"And then what?"
The blonde sighed. It was like telling a story to two five year olds. "I asked him what he said, and he said he said the dress looked nice on me."
Selphie stared at the woman like she had gotten her winning lottery ticket stolen. "…Bummer."
"Well, you don't think he was…"
"Isn't it obvious he was?"
"He probably just meant to say-"
The petite maid sighed exasperatedly.
Some people were just oblivious. She was a prime example of it.
Selphie put her hands on her hips and tried to strike an intimidating pose. She failed miserably since the blonde was fairly sure she had seen mice that had looked more menacing than her, but that was besides the point. "He's in love with you."
The blonde held back a laugh. "You can't be serious."
"…You never noticed anything? He's done a complete 360 since you've been here."
A lot of things had done a 360 since she gotten here. Whether he was included on the list or not, she wasn't quite sure. Quistis gave a half hearted smile before getting up from the chair. "…I still doubt it."
"Suuuure you do." Selphie sang with a smug grin, only to have it fade when she realized the other woman wasn't listening.
"So you're going to tell us you're not in love with him?" Rinoa asked from the back of the room, deciding it was probably her turn to shine in the conversation.
The blonde paused a moment at the door before leaving and slamming the door shut.
The maids smirked. "She's head over heels."
o o o
He had seen things go smoother in rugby matches than last night. It had been down right embarrassing. Not to mention being an outright ego crusher. The poor thing didn't have a very high rate of recovery as it was, and last night wasn't helping.
He had been so close to getting it off his chest. So incredibly close. And then Ellone happened.
Argh.
The brunette sighed, looking over his paperwork a moment before letting his eyes wander elsewhere. Why is it three of the simplest words in the English language were the hardest to get out? I, love and you. It's not like they were even hard to pronounce or understand. And yet whenever he tried to say them it was like he was trying to say some complicated science term.
But then again, he supposed that was the essence of love.
That, and making a complete and utter moron out of yourself. He sighed again, his eyes wandering off of the papers.
Alright, even he had to admit this was bloody boring. Especially when there was definitely, definitely better things to look over.
Like his wife, for instance. Who had conveniently just stormed in and was doing laps around the room. Which wasn't helping his work habits, only making him feel like he had a major case of ADD since he was constantly looking from his paper work to her and back.
He felt like smacking his head against the desk.
This was so not cool. Why couldn't she just go somewhere else? He wasn't going to get anything done at this rate. Not that he would if he was alone, but that wasn't the point.
He sighed, pushing the paper away from his desk but then bringing it back. From her body language it didn't seem like she was up for talking. Or even being social by the looks of it. He wasn't crazy, he wasn't going to go and try and talk to her when she was in a bad mood.
It was one of the rare occasions it was just better to sit down and shut up than try to do anything worthwhile. He watched as she continued doing laps before shaking his head with a sigh. It was making him dizzy just watching her.
It seemed like forever before she finally gave an exasperated sigh and sat down.
Thank God.
"Squall?"
He forced himself not to look up from his paperwork. "What?"
She sighed. "…What were you going to say last night?"
The brunette almost dropped his pen. He hadn't expected that question. "When?" He asked after a moment, trying to dance around the subject.
She gave him a flat look.
Damn. There wasn't any way to get out this time. She was blocking the exit and unless he was going to pull a flying squirrel; jumping out the window wasn't an option either.
In short, he was screwed.
He sighed. This whole inevitable confession had gone much better in his mind. Stuck in a freezing office with the AC on like no tomorrow wasn't exactly the most ideal place for him to confess it. And yet, here they were.
"I was going to say-"
He nearly grabbed a near by stapler and whipped at the door when Rinoa barged in. The girl stood there for a moment before inwardly cursing. She knew she had horrible timing but this was pushing it. Selphie was going to kill her. She totally interrupted something.
"I… um, well there's someone at the door for you, sir."
The blonde subconsciously twitched in annoyance. Out of all the times for someone to be at the bloody door -
Squall sighed. "Who is it?"
"He didn't say…" Rinoa trailed off sheepishly, absentmindedly tapping her foot against the door. She sighed. "I'll uh, go get his name-"
"Squall, why don't you go see who it is?" Quistis asked, interrupting the other woman.
The brunette sighed. "Whatever."
The two women watched as he left before turning to each other. "What did I interrupt?"
The blonde sighed. "Nothing."
"Nothing? Come on, you're lying. Tell me. Something was definitely going on."
"Nothing happened."
"What? You were going to kiss?"
"No."
"Hug?"
"No."
"You weren't going to… In the office were you…?"
The other woman twitched. "…No."
"Then what?"
"Nothing." The blonde grit out. "Nothing at all." She sighed before calming herself down. "What did that man want?"
The raven hair girl shrugged. "He said something about a book tour. It's been scheduled for a while now. I guess they're just confirming all the info now." She scratched her head. "I hope they are, anyways. I mean, it starts on Thursday."
Quistis stared at the woman blankly. …And when exactly, was he going to mention this to her? "Thursday?" She asked, massaging her temples.
