Stuck On You

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Squaresoft characters… I own my brain, this story plot and myself.

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TWO: Reeve Leaves

Reeve was in his office checking his e-mail. The moment he opened his inbox, he heard his mobile phone ringing so he got it and answered the call with a gruff tone, "Hello?"

"Reeve, this is Rufus."

Reeve's eyes grew wide in surprise. "P…President Rufus! I…Is there anything wrong? Why are you calling all of a sudden?" he asked.

"We're on our way to Costa del Sol and I just thought of some changes in the plans… instead of you coming every now and then to the ShinRa Mansion, I want you to stay there for a while as its caretaker for the whole month while Tifa and I are away. Understood?" Rufus asked, his voice sounded stern.

"Wh…but what about my work here in ShinRa?" Reeve asked as he stared at the pile of papers on his desk. He made a disgusted face before proceeding to listen to his boss's answer: "Old man's office is still there. You can use it and finish everything. Goodbye."

Reeve just raised an eyebrow when Rufus hung up. "What is he thinking?" he thought miserably before turning back to his notebook computer. "All junk mail… and one from Reno… wonder what's in here?" he thought as he clicked on Reno's message with the subject "IMPORTANT FOR YOUR EYES ONLY!"

A picture began to download, and after it was completed, he turned away with an annoyed look on his face while muttering, "The guy's really a perverted sick-o…"

And the door to his office opened and there was Heidegger, whose eyes grew wide in surprise upon seeing the picture on Reeve's notebook computer. "Gyahahahaha! Reeve! I never knew you were into porn stuff! You naughty boy, you! Gya~h!" he teased as he approached, meaning to take a better look at the picture.

Reeve immediately erased the message. "It's just from Reno, okay?" he said with a slight blush on his face before standing up. "Listen, I gotta go and pack up for Nibelheim. President Rufus just called up and he's telling me to go over to the ShinRa Mansion and stay there for a month. But don't worry, I'll be taking my paperwork with me there…" he said while starting to fix his things.

"Gya~h…it's gonna be a long month…" Heidegger uttered with a disgusted look on his face.

"Yeah… and we're all on our own until the President returns…  but someone's gotta do the dirty job." Reeve replied with a slight smile on his face.

"Gya~h… don't worry, I'll keep things running smoothly here while you're away… after all, we have Scarlet here." Heidegger explained as he crossed his arms. "What are you gonna do there anyway? Just guard the house? Isn't that house unoccupied right now?" he continued.

"Yep, and Tifa's the one living there supposedly… but since she's away and no one's gonna be living there, I guess what President Rufus wants is for me to just stay there for a month and just take care of the house and make sure nobody intrudes." Reeve said as he finally closed his briefcase, then turned to his notebook computer to shut it down properly before closing it and then putting it inside its leather bag. "Anything you guys need from me, you can call me or go there." he said.

"Gya~h… sure, whatever. Maybe I'll just be calling you. The train from here to Nibelheim's quite slow nowadays…" Heidegger said with a contented look on his face before heading out of the office.

Reeve got a sheet of paper and wrote a message there: "I'm in the ShinRa Mansion. Will be back in a month. Anything you need, you know how to reach me." He grabbed a strip of adhesive tape from the dispenser and stuck the note on top of the telephone. After taking one last look around his office, he grabbed his things and set off to his room to get a few clothes and other stuff needed for a one-month stay in the ShinRa Mansion in Nibelheim.

***

            Scarlet had been in her office all the while, trying to fix the papers and collating them. "Kya~h… stupid Heidegger… he even had to mess this up by throwing it to me… kya~h… that big fat guy will have his day…" she muttered angrily before grabbing a brown envelope and placed everything there. "Kya~h! Finished!" she said aloud victoriously before she finally decided to head for the Office of the Head of Urban Development. "I wonder what that Reeve guy is doing now? Probably burning his ballpens to death by writing stupid statements and proposals… Kyahahahahaha…" she said aloud. Moments later, she arrived at the office but found no one there. "Damn it! Where the hell is he?" she said aloud with an annoyed look on her face as she approached the desk. "Why is it that he's always around when I don't need them and then he's out somewhere doing something else when I need him?!" she said aloud in a freakish manner as she dumped the brown envelope on the desk. "Kya~h…" she said in annoyance before she saw the note on his telephone. She raised an eyebrow and read it. "Great…" she thought as she looked at the wall clock.

It read 5:45 pm.

She made a face before grabbing the brown envelope once more and then headed downstairs to the main lobby with a cross expression on her face.

On her way to the main entrance, a second-class SOLDIER greeted her, "Good afternoon, Ma'am Scarlet."

"Kya~h! There's nothing good with the afternoon!" she snapped angrily before finally getting out of the building.

On her way to the train station, she grabbed her mobile phone and began to send an SMS to Rufus, saying, "President Rufus, is this marketing plan urgent enough for Reeve to finish it within a month?"

Five minutes after she boarded the train, Rufus replied to her message with a "Yes it is, Scarlet. Why?"

She did not reply. She just erased the message and began to dial Reeve's number.

***