Chapter 4
Remembrance of the nightThe television set shone its tiny pictures at Rinoa with pride, but the images made her cringe. They were a source of shame to her tired eyes. The video player groaned as its rewind button was hit for the eighteenth time, and clicked as it was made to play the cassette once more.
Last nights' ballroom glittered even on the tape, and the beauty of the room that in her nervousness Rinoa had been blinded to, was magnified tenfold. The report had certainly been worth watching, but not for the reasons Rinoa wanted. Her own words sounded weak and humble with the background of the beautiful room.
In fact, the report hadn't been done very well at all, and Rinoa felt a deep disappointment within herself. Her mind leading up to the moment of the interview, had been spent on the anticipation of seeing Squall, rather than the wording of her report.
Now that she sat alone in her apartment kitchen, safe from the world and everyone in it, she was free to gaze at the TV. What she was did not please her, and she scolded herself for the awful report. If her job really was this important, then why wasn't she putting all her time into it instead of thinking about a certain person who she shouldn't be thinking of at all?
The alarm clock in her bedroom suddenly sounded, bringing Rinoa back to herself. Sighing, she rose to turn it off. Rinoa had already been up for two hours prior already, due to her mind not being able to calm down and relax. The tiny red numbers blinked 6:00am at her with uncaring eyes as she switched the buzzing off, and set it to sound tomorrow.
After seeing her tape, Rinoa knew she would be getting an angry call from her boss. On the task she had been sent on--she had certainly failed by ways of her reporting skills--her only hope was that her gaining of pictures inside of the ballroom would be enough to keep her on the pay roll at least. Although it would probably be a long time before they sent her on something that important again.
Sighing once more, Rinoa headed back to her kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee before staring at the screen.
"Well, as you can see, behind me here the guests have already arrived, and the party is in full swing. The theme tonight is of a masquerade ball--a custom that was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries where the dancers cover their faces with decorated masks and pretend to be whoever they wish for how ever long the night lasts. It is nice to see such a custom relived."
"Oh, come on, Rinoa, you could have done better than that!" Rinoa mumbled into her cooling cup of coffee with a disappointed tone. "What were you going for there, Rin? The wonderful plan to charm people with your incredible wit and amazing intelligence, rather than your looks, really went well. Sorry, hunny, but you spectacularly failed."
Rinoa scolded herself for a bit longer until she began to calm down. The more she watched the clip, the worst it became. Taking a biscuit out of the tin from its' home in the kitchen cupboard, Rinoa stuffed it into her mouth and sat back down. Her hand moved automatically and hit the rewind button once more.
Now with the luxury of time and a coffee in her hand, Rinoa was able to see all the things that she had missed in her confused night. The perfect diamond chandeliers singing at the dancers with their refracted rainbow light looked down on all from their perch up high. As the taped Rinoa smiled at the camera the glittering floor became swamped with dancers, and yet Rinoa looked on in the tiny red light bulb that showed that she was still on air.
The report that had certainly lacked in the information department, but Rinoa was sure that it made up for its briefness with the stunning pictures. Not that was credit to Rinoa; the pictures were all down to the talented camera crew she had been leant.
It would be only a matter of time before she got that call from her boss. Usually it was full of congratulations, but today she feared it would be quite the reverse. The time clicked around to 7:00am surprisingly fast and Rinoa held her breath for the call, which was always at 7am after an important evenings work. That fact that she might be enjoying the morning, by the way of sleeping, was never taken into consideration.
As if on queue, the clock hit the top numeral and the phone jumped to life. Rinoa felt her heart skip and she frowned.
"The guy is a freak. I bet he sits in his office and watches he clock. Oh, look, it's 7 already. Let's go and annoy Heartilly," Rinoa mumbled to herself as she crossed the room and picked up the receiver from it's holder on the wall. She put on a fake smile and a sweet voice.
"Hello?"
"Oh, Hyne, you answered! Do you know how long I have been trying to get a response from you?" A familiar voice asked from the other line. Rinoa couldn't describe the relief that hit her. Her smile now grew into one of genuine happiness.
"Selphie! I am so sorry I haven't returned your calls. I just...actually, I don't have an excuse. It was rude... Sorry."
"Hey, I know what you're like. Don't worry, I'm just glad I caught you before I began wondering if you had died," Selphie replied in a tone so serious that it made Rinoa laugh.
"Man, have I missed you," Rinoa said after she stopped giggling; it was a long time since she had laughed without feeling silly for it.
