Chapter Thirteen: A New Era

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Tifa called through the pizza delivery hotline. "Hey Cloud."

"Tifa?" he asked. "How… how was it?"

She let out a sigh. "I'll tell you about it later, can you come over after your shift?"

He sensed her sadness instantly. It was as if it was the easiest thing to do in this world. "Sure, yeah. I'll be there."

"Thank you." Tifa said quietly.

"No biggie," Cloud said and realized she had ended the call.

"Hey, who was that?" Zack asked, his cheek smeared with tomato sauce. Cloud only shook his head. "It was a wrong number. Hey Zack, uh, you have something on your face."

"Oh man! Thank Minerva you saw that! This would have been so totally uncool if a girl saw it." Zack wiped the smear off his face with the back of his hand. They chuckled and went back to work.

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It was about nine in the evening when Tifa heard soft knocks on her door. She eagerly rushed to the door and found Cloud standing there with a small smile. Suddenly, she felt shy. It was absolutely absurd.

"Hi," she said.

Cloud returned her smile with a rather mesmerizing one. "I'm here."

"Come in," Tifa invited and she pressed herself to the wall to make room for him. It was the first time she smelled his cologne—it smelled nice…no, he smelled wonderful. What was wrong with her heart? It was like she was acting like a virgin's all over again!

"So how did it go?" he asked once she had locked the door. "Did you fire him?"

Leaning heavily on the door and looking down, Tifa said, "Um, not really. I didn't fire him. I didn't get to execute my plan so well."

Cloud chuckled. "Is that so? Why didn't you fire him? Do you have legal problems?"

"No," Tifa shook her head. "It's not that."

"Then what's the catch?"

"Why… don't we sit down?" Tifa said quietly as she crossed the hallway to the living room. "That way, we can talk better."

"Okay," Cloud said passively as he followed her. Her living room was dainty—the couch was white, the floor was made of oak floorboards and potted plants grew in the corners. He sat down on the leather couch and looked at her. "Okay, now tell me why you didn't fire your manager."

Tifa sat down tentatively next to him. "I didn't have the heart to just fire him—I mean, I owe all that I have to him. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him. And… he just showed me the original video of the interview Rufus had. Marlene did not watch this show, she watched a small show where they showed an edited version of his interview." She looked up at Cloud. "I mean… Marlene just misinformed me, that's all. Rufus turned me to Cinderella. I don't want to be an ingrate for kicking him out without solid proof."

He nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry… I was rambling, wasn't I?" Tifa mumbled. "I tend to ramble when I feel stressed."

"Nah," Cloud said. "I don't mind if you ramble all night to me. It's kind of cute when you ramble." He chuckled and Tifa shifted her position next to him. Sitting next to him this closely, she could feel the warmth of his body. "So… basically, you feel like you just made a terrible mistake?" he asked.

Tifa nodded. "Yes," she mumbled. "It's like… I was acting on impulse, because Rufus was there—and I felt like a lamb being cornered by a wolf—something like that. Ugh, Cloud, I feel terrible." She heaved a heavy sigh and hugged her knees. "I told him that I'd give him two months to try and make everything work out, if he isn't able to comply I would really sign up with another manager."

"Hey… that was a pretty cool idea, Tifa. Don't worry too much. You and your manager are excellent in this field. If you guys weren't so good, I'm guessing you wouldn't be here." Cloud said. "What… conditions did you give Rufus anyway?"

His blue eyes bore unto hers as he waited for her to answer. The intensity of his sapphire eyes made her chest palpitate faster than usual and dried her throat. She swallowed and licked her drying lips and said, "I just told him… that I would be the one who would decide what I want to do with my career. I will be the one to choose my roles in movies and shows, my endorsements and… well, basically everything."

"Wait… so Rufus was the one behind all the things you've done?" Cloud asked.

"Yes," Tifa mumbled. "He'd let me read the manuscript of the movie and tell me that he had already confirmed with the agency. I never got a chance to put my two cents in most of the movie roles I got."

