Sweet Music
Chapter Two: In the Papers
By PasifiKStaR
All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I do not own Final Fantasy or anything associated with it.
She was clutching her kissed hand against her chest, as if it were the most fragile object in the world. A slight goofy smile was on her lips as she began walking up the stairwell to the her second floor apartment that she shared with her three roommates. As she walked up the brightly lit corridor, she froze.
A frown replaced her lopsided grin and she looked at her watch. It was barely 1:30 in the morning...shouldn't she still be hearing music from her apartment? She stood up straight and took out her key. She pushed the door open warily.
"Hello?" Rinoa called out into the darkness. She frowned as her eyes adjusted to the sudden lack of light. In the living room, she could make out the dull glow of the television and the blinking lights of Selphie's stereo system, which was apparently on mute. "Guys? I'm home...!"
Rinoa took one step in.
"WHO GOES THERE?" a voice boomed. Rinoa shrieked and scrambled backwards against the door way as a figure cloaked in what appeared to be a dinosaur print bed sheet jumped from around the corner. Rinoa's heart was racing and her surprise quickly turned to annoyance as she noticed the all too familiar lamp shade resting on the figure's shoulders.
"Zell!" she exclaimed accusingly as she glared at him.
"You cannot be Zell!" 'Lamp Shade Man' announced in an unslurred voice. "I am Zell!" He paused and shook his head. "I mean... No...I am LAMP SHADE MAN!"
"QUISTIS!" Rinoa shouted into the apartment. She closed the door behind her, not bothering to lock it as she stomped passed her only male roommate and pushed him out of the way.
"Ah!" Zell stumbled backwards and fell into the open closet.
"Quistis! Where are you?" Rinoa called. She walked into the kitchen and wrinkled her nose in disgust. There were liquor bottles everywhere. Pieces of fruit littered the counter as a few unopened bag of chips lay amongst a pile of opened ones. She took one step into the kitchen and groaned.
Looking down at her foot, she saw that she had stepped on a dried puddle of soda on the linoleum floor. Grumbling, she lifted up her now sticky foot and tip toed around the garbage to the dining room. There, she found Selphie laying face down on the glass dining table, snoring.
A pool of drool was trickling from the corner of her mouth and Rinoa snickered. Selphie was still clutching the microphone in one hand. Rinoa quietly moved around Selphie and went out to the balcony just outside the sliding door. There sat Quistis in one of the iron lawn chairs, swirling a glass of brandy in one hand, a tired look on her face.
"Quistis?" Rinoa asked quietly.
"Angelo is in your room. I'll have the two clean up the mess tomorrow. Just leave the bodies where they are." Quistis stated blandly before lifting her glass to her lips.
Rinoa grinned. Quistis always had everything under control. "Okay...goodnight."
"Glad to see you got home safe," Quistis said. She glanced over her shoulder and looked at Rinoa. She wasn't wearing her glasses. "You didn't run into any trouble did you?"
Rinoa shook her head. "No...no trouble at all," she smiled weakly, hoping her face wasn't blushing. Quistis narrowed her ocean blue eyes and gave her a suspicious look. "Nothing happened...I swear!" Rinoa insisted. 'Damn Quistis and her lie detecting skills! I swear, she's such a mom!'
"Hmm...next time don't stay out so late...how long did it take to tutor that boy anyway?" Quistis asked.
Rinoa looked at her watch. "Three hours...but his parents insisted I stay for dinner and I got out late," Rinoa informed her. She grinned. "Can I go to bed now, MOM?"
Quistis rolled her eyes. "It's 'MAY I' and yes, you may. Goodnight, Rinoa."
"'Night, Quistis..." Rinoa turned around and began to head back into the dining room. She was still smiling stupidly as she remembered the young man on the train. Those eyes...that shy smile...the way his hair fell over his face...
"Was he cute?" Quistis asked casually just as Rinoa stepped into the dining room.
Rinoa nodded. "Yeah..." Her eyes widened. "Hey!" she gasped as she turned around. "How'd you know?"
"Oh please, you're like an open book," Quistis replied, as if it were so obvious. "Blushing...a dazed look...you're either on some sort of drug or a man. I'm hoping it's a man."
Rinoa sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Yeah, well...it was a one time sighting...I'll never see him again, Quistis."
"Are you sure about that?" Quistis said. "You never know..."
