Chapter 10: Awkward

A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you guys are doing good! Since it was getting nice out by me I thought I'd treat you all to a new chapter!

I was tempted to do another one shot story for this that shows a little sneak peak into the future. Would you guys be interested in another one? Let me know if you do!

Now let's get on with the story!

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

Enjoy!

/

"Put me down!" Lana snapped.

She tried to push Rufus away but he had a tight grip on her. He didn't know what came over him, but when he saw how close Reeve was near Lana, he felt something in him snap. He didn't like how he seemed to know her or that he was touchy. It almost made his blood boil when he saw him grab her hand.

He went up to the elevator and managed to scan his keycard with her still in his arms. The doors open and he stepped inside with Dark Star following behind him.

Lana struggled some more when the doors closed.

"Put me down right now!" she said.

"Can't do that" Rufus said.

"Your knees got banged up when D crashed into you. Don't want you to make it worse by walking"

Lana looked at her knees and that they were for sure scuffed up. It seemed that not only did Dark Star ruined her shirt, he also ruined her pants as well. Speaking of ruined outfits, she realized she was still covered in Rufus's jacket. She started pulling it off of her, but Rufus slipped it back on her.

"Unless you want to give everyone in the building a free show, I suggest you keep that on" he said.

He gestured to the elevator where everything was covered in glass so you could see each floor of the building as you went up and down.

Lana pulled the jacket over her body more and grumbled about rich people and their tastes. Rufus smirked but didn't say anything.

They reached the top level of the building and stepped out. Lana noticed that this part looked a lot nicer and fancier than the levels where Reeve and Scarlett worked on. It was obvious this was where the President worked.

Rufus walked down the long hallway until he reached a set of double doors. Scanning his keycard again, he unlocked the doors and pushed them opened. He walked into his office and quickly locked the door behind him so no one would walk in on them.

Lana had enough of being carried around and pushed herself away from him.

"I can manage to walk from here, thank you very much" she said tartly.

When her feet touched the ground, Dark Star went up to her with his ears perked and showed off his teeth.

Lana yelped and jumped back into Rufus's arms to get away from the hound.

"What the hell is that thing anyway?!"

Rufus mentally smirked at having Lana back in his arms, but gave Dark Star a warning look.

"This is Dark Star. He's my military hound" he explained.

"He looks like he eats military hounds" Lana corrected.

Dark Star tried to get closer to Lana. He really liked how this human smelled. His master seemed to like her since he always smelled like her. If his master liked her then he liked her too.

Even being up in Rufus's arms, Lana was eye level with the hound. She didn't know if she should be impressed or scared by how big this beast was. She shrunk back when Dark Star got too close to her face. Rufus saw uncomfortable she was getting and stepped back.

"D. Bed" he ordered.

Dark Star grumbled a little in protest. Rufus narrowed his eyes and gave the hound a warning look.

"D"

The hound put his ears back and trotted over to his bed making little noises as he did so.

"I'm sorry about D. He's never acted up like that before"

"Sure he hasn't" Lana said dryly.

With Dark Star secured in his bed, Lana safely stood back on her feet. With his arms free, Rufus went over to a door that connected to his office.

"Wait here a minute"

He went inside and was gone for a few moments to look for something. Lana held the jacket close as she looked around the office. While it wasn't super decorated it wasn't bare like a normal office. There were a few expensive portraits on the walls as well as a few awards. On the desk was an expensive looking computer. A pile of documents were resting in one of the baskets.

The one thing that really caught Lana's eyes were the massive windows the lined one side of the office. Slowly she walked over to the window and looked at the scene before it. She could see the whole city of Midgar from up above. Everyone looked like tiny little ants as they went about their daily lives. She was reminded of how massive Shinra was and how small she was compared to this huge company.

Rufus came back into the room with a set of new clothes in his hands.

"These should fit you"

Lana was expecting to see a set of his clothing but she was slightly alarmed that he was holding women's clothing.

Narrowing her eyes, she took a step back as she gave him a weary look.

"Yeaaaahhh, when you offer a girl some clothes it's really not a good idea to offer something that belong to your ex…or exes in your case"

"These are my sister's!" Rufus snapped.

"Why would I have one of my old girlfriend's outfits in my office?"

"Why do you have your sister's outfits in your office?" Lana pointed out.

Rufus's eye twitched as he placed the outfit in her hands.

"Just put it on"

Lana looked at the outfit then gave Rufus a dry look. He raised an eyebrow when she wouldn't move.

