A/N: LoL ... change of summary again -sweat drop- Thank you for all of your support! I really appreciate it. As for the ending ... well, you'll have to find out, won't you? Keke. To tell you the truth, I haven't even seen the ending ... so, maybe that'll contribute something to it :P
Lost Memories of My Love
Chapter 27 – The Meeting
Min, I'm going to murder you.
Rinoa sat in the boardroom, smiling nervously as she watched the other board members chattering before the meeting. Some approached her and asked about her, and she felt like an idiot when she said that it wasn't Quistis who hired her – and she would feel even more idiotic when she said she didn't know who did.
Somebody tapped Rinoa on the shoulder. She turned around to find Irvine standing there, grinning cheerfully.
"Hey, Sierra baby, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave," said Irvine.
Rinoa blinked. "Why? The meeting starts soon…" And Min hasn't showed up yet…
"Uh, yeah, well about that," said Irvine, scratching his head. He turned around and looked out the glass doors, where Quistis and Selphie stood there, leaving it all up to him.
Quistis gave him a blank stare when he turned around. "What's wrong? Why is he looking at me?"
"I don't know!" said Selphie in panic.
She felt a little relieved when Irvine quickly turned back to Rinoa, talking as if he knew what he was doing.
"He'd better know what he's doing…"
"Who's out there?" asked Rinoa, trying to look in Irvine's direction.
Irvine quickly turned back to her. "Uh … nobody." He blocked her view of the outside world. "Listen, I'm serious, you have to get out of this building."
"Why?" asked Rinoa, a little more sharply this time.
"Because … because whoever called you up here made a mistake," said Irvine coolly.
"Mistake?"
"Yeah, uh, you see…" Irvine scratched his head, "Today's meeting is only for … um … real Garden staff members."
"I am real!" argued Rinoa.
"Yeah, well what I mean is … well, y'know, like the actual committee," said Irvine. "Who … uh … teach, and are in charge of … um ... things. Not the finance … people."
"I'm in charge of the uniforms," said Rinoa, staring at Irvine as if he were the biggest loser on the planet. "And I am a part of the commerce faction, but I just met the treasurer in the elevator and she's over there…" She pointed to Ashleigh, who was at the other end of the table, speaking to another board member.
Irvine didn't know what to say. He was indeed corrected and rocked himself. Instead, he smiled in defeat with his eyes almost closed. "Right. My mistake." He nodded curtly and began to walk out, but quickly ran back to her because he thought of a better idea.
"Oh, oh! I mean ... you have to leave because ... because I ... uh ... like you?" Irvine laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.
Rinoa simply stared at him in utter amazement. "What?"
"Uh ... forget it." Irvine shook his head, not believing he wasn't such a talker that day, and walked out of the boardroom, where he met Quistis and Selphie outside.
"Did you get her out?" asked Selphie.
"Uh, I encountered a couple of slight problems," said Irvine, nodding slowly, "She … just didn't want to go. She loves this job a lot…"
"Irvine!" scolded Quistis, slightly pushing her companion. "You can't talk someone out of a room if your life depended on it!"
Irvine collected himself. "Hey, I tried, all right? She's more like Rinoa than I thought! Stubborn, as always!"
Quistis sighed and glanced at her watch. "Oh, this is great, the meeting starts in sixty seconds. We'll have to get in there and face the music."
"Nooo, Squall is so going to flip out," said Selphie, as if the world was going to end.
"We'll get through it," said Irvine comfortingly.
The three of them went into the boardroom and took their places at the long, rectangular table. They all sat on the higher end of the table, as they were all the higher authority of the committee. Quistis was sitting on the right side next to Irvine. Opposite of Irvine was Selphie, who was sitting next to Ashleigh.
Quistis glanced out of the glass side door to see Ellone, Squall and Laguna approaching as they prep-talked for the meeting. She sighed and stood up to begin the meeting.
"Can I have your attention please," said Quistis professionally.
The boardroom fell silent as Quistis spoke.
"You're all here today for the first official meeting of the Estharian Garden Establishment project," she announced, "Today will be a series of discussions about finance, the way the Garden will run, and other pressing matters of the like." She looked back to the side door and saw Ellone, Squall and Laguna waiting for their cue to enter.
Damn it Min, I'm going to kill you. She looked around nervously, not knowing what to do.
"Please rise in respect for Ellone Loire, executive chairwoman of the committee," said Quistis, nodding in the direction of the side door.