"I'm positive," Rinoa shrugged as she turned around and walked to her room. "In a city this big, what are the chances that I'd see HIM again?"
"Morning!" Rinoa emerged from the hallway, her hair damp as a light blue towel was draped around her neck. Quistis looked up from the glass table where she was eating a bagel and reading the newspaper. She adjusted her glasses and lowered a mug of coffee from her lips.
"You're up bright and early on a Saturday," the blond smiled as she made note of Rinoa's lively appearance. "Shouldn't you still be sleeping in?"
"I don't know," Rinoa shrugged. She walked over to the cabinet and began to shuffle through the endless boxes and jars. "I woke up and just didn't feel like laying in bed like I usually do," She found a box of corn flakes and pulled it out. "Are Selphie and Zell up?"
"Zell is still knocked out and is in his room and Selphie left before dawn this morning so she could get in line for that album she wants," Quistis let go of her coffee mug as it rested on the table and lifted up her strawberry cream cheese covered bagel. "I can't believe she got up that early just to get an album."
"It's of her favorite band, Quisty," Rinoa said as she sat across from her with a bowl and spoon in one hand and a jug of milk in the other. She placed the objects on the table and took the box of cereal out from under her arm. "You know how she gets when she's obsessed with these things."
Quistis smiled slightly. "You seem very happy today. I assume it's the lasting effects of last night's encounter?"
Immediately, Rinoa blushed and darted her eyes away as she put the cereal box down. "I told you, Quisty, it was a freak thing. I'm not going to see him again...the chances me ever seeing him again are zero!"
"Oh really?" Quistis asked as she raised an eyebrow. Rinoa nodded as she poured the milk over her cereal.
"Yes really." the brunette insisted as she struggled it ignore her blush.
Quistis put her bagel down on the plate and folded the newspaper. She slid it across the table. "Then explain this."
The wad of black ink on gray paper slid across the glass surface as Rinoa put the milk down. Her eyebrows furrowed in question as she dug into her cereal with one hand and reached out for the paper with the other. Quistis watched with interest as Rinoa turned over the folded pages and watched as the spoon fell from Rinoa's gaping mouth.
Antisocial Guitarist Finally Lands Girl was printed in large bold letters at the top of the entertainment section, just over an enlarged picture of Rinoa standing there holding the hand of the young man from the train station. The picture was taken just as he put his other arm around her and was about to pull her through the doors of the train.
"Since when did you have a boyfriend and why was I not informed?" Quistis asked coolly. "I'm kind of hurt to have to find out about your relationship through a newspaper."
Rinoa sat up straight in her chair, ignoring Quistis, as she pulled the pages apart and began to read the article. "Notoriously antisocial guitarist Squall Leonhart of the popular Estharian band, Scars, has been sighted with new girlfriend at the East Esthar Train Station Friday night. Leonhart, seen here with this yet to be identified woman, publicly announced to persistent admirers that he was 'on a date' and the woman he was with was his girlfriend." Rinoa didn't know whether to blush with embarrassment or die from it as she sank into her chair, a horrified look on her face.
"Rinoa?" Quistis asked with a frown as she saw Rinoa's distressed look. "Rinoa, are you all right?"
"I'm...I'm not his girlfriend!" Rinoa gasped. Her dark eyes shot up from the paper to look across the table at Quistis. "You have to believe me, Quistis! I...I barely met him yesterday! This is all lie! I swear!"
Quistis frowned more so and leaned forward. "Calm down, Rinoa...what do you mean that's all a lie? What happened last night?"
Rinoa took a deep breath as looked down at her image printed across the paper in front of her. "Last night, I was at the train station. I heard this crowd coming up the stairs so I stood up. Then I saw this guy, that Leonhart guy, running up the stairs and he saw me. Then all of a sudden, he grabs my hand and tells these women that were stalking him that he was on a date."
"Okay..." Quistis trailed off. She looked confused. "Did he at least say why?"
"Well, he grabbed me, see?" Rinoa lifted up the newspaper. "And pulled me into the train. He said that he was being followed and he couldn't shake them, so he used me as an excuse to get away. He apologized and stuff, but I never thought..."
Rinoa looked back down on the paper. "So you're not his girlfriend?"
"No..." Rinoa said. "I don't even know him. We just happened to be at the same place at the same time..."
"You have to fix this." Quistis stated simply. Rinoa looked up, confused.
"What?" The brunette frowned. "Wait, why do I have to fix it?"
