Author's Note: I always write these notes first, so often what I talk about in them doesn't even happen in the chapter. That being said, I think that this may be the final chapter of Barfly, I'm not sure, it depends on how it goes or what happens. Anyway, enjoy! P.S. remember, songs that Tifa sings are NOT written by me unless otherwise noted and YES I am aware that I already used Real Emotion, but whatever, I can use it again! Also, as you all know I work at a concert venue, so that's why I'm really into performances and concerts in my stories right now. And also, a question to you all that may never be answered, is this first scene a dream...or is it real?
"1, 2, 3...hit it."
The entire stage was black except for two bright spotlights directed towards the center, on a lone figure that stood with her head bowed and holding a microphone at her side. She was wearing dark blue halter-top that showed off her midriff and had white frill running up the front and around her neckline. She wore a black pleated miniskirt that was see- through to her black panties beneath and a layered light blue half skirt that reached down to her left knee. She had violet sleeves with strings to hold them onto her arms that criss-crossed up her arm and brown leather knee-high boots. (A/N: Yuna's songstress dress sphere).
What can I do for you?
She looked up as she sang the first words, and the music began to build. She strutted to the end of the stage like a runway model, with all the grace and ease of a veteran. She was nervous though; as she was each time she performed. She stopped at the edge of the stage and looked over the enormous audience in front of her. It seemed like the entire world had gathered to hear her sing and she couldn't believe it. She quickly looked down to the side and began tapping her foot.
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
I can't hear you
She began to move her feet to the music as she continued to sing. She ran around the stage and stopped in front of different sections of the audience and began to jump up and down, lifting her hands in the air to get them to join in and cheer for her. She loved the applause and she loved the attention. This was what she wanted her whole life, and she had finally obtained it, on her own.
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
With each line she leaned over to shift her weight onto one leg at a time, and continued back and forth. She lifted her free hand in the air and began to kick out her legs dancing 'ska' style. She found her place once again downstage of the center, where she reached out her hand for the audience to touch. No longer was there a crowd of only horny males, now there were teenagers and nearly every age group coming to watch her perform and loving every minute of it. She smiled as she sang, beaming from her success.
Falling in the hazy borders of my heart
I can see your face
It's something like this
Every now and then I don't know what to do
Still I know that I
Can never go back
She brought her hand up to the side of her face and slid it down her cheek, to her neck and down the side of her body to her hip, and then stretched it out with raw emotion. She incorporated some of the techniques she learned as a stripper to entice her audience, but no longer did she need to remove her clothes to be adored.
All the things I've seen
In those hazy dreams
Can't compare to what I'm seein' now
Everything's so different
That it brings me to my knees
She fell to her knees and straddled the stage, the pushed her bottom up into the air and slowly raised the rest of her body. She shifted her shoulders from side to side and closed her eyes, grinning widely. She grabbed the back of her head from over her face and looked to each side with lightning quick speed. Had she not controlled herself the audience thought she could have gotten whiplash.
And oh, I know, the world of real emotion
Has surrounded me
I won't give in to it
Now, I know, that forward
Is the only way my heart can go
I hear your voice calling out to me
'You'll never be alone.'
She clutched her arm to her chest and pivoted on her heel. She then stretched out her arm, gripping for the audience as if they could come to her. She ran up to the edge of the stage and stopped, and shook her head to look behind her and then back towards the front. She placed her hand behind her back and began to shimmy.
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
She again bounced around the stage, raising up her arm to get the audience to join her as she repeated the lines again and again. She was having so much fun and she didn't even care if the audience participated. She was singing to herself, as if looking into a mirror, and in her mind there was no one else around. She skipped to each side of the stage and shook her hips, bending at the knees to slowly near herself to the floor.
I can't hear you
On each word of her last line she stuck out her hips to the side, then back and forth. She took a different pose with each word and then started to shake her hips and rotate her shoulders during her short interlude.
And if I find the real without emotion
Has surrounded me
And I can't go on
And you are there
The moment that I close my eyes
You comfort me
"We are connected
Go on. You'll see
I'll never be—"
She began to rotate her hips and belly dance. She let her soul become intertwined within the music and she felt her body escape her, taking on a new role with the sounds that were pouring out of her mouth. She could feel the sweat drip from her forehead as she concentrated, afraid to lose her balance, afraid to fall and ruin her success.
