Chapter One: Rain Cloud
Chapter Two: Contempt
Chapter Three: Red Tape and Hot Chocolate
Chapter Four: "What are you doing here?"
Chapter Five: Golden CEO
Chapter Six: Curiosity
Chapter Seven: A Rainy Invitation
Chapter Eight: Dejavu City
Chapter Nine: A Silver Lining
Chapter Ten: Ocean in a Bottle
Chapter Eleven: Open & Shut Case
Chapter Twelve: A Glimpse of Heaven
Chapter one:
Friday
1.00am
Tea was exhausted. Tired and completely worn out. She plumped herself onto the not so comfortable couch in the corner of her new apartment, sighing heavily as she landed. Her mind was a torrent of frustration and anger.
She listened to the rain falling heavily outside as she stared up at the ceiling, letting her purse slip lazily out of her fingers.
She couldn't believe it....Her boss was turned out to be just the kind of asshole she thought he'd be...
Her thoughts drifted a few hours back, to the restaurant where she worked.
(FLASHBACK)
12:30am
Her night shift was coming to a close and she was getting ready to leave when she was confronted by Mr. Warren himself; the boss man. He seemed a little less coordinated than usual with a slight look of perversion in his eyes. Tea didn't seem t care, giving him the benefit of the doubt. She greeted him with a polite smile, the same one she always flashed when dealing with her superiors- Courteous and Professional.
"Yes Mr. Warren? Is something wrong"?
"No, everything's fine, I just wanted to ask you something Tea"
His voice was low and he was looking down at her with a mischievous grin. Tea, being slightly unnerved by his tone stepped back a little, only to feel the cold wall pressing into her back.
"Sir I…."
Before she had any time to respond he was grabbing her shoulders and pulling her toward him.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!"
The fear in her voice only seemed to make matters worse as his grin turned into a smile.
"Come on Tea, - don't even try to pretend that you don't want it -I've seen the way you look at me"
"What are you talking about? Are you crazy? Let go of me now!"
It was pretty clear by now that he was drunk and Tea decided to deal with the situation as calmly as possible. Even though he was a jerk she couldn't afford to lose her job. He lowered his mouth to her ear so that his voice was barely over a whisper.
"You wanna play games baby, okay, but I know you want me as much as I want you."
"Mr. Warren you're drunk please just think about what you're doing"
When he didn't stop Tea realized that it was no use trying to talk any sense into him.
Just then one of the other employees walked into the room. Just as fast as he had grabbed her before he loosened his grip on her shoulders.
Clearing his throat he stepped away from her and turned to face the obviously surprised young man standing in the doorway. The young man looked almost too nervous to speak.
Tea however didn't stick around long enough to hear what he had to say. She snatched her purse from the locker behind her, tears welling up in her eyes. She gave her boss a cold look and stormed out of the room not even bothering to look at the other young man. As she walked out into the alley at the back of the small town restaurant she let out a shaky breath. Clutching her arms tightly, the tears finally started to flow down her flushed cheeks. The world seemed to be closing in on her-Fast. Everything in her life was going down hill. She walked briskly out into the cold street feeling the first cold splashes of a light drizzle. Her mind was in a haze thinking about how on earth she was going to find another job before her next rent was due. She wondered why her life had to be in such a mess and why her parents had to be gone. They were the only ones she had in the world that she could truly turn to. Now she had no one. As the rain started its down pour so too did her tears as she ran to the taxi she had managed to flag down only seconds before.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
Tea sat up on the couch, her eyes still damp from all of her crying. She needed some distraction. Her mind started to wander again but this time it was Yami that filled her thoughts. She hadn't spoken to him since they broke up last summer about two weeks before she moved to the city. She missed him so much. When her parents died he was the only one who truly cared, he stuck with her through all of her difficult times. How did things go so wrong? She needed him more than she needed anything else. But it was no use thinking about him, he was out of her life and he wasn't coming back. She would just have to deal with her sorrow and pick herself up no matter how impossible it seemed.