"Because-" Quistis began, but was quickly cut off.
Suddenly the front door sounded with a loud crash as the scurrying of feet sounded across the wood paneled floor. "RINOA!" Selphie screeched.
Before the girl could even turn around, she felt two hands clamping down on her slim shoulders as she was forcibly turned around. Rinoa gasped as she looked up into burning emerald eyes and a pouting frown. "Selphie?"
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Selphie whined loudly. She began to shake Rinoa. "I thought we were friends! And you didn't even tell me about HIM! HOW COULD YOU?" she shrieked loudly.
Quistis sighed and stood up. "I'm going to close the door before we get complaints from the neighbors..." she mumbled.
"Rinoa!" Selphie continued to scream.
The brown eyed brunette pried her green eyed friend from her and held her away at arms length. "Selphie, I didn't even know who he was!" Rinoa gasped.
Selphie's eyes widened as she let out a shocked gasp. "What do you MEAN you didn't know who HE was?" Selphie shrieked. Her arms shot out and grabbed Rinoa's shoulders once again. "How can you not know who he was? He's the guitarist of SCARS, Rin!"
"Selphie, stop!" Rinoa gasped as her head bobbed back and forth. "Wait!" She panted as Selphie was knocking the breathes out of her with each shake. Rinoa's face was pale as she struggled to gasp out. "What...is...SCARS?"
The shaking instantly stopped and Rinoa lifted her hands to press against her dizzy head as she looked up at Selphie. Rinoa swallowed nervously as she jerked her head back. Selphie's eyes had glazed over and were emotionless as she stood there stiffly.
Quistis walked back into the room and paused as she saw an unmoving Selphie. "What's wrong with her?"
Rinoa lifted her hand and waved it in front of Selphie's face. "Selphie? Selphie...?" she asked nervously. "Oh...this can't be good..."
"BLASPHEMY!" Selphie erupted and Rinoa let out a yelp as she scrambled to the other side of the table. Quistis casually took her seat at the head of the table and watched with interest as she bit into her half eaten bagel.
"Selphie, I-"
"SCARS is one of the most popular up and coming bands in Esthar! They've been out getting a lot of attention for a few months now and consist of three members - Seifer, the lead guitarist, Irvine, the drummer, and Squall the bass guitarist. They've been in the news a lot lately because of their recently released album - Discipline!" Selphie gushed rapidly.
"But...I don't WATCH the news!" Rinoa countered.
"Magazine covers!" Selphie said as she reached into the bag she had slammed on the kitchen table when she arrived. She took out a magazine with the faces of three men plastered on them.
"I don't read magazines."
"What about that billboard just down the street before the train station?" Quistis asked coolly.
Rinoa turned to her with a questioning look. "What billboard?"
"AHHH!" Selphie cried out in frustration. "How can you NOT have heard of SCARS? They're the biggest band in ESTHAR!"
"Selphie, I just moved here two months ago from Galbadia!" Rinoa exclaimed in her defense. "I still listen to music from Galbadia and I don't watch or even pay attention to Estharian news. I've never heard of Scars in Galbadia."
Selphie stared at her in disbelief for a moment before recovering. "Fine! That's all well and good," she said, pointing at Rinoa accusingly. "But that still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me that you had a boyfriend! You could've at least said something! How long have you two been together, anyway?" Selphie pouted and Rinoa sighed.
She ran a hand down her face and slumped down on one of the kitchen table chairs. "Selphie, that guy from the band is NOT my boyfriend."
Selphie looked confused. "Did you two break up?" she asked quietly.
"No!" Rinoa exclaimed. She looked at Quistis desperately for help. The blond dabbed the corners of her lips with a napkin casually before looking at Selphie.
"On her way home last night, Rinoa was at the train station. That Squall person was running from some fan girls and he used Rinoa as a distraction. When he said she was his girlfriend and they were on a date, everyone was so stunned, it gave them enough time to get away," Quistis explained. "Last night was the first time they've ever met. So what you've read and heard is all a misunderstanding."
"See, Selphie? No big deal-"
"A BIG misunderstanding that must be rectified before it's too late." Quistis cut off Rinoa and the two girls looked back at the blond.
"What? What do you mean if it's too late?" Rinoa frowned.
"If THAT," Quistis said, directing their attention to the newspaper on the table. "Is any indication of how public this false relationship will get, you're in big trouble."
