Chapter 6: Off on the wrong foot
A/N: Hello everyone! I'm really sorry for the late update with this story. Part of it was because of writers block but the real reason was I kind of felt overwhelmed putting this story together because I wanted to keep everyone in character and make sure they weren't out of character. I'm really hard on myself when it comes to making sure a story was good so I kept worrying that this was a bad story idea and put it on the back burner. But then recently I've been getting reviews and private messages asking why I haven't updated this story and I was shocked.
I wanted to thank all of you who responded to this story and wanted to hear more. I'm super touched that you wanted to know what happens next and enjoy this story. I know this isn't a masterpiece but I'm going to keep working on this story for you guys. And with Remake part 2 coming soon hopefully that'll help me with more ideas coming forward.
Thank you all again!
So without further ado, let's get on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7; I just own my characters.
Enjoy!
/
Rufus rarely ventured into the city on his free time. Every time he did, a dozen women would fling themselves at him with the hopes of attracting his attention. He used to enjoy it because that meant he could find the biggest airhead that would be his 'girlfriend' and embarrass his father. However he quickly grew annoyed by it because all the bimbos of the city would fling themselves to him and take up what little free time he had for himself.
Yet today he was greeted to the rare sight of a woman who wanted nothing to do with him.
What a rare treat.
Lana wasn't going to bother wasting her time talking to him and walked off.
"Don't bother me on my day off. This is one of the very rare times I get to relax and get stuff done outside of work" she said.
Much to her dismay she heard Rufus walk behind her. Why did she have to visit the upper plate?!
"I'm surprised to see you topside aside from working" Rufus said.
"I didn't know you did your shopping here"
Lana's eye twitched as the subtle remark he was saying. 'I'm surprised you can buy stuff here' was what he was actually saying.
"This may come as a shock to you since it's obvious you don't venture out of your little bubble but people on the lower plate are allowed to come up and run errands" she said tartly.
"But it's not surprising you don't do your own shopping so I understand how shocked you might be. Rich people seeing middle class people doing basic stuff must be fascinating to you"
Now it was Rufus's turn to be annoyed. He might have been rich but he wasn't that ignorant.
He was about to say something when Lana cut him off.
"If you don't like snarky comments thrown at you then don't make snarky comments at me" she said.
Rufus closed his mouth. They walked for a couple of minutes when Lana stopped and looked at him annoyed.
"Why are you following me? Can't I have one day off from you annoying me?" she asked.
"This is a dangerous city. I'd hate to see you get hurt while you were out" Rufus teased.
Lana pulled back her jacket to reveal a set of knives clipped to her belt.
"Yeah, like a girl from the slums wouldn't know how to defend herself. How weird" she said flatly.
She dropped her jacket back down and sighed.
"Listen, will you just leave me alone?"
Rufus studied her. He knew it was wrong bugging her like this but he couldn't help himself. He found it interesting that someone went out of their way to avoid him instead of flinging to him. It was like a breath of fresh air.
He didn't know what compelled him to do what he did next but he didn't regret it.
"Have lunch with me"
Lana stared at him dumbfounded. Did he not hear what she just said? Her confused expression quickly turned into a disgusted one.
"Eat my fucking ass, you prick" she snapped.
She spun on her heel and stormed off. Great. She was talking to a man who wouldn't listen to her. How typical.
Rufus expected that response so he said something that he knew she would like.
"If you have lunch with me, I'll stop giving you checks" he offered.
Lana stopped in her tracks when she heard that. Very slowly, she looked at him over her shoulder.
"And never bother me at my work again?" she asked.
Rufus chuckled, clearly amused.
"Sure"
Lana mulled over the deal that was offered to her. She shouldn't agree to it cause that would mean he got what he wanted. But on the other hand, if she went, then he would finally leave her alone. Sucking in her pride, she decided to cave in.
"Fine. I'll have one lunch with you. And let me emphasize when I say one" she said.
Rufus smiled smugly, clearly glad he won against her for a change.
"Wonderful. Should we meet here same time tomorrow then?" he asked.
"Sure, whatever. Just don't pick anywhere fancy. I don't want people staring at us while we have this…lunch thing" Lana said.
"Very well, it's a date then" Rufus teased.