Everyone in the boardroom stood up as Ellone entered the room with her serene smile, and took her place on the near left hand side of the table, at the very end next to Quistis.
"…Vice President of Esthar, Squall Leonheart…"
The name jogged Rinoa's attention straight away. Leonheart is vice president of Esthar?
Squall entered the room with a blank face. Rinoa stared at him with a look of utter shock and a weak smile as he entered the room. He never told me that he was vice president of a country!
As Squall walked in, he saw all his friends looking vague but took no notice of it. Then he saw Rinoa, giving him the shocked look of a lifetime with a confused but sweet smile. Squall couldn't help but smile a small smile back at her as he took his place on the opposite side of Ellone, right next to Ashleigh. Squall's smile made Rinoa's smile widen.
Nobody was more confused than Quistis, Irvine and Selphie. They were expecting Squall to see the Rinoa look-alike and keep his very blank expression and then later mope about it. But he didn't. He smiled at her, and this was very strange. Not only did he smile, but also he smiled at a woman who looked like Rinoa … and Rinoa was supposed to be dead!
Irvine was staring blankly at Squall in disbelief and Selphie was also. Quistis kept a straight face and elbowed Irvine to act professionally. She didn't even note that the seat next to Selphie was empty, which Zell was supposed to be occupying.
"…And the honourable president of Esthar, President Laguna Loire," said Quistis.
Laguna entered the room with a gleeful smile and sat on the very end of the table, in between Squall and Ellone, looking down at the rest of the board.
"Thank you, Quistis," said Laguna, nodding at the blonde. He looked down at the rest of the committee. Just about everyone was wearing formal black suits besides Ashleigh, who was wearing white, and himself, who was wearing is casual attire. They all held straight faces and the formality almost killed Laguna. "Please sit."
Everyone in the room took their seats, except for Laguna. He cleared his throat and began his speech. "Thank you, all of you, for attending today's meeting. I'm pleased to announce that we're only but a couple of small steps away from establishing the very first Estharian Garden. Okay, now I don't know what the heck I'm doing at this meeting, because I'm really not doing any work – Squall and Ellone, and all the rest of you guys are here, and nobody has told me a thing about this project. Why is everyone so mean to me?"
There was a murmur of laughter in the room. Everyone was afraid of being too rude or informal, as they were in the presence of the most important people of the country. They obviously didn't know Laguna very well. Rinoa giggled a little at Laguna's optimism and could tell she was going to like her boss.
"So, basically, I'm really not going to intervene with any of your thoughts and ideas today," said Laguna, "So don't be afraid to speak out, I won't bite. I'm just here to listen and see what's going on. Y'all got that clear?"
Everybody in the room was nodding. Squall rolled his eyes.
"I'm glad to see everyone enthusiastic about this," said Laguna with a chuckle, "So I'm going to hand it over to Squall now." He sat down and listened patiently.
Squall remained seated and glanced at the notes he had written in front of him beforehand. "All right. I would like to welcome all the new staff here and thank Ms Trepe for organising them. I expect that we will all become well acquainted and will face little complications." He quickly glanced at Rinoa for no apparent reason. "Ms Trepe, may I ask how many recruits we have on our team so far?"
Quistis cleared her throat. "Yes, we have approximately twenty hired instructors so far, excluding myself, sir." She was getting used to calling Squall her superior in front of an audience. She used to hate it, the words used to sting her with passion, but she was used to it now.
"How many are experienced?" asked Squall.
"We have five relatively experienced instructors, six retired SeeDs, and the rest are ex-students who have recently completed their Garden courses, sir. Of course, they are excellent achievers who are skilled in academic studies and practical studies."
"I see," said Squall slowly, taking the information into mind.
Suddenly, the door burst open and Zell and Min came running into the room, huffing and puffing as if they were running a marathon. Rinoa sighed and shook her head sadly as Min was almost a mess.
"Hey … Squall … I'm … sorry we're … late…" Zell said through wheezes as he bent down to catch his breath.
Squall looked at the pair of latecomers with his same emotionless expression. "I'm glad you've decided to join us, Mr Dincht and Miss…" He searched his mind for a name, but couldn't find one.
"Min ... I'm Min!" cried Min, also huffing and puffing.
"Well … we were eating at one of the restaurants … and … then … we noticed we were late…" Zell caught his breath.
"So we … ran back to the building … but the elevator got stuck … and…" Min flushed a bright red colour as everyone was now looking at them both.
"And … we had to bust our way out … and now we're here."
