Author's Note: Yes, I like Yuffentine!

Prompt: "Why is it so hard for you to accept anything nice from me?"

Chocolates, Daisies, and Literature

by Lord Divestre Croft

Sometimes, he had no idea what he was doing.

Here he was. Vincent Valentine. The high-powered businessman. A no-nonsense executive of a big time publishing company. The man who charmed almost every woman he passed. The gentleman that had a preference for soft-spoken, elegant women. And a man with his share of heartbreak, to say the least.

So, why on earth did he have Yuffie Kisaragi, age twenty-two, wrapped around his arm, staring into a window of a cake shop?

Yuffie Kisaragi, a cutesy young thing, thirteen years his junior, who made a living writing gothic novels and drawing skulls. Yuffie Kisaragi, a tomboy of a woman who tripped if she ever dared to wear high heels. Yuffie Kisaragi, who treated her past, dud relationships as if they were a great, big joke.

This was not a match made in heaven, he was sure of it.

But then, he wondered, how did it all start? He was just at some function in the company, chatting with a member of the B.O.D. And she was at the buffet table, pigging out on beef wellingtons and stuffed mushrooms. He was wearing a slick business suit, and she was wearing a cocktail dress with a poofy skirt that barely touched her knees. He had been told who she was, and he had approached her to compliment her on her work. He had had a martini, he had made her laugh without meaning to…

And almost two hours later, he had found himself feeling her up in some random, hidden off place in the company building. Her breath tasted of the chocolate dessert at the party.

Where on earth did his shame fly off to? He wanted to blame it on the martini.

They say that opposites attract, but this was beyond ridiculous! For so long, he spent many a day, worrying that it could never work. And yet, it had been almost two years. His father wasn't pleased with it at all. Her parents thought she'd made the ultimate catch.

Life made absolutely no sense. Hardly anything made sense anymore.

She was nothing like any of the women he dated before. Nor was she like his ex-wife.

Treating them right and spoiling them was an obligation. A duty. Which he actually enjoyed. But with her, it was like an obsession. A never-ending quest. An earnest desire to please her. There was something about that adorable smile of hers, that twinkle in her silver eyes, that made him want to open his pocketbooks and turn them upside down. But Yuffie would have none of that.

He once tried giving her a set of 24-quarat hoops. She begrudgingly stored them on her closet shelf.

All she wanted were chocolates, daises, and any kind of literature he could find for her. Not that beautiful pearl choker he saw that would look so lovely on her smooth neck. Not that silk, black lace dress that she'd kill in. Not even the cute Labrador puppy that made her press her nose against the glass at the pet store.

No. Chocolates, daisies, literature… and nothing else.

Though, she did accept teddy bears.

It was maddening. It was disheartening. It was infuriating.

He wasn't trying to buy her. He didn't have to either, even if he was an "uncle", as she liked to put it. But wasn't it natural for a man to want to shower the love of his life (he was now at the point where he had to admit it) with gifts upon gifts upon gifts!? And he had the ability to give her the best. The very best!

Yes, things hardly made sense anymore, but there was one thing he had long figured out. The only way that he could ever have the privilege of treating her like the gothic princess that she was… was to buy her an engagement ring. And a wedding band. And he wanted to do that too! Of course he did.

Just as soon as he convinced himself that this relationship could actually last. And that probably wouldn't be for long.

Yuffie squeezed tighter on his arm. She noticed that he was thinking. She declared that he was thinking too much… again. And she pulled him down, kissing him deeply, and his brain melted for her.

Just the way she wanted it too.

After she pulled away, she pointed to the group of chocolate cakes sitting in the shop. As she dragged him through the front door, he resolved to buy the most expensive one on display.

Yuffie brought out the defiance in him.

Yes, within a few months, his father would become very disappointed. And her parents would be absolutely thrilled.

Ja ne!