"Squall's Date"
"Hey, that's supposed to be for the movie!" Irvine said.
"Sorry," Laguna replied between mouthfuls. "What did you get?"
"The best movie ever!" Irvine replied proudly. " Gunslingers Eight."
"Never heard of it," Laguna said with a shrug.
"You'll love it," Irvine said as he walked into the kitchen. Laguna heard him puttering around in the fridge. In a minute he came back holding two beers.
"Where's Squall?" Irvine asked, looking around.
"He's getting ready for his date," Laguna replied, pointing towards the bathroom.
Just as he said this Squall's head appeared in the doorway.
"Say, do we have any more mousse?" he asked. "I'm all out."
"All out?" Irvine questioned. "You just bought six bottles last week!"
Squall shrugged.
"You're point is?"
Irvine rolled his eyes.
"I don't know why you need all that mousse," he said. "My hair looks just like that every morning when I get up out of bed."
Squall just gave him a dark look.
"I think there's some in the hall closet," Laguna said.
"Thanks," Squall replied.
"So, who's your date with?" Irvine questioned.
"Rinoa," Squall replied as he walked by.
Laguna looked at him.
"Rinoa? I thought you told me your date was with Quistis," he said.
Squall stopped for a moment and frowned.
"Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I," he said, and walked out into the hallway.
Laguna and Irvine looked at one another.
"So what, are you going out with both of them?" Irvine questioned.
They could hear Squall fumbling around in the hallway closet.
"Umm, not exactly," he replied faintly.
They both stared at him as he walked back into the room.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Irvine said.
Squall stopped and looked at them for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders innocently.
"I kind of made a little scheduling mistake," he said.
Irvine looked at him for a moment, then grinned suddenly.
"You accidently asked them both out on the same night!" he said.
Squall nodded.
"Fraid so."
"So, why don't you just cancel with one of them?" Laguna questioned.
"Well, I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings," he replied.
"Yeah, right," Irvine responded sarcastically.
"If Rinoa finds out she'll be heartbroken," Laguna admonished.
"And if Quistis finds out she'll kick your ass," Irvine said with a grin.
"They're not going to find out," Squall said sharply. "I've got the whole thing carefully planned I have every contingency covered. Not only will they not find out, they won't even suspect a thing."
Squall walked back into the bathroom.
Irvine popped the cassette into the VCR and sat down next to Laguna.
"He's doomed," Laguna observed.
"Yeah," Irvine replied. "Pass the popcorn."
LATER THAT NIGHT
Squall and Rinoa walked into The Gold Chocobo and looked around. Rinoa slipped off her coat and handed it to Squall. She was wearing a long purple satin dress. Squall looked at her approvingly.
"Wow," he said. "You look almost as good as me!"
"Uh, thanks," Rinoa replied.
The Maitre Di approached them.
"Two for dinner?" he questioned.
"Yes," Squall replied.
"Very good, we have a table available right over here by the fireplace," the Maitre Di indicated a table in full view of the front entrace.
"That will be perfect..." Rinoa began.
"NO," Squall said loudly.
They both looked at him.
"No," he said in a calmer voice. "It will be much too hot there. We need a table far from the fire. Far far from the fire." he waved his hand toward the back of the room.
"Very well, " the Maitre Di responded. He led them to a table in the middle of the room and looked at Squall.
Squall looked back at the door and shook his head.
They continued back to the rear of the resturant. Squall spotted a table wedged between the door to the kitchen and a small utility room. It had no view of the front door. In fact, it had no view at all.
"Perfect," he said, indicating the table. Rinoa looked at it dissaprovingly while the Maitre Di just shook his head.
"Very well, sir."
They sat down and the Maitre Di walked away.
"This spot is just perfect!" Squall said, looking at Rinoa. "Don't you think?"
"Yeah, perfect," she repeated as the kitchen door swung open and banged agaisnt her chair.
The waiter came over to their table
"Are you ready to order?" he asked.