"Thank you for that very interesting story," said Squall sarcastically, "Please take a seat. I'll deal with you later."
Zell nodded. "Thanks, sir. Hey Rinoa," he added, as he waked past Rinoa. He stopped and went back to look at her. "RINOA!"
Rinoa blinked in puzzlement, taking no notice of Min sitting down next to her.
"HOLY COW!" shouted Zell.
Irvine slapped his forehead in irritation, Selphie folded her arms in annoyance and Quistis shook her head in shame.
"Sit down, Mr Dincht," said Squall fiercely.
Zell took his seat next to Selphie, not taking his eyes off Rinoa in shock. Ashleigh looked nervous, as she kept shifting her eyes around the room. Laguna held an amused smile on his face while Ellone was trying to hold back laughter. Everyone else in the room simply stared at both Zell and a flustered Rinoa, not knowing what to think.
"As I was saying, before we were interrupted…" Squall continued to speak.
"Sorry, Sierra," whispered Min while Squall was talking. "It's just that—"
"I'll talk to you later," hissed Rinoa under her breath, hoping that nobody would notice her talking in the middle of the meeting.
The meeting continued, and Rinoa watched in silence as the other members of the board spoke about the future of Garden. She hoped that nobody would come to pick on her and make her speak, because she felt very low standard – all of the people she was sitting with were professionals, and she was just some fashion girl who was there for a reason she did not understand.
The meeting finally came to an end, and Rinoa was safe. She was almost relieved, and was very curious about Squall. She also wanted to scold Min for her tardiness.
"Thank you for joining us today," said Laguna, rising. "We have progressed very much. You will be contacted when the next meeting has been arranged. Dismissed."
Everybody in the room stood up and began chattering with each other as they packed up their files and briefcases. Rinoa looked at Min with a very disapproving face as she rose.
Min laughed nervously. "Sorry about that, Sierra."
"Please explain why you were so late … and why you had to make a big entrance about it!" cried Rinoa.
"Well, Zell explained already!" said Min, "We were eating, and we were so caught up in conversation that we were running late. Then we ran back to the office and got into the elevator, but we got stuck, so Zell did all these computer things but it didn't work, so he used his cool martial arts…"
Rinoa still stared, but then laughed. "Hah, I bet you had real fun with him!"
Min blushed. "Why … what ever do you mean?"
"Aw, stop the act Min," said Rinoa, playfully poking her friend in the arm. "I understand completely." She looked into the corner of her eye and saw Squall scolding Zell about being late.
"You obviously don't care about the way the committee is presented," said Squall. "You were late and you made a complete ass out of yourself."
"I did not!" argued Zell, "How else was I supposed to come in? I apologised!"
"Oh shut up, Zell, you came in and started saying god-knows-what," said Irvine, shaking his head, obviously referring to the whole Rinoa thing.
"Hey don't blame me, you're in charge of security, Irvine," said Zell defensively, "Your elevators stuffed up on me."
"Yeah, and since when did elevators come under security?" said Irvine in disbelief. "You're in charge of building and maintenance."
"Yeah, for the Garden," Zell shot back.
"Guys, break it up!" said Selphie.
The two man glared at each other and turned back to Squall.
"I don't know who's fault it was, but I expect it fixed," said Squall, "As for you Zell…"
Quistis had a feeling Squall was going to be hard on him and suspend Zell or something. "Squall, don't be so hard on him…"
Squall ignored Quistis, for he wasn't going to be hard on Zell. "…Just don't do it anymore."
The four companions stared at Squall in disbelief. He was being awfully soft that day.
"Uh, sure Squall, whatever you say," said Zell slowly, "I mean … sir."
"Zell, we're not in the conference anymore, drop the formalities," said Squall bluntly. "I'll see you all later."
As he was about to move, Rinoa began scolding Min again. She didn't know why, she probably wanted to make herself look good. But there was hardly anybody left in the room, only herself, Min, Squall and his friends.
"…So, next time, be on time, Min!" said Rinoa.
"Yeah, I know, it won't happen again!" said Min, "Sheesh!"
Rinoa smiled as Squall walked past her and went out the glass doors. She felt somewhat disappointed when he didn't stop to talk.
"I'll talk to you later, I need to talk to that guy," said Rinoa quickly, walking out after Squall.
Min blinked and stared out after her.