"Hmm… really." Cloud said quietly. "Hey, do you want to know what I thought about you when I first saw you on…what was that show again?" He rolled his eyes to remember. After a few moments he spoke again. "Ah! Right, when I first saw you in Rise of Day."

"I loved working in Rise of Day!" Tifa exclaimed. "It was my first major project and the staff and crew were all so nice… and well, the wardrobe department's closet was amazing. I was really shocked when they let me walk in the closet!" She laughed a little. "So… what were you saying, before I cut you off so rudely?"

Cloud hung his head and mumbled something.

"What?" she asked, puzzled. "I can't hear you."

"I thought… you were just another of those girls." Cloud said. "You now… those girls who had no shame in displaying their body in exchange for fame."

She looked at the window blankly. "A lot of people labeled me a bombshell after that and then producers started to offer more and more roles for me. I didn't really like wearing those skimpy, skin tight clothes but I just shrugged and said to myself that if I wanted to be on the top, I had to do it… so I did and here I am."

"I'm guessing that you're going to avoid wearing skin tight clothes as much as possible now, aren't you?" Cloud said. "That's kind of a stupid idea, if you ask me. You know what they say, if you've got it, flaunt it."

"I'm going to flaunt my figure but I'm not wearing those catastrophic scraps of cloth ever again. I believe that you…"

"Hey, hey, spare me the fashion speech, Tif—I'm a guy, fashion doesn't really make sense to me. For the most of us, as long as we have a shirt and a clean pair of jeans, we're set. As for you, you girls need a thousand pairs of shoes."

"True." Tifa laughed.

Suddenly the telephone rang, shattered their cozy atmosphere. "I wonder who that is." Tifa wondered as she stood up with a sigh. Could it be that Rufus had already told Genesis about her return?

"Hello?" she murmured, a part of her was nervous while another was gnawing its nails for being disrupted. "Tifa?" his voice rang out, it was warm and alluring. The sound made her freeze. "Genesis," she said curtly.

"I missed you so much, love. I couldn't reach you through your phone… How are you?" he asked, his voice dripping with syrupy love and concern. It sounded so sexy, but it wasn't working at all.

"I…I'm fine, Rufus has my cellphone. How's the tour?"

Genesis clicked his tongue. "What's with that tone, Tifa, my love? Didn't you miss me?"

"No, no… I missed you. I'm just… tired—I had a lot of meetings today." Tifa replied while her eyes wandered to Cloud, who was looking at her curiously. She heard Genesis say 'huh' in the other line, and something else, but she didn't hear him. "Tifa… are you still there?" he asked. "Tifa?" It took her a moment to snap back to the conversation. "Uh, can we talk later? It's really late here now… I'm really tired."

"Sure. Rest well, my love. I'll call you later."

"Bye." Tifa slammed the receiver down and groaned.

Cloud chuckled. "Tired, huh?"

"Tired of him," Tifa corrected. "I only had one meeting today, after all… but it's equivalent to five… or six, I think." She sat down beside him again. Cloud sighed and played with his hands. "You're dumping Genesis, too?" he asked her.

Tifa stared at the floor. "Yes. That's the plan."

"Tifa's new era is unfolding," he mumbled. She laughed and playfully punched him in the arm. "Ow, that hurt you know!" Cloud exclaimed as he rubbed his arm.

"I'm sorry." Tifa blushed. "Does it really…?"

He laughed. "Nah, it doesn't." Then he turned to look her in the eye. "But I'm pretty sure that you're really hurt inside."

"What?" she asked, trying to make it seem that she had no idea on what he was talking about. Cloud sighed heavily. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, miss superstar."

"Since when did I become miss superstar to you?"

"Since now."

"You're so random, Cloud!"

"I'm not random… well, not now, at least." he answered, then glanced at his watch. "Well whaddaya know—it's almost midnight. I better get back to the apartment… or Zack will freak out if he wakes up alone."

