Chapter 7: Notice

A/N: Hey everyone! We're back with another chapter! FF7 ReBirth is almost around the corner. I heard Rufus is going to have a bigger story in this game as opposed to the original so that means more Rufus details!

But until we find out more how about a chapter to tie you guys over?

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7; I just own my characters.

Enjoy!

/

"Don't you have a company to run?"

"Don't you have an actual breakroom?"

Lana glared at Rufus and flipped him off. The two of them were at the back of the café where they first met. Why were they hanging around the alley you might ask? Because Lana was trying to take her lunch break and Rufus had to bug her. He pointed out that since she technically wasn't working at this moment, he was keeping his end of the deal by not bothering her at work. She had tried to change when she took her lunch so she could avoid him but he somehow always managed to either figure it out or be already waiting for her in the back.

So this is how Lana had spent her break for the last week.

"Isn't this area a little dangerous for you to take your break?" Rufus pointed out.

He had Reno and Rude stationed near the entrance of the alley but he knew Lana didn't have bodyguards at her disposal.

Lana ignored him and wrote stuff in a worn notebook.

"I don't have to worry about people trying to shank me unlike someone" she said.

"But to answer your question, the only place to take a break here is the freezer and I really don't want to freeze my ass off. That and I don't want people to see me with you"

"Why do you have such a problem being around me?" Rufus asked.

Lana pulled out the daily newspaper from her apron and handed it to him without still looking at him.

"Because of your new nickname that everyone is giving you"

Rufus grabbed the paper and saw one of the headlines talking about all the women he had dated so far and who was going to be brave enough to date him next.

"You've earned the nickname 'Midgar's Man Whore' down in the slums just FYI" Lana said.

"But hey do whatever makes you happy. I just don't want to be part of it"

Rufus made a face and flung the paper in the trash.

"Probably shouldn't have dated that last girl" he muttered.

Lana didn't say anything and continued jotting notes in her notebook.

Rufus raised an eyebrow when she continued to ignore him. He wasn't annoyed, just curious that she was more interested in jotting stuff down than talking with him.

"What are you even writing?"

"Ideas for what I want to show Scarlett. She's coming to the café next week and I need to finalize my dishes before she gets here. Need to see what will work, what won't work, what I'll have to substitute or alter, if I can find the correct ingredients, etc." Lana said.

Rufus grabbed the notebook from her and looked at what she wrote in it.

"Hey! I was using that!" Lana snapped.

Rufus smirked at her little outburst and just read her notes. He was impressed. She wrote every part of the dish down from how much she would need of each ingredient, what would work in its place in case she couldn't get some of them, how long each part would need to be cooked, what knives and pans would need to be used. She had everything down to a science. Not even some of the higher ups at Shinra were this detailed.

"I'd skip with the first two that you wrote down and would lean more towards the fourth and fifth one. She prefers to eat dishes that are in between light and rich flavors. And you'll want to make sure this is something that is not common in most restaurants, she prefers rare things" he explained.

He handed the notebook back after he added his own notes to it. Lana slowly took it back with a weird look on her face.

"Thanks" she said slowly.

"I'm doing you a favor. I've seen Scarlett when she's annoyed and it's not pretty" Rufus said.

Lana looked at the notes and mulled over what she had to do.

"I'll have to see if we have some of these ingredients in town" she muttered.

"Can't you use what you have at work?" Rufus asked.

Lana shook her head with a sour look on her face.

"Jeremy placed a strict budget on our groceries for the café these last few weeks. We can use some of the ingredients to make our dishes for Scarlett but the rest is reserved for the café so we can feed our customers. And of course Vivian called dibs on all of the best products so now everyone needs to make do with what's leftover or buy their own ingredients"

Rufus made a face when he thought of the annoying blonde. That woman couldn't cook to save her own life.

"How did that woman get a job in cooking when she can't even make anything edible?"

"Because daddy dearest works right under the big wigs of Shinra and he's funding this café so his precious princess can play make believe" Lana spat.

