Car Wash

by Chiharu Tanaka

A/n: 2nd chapter. Go figure. Pairings are Rufus/Tifa and Cloud/Aerith, run away if you don't wanna read, or if you're just reading so that you can flame me later. I will personally murder you with Sephiroth's masamune (I stole it) if you flame me, so I strongly discourage you from flaming, OK?

Disclaimer: OMG, I OWN FF7! MUAHAHAHAHA (gets stabbed by Sephiroth and Cloud, punched by Tifa, zapped by Aerith, and shot by Rufus) Ouchies…

Chapter 2: The White Porsche
Several days later…

"Reno, what now?" yelled the young President in anger as he answered the phone. He was driving, who wouldn't be pissed?

"I advise you don't come to the office now, Prez Rufus…Scarlet's here…" Reno said in a loud whisper, emphasizing "Scarlet".

'Scarlet! Uggghhh…' thought Rufus in disgust. "Fine. Call me when she's gone," he replied, turning left at a corner. "You can count on me, sir," said Reno, before hanging up.

Rufus closed his flip phone with a soft 'clap' from the item. He drove around, avoiding his office for the time being.

President of ShinRa Electric Company at the age of 21, he was a bit 'young' for the job. However, his actions made people think different of him. He pitched in some projects involving development of outstation areas in the country, which gave him a high position in the government. His father's assassination came as a shock to the citizens, but it gave them relief when Rufus stepped in. His father never really cared much for the people, so the people liked Rufus' presence very much.

'My car is a bit dirty…' he thought. Being the perfectionist, and all-around rich brat, he drove into the car wash Reno brought his BMW to. Wallace Car Wash.

Tifa was reading the newspaper about ShinRa's new project: Massive Hydroelectric Powerplants, when she heard the humming of a car engine. She set the newspaper aside and looked up to the car. It was a brand new, state-of-the-art, white Porsche model. She gaped at the sight of the beautiful and very expensive car and stood up. Cloud noticed the car as well and went, "Wow, what a beaut…"

Rufus stepped out of the car, flipping his hair before walking towards the office. It was then he saw a girl with long brown hair and red eyes looking at him. She was wearing the car wash's T- shirt, but the sleeves were rolled up and the sides of the shirt were tied into a knot in the middle, exposing her stomach, not to mention she was wearing really short jeans. A blond haired guy beside her was still gaping at his car. He smirked at the girl and tipped down his sunglasses which is very elegant and expensive (of course), winked, tipped it back up and then went inside.

Tifa felt the blood rushing up to her cheeks as she saw the President of ShinRa Electric Company wink at her. Fortunately for her, Cloud was still gaping at the car, so he didn't notice Rufus winking at Tifa. "That's some car…" he mumbled softly, admiring it. Tifa, on the other hand, peeked into the office through the large glass window. She could see Rufus talking to Aerith, and Aerith bowing to him and smiling as usual. Later, she saw him took out a platinum credit card out of his wallet and he swiped it on the credit card machine.

'Why does that look familiar…nah, Reno's boss much be rich like him too,' Tifa thought as she watched him sit down and pick up The Daily News and started reading. Cloud saw Tifa peeking, and he followed. "Hey, that's Rufus ShinRa! What's he doing here?" asked Cloud over Tifa's head.

Tifa squeaked a little, then muttered, "Looks like the car wash just got famous…" Cloud just nodded, then walked into the office. Tifa followed him, trying to hide herself from Rufus' prying eyes. Or at least, she thought his eyes were prying on her…

"You guys wash the President's car, okay? Zack, Yuffie and Cid are a bit busy right now…" Aerith whispered to them. Cloud gave her another salute. "Yes, ma'am," he said playfully. Aerith giggled at him and resumed working. Cloud and Tifa walked outside, grabbed some sponges, cloths, and pails.

Rufus read through the newspaper quickly, eyeing the stock market and business section. He breezed through the entertainment and world section, not interested in cartoons and wars happening outside the country. After reading, he kept the newspaper open, and looked at Aerith. She was typing a lot of stuff onto the computer. He then turned to Cloud and Tifa who were washing his car outside. He saw Tifa yelling at Cloud with an annoyed expression on her face, and then Cloud just sprayed her with a bit of water. Tifa got angry and threw soap suds at Cloud.

Sitting there, Rufus couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Cloud. 'Hmph. He gets to play with the pretty angel…' he thought, his blue eyes suddenly flared up with jealousy. Cloud squirted more water on her, and her hair and clothes became wet. She screeched at Cloud, and threw a pail at him, but she missed; only getting Cloud wet in soap. The two started a water fight.

Aerith pouted, feeling jealous herself. She turned left and saw Rufus watching them with an annoyed look as well. She thought, 'Looks like I'm not the only jealous one…time for them to be punished!' She then stood up to get reinforcements. Reinforcement could only mean one thing: Getting the owner/boss, Barret Wallace.

"You #$ foo's! STOP FOO'ING AROUN'!" Barret yelled after storming outside. Aerith gave a "Hmph!" to Cloud before going inside to resume her work. Rufus just chuckled lightly watching the comedy before his eyes. 'Serves you right, blond-haired. Though I'll have to get back at that bear if he hurt the angel's feelings…'

He returned to 'reading' when he saw Tifa walk in, soaking wet, her shirt almost see-through. Rufus blushed furiously and quickly hid his face in the newspaper. Tifa eyed him. 'Still reading the newspaper…oh well, so much for flirting…' she thought before going into the locker room.