And oh, I know, the world of real emotion
Has surrounded me
I won't give into it
Now, I know, that forward
Is the only way my heart can go
I hear your voice calling out to me
"You'll never be alone"
She repeated her dance steps for the chorus, clutching her arm to her chest, then reaching for the audience and running up to them, looking back and forth. She still couldn't believe that she had gotten to this point in her career, still couldn't believe that she was national sensation. And, though she hated to admit it, she owed it all to Cloud.
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
She bent over the stage and stretched out her hand again for the audience to touch. She loved the fact that she was so important to them, that they would die just to touch her fingers. She reached out to touch as many hands as she could, while the screams from below her grew louder and louder.
I can't hear you
The audience had completely chimed in with that last line and her voice could barely be heard over them, even with the microphone. She danced around the stage, shaking her hips wildly as her song was about to end. She could feel all the emotions flood over her body, and intense ecstasy that she could only obtain by performing, something she had never felt while stripping.
I can't hear you
With each of her last words she struck a new pose harshly. Each word she stuck her hip out to one side or the other, turning her face a different direction. She ended with her arm raised in the air with a fist, and her hand that held the microphone hanging to her side, her face bowed and the lights shut off.
Cloud sat back in his desk chair, flipping a pen between his fingers. He swiveled around to look outside, across his backyard with the Olympic sized swimming pool and out across the wall, out to the mountains that had always brought him so much inspiration, so much company. It had been six months since he had returned home and he was now the president of Midgar University.
He had been so busy lately that he hadn't the time to watch the news or even read the papers. He had been working on a sky-high pile of paperwork for months, and now that he was finally finished with it he hoped to be getting back into the swing of life. He wanted to have fun, maybe even take a trip over to Costa Del Sol and see his father at their summer villa.
Of course, it shouldn't have taken him so long to finish the paperwork, but whenever he got tired of all the writing, his mind drifted. His thoughts wandered off into the distance numerous times a day. And most of them seemed to revolve around one person.
He wondered how she was and what she was doing with her life. He just couldn't get her off of his mind. She was so beautiful and he still felt a horrible sting of guilt in his side. He still couldn't believe what he had done to her, what he had said about her. He hadn't been able to search for her for the past few months, but he had thought about her constantly.
He was hoping that she was well; that her life was getting back on track and that she was doing all right on her own. He wanted to there with her, wherever she was, he wanted to be a part of her life, but he knew that he couldn't be. He had wronged her, and he could never ask for her forgiveness.
He wanted to know where she was and to see for himself that she was doing fine. But work was tough and he knew that he wouldn't be able to go on a blind search any time soon. He took a deep breath and turned back to his desk, tapping his pencil lightly on the letterhead in front of him.
His mind was gone; he knew he would not be able to do any more work for the day. He was like a writer with writer's block and he couldn't refocus. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the last dream he had with her in it, six months ago. He could still picture it vividly as if he had just dreamt it. He hadn't heard or seen of her since, she had just blended into the rest of society, another lost soul that he could buy out if he so wanted.
He stood up and decided to take a much-needed break. He walked into his bedroom and changed into a pair of swim trunks. With his sandals and sunglasses, he strolled out to his pool and straddled a lounge chair, cupping his face in his hands and running his fingers through his hair.
He had been so lonely since he lost her. He knew that at any moment he could walk out his front door and find a girl that would give her left arm to be with him for a night but he didn't want them. He didn't need a spineless, brainless whore to make him feel whole. He needed...her.
She was the desire that eluded him. She was the thought that crossed his mind every few seconds. She was an anchor to reality that he could not obtain. She meant so much to him, even though they had only spoken once. Is this, he thought to himself, what it feels like?
He had never believed in love. He had always thought that it was just an illusion, that you could not love someone forever. He had spent his time jumping from girl to girl to satisfy his needs for the moment but...what if he could find a woman that would satisfy him for the rest of his life? Could such a woman exist for him? Could that be Tifa?
He looked up into the azure water before him, concentrating on its tranquil movements in the soft breeze. He stood up and sighed, then dove into the icy water, not bothering to come up for air. He curled into a fetal position and remained under water, knowing that all his thoughts could be much clearer.
He knew that he needed to find her, that if he didn't he would slowly drive himself insane. He couldn't give up on her, couldn't believe that she would never forgive him, even though he deserved it. He had looked for her, mildly, whenever he went for a walk. He knew that she could never get to the upper plate but still, it was wishful thinking. He would search through the crowds of people that he walked by; he would scan their faces, wondering if it could be her.
He swam to the surface of the water and gasped for breath, swimming to the edge of the pool and gripping the deck for support. He deserved to die for what he did to her, but he knew that he couldn't. He still had this hope in his mind that she was thinking about him, that maybe even she missed him.