Tea stood up from the couch and put her hand to her head. The room seemed to be spinning as she walked over to her small bedroom. She knew Mr. Warren wouldn't leave what happened between them alone. She always had suspicions about the way he felt about her but never cared enough to bother. Now that he had made his intentions perfectly clear she knew that he was stubborn enough to try to get her to come back to work. But there was no way that she was going back to that restaurant. She didn't actually say that she was leaving but the manner in which she had stormed out should have sent the message loud and clear.
After a long shower trying to clear her overloaded brain Tea headed over to the kitchen to fix herself a cup of hot chocolate. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall in the living room. It was already 1:35am.
She curled up on the couch again and hit the power button on the T.V remote. There was nothing good on as usual. She couldn't seem to calm down. She felt the tears burning the back of her eyes again as she tried to concentrate on an unfamiliar horror movie. They ran down her face as she finished her hot chocolate. By the time she was finished the rain had shown no sign of stopping. She decided to call it a night and head to bed. She climbed in between the covers feeling lonely and frustrated. She would have to search for a new job in the morning- Losing her apartment was not an option right now. She sighed as she hugged her pillow, letting the sound of the rain lull her to sleep.
Saturday Morning
8.20am
Tea was already up. Coffee in hand and the morning paper laid out on the kitchen table in front of her. She was busy searching the classifieds for an available job position when she was startled by the ring of her cell phone. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. It was an unfamiliar number.
"Hello?"
"Tea? Uh …"
Tea recognized the voice straight away
"Mr. Warren?
She made no attempt to hide the bitterness in her voice- a bitterness he obviously recognized.
"Look Tea Just Listen to me…."
He obviously sobered up from last night. He sounded level headed and just a little bit rattled.
Tea however couldn't care less. She didn't give him time to finish his sentence.
"You have some nerve calling me after what you did last night"
"Look I was drunk alright I just wanted to apologize"
"Apologize? You must take me for some kind of fool-You expect me to accept your apology and just stroll back to work on Monday like nothing happened!"
"Nothing did happen Tea; I don't know what came over me last night, look I can't help that I'm attracted to you"
Tea wasn't expecting him to say that last part. Most girls at the restaurant would kill to hear those words from him .She didn't know why though, sure he was cute but he was also arrogant, disrespectful and pigheaded. Funny how that description sounded like one fit for Seto Kaiba.
Tea pushed her thoughts aside.
Why the hell did she suddenly think about Kaiba just now?
Weird.
"Mr. Warren I can't overlook what happened last night and I'd appreciate it if you don't call here again."
"Tea wait, please"
"I have nothing to say to you Mr. Warren"
"Alright have it your way then…"His ego must have been hurt as his arrogance resurfaced immediately.
"Okay, I tried being nice to you bitch but you just blew your chances - and by the way you didn't quit you're fired."
Tea opened her mouth to speak but with that he hung up. The nerve of that guy. She felt as though she had just been slapped in the face. She stared at the cell phone in her hand still not believing what an asshole Mr. Warren really was. She couldn't help but feel somewhat grateful that she left. She shook her head slightly as she stuffed the phone back into her pocket.
She finished drinking her coffee as she circled the last of the job openings that she might be interested in. As she put the coffee cup onto the counter she decided to head over to the super market to get a few things. Her refrigerator was practically empty. And besides, she needed some fresh air anyway-she was starting to feel stifled again.
Sighing heavily she grabbed her apartment keys and proceeded out the door, still wondering why Seto Kaiba of all people had unexpectedly pushed his way into her thoughts.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter Two:
Contempt
Much unlike the night before, the weather was clear and sunny, not a cloud in the sky.
Tea drummed her fingers on the checking counter as she waited for the cashier to cash her things. She fished in her purse and found some lose bills at the bottom. The young woman looked at her as if she was from another planet -planet pathetic. Tea had so much on her mind she didn't even have the strength to give a damn. She took the small bag from the counter and handed her money to the woman. She walked out of the supermarket glad to have the sun hit her face. All she needed to do now was to get a cab and head back to her apartment to make a few phone calls. She started walking toward the street wishing that she had a car. Just then she caught a glimpse of a familiar face walking into a fancy looking building next to the supermarket. Was that Kaiba? It couldn't be. She didn't see him since that last Dueling championship back home.
