Truth be told, he wasn't sure why he even was bothering with trying to get and keep a job. In the past week he had gone through several different jobs that people do that seem so easy but still he managed to get fired from every single one. It wasn't like he was picking jobs that required skill in a certain trade either because he had gone so low as to try being just a cashier at a shop. It was a job that most teenagers take and have no issues with whatsoever and basically a good employee would be the one who was pleasant to the customers. Of course, there was a limit to how pleasant one can be apparently.
Zack had a habit of talking to people a bit too much because he always enjoyed conversation and always enjoyed meeting new people as well. Of course, that's not to say that he wasn't doing his job because he would still ring up orders. It was the process of taking the gil and counting out change that he had a problem with because he never seemed to pay much attention to it. He'd always place too much attention on the customer rather than his actual job. Needless to say, after two days of working as a cashier and having lost nearly one hundred gil in those two days combined, his boss didn't feel like it would be a good idea to keep the ex-SOLDIER on the job. Zack was under the impression that the man probably thought he didn't know how to properly do math.
That had been the latest job he had and by now it was the longest one he had managed to hold onto. He had actually taken a job as a road worker because the roads in Edge needed serious repair. His job was a simple there too. All he had to do was stand by the truck and wait for the signal for him to release the cement. The signal was one of the other workers waving at him considering no one could really hear each other unless they stood next to one another with the jackhammer going. Unfortunately, waving a hand is something that can show up without meaning to. What Zack had mistaken as a wave was merely someone swatting at a bee that had been flying by their face. Of course, from Zack's vantage point at the time he had just took it as a wave for him to release the cement. He pulled the lever and it poured out of the truck and right onto several other workers, including his supervisor.
It didn't matter that Zack had received a false call from another person so he ended up getting fired from that mishap alone. Apparently it involved more with the mess that was created and the loss of money because of the cement not being able to be used at that point. He didn't much like that job to begin with so he didn't really count it as a loss. Still, it had been a job, and it almost looked like he had it considering he lasted the entire day without a large mistake like that.
At least, that's what he had been explaining to Tifa about his recent jobs for the past half hour or so. She didn't really comment on any of the things he said and continued to work behind the counter. She had a notepad in one hand while she scribbled things down in the other. He wasn't even sure she was listening to him considering she gave no outward appearances of doing so while she continued with her inventory work. Sometimes his visits were like this; however, he would talk and she would give the appearance of not paying attention. He learned the last couple of times that were similar like the one he was in today that she was still paying attention. If he were to ask her what he had just said to her, she would be able to tell him word for word what he had told her. He just assumed it was just a skill she picked up with having to hear several orders from different customers at the same time. Multitasking was a trait that was needed to run your own business.
Based on the cashier job he had, he would have to say he wasn't the greatest when it came to multitasking. It's funny when he thought about it because when he was on the run with Cloud many years back, he had talked about starting his own business with the blond. He supposed that probably would have been a big flop if he were the one in charge of it all. Hell, Zack wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't have even been able to get a business started in the first place. Unlike Tifa who was well organized, sharp minded, and multitasker extraordinaire – it wasn't hard to believe that she has managed to maintain a healthy business all this time.
"How come you aren't opened in the morning?" It wasn't that he truly cared that she didn't have her bar opened. It was sort of a blessing in disguise for him because that's when he showed up – while other patrons are unable to do so. Still it was something he was curious about and he had run out of things to talk about concerning his adventures of job hunting.
"Usually it's spent getting Marlene and Denzel ready for school." She answered after she had to stop and think about what he had asked. Apparently she hadn't expected him to get her into an active participant of the conversation.
"Oh…" Zack scratched the back of his head and thought about whether or not that should have been a logical answer or not. Should he have figured that out on his own or was he stupid for asking? "So… Are they usually gone before I show up then?" He actually hasn't seen any kids in the bar except for that first time he had found the place.
She stared at him for a few moments and Zack couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through her head while she was doing so. She tilted her head to the side slightly and Zack started to wonder if he had asked another silly question. It wasn't really his fault that he didn't have much else to use to start a conversation with. "It's summer… they don't have school for another month."
Zack would have pointed out the fact that he wouldn't know that because he had been homeschooled by his mother until he left for the academy. He would have mentioned it if it would have helped his case any but even someone like him, who hadn't stepped into an actual public school knows that during the summer kids are running around freely and happier than ever since they don't have to go to classes. "So… they just head out real early?"
"No." She sighed lightly before placing the notepad down on the counter. She hunched over the counter as she rested her cheek on one hand that was propped up by an elbow. "Barret is using up his vacation time this summer so he has them most of the summer."
She didn't look too happy about it and Zack just decided it was because she missed them. Then again, she could have very well been lonely without the kids around and Cloud gone for days or weeks on end. Actually, Zack hadn't heard anything about Cloud for two weeks now. "Barret is Marlene's dad right?" She had said something along those lines in the past when he asked about the kids. He just couldn't recall if it had been Marlene or Denzel that belonged to Barret.
She gave a nod of her head before picking up her notepad once again. She turned her back and started looking through her bottles once again. Zack glanced down at his glass of water and stared at it as he tried to come up with a different topic of conversation. Sadly, he fell short on ideas. Unfortunately, he didn't need to come up with something because Tifa decided at that moment to speak up. "So…" She drew off the word and Zack glanced up in response to pay attention. She still had her back to but at least now she seemed to be in more of a mood for conversation. "…how long have you been sleeping outside?"