"Yeah. But you've got to at least be down in Trabia by Tuesday. Let's see, today's Saturday. So that gives you Sunday to pack, Monday for the actually flight and jetlag. It works out, I guess."
The blonde continued to stare at the woman like she had just walked home after her own funeral. Someone was going to pay. Dearly. "I see. And how long does this tour last, exactly?"
Rinoa absentmindedly ticked numbers off on her fingers. "…Two weeks, I think. Be sure to pack a lot."
She sighed. This wasn't going to be a fun two weeks. She could already see the fan girls and freezing weather ahead. The picture wasn't looking perfect. It looked like a friggen' cold hell.
"How long as he known about this?"
Rinoa sighed, leaning against the door. "He's had it planned since last Christmas, I think. I know he signed the papers in January though."
She could feel her eye twitching already. The maid looked at her with sympathy. "I heard Trabia's nice this time of year?"
Yeah. It was only -20 instead of -30.
Real nice. Real. Bloody. Nice.
Rinoa checked her watch. "Well, I'd better get going. I have to get the table set." She waved before making a hasty exit. The blonde stared at her, crossing her arms. She was a smart girl. She knew how to boot it and not get caught in the cross fire.
She must have seen Squall coming.
The author sighed, shutting the door after his entrance. It was good thing too. Because she would have shut it. Whether he was fully inside or not.
"When where you going to tell me?"
He sighed, taking a seat in the chair. "Tell you what?"
"About the tour. You could have at least given me some notice."
He lazily flipped through some paper work. "I tried to. At the gala."
The blonde stared blankly at him for a moment before nodding silently. "I see." She said quietly. "That's what you meant then."
That's what he meant? He furrowed his brow for a moment. She didn't mean when he -
Squall looked up only to see an empty room.
"…Dammit."
o o o
Well, that was certainly embarrassing. It was good thing she hadn't bet any money on the fact that he was going to confess.
The blonde sighed, laying flat on her stomach. She should have known not even to listen to Selphie and Rinoa at this point. It figured the one time she would actually try to lend an ear would be the time they were off the mark by a bloody mile.
Maybe she thought he was beginning to care. Or that maybe she was, as well.
So where did they stand then?
She sighed. It was all so confusing.
Really. She knew marriage was supposed to be confusing. For the first month. It had been four months now. They should have been over the awkward period by now. If they were actually in a normal marriage, that was.
Argh. Leave it to her to get married to some moron.
She sure knew how to pick 'em.
o o o
He should have a newscast with him. He should have whole squad of paramedics with him, because frankly, even going in there was worthy of a death defying stunt.
From his limited, limited knowledge of women, he at the very least knew was picking up a 'screw-off-you-idiot' vibe. …Even from half way down the hallway.
He sighed. She had taken the whole thing the wrong way. That, and he really hadn't explained himself properly. They were just a really messed up couple. Neither or them knew what exactly what they were doing.
It was like dumb and dumber relationship wise.
Argh. He paused at the door way. He still had time to back off. There were easier ways to kill himself. They were probably less painful too. Even the door seemed to be warning him off. It was like there a sign there saying IMPENDING DOOM. BACK OFF.
He sighed, before knocking on the door. He wasn't even sure why he was knocking on the door. It was his own room. Surely this was a moment to just stride in and mutter 'whatever'. He knocked again only to hear no answer. He rolled his eyes. Great. Now she was just ignoring him. There was only so much abuse he could take.
"Quistis?" Nothing. He sighed, knocking again. He cleared his throat as a few butlers walked by. Alright, this was just humiliating. He wasn't waiting out there all day. Or night. Whatever.
He knocked one final time before entering. No damage, that was always a good sign. Now to actually find her. He spotted her on the bed. Bingo. "Quistis?"
She really was keeping up the cold shoulder. God, this was twice in one week. He was on a bad streak this time. He was going to be the laughing stock of the house. The one who could not only not get any from his wife, but not even be on talking terms. Oh yeah. He was a real charmer alright.
He rolled his eyes at the thought, spotting her on the bed. "Hey." No answer.
He really did it this time. The brunette made a silent prayer before leaning over her, fully ready to bolt if the circumstances were permitting. He stared a moment before sighing.
Some could have told him she was bloody asleep.
Talk about embarrassing. The brunette got up before throwing the covers over her. Well, this made things a bit easier. He didn't have to plan out this elaborate skit illustrating the fact he hadn't totally shot her down. At least not on purpose.
He stared at her moment before leaning down and giving her a gentle kiss on the lips.
"I love you."
o o o
Okay, I admit this was a half asses chapter. But this is the only time I have to time to update this chapter so it's either now, or Christmas. I've tests, exams and art shows that are killing my time. Sorry for the lack of effort. Really. I hope you can at least get some enjoyment out of this chapter. Worse comes to worse, if you hate I can go back and reupload it some time but for now this is as good as it's gets guys.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CASS! Everyone else, ignore that. :D