"Why would she be in big trouble?" Selphie asked, finally calm after her earlier outburst.
"Rumors were spread. The media will investigate. Rinoa will loose her privacy as the alleged girlfriend of a famous entertainment figure. Look how they followed and took a picture of them last night. It's already in the papers. That won't be the last of Rinoa in the papers." Quistis told them.
Rinoa looked down at the table. Selphie looked over at Rinoa. "How are you going to fix it?" she asked softly.
Quistis took a sip of her now warm coffee and sighed. "I can go into the office today and draw up some paper work-"
"No, no...I'll handle it myself, Quistis, thanks," Rinoa told her numbly. Her eyebrows furrowed. "I'll just ask for him to clarify that this is all one big misunderstanding," She lifted her head and smiled. "He seemed like a nice guy. I'm sure he'll clear it up."
Quistis sighed reluctantly and glanced over at Selphie unsure before looking back at Rinoa. "All right," Quistis told her. "You have a full working week to fix this mess. Just in case, I'll start preparing any legal paper work if worse comes to worse. If it's not fixed by Sunday night, Monday morning I'm going to file the papers."
"Agreed," Rinoa nodded. She stood up and picked up her bowl of cereal. "I guess I have to go find him now."
"Do you want to wake up Zell?" Selphie asked as Rinoa headed back into the hall way with a spoon and cereal in hand. "Squall has a lot of fans...they might not take it well that you're his 'girlfriend'."
"Yes, Rinoa, take Zell with you," Quistis agreed. "He's supposed to be your body guard anyway-"
"You guys, I'll be fine," Rinoa insisted. She paused just before she completely disappeared into the dim hallway. "Selphie, get me the information I need to contact this Squall guy. I'll have this cleared up by the end of the week."
Selphie nodded and watched her friend disappear. At the head of the table, Quistis stood up and took her dirty dishes to the sink. "Are you really going to have do legal paper work for this, Quistis?"
"If it's not fixed and soon, there is a good chance that Rinoa's past might be dug up by the blasted media. Especially if she remains as a mysterious girlfriend." Quistis replied.
Selphie tilted her head to the side. "But Rinoa has never done anything wrong," Selphie paused and grinned. "Well, anything wrong that was discovered."
"It's not Rinoa's background I'm worried about," Quistis said as she quickly washed her dishes. "Her past is squeaky clean. It's her FATHER's I'm concerned about."
Selphie's mouth made a little 'o' and her eyebrows furrowed. She took a deep breath and stood up. "I better get started on that information."
The bed was king sized and still only took up a little bit of the large bedroom of the uptown pent house he and his two 'friends' shared. He laid on his stomach, sprawled out on the left side of the bed, his bare arm hanging off the side as a tangle of sheets was gathered around his mid section.
Through his half conscious and heavily sleep dulled brain, he could hear the heavy door that sealed his room off from the main room being unlocked and opened. Someone's footsteps sounded quietly against the thick red wine colored rug. The sound of the heavy drapes being pulled open sounded and he winced.
He could feel the blinding white sunlight pouring into his room and he growled and buried his face back into the soft pillows he was clutching over his left arm.
"Squall," a male voice said. "Squall, get up!"
"What the hell is it?" his voice growled through the pillow. He turned over on the bed, his back to the full glass wall.
"Nida said he'd be up in a few minutes. He wants you up for a meeting." Irvine said as he brushed his red brown hair out of his face.
"Why? It's our day off." Squall grumbled.
"He didn't say, but he sounded urgent," Irvine yawned. He stretched out and looked around his friend's room. "You have to get some more furniture in here..."
With that he walked out of the bedroom. He was still dressed in some worn dark purple and red flannel pajama pants and a white tank top. Squall waited until he heard the door close before finally moving. He cringed at the absurd amount of light that was flooding in as he sat up and looked around his room.
He had a big bed, a desk to one corner, a small table by his bed holding his alarm clock, a lamp, a chair by his desk, and a big screen television. His guitar case was next to his desk along with some scattered sheet music. His clothes were in a walk in closet that was barely half filled. He frowned as he looked around the white walls of his rather plain room. 'I should paint it.'
He looked down at the clock next to his bed. It was nine fifteen in the morning. Cursing his manager and Irvine for waking him up, he put his feet over the bed and got up, heading directly for his bathroom. After a few minutes standing in front of a steaming hot shower head and quickly washing his hair he dressed in dark colored jeans and a white shirt and walked out.
