You're The Only Place – Chapter 2
New Life
I searched the dress boutique. I knew that I was wearing a dress whether I liked it or not. Now, it was just a matter of FINDING the dress… which was not going well. I, finally giving up, asked the sales lady.
"Can I help you?" The lady asked.
I noticed her name tag that read 'Lea'. "Yes Lea, I need help picking out a dress."
"What kind of dress?"
"Um…"
"Like, where are you going in the dress?"
"Dinner."
"Is it formal?"
"I think so…"
Lea stood up, and smiled at me. "Well miss, you just asked the best person in the store. I'll get you in something you like, trust me."
I snorted. "I highly doubt that." I told her, "I hate dresses."
"You'd be surprised what one dress can do to change all of that… come on Miss…"
"Paine."
"Miss Paine, follow me!"
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I stared at myself in the mirror. Lea had been right… I like dresses a bit more now. She even advised me on my makeup and hair when she learned that a guy was taking me out to dinner. I tried to tell her that it wasn't a date… but I don't think that I got through.
I was wearing a slim and figure fitting dress. Black of course, and strapless. I had done my eyes with a smoky gray eye shadow, and used black eyeliner and mascara. (I don't know how woman use that every day!) I wore black high heels that made me about an inch taller, or rather Baralai's height. I had a black shawl that came with the dress, and a black purse on a silver chain.
A knock on my door brought me back to reality. I opened the door, and saw who it was. "Hey Baralai!" I smiled, and opened the door even wider.
"Hello Paine-WHOA! It's a dress!"
I scowled at him with my hands on my hips. "You TOLD me that it was a nice place."
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… I did… but I'll be honest with you. I really didn't think you would get in a dress for ME…"
I shook my head, "Honestly. Well, where are we going?"
Baralai smiled, and offered me his arm. "Well, you are just going to have to see!"
I groaned, "Baralai, I HATE surprises!" He just laughed.
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Dinner was pretty uneventful, nothing huge happened. But what was really neat was he took me on a walk in this garden close to the temple. We walked along the paths, looking at the garden and talking about anything that popped into our minds.
"So, I heard that you and Gippal had a fight. What was it about?" Baralai asked me. When he saw my hurt expression, he looked like he wanted to slap himself. He stopped and took me by the shoulders. "Oh, Paine, I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have asked, forgive me-"
"No, it's fine… I just wasn't expecting that…" I assured him.
But he just shook his head, "You don't have to tell me, it's not my business."
I looked up into Baralai's face, feeling lost. "I really need to talk about it…" I whispered.
His chocolate brown eyes softened, and he led me over to a wooden bench. He put an arm around me and looked into my crimson eyes gently. "What happened?" He whispered.
I broke his gaze, turning it to the ground. I took a deep breath.
"Well, it all started when the Machine Faction was getting low on funds that it started. After a stressful day at work, Gippal sometimes just really needed to blow off some steam. Unfortunately, he's not good at that, and lets it out on anyone. I was the perfect target.
"I listened to him, and I tried my best to understand, but I just couldn't, and I didn't like it. Apparently, he didn't like it either. Things got so bad that he would actually yell at me, and say things that astounded even him.
"A few days ago was the worst. Work had been hard, and Gippal really needed to blow off some steam. He hated to take it out on me, and he told me so… so that night… instead of coming home, he went to a bar.
"Of course he got drunk, I wasn't expecting anything else really. But, somehow he didn't blow off all of the steam that he had. We were in a shouting match, something that happened every night by this time. Gippal must have really lost it, or I must have said something that rubbed him the wrong way…" I was shaking, and tears were slowly pouring down my cheeks.
Baralai gave me a squeeze around my shoulders. "You don't have to go any farther if you don't want to… I'm not going to make you do this to yourself."
I shook my head, "No, I need to get this out before I pop."
"I understand." Baralai said, squeezing me reassuringly. "Paine… what did Gippal do to you?" He asked softly.
"He slapped me."
"What?" Baralai asked, forcing my eyes to look into his. "He slapped you?"
I nodded slowly, "He did… I knew that he didn't mean it though, he was drunk. Then I really knew that he didn't mean it when he realized what he did. The horror on his face was to good to be an act. I just looked at him in disbelief, and I just said that I couldn't take this anymore. I left, just like that.
"The day I left was the day that I got your message to become the weapons master for Bevelle. I didn't have anywhere else to go… I could go to Yuna or Rikku, but that just sounds deadly. Yuna would give me endless sympathy that I didn't want, and Rikku would march over to Djose and kick Gippal's ass." I finished, a small smile on my face when I remembered my friends.
"You miss them, don't you?" Baralai asked me.
"Sometimes… I even miss Rikku."
Baralai smiled, "Rikku? I could never imagine that."
I gave a wet laugh. "Well, I guess that she rubbed of on me."
"I think she did, and I'm liking it." When I looked at him puzzled, he blushed, and then explained. "The Paine that I knew during the squad would have NEVER told me what was wrong, no matter how bad it was. You laugh more now… and I like it. You've got a really beautiful laugh Paine."
I punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Oh stop it."
Baralai let out a true laugh, "If you insist."
I looked at Baralai with a smile on my face. "I'll make you a deal. I'll laugh and smile more if you laugh and smile more."
"Why should I accept this bet?" Baralai asked me, a smile creeping over his face.
"Because you really have a good laugh." I told him, looking into his brown eyes, "Honest."
He smiled at me, and then stood up. "Then I accept." He told me, and helped me up.
We walked back to the temple, arm in arm, laughing and talking the entire way back.
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That night, I sat on my window seat, looking out over Bevelle. Tonight was magical, and I'm really happy that I got the weight of Gippal's actions of my shoulders. I discovered when we were walking back to the temple, how much I missed hanging out with Baralai. This job seemed to perfect. I could hang out with him whenever his work allowed it.
Which brought me to what I was thinking about… Baralai. I hadn't felt this at ease with anyone before, even Gippal. Okay, I'll admit that I had a small crush on Baralai during the squad… then again, what girl didn't?
To this day, I always thought that Baralai was to good for me. But now that I've spent a little while with him, just the two of us… I'm beginning to think differently. Do I stand a chance?
I shook my head and sighed, "I'm not going to lose sleep over this." I told myself, crawling into bed.
But you know what, I think I am.
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A/N: WHOO! Another chapter, aren't you proud of me? I'm home sick today, and I've got the WORLD'S biggest headache… and it sucks. Even though I only had one reviewer, I still put up the next chapter. Why? Because I'm THAT bored.
Thank you for always x! I love reviewers!
-Vincent's Angel of Chaos-