"Rinny, you are so behind on the gossip! Oh, by the way, sorry about the earliness of the call, but it's getting late here. Rinny, there is so much to tell you!" Selphie squealed excitedly. Her happiness was clearly shown by the way of her random sentences.
"Well? What is so great that you called at 7 in the morning?" Rinoa asked, intrigued. If she wanted information out of Selphie she always had to ask. It was part of Selphie's backup plan. If Rinoa didn't like the news she could always say 'well you asked me to tell you!'
"The woman over the road has a new man. Looks like a biker, not a very attractive one, but, hey, it stops her looking at Irvine when he's around. Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that their cat is having an affair with the big fat fluffy one down the road," Selphie said, telling Rinoa the pointless news at though it was the most amazing thing in the world.
Rinoa remembered how Selphie had held a marriage ceremony for her cat and the one across the road. Apparently the marriage was always on the rocks according to Selphie's observations. Rinoa wasn't looking forward to the cat divorce, especially after her starring role in the last scene as the cat voices. She could see the divorce taking hours.
"Is that it?" Rinoa asked, annoyed.
"Hey, you asked me to tell you!" Selphie defended. "Hang on, wait....you know the cat could be gay..."
"Right, that is it. I'm hanging up right now," Rinoa said, well aware that the threat was empty.
"No, no, wait there is something I wanted to tell you. But I can't over the phone," Selphie said, her voice suddenly sounding very serious. Rinoa stopped smiling at once, fearing it was bad news.
"What? What is it? Are you ok? Has something happed?" Rinoa asked, becoming more frantic at every question. She could hear the sigh at the other end and decided to wait for an answer.
"Yes, I'm fine. It's good news really, but I have to tell you in person. You will kill me if I don't," Selphie replied.
"Aw, now I really wanna know. So, how long do I have to wait to hear it?" Rinoa asked, aware that she couldn't leave Esthar for awhile, so Selphie must be travelling down.
"Not long. Me and Irvine are travelling to Esthar in a couple of days. Irvine is looking into this new job at a Chocobo ranch--it's something he's always wanted to do. Plus, I'm thinking of a change of job myself. I'm going to be busy for awhile and won't be able to work for the newspaper anymore," Selphie said, convinced that she had given many clues in the speech.
"Did you lose your job? Is that what you need to tell me?" Rinoa asked confused.
"Rinny, why the hell would I travel all that way just to tell you that I lost my job? Get real! My job sucks!" Selphie said, regaining some of her usual cheerfulness. Rinoa smiled.
"Oh, crap, Selph, I have another call waiting. I'll have to go," Rinoa said, looking at the little red button that was flashing at her. "Call me when you get here, won't you?" Rinoa askedhastily. The other caller was her boss, and he wouldn't be happy about waiting long.
"Will do. See ya soon, girl!"
Rinoa clicked Selphie off and switched for caller 2.
"Hello?" Rinoa asked, slightly more confident after her talk with Selphie.
"Miss Heartilly I won't waste your time. You need to stop by my office sometime before midday." The dial tone sounded straight after.
Was that it? He must be really mad, saving his ranting for the office. Rinoa considered this with an element of dread. Today wasn't going to be fun.
Squall walked into the breakfast room without intending to eat, and sat at the table. Ellone smirked as soon as he appeared in the doorway, and Squall knew she was holding back on something mean to say to him.
"I noticed you had fun last night, Squall," Ellone said, eying him over her cup of drinking chocolate. Squall looked up at her without acknowledging anything of embarrassment in his gaze.
"Yeah, seems you did too," He remarked, grabbing a croissant and a knife. Ellone's smile disappeared instantly.
"He's just a friend," She mumbled, looking at her plate. Squall smirked: one up for him.
Surprisingly, Gloria was sat at the table and seemed very interested in what the two siblings were saying to one another. Squall didn't want to think too much on why she was here. There was only one plausible explanation and Squall didn't want to go too deep into that. It was almost certain that she had stayed the night. Well, at least everyone was happy last night then, Squall thought, bringing a smile to his face. Ellone frowned.
"Squall, are you and Rin...um...back together?" Ellone asked, aware that this was very touchy subject. She held her breath as Squall considered his answer with a look of pain on his face.
"Who knows!" He answered, finally standing up and leaving the room, passing Quistis on the way out. She smiled at him and was content when she didn't get insulted or shouted at in return for her greeting.