Rufus needed to figure out who Vivian's father was so he could see if he was actually vital for the company. That or just pay him to tell his daughter to quit being a chief.

Lana's watch went off showing her lunch break was over. Why did thirty minutes have to go by so fast?

"Alright you, beat it. I need to go back to work and you need to go back and pretend that you're working"

Rufus just chuckled at her crude remark. He found it cute when she thought she was offending him. She got up and dusted her uniform off.

"So same time tomorrow then?" he teased.

Lana opened the door to the kitchens and waved without looking at him.

"Goodbye" she sang.

Rufus smirked. Yeah, he really enjoyed bugging her. This was more fun than pissing his father off. Speaking of his father, he supposed he should grace him with his presence at the office. He walked back to where Reno and Rude were waiting for him.

Lana sighed as she leaned against the door. She needed a break from her lunch break. If this kept going on where he was waiting for her she would just have to skip her lunch to avoid him.

She stepped away from the door and headed towards her station. Vivian blocked her path with a nasty look on her face.

"Why does he keep coming around to see you?" she spat.

Lana rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"If I knew do you think I would tell you of all people?" she asked.

Vivian scowled. She was bitter that Rufus didn't show any interest in her and went out of his way to avoid her-even to the point of paying Jeremy to keep her in the kitchen while he was at the café. What was so special about this trashy slum rat?

"Don't think you're so special just because he's talks to you. You're not that great" she said

"What a coincidence! That's what he said when he tried your cooking that one time" Lana fired back.

She walked past Vivian and made it back to her station. When she was by herself she calmed down a bit.

Being around Rufus was exhausting. She knew she had to keep her guard up around him since he had the power to destroy her and her life. If she pissed him off she would have to move out of Midgar.

Yet, despite being weary of him, she would admit he was not what she expected. Yeah, he had that rich boy attitude and thought money solved everything. But behind that she noticed he seemed curious about every day things. Like how she planned her cooking and what needed to go together, or how she didn't fall for his good looks or wealth, how he leaned in when she called him out on his crap and told him right in his face when he was wrong.

It almost seemed like he was lonely and wanted honest company.

Lana shook her head. Him? Lonely? He was Rufus Shinra- the person everyone wanted to be around. No way was he lonely.

Dad told me once that the higher you were in life the lonelier it was. Everyone wants to be around you but they didn't seem to want to know you. Being in grandpa's shadow made it hard for him to form connections. That's why when he met mom he seemed to gravitate toward her despite it annoying her at first. She didn't want to be around him…but she wanted to know who he really was.

/

The next day Lana poked her head out the door and checked the alley to see if Rufus or the Turks were waiting for her. When she saw it was empty she sighed with relief and went outside. It was a little chilly out so she wrapped her jacket around her to keep herself warm.

She pulled out her notebook where she had all of her recipes written down for when Scarlett would come next week. She needed to make this perfect. If this went well and Scarlett liked what she offered this could be her chance to get promoted. She didn't want to be a chef for some random café. She wanted to be able to have her own restaurant where she served her own signature dishes.

She flipped open the notebook where she left off. She came up with a few other ideas and wanted to change the recipe to one dish.

"Hello Lana"

Lana yelped and dropped her notebook in shock. Rufus snickered at her little outburst. The chef growled as she glared at him.

"Seriously, do you even work?" she asked.

"My lunch just so happens to be the same time as yours" Rufus said.

"You're the Vice President. I bet you take your lunch when you feel like it" Lana snapped.

She stood up from the steps and dusted her uniform off. Rufus noticed that her outfit had seen better days. Her jacket looked very old. There was a patch on one of the elbows while the zipper was broken off. He didn't know why she was wearing that when she should have thrown it out. It was obvious that it wasn't really keeping her warm.

Lana noticed him staring at her.

"What?"

Rufus quickly shook his head.

"Nothing" he said.

Lana sighed and put her hands in her pockets.

"Listen, when we had that deal about not bugging me while I'm working that included my lunch break too. If I'm on café property that means you stay 50 feet away from me"

"Only 50?" Rufus teased.

