The Ironic Things in Life
Disclaimer: Nup, nup, still don't own it.
---
Rinoa Heartilly sat in the lobby of the TBG radio station, wringing her hands in her lap.
Quistis placed a hand on Rinoa's shoulder.
"Rin, it's fine. It'll be ok. Just stay calm and casual."
Rinoa swallowed and nodded, dreading the moment that she would have to lay her eyes on Squall again.
Nearby, Zell was getting into a fight with the vending machine, and Selphie was looking in excitement at Jade Bloom who was currently inside the recording studio.
"I'm just glad they don't know where we live otherwise we would've had a hoard of photographers following us around everywhere."
Rinoa nodded in agreement.
"Was I too hard on him?" Rinoa asked after a while, looking up at Quistis.
Quistis pondered her question.
"Well, maybe just a little, but he shouldn't have acted like that."
"Yeah, you're right. He had no right to act like that."
"Just stay relaxed when you see him."
"I'll give him 'relaxed'…." Rinoa muttered.
"It's just a pity you had to yell at him though. I mean, he is the President of Esthar' son."
"Who cares if he's the damn President of Esthar's son! That rude, stubborn, chicken's feet…"
"Not talking about my friend over there, are ya?"
During their discussion, the two women had failed to notice the arrival of Squall Leonhart and his cowboy friend.
Feeling embarrassed, both Rinoa and Quistis quickly stood up.
"I'm Irvine Kinneas," the cowboy introduced, "and that's Squall Leonhart of course."
Irvine nodded towards Squall, who was scowling as usual.
Rinoa, who actually liked the cowboy, gave him a friendly smile.
"I'm Rinoa Heartilly."
"Rinoa Heartilly?" Irvine wondered, "You're…"
Rinoa nodded before he could finish the sentence. She already knew what he was going to say.
"And who's your lovely friend?" Irvine asked, referring to Quistis who had remained silent.
"Quistis Trepe."
"Oh my god!" hurricane Selphie shrieked.
Selphie and Zell had just noticed the two men who had entered the building and Selphie had caught sight of Irvine.
"It's you!" she cried, jumping up and down in front of Irvine.
Irvine grinned.
"Why it's the delightful glass hugging young lady from Friday's party."
Selphie positively beamed.
"I thought I'd never see you again."
"I guess we were fated to meet," he said, with a wink.
Behind Selphie, Zell pretended to gag.
Irvine looked at Zell, concerned.
"I think your friend's hyperventilating."
Zell's cry of outrage went unnoticed as Squall tapped Irvine on the back.
"Can we get this over and done with?"
Irvine nodded.
"Sorry, I'll go and let Jade know that you're here."
Squall gave Rinoa a superior smirk, and followed Irvine.
Rinoa let out an exasperated sigh.
"See why I hate him so much!"
-----
"We're back at TBG radio station, where Squall Leonhart the star of "The Sorceress War", and his mysterious stranger Rinoa have joined me," Jade turned to look at Squall, "Squall, how true are these rumours?"
"Not true."
"Ok, and would you like to clear up what actually happened last night?"
"A fight."
Rinoa wondered if Squall's vocabulary only consisted of two words at a time.
"And did you know Rinoa before the party in any way?"
"No."
Rinoa couldn't believe that Squall wasn't being more specific. He wasn't clearing things up, he was making it worse.
"Alrighty then, and what was the cause of the…"
"I'll tell you exactly what happened!" Rinoa roared, losing her temper.
Jade's eyes widened and she eagerly nodded.
"Go on…"
Squall merely stared, knowing the girl sitting beside him was about to rant and rave again.
"This sicko!" Rinoa said, pointing at Squall openly, "Smashed my expensive make up kit last month. When I asked him for an apology the other night, he scoffed in my face and said the most obnoxious things!"
Squall stood up.
"That's not what happened."
Rinoa stood up too.
"Yes, it is! You were rude! You were arrogant!"
"You were yelling in my face!"
"Only because you sat there like you owned the world!"
Jade Bloom's head was moving back and forth between the two of them as if she were sitting at a tennis match.
"You asked for it!"
"I didn't need to 'ask'! You should've just apologised!"
"It was your fault that you bumped into me! You were too blind to…"
"You were too blind to…"
"We have a caller," Jade Bloom interrupted them at that moment.
Squall and Rinoa were now breathing heavily, both extremely red in the face.
"I don't care," Squall muttered, stalking out of the recording studio and slamming the door shut behind him.
Rinoa sighed and slumped back down in her chair again. She didn't know why Squall made her feel like this.
"Jade Bloom, who's speaking?"