"What?"

"I'm not changing in front of you, perv!" she snapped.

Rufus quickly realized his mistake and quickly stepped away from her.

"R-right. Uh…just go in my sister's office and change there" he said.

Lana noticed a tiny blush dusting his cheeks but didn't say anything. She went into the other room and saw that it was indeed another office. Unlike Rufus's, this room clearly showed a woman worked here. It had the similar setup as Rufus's but there was a few plants and a couch in here.

Shutting the door, she quickly went to work by getting her ruined outfit off. She looked at the outfit in her hands and noticed that it looked super expensive. Carefully, she put it on and acted like it was made of glass. It fit her nicely but she felt weird wearing it. Like she wasn't supposed to.

Finally dressed, she opened the door to back where Rufus was.

"Alright, I'm-"

She froze when she saw Rufus. It seemed he decided to get changed as well and was in the middle of taking his wet shirt off. Lana's face went red and she quickly shut the door.

"Sorry!"

She pressed her face against the door and mentally screamed. She just saw the Vice-President without a shirt! She wanted a hole to open underneath her and swallow her up. It shouldn't have been a big deal. She had seen a few guys without their shirts on. How was Rufus any different? Maybe it was because he was the most sought-after man in all of Gaia.

She stumbled when Rufus opened the door on the other side fully dressed. He wore a smug look on his face when he saw the still embarrassed look on her face.

"And you called me the perv" he teased.

Lana's face went red again and she looked off to the side so she wouldn't see his face.

"I-I didn't do it on purpose! Y-you could have said you were getting change!" she stuttered.

"If you didn't do it on purpose why won't you look at me?" Rufus asked.

Lana's face went even redder.

Dad always thought mom had the cutest blush. He tended to go out of his way to tease her just so he could see it because he said it was adorable. Mom hated it when he got her all flushed but she got to see his handsome smile so it worked out for the both of them.

She quickly scurried past him.

"A-anyway, thank you for the clothes. I'll give them back to you when I get them cleaned" she quickly said.

"I should head back to Scarlett and Reeve so I don't keep them waiting"

Rufus tugged the back of her blouse to make her stop.

"You never did say why you were here" he pointed out.

Lana looked at him over her shoulder with narrowed eyes. She really didn't look intimidating with the blush still on her face.

"I never recalled saying I would tell you" she said.

"Humor me" Rufus said.

When he wouldn't let up she sighed and gave him a dull look.

"Remember how Scarlett was coming to the café to try our food for her banquet?" she asked.

"Kind of hard to forget since that's pretty much all you would talk about when I would see you" Rufus teased.

"Yeah, well that happened on Friday. It went as well as you could imagine when it comes to Scarlett testing stuff out. She didn't like most of the dishes that were offered to her, made a few people cry and surprisingly had a few nice things to say about my dish…then Vivian presented her dish. I'm sure you can figure out where this is going"

"Please tell me she didn't offer up dog food"

"Oh, Scarlett would have preferred that over what Vivian made. That stupid bitch made lobster tails and didn't realize she was using expired lobster meat. And what made it worse was that she used my notebook that had that recipe and didn't even see that I put in bold letters 'No seafood' at the top of the page. If I hadn't realized what Vivian did, Scarlett would have sued our asses in her hospital bed. So instead of burning the café to the ground she decided to go with someone else"

Rufus made a face. He could only imagine the pissed off face Scarlett made when she realized she was being served expired food. Lana had no idea how lucky she was by saving Scarlett.

But her story still puzzled him.

"If she said no, why are you here? Don't tell me you came here begging her for another chance"

"Do I look like someone who begs for things?" Lana snapped.

"I'm here because Reeve tricked me. I was enjoying my day off by sleeping in and doing nothing and that little bastard called me saying he 'forgot his lunch' and asked if I would bring something in. And of course being naïve and a goody two shoes, I went out of my way to bring him something only to realize it was a just so he could give me a private meeting with Scarlett and asked if she would give me another chance. That's the last time I be nice to him. I should probably go visit his mom after I leave and tell her what a nasty son she has" she muttered the last part.

Rufus took in what Lana said. That was pretty smart on Reeve's end but risky. Scarlett was someone you would never beg for a second chance. He also noticed that Lana seemed to know Reeve pretty well if she knew about his mom.

"So…you're close to Reeve?" he asked. He didn't realize his voice had a slight edge to it.

Lana looked at Rufus in confusion and shrugged.