"This...is a song I wrote...about someone who hurt me in the past..." Tifa trailed off as she stood at the microphone in her bar.
Business was doing extremely well; the bar was almost a national institution. People from all over the world were coming to see her perform, as long as they were old enough to drink. She was overwhelmed by her recent success and was afraid to lose her sense of self. She still was who she was six months ago, or at least she thought she was, and hoped that she would never change.
She gripped the microphone and stood in one place. She never danced to her sad songs, instead she stood there, letting the emotions encompass the audience and bring them to tears. This one too, would be no different. Her thoughts still constantly drifted back to Cloud and what he had done to her, she couldn't deny her feelings for him, even now, after all this time. She watched the news and read the papers, just to see if he would be a topic.
She wore a pink and purple dress with holes cut down the side and a neckline that stretched below her waist. She had on a purple scarf with short purple gloves and boots. Around her neck and waist were large gold coins and she had a fan in her hair. (A/N: Yuna's 'Lady Luck' dress sphere). She sighed and lowered her head, concentrating on her next song.
All your words
Seem gentle in my dreams.
But they're lies
And I turn away.
You cheater.
You began a journey
Sensing roughness ahead.
It's strange.
Why do you fight alone?
You cheater.
"I'll come back."
Your voice passes me.
Memories grow.
But I'm tough.
Time that's returned
That got away.
I should have yelled don't go, with tears in my eyes
And now
I can't do a thing.
I cannot say
The 1000 words.
Faraway
To your back.
My words can't fly to you.
I cannot say
The 1000 words.
You're wounded
And I can't reach you.
I want to hold you.
The dream goes on
My feelings are for you.
That faraway day
That I want to forget.
You cheater.
"I'll write to you."
Your voice goes away.
Memories grow.
But I'm tough.
Time that's returned
That once left.
Was I to say I couldn't wait that long?
And now
I can't do a thing.
Can you hear it?
My 1000 words.
Reaching to
Your faded away back
On wings.
Can you hear it?
My 1000 words
Your tired back
They reach towards.
I want to hold you.
I could say
The 1000 words.
Lalalala...
They can't seem
To reach you.
Can you hear it?
My 1000 words.
Lalalala...
I want to cuddle up to you.
Lalalalala...
She bowed her head as a tear slipped to the floor beneath her. She still didn't realize just how much she missed him. Even after what he had done to her she still couldn't believe that he had done it on his own accord, it seemed like...he was forced, but maybe she was just hoping.
The audience gave her yet another standing ovation as she bowed. She walked backstage with a fake smile on her face. Performing at her bar always made her happy but tonight...she figured it was the song. Maybe she shouldn't sing it anymore. But it was already out on a CD so she couldn't deny that it existed.
Yes, she had gotten a record deal. An agent who had heard about her and Cloud Strife had come to her bar hoping, like most other people, to get a glimpse of such a beautiful stripper. When he heard her sing he realized that she had so much more potential and signed her up.
She sat down at her lighted mirror and rested her chin on her fist. She stared at herself in the mirror, trying to decide if she was good enough for Cloud, if she was pretty enough to be someone he could like...maybe even love. She sighed longingly and thought to herself, 'I hope he's thinking about me too.'
She brought her water bottle to her lips and took a sip, crossing her legs and closing her eyes. She set it back down on the counter and smiled. What if he was thinking about her? She could only imagine but still...dreams are what make people happy.
Cloud sat down on his couch and leaned back, still unable to concentrate on his work. He had taken a break several hours ago and spent the time pacing around his deserted mansion. Mia had left to take care of his father, who had aged considerably since he handed over the college to Cloud. He was not well and Cloud knew that he would die soon.
He had mixed emotions about losing his father. He was the man who had raised him and taken care of him, but he had also forced him to hurt Tifa. He knew he would miss the man but he still hold a bitter grudge for what he had made him do.
Cloud needed someone to clean the house. He had hired a maid, but she had tried to get into his pants and he had let her go. She had clung to him and tried to seduce him, but to no avail. Cloud's heart still belonged with Tifa. He wanted someone to live with him that he could talk to and share things with, someone who could cook since he had not had a home cooked meal in months.
He sighed and picked up the remote for the T.V. He turned it on to a random channel, the music channel and watched. It was summer time so all the rich kids were flocking to Costa Del Sol to the large dance party that the channel hosted each year. The host of the event was sitting on a stage with two armchairs and a small end table between them.