She shrugged off the thought as she spotted a cab heading her way. Before she could make another step however she heard someone calling her name. It sounded like a kid. Confused, she spun around in the direction of the voice the strong wind whipping her hair over her eyes as she did.
As she parted the lose strands away her suspicions were soon made very clear.
"Mokuba?"
Mokuba was running toward her with an over zealous smile on his face. He was so different to his jerk of a brother- practical opposite. She was glad that it was him she ran into and not Seto.
"Tea it's really you!"
By the way he sounded you would think that she was a celebrity.
Tea greeted him with a warm smile. She was glad to see someone from back home.
"Hey Mokuba Long time no see"
"Likewise"
"What are you doing around here?"
"Oh, my brother has some business to take care of, you know Seto"
"Still the workaholic I see."
Mokuba sighed helplessly as he looked up at Tea. She was still taller than he was but he had grown a bit from the last time she saw him.
"So you live here in the city now?"
"Yep I have an apartment not too far from here"
Mentioning her apartment seemed to open the depression floodgates again. She could very well end up having to move back in with her uncle if she didn't find a job soon. Although being homeless sounded more appealing. She and her uncle didn't have the best of relationships.
"Wow that's so awesome."
Tea smiled. She enjoyed talking to Mokuba; his warm smile seemed to take her mind off of all her frustrations.
"So do you work here in the city too?"
Tea clenched her bag of groceries more tightly as the thought of her former boss slipped right back into her mind.
"Well actually I'm kind of searching for one right now."
Mokuba looked like he had been handed a blessing from heaven- not quite the kind of response she was expecting.
"Are you serious?"
Tea couldn't help but be amused as well as surprised by his words. He actually sounded sort of glad that she was job hunting.
She giggled a little before she spoke deciding that he was just a kid.
"Hey that's not funny Mokuba. It's not easy being unemployed."
"No I don't mean it like that Tea, it's just that Seto has needed a Secretary for some time now but he hadn't found the time to put out a vacancy add."
Tea felt nervous all of a sudden. The thought of working for Kaiba was like being sentenced to a torture chamber. The idea was so absurd it was even laughable.
"I hope you're not suggesting that I fill that vacancy"
"Well, you said that you were looking for a job right?"
"…Well yeah but…"
"So my brothers vacancy would be perfect for you, it's not like you two are strangers or anything"
"Mokuba, Kaiba and I don't exactly get along very well-in fact the only person that he seems to get along with is you."
Mokuba smiled; clearly amused at her flustered excuses. He was more than aware of his brother's effect on people.
"Yea I know Seto can be a little strict sometimes but I'm sure you two will get along just fine-all you need to do is do whatever he says and it's smooth sailing."
Tea considered what he was saying seriously for a moment. She knew she was backed into a corner and she didn't have a lot of options.
If only it was someone else and not the king of jerks. She honestly didn't know what to do, she needed the job but the thought of being around Seto Kaiba all day was enough to make anyone bolt; at least anyone who wasn't a member of his 'fan club' that is.
Tea sighed as she stared down at Mokuba's innocent face. She was just about ready to reply when a familiar voice rudely pierced its way between them.
"Well, well, if it isn't Tea Gardner."
Tea reluctantly turned around to face the annoyingly arrogant Seto Kaiba who was standing right behind her. Tea's breath caught in her throat as the sight of him took her by surprise. Was it even remotely possible for someone to look so unbelievably hot? Obviously for him it was possible. He was wearing a sharp blue business suit and holding a black leather briefcase in his hand. She noticed that his shirt was unbuttoned at the neck -A dangerously sexy look for him. His chestnut brown hair contrasted perfectly with his ocean blue eyes sending her heart into a double summersault.
Tea could have slapped herself for reacting so favorably to the way he looked. Luckily she wasn't one to let the inner workings of her mind to show on the outside. The last thing she needed right now was for Kaiba to think that she was attracted to him. Lord knows his ego was big enough.
