Chapter 5 – Snappy Shacks Bowling
Rinoa drove her car from the smooth black tarmac roads of Esthar City onto the dusty dirt tracks of the surrounding wastelands. Her wheels hit many numerous amounts of stones and the car shuddered in complaint at the abuse being afflicting to its tires.
The site that had been chosen stood some miles out from the city, and was, so far, a huge flat land of dust and sand. Out of the hazy horizon, Rinoa could make out tiny little black dots that were definite signs that life was up ahead.
The black dots soon turned into shapes as she neared them, and one in particular looked very familiar.
A red sports car was parked at an odd angle across two makeshift car parking spaces and gleamed brightly in the sun. Rinoa pulled up next to it, parking with a little more care than the sports car owner. A tumbledown building stood in front of her, and Rinoa was certain that it couldn't be all that safe. Looking at the smaller buildings around the precarious structure, Rinoa was positive that this was probably the main office. Taking a deep breath, she set off towards it with a notebook in her hand.
Squall sat facing the grubby-looking man behind the desk; his patience was clearly growing thin. Not only had this man not gotten any of the plans and deals ready that Ellone had discussed with him, he hadn't even begun to employ workers yet. The beginning of their meeting that had begun in politeness was likely to end without.
"Ahh! Mr. Leonhart, Sir. What an honour!"
"Good afternoon, Mr. Pryer."
"Err, um, how can I help you?"
Twenty minutes later, Squall was no further in his inquires. Raising a hand, Squall rubbed his eyes in a tired fashion. It was turning out to be a long day.
Rinoa climbed smartly up the steps and knocked on the door. Squall rolled his eyes as the visitor gave his new enemy an excuse to escape his questions and focus on something else for a while.
"Come on in," Pryer called, much to Squall's annoyance. Frowning, Squall turned to stare at the door, daring it to open.
Hearing permission to enter, Rinoa turned the handle and pushed the door slowly open.
"Good afternoon, I am Rinoa Heartilly of Galbadia papers. I'm here to interview you about the progress of the theme park," Rinoa said, clutching her notepad close to her chest as she spoke.
"Oh, good, that makes two of us then. But I must warn you, Rin, there isn't much to report."
Rinoa jumped, startled at the sound of the voice from behind her. She searched the darkness immediately with her sun-blinded eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Rinoa asked instinctively. She wasn't aware that it sounded rude until it left her lips and she saw Squall's face flicker from a smirk to blank.
"Well, who said journalists don't have manners?" Squall commented, making Rinoa flush.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting...um, do you mind if I sit in on this?" Rinoa mumbled, trying her best to look Squall in the eye.
"No, of course not. You won't mind, will you, Mr. Pryer?" Squall asked, smiling a new false smile.
Pryer shook his head in silence. Rinoa looked from Pryer to Squall and then back again before sitting down, aware of the strong tension in the room.
"Now then," Squall said, enjoying the attention on his words. "Mr. Pryer has been working on this project for almost 2 months and he has successfully done fuck-all. But, he has been paid a very high wage for his incredibly amazing efforts," Squall concluded, looking directly at Pryer to cause the maximum amount of discomfort, while directing his words at Rinoa.
Rinoa realized that she had just stumbled onto a battleground. It was clear that there had been heated words before she had turned up, and Squall had now gained the upper hand. It was also apparent that Mr. Pryer wasn't quite sure how to act around the new arrival in his office. Rinoa felt completely uncomfortable in this situation, aware that she wasn't supposed to be hearing any of this.
Squall handed Rinoa a wad of papers, each page scribbled over with his own photocopied handwriting.
"That copy is for you," he said as Rinoa reached over to take it.
"Can this be published?" Rinoa asked, surprised.
"The rides and smaller details may be changed as time grows nearer; everything else is the final plan. Please make sure you mention that," Squall said, still looking at Pryer who was looking redder and redder every moment.
"Did you photocopy the entire thing for me?" Rinoa asked before her mind made up the answer 'yes' for her. Squall looked around at her for the first time since the start of the odd conversation.
"Aww, wouldn't that have been sweet of me," Squall said, smiling and turning away from her when he saw her blush. "No, I didn't think you would be on this story. It seems a little lowly for famous journalist Heartilly."
Rinoa blushed even harder.
"Yeah well, about that..." Rinoa began.
