Red + Red + Rose : Chpt. Three : Dancer
"Mommy! Daddy! Wait!" A young child shouted and struggled as she was pulled into an ambulance, off the slippery highway road, on a stretcher. She cried and screamed but was just too weak to do anything. There had been a bad car crash and she had been stuck in her carseat but her parents had been flung out of the car because they hadn't been wearing seatbelts. There were flashing lights and sirens sounded all around. The wind howled and the rain splattered against the road, mixing with blood.
"I don't want to leave here. Please let me stay Miss. Frowly!" A small, blonde girl pleaded with an older woman. Her social worker and a police officer pulled her outside, away from the crying older woman.
"I didn't mean to break the window. I was just playing baseball and-" There was a deafening like a clap of thunder and a searing hot pain against her small cheek as a young pre-teen girl got slapped brutally across the face.
"I can't stay here anymore…" A young woman in her early teens said. She had only a pack on her back and little money. She walked through a dense maze of people and buildings in a central downtown area where she ran everytime that someone tried to talk to her.
"Quistis Trepe and you are…?" A tall, young man with short blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes stood beside a female in her mid teens.
"Seifer Almasy." He took her hand and kissed it softly.
The cold winter winds blew and she felt as though she would fall any moment. The world became a haze and it began spinning and getting blurry. A motercycle pulled up behind her…
Quistis woke up instantaneously, snapped awake by her dream. She lied on the leather loveseat in her living room, the television was on and there were noises coming from the kitchen. Her feet, face and hands tingled with a stining sensation and she felt incredibly hot and a bit dizzy. Still, she managed to sit up, toss off the multiple blankets that she was lying under, and stand up, making her way to the ktichen. The sun had risen outside an it looked like midday. Yawning and stretching slightly, she didn't realize there was someone inside the kitchen until she turned to face him. He had a mug in his hand and a ring of keys in the other. The brown, spiky hair and fur-lined jacket looked familiar.
"Why are you here?"
"I found you walking a few blocks away from your apartment. You looked ready to collapse so I took you on my motercycle and brought you back here."
"How did you know where I lived?"
"………"
"T-thank you." She mumbled, realizing she had been quite rude and momentarilly forgetting about her other questions.
"Whatever. I was planning to leave now. I made you a coffee."
He set it down on the small kitchen table and walked passed her. She had a million questions on her mind but before she even had a chance to utter even one, he had shut the door and left without even saying goodbye.
Why didn't he just take me to the hospital? Did he carry me back up here? Why was he out so late at night on his motorcycle?
She sighed, not knowing whether to go chasing after him or sip her coffee and go lay down again.
Damn that Seifer! He's the reason that all this happened. He's gone too far this time.
She went to lay back down on the couch in the living room and curled under the blankets. Still tired from her trek the previous night, she was on the verge of falling asleep again. Exhaustian kicked in and her eyelids became heavy.
It seemed that just as she had closed her eyes she was awoken again, this time by soft music being played that sounded like Ja Rule. Instantly awake, she sat up, only to stare into the face of a concerned Seifer who gently pushed her down again.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't there last night."
She didn't say anything but stared at a dark purple bruise that evident on his cheek.
"I was on my way up to your apartment room this morning and some spiky-headed imbecile came walking down the hall, he looked at me for a moment before punching me. Needless to say, I gave him what he deserved and he'll think twice about trying to land a punch on me next time.
She arched an eyebrow but continued to remain silent.
"There was a problem at the Opium last night, a few of my ladies got kicked off of the street nearby because of some idiot who claimed that he was the co-manager of the club and he didn't want people hovering outside."
She bit her lip, wondering whether or not he was lying.
I guess your 'ladies' are just more important then me then…
"So I went down there and I picked the ladies up and I was one my way to pick you up except that that idiot at the club had phoned the cops on me for causing a 'disturbance' and so I spent the entire night and early morning in a jail cell before Fujin and Raijin came down to get me.
"Liar." She mumbled before turning over so she wouldn't have to face him.
"Liar? Love, you know that I-"
"I don't need this. I don't have to put up with you and I'm certainly not going to stand for it any longer. Leave…and don't bother trying to come back or sucker me in again because it won't work. That guy you beat up, he was the one that saved me and he had every right to hit you this morning, the way you left me stranded last night."
Seifer stared at her, he wasn't sure whether to get up and leave or stay and try to help her so he was quiet for five minutes and sat there beside her on the edge of the loveseat. She turned around again, glaring at him.