"Yeah, okay." Tifa smiled up at him. "Thanks for coming over."

"Anytime."

"Bye."

"See you."

"Yes… take care."

She heard the Fenrir roar to life, possibly waking up the whole neighborhood in the process, and the fading roar of his motorbike. It was weird that she suddenly felt so sad, being all alone. "I should have just made him stay." Tifa mumbled as she buried her face in her hands.

Tears fell. Damn men, she thought.

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The next day, Tifa woke up because of the insistent rings of the telephone. "Good morning, Tifa Lockhart speaking…" she muttered grumpily to the receiver. "Finally." Rufus replied, Tifa could almost imagine him rolling his eyes as he spoke. "Hurry up and get ready. We have to meet with XY fashion house in an hour." She sighed. "I'll be right there. We're just going to discuss the changes, right?" "Yes." "Okay. Uh and uh, Rufus, you confiscated my phone, right? Can you give it to me when I get there?" "Of course,"

When she got there, Rufus was sitting down on one of the plastic bleachers, holding a tall cup of black coffee and a folder in the other. He stood up at once. "XY fashion's management wants to meet with you and discuss the whole project again." Tifa took the folder from his hand and read the contents.

The executives sat stiffly in the high back chairs in the mahogany conference table and stood up immediately when Tifa and Rufus entered the room.

"Hello, dear Tifa, how was your… little vacation?" the woman wearing a black, long-sleeved dress and a layered pearl necklace. "We're happy to have you back."

Tifa smiled graciously. "Thank you for having me back, madam Ysabelle."

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine! Please, sit down." Ysabelle replied as Tifa and Rufus took their seats. "Your manager already told me beforehand that you plan to change your fashion line's theme."

"Yes… I do plan to restart on my line" Tifa said. "For starters, I want to change the label 'Tifa for You' to 'Heart Locker'." Ysabelle twined her fingers together and nodded, "Sounds nicer, actually. Why did you want to change the label, what's the reason?"

"I changed it to Heart Locker because I want the clothes that I'm going to release to captivate, entice and capture the hearts of the men who see the woman wearing my designs. While I was away, I thought to myself, if I was launching a line, I won't go to the tank top and shorts route. I want my line to be known not because it's made by me only, but because it makes them feel good and beautiful." Tifa said. "Also, I want to make something clear: I will not launch racy pieces."

Ysabelle raised her eyebrows. "Interesting concept, missy—you've got my attention. I like your ideas. It's high time that somebody brought back conservatism in the fashion world. Somebody like you, being the sexy superstar you are, will be quick to influence the customers in buying your designs. Well done."

Tifa nodded and smiled. "Thank you."

"Did you bring your designs?"

"Of course."

"Very good," Ysabelle said as she opened the sketch pad. "These are very good designs. Let's discuss them now."

When the meeting ended, Tifa was exhausted but happy. She had gotten her way—Rufus did not even attempt to intervene as she discussed everything with Ysabelle! He looked interested enough in what she had to say.

"How about we go and have lunch, huh?" he asked her quietly as they walked out of the building. "I have a lot of things to discuss with you."

Tifa frowned. "Actually, I'm thinking of having lunch alone with somebody... else."

"And who would this 'somebody else' be? The blonde delivery boy?" Rufus asked then shook his head.

"Yes... the blonde delivery boy." Tifa said. "I want him to be my male model for Heart Locker."

"Is that so?" Rufus said. "Huh... well I suppose he has the looks..."

Tifa smiled. "You should try eating the food in the pizza in their place... it's great."

"Why don't we give it a try now?"

"That'd be great!" Tifa smiled.

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Author's Note: CLIFF HANGER! *goes bananas* Thanks for reading this update, lovely reader. How did you like this chapter? Was it any good? Was it horrible? UHH. *goes bananas again* The exams are finally over and I can finally update! :D Don't forget to review, okay?