"Why Seto Kaiba what a pleasure."
Tea made no attempt to hide her sarcasm and was not at all surprised when the smirk on his face didn't fade. She knew him long enough to know that words had no effect on him.
"What are you doing here Gardner? Last time I saw you, you were cheering your boyfriend on at the Battle City tournament"
"For your information I live around here."
"So you and the twerp have a place together? How sweet"
Tea felt a sharp pain knife through her heart as she thought of Yami.
"Well actually no, I have a single apartment."
"You mean you actually live on your own, Humph impressive Gardner But isn't that a little dangerous."
"What do you care?"
"Actually I don't"
"Well that's to be expected I doubt there's anything but ice in your veins"
Mokuba, noticing the conversation heading downhill, decided to intervene.
"Um, Seto, Tea was just telling me that she needed a job and…"
Tea could have sunk into the ground.
"Uh Mokuba…"she tried to cut Mokuba off before he suggested anything but Kaiba was too quick for her.
"A job? What's this Gardner using my poor little brother as a way to get a position in my company? And I thought you were a straight arrow."
Tea looked at Kaiba with a disgusted look on her face.
"That's not what I was doing you jerk"
"Now, now there's no need to resort to name calling."
Tea's frustration was rising again. How in the world was he able to get under her skin the way he did without even making a damn effort?
There was no way that she was going to take that vacancy, not even for Mokuba. Being around Kaiba too often couldn't be too good for your health. At least not for hers.
Sighing Tea switched her attention back to Mokuba, completely ignoring Kaiba.
"Look I'll see you around Mokuba, I have to go- I'm sure you'll find someone with a strong enough stomach to fill that vacancy."
"What's the matter Gardner afraid of working for me?"
He was trying to bait her but it wasn't going to work. She had had enough of his arrogance for one day.
"Bye Mokuba."
Tea didn't even bother to answer Kaiba. She only gave him a cold stare and started heading in the opposite direction. Mokuba knew when Tea was Serious and he could tell that she was dead serious about not wanting to work for his brother.
Kaiba scuffed as he watched Tea turn away feeling annoyed and a bit surprised. Not surprised at her reaction but surprised that he actually felt some semblance of concern for her. For some reason he didn't like the idea of Tea being all alone in a big city with no place to turn too for a job. What the heck was going on inside his head? It must be the heat.
Without a moments hesitation he started heading back toward the limo deciding it was best to just forget about the matter all together. Mokuba however was still staring at Tea, a worried expression written on his face.
"Mokuba, come on lets go." Kaiba was already checking his watch and walking briskly toward the limo when Mokuba caught up with him.
"Seto, don't you think you should try to convince her to take the job?"
Kaiba continued walking without so much as glancing at his brother.
"Why? It's not my problem, besides she'd annoy the heck out of me"
"Come on big brother, please, it wouldn't be right not to help her and you know she'd be perfect for the job anyway."
Kaiba finally looked down at his brother as they stood beside the limo. Mokuba was staring up at him with those all too familiar puppy dog eyes. Kaiba sighed heavily, knowing all too well that sooner or later he would cave.
"Please Seto, at least try to convince her"
Kaiba looked back in Tea's direction; she was just about to get into the back seat of a cab. He sighed again as he watched her get in and close the door.
"Fine, I'll try to convince her, but the minute she starts to annoy me she's gone got it."
Mokuba beamed as he looked up at his brother, a smile spreading over his face.
"Thanks big brother."
Kaiba rolled his eyes as they got into the limo a sinking feeling creeping into his stomach.
Back To The Top
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter three:
Red tape and hot chocolate
Tea opened the door to her apartment feeling a little more angry than depressed. She slammed the door shut with her foot and headed to the kitchen to put away the stuff she had bought at the supermarket. She looked at the clock .It was 10.00am. The paper she was going through earlier that morning was still sprawled out on the counter.
After putting everything away she took another look at the vacancies she had circled. Just then there was a knock on her door.
Who on earth could that be?
A little surprised, she walked to the door. Just to be on the safe side she opened the peep hole and peered into it.
