Chapter Twenty-three: Celebration

"Come on Tifa! Tell me everything!" Lazard pleaded as he played with his client's hair. "I really want to know. I'm so happy for you!" The blonde grinned expectantly at her. Tifa rolled her eyes, feeling a warm flush betray her calm façade. "Oh give it a rest Lazard. I'll tell you whatever you want to know later, when the shoot's over, okay?" she said, looking at the crew and staff milling about outside. They were shooting the third commercial for Heart Locker today, in her own home. The theme was a casual party, which meant that her dresses were finally going to be shown. The 'party' was going to happen in her back yard. She hasn't seen the set yet, but she did spy some balloons.

Everybody was getting ready in the guest-rooms of her house. There were four guest rooms in her place, and the big rooms suddenly shrunk thanks to the presence of sixty models' presence. Not that she was complaining. Tifa was sharing her master bedroom with Aerith. Cloud and Zack were in the next room.

"What are you two talking about?" the bubbly brunette asked, looking up at the mirror. Her stylist did not look up, instead she carried on fixing Aerith's extremely intricate braid. Tifa often wondered where Aerith's hair stylist gets her ideas from. Coming up with various trendsetting braid styles are difficult.

Tifa frowned a little. Does that mean that Zack hasn't told her yet?

"Um, Cloud and I are officially seeing each other."

Aerith squealed, just like Lazard, when the raven-haired beauty broke the news. "Aww that's so cute! You two look really good together you know!" the brunette gushed, bouncing slightly in her seat. Her stylist murmured something and Aerith apologized. "Since when?" she asked Tifa quietly.

"Last night." Tifa confided. "Then we watched my movie in his living room."

"Didn't you two do anything else after that?" Lazard nagged while applying a thin layer of foundation on her face.

"You want to know if we did it last night? Oh Lazard, you've got a dirty, dirty mind." The raven said, shaking her head slightly.

Her stylist chuckled. "Well, at least I can be guaranteed that you won't be staying up really late a lot." The blonde winked at her, clearly pertaining to the time when Genesis would keep her to himself late at night. It had always been a painstaking job to cover up the dark circles under her eyes the next day. Tifa frowned at Lazard, who simply stalked off to get some accessories in her wardrobe.

"Tifa, Aerith, the shoot's going to start in five minutes. Please hurry." A staffer holding a clipboard said. Both models nodded and the staffer scurried away to announce the same news to the others. Lazard came back holding a statement necklace made of pearls and colorful beads. It was the necklace a fan had given her when she was shooting in Costa del Sol. This was the first time she was ever going to wear it.

Her backyard has been turned into a hip, pool party venue. Little fairy lights were wrapped around the palm trees' trunks, a barbeque grill complete with the barbeque was already burning, a cooler filled with beer was placed at the side and huge speakers were positioned nearby.

"Okay girls, take your positions!" Bart instructed them through the megaphone. "And action!"

Aerith faced Tifa, with a worried expression, then at her platinum silver watch. "They're late!" the bubbly brunette said, frustrated. Then the doorbell rang. "Yes! Finally! I'll go get the door," with her lines said, Aerith rushed away to welcome their supposed guests. Tifa stood there, wondering what Cloud was wearing.

She didn't need to wonder long.

"Hey, pretty lady." somebody whispered behind her. Tifa turned slowly, just as she had been instructed, and faced Cloud. He smiled gently at her. His eyes harbored the softest shade of blue today. She studied him quickly—a fitted white shirt with black details, charcoal jeans and black high-top leather sneakers. "Hello handsome," she whispered back with a grin.

"Flirt, you two! Be sweet! Make the audience feel the love." Bart yelled.

"Love he says," Cloud chuckled, suddenly reaching for her hand. She squeezed his hand a little and smiled. They were seated by the pool, with her feet dangling on the water. He was sitting cross-legged beside her. His lips touched the back of her hand. There was a glint in his eyes that told her that he was happy. It made her smile.

Zack was dancing nearby, and Aerith stood in the sidelines, holding a drink. "Zack dances really good," Tifa told Cloud. "How about you? Can you dance?"

Her boyfriend grinned his boyish smile and answered, "I dance pretty good too. Zack's better though, because he used to dance with a group."

"Oh really? What's the name of that group?" she asked, widening her eyes. "Were you in that group together with him?"

The crowd of models cheered nearby, and the two of them knew that the shoot was almost over.
Cloud got up and helped her up.

"No, I just watched his group perform." He said.

"Tifa! Cloud! Lean into each other, stare into each other's eyes! We're ending the shoot!" Bart instructed. "Make the audience wonder, fantasize!"

They did as they were told. Tifa caught a whiff of his scent—masculine, soap and a slight tinge of cologne. She closed her eyes and just took it in. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest. He was so warm. So comfortable…

What would Cloud look like without his shirt on? Tifa wondered when she opened her eyes.

"And cut! Good work everybody!"

After the staff and models had gone from her house, the couple had the place all to themselves. Even Rufus and Lazard left. That was a rare event. Those two never left at once, before. Tifa had changed out of the dress and into a floral sun dress. She didn't make Cloud change out of his.

They were sitting by the poolside again, just holding hands and swinging their feet in the water.

"You know," Cloud started. "I got my third paycheck today. I still haven't cashed in my previous one."

"Hmm…? Why?"

"Well, I didn't really need to buy anything."

"You'll need to move out of your apartment soon. Paparazzi's bound to catch up with you and hound you 24/7." She told him quietly.

"I was thinking of cashing in the second paycheck tomorrow night." Cloud said, with a little grin. "Would you like to go out on a date with me tomorrow?"

"I would love to!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Whoa—!" Cloud yelled, before losing his balance and falling into the pool.

They emerged laughing. "I love you," he whispered before stealing a kiss from her lips.

"I love you too," she replied. Her heart swelled, and then she kissed him again.

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't been able to update sooner guys! I've been really, really busy with school. I think school plans on keeping me away until graduation. –cries- Anyway, how are you? I hope you liked this update! Ah, finally, they're going on a date. Tell me what you thought and how you want the date to go in your review!

Always on a sugar-high,

Victoria Chrystallis