"I thought I told you to go. I don't think that you understand-"
Before she had a chance to finish her sentence he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her. It wasn't like his other kisses though, they were intense, fast, and hard. This one was soft, tender and…something else. She had never been kissed like this before. He didn't pull away quickly either, it was not until he had run his hands though her hair and she pulled away that he stopped.
"I still owe you…"
"Then consider taking me out for dinner tonight your 'payback.'"
___________________________________________________
Diary Entry: 0055 Date: 02-10-05
I hightly doubt that it's possible to have one of the worst days of your life and then have one of the very best ones. I despise that horrid, disgusting, and intolerable idiot. I'm intelligent enough to know that what happened a few nights ago was only his way of winning me back and it most likely didn't mean anything to him. It rarely does. Still, I wonder what that was…he couldn't have been genuinely concerned about me, that's almost as impossible as Zell working up enough confidence to engage in sexual activity.
Squall Leonhart – An odd bloke but I'm quite thankful to him for saving me, even if he didn't take me to the hospital as he probably should have. He seems extremely silent and unwilling to make any companions. I doubt that I would've died out there, I probably would have summoned up enough strength the stumble back to my appartment but even so, I'm glad that he was there that night. My only problem now is trying to figure out how to deal with Seifer.
I hate him and yet I still haven't quit that damn job. He's been there to pick me up every night and he's even early on occasion but I just cannot trust the bloody jerk. Things have even got better at the bar, I suspect that he's been warning the drunks to stay away from me. However no matter how hard he tries to change and be kind to me, he will always be a player and I know that neither him nor I will be able to change that about him. Before I used to believe that I liked him fine the way he was, of course he had a few bad habits though it was nothing serious. Obviously I was mistaken. So I've decided, instead of obsessing about the entire situation and b*tching at him anymore, I'm going to forget about that night and I'm going to act civil towards him and treat him as nice as I possibly can, considering that I'm not a very kind or civil person.
Quistis was about to sign off her computer but the phone rang so she picked it up.
"Hello?"
"This must be Quistis Trepe."
"Who is this?"
I get much too many phone calls similar to this.
"You are speaking to Irvine Kinneas, co-manager of the Opium and one of the head people at the Honey-Bee Pub."
"I see, and you have called because…?"
"Calm down, I'm not firing you."
"Did I ever say that you were?"
"Forget it. The reason I phoned you was because I think that you would work better at the Opium. I heard you don't like it when the guys get a bid rowdy with their hands."
"Hmm, I didn't think anyone really cared enough to even ask me how I felt about that."
"Heh, at the Opium nobody does that, plus I'm there most of the time so you won't have to worry."
"I've worked at the Opium before, I was a dancer and it didn't work out too well."
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to."
She scowled and rolled her eyes.
"That's precisely the same thing that I was told before?"
"Fine. Stay at Hone-"
"No, I'll serve drinks at the Opium if you'd like."
"Great, I'll pick you up at eight o'clock tonight and I'll drive you home at one."
"I'm assuming that I'll get the same wage?"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry I'm not gonna rip you off."
"I suppose I owe you my gratitude then. I was getting rather fed up of guys groping at me."
"Well, what can I say? Some people like it while others don't. I thought you'd be more of a party girl, the way Seifer described you."
"Seifer's an ass. Don't listen to him."
"Tough break-up?"
"It's none of your business. Thank you and goodbye."
She hung up the phone and stared at the computer monitor, thinking about the new job.
Serving drinks at the Opium, well at least it's better then the other smoky dump.
Totally engrossed in her thoughts, she jumped as the phone rang not even five minutes later.
"Hello?"
"You're not wearing you're baggy tee-shirt tonight."
"………"
"I'm here with a few friends, love, do you want to come to a party?"
"I don't have time for parties. I'm being picked up in fifteen minutes."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Don't even bother pretending that you're worried that it's another guy."
"Who ever said that? I don't worry about such trivial things, just like you don't mind that I have around five other women with me right now."
"Shut up."
"Where are you going?'
"To work out on the street corner." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, "You want to come?"
"No, miss bitch, I have things and people to do."
"I'm working at the Opium from now on. Irvine's going to be picking me up and driving me home."
"Tsk, tsk. I really enjoyed our late nights in the back of my car."
"I'll bet you did."
She hung up walked over to the bedroom, trying to decide on what to wear. Grabbing a low-cut, short dress and reaching for a pair of thigh-high platform boots, she smiled and slipped off her skirt and baby tee.