Lana scowled and jabbed a finger at his chest.

"Listen rich boy! You may have a lot of free time because of your dad but I don't. I have bills to pay and a roof to keep over my head and me talking to you isn't going to pay for those. You are not going to ruin what little free time I have during the day"

The door to the back sprung open as Vivian leapt out.

"Lana!" she sang.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Lana's face turned sour as she slowly looked at the blonde.

"What do you want, Vivian?" she asked flatly.

Vivian put on her best fake smile.

"I thought we could have lunch together!" she said cheerfully.

Not only was Lana dumbfounded but so was Rufus.

"Say what now?"

Vivian made sure she looked great as she secretly straightened her uniform. She wasn't going to let this piece of trash take something that should be hers. Clearly Rufus didn't realize what a real woman looked like and she needed to fix that.

"Have lunch together" she said.

"You're always out here by yourself and it made me feel bad. I thought I'd keep you company and we can talk about what we're going to make for Madam Scarlett"

Lana narrowed her eyes as she looked at Vivian. She knew exactly what the blonde was trying to do. She just wanted to try to get Rufus's attention. Was she really that dumb?

"Thanks but I just wanted to catch a breather and be by myself" she said.

Vivian pretended to be hurt and stuck her lip out in a pout.

"Oh come on. I wanted to share ideas with you" she said.

Rufus made a face at the baby voice Vivian was using. How old was this woman? This was why he hated ditzy women.

"Why in the world would I want to share ideas with you?" Lana said.

"You and I can hardly stand each other"

Vivan's eye twitched as she forced the smile to stay on her face.

"I'm just trying to be the bigger person and let bygones be bygones" she said.

Neither Rufus nor Lana were buying her act.

"Vivian, I'm-"

"Busy and can't have lunch with you right now" Rufus finished.

He grabbed Lana's hand and tugged her down the alley where Tseng was waiting for them.

"What the?! Let me go!" Lana barked.

Rufus ignored her and brought her to his car where Tseng opened the door for them. Vivian balled her hands into fists as she saw Lana enter a very expensive car with Rufus Shinra.

That was supposed to be her!

Screaming, she kicked over a few empty crates. Looking at the ground, she saw a notebook laying there. Picking it up, she saw it was Lana's notebook and that she had a bunch of ideas for Scarlett's banquet.

Getting an idea, she smirked evilly. She was going to get back at Lana real good. She took something that she wanted, now she was going to take something Lana wanted.

/

"Will you knock it off?" Rufus barked.

Lana tried to open the car door but it wouldn't budge. Tseng had put on the safety lock when she tried to open it while he was driving.

"You fucking kidnapped me, you jackass!" Lana snapped.

"I didn't kidnap you. I just took you away from that annoying woman" Rufus said.

"By throwing me into a car and driving to who knows where. That's kidnapping!" Lana argued.

"She does have a point sir" Tseng agreed.

Rufus glared at his body guard.

"Will you just drive"

He saw Lana try to fiddle with the handle again and rolled his eyes.

"What are you, five?"

He reached over and pulled her hands away from the handle. Grabbing the seatbelt, he clipped her in and gave her a harsh look.

"Keep this up and I'll write you a check. A huge one" he threatened as he pulled out his checkbook.

Lana glared at him but didn't touch the handle. She crossed her arms and huffed.

"Where are you even taking me?"

"Somewhere to get you a new jacket" Rufus said.

Lana's face went red with anger.

"My jacket is fine, thank you very much!"

"That thing is falling apart. I'm surprised it hasn't disintegrated yet"

"Why you!"

Tseng came to a stop in front of a clothing store.

"Here we are, Sir"

Rufus got out of the car and waited for Lana to step out.

"Come on"

Lana glared at him and stayed put.

"No" she snapped.

Rufus rolled his eyes.

"You were freaking out that I put you in the car and now you won't come out?"

"What part of I don't want to be seen with you in public did you not get?" Lana said.

