InsaneJournal

Howard Catering Services was not the sole agency hired by President Shinra for nothing. They were simply the best, in all aspects, despite the high abandon rate amongst employees. The Midgar elite, if they even noticed they existed at all, treated them like so much dirt and were only too happy to insult and criticize.

Despite all that, Lil hadn’t quit. She was an ambitious young woman. The glimmer of familiarity in the General’s eyes when he deigned to notice the polite smile over the platter being offered to him was only the beginning of what she was working for.

She probably wouldn’t get to see another day, but she’d already come to peace with that knowledge. Somebody had to do something, and fast.

She’d worked her ass off to get where she was now, to earn that level of trust. She was head of half of the kitchen, now, and had access to every single plate and dish served at tonight’s banquet. It was only too easy to finalize each preparation by dripping a little of the poison she’d gone to such pains to acquire.

None of the Shinra family and the Midgar elite would live to see midnight.

There were tons of benefits by working for Shinra. First, the cafeteria food wasn’t complete crap, and she had free access to the gym. Paycheck wasn’t so bad either, for a simple secretary. The best, however, was the sheer quantity of big game to hunt. She had ample choice of an eventual partner, so much that at one point she was a little lost. That is, until she met the perfect match.

Gorgeous, smart, rich, well-placed and ambitious. From the first day she crossed Scarlet’s path, she worked at being placed in her department, so she could begin the hunt.

The nighttime shift was useless. Mel didn’t know what the boss expected to happen.

The door opened and three men stepped inside. They wore simple clothing, and Mel wouldn’t have been able to describe them in the morning if they weren’t otherwise so distinctive.

The taller one –it was safer to pretend that she didn’t know his name—put a hefty sum on the counter.

“For your discretion."

Mel swallowed her incredulity and gave him a key, then looked to the side, as if they didn’t exist. They disappeared down the hall. She didn’t put them down in the registry.

Women didn’t get far in the Shinra military, if they even got anywhere at all. She figured she’d managed to get this far only because she was practically a guy anyway. Tall, square and brash, she fit in almost perfectly once she put on the helmet.

She’d heard rumors about the poor fuck they were hunting down. Ex-SOLDIER, friendly, sociable, now a renegade. He fought like a chocobo protecting its chick, but in the end there was only her gun barrel and his heaving chest. She might have felt sorry for him, but she had ambition. She pulled the trigger.

“Why do you keep it open?” she couldn’t help herself asking, looking up from the shelf she’d cleaned again when at a loss for something to do.

The old lady owning the herbal shop glanced up at the strange question. She smiled, small and private. “What day are we, dearie?”

“Saturday. Why?” she answered, confused.

“You’ll see."

Just then, a string of coarse swearing heralded the entrance of the last kind of man she’d expected to see in this type of shop. He was tall, unshaved and smelled like engine oil.