She couldn't believe her eyes .The anger that had died down a few minutes ago started bubbling right back up to the surface again. She swung the door open and found herself staring at Kaiba. She made sure that Mokuba was no where in sight before opening her mouth to speak.
"What the hell are you doing here Kaiba?"
"Is that any way to greet a friend?"
"We're not friends."
Kaiba was starting to get impatient. He was a busy man after all.
Sighing he stepped in a little closer to the doorway.
"Look, are you going to let me in or not."
Tea couldn't stand him but she wasn't one to be impolite. She stepped aside so that he could come in.
She closed the door and watched as he surveyed the small living room with his arms folded. He looked like he was in the real estate business. She didn't expect him to say anything nice about her place seeing that he was one of the richest guys on the planet. Her entire apartment must have looked like cheap storage space to him.
Tea also folded her arms as she put her back against the door. She was staring at him with an accusing look.
"Now can I ask what this is all about? And by the way, how do you even know where I live?"
Kaiba turned to face her.
God why did he have to be so incredibly hot? She couldn't help but feel a little uneasy with him standing in her living room staring at her like that.
"I followed you." he said simply.
"You followed me?"
"It was Mokuba's idea."
"Well I guess that makes it okay then."
Her sarcasm didn't bother Kaiba in the slightest; He enjoyed seeing her work herself up way too much to be bothered by any of the things she said to him.
Kaiba shoved his hands into his pockets as he looked at her. It wasn't something that he would ever admit to anyone but he had always found Tea to be extremely attractive. She looked so cute standing there with that pout on her lips.
Pulling himself out of his stupor he decided to get to the point of him coming to see her.
"Look Gardner I came to offer you the position you and Mokuba were discussing earlier."
"Oh you mean the honorable position of being your own personal slave."
Kaiba's patience had just about run out, he promised Mokuba that he would help her but he wasn't willing to take any of her lip.
"Just cut the bullshit Gardner, you want the job or not? I wouldn't have wasted my time to come up here if I knew you would be this difficult to deal with. Without a job in this city you might as well be living on the streets. I'm just doing you a favor here. So it's pretty much up to you; take it or leave it."
Tea didn't say anything. She knew when she was boxed in and she wasn't too stubborn to admit it. He was right; she needed this job if she wanted to keep her apartment. And more importantly, if she wanted to stay away from her uncle.
Kaiba watched as she pondered his words and by the look on her face he knew he had won. She finally opened her mouth to speak.
"Fine I'll take it."
"Took you long enough."
He walked over to her, another one of his trademark smirks puling over his lips.
"You'll have to sign a few things before you start though. I'll come and drop the forms off tomorrow, you start Monday morning at 8.00am but I'll fill you in a little more tomorrow."
She knew that smug smirk meant that he was glad that he had an edge over her but she decided to keep her mouth shut about it. Bottom line she was grateful to him and that was all that mattered at the moment. He looked pretty smug leaving her apartment that morning and if she knew anything about Kaiba he was going to rub this situation in her face every chance that he got.
Tea spent the rest of the day cleaning her apartment and trying to clear her thoughts. At least she didn't have to worry about finding a job anymore.
That night while getting ready to go to bed she couldn't help but think of Yami. She wasn't too pleased about it but she knew she was still pretty hung up on him. How could he have changed so drastically? He had hurt her so badly, but her feelings never seemed to go away. She pulled the covers up to her chin wishing she could see him again.
Sunday 7.00am
Tea was in the shower enjoying the soothing feel of the water soaking through her hair when there was a loud knock on the door. What the hell?
She hurriedly pulled on her pink robe and stepped out of the bathroom. With her hair still dripping wet she headed to the door to see who was at her door at such an ungodly hour. Once again she peered into the peep hole and once again she was annoyed to see who was standing there.
She hesitated, making sure that her robe was properly wrapped around her body. When she opened the door Kaiba's heart skipped a beat, he wasn't expecting her to be dripping wet with nothing but a robe between her and her bare skin. She looked super sexy. Luckily he wasn't the kind of guy to let his feelings show or he'd practically be drooling.