"What's up people, this is Rod Beckon here for MC. Welcome back to summer dance fest! Now I'm about to introduce one hot young lady, a newcomer to the music world but she's rapidly becoming a national sensation. Here she is for her first interview ever, Tifa Lockheart!"
"1, 2, 3...hit it."
The entire stage was black except for two bright spotlights directed towards the center, on a lone figure that stood with her head bowed and holding a microphone at her side. She was wearing dark blue halter-top that showed off her midriff and had white frill running up the front and around her neckline. She wore a black pleated miniskirt that was see- through to her black panties beneath and a layered light blue half skirt that reached down to her left knee. She had violet sleeves with strings to hold them onto her arms that criss-crossed up her arm and brown leather knee-high boots. (A/N: Yuna's songstress dress sphere).
What can I do for you?
She looked up as she sang the first words, and the music began to build. She strutted to the end of the stage like a runway model, with all the grace and ease of a veteran. She was nervous though; as she was each time she performed. She stopped at the edge of the stage and looked over the enormous audience in front of her. It seemed like the entire world had gathered to hear her sing and she couldn't believe it. She quickly looked down to the side and began tapping her foot.
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
I can't hear you
She began to move her feet to the music as she continued to sing. She ran around the stage and stopped in front of different sections of the audience and began to jump up and down, lifting her hands in the air to get them to join in and cheer for her. She loved the applause and she loved the attention. This was what she wanted her whole life, and she had finally obtained it, on her own.
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
With each line she leaned over to shift her weight onto one leg at a time, and continued back and forth. She lifted her free hand in the air and began to kick out her legs dancing 'ska' style. She found her place once again downstage of the center, where she reached out her hand for the audience to touch. No longer was there a crowd of only horny males, now there were teenagers and nearly every age group coming to watch her perform and loving every minute of it. She smiled as she sang, beaming from her success.
Falling in the hazy borders of my heart
I can see your face
It's something like this
Every now and then I don't know what to do
Still I know that I
Can never go back
She brought her hand up to the side of her face and slid it down her cheek, to her neck and down the side of her body to her hip, and then stretched it out with raw emotion. She incorporated some of the techniques she learned as a stripper to entice her audience, but no longer did she need to remove her clothes to be adored.
All the things I've seen
In those hazy dreams
Can't compare to what I'm seein' now
Everything's so different
That it brings me to my knees
She fell to her knees and straddled the stage, the pushed her bottom up into the air and slowly raised the rest of her body. She shifted her shoulders from side to side and closed her eyes, grinning widely. She grabbed the back of her head from over her face and looked to each side with lightning quick speed. Had she not controlled herself the audience thought she could have gotten whiplash.
And oh, I know, the world of real emotion
Has surrounded me
I won't give in to it
Now, I know, that forward
Is the only way my heart can go
I hear your voice calling out to me
'You'll never be alone.'
She clutched her arm to her chest and pivoted on her heel. She then stretched out her arm, gripping for the audience as if they could come to her. She ran up to the edge of the stage and stopped, and shook her head to look behind her and then back towards the front. She placed her hand behind her back and began to shimmy.
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
She again bounced around the stage, raising up her arm to get the audience to join her as she repeated the lines again and again. She was having so much fun and she didn't even care if the audience participated. She was singing to herself, as if looking into a mirror, and in her mind there was no one else around. She skipped to each side of the stage and shook her hips, bending at the knees to slowly near herself to the floor.
I can't hear you
On each word of her last line she stuck out her hips to the side, then back and forth. She took a different pose with each word and then started to shake her hips and rotate her shoulders during her short interlude.
And if I find the real without emotion
Has surrounded me
And I can't go on
And you are there
The moment that I close my eyes
You comfort me
"We are connected
Go on. You'll see
I'll never be—"
She began to rotate her hips and belly dance. She let her soul become intertwined within the music and she felt her body escape her, taking on a new role with the sounds that were pouring out of her mouth. She could feel the sweat drip from her forehead as she concentrated, afraid to lose her balance, afraid to fall and ruin her success.
And oh, I know, the world of real emotion
Has surrounded me
I won't give into it
Now, I know, that forward
Is the only way my heart can go
I hear your voice calling out to me
"You'll never be alone"
She repeated her dance steps for the chorus, clutching her arm to her chest, then reaching for the audience and running up to them, looking back and forth. She still couldn't believe that she had gotten to this point in her career, still couldn't believe that she was national sensation. And, though she hated to admit it, she owed it all to Cloud.