"Yes," Rinoa replied. "I'll have a large Rilfsak Salad."
"And I'll take..." Squall said, glancing quickly at the menu, "the Lost Number Special."
"Good choices," the waiter said and walked away.
"Excuse me a minute, will you?" Squall said. He got up, smiled at her and walked back toward the front entrance. Even as he approached it he saw Quistis walk in.
"Quistis!," he exclaimed, coming over to her. "You look lovely. Sorry I couldn't come pick you up, but my Chocobo's at the Vets."
"That's okay," Quistis replied plesantly. "Let's get a table."
She signaled the Matri Di, who walked over slowly.
"Table for two please," she said.
"Yes," Squall interjected. "Something up front here, close to the fire."
The Maitre Di looked at him for a moment with an odd expression.
"How about this table over here?" he suggested, pointing to the one he had shown Squall earlier,
"unless you think that might be too warm?"
"That's fine," Squall replied quickly. "It is a lovely fire, isn't it, Quistis?"
When she turned to look at the fire Squall turned to the Maitre Di, put his finger to his lips, and shoved twenty gil in his hand.
"Very good sir," the Maitre Di said, and left.
"It's beautiful here," Quistis commented, looking around as they sat down, "and so romantic."
"Well, nothing but the best for you, my dear," Squall replied.
Quistis blushed just slightly as the waiter came over.
"And what will we be having tonight?" he asked, looking at Quistis.
She looked up at a blackboard by the door that had the day's specials on it.
"Oh look, Squall," she said. "They're having a special on Bottomeswell steak. That's your favorite, isn't it? We'll each have one of those, rare please."
The waiter looked at Squall.
"But I thought you were having..."
"YOU HEARD THE LADY!" Squall said angrily. "Don't argue, just do it!"
The waiter stepped back in surprise.
"Right away sir," he said, walking away quickly.
"What was that all about?" Quistis questioned.
"Beats me," Squall replied. "Damn waiters thing they know everything. I'll be back in a moment, I have to use the bathroom"
Rinoa was sitting with her head propped on her hands when he returned. She sat up when she saw him.
"It's very nice here," she said, "but this seat doesn't afford much of a view. Maybe we should ask for a different table."
He sat down quickly. He smiled at her and took her hand.
"With you sitting in front of me, I don't need a view," he said.
Rinoa smiled and nodded.
"Oh Squall, you say the nicest things."
Just then the waiter came over with two plates.
"Your dinners," he said. (Of course, in a real restaurant the food would never come this quickly, but hey, the plot has to move along.)
"Two Bottomswell steaks, rare," he finished.
Rinoa jumped up in her chair, banging into the kitchen door just as it opened. A waitress coming out was thrown back into the kitchen. There was a loud crash and the sound of breaking plates and saucers. The sound went on for quite some time.
"This is the wrong order," she cried. "I can't eat this. I'm a vegetarian!!"
The waiter looked at them, confused.
"I'm terribly sorry, but this is what..."
"WHAT KIND OF RESTURANT IS THIS?" Squall stood up and demanded loudly. "You can't even get a simple order right?! I happen to know the resturant critic for the Bramble Daily, and I'm certainly going to give him a piece of my mind. Now take that away immediately and bring the lady her salad!"
Yes sir!" the waiter said, picking up her plate and hurrying away.
They both sat down again.
"I can't believe the service here," Squall grumbled
"It is kind of a surprise," Rinoa replied. "Talk is that this is one of the best resturants in town. Looks like they got your order wrong too, are you going to send that back?"
Squall looked down at his plate.
"Naw, that's okay. They'll probably just screw it up again."
He shook his head.
"And I really wanted this night to be special," he said.
Rinoa smiled again.
"It's alright. It hasn't been spoiled."
"Still, it isn't turning out the way I had hoped, but maybe this will make it better. I have a little gift for you."
Rinoa eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Yes, it's something..."