"You can explain later," Squall said, stopping Rinoa mid sentence. "We mustn't let Mr. Pryer think we have forgotten about him," he said, smiling wickedly at Pryer, who mopped his forehead with a faded handkerchief.
Rinoa looked at Squall with a new thought forming in her head. Sitting there in his dark pinstriped suit, shiny shoes and a scowl, Rinoa thought Squall could have passed as a mob boss from the old mafia films. A dreamy smile started forming on her face before she could banish it away.
"Yes, ok," Rinoa said, pulling the lid from her pen and opening a new page in her note book.
"Now, Mr. Pryer, you have been given ample time to come up with a workforce that will be able to start, if not finish, this project. Why has this not been done? Please explain," Squall said, peering at the flustered man over locked fingers.
"Well...err, Sir, there have been a few complications," Mr. Pryer tried to explain.
"The only complications have been your own incompetence," Squall snapped, making Rinoa flinch.
"Sir, I didn't receive the plans until a week ago."
"And you couldn't do anything before that? The area needed to be cleared; we gave you the plot dimensions the day you were hired."
"Sir..."
"How would you solve this?" Squall asked Rinoa abruptly.
Rinoa jumped; she hadn't been expected to be addressed. After her initial shock, Rinoa remained silent and considered. From the look on Squall's face, he was determined to get an answer. Rinoa tried to put herself in Pryer's shoes. Her boss today hadn't given up on her, so why should they give up on this man? Surely this man hadn't really intended to delay progress. But, at the same time, he had not done what he'd been paid to.
"I think..." Rinoa said slowly, "that you should let Mr. Pryer oversee the clearing of the area, and if that is done satisfactory, maybe then think about renewing his contract," Rinoa said. Her answer didn't seem too silly to her ears and she smiled into the solemn room.
"Always the diplomat," Squall said affectionately. "You are lucky, Mr. Pryer, that Miss Heartilly has more patience than I have. You will be employed temporarily, with a pay cut, until the area is cleared. We will discuss your contract after that. You have one month to clear the plot. Good day, Mr. Pryer."
Rinoa was glad to get out of that office; her day seemed to be plagued with surprises. Squall was looking at her oddly, but for the first time Rinoa wasn't taking much notice. Her whole concentration was on the file Squall had given her.
"Monster Monster Land? Splash Bog? Squall, what the hell?" Rinoa asked, confused.
"It's the name of the lands in the theme park. It should be pretty easy to work out what themes they are," Squall answered, still looking at her.
"Hey Squall," Rinoa said, looking up suddenly. "Why didn't you oversee the workers?"
"Believe it or not, Rinoa, I more important things to do," Squall said, unlocking his car.
"Like what?" Rinoa asked, before she could stop herself. Squall turned to face her as he opened the passenger side to his car.
"Like taking a certain young lady out to dinner. Are you busy?"
Rinoa stared at him for a second.
"Squall, I'm on suspension until further notice. I'm not going to be busy for a long time." Rinoa blurted without knowing why she chose that moment to tell him. Squall's expression was clearly one of unreadable shock. But to Rinoa's surprise, he started smiling in crazed way.
"Suspension?"
"Stop it, Squall," Rinoa warned, trying to rid her smile before she started laughing.
"So...you coming with me or not?" Squall asked with mock impatience.
"But what about my car?" Rinoa asked as she climbed in. Squall shrugged.
"Oh, I dunno. I guess I'll have to torch it and dump it in a river," he replied as he slammed the door on Rinoa's shocked face. "I'll get someone to pick it up." Rinoa rolled her eyes.
"So, where are we going?" Rinoa asked as she watched the built-up city swallow them up once more from her window. "Some swanky restaurant where there are tons of movie stars?" Rinoa asked, looking at Squall's unrevealing face.
"Sorry, not today, Rin. If I have to eat anymore of that crap on sticks and wafer biscuits I'm gonna be ill," Squall said, smiling at her intrigued face.
The bright lights and traffic started to thin everywhere Rinoa looked. They were heading somewhere she had never seen Squall go before. Soon they were on dirt tracks once more and were bouncing off of dips and bumps in the road at an unwise speed. Every time Rinoa had complained, Squall swerved for the next largest pothole and upped his speed until Rinoa gave up. Eventually Squall started to slow down and a small, wooden-looking town appeared in front of them.
