Chapter Sixteen: Headaches and Halos

"Tifa? Tifa?" Cloud's drowsy voice called out. She stirred slightly, as if she did not want to be disturbed then opened one of her eyes tentatively. "Good morning…" Tifa said quietly as she took in the things around her. Beside her, Cloud was sitting up, his hair was slightly messed up, so he looked boyish. It made her smile lazily. The way that the sunlight hit his blonde hair created the effect of a halo. "Morning…" he replied.

They stared at each other for another minute, or two—neither was aware of the exact time, yet. All they knew was that they had fallen asleep inside her car last night and the sun had already risen. Last night, they drove out to the outskirts of Midgar and talked underneath the stars until they were too heavy-eyed to drive back to the city…to their rightful places. It was like a scene from a sickly-romantic movie, as it was almost common. But no sickly-romantic movie could compare to what Tifa felt as they talked last night.

Her thoughts were cut short by the annoying ring of her cellphone. With a groan, she took it out of her bag and answered. Cloud mumbled something about having to go before getting out of the car. "Hello Rufus?" she said.

"Tifa! Finally!" Rufus said, his voice harbored a relieved tone, accompanied by his usual business tone. "I've been trying to call you since last night. You didn't return to the studio after you answered your phone call. Where are you? Are you alright?"

"Um… Genesis was the one who called last night, and I broke up with him, then Cloud came and we drove off. I'm sorry for not being able to inform you."

There was a heavy sigh on her manager's end. "Oh—I see. Huh, well that certainly is odd. There hasn't been anything about your break up in TMX and Insider so far… I think that's good. Anyway… where are you and Cloud?"

"Somewhere outside Midgar Edge," she answered.

"Ah, do you think that you can make it back here in the studio before nine? We're meeting up with advertisers and the sample clothes are coming before lunch, too. If the meeting with the advertisers doesn't take too long, we may meet with the models."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Rufus, I just woke up!"

"Sorry. So? Can you make it back here before nine? You've got an hour and a half." Rufus amended. He wasn't really used to apologizing, and hearing him hear the word had Tifa grinning. It was so odd.

Cloud was walking back to the car now, yawning widely without a care.

"Uh… sure, I can. I've got really good news for you too, Rufus."

"What is it?"

"Cloud agreed!"

"That's great news indeed. I'll have his binding contract ready when you arrive here."

"Okay… oh and Rufus?"

"Yes?"

"Can you have breakfast ready when I… er, we, get there? Anything's fine."

"Of course."

Click.

"Hey Cloud, would it be alright if we head to my house? I think I have a spare tooth brush there anyway." Tifa said as he climbed back in. He gave her a puzzled look. "Rufus called, I have to meet with advertisers at nine. I'm so sorry!"

Her apology was shrugged off by Cloud. "Nah, don't sweat it, Tifa. It's okay."

"Thanks,"

He could hear her blow drying her hair in her room as he changed into the clothes she gave him. These were probably Genesis' clothes, he thought as he walked around her living. Of course, it was furnished with expensive and imported fixtures. Heck, the carpet was the softest carpet he had ever stepped on! There was a shelf displaying all her awards, pictures and magazines. She seemed to not buy magazines with her as the cover girl. Weird, he mused, most celebrities have every single magazine put in a frame. Potted plants were placed in every corner of her home.

"Did the clothes fit?" Tifa asked as she joined him in the living room. She had changed into a loose gray shirt with tiger print, distressed jeans of the same color and red Dr. Martens boots. "Yep, they do… you don't have to return them anymore after today. Let's go."

How could he possibly act with her sex appeal oozing out effortlessly? All he wanted was to take her in his arms and kiss her. Cloud frowned and followed her out, with great effort. Memories of the previous night flashed back in his mind as she turned on the car. Her tears, her quivering voice, her laughter, her smile… those things were enough to turn his knees to jelly. Moreover, she looked so angelic in her sleep. Damn it, he was falling hard for her!

