Hello readers! I know it's been friggen forever since I updated but to tell you the truth I just have been a lazy ass hehe ^.^;; But here is chapter 4 on Zack's point of view. Also it has been a while since I wrote anything so please ignore all the stupid mistakes that I made.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Final Fantasy characters what so ever! All characters belong to their rightful owners!
Warning: This story does contain inappropriate language/ situations so if that's not your cup of tea then I don't recommend you reading this but I'm also not stopping you.
~Let's begin shall we
Chapter 4
Zack
He had punched me in the face; my cheek still stung a bit even with the ice pack resting on it. I lay on my bed thinking about everything that happened. Why did I have to open my big damn mouth? Oh yeah, it's because HE opened his big damn mouth! 'One thing lead to another.' What the hell did he even mean by that?!
I closed my eyes in an attempt to fall asleep and try to forget about it all, just for the moment.
'I hid before Tifa opened the door, I told her not to tell him I was here, I'm a coward I know that but I'm a bit nervous on seeing him again. I heard some squeals while I hid, one of them was Cloud.
"Oh um, Tifa this is Vincent, Vincent this is Tifa." Vincent? Who the hell is Vincent? I was hoping that this Vincent guy was just one of Clouds friends or something.
"Hello Vincent, I'm guessing you're Clouds…" Friend, friend, friend
"…Fiancé."
Damn it, mother fucker! Alright, calm down Zack, calm the fuck down.
After a few more words of conversation, they made their way in the house and into the direction of the living room. I took this as an opportunity to leave, so I slowly got up and started retrieving all my belongings. I started to tip toe to the door and was about to open it when I heard then talking once more. Being a little nosey won't hurt right?
"We're here to rid of a burden that is holding us back from marrying." The man's voice was pissing me off.
"Burden, you don't mean Zack right?" and there goes my name but how the hell am I holding them back?
"Yes…" The fuck?! " and I would like to get this over and done with a soon as possible" I flinched at the tone of his voice, ooh he's lucky Tifa got better at controlling her anger. This guy is full of shit, whatever I'm leaving- shit he's coming, hide, hide! I ran back to the kitchen and leaned against the wall, hoping that I would blend in somehow. He wore and old red jacket and he looked as if he doesn't know what a hair cut is, I mean his mane is longer than mine! But I wouldn't say bigger, whatever I'm still WAY better than hm.
One I knew the coast was clear, I made my way to the door, this time I'm really leaving, no more being nosey-
"Tifa I'm sorry for the way Vincent is acting, he's not too fond of the reason why we're here." His voice sent chills down my spine; I always loved listening to him talk.
"I just don't understand on how Zack is preventing you both from marrying," Same here! "I mean I'm also surprised that your with that guy rather than Zack-"Damn I love this woman. "-I mean, I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude or anything…" why is she being so polite? This IS Cloud ya know.
"Tifa, you know I won't get mad at anything you say, I'm still Cloud ya know." Holy shit he can read minds! "You see, I can't get marry Vincent," good "Until I get um, un-married?" Un-married?
"Un-married?"Holy shit, again with the mind reading! But anyway, un-married? The hell does he mean by that- then it clicked…shit…
"You and Zack got married?! When?! Why haven't I known about this?!" I had to cover my hears from her loud screaming, I know she's going to lecture me about it too, but I couldn't believe it either. When did Cloud and I get married? I dunno but it sure makes me feel pretty fucking awesome in the inside.
"T-Tifa, keep it down will ya?"
"Right, sorry. It's also sad ya know, I mean you and Zack were inseparable, what happened?" Oh right, I never told Tifa what happened back then either, I wasn't ready to hear the truth for myself so I started to turn the door knob to leave when…
"One thing lead to another I guess…"
.No…'
I had awoken from the nightmare that I was having from the vibration of my phone. I let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed it, Clouds name flashed on the screen, Shit, alright man, play it cool.
"Hello?" Shit did that sound too harsh?
"Listen" He started, sheesh getting right to the point I see. "about what happened this morning, I'm sorry for hitting you like that, I shouldn't have done it." Hurt like a bitch but whatever, its cool, shows that the old Cloud is still somewhere in there.Did I say that out loud? I then remembered that Cloud is probably suffering from the same injury as I." I'm sorry for hitting you too, if its business with me the reason why you're here then we'll meet up tomorrow, okay?" I didn't want to deal with it, any of it because I knew he was going to pull out divorce papers or some shit.
"Yeah that sounds great, I'll see you then, bye Zack." It felt god to hear him say my name.
"Bye." I hung up and found a way to fall back to sleep.