"Kaiba, it's 7.00 in the morning."
"I specifically remember telling you that I was coming back today to drop off the paper work Gardner, what are you suffering from short term memory loss?"
"I knew you were coming back but I didn't think you meant at the crack of dawn."
"I keep early hours and I thought I'd give you a taste of what it means to be working for me. This is your first lesson. Always expect the unexpected."
Sighing tea stepped aside to let him in. She closed the door and gestured for him to have a seat on the couch.
Looking extremely irritated she started heading to the bedroom.
"Just give me a minute."
She locked the door behind her so that he couldn't see into the room. Kaiba tried his best to push his suddenly perverted imagination aside as he watched her disappear behind her bedroom door. When she came back into the living room she was wearing a short blue skirt and a simple white t-shirt with a picture of three puppies on the front. He noted that her hair was still damp but she had pulled it back into a pony tail. He had to scold himself before his thoughts went wild again.
"Can I get you something?"
"You got anything hot?" besides you
What the hell was wrong with him today? He needed to pull himself together before he said something he wasn't supposed to.
"How about some hot chocolate?"
"That's fine I guess."
She headed into the kitchen to fix him a cup as he took the time to look around. He noticed a picture of her and her parents which was obviously taken a long time ago-Tea didn't look much older than ten years old in it.
After a few minutes she emerged from the kitchen holding a steaming cup of hot chocolate. She handed it to him feeling a bit awkward serving him as if they were more than what they actually were.
She watched him take the first sip. He looked different today, much more casual. He was wearing a black short sleeved shirt with a pair of blue jeans. Talk about hot.
He noticed her staring at him when he lowered the cup to rest it onto the table in front of him.
"Is something wrong?"
"Huh, oh no nothings wrong."
"Whatever, let's just get this over with."
He opened his briefcase and took out a few sheets of important looking documents. He handed them to her and pulled a pen out of his pocket.
"Make sure you understand everything you read before you sign, if you have any questions just ask-and try to make it snappy."
Tea flipped through the papers. There had to be about five sheets in the entire wad.
"I didn't know working for you would be so complicated."
He handed her the pen he was holding.
"This is Kaiba corp. you're talking about not some piece of shit small town organization-get used to the bureaucracy."
She shook her head and took a seat next to him. Kaiba couldn't help but feel kind of weird sitting so close to her and not in a bad way. She smelled like vanilla and soap, intoxicatingly innocent; an innocence that seemed to be driving him insane. He didn't like feeling this way, not one bit; it was against everything that he was. And he definitely wasn't the mushy misty eyed type of guy. He decided to take his mind off her.
"You mind if I put on the T.V while you take your sweet time reading that thing."
"Oh no go ahead."
Tea didn't even look up; she was too busy concentrating on the forms in front of her.
Kaiba reached for the remote that was sitting on the table. He switched the T.V on and immediately started flipping through the channels searching for something that might grab his attention.
Why did it feel so damn good sitting with her like this?
He was becoming pretty annoyed with himself by now. The T.V was obviously not helping his situation. He decided to strike up a conversation instead.
"So why'd you decide to move to the city Gardner?"
The question shook her back into a not so pleasant memory, one that she wasn't willing to share with him or anyone else.
When she hesitated he turned to look at her. She was still staring down at the papers but her expression had changed a bit. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed but Kaiba was an expert at reading faces and she was definitely trying to hide something.
"..I just wanted a change in my life that's all."
He sensed that she was telling the truth but there was something about the way she said it that made him feel that there was a piece of her explanation that was missing.
He decided to let her off the hook and keep his mouth shut from then on. Instead, he concentrated on finishing his surprisingly delicious hot chocolate.
By the time he had drained the last of it Tea was on the last page.
Just then there was a knock on the door. Tea looked up from the paper confused.
"Who could that be?"
"Maybe it's your lover boy Yami."
Tea flashed a sarcastic smile at Kaiba as she got up to answer the door. He obviously didn't know that she and Yami were no longer a couple.
When she peered into the peephole what she saw almost made her want to faint. She couldn't believe her eyes. Oh my god it is Yami! Tea put her hand to her chest in astonishment. What is he doing here?