Rufus met them outside the studio, with his arms folded across his chest. "You're ten minutes late." he scolded.

"The traffic was horrible!" Tifa reasoned.

He waved a careless hand gracefully before turning away. "Yes, yes. Bartholomew Cubbins and his team are already waiting in the conference room, Tifa. Cloud, you have to come with me." Cloud and Tifa exchanged exasperated looks and shrugged haplessly, and then they grinned at each other.

Inside the conference room, Tifa felt quite uneasy not having Cloud there. It was like high school all over again, with Cloud being her missing-in-action friend. Or… was he really just her 'friend'? She blushed. He had looked so hot in Genesis's clothes.

"Tifa?" Bart said as he looked at her. "What do you think?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?"

"Of course." he told her, his lips thin. Bart Cubbins was the best advertiser in the Planet because his ideas were always unique… always surprising, so interesting. She had known him for several years now.

"Since your line's name is Heart Locker, I'm thinking about couples. The anticipation for your line is already heavy, Tifa, I think that it is best if we reveal the first ad campaign with you, but your identity should not be revealed to tease the public."

"Hmm… why not just have a completely unknown model for the reveal, and then my picture would be the last to be revealed…" Tifa mumbled. "Why don't we add a billboard everyday? Like… a countdown thing."

Bart nodded. "That will be interesting. I'm thinking of shooting everywhere in the city—in the park, the public library, you get the point, don't you? It'll give your line an edge."

"In what way?" she asked.

"Adverts influence customers. If they see that your clothes are actually wearable and your models doing completely normal things they do, they'll want to check it out and get something for themselves. Aren't you getting tired of those stoic looking models with no background whatsoever?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yep, that's definitely better." And they continued to talk about the venues.

It was noon by the time the meeting ended, and Tifa was starving. "Where's Cloud?" she asked Rufus as they walked out of the conference room. "He's with the other models. I think their workshop isn't over yet. Why don't we eat lunch first before meeting the models?"

She only nodded.

There were twenty models in attendance by the time Tifa and Rufus, accompanied by Lazard, who showed up at lunch, arrived. All of them were having friendly conversations, and Cloud was surrounded by a huge crowd of ladies. Tifa scowled. "Ah! Tifa!" he called out, "Excuse me, ladies." He walked towards her with a huge goofy grin. "Hey," Tifa said, returning his smile. Without thinking, she embraced him. "Did you eat lunch already?"

Cloud scratched the back of his head. "Not really, but I'll eat later. The workshop's awesome!"

"Really," she muttered. Rufus coughed, making her aware that the other models were still looking on and that she hadn't let go of him yet. Tifa blushed slightly. Some of the models were scowling as well.

"Looks like Cloud isn't gonna be single for long," somebody whispered. "I thought she was with Genesis?" "Ssh!"

"Hello, everyone." Tifa said once she had regained her composure. Cloud stood beside her.

"Hello Tifa," the models replied. They all sounded tired. She wondered if Cloud was tired too.

"As you all know, we will be working together for my new fashion line, Heart Locker. I hope that we will all be able to work together happily." she said, the models nodded in reply. What were these models? Humanoids devoid of normal person convos? Or were they just starstruck? Perhaps they were simply trying to be professionally attentive? Whatever—she did not like their aura. "We will be starting the campaign shoot tomorrow morning, Mr. Cubbins will be briefing you on the details."

A blonde model approached Cloud as they were filing out of the room. "Hey Cloud, let's have coffee sometime, okay?" Tifa gave her one look and the model scurried away without another backward glance. "They seem to like you a lot," she said with a strained voice, and a small smile. "Haha, yeah, they do. They can't believe that it's my first time in a workshop." Cloud told her. "They told me that they thought I was a French model. Do I look French?" he joked.

"Hmm, well, in a way, you do." she answered.

Author's Note: Ookay, after a long while here it is. Thank you for reading! Oooh Tifa's getting possessive, haha! :D

Victoria Chrystallis \m/