We got in a fight…again. Knowing that these arguments were becoming more and more frequent made me feel depressed. Why can't he understand that this will be good for us?! I was returning to the hotel room that I stormed out of from another fight that I had with him just two hours ago. When I got to our room I pulled out my card and unlocked the door and opened it to find and empty room. He must have gone out…I'll wait for him to come back.
I had awoken from the dream. I sort of forced myself to wake up somehow before it got to the scary part. I lay in bed with my cell phone resting on my chest. I must have fallen asleep after the phone call with Cloud.
My phone showed that it was a quarter after 7 AM so I decided to get up and shower for the work day…work day…Cloud…Shit I forgot we were suppose to meet today, shit what time? Maybe I should call-no wait would that make me look eager t see him? I mean of course I am but I don't want them to know that! Okay Ill just put a few hours in at work and sees if he calls first.
I sat at my large desk in my office and started on some paperwork. I ignored any calls that weren't Cloud. So far I ignored 4 of Reno and 2 from Sam. I don't feel like hearing her talk about her customer and sex work. I also don't feel like working but its keeping me occupied until Cloud calls.
It was 10 o'clock now and I still have yet to receive any calls or text from Cloud. I began to feel frustrated at the blonde. Didn't he want to meet with me?! I was about to call him when my phone started vibrating and Clouds name flashing on my screen. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Jeez what am I, some kind of school girl? Get it together Zack! I tapped my finger on the green button and held my phone up to my ear.
"What's up" I should get an award for how cool I sounded.
"Uh, Hey Zack its Cloud, um I was wondering when it would be a god time to meet and what location?" He sounded nervous, it made me smile.
"Oh uh, how about in an hour in my meeting room, I'll text you the address."
"Alright, thanks. I'll see you late then…"
"Wait!" I said before he could hang up, I didn't want to stop hearing his voice, and I wanted answers…" I-I mean…" Come on Zack, make conversation! "How have you been…In the past 3 years?" I finally asked. He was quiet for a moment before speaking.
"I've been fine- I mean for most of it…" I suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Did he suffer…?
"Right…So…Are you…Your happy, right?" I just wanted to know, I NEEDED to know. Is he better off without me?
I heard a sight come from the other line. "Listen, Zack… I need to get ready. I'll see you in an hour…" and with that, he hung up.
The three of us sat in the large meeting room. Cloud and his fiancé sat some ways away from me.
"Alright, what do you guys got going on?"
"A divorce." The guy said right after me. Quick response…
"Oh yeah right..." I said remembering the situation; I looked to Cloud and smiled. "We're married" I said as a matter of fact way.
The guy sent me a scowl but it only put me in a better mood, in fact just saying that Cloud and I are married makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
And that's when it hit me…I could never get over Cloud, I love him too much and I know deep down he loves me too. He's making a big mistake with this man…
"How long will you be staying here?" I asked, forming a plan.
"About two weeks, why?" Cloud asked, confusion showing on his beautiful face.
I gave them both a cocky smile, knowing just what to do…
"Well you see I'm still feeling a bit burned on yesterday events and I'm not sure if I was to cooperate with you..."
Clouds eyes widened. "W-what? Zack-" I held up my hand to stop him.
"But I'm sure it will take you guys about two weeks to heal these burns, no?" I said looking to the guy, his scowl seemed to have gotten deeper, it was amusing.
It was the perfect plan, I will keep Cloud here as long as possible and make him realized that he still loves me! Will 2 weeks even be enough?
"Zack why are you doing this?!" Cloud yelled, he had gotten up from his seat. He was angry, I never liked to see him angry but it will all pay off.
"Well its either 2 weeks of simplicity or months of being in court, your choice Cloud." It still felt nice to say his name. I turned to his fiancé, did this man not speak?
He stood up from his chair. "I want you to sign on it..." he finally said "…to keep your word…"
They agreed to the 2 week agreement, just as planned.
"Would you two like to have a tour?" I offered even though I really didn't want to show that guy around the place.
"This place is disgusting, I'm leaving. Let's go Cloud…" He said as he started to walk away.
This guy is an asshole! Its daylight right now, this place is only disgusting at night, duh!
"I actually want to look around the place Vincent." Cloud stated. Vincent pulled Cloud to the side had some sort of argument, the argument ended with Vincent leaving and Cloud staying. Wow, lucky me!
Cloud came up to me. "So is this a hotel of some sort?" he asked somewhat interested.
I smiled. "Yeah I have a total of 753 rooms in counting…"
"Damn that's a lot…I think." Cloud sounded a bit embarrassed. Then another idea dawned on me!
"Hey how about you and I and the girls go out for drinks tonight!"
"The girls" Cloud asked
"My night shift employees, their sweet hearts and would just love you" I added. Cloud was quiet for a moment, c'mon say yes say yes.
