just a sexy beast who you want to fuck!" Analuxia finished off. "Hmm... I wonder how big he is down there?"

Elena was so red, Analuxia thought she was going to burst in a colorful array of tomato juice. "I-I don't know. And we shouldn't be talking about our new boss like that. What if he could somehow hear us?"

"Then I'm sure he'll be flattered" Analuxia laughed. "Nice way to inflate his already huge… ego!"

Monday Morning...

Tseng grabbed the coffee that his assistant had brought in for him. It was just what he needed to awaken him. He'd gone to bed late last night and hadn't yet quite recovered.

"Sir, your Turks are waiting for you in the drawing room" his assistant poked her head around the door to tell him.

Tseng gave her a nod and got to his feet, slurping down a bit of coffee before he left to meet the newcomers.

The trilling of Analuxia's PHS forced her out of her deep sleep reverie. Groping blindly for the cell, she held it up against her ear and winced as the squealing from the other end got to her. "H-Hello?"

"Analuxia, it's me. Where are you? We have to be in work in two minutes. You do know that right?"

"Oh shit!" Ana moaned throwing the warm covers off her body and leaping out of bed.

There was a short silence from Elena's end of the line. "God, you did forget didn't you? Did I wake you up?"

"Kind of" Analuxia told her truthfully, grabbing some tights and rushing to get her legs into them. "But it's not far. I'll get a bus there and be with you in twenty minutes. Make up an excuse for Shin-Ra please?"

"I bet I'm going to be found out for this" Elena groaned.

"No of course you won't babe! Just tell them that I had a dentist's appointment or something. You know how to get around Rufus anyway. And I'll make it up to you!"

Elena snorted. "You better!" she warned. Her tone became sweet again. "Okay, I'll see you when you get here".

Analuxia grinned at her best friend's sudden change of tune. "Yeah, see you there. Oh, and Leeny?"

"Hmm?"

"Do I have to wear the heels to work today?"

"YES!"

"So basically that's what you'll be doing for the next six months or so, at least. Once you've proved yourselves to us, we will decide further. Is that clear?"

Everyone in the room nodded silently. Elena checked her watch. Analuxia said she'd be here five minutes ago now. Where was she?

"Is there anyone missing today?" Tseng asked. Elena reluctantly stuck up her hand and she noticed Rufus watching her.

"Who is absent?" Tseng asked her politely.

"Analuxia Lockworth. She had a dentist appointment so she'll be a bit late".

Tseng nodded and it seemed like he was taking in what she had told him as the truth. Rufus on the other hand looked slightly less convinced.

"Tseng, could you go and check if Analuxia's arrived yet? She won't know where to go. I'll cover for you". Tseng nodded at his boss' command and made his way to the door.

"These frikkin' shoes!" Analuxia complained as she made her way to the elevator carefully. She was at the ground floor of the Shin-Ra building and she had found out that the meeting she was supposed to currently be attending was on the 15th floor. Pressing the button on the elevator, Analuxia held onto the sides as the contraption whizzed upwards. Finally, the door opened at the 15th floor. Analuxia walked out, feeling proud that she hadn't yet tripped in her heels. But then, she had practised almost all day Saturday and Sunday in an effort not to completely make a fool of herself today. But then again, she was Analuxia Lockworth. She was bound to make a fool of herself.

Striding rather confidently along the empty corridor and marvelling at how much noise the shoes made on the floor Ana grinned.
"Damn, I'm good! Just two days practise and already I can walk like a model!"

It was precisely after she had said that, that she had dropped quite badly on the floor with a loud Thump! "Oof!" Analuxia groaned as she hit the floor hard. As she lifted her chin off of the floor, she found herself looking at a pair of shiny black shoes in her face. Analuxia looked up to see the most handsome, sexy man she had ever seen in her life.

Blushing bright red, Analuxia tried to regain the little composure that she had left. "Hee hee, maybe I'm not as good at walking in heels as I thought!" she smiled at the gorgeous stranger.

He gave her the slightest hint of a smile in return and extended his arm out. Analuxia grabbed it and he lifted her to her feet with little effort, as if she was as light as a feather. "I take it you must be Analuxia Lockhart?" he said to her in a gravelly voice.

"Yuh-huh. I mean yes, that's me" Ana replied. "But you can call me Ana".

The man nodded. "My name is Tseng and I am your boss. We figured it would be easier if Mr Shin-Ra didn't have to control everyone. So I agreed to take over the newcomers".

First she had fallen flat on her face in front of a total hottie and then, she finds out that hottie is her boss! Could the day become anymore embarrassing?

"Ah good evening Ana. I see you've managed to get out of bed then?" Ana turned to see Rufus standing with a smile on his face. Next to him, stood Elena, looking apologetic and very sheepish.

"Bed? I've been out of bed for hours sir! I had to go to a dentist's appointment today. That's why I was running a bit late".

Rufus raised one blond eyebrow. "So I've heard". He didn't sound convinced at all. Nice one Elena... completely blow my cover why don't you...

"Heh heh" Ana chuckled awkwardly. "I've heard that Mr…um… Tseng is our boss. How comes I didn't see him at any of the parties the TTC held, Mr Shin-Ra?" Nice one Ana... perfect way to change the subject.

Instead of Rufus answering, like Ana expected, Tseng decided to answer. "I'm afraid I wasn't at the parties because I was on a mission during the welcoming one and on vacation for the graduation one. I've heard good things about all of you though".

Ana giggled a little. Elena looked confused. Rufus looked thoughtful. Ana looked around at everyone that was currently surrounding her. In actual fact, she just wanted to stare at Tseng but she knew that that would be much too obvious. So she would just have to be content with glancing at him for now.

Tseng was the one to break the silence. "I guess we better be getting back to the meeting. Analuxia, you come too, okay?"

Analuxia nodded mutely. Damn he didn't need to ask! I'll go wherever he takes me!