"What is this place?" Rinoa asked, looking around.
"It's where all the farmers live. See these fields..." Squall said, pointing. "They're potatoes. Anyway, they have the best bowling alley in the world," Squall said, driving carefully past some children playing games in the road. Rinoa found that last statement hard to believe as she looked at the ramshackle housing.
"Why is it all falling apart?" Rinoa asked, looking around.
"It isn't part of the city. We just buy from them. Don't look at me like that, Rinoa. We've done all they will let us do to help them; they just prefer to look after themselves. Besides, their children grow up in the open air; ours are locked into rooms with machines. Who has the better life?"
Rinoa thought there was a touch of resentfulness in Squall's voice, as if he'd have given everything as a child just to run in those fields and play in the road. But the reference he had made on 'our children' had made Rinoa blush so that her thoughts were best kept to herself.
"Hey, here we are," Squall said, parking outside of a large wooden building.
"Snappy Shacks Bowling?" Rinoa read with one eyebrow raised. Squall smiled at her and jumped out. "Thought we were getting something to eat?"
"We are: they do great burgers here," Squall replied as he started walking towards the entrance. Rinoa sighed and undid her seatbelt. Would he ever stop being so unpredictable?
"Hey, Squall!" shouted a rowdy group of young children who were standing at the bowling entrance with their pushbikes leaned up against the wall.
"You here to lose against us again?" one asked.
"Nope, not today, I'm here to lose against someone else instead," Squall said, mentioning behind him. The children peered around him to see Rinoa slamming the car door shut.
The children laughed and scattered about the street. Squall watched them run off and waited for Rinoa to catch up.
"Hey, you know who would really love this?" Rinoa asked as she finally became level with him.
"No, who?" Squall asked, taking her hand and whispering in her ear. Rinoa lost her answer instantly.
"Um...my friend Selphie. She's coming to Esthar soon!" Rinoa said loudly, trying to rid herself of the funny feeling in her stomach.
"Rinoa, do you know why I brought you out here?"
"Err, no," Rinoa answered, worried.
"Well, we're not in Esthar anymore, are we?" Squall asked, pulling Rinoa closer to him. Rinoa tried desperately to look anywhere but his eyes.
"Erm..."
"So, we'll be alone here," Squall said, smirking in a mischievous way. Rinoa smiled, catching onto what Squall was thinking. "So, what do you think?"
"About what?" Rinoa asked, confused by the many topics Squall was talking about all at once.
"About going bowling?"
"You know, Squall, I've never done this before!" Rinoa complained as she was dragged into the building with a worried expression.
Two hours later, Rinoa found herself sat at a restaurant table waiting for their burgers. Squall had spent the best part of ten minutes taking to the barman, rather than ordering the drinks. Rinoa sighed and gazed out of the window. Who would have known that you could have so some much fun in this tiny little town.
Squall had won all of the games, not surprisingly to Rinoa, since most of her balls fell off the side and travelled down the gutter, despite the crash course lessons from Squall as to how to bowl. However, she had managed to get a few strikes and she certainly didn't do anything to conceal how happy she was about that fact.
Rinoa found herself lost in her thoughts and hardly noticed that Squall had returned to the table.
"Here you go, one diet coke," Squall said, handing Rinoa the drink.
"Thanks."
"So, what were you saying about being suspended?" Squall asked, taking a sip of his drink.
"Err, yes, suspended. Apparently my report on the ball was really crap, so I'm suspended until further notice," Rinoa said simply, averting her eyes from his questioning gaze.
"Rin, I know this means a lot to you. You don't need to pretend it doesn't," Squall said sitting back in his chair and observing her. "Perhaps coming here was a mistake. Shall we go home?"
"Home?" Rinoa questioned quietly.
"Back to the palace," Squall answered, standing up as if Rinoa had already agreed to leave. Rinoa smiled slightly and stood up also, nodding her head slowly.
"Yes, home," Rinoa said, speaking the words with satisfaction.
A/N: I know this story seems to be just been slinking around on the sidelines of my story plot, but I swear this has all been planned!! But in case you're wondering what is going on, the plot will be emerging soon. But since this is only the 5th chapter, if something was to happen now...this would be a really short story. I mean really, really short.
As always, thank you readers and reviewers!!
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