The dress was baby blue and tight-fitting, it complemented her figure and she liked the way it looked on her. Smoothing on some lipgloss and taking her hair out of it's usual clip, she let it down and allowed it to fall gently down her back because the dress had practically no back to it.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Kitty, I'll be back in a bit." She shouted and jogged over to answer it.
Irvine stood outside, he smiled when he saw her.
"Looking good, girl."
She nodded and shut the door behind herself, following him down the hall.
"So, you used to dance before? How come I don't remember you?}"
She shrugged and adjusted the thin strap of her dress.
"Wait." He said, turning to her and looking her over before reaching into his pocket and producing a tiny black object.
"What's that?"
"A mic."
"Why on earth would I be needing that? I'm a server…"
"Nevermind." He said and reached out to her, clipping it on near the top of her dress.
"I can control it with a small remote control so don't worry about turning it on or off."
"I still don't understand-"
The elevator doors opened and he swung his arm around her, guiding her inside. She responded to it by shrugging him off her and crossing her arms infront of her chest.
"You don't like that? Jeez."
"It's not so much that I don't like it but I'm not attracted to you."
He pretended to act hurt and grinned.
"I can change that."
"Don't hold your breath."
The elevator doors opened and she stepped out, walking ahead of him.
"It's freezing outside, at least let me put a jacket around you."
"I'm fine."
However a second later she felt a warm, long jacket around her shoulders, Quistis turned to him, prepared to tell him off but he silenced her and opened the door leading outside. Walking outside, she instantly regretted her decision to have him drive her to and from the club. Parked outside the apartment, in an illegal parking zone, was his white convertible except it's roof was up this time. At least he wasn't so insane to leave it down in the middle of winter like he did the previous week.
"On second thought, I think I'll take a cab." She said, spinning around and walking back to the apartment. He stopped her with his arm and turned her back around.
"Don't worry. I won't do anything too crazy with you there." The remark was a light one and she doubted that he was serious. However, figuring that if she called a taxi, she would be late on her first night of work at the Opium, she reluctantly allowed herself to be led and to the porsche.
"The second that you go through a set of-" He slammed passenger side door before she had a chance to finish.
Idiot. No wonder Seifer and him converse, they're so alike.
Just as Irvine hopped in and revved up engine while she was preparing for the worst, Squall Leonhart stepped infront of the car. She noticed he had multiple bruises on his face and the thought of Seifer hurting him was repulsive.
"Hey, move!" Irvine yelled, rolling down the window and shouting to Squall. He just continued to stare at her though, with those cold and emotionless eyes.
I'm sorry if he hurt you. It wasn't my fault. Don't start fights you can't finish.
She wondered if he held her responsible for what happened. Rolling down her own window and biting her lip she stuck her head outside and motioned for him to come over.
"Squall, what one earth-"
He thrust his hand out to her, he was holding her ring.
"H-how did you get that?"
He dropped it into her palm and began walking off.
"I asked you a question." She shouted after him, however it made little difference and he continued walking towards the apparmeant.
"Hey, that was freaky, you want me to get rid of him for you?"
The thought made her want to strangle Irvine.
"No…that won't be necessary."
"You sure."
She turned towards him and glared at him.
"No, I said I don't want you to do anything to Squall. And tell Seifer to keep his f***ing hands off him too."
She was silent for the remainder of the car ride, he drove a bit fast and went through a few red lights but she barely noticed as her thoughts shifted towards Squall once again.
Those bruises…they looked painful. She gulped and forced the image of him out of her mind.
I wonder why he punched Seifer? How did he know that Seifer was supposed to pick me up? Why won't he anser any of my questions?
The thoughts nagged at her and made her frown.
"Hey baby, cheer up, it's the Opium."
She noticed that they had arrived outside the large, two story building with flashing lights, loud music and throbbing bass. There was a line up of people waiting to get in. She hopped out of the car and slammed the door behind her, deciding to avoid talking to Irvine as she led the way over to the Bouncer where he nodded to guard to let her through.
"Uh, you can start over there near the bar and just tell Selphie that you're here to help." He stopped to wave at Selphie and wink at her, "She'll explain to routines to you. But first, what if I told you I wanted you to dance again?"
The question caught her off guard and she stared at him.
"I don't know. I would most likely turn you down because last time I had a job dancing here it got much too deep and I was uncomfortable."
"I wouldn't let it go that far. Let's be realistic Quistis, you have a figure to die for – nice curves, a full bust, long legs and even a nice ass. The guys here would love to see you dance and I'd raise your salary."