She took a few deep breaths and summed up her courage. She cautiously opened the door. She stared up at him through slightly nervous eyes.
"Yami?"
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter Four:
"What are you doing here?"
Tea had to hold on to the door to keep from keeling over. Yami looked just as good as she remembered him.He waited for her to let him in. Tea had to pull herself out of the trance she had just slipped into in order to respond without making a fool of herself.
"What are you doing here?"
"Aren't you going to invite me inside first?"
"Actually no I want to know what you want Yami."
"Look, Tea I just need to talk to you okay."
Despite what he had done to her before, part of her heart still wanted him; and seeing him standing outside her door only made it harder to push her feelings away.
She hesitated for a moment but eventually gave in. As he stepped into the doorway he kept his eyes locked onto hers. Tea felt the familiar butterflies return to her stomach as she dragged her eyes away, too afraid to let her true feelings show.
He walked further into the apartment and straight into the living room only to be faced with the last person in the world he was expecting to be sitting on Tea's couch. Kaiba on the other hand wasn't in the least bit surprised to see Yami.
Yami stared at Kaiba as if he was a piece of furniture that was horribly mismatched.
"Kaiba?"
"Well if it isn't the king of games himself."
Tea suddenly appeared at Yami's side. Kaiba couldn't help feeling a little bit angry at the sight of the two of them standing next to each other.
Yami looked down at Tea who was looking a bit nervous.
"What the hell is he doing here?"
Kaiba was confused by his reaction. Didn't Tea tell him about the Job at his company? He was her boyfriend after all. Wasn't he?
He'd have thought that Yami would be the first one to hear about her new job at Kaiba Corp.
He was definitely missing something. He looked at Tea. Why was she looking so worried?
"Well actually it has to do with a job opening at Kaiba Corp. …and…"
"Did I hear you right? Did you say a job? At his company?
"Look can you just go wait in the kitchen for me? I'll explain everything in a minute."
Yami stared at Kaiba with a hate filled expression and Kaiba wasn't exactly trying to hide his look of disdain either. You'd swear the two of them were fighting over her. After some hesitation Yami finally gave in and headed to the kitchen leaving Tea alone with Kaiba.
Kaiba leaned back against the couch making himself more comfortable as he stared up at Tea.
"Am I missing something here Gardner? Why didn't you tell him about the spot I'm giving you at Kaiba Corp? Now you got him thinking that I'm sleeping with you or something." Although for some reason Kaiba didn't mind Yami getting that impression.
"What the hell are you talking about? Yami and I broke up about six months ago. He just showed up at my door just now."
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
"Well now I know for sure he thinks I'm sleeping with you."
"Would you stop saying that"
Kaiba watched her as she took up the last sheet of paper that she hadn't read yet and sat down again to skim through the contents. Her only goal at the moment was to get Kaiba out of her apartment before he caused any more trouble with Yami. Kaiba knew something was wrong as he looked at her. She was trying to get rid of him as soon as possible but for some reason he didn't want to leave her alone with Yami.
He wanted to ask her what happened between them but decided that it was better not to. He didn't want to upset her any more than she obviously was. Why he was being so nice was beyond him. She seemed to be having an effect on him and not a favorable one at that, at least not for him.
He decided that the best thing to do was to leave, despite how he felt about Yami. He concluded that he was just being paranoid about the whole situation.
When Tea was finished signing all of the documents she handed them back to Kaiba, who was already on his feet.
He put them back into his briefcase.
"Okay Gardner remember, Work starts at 8:00am sharp. You should know I run a pretty tight shift so be prepared to work your ass off. You'll be working directly under me so if you run into any problems come to me and no one else got it?"
Tea nodded, feeling a bit intimidated by Kaiba's business side.
She walked with him to the door. As he reached out in the hall way he turned to face her again.
"Do you want me to organize a limo to pick you up tomorrow morning?"
"A limo? No, that's okay. I'll take the bus."
"Gardner it's just a ride would you relax."
"Okay fine."
"Good, that way you won't be late."