"There you are!" a voice boomed. "About time, Squall! Didn't Irvine tell you?"
Squall merely gave Nida his 'death glare' as he passed by the three men hanging around the breakfast bar. Irvine was at the stove, finishing up his omelet. Seifer was sitting on a stool, dressed in black running pants and a black tank top, sweaty and fresh from his morning jog. His mp3 player was resting in the corner along with his keys as he drank down a glass of orange juice.
"I told him," Irvine shrugged. "But you know, Squall - that doesn't mean he'll listen."
"So what's this big thing you called about?" Seifer scoffed out as he put his empty glass down and looked over at Nida. "It better be good, I cut out of going to the gym today."
"Have you guys watched the entertainment news yet?" Nida asked.
"Nida, we just got out of bed and Seifer's been outside since like six AM, NO, we haven't watched the news yet." Irvine sighed tiredly.
"Then maybe you've read the paper?" Nida suggested.
The three men turned to glare at him. "Just cut to the chase or you're fired." Seifer stated simply.
Nida rolled his eyes. They were always so impatient. "THIS is the big news!" He reached into his sport coat's breast pocket and tossed an obviously worn newspaper on to the breakfast bar.
Irvine slid his omelet into a plate and grabbed a fork as he walked over to look at it. Seifer pulled it towards him to get a better look. Squall was by the toaster and just slipped in two white bread pieces before turning around. He looked down at the paper and frowned. "You got me out of bed on a weekend of THIS?" Squall scoffed, obviously annoyed. "Are you serious?"
"Am I serious?" Nida gasped. He turned and glared at Squall. "What is THIS all about, Squall?"
"What are you talking about?" Squall snapped. "What does this even have to do with me?"
"What do you mean-?" Nida mouthed. He looked at him in disbelief. "Just WHO do you think is on that newspaper? Your BODY DOUBLE?"
"Well, unless Squall's body double is a lingerie model, then that is a possibility." Irvine snickered.
"What?" Nida stomped forward as Irvine stepped aside, gleefully eating his omelet. Nida's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets.
"50 off yearly sale at Nordstrom's," Seifer read, trying to keep all the sarcasm out of his voice...and failing. "You're RIGHT, Nida. This IS big stuff! I've been meaning to buy some new designer hand bags, seeing as how my OLD ONE is just so out of fashion from last week."
Irvine struggled not to laugh as he nodded. "You know, Nida, I never saw you as the department store kind of guy. I always thought you shopped that those boutiques."
"I DO shop at boutiques-ugh!" Nida ran his hand down his face frustratedly as Seifer and Irvine laughed at his expense. "Never mind that! I'm not talking about the AD! Flip the page over!"
Seifer, still smirking, reached over and turned the newspaper over. His emerald eyes landed on the picture gracing the front page of the entertainment section and then immediately flew to the headlines. Irvine looked over the blonde's shoulder and nearly choked. "Squall!" Irvine gasped as his eyes were pasted on to the black and white picture. "Squall, you better come see this."
The brunette took his time putting strawberry jam on his toast before walking back. He looked down, unimpressed, at the newspaper. He took a calm bite out of one slice of toast and froze in mid bite.
The three men in the room with him watched his reaction carefully. The normally stoic young man's face remained the same, but a flurry of emotions could be read behind those ice blue eyes. First confusion, disbelief, shock, frustration, anger, embarrassment, and then back to confusion. Squall quickly placed his dish on the counter and snatched the newspaper up.
Girlfriend...train station...unidentified young lady... Squall shook his head, unable to believe that those brief few seconds were captured by some photographer that was probably stalking him along with those fan girls. His face paled as his hand tightened around the thin gray paper. 'Oh My Hyne.'
"Well?" Nida demanded as he stood across from them with his arms crossed over his chest. "Care to explain? Why was I not informed that you had a girlfriend, hm? I'm your MANAGER, Squall! I need to know these things for PR purposes, you know that!"
"A girlfriend?" Irvine asked, looking surprised. He grinned. "Why didn't you say anything? Congratulations, man!" He laughed as he slapped Squall's back. "This calls for some good stuff! Do we have any champagne left?" The cowboy hat wearing band member wandered around into the kitchen as Squall stood there, unmoving.
Seifer narrowed his eyes as he watched his life long 'friend' stand there. He frowned. "She's not your girlfriend, is she, puberty boy?"