"I don't know… I mean, I don't want to intrude on anything…"
"There will be bar food~" I cooed.
"Guh! Fine!" He finally gave in. Cloud could never resist hot wings and beer.
"Cool, for now let's show you around the place!" I took his hand and starts leading him around the place, he was stiff at first but eventually softened up.
After the tour we sat in the lounging area that held a flat screen T.V and a wide widow for the customers. We were conversating on normal things like hotel competition and such but then Cloud started to laugh. I was confused at first because hotels weren't really funny.
"Remember when we were kids we would spray graffiti all over the fancy hotels and then steals their plants and plant them into other people's yards?"
I remembered those times so well that it made me laugh as well. "Haha yeah and then we would have to run so fucking fast when we would get caught."
"They could never catch us…" Cloud added with what sounded like fondness over the memory. I felt so nice that he still saw those memories as good ones.
"So Cloud, what have you been up to?"
"What?"
"The past three years."
"Why do you want to know…?" He asked with confusion.
"…I want…I want to know what I missed…the 3 years…" I wanted to know…
Cloud stared at me with shock evident on his face; he then turned to look out the window. "Well… I went to collage but while going there I also got addicted to mako…" I closed my eyes in pain, not physical pain but that pain you get in your chest when you're sad or upset. "But Vincent helped me get off it for good and finished collage; I'm now working on a novel that I'm going to try to publish next year..."
We were both quiet for a few minutes
"I'm sorry you had to go through that… the mako I mean… I feel like it's my fault somehow."
"In some ways it is but mostly it's mine… just forget about it I don't even know why I told you that…" I guess he was right.
And the quietness returned. Jeez why is this happening? Do I not remember how to talk to this man? Or maybe I'm just holding back like Tifa was…
"Cloud I know things are a bit awkward right now but lets try to act normal towards each other..ya know kinda like back in elementary school!" Cloud gave a sarcastic laughed and gave me a Are-You-Kidding look.
"We were little shits back in elementary school."
"Well yeah but we weren't little shits to each other!" That made him shut up and think about it.
"Yeah I guess…" Just then the lighting in the entire hotel turned into more of a low light red, that's when the whole meaning of the hotel changed. Just then all the honey bees emerged from their rooms in their uniform with well done makeup and hair. Some of them paused to look at Cloud and I but probably thought he was some kind of customer of mine, the thought of that bugged me. Cloud was not a piece of trash.
Clouds face was one of confusion, probably because the honey bee's uniform was mostly skin rather than fabric. I just then realized that I haven't told Cloud about my job. Shit…
"Why aren't they wearing clothes?" Cloud started to ask but I then got up from my seat and stood in front of him, prepared to tell him everything.
"I'm a prostitute." Was all I said, I guess I could have gone a better way of saying it…
Cloud just stared up at me with an expressionless face; I hated it when he did that because I could never tell what he's thinking.
"S-so…um… those girls…are they…?"
"They are also prostitutes. But not those nasty ones you find on the street! I mean we are much classier and…clean." The room became silent again. Cloud then started rubbing his temple. Shit, that's not a good sign…He then started laughing but not a cheery laugh.
"I...I'm married to a prostitute…A prostitute" He repeated trying to make it sink in. "I married a prostitute." He was beginning to sound stressed. He then pulled out his cell phone, I say he was about to tap on Vincent's name, I panicked and slapped it out of his hand.
"The hell is wrong with you?!" He screamed. I knelt down so I could be at eye level.
"I know this is really…weird but please understand that this…" I waved my hand around gesturing the hotel "…Is the best that I can do with my life…the best that these girls can do, and I hope that one day these girls will quit because they know that they are meant for greater things than this fucked up hotel…so please…stay…"
Cloud looked to me then to the honey bees who were working in the lobby. "I…Your right. Sorry, I guess I was-or IS really shocked…" He shook his head and smiled to me, it was a genuine smile and it made my heart skip a beat. "So when can we go for drinks?"
"Alright ladies we're closing early today!" I called out while clapping my hands to get their attention. They all turned their heads to Cloud and I. All their faces where asking the same question. I put my hand on Cloud's shoulder and continued. "This is an old friend of mine, Cloud Strife. "They still stared. "He's a novelist." I added, they all then went 'oos' and eyes lit up with amazement.
Clair, one of my honey bees came up to him, Cloud held out his hand to shake hers but she immediately pulled him into a hug. Then they all gathered and all hugged him as well, his face was priceless, he was flushed and confused about their gestures.
"O-oh um, hello…" Was all he would say.
Well so far my honey bees liked him which was good, now I wonder if Reno and Rude would get along with him hmmm who knows…
"We are all going drinking tonight so go get ready!" I announced. They all cheered and went to their dressing rooms.