She came out again, after changing into a dry shirt, and holding two towels. She went outside and gave one to Cloud. Rufus and Aerith saw Cloud mouthing, "Thanks" before rubbing his hair vigorously with it. Tifa dried her hair with the other one, before grabbing a sponge to start cleaning again. They saw Cloud say, "Sorry, Tifa." Then they saw her say, "It's okay, just don't do it again."

Aerith gritted her teeth, suddenly hating the fact that Cloud was paying a lot of attention to Tifa. She fixed her gaze to Tifa and glared. 'If only I could summon a bolt of lightning and zap her with it…' she thought evilly. Rufus, on the other hand, was thinking of pretty much the same thing. 'I'll just get the Turks to assassinate him…' he thought, watching them with a cold stare fixed on Cloud.

Tifa and Cloud turned to the office, thinking someone was watching them. Aerith pretended to look busy while Rufus just read the entertainment section without caring what the contents were. "I thought we were being watched…" said Tifa. Cloud nodded. "I think it's more that 'watch', Teef…" he replied uneasily.

Rufus set the newspaper aside, watching the two polishing his car. He turned to Aerith. "Excuse me, miss…" Rufus began. Aerith looked up at him and smiled. "Gainsborough. Just call me Aerith, sir." He looked at her and asked, "Well, Miss Aerith, I was wondering…" Aerith just sat there, smiling. 'Damn, just ask her the bloody question, ShinRa!' he thought. "…I was wondering, what's the name of that girl washing my car?" he asked.

Cloud peered through the glass window. He saw Rufus talking to Aerith at the counter. 'Why that damn ShinRa brat…' he thought as he saw Aerith giggling. Tifa pitched in to see what was Cloud looking at. 'Hmph! That Aerith! Isn't Cloud enough? Has she got to hit on Rufus, too?' she thought angrily.

"Her name's Tifa Lockheart, sir. I could give you her number, if you want…" she said slyly. Cloud and Tifa saw the sly look on Aerith's face. 'Grr…bitch!' Tifa thought before continuing her polishing. Cloud glared at Rufus, his blue-green eyes glowing somewhat.

"Thank you for the information, Miss Aerith…but don't mention this to anyone, alright?" he said in a gentlemanly manner. Aerith giggled. "No problem, President ShinRa. Just call me Aerith, I feel so old when you call me 'Miss'," she said. Rufus smirked. "Heh, thank you ever so much then, Aerith," he said, before bowing down and took her hand before kissing it.

Aerith blushed slightly then giggled, covering her mouth with her right hand, "Oh my, you're too much, Mister President…" Cloud's temper (or limit break) was about to burst. "Damn…that…ShinRa…bastard…" he muttered under his breath. Tifa's jealousy was also at the critical level. 'Oh my GAWD, she's such a BITCH!' she thought, clenching the white polish, making her hands white. Cloud stood up, and was about to walk over to the office to give Rufus a piece of his mind when he saw Barret standing there, glaring at them with slits for pupils. Tifa and Cloud quickly got back to work.

Aerith looked past Rufus and saw Cloud with a VERY angry look on his face. 'Payback accomplished,' she thought to herself. Smiling, she took a few folders and went into Barret's office. Rufus just sat back down, looking outside. Tifa had a very annoyed, angered, and hurt look on her face. 'Looks like payback hurts, huh, Tifa?' he thought, smirking, before opening a magazine.

"Your car is ready, Mister President, sir," Aerith told Rufus. "Thank you, Aerith. I'll just be heading to lunch now…" he replied. 'Better call Reno first,' he thought. He took out his flip phone (Motorola Razr V3, yeah!) and called Reno via speed dial, ignoring the hundreds of voice messages Scarlet left. "Yo, Reno here. Whassup, Prez?" asked Reno on the other line. "Don't 'what's up' me, Reno. Is Scarlet bloody gone yet?" he asked. "Yeah, she left 10 minutes ago, she got tired of waiting. And, she told me to tell you that she wants to have lunch with you. She wants you to call her," said Reno, dripping with sarcasm.

'I'd rather eat at a fast food restaurant than eat in front of her heavily make-upped face…' he thought in disgust, and then said, "Sure, I'll call her. I'm going back to the office for lunch." He hung up and walked outside. Tifa was sitting there, drinking a bottle of cold water. Cloud had already left. Tifa noticed him staring at her, so she blushed and capped the bottle. Rufus then winked at her before walking over to his car.

Tifa blushed some more. 'What's his problem?' she thought as she saw his polished Porsche drive out of the car wash.

Rufus inhaled the scent of pink champagne, stronger than when he smelt it in his BMW. "Her scent…Tifa Lockheart…" he muttered. His cheeks went pink for a second or two. He then thought, 'Her name sounds wonderful when it comes out of my mouth. You sexy thing, you…' as if scolding/praising himself, being self-centered.

To be continued…
A/n: Ugh, he is so vain! Then again, that's what we love about him. XD Nyaks. Stay tuned for chapter 3! And also, get your car washed today...hey! (gets punched by Tifa) Nyaaks…

P.S.: About Tifa being associated to the smell of pink champagne, that's thanks to the best Rufus/Tifa writer ever (she got me hooked on), General Quistis!