At his question, Nida and Irvine stopped in whatever they were doing and turned to look at Squall. The blue eyed brunette was staring blankly at the newspaper. His eyes were reading the letters, but he was not comprehending anything. 'Girlfriend' and 'unidentified young lady' were going off like sirens in his head.
"Squall?" Irvine said, concerned that his friend hadn't said a word. "Who is she, then?"
Squall slowly shook his head, his eyes still looking at the paper. "I don't know," he mumbled. He took a step back and shook his head, as if to clear his mind. "I don't know who she is." Squall said as he dropped the paper on the counter and looked at the other men.
Irvine looked confused, Seifer was looking over the article, and Nida wasn't buying Squall's story. "All right then...if you don't KNOW her, then WHY ARE YOU HOLDING HER HAND?" Nida growled. "The media is having a field day with this and suddenly I find out that it's not even TRUE - so explain to me WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"
Squall pulled out a stool and slumped down on it. "I got out of the release party last night and was walking when a bunch of fans saw him. Before I knew it was being chased..."
"And the girl?" Nida urged.
"She was just some girl who was waiting for her train at the train station," Squall shrugged. "I don't know who she was, but I grabbed her hand and said she was my girlfriend to throw them off. Then I pulled her into the train and we left the fans behind."
"Did you or did you not call this girl YOUR girlfriend?" Nida asked.
"I did."
"You don't even know her?" Irvine asked. Squall shook his head and Irvine frowned. "And you guys say my relationships are bad."
"Irvine, this isn't the time for jokes!" Nida snapped. "Squall, do you know what you just did?"
"I got away from fan girls." he stated dully.
"No, you idiot!" Nida growled as he threw his arms in the air. "Your IMAGE IS RUINED!" Squall looked up from his toast and looked at Nida as if the manager had lost his mind.
Seifer rolled his eyes. "What Nida is trying to say is that now that everyone thinks you're no longer gay-"
"The media never said I was gay-" Squall snapped.
"Yeah, sure," Seifer dismissed him with a cool turn of his head. "Now that everyone thinks that you like girls, thanks to your 'girlfriend', you kind of loose the image as the band's untouchable, anti-social, cold hearted little prince. You're just like the rest of the male species now; normal, attainable, and lead by your di-"
"I get it," Squall cut him off sharply. Seifer just shrugged. "So what? I don't care."
"You might not care, but the record label DOES care about the way you stand in the public's eyes." Nida insisted.
Squall growled a little. "FINE, I'll just write up a statement that says that I don't have a girlfriend-"
"No, you won't!" Nida said quickly.
"Ugh? WHY NOT?" Squall demanded.
"Do you know what it will look like when it's revealed that you USED a random girl to GET RID of your FANS?" Nida hissed. "We can't afford to be looked at negatively. Besides, the record label called this morning and they want you to go with it."
Squall stopped in the middle of raising his piece of toast to his lips. His eyes narrowed as he glared at Nida, making the manager squirm. "What."
"They...they think it's a good idea that you have a girlfriend. It makes you look more...normal." Nida mumbled. Squall dropped his toast on the plate.
"What the hell do you mean 'normal'?" he hissed. "What the hell was I before?"
"Squall, calm down-" Irvine began, but was quickly shut up the second Squall turned to glare at him.
"It's not that you were a freak, Squall," Nida assured him. "It's just that having a girlfriend makes you more social, more approachable, and human. They think that it'll attract more listeners. They want you to go out with her for a few weeks and then you can dump her-"
Squall growled and stood up from his stool. "A publicity stunt?" he shouted furiously. "You actually want me to lower myself to a publicity stunt? Are you THAT insecure about the future of this band, Nida?"
"No!" Nida exclaimed, flustered. "Listen, this isn't my idea! If it were up to me, I'd say kill the rumor before it gets out of hand. But the label wants you to have a girlfriend and our contract is up with them after this last album. If we want to renew, we better get on this good side."
"I can't believe this!" Squall growled. "This is my personal life. My personal life and my professional one don't mix."
"You're the member of the most popular band in Esthar right now, Squall," Nida stated. "Your private and public life became the same thing a long time ago."
The brunette swore and kicked the stool on the floor. "I don't believe this..." Squall growled as he began to pace around the main room in front of them. "I don't fucking believe this..."
"It's just for a little while, Squall-" Nida told him, but Squall stopped and glared at him.