Laguna had remained silent throughout the morning due to his attention being captured by a small game machine in his hand. There was no sound emitting from the machine as he had plugged in a pair of head phones, and his eyes moved in flickers, deeply entranced by the moving pictures. His hand alternated its tasks by spooning cereal into his mouth and hitting the fire button.
"Yeah, round two!" he screamed, forgetting that he was wearing head phones and shouting much too loud. Quistis walked around behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump. He snatched the head phones from his ears and looked up at her.
"Sir, there is a call in your office from the headmaster of Galbadia Garden. It apparently is important. I thought you should be made aware, Sir," Quistis informed him. Laguna made the very hard decision of choosing either his game or the phone call. In the end he was aware that Quistis was still waiting for him to give her an order and he pressed the off button. Quistis smiled and watched him leave the room before grabbing a piece of cold toast from the stack.
"So," Gloria said, now that she found herself alone with female company. "Who is Rin?"
Ellone began to giggle and Quistis raised her eyebrows.
"You mean you haven't been told about the famous Rinoa Heartilly?" Quistis asked, almost shocked. Ellone retained her giggles, until it showed on her face that they were beginning to hurt. To help the dryness of her throat, Ellone gulped back a glass of water reducing her to a coughing fit.
"Rinoa Heartilly the reporter?" Gloria asked.
"Bingo!" Ellone confirmed through her coughing.
"It's a long story, but you must be aware of the book that was published not that long ago, about life with the president," Quistis said, pausing for a reply to assure her that Gloria was understanding so far.
"Yes. I read the book."
"Who hasn't?" Ellone added under her breath.
"Well, she and Squall sort of, well you know...got it on," Quistis said, blushing at her own inability to find a better phrase for explaining. She was well conscious that Squall would have killed her for referring to them as 'getting it on'.
"But they had this argument or something and never got over that. Nobody really knows the particulars--he never told us anything. But judging from last night, it can't have been that bad an argument," Quistis finished, telling what she could remember and what she knew with the simplistic of sentences. There was no need to turn it into a life story.
"So, you think they still like one another?" Gloria asked, intrigued.
"Either that or they are really, really good at pretending!...You know what I mean! Heh heh," Ellone said, winking and nudging her elbow into Gloria's side with a grin.
The door to the breakfast room clicked open and the occupants of the previously giggle-filled room became instantly silent, all eyes fixed on the door.
Squall walked back in with a briefcase and set it on the table in front of his place. The silence was starting to eat at him now, and he looked up to see all their eyes still on him.
"Are you going to eat your briefcase, Squall?" Gloria asked, smiling at his annoyed face.
"Squall never eats. He only eats junk food and chocolate bars. He'll buy 20 different chocolate bars, but he won't eat them like you or me: he takes bites out of each and throws them away. See," Ellone said, grabbing a handful of various empty wrappers out of Squall's briefcase.
"Hyne, I wish I could eat that much chocolate without getting fat," Quistis said, looking enviously at the wrappers. "Squall can eat burgers, too," She added in a depressed sigh.
"If you are all done talking about me," Squall said, handing Ellone a wad of papers. Ellone took it confused. "Plans for the theme park."
"So you really are back!" Ellone said excitedly as she looked over the plan.
"What?" Squall asked, not really caring about the answer.
"You're doing all this work again. These plans wouldn't have been ready for another 2 months without you here," Ellone explained. Squall just nodded, not quite knowing what to say in reply.
There was a still silence, until Gloria broke it.
"So, Squall what you up to today?" Gloria asked, smiling.
"Oh you know, everyday stuff. Might have a facial, perhaps get a manicure, drive round and pick up a couple of prostitutes, the same old," Squall replied, straight faced. Gloria looked completely shocked and Squall smiled to himself. "Well, see ya later then."
As soon as the door shut behind him Gloria turned to Quistis.
"He was just joking, right?" she asked, worried. Quistis laughed.
"Yeah, don't worry. You'll get used to it."
Of course Squall wasn't about to do all those things; it had just been a distraction so that he wouldn't have to answer. His real goal lay on the other side of Esthar at the construction site of the proposed theme park. The jerk-off who had been over seeing the planning permission had been slacking due to no one to force threats upon him. Squall hoped the news of his return hadn't leaked this far yet, and the asshole might have a nasty shock when Squall appeared in his portable office.
Meanwhile, as Squall was heading towards one office, Rinoa was making her way up the stairs to meet her unimpressed boss.