Selphie, Zell, Quistis and Irvine were also still very confused. Squall was being soft on the day, which happened to be the day where he saw a woman that looked like Rinoa. He wasn't being colder than usual, he wasn't being bitterer than usual – in fact, it was the complete opposite. There was definitely something going on that they didn't know about, and their suspicions only rose when they saw so-called Sierra walk out after Squall.
"There's really something weird going on here," said Irvine.
"Is it just me, or was that Rinoa?" said Zell in disbelief.
"That's what we thought too, but come on Zell," said Quistis, "Rinoa's…"
"Yeah, I know, I know," said Zell quickly. "But god damn, she looks so much like her…"
"Yeah, but let's worry about that later when we're out of the conference room," said Selphie through gritted teeth. She suddenly grinned at Zell and looked over at Min, who was putting things into her purse.
"Who's you're new friend, Zell?" whispered Selphie.
Zell laughed out loud, almost nervously. "Oh her … she's Min … we met at the pizza place across the road…"
"Pizza," repeated Irvine with a laugh, "And I always thought you were a hotdog guy."
"Hey, I can like pizza too!" said Zell defensively.
Min looked up at the group. She could tell that they were talking about her meeting with Zell, and couldn't help but smile. "Hi, Zell!"
Zell laughed nervously and looked at Min, who was looking back at him with a sweet smile.
"Hey Min, still here?" asked Zell.
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for my friend," said Min.
"Hey, are you from Trabia?" asked Selphie suspiciously.
Min laughed. "Yeah, I am. Why?"
"Because … you look really familiar," said Selphie slowly.
"Really? Who are you?" asked Min, walking up to the group of four.
"I'm Selphie!" answered Selphie.
"Selphie? Selphie … Tilmitt?" asked Min.
"Yeah!"
"Wow, oh my gosh!" said Min in glee, "Remember me, I'm Min, we were in prep-Garden together for a year! But then I quit when I turned six because killing people is wrong…"
"Oh yeah! I remember you, Min!" said Selphie excitedly.
Irvine elbowed Zell in the ribs with a mischievous laugh.
"Can I ask you … who's your friend?" asked Quistis.
"Oh, my friend?" said Min, "She's out there looking for some guy. Her name is Sierra."
"I see," said Quistis.
"Hey, you," said Rinoa playfully, stopping.
Squall stopped and turned around to find Rinoa. He smirked and walked up to her. "Hey. Looks like we both had our rounds with our tardy partners, huh?"
Rinoa laughed and nodded. "Yeah, Min can be a bit crazy sometimes. But more importantly … you never told me you were the vice president of Esthar!"
Squall snickered. "I guess it slipped my mind."
"Yeah, I bet, Leonheart," said Rinoa doubtfully. "One of your partners was asking me who hired me."
"Oh, you mean Quistis…"
"Yeah," said Rinoa, "And I was really confused and didn't know what to say. So, let me ask Vice President Leonheart, who was the one who hired me?"
Squall flustered. He didn't want to say that it was he who had hired her and Min. He didn't know why, he just felt that there was more to 'Sierra' that met the eye. Was it because of her undoubted likeness with Rinoa? He didn't want to admit it, but deep down inside, maybe that was a part of the reason. "Uh…"
Rinoa laughed. "Oh, cut it, Mr Self-Esteem. I know you hired us. The moment I heard Vice President Squall Leonheart, I knew you were the one who gave me … us … this chance." She was going to ask why he did it. She knew she had no skill with combat or anything to do with Garden. But she decided against it. She didn't want to know just yet.
"Well … you know, I thought you needed it…" Squall scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "I mean, I thought you wanted it. I didn't think you needed it or anything…"
Rinoa laughed again, being familiar with Squall's skills with words. It was funny, he was so refined in the boardroom but when it came to personal conversations he was so bad. "Don't worry, Leonheart, I know what you mean. And I did need it. Thank you." She smiled.
Squall couldn't help but smile back.
"And I suppose you're the kind gentleman who left a crisp ten thousand gil note on the counter back at my store?" said Rinoa, smiling widely.
Squall scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Maybe."
"Oh, you!" Rinoa poked Squall playfully. Squall tried very hard to parry Rinoa's raid. Rinoa burst out laughing. "Thanks."
Ashleigh came out of the bathroom looking for Squall, and finally found him. She was mortified when she saw him speaking with Rinoa, and what was even more mortifying was that he was smiling. Why was he smiling?
"Squall, sweetheart," she said sweetly, walking up to the pair. She gave Rinoa a quick, bitter glance that Rinoa didn't seem to notice. "We have to get going."