"Yeah, this is Hadie and I was just listening to your radio program. I think Squall should apologise."
"Thank you, Hadie. Jade Bloom, you're on air."
"Hi, Jade. I think Squall's being way too egotistical. He should apologise and replace the make up kit."
"Thank you, guys. We'll take some more calls right after this short break."
-----
"Rinoa!" Quistis called.
Quistis Trepe was currently sitting in the lounge room, reading through the morning paper as usual.
Rinoa stuck her head out of her room, wishing that it wasn't a working day or that Quistis would lose her voice.
"Wha…aaaaaaah!"
Rinoa screamed and jumped back as Zell emerged from the bathroom without any clothes on and streaked into his room.
Quistis frowned.
"ZELL DINCHT! IF YOU CONTINUE TO RUN AROUND NAKED, I WILL HAVE TO TAKE SEVERE ACTION!"
Rinoa wiped her brow and made her way over to where Quistis was sitting.
"I NEVER want to see Zell in his birthday suit ever again."
"Perfectly understandable," Quistis replied.
Rinoa yawned and rubbed her eyes, just as Selphie emerged from her room.
"….Zell….naked?" she asked, half asleep as she stumbled into the bathroom.
Rinoa laughed and turned back to Quistis.
"So what were you calling for?"
"You seem to have redeemed yourself in the eyes of the general public."
"Really!"
Quistis handed Rinoa the newspaper.
Yesterday, Squall Leonhart was brought to shame as his mysterious 'prostitute', Rinoa (surname unknown) revealed the reason for her outburst. Leonhart had ruined the young lady's expensive belongings which included an 'Ellone' make up kit, a pair of 'Ellone' sunglasses and an 'Ellone' handbag. Leonhart is now infamous for his rudeness and certainty to knock over young women. Leonhart's fans are unimpressed and insist that he apologise to Rinoa. It is yet to be seen whether Rinoa will sue for damages done to her items.
Rinoa released a breath she didn't know she was holding, then started laughing.
"A make up kit, a pair of sunglasses and a handbag," she chuckled.
Quistis looked amused.
"It's wonderful when the media exaggerates things in your favour, isn't it?"
Rinoa nodded, her face glowing with happiness. Squall had finally gotten what was coming to him.
Selphie came out the bathroom, and walked over to where Rinoa and Quistis had clustered.
"What's new?" she asked brightly, feeling revitalised.
Rinoa threw the newspaper at Selphie.
"See for yourself. I'm going to have a shower otherwise I'll be way too late for work."
Quistis resumed her seat and as Selphie started to read, Rinoa could be heard laughing all the way to the bathroom.
"….and certainty to knock over young women…HA!"
-----
Rinoa walked through the community centre's doors, in an elated mood. She felt that nothing could go wrong today.
Jessie stood behind the counter, her hands on her hips.
"You could've told me!"
Jessie aimed a stapler at Rinoa's head which hit her forehead.
"OW, JESSIE!"
"Well you deserved it! You met Squall Leonhart and you couldn't tell me!"
"I was going to tell you today!"
Rinoa joined Jessie behind the counter and rubbed her forehead which had unfortunately turned red.
"You're completely famous now!" Jessie exclaimed, handing Rinoa an ice pack that she had prepared before hand.
Rinoa put the ice pack to her head and moaned.
"Will you get off it?"
The door to the community centre opened and Seifer strode in. Seeing Rinoa with the ice pack on her head, he stopped in front of her.
"What happened to you? Have another run in with puberty boy?"
Rinoa raised an eyebrow.
"Puberty boy?"
"Yeah, that Leonhart freak."
Rinoa studied Seifer curiously.
"You don't like him either?"
Seifer shrugged.
"He's an arrogant brat. We used to go to the same school in Balamb."
Rinoa smiled.
"Yeah, I know. We don't exactly get along."
Seifer smirked.
"So, you've been little miss popularity recently."
Rinoa blushed.
"I didn't know who Squall was. Otherwise I would've confronted him in a private place."
"No harm done, except maybe to his ego."
"Well, he deserves it."
Seifer actually smiled, and Rinoa felt her heart beat speed up.
"Anyway, I'm off to do my chores. I'll see you around," Seifer said with a wink, and walked off.
Rinoa couldn't believe that she was actually starting to like Seifer.
Jessie pinched Rinoa and pouted.
"First you meet Squall, and now you have Seifer flirting with you. I hate you!"
-----
Squall Leonhart had his usual scowl pasted across his face.
"I refuse to apologise to that girl."
Irvine Kinneas sighed.