"I grew up with him as a kid and lived with his family for a while after a shitty situation. He's always looked out for me and tried to help out every now and then. Come to think of it, he tricked me into getting the job I have now. Damnit, why do I always fall for his traps?"

She realized Rufus still had that odd look on his face.

"Wait…are you asking if he and I are dating or something?"

Rufus quickly realized he was caught and looked away with a slight blush on his face.

"N-no! I'm just curious how you knew one of the top brass of the company so well" he said.

Lana blinked for a second then had a sly grin appear on her face.

"Are you jealous?"

Rufus got even more flustered.

"Me? Jealous? Over someone who works under me? That's ridiculous"

"If you're not jealous then why is your face all red?"

"Because you asked me a stupid question that's why! What if I asked you your bra size, would you answer calmly?"

"Well considering you grabbed my chest in the fountain I'm sure you can figure out what size my boobs are" Lana said flatly.

"For the last time, I was trying to help you!" Rufus snapped.

Lana smiled smugly when she saw Rufus blush. Kinda nice having the tables turned for a change.

She spun on her heel and started walking out of the office.

"Well, I need to head back so I don't keep them waiting"

She walked out of the office and headed for the elevator. Rufus followed her and leaned against the office door as he watched her reach the elevator.

"Think you'll be able to get back down without a keycard?" he asked as he held his up.

Lana paused and slumped forward when she realized he was right. Looking over her shoulder, she gave him a sheepish look.

"Could you ummm"

Rufus chuckled and went over to her. Scanning his keycard, he opened the elevator up. He motioned for her to go first then followed after her. Dark Star hurried over and made it inside just as the doors closed. Because of how big he was, Lana was pushed up against Rufus.

"Does he follow you everywhere you go?"

"For the most part. He's my little shadow" Rufus said.

"The only thing little about him is those beady little eyes of his" Lana said flatly.

Dark Star turned around and stared at Lana. He had his mouth open as he panted. It almost made it seem like he was smiling.

Biting her lip, Lana slowly held her hand out to him. Dark Star sniffed it for a few seconds then pressed his nose into her hand. She carefully scratched his jaw then touched the top of his head. She was surprised by how soft his fur really was. She wasn't expecting that.

"He's kinda cute when you get past the fact that he could eat you in one gulp" she said.

At being called cute, Dark Star went up to her and licked her face with his large tongue. Her whole face was covered in slobber when he sat back down. Lana coughed and gagged as some of the slobber got in her mouth.

Rufus full on laughed as Lana tried to wipe her face. Lana would never admit that she enjoyed the sound of his laughter.

Mom loved the sound of dad's laugh. It wasn't because it sounded funny. It was because he never laughed in front of anyone which meant she was the only one who got to listen to it. It meant dad always felt happy when she was around.

They reached the main lobby again and headed back to the fountain. Reeve came over to them and gave Lana her messenger bag.

"Here, I managed to grab your bag. It didn't get wet but your stuff flew everywhere when Dark Star tackled you. I think I got everything"

Lana looked at her bag then accepted it with a big smile on her face.

"Thanks Reeve. Now I have something to hit you with"

She then proceeded to smack him with her bag over and over again.

"You back stabbing bitch! You tricked me!" she barked.

Reeve tried to shield himself from her hits which just made her hit harder.

"I was trying to help you!" he insisted.

"By what? Giving the top brass a free show? How did you even find out about Scarlett anyway?" Lana asked.

"Sam called my mom and told her about it who then proceeded to tell me about it and said if I didn't help you, she would disown me" Reeve explained.

"You don't have to worry about your mom disowning you cause I'm going to fucking kill you. I told you to stop helping me!" Lana barked.

Reeve covered his face as she aimed for his head.

"Will you stop hitting me?! What do you even have in there? Bricks?"

Rufus watched as the two bickered-well it was mostly Lana scolding Reeve and using him as a punching bag. They looked just like how he and Giselle would fight when they were kids. He was slightly tempted to step in and help Reeve…but he didn't want to get hit by Lana.

"Well thanks to your 'help' I made an ass out of myself. Now I know for sure Scarlett isn't going to want me to serve her banquet" Lana said.

"Don't jump to conclusions, dear" Scarlett said.

Lana froze when she heard her voice. Slowly, she turned to her right to see that Scarlett was standing not too far away from them. It seemed the weapons director was here the whole time. Lana paled at the sight of the woman. She was just beating the shit out of Scarlett's coworker in front of her.

"Um, hi?"