"No."
"Please?"
"If you're going to keep bothering me about it I might as well just ask you to take me home right now. I said that I don't want to dance anymore. I can't…"
"Why not?"
"Because, I'm sick of being seen as a bloody sex symbol. No matter how much I try to get away from it I always end up in those kinds of situations and I loathe it to a point where I just want to slap any guy that even tries to talk to me. So leave me the hell alone and let me do my normal job."
"You've got to expect it though, just by the way you dress and walk."
"The way I dress and walk should have nothing to do with it."
"Fine, but at least let me see you dance right now on the floor before you start serving drinks."
She was slightly skeptical but reluctantly agreed, mostly just to keep the damn job. They moved onto the floor just as a song by her favorite artist, Ja Rule, came on. Getting back into routine, she danced up close to him, grinding hips and lightly pressing her back and butt against him. He was all smiles as she danced around him, moving in sync with him and continuing to pull off daring dance moves. His jaw almost dropped as she grooved with the music and placed his hands on her hips and then guided them lower as she pressed herself against him and he continued to keep in step with her. They began grinding again and slowed down as the song began changing.
Irvine was practically speechless as he came off the floor with her, staring at her like she was another person, or rather, staring at her body.
"Damn, I've got to see you dancing on that stage by the end of the night."
"Irvine, what did I just tell you before you dragged me on the floor?"
"I don't care what you said. You're talented and beautiful, get up there."
Her eyes blazed flames at him and she clenched her hand up into fists.
"I want you on stage or you're…fired."
"I doubt that you'd fire me."
"Oh? You wanna bet?"
"I can't."
"Quistis, you have talent, girl. Why don't you use it? I barely know you but I do know that you should be doing something you love instead of just serving drinks down here."
"Forget it." She stormed off towards the bar where she saw Selphie, Irvine made no attempt to follow, instead he sighed and shook his head.
Selphie saw her walking over a waved, she was wearing a yellow jumper and had her hair flipped up, making it look like she had been partying all night.
"Hey Quistis, what are you doing here?"
"Working. I need to know how and where I should be serving drinks."
"Waii!! You're working here now too?! That's great, we can help eachother out."
She smiled and began explaining the rules.
"Well, we just go around this huge room with a tray with some drinks piled ontop and then you offer people drinks. Sounds pretty simple, just make sure they pay you before you give them their drink and make sure that nobody steals any."
The music and bass were insanely loud and she had to strain to hear Selphie over it and nodded when she was done explaining.
"When you have an empty tray, come back here and tell Raine so she can give you some more drinks to take around. You can have some fun and kinda dance a bit too." She finished, introducing Quistis to Raine.
At first it was a bit akward but she quickly got into the swing of things. Despite a few cat calls, she got along fine. She danced with a few people and even convinced a few customers to buy a few more then they had first set their minds on buying. It was relatively easy and nobody even tried to grab her although a few were quite intent on buying her a drink however she politly declined and humoured them.
After she finished with one of her trays, she started dancing with someone and didn't even know who it was. She was grinding and pressing herself up to him, not even realizing where she was or where he was leading her. By the time she noticed that she was dancing on stage with a lot of people watching she had her back to the guy whose hands were on her hips. She would've leapt of the stage that moment had his hands not been conveniently placed there and she noticed that he had tightened his grip. Instead, her movements became rigid and off sync.
"I'm going to murder you as soon as we get off this stage, Irvine and the sooner the better because I'm totally offbeat right now." She whispered to him, haughtilly.
"Just dance, let me guide you." He whispered back.
"I can't," She bit her lip, "I can't do this."
"Relax, all you have to do is follow my lead."
No other options presented themselves to her so instead of continuing to bitch at him, she let him lead her and get her timing back on track. Their movements became eventually fluent and she blended with him slowly, but nicely. She moved her body to the music and got back in sync with his. She danced around him and guided his hands on her, something she would normally be uncomfortable with, though when dancing she became like a different person.
Then, before she had a chance to hop off stage after the song ended, she found another pair of hands on her hips and felt someone different grinding with her, a bit stronger and closer then she had been grinding with Irvine.
"Shit, how did you get in here?" She asked Seifer who was behind her, smirking.
"An old friend let me in."
"You're not going to let me off, are you?"
"Nope, not a chance, Love."
She sighed and kept dancing to the music while thinking about the numerous ways that she would murder Irvine and Seifer later that night.