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
She bent over the stage and stretched out her hand again for the audience to touch. She loved the fact that she was so important to them, that they would die just to touch her fingers. She reached out to touch as many hands as she could, while the screams from below her grew louder and louder.
I can't hear you
The audience had completely chimed in with that last line and her voice could barely be heard over them, even with the microphone. She danced around the stage, shaking her hips wildly as her song was about to end. She could feel all the emotions flood over her body, and intense ecstasy that she could only obtain by performing, something she had never felt while stripping.
I can't hear you
With each of her last words she struck a new pose harshly. Each word she stuck her hip out to one side or the other, turning her face a different direction. She ended with her arm raised in the air with a fist, and her hand that held the microphone hanging to her side, her face bowed and the lights shut off.
Cloud sat back in his desk chair, flipping a pen between his fingers. He swiveled around to look outside, across his backyard with the Olympic sized swimming pool and out across the wall, out to the mountains that had always brought him so much inspiration, so much company. It had been six months since he had returned home and he was now the president of Midgar University.
He had been so busy lately that he hadn't the time to watch the news or even read the papers. He had been working on a sky-high pile of paperwork for months, and now that he was finally finished with it he hoped to be getting back into the swing of life. He wanted to have fun, maybe even take a trip over to Costa Del Sol and see his father at their summer villa.
Of course, it shouldn't have taken him so long to finish the paperwork, but whenever he got tired of all the writing, his mind drifted. His thoughts wandered off into the distance numerous times a day. And most of them seemed to revolve around one person.
He wondered how she was and what she was doing with her life. He just couldn't get her off of his mind. She was so beautiful and he still felt a horrible sting of guilt in his side. He still couldn't believe what he had done to her, what he had said about her. He hadn't been able to search for her for the past few months, but he had thought about her constantly.
He was hoping that she was well; that her life was getting back on track and that she was doing all right on her own. He wanted to there with her, wherever she was, he wanted to be a part of her life, but he knew that he couldn't be. He had wronged her, and he could never ask for her forgiveness.
He wanted to know where she was and to see for himself that she was doing fine. But work was tough and he knew that he wouldn't be able to go on a blind search any time soon. He took a deep breath and turned back to his desk, tapping his pencil lightly on the letterhead in front of him.
His mind was gone; he knew he would not be able to do any more work for the day. He was like a writer with writer's block and he couldn't refocus. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the last dream he had with her in it, six months ago. He could still picture it vividly as if he had just dreamt it. He hadn't heard or seen of her since, she had just blended into the rest of society, another lost soul that he could buy out if he so wanted.
He stood up and decided to take a much-needed break. He walked into his bedroom and changed into a pair of swim trunks. With his sandals and sunglasses, he strolled out to his pool and straddled a lounge chair, cupping his face in his hands and running his fingers through his hair.
He had been so lonely since he lost her. He knew that at any moment he could walk out his front door and find a girl that would give her left arm to be with him for a night but he didn't want them. He didn't need a spineless, brainless whore to make him feel whole. He needed...her.
She was the desire that eluded him. She was the thought that crossed his mind every few seconds. She was an anchor to reality that he could not obtain. She meant so much to him, even though they had only spoken once. Is this, he thought to himself, what it feels like?
He had never believed in love. He had always thought that it was just an illusion, that you could not love someone forever. He had spent his time jumping from girl to girl to satisfy his needs for the moment but...what if he could find a woman that would satisfy him for the rest of his life? Could such a woman exist for him? Could that be Tifa?
He looked up into the azure water before him, concentrating on its tranquil movements in the soft breeze. He stood up and sighed, then dove into the icy water, not bothering to come up for air. He curled into a fetal position and remained under water, knowing that all his thoughts could be much clearer.
He knew that he needed to find her, that if he didn't he would slowly drive himself insane. He couldn't give up on her, couldn't believe that she would never forgive him, even though he deserved it. He had looked for her, mildly, whenever he went for a walk. He knew that she could never get to the upper plate but still, it was wishful thinking. He would search through the crowds of people that he walked by; he would scan their faces, wondering if it could be her.
He swam to the surface of the water and gasped for breath, swimming to the edge of the pool and gripping the deck for support. He deserved to die for what he did to her, but he knew that he couldn't. He still had this hope in his mind that she was thinking about him, that maybe even she missed him.
"This...is a song I wrote...about someone who hurt me in the past..." Tifa trailed off as she stood at the microphone in her bar.