Irvine was a born and bred Galbadian who chanced upon meeting Squall through President Laguna Loire. Laguna had a hobby of being a director and Irvine was signed to do one of his action packed movies. Laguna came to Galbadia with his scowling son for the shooting of the movie but it got cancelled.
After that, Irvine's best pick up line was, "I almost became the star of a Laguna Loire movie."
Squall decided to settle down in Galbadia to get away from his father and since he and Irvine had already become good friends, they decided to move in together, accompanied by one of Squall's school friends. After that, Squall got signed to do "The Sorceress War".
"Squall, all your fans are against you. You've got to do this," Irvine begged.
"Are you crazy! Do you know the kind of stuff that girl said to me! There is no way I'm gonna apologise to her!"
"Squall, your fans…"
In a short amount of time, Irvine had become Squall's advisor and personal assistant, which could be hard sometimes because he'd have to act professionally instead of as a friend. But hell, he didn't care; as long as he got paid 20, 000 Gil a month for it.
"My fans aren't going to be around forever. In the end I'm on my own."
Irvine clicked his fingers. Squall was driving him insane.
"Look, Squall…"
"I'm home, thugs!"
Squall and Irvine's flat mate had arrived.
"Seifer, will you explain to this lame brain that he's gotta say sorry to the gal?" Irvine pleaded.
Seifer Almasy sneered.
"Awe, is little Squally-poo gonna cry cos the girl called him names?" he teased.
Squall glared coldly at his best friend.
"Shove it, Seifer."
"Actually, I was talking to her today…" Seifer said.
Squall quickly turned to look at Seifer, as Irvine grabbed a can of beer from the fridge.
"Talking to who?"
Seifer pretended to rack his brains, trying to think of the girl's name.
"Hmm…what was her name now…? I seem to have forgotten…"
"Will you cut the dramatics!" Squall yelled, slashing his arm through thin air.
Seifer smiled, satisfied that he could still get Squall's temper to boiling point.
Seifer smacked his forehead in mock realisation.
"Oh, of course! Rinoa!"
"Wait, how do you know Rinoa anyway?" Irvine asked.
"You know how I got 100 hours of community service for beating up that guy…?
Irvine nodded.
"Well, the centre that I went to is where she works."
Squall tried not to care about this little piece of information.
"There you go! Now you can go over there and apologise!" Irvine cried.
"Are you kidding? There is no way you'll get me to apologise to her," Squall said, heading towards his room.
Seifer and Irvine glanced at eachother.
"So what do we do?" Irvine asked.
Seifer shrugged.
"Maybe we could get them to accidentally bump into eachother," Irvine suggested.
Seifer snickered, imaging how well that would work.
"Get real, Kinneas."
Irvine looked offended.
"Well let's see you think of a better idea, Almasy."
Seifer folded his arms over his broad chest.
"Actually Kinneas, I have the perfect plan."
Irvine gulped as he noticed the scheming glint in Seifer's eyes.
-----
"ZELL DINCHT! DID YOU BORROW MY HIGH HEELS AGAIN!"
Zell and Selphie both choked on their cornflakes for different reasons.
Of course that was none other than Quistis Trepe's usual morning routine.
"Well?" Quistis asked, standing at the entrance of the kitchen with her hands on her hips.
Zell looked at her easily.
"Er…well…uh, they may have accidentally gotten mixed…."
"MIXED IN WHAT! THE LAUNDRY!" Quistis demanded, sarcastically.
Zell turned the colour of an overlarge pomegranate and lost the ability to speak.
"Go get them right now!" Quistis ordered.
Zell nodded mutely, scared out of his skin, and ran to his room.
Quistis shook her head.
"What am I supposed to do with that guy…?"
Selphie giggled and started eating Zell's abandoned cornflakes.
"Guys, I'm going to work now," Rinoa said, running into the kitchen.
Quistis raised an eyebrow.
"This early?"
Rinoa nodded.
"I need to go to the library so it might take me a while."
The girls exchanged their good byes and Rinoa headed towards the front door, walking past Zell's room on the way.
"Zell, I hope you didn't throw up on them!" she called out cheerfully.
A thud came from Zell's room and Rinoa laughed as she opened the front door.
She almost didn't see the envelope on the doorstep.
Curiously she picked it up. It was addressed to her! Quickly she started to open up the letter, wondering who it could possibly be from.
A/N: Ok, here's Chapter 3. I've been writing it for two days, because I just couldn't think of how much to give away...but anyway, I hope you like it! Please don't forget to read and review! Thankies. :)
Also, I'd like to thank my reviewers.
Luis: Glad you enjoy the humour. :)
Neo Bahamut
PinkyLindsay: I'm glad you love the story. Thanks heaps for reviewing. :)