"If my jacket bothers you so much I'll wear one of my other ones I have at home"

Rufus sighed. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a couple hundred-dollar bills and threw it in her lap. Lana yelped acting like she got burnt and jumped out of her side of the car. Tseng took that as he cue to go and drove off.

"Wait don't leave me alone with him!" Lana called out.

"He works for me so of course he's not going to answer you" Rufus deadpanned.

Lana went back to glaring at him.

"Take me back to my work. Now" she ordered.

"I will…once we get you a new jacket" Rufus agreed.

"I don't need a new jacket!"

Rufus pulled out his checkbook again to shut her up. Lana actually took a huge step back as if he was pulling out a weapon.

"If you don't want to be late coming back from your lunch I suggest you pick out a jacket" Rufus said.

Lana went to argue again but Rufus pulled the checkbook out again.

Scowling, she dragged her feet and followed him into to the store.

Mom absolutely hated being given money. If she didn't earn it herself, she didn't want it. Whenever she acted up or was being unreasonable Dad would just hand her a check or a crazy amount of cash. It was like having her credit cards taken away from her as punishment only the exact opposite.

"This one is fine"

"You didn't even really look at it"

"I don't need to see if it looks good. It's a jacket. It's supposed to keep me warm, not make me look fancy"

"Did you even see what size it was?"

"I'll make it work. Let's just get it and get out of here"

Rufus held the bridge of his nose to suppress a headache that was starting. Why was this woman being so difficult? He paid the staff to clear everyone out so Lana would feel more comfortable. He thought that would lower her guard but she was still being stubborn.

She saw a jacket that looked really nice. It was a knee length trench coat in a deep forest green shade. It had a belt attached to it with a silver buckle. She knew it probably wouldn't keep her warm on cold days but she thought it would look pretty on her.

Lana heard two of the employees that were nearby whispering to each other. She saw out of the corner of her eye that they were gesturing to her old jacket. They snickered as they said something funny to one another. Biting the inside of her cheeks she grabbed the one that she wasn't really looking at before and showed it to Rufus. What was she thinking? Who cared if she liked that green jacket? It's not like she could afford it.

"I'll go with this one" she turned and walked away.

Rufus stayed quiet but followed her. He quickly offered his card to the manager before Lana could do anything. He gave her a look when she was about to protest. When the manger gave him back his card she had a huge smile on her face. It was super rare to have the Vice President shop at their store.

"Will you be needing anything else, Mr. Shinra?"

Rufus smirked a little.

"Just one more thing"

He pointed to the two employees that were secretly laughing at Lana's old jacket.

"Those two who were mocking and laughing at this woman who is with me: fire them"

The two employees went white as ghosts when they heard that. Rufus grabbed the jacket and ushered Lana out of the store.

Lana looked at him in shock.

"You shouldn't have done that!"

"Yes I did. They were making fun of someone who was buying from their store. That would be the same as if you spit in someone's food at the café you worked in. You don't criticize the people who give you a paycheck" Rufus reasoned.

"It wasn't a big deal! I wasn't offended" Lana reasoned.

"If you weren't offended then why didn't you pick that green jacket you were looking at?"

Lana's face went red with embarrassment . She didn't realize Rufus saw her looking at it for a while.

"J-Just because I was looking at it doesn't mean I wanted to get it! I just thought it was nice!"

"And I'm sure it had nothing to do with it being a little pricy?" Rufus asked.

"I'm a substance over style kind of girl. It's obvious that jacket wouldn't keep me warm. It had nothing do with the price" she said.

Rufus raised an eyebrow. Clearly he didn't buy her story.

"Is that so? Well, let's go back in and get it"

Lana panicked and grabbed the back of his suit when he turned to go back inside.

"I don't need it! This jacket it plenty!" she said.

"It's obvious you like that jacket so why don't you want to get it?" Rufus argued.

"Because I'm not part of the same group as you, ok?!" Lana blurted.