Lana made a face at that. Why did she feel grossed out when he said that?
"Don't make this even weirder than it already is" she grumbled.
She turned around and walked away from him.
"One lunch and you leave me alone. Got it?" she reminded him.
With her back to him, he wasn't able to see the smug look on her face. Finally, she would be free of him! After a long hellish month of him bugging her and bribing her with checks, she would go back to her normal, miserable life.
Mom always felt like she had the upper hand when it came to competing with dad. While she usually did win, she would admit that dad won this round when he asked her out for lunch. And she was glad that he won.
/
Lana begrudgingly made her way to their meeting spot the next day. She looked at the outfit she was wearing and wondered if she was underdressed for this lunch date. She quickly shook that thought away. Why should she care how she looked? She was just having one lunch with Rufus and that was the end of it. There was no point worrying over useless things.
She saw Rufus waiting at the spot and was surprised to see he was underdressed. Well, he was wearing expensive clothing but at least he wasn't wearing his usual suit.
He smirked when he saw her. Even when she had a sour look on her face, he still found her interesting.
"You made it. I was starting to think that you were going to stand me up" he teased.
Lana rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's get this lunch thing over and done with" she sighed.
Rufus chuckled and ushered her to follow him. They went into his car, where his driver took them to one of the restaurants in Sector 3. They went inside where the staff was expecting them.
"Right this way, Mr. Vice-President" the host said.
Lana silently followed them as she took the chance to admire the place. It was a little more upscale than the Golden Rose, but it wasn't in your face fancy. She also quickly noticed that there was hardly anyone inside for a weekend afternoon.
"…Did you pay this place to keep it empty?" she slowly asked.
"You did say you didn't want anyone to see us having our lunch date" Rufus pointed out.
The shit eating grin he gave her told her that he did this on purpose.
Lana rolled her eyes again.
"Rich asshole" she muttered.
"What was that?" Rufus asked.
"Nothing!"
The host lead them to their table, where he pulled out their chairs and handed them a menu.
"Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you" he said.
He left the two of them alone. It was super awkward. Lana was having lunch with the second most powerful man in Midgar. Hell, the whole world maybe. She knew tons of women would kill to have a chance to be in her shoes right now.
Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed her menu and looked at what this place had to offer. Some of the dishes looked interesting while others she knew she could have made them better. It was so relaxing looking at food and seeing what was put into them to create interesting dishes. She was lost in her own world that she forgot who she was with.
Rufus didn't bother looking at his menu and just watched Lana. He was curious seeing the serious yet interested look on her face as she read the dishes. It was obvious she dealt with food a lot. He didn't realize he was staring at her for a while until she sensed it and looked up at him.
"You know what you're getting?"
Rufus quickly snapped out of it and composed himself. What was he doing just now?
"Of course. The staff knows what I usually get here" he quickly said.
Lana made a face at that and went back to her menu. They didn't say anything for a good couple of minutes.
"So I take it you come to this place often if they already know what you'll have?" Lana finally said.
"More or less. I don't cook and I usually get out of work late so it's pointless to have a staff prepare my meals when I get home" Rufus said.
"And yet you come bug me at my work when you could be dining here" Lana said flatly.
Rufus just smirked, clearly enjoying how annoyed she was getting.
"I know you enjoy my visits. Don't act like you don't love them" he teased.
Lana scoffed as she drank her water.
"I wouldn't be using that word to describe your visits. Loathe is more accurate. I'd rather be eating one of Vivian's dishes if I'm honest. That's how much I look forward to you bugging me"
Rufus wasn't fazed by her insults. He had a feeling she was doing this in hopes that he would get annoyed and end their little lunch date sooner.
Wasn't working.
"I'm surprised you'd rather try that woman's homemade dog food then want to talk with me. A lot of women would love to be in your shoes right now"
"Yeah, well I'm doing them a favor and jumping out of line" Lana said.
"Can we just get this thing over with so we can go back to our normal lives?"
Rufus finally dropped his smirk and frowned a little. While he was enjoying bugging her, it irked him a little that she wanted nothing to do with him. She didn't want his money, his attention, hell she didn't even want to talk to him. Why?
