Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ New Love ❯ Chapter 19

The intro of this chapter was a bit hard to do, mostly because it was supposed to be boring and monotonous, so writing it was too, and I'm not totally pleased with the result.

 

A bit more drama milking, but a sense of resolution at last! I hope you have as much fun reading the ending of this chapter as I did writing it. *wink*

 

New Love

 

Chapter 19

 

“Get it done Strife, or I'll see you roasted over a spit!” Rufus dropped the stack of paperwork on Cloud's desk and marched out the door. Cloud let out a sigh and stared at the stack blankly before standing up and moving out the door.

 

“I'm going to the bathroom,” he tossed to Yuffie as he walked by. Yuffie make a sound of acknowledgement from the computer. Cloud reached into his pocket and pulled out his bathroom key, unlocking the door and heading inside. He went into the stall, closed the toilet seat and sat down with a groan. He didn't need to go to the bathroom, he just needed to take a few steps back for a moment, away from his office and Rufus.

 

It was Friday. A whole week had passed since he'd slept with Aeris. And he had just as much idea what to about the two women in his life then as he did now. No matter what he did he was going to potentially break someone's heart, and it would be hard on him too.

 

“So I just put off making a decision for the rest of my life and lose them both, wonderful plan,” Cloud thought bitterly. He had done all he could to avoid thinking of his dilemma, he would admit to that. Procrastinating had never been something he liked taking part in, he considered himself a hard-working man. But this wasn't something he was looking forward to. He wasn't even entirely sure it was something he wanted to do.

 

Part of him just wanted to get up and leave. Just walk out the front doors of the Shinra building and never see Rufus, Yuffie, Tifa, Aeris or any of his friends again. Just leave them, his relationships with them and the obligations they meant for him behind. On the one hand, Cloud knew he couldn't possibly do that for countless reasons. On the other hand, it was still a tempting option, to leave behind the mess he'd made of his life and start over. Then again, wasn't that exactly why he'd done what he'd done, to get a new hold on his life?

 

“This is too complicated,” Cloud ground out, standing up. He left the bathroom and shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked back to the office.

 

“Sitting the bathroom moping won't fix this,” Yuffie advised from the desk as he walked past. Cloud stopped and gave her an odd look. Had she been reading his mind?

 

“Huh?” he muttered.

 

“You know if you don't finish that work Rufus will have your ass,” Yuffie said, lifting her eyes. “This is my last day here, don't make me have to see you crucified.”

 

“Whatever,” Cloud said, relaxing slightly. Yuffie had a point, he had to work on…whatever it was Rufus wanted him to do, he hadn't paid attention. And it would give him something to occupy his mind besides his problematic love life. Cloud walked inside his office and sat down. He looked back and forth between his computer screen and the stack of paperwork, and let out a long sigh. He didn't have a clue what to do.

 

The week had gone by in a blur, and try as he might Cloud couldn't remember a thing about it. The things he did remember were so general - living with Yuffie, coming to work, being yelled at by Rufus. He didn't remember anything about the actual work he had done, or what he had been yelled at for, or even what he'd eaten for his meals. He'd just tuned out the world and gone through his routine on autopilot without realizing it.

 

Cloud picked up one of the files from the stack and stared at it. Maybe it was his pounding headache, but he couldn't understand a word the paper said. He read the words but they didn't click together in his head. Cloud put the paper down and leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

 

“Life sucks,” he decided aloud, announcing his revelation to the room. The only responses were the hum of his computer, the tick of the clock, and the muffled sound of Yuffie typing through the door. Cloud opened his eyes and sat back up. He really, really had to do his work….yup, time to work. Cloud lifted his hands and placed his fingers on the keyboard. Had to get it done….anytime now….Cloud lowered his eyes to his hands when he noticed they weren't moving. He pursed his lip and watched them blankly, finally moving them and typing. Cloud kept watching his fingers move, then looked up at the computer screen.

 

I QUIT

 

Cloud lifted his eyebrows and thought, then reached over and hit Backspace, watching each letter vanish one by one. The cursor sat there blinking at him, and Cloud again wondered exactly what he was supposed to be doing.

 

“Hey, blondie,” Yuffie called. Cloud looked up at her, eager for a distraction. “What's up, you're moodier than usual.”

 

“I…don't know,” Cloud shrugged. “Just not up to working.”

 

“Didn't you say you were going to quit?”

 

“I am, I hate this job.”

 

“Then quit!” Yuffie hissed, slamming her hands on the edge of the desk. “Walk up to Rufus, tell him you're tired of this and walk out that door. Simple.”

 

“I know,” Cloud agreed. “I can quit anytime.”

 

“Then why don't you?”

 

“….I just have a lot of my mind lately.”

 

“This is about the ladies huh?” Yuffie asked.

 

“No.”

 

“I've asked you about them every day this week and you find some way to avoid the subject.”

 

“There's a reason.”

 

“So, what? You plan to put off making a decision? You don't make the decision yourself and they'll make it for you.”

 

“I know, I know,” Cloud said, lowering his head. “I'm a heartless bastard because I won't pick which woman I want to be with.”

 

“Actually,” Yuffie whispered, leaning over to bad his shoulder, “I'd say you're not a heartless bastard because you don't want to hurt their feelings.”

 

“Exactly,” Cloud nodded. “I just don't want to have to make a choice when it seems either choice is going to hurt someone.”

 

“Well, lucky for you I'm here then!” Yuffie grinned and reached into her pocket. “I know how to make your decision quick and easy!”

 

“I know I'll regret saying this, but…how?” Cloud groaned, looking up at her. Yuffie pulled her hand from her pocket and held up a ten-gil coin.

 

“Heads, you go with Aeris, tails, it's Tifa. Simple right?” Yuffie placed the coin on her fist and prepared to flip it.