"Are they always this, um…lovable?" Cloud asked once they were gone. I smiled.
"Ahh, their like my children!" I said, but just then Clouds phone started ringing. He looked to the caller ID then answered.
"Hey Vincent….Oh well I was going to go out with Zack and some of his workers, their very nice..." He said with a smile. "…Sorry but I already said that I would go…What?...ok I will…" He finished sounding a bit irritated and hung up. He didn't say anything else, though I was a bit curious to what the other side of the conversation was but I could guess.
We all arrived at the bar at the same time, not all of them could fit in my car so some of us had to ride separately but we're all together now.
I immediately spoke to a waiter when we entered the bar. "We would like the largest private room you have please." The thing with this bar is that it had normal bars for the public but it also had private rooms for people like us.
"Largest? But Zack-" Cloud began but I already knew what he was going to say.
"I know you don't like crowded places so just be grateful, okay? " I said teasingly. His eyes showed shock. Hah, as if I would forget how my lover works…ex…ex lover I mean…Well for now.
Once we sat down and ordered our drinks the girls bombarded Cloud with questions. Clair had noted that Cloud looked like a model.
"Have you worked for a modeling agency before?" she asked. I snorted at the thought and the memory of a similar situation he was in back in high school.
Cloud grew flustered and started taking really fast "N-no I mean-"Oh no he's not getting out of this one.
"You sure Cloud, what about that one time when-"He quickly covered my mouth with both hands.
"I swear Zack you better shut your mouth, I'm still angry at you for that!" It was all just making the honey bees even more curious, so they all began to whine and beg Cloud to tell them the story.
"C'mon Cloud please tell us, please~"
Cloud face started off with determination but then after a while it morphed to one of defeat. He let out a sigh and said "Fine!" finally giving in. The girls quieted down and waited for Cloud to begin.
"Back in high school the photography club's model had gotten sick and hospitalized and they were on some sort of dead line, and I needed some extra credit but not THAT bad…" He then looked to me and frowned "Then this guy here managed to convince me to volunteer to be their model…" His face began to turn red "…The thing is, their model was a girl, and therefore they needed another 'girl' to take her place…" The honey bees began to lean in, anxious to find out what happens next.
"So I dressed as a woman and did the shoot for them, The End." He quickly finished and took a drink of his alcohol. The room was quiet for a moment, the honey bees where observing Clouds face to see if he could make a good girl.
"Yeah, I can see it" one of them said. Hearing just that made me holler in laughter. Cloud sent me death glares but it just made the whole situation even funnier.
"It's not funny! My face ended up on the front cover of a damn magazine you ass hole!" He screamed at me.
It had all turned out that the shoot that Cloud did actually was important and his pictured ended up o the front cover of Shinra Magazene. It was strange because he actually was a convincing girl when he was in drag. I have the magazine stashed somewhere in my storage.
"Wow, really Cloud that's amazing" One of the honey bees cooed.
The longer we stayed at the bar the more the honey bees fell for Cloud. I guess I could say that Cloud has about 9 best friends now, 10 to be soon since Sam didn't show up again. What is up with that girl? The more I thought about it the more worried I became. The girls and Cloud where still conversating but I guess this is better time to ask.
"Have any of you heard from Sam?" I asked, they all stopped to look at me, including Cloud. They were all quiet for a moment.
"I haven't seen her from that night that you and she went to Don Corneo's party." Clair said. Cloud immediately stiffened from the name. Yeah Cloud did know who the Don is; he and I had both met him at the same time.
"Yeah same here…" came others. I began to worry even more; none of them have seen her since that night, including me. I looked to Cloud who was still stiff but he managed to look back up to me. His face had some panic in it. Cloud never liked the Don, I know the Don wasn't a great person but I'm sure he wasn't bad enough to absolutely hate his guts, right?
It was 11:30 PM when we all finally left the bar. Cloud and I walked in the parking lot trying to find my car since we were both a bit intoxicated to remember where it even was.
"So you and the Don are still in contact…" Cloud said as a matter of fact way.
"Well… yea I guess, I mean it is part of my job…"
"Right…so this Sam girl, she's missing?" He asked, his voice sounded worried as well even though he's never met Sam.
"Yeah she missed 2 days of work but I had just told myself that she's out doing her own thing with the customer she left with, but I keep getting this feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me that something's not right…" I finished and we were both quiet again, still wondering around in the parking lot. Cloud stopped so I did to and I gave him a questioning look.
"Could you send a picture of her to me? I mean so that if I somehow see her in public I can tell you…" He said while scratching the back of his head. He did that when he was trying to act cool about things but really he's just as worried as I am. I smiled at him and nodded.
"Let's get you back to Tifa's…"