Scarlett smirked and strode over to them.

"That was quite the show you put on. I haven't been that amused in a long time" she said.

Lana laughed nervously.

"I uh, I guess that means you changed your mind about hiring me then huh?"

"Oh on the contrary. You did say you could handle anything that came your way. You didn't become a big crybaby when you got soaked and had your shirt ruined. I don't want to have a pathetic low life putting my big dinner together. Plus you caught the others attention so I would be a fool to send you away"

Lana's face perked up when she heard that.

"So I'm still hired?"

Scarlett smirked but it had a cruel edge to it.

"Yes, but I never did get to tell you about that little catch I mentioned"

"Whatever it is, it shouldn't be a problem. I've dealt with crazy stuff" Lana said.

"Is that so? Well then here's the catch" Scarlett said.

She got up to Lana's face and poked her with her manicured nail.

"I'm hiring only you my dear. That means none of your other colleges from that café are working on this banquet. It'll be just you and the kitchen staff here. I want you to work with them and put together the menu for the banquet in a few weeks. That means instead of working at the Golden Rose, you're working here."

Lana paled a little when she heard that. Skip work for a few weeks?! How was she going to pull that off without Jeremy knowing?!

Rufus and Reeve thought what Scarlett was asking was outrageous as well.

"You're going to pay her for her troubles, right Scarlett?" Rufus asked.

It was more of a threat. If she was going to make Lana do this, then she shouldn't be doing it for free. Scarlett didn't realize Rufus was there. She quickly put on a fake smile.

"Of course! I wouldn't expect her to do all of this for free. I'm not an idiot"

She turned back to Lana and tilted her head.

"So, what will it be? Think you can handle my requirements?"

Lana bit her lip. What Scarlett was asking for was outrageous. Be out of work for a few weeks? That was insane! But Reeve did go out of his way to give her a second chance. And Scarlett was willing to hire her after that crazy ordeal before. This was a once in a lifetime chance. If she didn't take it now, she knew she wouldn't have another chance at it.

"You got yourself a chef" she said.

"Wonderful" Scarlett said.

She walked away and waved without looking at her.

"Be here first thing tomorrow so we can go over what I want for this banquet" she said.

Lana just stood there numbly. What did she just agreed herself to? Reeve looked at Lana with slightly worry.

"You okay?"

Lana quickly put on a fake smile.

"Yeah! Just…give me a second"

She went over to Dark Star and knelt in front of him.

"Come here boy"

Dark Star titled his head but went up to her. Lana stroked his neck and gave him a sweet smile.

"Who's a good boy?" she cooed.

"Now open your mouth"

She grabbed the dogs mouth and pried it open. Rufus and Reeve's eyes bugged out when she tried to shove her head into his mouth.

"Just bite down on my neck and put me out of my mystery" she said.

Dark Star was confused how this game worked and just sat there. This lady seemed nice but she didn't know how to play well. He looked up at his owner who held up his hands.

"I'm not getting hit by her" he said.

Reeve groaned as he tried to pull Lana out of Dark Star's mouth. He was for sure going to get a beating for this.

/

Later that evening

When Rufus got home he thought about what had happened at the office. That was one of the craziest days he had at work-which was saying something considering what the company was.

He never expected to see Lana at the building. He was surprised but also…happy. He was relived when he saw her. He enjoyed having her close, enjoyed holding her as he carried her to get fixed up, enjoyed just being by her. It dawned on him that he liked being around her. She wasn't annoying like the other women who he used to date and have around. It was nice being by a real person who listened to him and argued with.

And now that she was going to be working at the Shinra building for a few weeks thanks to the banquet, that meant he would see her a lot more.

Pulling out his phone, he dialed a number and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Now what?" his father barked.

"About what I said to me not going to Scarlett's banquet…I changed my mind. I'll attend" Rufus said.

He could tell his father was shocked because he didn't say anything for a moment. His son doing something he wanted? That was a first.

"And what caused this sudden change of heart must I ask?"

Rufus had a cruel smirk on his face as he thought about bugging Lana everyday.

"Let's just say I heard there's a new chef that Scarlett found and I'm dying to try her dishes"

/

A/N: Guess Lana didn't think Scarlett's offer entirely. She forgot about Rufus. Now that she's been hired to cater to Scarlett's banquet, she's got the crazy task of putting together some mind blowing dishes. Hopefully someone doesn't distract her.

Let me know if you want to see another one shot for this story!

Please review and tell me what you think!

Take care!