It was a moment where everything seemed to freeze in place and the world stopped. The sounds outside seemed to deafen as Zack's brain tried to come up with an appropriate response. Truth be told, his mind seemed to freeze at that moment and for the life of him, he felt completely lost. He knew what she was talking about- what she was questioning, but he couldn't figure out exactly how she would actually know about that. Zack responded with the first logical thing that registered from his brain to his mouth, "Huh?"
"In that tent… the one setup in the old rundown parking garage. That structure isn't safe by the way."
"Uh…" She still didn't turn around which sucked for him because he would have given anything to see her face to help him know what she was thinking at that moment. Finally he gave a short laugh and patted the back of his head, "Wow… how do you know about that?" He hadn't actually mentioned his sleeping arrangements to her. It's not like he wasn't used to sleeping in a tent. He did it for a vast majority of his military career, that or barracks, which wasn't much of an improvement.
"I was coming home from the store the other night when I saw you."
"You followed me?" He couldn't help but sound amused at that. He didn't think Tifa was the type to follow someone home. "A simple 'Hello' would have been better you know."
"I was… curious."
He pressed his lips together in a thin line and noticed that despite having her back turned to him; she hadn't written a thing since she started this conversation. "Um… yeah…" It was actually embarrassing now that he thought more about it. It wasn't like he was an unclean hobo or anything. He still managed to get himself cleaned up and all that. "I guess… about a month or so."
He heard her sigh although it sounded a bit angry to him. If that wasn't sign enough that he was in trouble, the fact that she turned around and glared at him with her hands positioned on her hips in 'angry mom mood' certainly got the picture across for him. It was a look he had received countless times from his own mother when he was younger after he had done something stupid. Like that time he decided that a deadly snake would make an awesome pet to bring home to show his mom – whom was deathly afraid of snakes and he didn't know until that point.
"Uh… what?" He wasn't sure if he should have even spoken up at all.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Yep, Tifa was certainly annoyed and Zack wasn't sure how to deal with it or why she was annoyed to begin with. To be honest, he's never encountered her annoyed. She's always been pretty calm for the most part - even when he first sort of seemingly appeared from the grave. "You can't just live out in a tent."
Why does this seem like a lecture he would get from his mom? "But I'm fine." He replied back to try and affirm her that everything was alright with him.
"No… No you're not fine. Would it have been too much to ask for help?"
"No… but I wasn't looking for help. I mean… I don't really need it. I'll find a job soon enough." He tried his best to give her the infamous Fair Smile that warmed the hearts of dozens of women back in his time of SOLDIER. Sadly, it either died over the years or Tifa was immune to his charms.
"Great, until then you can take Cloud's room."
"Wait… what?" Zack backtracked for a moment. She was offering him a place to stay? She was offering him to stay with her? In Cloud's room? What if Cloud came back? Worse yet, what if he came back and stepped into his old room while Zack was sleeping in his bed? He would probably think some bum broke into his house and he'd attack him. "I can't do that."
Tifa arched a brow in response and the corner of her lips upturned slightly as she looked at him. "Really? As far as I'm aware this is my place and I can give a person a room and kick out anyone I want at any given time."
"But uh…"
"You can start tonight." She turned back around with her notepad, "Just be aware that this place gets busy and can be opened until two in the morning. It's loud sometimes so sleeping early might not be easy."
"But… I can't take a room for free…"
"Oh I fully expect you to pay rent. It's two hundred gil a week."
Two hundred gil a week was a lot of money for someone who didn't have a job. He wasn't sure how she expected him to pay that money when he couldn't stay at a single job long enough to make a decent amount of money. In fact, out of all the jobs he's done in the month, he probably only earned two hundred gil. The whole idea of him moving in was just completely crazy. Then again, it would mean that he would have a bed, and a bathroom, and a place to clean up daily which would be a plus. He wasn't exactly sure how this was supposed to work though. He'd probably jump awake with every car that passed by the place during the night because he would think it's Cloud and then the next moment he'd be hurling himself out the window whenever he heard footsteps in the hallway.
"But um… won't the kids find it weird?"
"They won't be around for three weeks."
So he had three weeks to get a steady job and move out. He really wouldn't want to make things awkward for Tifa and her family. "Um… what about Cloud?"
If that question affected her any, Zack couldn't tell because she didn't pause in her work or bat a lash at the question. She gave an easy and smooth response that was honest and straight to the point, "He's never around, why would he start now?"
The ex-SOLDIER felt a sour taste in his mouth at the response. It was true but Cloud did stop by occasionally; although it seemed it was only when he was in the neighborhood because of a job. Still, she didn't have to just rent out a room for him- there were always other alternatives. "You could… just give me a job, you know?" He questioned and tried the infamous Fair Smile again. Tifa paused in her work in response to give him a raised brow over her shoulder. Zack's smile dropped and he tilted his head to the side curiously, "….what?"
"After telling me the stories of your past jobs… what makes you think I risk hiring you to work around here?"
'Ouch. A simple no would have suffice.' Zack thought to himself. "So… tonight huh?" He commented. Boy was it ever going to be an adventure.