Just then he was interrupted by a beeping sound.
He pulled out his pager and looked at it.
"I'll go get this call and be right back," he said, standing up. "I'm sure it's nothing too important."
Squall turned his beeper off as he walked back to Quistis he had set it on auto page to provide an excuse to leave. The timing wasn't perfect, but it would do. The wonders of modern technology.
Quistis looked at him when he sat down.
" Are you all right?" she asked. "You were gone a long time."
" Fine," he replied with a smile. "Just a touch of indigestion."
" And we haven't even eaten yet," she said.
"Well, at least I can't blame it on their food," he replied. "By the way, I have a surprise for you."
"For me?" she said in suprise, her face lighting up.
"Yes," he replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two small wrapped boxes, keeping them under the table where Quistis couldn't see. One was wrapped in red and the other in green. He made sure to color code them before he left. The red one was for Quistis.
"There's a familiar face," she said suddenly, looking past him.
Squall jerked up as his heart skipped a beat. As he did so he banged his hand on the bottem of the table. One of the gifts fell to the floor, rolled, and stopped Quistis's feet.
He looked behind him quickly, but it was only Seifer walking over to the bar. He turned back toward Quistis as she picked up the green gift and ripped it open.
"Why Squall you shouldn't have," she said.
"It's..." she opend the cover and looked inside.
She took the small trinket out of the box and held it up. It was a jeweled pin in the shape of an ‘R'.
"....lovely," she finished with less enthusiasim.
"I, er, uh, that is," Squall stuttered "It's an R"
"I can see that," she said thinly.
"It's, it's one of the letters of your last name," he said quickly. "I was planning on getting you a pin for each letter, but that was the only letter they had right now."
"I see.." she said slowly.
"Uh...I'll be right back," he said, wiping his brow and getting up. "I'm going to see what's taking them so long with our food."
He walked away quickly. Things weren't working out quite the way he planned. Rinoa's meal had been replaced when he got back to her.
He sat down and saw her looking at him expectantly.
"That was the Vet," he said quickly. "My Chocobo is okay. Just a touch of claw and beak disease."
Rinoa nodded.
"And?" she said.
He gave her a puzzled look.
"And what?"
"You said you had something for me."
"Right," he said slowly, breaking out into a sweat. "I did, didn't I."
His hand went into his pocket and closed around the gift. Unfortunately Rinoa's name had no ‘Q's' in it.
"Umm, yeah, I, uh,"
He heard her foot tapping on the floor impatiently.
"Uh, here you go," he said, pushing his plate over to her. "You can have my baked potato. I know how much you like your vegetables."
She looked at his plate.
"I'm touched," she said finally.
"Yeah, uh, I'll be right back," he said. "I have to use the bathroom."
He walked into the bathroom and wiped the sweat off his brow. He took a deep breath. Okay, things hadn't gone so well, but look at the bright side. It couldn't get any worse, right?
When ha came back to the table Rinoa was gone. He hurried into the other room Quistis was gone too!
"Oh Squall!!"
He looked over to see Rinoa, Seifer, and Quistis standing by the front entrance. A drop of sweat dripped in his eye as they came over.
"Wh, what's going on?" he stammered.
"We decided we weren't that hungry," Rinoa said, wrapping her arms around Seifer. "I'm going over Seifer's. He's promised to show me some unusual things you can do with a guardian force."
"What?" Squall managed to get out between gagging sounds.
"And I'm going with Seifer," Quistis said, smiling sweetly. "He's promised to take me home and show me his gunblade..."
Squall's jaw dropped.
"...collection," she finished demurely.
"But, I,..."
Rinoa and Quistis gave him a little wave.
"I just love a well dressed man," Rinoa said, turning to Seifer as they walked away.
"And I never realized how sexy bad guys were!!," Quistis exclaimed.
"See you around," they both said as they walked out the door arm in arm with Squall's worst enemy, Seifer.
THE END