Rinoa walked into her boss's office to be instantly shouted at. She had been right in her assumption that he had been saving his anger until this moment.
"Rinoa, what the hell is this?" he screamed. Rinoa swore that the surrounding sounds on the editing floor just became quieter to listen.
"Sorry, Sir?" Rinoa asked. It was better to know exactly what he was mad about before she started defending herself.
"This!" He said, flinging a tape onto the table. "I understand you had only limited time to report, but, Heartilly, it sucked. No interviews, no personal comments! This only scraped through because of the shots the camera crew were able to get."
"Sir, it was I that managed to get us inside," Rinoa said, annoyed. Didn't that count for anything?
"Well, you should have used it."
Rinoa was about to argue back, but something told her not to. What good would it do her? She already knew he was right. Better just admit defeat and accept whatever the punishment was.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't do a very good job," Rinoa said, feeling her eyes sting with tears as she looked at her feet. Her answer had been forced out with as little emotion as she could manage. If she left her tears swell, she knew she would be unable to answer.
"No, you did not. What happened to you, Heartilly? You used to be the best we had, but your work lately has really dipped in quality. Maybe...maybe you should take a break." her boss suggested, his voice sounding calmer after Rinoa had stopped arguing back.
Rinoa snapped her head up. A break? No, she couldn't go on a break.
"What? No, I can't. You send me on a break and in a matter of weeks I am forgotten. I'll be back at the bottom of the pile once more. I've seen it happen," Rinoa said, walking up to the desk and resting her hands on the edge for support.
"Rinoa, that is exactly where you are heading: the bottom of the pile, if you don't pull your act together!"
"Sir..."
"No, listen. I've seen many a promising career go down the shoot over my time and I see yours heading in the same direction. Your heart is just not in this anymore, Heartilly. You lost your heart in one of your stories, so why are you still here?"
"I...I don't know, Sir," Rinoa said, flopping down in one of the chairs in front of his desk, all her fight had been drained from her.
"I am placing you on suspension until I reinstate you," Her boss said, standing up and taking a folder off of a stack on the shelf. Rinoa nodded miserably. "Before you take this rest you can do one last task for me. As you will know, the building of the theme park is to begin soon--at least it is scheduled to. I am going to send you out there this afternoon to do some straight reporting. Type it up at home and send it in within the week."
"Yes, Sir." Rinoa said, standing up and walking toward the door.
"Rinoa, wait," her boss called after her. Rinoa turned to face him from the doorway. "I don't want to be the one always giving the bad news and grief, but I believe it's for the best. You are so much better that this," he said, holding up the video cassette.
"Thank you, Sir," Rinoa said quietly, hoping that that was the reply he was looking for. He nodded and she left.
Rinoa wandered down the stairs rather than using the elevator. She didn't think she deserved the luxury of the elevator today. Her mood had gone from scared to angry, from angry to disappointed, and from disappointed to depressed. All she felt like doing now was sitting down and crying.
After taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Rinoa headed for the exit.
Her car stood in its usual parking place, and she unlocked it before climbing in. A sudden thought hit her: maybe a break from her job wouldn't be so bad, and she'd be getting paid for doing nothing. But this thought seemed ungrateful to all the office had done for her, and she dismissed it as quickly as she could. Jamming a CD into the player, Rinoa started the engine and tried to relax. Little did she know that at her destination she would be meeting up once again with Squall.
A/N: Sorry for the delay of this chapter, after getting back from one holiday I hardly had time to breath before we all jumped on a plane and headed off somewhere else…So don't worry am still alive! (I can tell you were worried, don't try and pretend you weren't!) I was just having a damn good time...hehe. But I'm home to raining England now :( So there should be more regular updates, because I won't be venturing out into that rain!!
Thank you readers!!
Verdannii de la Rosa
The Angel of The Lion
Wynter
The Notorious Naurwen
Keiry
The Ever Smiling
Billie The Wild Angel
Kupo
Trekken46
LiLAwAiIgR|
Kail Angelfire
Subzero-Strike
Lady Yevon
Mariko
Archangel_666 (Yes people from the North do have a different accent to the South. But, each county speaks differently to the one next to it. If you travel up to the next county and start talking, they will be asking, "Where the hell do you come from?" Anybody else from England will know what I'm talking about, especially if you have been picked on for your accent before!)
Lionhart
Rinoa Heartilly-Leonhart
Angelwingedprincess
CLOud
TheLaguna
Heyhey
Squinoafan