 

“Why is Tifa tails?” Cloud asked. “Tails makes it seem like a bad choice.”

 

“So you think Aeris should be the bad choice?” Yuffie asked suspiciously.

 

“No, neither of them is the bad choice.”

 

“Well they can't both be heads, polygamy is illegal in this state ya know!” Yuffie scowled and put her hands behind her back. “Alright, new plan. Pick a hand the coin's in, ya get it right you go with Tifa, get it wrong and you pick Aeris.”

 

“Why is it that way, it makes it seem like Tifa's the award and Aeris is some sort of…not-reward.”

 

“You're just saying this crap to stall me aren't you?” Yuffie snapped.

 

“It's working isn't it?” Cloud shrugged.

 

“About as well as your mental debating is going! You're overcomplicating things! Just decide who you really love and want to be with and go with it!”

 

“I can't make that decision because I have no idea who I really love!” Cloud shouted as he stood up. “My head hasn't quite caught up with my heart, so excuse me if I'm still a bit confused. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm a bit busy trying to figure out what this work is that I'm supposed to do.” Cloud turned away from Yuffie and pulled up to the desk. Yuffie rolled her eyes.

 

“Head and heart…right,” she muttered, walking out of the office. The next few minutes were filled with silence as Cloud tried to make heads or tails of the paperwork on his desk. He didn't have much success though, his mind still refused to pay as much attention as he wanted it to.

 

“Cloud! Get in here!”

 

Cloud's head snapped up as Yuffie yelled at him. He jumped to his feet and ran into her office.

 

“He's here, I'll tell him,” Yuffie said into the phone, hanging up. “Cloud, there's a problem.”

 

“What, what happened!?” he asked. Yuffie looked up at him.

 

“It's fine, calm down, she's gonna be alright, they said-”

 

“WHAT, what's happening!?” Cloud shrieked, leaning towards her. “Is Aeris okay, what's going on?”

 

“She's fine, nothing's going on,” Yuffie shrugged. “That was a dead line. I lied.” Cloud's eyes bugged out.

 

“W….what?” he whispered.

 

“I lied, there's nothing wrong,” Yuffie repeated. Cloud began to shake.

 

“Why would you do that!?” he cried. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

 

“I wanted to see how you'd react. You were worried about Aeris.”

 

“Well how did you expect me to react when you said Aeris was in trouble?”

 

“Cloud, stop and think about this for a second,” Yuffie said slowly. Cloud forced himself to calm down. “I never said Aeris was in trouble. You did that yourself. And why is that, hm?”

 

“I…” Cloud licked his lips. “Well, I…my…”

 

“I think the words you're looking for are `thanks for helping my head catch up with my heart'.” Yuffie smirked. “Ya love her.”

 

“I…yeah…I do,” Cloud nodded slowly. “I love her…I love Aeris…” Cloud broke into a grin. “I love Aeris.”

 

“No kidding,” Yuffie smirked.

 

“How did you…?”

 

“I didn't, but I figured you'd blurt something out if I pulled that. You were wasting so much time and energy over-thinking what you'd do, I decided not to give you time to think about it at.”

 

“Yeah…I gotta see her, I gotta tell her.”

 

“Then your ass outta here!” Yuffie cried. Cloud spun around and rushed into his office, pulling on his coat from the back of his chair.

 

“STRIFE!!”

 

Cloud's eyes went wide as Rufus flung open the door to his office.

 

“Mr. Shinra, this really isn't a good-”

 

“Shut the hell up Strife!” Rufus roared. “I'm down the hall talking to one of your more competent co-workers, and all I can hear is your mouth screaming! And what the hell are you doing putting your coat on, you're not going anywhere!” Rufus turned to the stack of papers on Cloud's desk and scowled. Cloud lowered his head, shaking.

 

“And you haven't done anything I told you too!” Rufus snapped, picking up the top paper. “I could get a better worker if I trained a monkey! Your work has been sliding downhill for months now, you finally decide to hit bottom? You're useless Strife, you know that? Lazy, unreliable and incompetent, you're the worst worker in the company. What do you have to say for yourself!?” Rufus turned to glare at Cloud. The blond lifted his head and took a breath.

 

“Mr. Shinra…” Cloud muttered.

 

“What!?”

 

“Go fuck yourself.”

 

Rufus' eyes went wide, and he opened his mouth to reply. He didn't get a chance; Cloud drew back his hand and swung, punching Rufus in the jaw. Rufus' head snapped back, the force of the blow knocking him backwards into the wall. He hit with a grunt and fell to the side, landing on his back on the carpet with a thud. Rufus lay sprawled on the floor, and Cloud looked down at his still-clenched fist in shock.

 

“What was that?” Yuffie called from the next room.

 

“I just punched Rufus!” Cloud shrieked, dropping his hand.

 

“What!?” Yuffie appeared at the doorway, and whistled. “Whoa, it's already discolored…nice shot.”

 

“Yeah…did I kill him?” Cloud asked, suddenly out of breath. “He's not moving.” Yuffie knelt down and felt Rufus' neck.

 

“He's alive yeah, but you definitely knocked him out.”

 

“Dammit!” Cloud groaned.

 

“You want him awake so he yell at you again?”

 

“No, I want him awake so I can do that again, that felt good! This is the best I remember feeling in years!” Cloud whooped. “I've wanted to do that for so long…”

 

“I think we all have,” Yuffie nodded. “Don't you have somewhere to be?”

 

“Right!” Cloud nodded, remembering. Yuffie cried out and ducked as Cloud jumped right over her kneeling form and ran down the hall. “Thanks Yuffie!” he called back. Yuffie looked down at Rufus and shrugged.

 

“Good thing he's planning to quit, because I think he just got fired.”