"Why are you so desperate to get away from me? I'll admit I've been teasing you a lot but I haven't done anything horrible to you"
Lana held her hand up and counted stuff off her fingers.
"Let's see: you've been hounding me down for a month. You've had your bodyguards find out where I live and follow me home. You've bugged me at my job and pulled me away from my work because you wanted attention. You've thrown money at my face like it's confetti when I've repeatedly told you I didn't want it. And you've embarrassed me in front of my friends and coworkers with your antics. I couldn't imagine the reason why I would want to get away from you" she said sarcastically.
"How could I have embarrassed you? I've never insulted you in front of others" Rufus said.
Lana scowled in disgust. Clearly he still didn't get it.
"You still don't get it do you? You have insulted me with your little stunts. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is when everyone at the place I work at sees one of the richest men in the city giving a low class girl like me money? They immediately assume you're paying me for my services-and I don't mean when I'm making your food. They won't think twice about your actions because of who you are. They'll think twice about mine when they see me because they'll see a girl from the slums mysteriously getting huge sums of money. You may not give two shits about your reputation but I do for mine"
She didn't realize she had angry tears in her eyes until her vision got blurry. She quickly wiped them away as her face turned red from anger and embarrassment. Rufus was a little stunned when he saw her cry. He had seen his share of crying women. But for some reason it bothered him when he saw hers. He wasn't annoyed by it that much he knew. But it made him upset.
Dad didn't like it when mom cried. It wasn't that he found it annoying or unattractive. It was because he was so used to her being positive and headstrong. Whenever he saw her cry, he had to stop what he was doing because she was his universe and he needed to protect it.
Lana quickly wiped her tears away. She hated it when she cried. It always made her look weak. She was better than this. She shouldn't let a man make her cry.
She had enough of this little game with Rufus and decided enough was enough.
"I think it's time to end this little 'date'. I went with you to this place so a deal's a deal. Don't bug me ever again"
She got up from her seat and left the table.
"Wait!"
Rufus got up from his seat and grabbed her sleeve. He bit his lip as he looked at her. He didn't know what was going on with him. He was so used to girls getting angry with him and storming off. He expected it at this point with how many girls he dated. He was used to it but he didn't want to see Lana leave. Not yet.
So he said something he had never said for a long as he lived.
"I'm sorry" he said quietly.
He had never apologized to anyone before in his life. The fact that he was doing that now in front of a girl from the slums spoke volumes.
"I never saw my actions through your perspective. I'm used to having to give people money to keep quiet or to do things for me. I'm not used to someone not wanting my family's money. I shouldn't have continued with this little game I was playing"
Lana yanked her sleeve away but stayed put. She could tell that he was being genuine with his apology but that didn't mean she needed to accept it.
"All I wanted was a thank you. You may find this hard to believe but there are actually decent people who help others because they're kind. Money doesn't solve everything" she said.
"Try telling that to my father" Rufus said dryly.
He sighed and rubbed his face.
"Can we sit back down and start over? It'd be rude to leave without ordering anything from here"
Lana mulled it over for a moment then went back to her seat. She didn't want to waste the staff's time by leaving when they cleared the place for them.
"Meh, I need to come up with ideas for when Madam Scarlett comes in two weeks" she muttered to herself.
Rufus sat back down as well and pulled up his menu. After they placed their orders with the waiter he looked at her again.
"Why are you seeing Scarlett?" he asked.
"She has this big banquet coming up and she wants the Golden Rose to cater to it. She's supposed to see what dishes she wants for the menu that evening" Lana explained.
Rufus made a face. He remembered his father wanted him to attended the banquet so he could rub elbows with other companies that wanted to work with Shinra. Like he would want to spend an evening mingling with old men who had way too much time and money.
But he felt bad for Lana. Clearly she had no idea what kind of person Scarlett was. She wasn't one of the top brass of the company just because of her looks.
"You sure you're up for serving someone like her?"
He didn't mean to sound rude but he had a feeling the Golden Rose had no idea what they were doing.
"I've cooked for a couple of the higher ups in Shinra, I'm sure she's no different. Although I'm scared thinking what Vivian will want to present to her. She keeps forgetting that we're serving people, not pets"
"I wouldn't call those dishes dog food either. Not even my hound would eat something like that" Rufus said dryly.
