Chapter Twenty: Midgar VOGUE

His cyan eyes snapped open the moment a phone started to ring. Well… at least, he thinks that it was indeed ringing phone. It could have been the apartment complex's fire alarm, for all he cared.

Five more minutes, Mom… please.

When his vision and mind regained their focus, he realized that it was not the apartment complex's fire alarm, nor was it his phone ringing. It was his companion's phone ringing. His companion's… His gaze wandered towards the dark brown haired girl sleeping peacefully beside him.

Amazing… she can sleep through her annoying phone's ringing?

Cloud danced around the fine line that made him want to grab her expensive phone and stomp on it. Instead, he raised his hand to nudge her. Big mistake…

Electricity shot up from his palms towards his heart the moment he touched her shoulder. It was not like he had not been aware that Tifa Lockhart had silky smooth skin, and it was not the first time he'd touched her before. So why was he suddenly feeling this way?

I really don't want to disrupt her sleep, but it's her annoying manager calling.

"Tifa…hey," he whispered. "Wake up, hey… Tifa."

"Five more minutes," she grumbled. Her eyebrows knitted together, to make it clear that she was annoyed. And awake.

"I'm sorry to wake you up so early, Tifa, but your annoying manager's calling." he mumbled.

Annoying manager did the trick. Her eyes opened at once, and she gasped. "What time is it?" she asked in one breath. Her warm breath fanned his cheeks, tickled his nose.

"I'm not sure…" Cloud mumbled back. "I just woke up a few minutes ago."

Tifa wasted no time in scrambling out of bed, and grabbing her phone. "Hello, Rufus?"

"Tifa, where are you? You're going to be late for your magazine shoot and interview!"

"What? I'm… I slept in, sorry. Tell me the venue, and I'll be there as fast as I can."

Rufus sighed. "Just get yourself in your house now. I'm waiting outside your gate."

"You're what? Okay, sorry. Bye." She turned to face Cloud, who was rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. "Um… Cloud, I have to go."

He looked up at her, and nodded. "I'll drive you to your place. It'll save you more time."

"Thanks."

Rising from the bed and stretching his arms, the blonde yawned. It made Tifa want to giggle. "Next time, I hope I'll get to cook breakfast for you." she blurted out. What? Next time? What am I thinking? He must feel so awkward right now!

"I'm going to hold onto that." he told her with a wink as he grabbed his jacket and keys. "Let's go?"

"Yeah." Tifa replied. She followed him with a big smile on her lips, and butterflies in her stomach.

Rufus was leaning on his car with his arms crossed across his chest when the pair arrived, onboard the Fenrir. The uptight manager raised a delicate brow at the sight, especially when Cloud took of Tifa's helmet for her when she stepped down.

"Thanks," she whispered, smiling. He nodded at her and Rufus, revved his bike and drove away. Tifa walked towards him, still wearing a dreamy expression. "Hello Rufus."

"Are you and Cloud an item now?" her manager asked, smirking at her.

"What? No… no, we're not! I just slept over at his place last night because we were playing a video game." Tifa answered him, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"Yes, yes. Get in the car; we're already late for the magazine."

Once the car had started to move, Tifa asked them the question she'd been itching to ask for days. "So where exactly are we shooting this magazine spread?"

He glanced at her quickly and said, "At the castle."

The castle he was referring to was the famous Eden castle. It bore a big resemblance to the Windsor Castle in England. In the entertainment business, when an actress/actor gets to shoot in this historical sight, it means that they have reached the superstar status. It was never explained why, but nobody dared to question this unspoken rule. Tifa's eyes grew wide. "The castle! Wow. I mean… oh my goddess!"

"I know." her manager chuckled. "You'll be having the interview with Anna Winter, then you'll be starting the photo shoot. They've already told us that you'll be wearing creations from XY fashion house."

"How many pages are we getting?"

"About twenty or thirty. VOGUE's going to release your issue as a special issue."

"I see. I'm so excited!"

"You should be."

Lazard was already there, accompanied by the VOGUE's whole staff and crew. All of them were lounging underneath the tents they'd set up. The first thing that Tifa saw was the wardrobe area, where five racks of gowns were placed, an intimidating height of shoe boxes were stacked together, and the accessories. This was going to be a long day.

"Everyone, Tifa's here!" somebody announced, and all of them bowed and greeted her. Tifa inclined her head as well, and said, "Hello everyone. I hope we have a good time together, please take care of me."

Anna Winter walked towards her with a profession smile. This woman was the fashion industry's most admired fashion journalist. Today, the woman in question was wearing an all-baby pink outfit. It was not entirely atrocious; however, pink was not Tifa's cup of tea at all.

"Shall we start?" the blonde woman told Tifa, gesturing towards the back of the first tent.

"Alright," Tifa said and returned the smile. She wondered if her interview skills had gone rusty as they headed to the spot Anna was heading for.

Author's Note:

Well… this update's short. Thank you for reading! Also, if you want to see the gowns I imagined Tifa to wear, just head over to my profile, I've posted links to them. To my male readers, you all deserve to get a Ducati or a Aston Martin for Christmas. And to my lovely ladies, I'd love to give you all Louboutins. I wish I was as rich as Bill Gates this season~ LOLcopter~!

Don't forget to review!

Victoria Chrystallis