Squall's smile thinned as Ashleigh approached. Rinoa looked at Ashleigh, who was smiling sweetly. She grabbed Squall by the arm, almost showing off her prize to Rinoa.
Rinoa, slightly taken aback, smiled back at Ashleigh. It was then that she remembered the name Ashleigh Leonheart. She was getting married to Squall … the thought somehow troubled Rinoa. But she couldn't say for certain that she was unhappy about the idea.
"I'll see you later, Sierra," said Squall, quickly waving as Ashleigh dragged him down the hallway.
Rinoa weakly waved back with a meek smile. "Later, Leonheart!"
"Leonheart?" Ashleigh hissed at Squall, "She has no right to address you so informally…"
"It's all right, Ashleigh," said Squall, almost irritably, "She's a friend."
"What? You've met her before?" said Ashleigh in what sounded like panic.
"Yes…" Squall rolled his eyes as the couple got into the elevator. "How else would I know her?"
Ashleigh felt nervous all of a sudden. Why is he acting so calm about this…? Why is he acting as if this woman doesn't have a single similarity with Rinoa? Why is he acting as if Rinoa never even existed?
Rinoa tried to keep her smile strong and real, but for some reason she couldn't. As Squall went into the elevator, Rinoa let out a short sigh. As she was about to go back into the boardroom to look for Min, she turned around only to find that Min was already standing there, smiling.
"Min!" Rinoa almost jumped in fright.
"Oh, don't try to wriggle your way out of this one, Missy," said Min, unbuttoning the top button of her vest.
"Why, what ever do you mean?" asked Rinoa casually. She picked up her purse and swung it on her shoulder.
Min laughed shortly. "That smile. That sigh. You can't say anything about that, can you? And vice president Leonheart is pretty swoon-able…"
Rinoa's cheeks flushed a faint red colour. "Min, I can't believe you're suggesting something like that. And why the hell where you watching me?"
Min laughed again. "Relax, I just came out and happened to see you sigh and smile … in that manner." She grinned mischievously.
"Uh-huh, right," said Rinoa doubtfully. The two of them began to make their way towards the stairs. "Well, I happened to be smiling because it's a friendly gesture. You know, friendly? It's not a crime, is it?"
"No, no, of course not!" said Min, "But the way you were smiling…"
"As a matter of fact, Ms Novella, I happen to already have someone named Marcel?" said Rinoa. "And Leonheart happens to be engaged…"
"Yikes, that's gotta hurt," said Min. "Who's the lucky wench?"
"Min!" said Rinoa defensively, "It doesn't hurt. He's getting married to that blonde…"
"Oh, you mean Quistis?"
"No, not her," said Rinoa. "The treasurer. Ashleigh what's-her-name."
"Oh, her," said Min, nodding, as they walked down the stairs. "She sure knows how to stick out like a sore thumb. But how do you know the vice president personally, anyway? You forgot to mention that tiny detail of your life!"
Rinoa laughed weakly. "Remember how I skipped work that day? To see some guy who thought I was a girl who he was madly in love with? Guess who he was."
Min gasped and stared at Rinoa, who took no notice."No way. Are you serious?"
"Yes, serious as hell," said Rinoa. "He's the one who offered us the job. He's the one who left that cash for us!"
Min stared at Rinoa. "Like, whoa!" She thought for a second. "Yeah, now that I think about it, he does look like that hot guy that walked into our shop that day and asked me to work for him!"
"That's because he is that guy," said Rinoa. The two of them finally reached the bottom floor. Min was extremely tired already.
"Oh, well no wonder!" said Min, as if realising something obvious.
"No wonder what?"
"No wonder he offered the job," said Min, "And all this time I thought we were actually good for something. But no, it actually turns out that he offered the job because the guy has a thing for you."
"He does not have a thing for me," said Rinoa defensively. "We're good friends. And he's getting married, anyway."
"Yeah, and you've got a boyfriend … do you think that means anything?" asked Min shortly. Before Rinoa could interject, Min spoke. "Anyway, I'll meet up with you later, I'm meeting Zell!"
Rinoa sighed and smiled at her friend. "All right. Have fun. And give me details."
Min laughed, waved and said goodbye. She parted ways with Rinoa, and she was left there to think. Min's words stung her like a swarm of angry bees. Was her friend implying that she had feelings for Squall, regardless of whether she had Seifer, and that he had feelings for her, regardless of whether he was getting married? That very thought troubled her. It just didn't sound right, and she just didn't believe it.
Yet.