"Don't you GET it? I don't even know who the girl is! I just met her last night." Squall reminded them.
"Don't you remember anything about her?" Irvine said. He glanced down at the picture in the newspaper. "She's kind of cute, Squall. You must remember something."
"What about her name?" Seifer asked.
Squall looked down and concentrated. "Hyne...I don't remember...Ri...Rin..." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the ceiling.
"Rhino?" Irvine suggested.
Squall glared at him and Seifer punched him in the stomach. "Just shut up, Kinneas. I swear, every time that mouth opens..." he grumbled as he crossed his arms over his defined chest. "You at least need a name to go on, Squall."
Squall ran his hand down his face. "I know...I know..." he grumbled. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead thoughtfully.
"I'm Rinoa Heartilly."
"Rinoa..." Squall whispered. He straightened up. "Her name is Rinoa Heartilly."
"There we go!" Nida clapped his hands together. "Great, I'll get a the PR statements ready and-"
"Let me find her first," Squall said, cutting off Nida. The manager looked over at him with a questioning look. "She doesn't even know about this. She should be informed."
Nida let out a reluctant sigh, but nodded. "The legal repercussions of using her name like that could be bad...all right. We have to find her and-"
"I'll find her myself," Squall said as he turned around and headed back into his room. "Give me until next week to find her. Can you hold off the media for that long?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then do it!" Squall ordered. He went into his bedroom and slammed the door.
"PLEASE let me come with you!" Selphie pleaded as she clung on to Rinoa's leg. "I promise I'll be good!"
"Selphie..." Quistis said from the couch. She was sitting back, watching the news on television while still dressed in her dress slacks and dark pink blouse from work. "She said she wanted to go alone."
"She can't go alone!" Selphie insisted. "SEED Records is ALL the way across town! Do you know how long it will take for her to come back? It'll be dark...and she shouldn't go without a buddy!"
Rinoa was standing by the door, her hand on the door knob as Selphie clung to her desperately. Quistis rolled her eyes and drank some of the margarita she had just made. "If that's the case, we'll ask ZELL to go with her. It's his job to be her body guard. Not yours."
"NO! I want to go!" Selphie screamed.
"Selphie, I'll be fine," Rinoa sighed for the millionth time. "I've been out late before. Besides, I'm not going to some dangerous part of town. I just have to see if I can speak or send a message to Mr. Leonhart."
"Your time is almost up!" Quistis reminded her. Rinoa grumbled.
"I know! I know!" she sighed.
A week had gone by all too quickly and every lead Rinoa had to try to talk to her 'boyfriend' had ended up with her being hung up on or ushered out of. Apparently, the security and receptionists didn't care that she was his girlfriend. Finally, Selphie had come up with the idea of going to the record label. The band had monthly meetings there at the last Friday of each month, but since that was a well known fact, Rinoa would be waiting for them to emerge, with more than just a handful of Scar's faithful fans.
And as Selphie had told her earlier that week, those fans might not be very happy with her for stealing their Squall. Even if it wasn't true.
"Selphie, let her go already," Quistis sighed as she looked at her watch. "They're going to be coming out at 6:30 and it's already 6 PM. At this rate, she'll miss them completely."
Selphie whimpered as she reluctantly let go of her friend's leg and slumped down on the ground. "Sorry, Selphie. I promise I'll make it up to you!" Rinoa said. She pulled the door open and rushed out.
As she ran out the building door, she ran into Zell. "Hey, Rin, I bought the pizza-"
"Can't talk, Zell! Will eat later!" Rinoa shouted as she darted around him and ran to the train station. She had to get across town in less than thirty minutes.
In record time, she arrived at the train station and squeezed her way into the Express. She was pushed up against the glass and frowned as she occasionally glanced up at her watch. It didn't seem as if the train was moving fast enough. As she looked through the window, the scenery was passing by painfully slow. She groaned. 'I'll never make it in time...'
"I can't believe we got out late...I'm going to miss that movie!" Irvine said as they stepped out of the elevator doors.
"Psh..." Seifer sneered. "At least the fan girls have gone away somewhat," he shrugged as he looked outside the building's revolving door and saw a that the usual crowd of fans and flashing cameras and sign asking certain members to marry them had thinned out. "Still, let's go out the back door."
"Whose turn is it to distract the crowd?" Irvine asked as they ducked back into the hall way.
"Yours." Seifer and Squall stated quickly.