"Which is why I'll have a couple bottles of antidote on me in case Scarlett gets food poisoning from Vivian's dish" Lana said.
Rufus snorted at that.
"Smart move"
Their food came out shorty after. Lana was impressed with the dishes and mentally took notes on how to prepare this at home. She doubted she would get the same results as this because she wouldn't be able to use high quality ingredients, but it would be nice to serve people of the Slums something from the top plate.
When they were finished, Rufus had the plates taken away.
"So I take it you enjoyed the meal?"
Lana nodded.
"I thought it was decent. I would have prepared it a little bit differently but everyone has a different way of cooking things. And it was nice to see what other restaurants serve compared to my place"
"If you're going to serve Scarlett, don't prepare any seafood dishes. She cannot stand fish" Rufus warned.
"I've seen her ruin chefs lives because they didn't serve her the right meal"
Lana narrowed her eyes at him. Why was he suddenly offering her advice?
"Why are you warning me?"
"I know how that woman is. She can make or break careers. And consider this as my way of thanking you for helping me that night since you won't accept my money. You saved my life and I'm saving your career" Rufus said.
Lana sighed with relief. Finally they were even and he would leave her alone. The waiter came back with the check. Lana pulled out her wallet to pay but Rufus grabbed her hand to stop her.
"I'll take care of it"
Lana was about to argue with him saying she could pay for it but he stopped her.
"I invited you and it's the gentlemanly thing to do" he reasoned.
She was going to retort that there wasn't anything gentlemanly about him but she bit her tongue. She got a free meal out of this.
"Fine" she grumbled.
With their meal paid for they left the restaurant. Rufus's car pulled up to the curb where the driver stepped out and opened the car for them.
"Shall I take you back home?" he offered.
Lana snorted and stepped back.
"No thanks. The station isn't that far from here and if you take that down to the slums it's going to get keyed" she said.
"Besides, we had a deal. I have lunch with you and you won't bug me after words"
"You're really that desperate to stay away from me, huh?" Rufus said.
Lana weakly smiled. Seems like rich boy still didn't get it.
"We're from two very different worlds. People like me don't mix well with people like you. It's best we leave it like this"
She walked away leaving Rufus standing outside of the restaurant. He watched as she slowly headed for the station. Despite how their little lunch went, he still enjoyed it. It had been a long time since he had an actual conversation with someone who wasn't awed by him or pretended to listen to what he was saying. She treated him like an actual person and didn't care about who he was.
She thought it was best to leave it be with them…but he thought differently.
/
The next day
Lana stretched her tired limbs as she left the Golden Rose for the day. While it wasn't busy with customers, it was hectic because she had to fix all of Vivian's mistakes. She had no idea why this woman wasn't fired yet. She couldn't cook and she was a safety hazard to the café. She just hoped when Scarlett came, she wouldn't make an ass out of herself and ruin the café.
'I'll need to go all out on my dishes. I don't want Madam Scarlett to think the café serves horrible food' she thought.
A car pulled up along side her and came to a stop. The window rolled down to reveal Rufus sitting inside.
"Evening, Lana"
Lana scowled and glared at him. What was he doing here?
"Hey, we had a deal. You weren't supposed to bug me if I went to lunch with you. You can't go back on your deal" she said.
Rufus just got out of his car and strolled up to her. He found her annoyed look to be cute in some weird way.
"I am sticking with our deal. I promised to stop giving you checks and bothering you at work" he said.
He leaned forward and got close to her face.
"You never included outside of work"
Lana paled when she realized that loophole. He played the same trick on her like when she accepted the first check from him.
Realizing she wasn't free from him, she dropped to her knees and slammed her fist into the sidewalk.
"Damnit!" she cried.
Rufus just laughed as he looked at her.
Yeah, he wasn't done messing with her. She was just too interesting of a person to let walk away.
This was one of the many reasons why he would ask her to marry him later in life.
/
A/N: What do you know? Rufus knows how to play Lana's games. Since he's still able to bug her, least they're on the right foot…or at least starting to be on the right foot.
Hope you all enjoyed this! I'm sorry again for the long wait but I'll try to update again so it's not forgotten.
Please review and tell me what you think!
Take care!