Both of them were quiet for a moment. Lana gripped her new jacket in her hands. She always told herself that she shouldn't let what others says get to her. She wasn't ashamed of being from the Slums. But it hurt that people from the Upper plate always looked down on those from the Lower plate even though they were the ones that kept Midgar running.

"I've told you before. We are both from different worlds. I never grew up with seeing the clear sky or breathing in the fresh air up here. I work hard to keep Midgar running but people from the Upper Plate don't see that. They just see a Slum Rat coming up from underground and scurrying around to see what the they can find to get by. They don't see me as a person. They don't see me as someone who could wear a nice fancy coat"

Rufus didn't say anything to that. He really didn't know what to say without saying anything wrong. Lana took his silence as he didn't understand.

"I gotta go back to work" she said quietly.

She walked away, waiting for Tseng to pick them up.

/

The car ride was silent as Tseng drove them back to the café. Lana didn't look at Rufus. She simply started out the window and looked at the buildings that made up the Upper Plate.

Rufus looked at her. He hadn't said anything since they got in the car. After a minute, he pushed a button that put the divider up so Tseng wouldn't hear him talk.

"When I told you who I was after you saved me, did you see a rich person?" he said.

Lana was startled at the sudden response.

"What?"

Rufus gave her a serious stare.

"When you talk with me do you see me or do you see some rich guy?" he asked.

Lana blinked and looked at him dully.

"I see an annoying prick who doesn't understand the concept of boundaries" she said.

"But you don't see some rich person, right?" Rufus said.

"No"

"Well when I see you, I don't see a Slum Girl"

"I see someone who helped me even after they found out who I was"

Lana stayed quiet and looked out the window. It didn't matter what Rufus said. Facts were just facts.

Tseng pulled into the alley of the café. Lana muttered a thanks to him and got out.

"Lana" Rufus called out.

She paused and looked at him. He looked serious but his eyes were expressive. They looked hurt as he looked at her.

"Just for the record, rats don't live down in the Slums. They reside in my father's company. They don't know what a real rat looks like since they never see their reflection"

Lana gave him a very weak smirk in response. She shut the door without saying anything and went back into the café.

Rufus watched as she went inside.

"Where shall we go next sir?" Tseng asked.

Rufus didn't say anything as he stared at where Lana last was.

/

Finally getting home, Lana sighed and dragged her feet up the steps to her apartment. The new jacket was a lot warmer. Wasn't the best looking one but it got the job done.

Unlocking her door, she kicked her shoes in the hallway.

"I'm back" she said.

Millie came out of the kitchen drying her hands.

"Hey Lana. You got a package earlier today. Don't know where it came from" she said.

Lana raised an eyebrow. She didn't order anything so how did she get a package?

Millie grabbed it from the coffee table and handed it to her.

"It's wrapped up pretty nicely"

Lana took the package and looked at it. It was indeed nice…and expensive looking.

She opened the box and gasped a little at what she saw. Folded up nicely in the box was the green jacket that she looked at earlier. There was a card resting on top of the jacket. She opened it and read what it said.

I can see you wearing something like this.

Rufus had gone back and got her this. He could picture her wearing this. He didn't see a girl from the Slums pretending to be from the Upper Plate.

He saw her.

Millie whistled when she saw the jacket.

"Damn girl, do you have a secret admirer or something?"

Lana didn't listen to her. She ran her fingers across the soft fabric of the jacket. She had never had anything nice like this before in her life.

She didn't realize a tear slid down her cheek as she smiled a little.

To this day, mom still wears that jacket. She takes such good care of it and wears it on special occasions. It may seem like a simple jacket to others but to mom it was one of her most treasured possessions. This jacket didn't show off that she had money. It showed that dad wanted to make her happy, that he thought his wife looked pretty anything.

It showed that dad saw her.

/

A/N: Well wasn't that sweet? This may seem like the typical cliché of the rich guy buying something his crush really wants but I like those moments now and then. It shows that Rufus noticed something that made Lana happy so he wanted to see her smile.

Please review and tell me what you think!

Take care!