Business was doing extremely well; the bar was almost a national institution. People from all over the world were coming to see her perform, as long as they were old enough to drink. She was overwhelmed by her recent success and was afraid to lose her sense of self. She still was who she was six months ago, or at least she thought she was, and hoped that she would never change.
She gripped the microphone and stood in one place. She never danced to her sad songs, instead she stood there, letting the emotions encompass the audience and bring them to tears. This one too, would be no different. Her thoughts still constantly drifted back to Cloud and what he had done to her, she couldn't deny her feelings for him, even now, after all this time. She watched the news and read the papers, just to see if he would be a topic.
She wore a pink and purple dress with holes cut down the side and a neckline that stretched below her waist. She had on a purple scarf with short purple gloves and boots. Around her neck and waist were large gold coins and she had a fan in her hair. (A/N: Yuna's 'Lady Luck' dress sphere). She sighed and lowered her head, concentrating on her next song.
All your words
Seem gentle in my dreams.
But they're lies
And I turn away.
You cheater.
You began a journey
Sensing roughness ahead.
It's strange.
Why do you fight alone?
You cheater.
"I'll come back."
Your voice passes me.
Memories grow.
But I'm tough.
Time that's returned
That got away.
I should have yelled don't go, with tears in my eyes
And now
I can't do a thing.
I cannot say
The 1000 words.
Faraway
To your back.
My words can't fly to you.
I cannot say
The 1000 words.
You're wounded
And I can't reach you.
I want to hold you.
The dream goes on
My feelings are for you.
That faraway day
That I want to forget.
You cheater.
"I'll write to you."
Your voice goes away.
Memories grow.
But I'm tough.
Time that's returned
That once left.
Was I to say I couldn't wait that long?
And now
I can't do a thing.
Can you hear it?
My 1000 words.
Reaching to
Your faded away back
On wings.
Can you hear it?
My 1000 words
Your tired back
They reach towards.
I want to hold you.
I could say
The 1000 words.
Lalalala...
They can't seem
To reach you.
Can you hear it?
My 1000 words.
Lalalala...
I want to cuddle up to you.
Lalalalala...
She bowed her head as a tear slipped to the floor beneath her. She still didn't realize just how much she missed him. Even after what he had done to her she still couldn't believe that he had done it on his own accord, it seemed like...he was forced, but maybe she was just hoping.
The audience gave her yet another standing ovation as she bowed. She walked backstage with a fake smile on her face. Performing at her bar always made her happy but tonight...she figured it was the song. Maybe she shouldn't sing it anymore. But it was already out on a CD so she couldn't deny that it existed.
Yes, she had gotten a record deal. An agent who had heard about her and Cloud Strife had come to her bar hoping, like most other people, to get a glimpse of such a beautiful stripper. When he heard her sing he realized that she had so much more potential and signed her up.
She sat down at her lighted mirror and rested her chin on her fist. She stared at herself in the mirror, trying to decide if she was good enough for Cloud, if she was pretty enough to be someone he could like...maybe even love. She sighed longingly and thought to herself, 'I hope he's thinking about me too.'
She brought her water bottle to her lips and took a sip, crossing her legs and closing her eyes. She set it back down on the counter and smiled. What if he was thinking about her? She could only imagine but still...dreams are what make people happy.
Cloud sat down on his couch and leaned back, still unable to concentrate on his work. He had taken a break several hours ago and spent the time pacing around his deserted mansion. Mia had left to take care of his father, who had aged considerably since he handed over the college to Cloud. He was not well and Cloud knew that he would die soon.
He had mixed emotions about losing his father. He was the man who had raised him and taken care of him, but he had also forced him to hurt Tifa. He knew he would miss the man but he still hold a bitter grudge for what he had made him do.
Cloud needed someone to clean the house. He had hired a maid, but she had tried to get into his pants and he had let her go. She had clung to him and tried to seduce him, but to no avail. Cloud's heart still belonged with Tifa. He wanted someone to live with him that he could talk to and share things with, someone who could cook since he had not had a home cooked meal in months.
He sighed and picked up the remote for the T.V. He turned it on to a random channel, the music channel and watched. It was summer time so all the rich kids were flocking to Costa Del Sol to the large dance party that the channel hosted each year. The host of the event was sitting on a stage with two armchairs and a small end table between them.
"What's up people, this is Rod Beckon here for MC. Welcome back to summer dance fest! Now I'm about to introduce one hot young lady, a newcomer to the music world but she's rapidly becoming a national sensation. Here she is for her first interview ever, Tifa Lockheart!"