"What? No! Last month it was Squall's and the month before it was Seifer's...oh..." Irvine's head dropped. He sighed and looked back up, fixing his cowboy hat. "All right...you two get in the limo and then pick up up front."
"Sirs, security is prepared at the front," one of the guards said as he looked into the hall where the three men were standing. "And the two who are going out the back can come with me."
Squall and Seifer followed the guard and Irvine prepared to walk out. He took a deep breath as he entered the revolving door. "Prepare yourselves, ladies..." he told himself with a sly grin. As soon as the door rolled to the front, his ears were attacked by the screams of rabid fans. "Hello! Thanks for coming out!" Irvine said cheerfully, flashing them his sensual play boy grin as a circle of body guards surrounded him. He waved somewhat, all while silently praying for his fellow band members to pick him up quickly.
As he walked through, his eyes caught a familiar face in the distance. She was standing on the outskirts of the crowd, trying to peer over the bobbing heads of the fans while looking concentrated. She had those blond streaks in her dark hair, just like in the picture. "Rinoa...?" he mumbled.
After she practically flew out of the stuffed train, she raced through the train station to the record label's building. It was a twenty five story building in the downtown area, over looking one of Esthar's parks. As she rounded the corner, she swore to herself.
There at least a hundred or so girls standing outside the front door, screaming and waving signs in the air. Security was moving through them, protecting someone in their circle. Rinoa quickly ran forward and jumped up and down, hoping to get a glimpse of the person they were escorting. She bit her lower lip and silently prayed that it was Squall.
Instead, she saw the black cowboy hat and sighed disappointedly. From what Selphie had told her, the one who always wore the cowboy hat was Irvine Kinneas - the drummer. "Great..." Rinoa mumbled as she ran her hand down her face. She gritted her teeth and surveyed the crowd once more. Irvine and the security around him was already half way to the side walk and Irvine seemed to be whispering something to one of the security guards.
'Maybe I can just ask Irvine to give a message to Squall...?' Rinoa thought to herself. She took a deep breath. 'It's worth a try!'
With that, she dove into the crowd and began squeezing her way towards the front. She was shoved and pushed, glared at and called numerous names before she even managed to get half way to where she wanted to be. Desperate, she jumped up the air and waved her arms, hoping that by some miracle Irvine would see her. Instead, she caught the door close to a stretch limousine.
"No..." Rinoa breathed as she shook her head. The crowd she was trapped in suddenly began to loosen and spread out around her as the vehicle pulled away from the curb. Rinoa stood there, unsure of what to do, as she watched the crowd of fans run after the limousine.
Before long, she was standing there, alone.
"Miss Rinoa?" a deep voice asked behind her. Rinoa turned around and paled. A tall, built man was looming behind her and Rinoa recognized him as one of the body guards that was around Irvine.
"I...I...I was just leaving!" Rinoa gasped. 'Oh, Hyne! Is that what happened to Selphie last time she came to one of theses?'
"You're Miss Rinoa, right?" the man asked again. Rinoa nodded fearfully and the man handed her a small white envelope. "Kinneas asked to have these sent to you."
Rinoa's face looked confused as she accepted the envelope and looked down at it in her hands. "Did he say why?"
"Perhaps he thought you were pretty. I don't know," the man shrugged. He turned around once she had it in her hands and began to walk away. "It wouldn't be the first time he's done something like this. Have a good evening, Miss Rinoa."
"Yeah...thanks..." Rinoa mumbled. She looked around as she stepped a few feet away from the building. There weren't any fans anywhere and she opened the envelope. She raised an eyebrow as she found three tickets and back stage passes. Rinoa smirked and closed the envelope before slipping into her purse. She quickly took out her phone and dialed a number on speed dial. "Hello, Selphie?" she grinned as she began her relaxed walk to the train station. "Are you free tomorrow night?"
A.N.- Thanks for the enthusiasm, everyone. It's very much appreciated. I'll try to answer the questions from the reviews here: Happy Youkai I'm going to try to update Drifted, but I have writer's block on it right now and I'm torn as to how to have Squall's reoccurring yaoi nightmares introduced. Pearl3 As of right now, I don't plan on making a sequel to "My Knight" and "My Son's Wedding". I kind of like it where they are right now. :) Yuleen, thank you for the cookie. To let everyone know for future cookie giving reference, my favorite is chocolate chip. :) Thank you for reading, everyone!