Tea flashed a small smile at him, making his heart skip a beat. What the crap was going on with him? He definitely needed to get out of there.
Before he left he caught a glimpse of Yami standing in the living room. His arms were folded and he was staring at Kaiba looking more than a little annoyed. Reluctantly Kaiba left, feeling just as annoyed as Yami looked. Tea closed the door after making sure he was gone. She wasn't too keen on talking to Yami now. In her current state of mind she was vulnerable to him.
"Tea is something going on between you and Kaiba?"
She walked over to him but made sure to keep a safe distance. If he were to touch her he would have too much power over her judgment.
"No, of coarse not, I told you it has to do with his company, that's the reason he was here. I needed a job and he had an opening so he offered it to me."
"He offered you a spot in his company? Since when was he so fond of you?"
"He's not fond of me; he's just doing me a favor."
"A favor huh, did you ever stop to think about why. He obviously wants something from you in return and I have a good idea what."
Tea couldn't believe what she was hearing. Kaiba was a lot of things but sleazy wasn't one of them.
"You can't be suggesting that he wants to get me in bed?"
"Why not, I wouldn't put anything past that conceited asshole."
Tea realized that they were getting off the main subject which was why he was actually standing in her apartment as if they were still an item.
"Yami, why are you even here."
With those words Yami's expression changed instantly.
"Tea you never gave me a chance to apologize for what happened."
"Yami I don't want an apology, you knew exactly what you were doing. If you really cared about my feelings you wouldn't have done it in the first place."
He saw the pain in her eyes as she said it. He came over to her and reached for her face but she jerked away from his hand.
When she spoke her voice was barely over a whisper.
"Don't…please."
Tea looked like she was on the verge of tears. Yami knew he had hurt her before but he had no idea that even after all this time she was still hurting, still obviously in pain by what he had done.
"Tea please don't be like this" He was too fast for her this time. He grabbed her upper arms and gently pulled her toward him. He stroked the side of her face with one of his hands still holding her with the other. She tried to look away but his eyes were like magnets, drawing her to him. How could he have so much power over her, how could he make her want him so badly-even after he broke her heart. Why was she so hopelessly weak?
"Tea accept my apology; don't shut me out of your life forever."
"Why are you doing this to me? I… I loved you once and you betrayed that Yami. I can't just accept you back into my life. Please understand."
"I know you loved me once and I know you still do."
"Yami it's over between us and I don't understand why after all this time you just decide to waltz your way back into my life-It doesn't make any sense."
"Tea after you left for the city I was devastated. I knew I had let you slip from my fingers. I wanted you back in my life but I knew you wouldn't forgive me. I thought that if I gave you some space and some time to calm down you'd be willing to forgive me and…"
"And what? Take you back? It doesn't work that way Yami. You said you'd never hurt me….but you did. How do you expect me to trust you again?"
By now the tears were flowing. Yami felt like dirt under a shoe and maybe he deserved to feel that way, after all the pain he had put her through but he still felt like he also deserved another chance.
"You can trust me again Tea, I made a terrible mistake before, and it won't happen again, I promise you that."
"You promised me then too…"
Yami put his hand to her lips to stop her from speaking. He deliberately gazed into her eyes as he spoke.
"You're upset Tea, I'll give you some more time to think about it. But I want you to understand something. My feelings for you never changed and I want you back in my life; just think about it okay that's all I'm asking."
With that he lifted her chin and lightly brushed his lips over hers. Tea felt her heart break all over again. He slowly let go of herand backed away. By the time he had left Tea felt as if a new wieght had been added to her shoulders. It was so strange- all the times that she wished he would come back to her she was referring to the old Yami and not the one that was just in her apartment. Why was this happening to her? Why did her life have to be so messed up? She looked at the clock. It was only 10:30. She decided to spend the rest of the day clearing her thoughts. She didn't feel like being alone but what other choice did she have. Her life, as far as she knew, was still pretty much a mess of confusion..
Back To The Top
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter five:
Golden CEO
Monday 7:45Tea stared up at Kaiba Corp Headquarters with a nervous knot settling at the bottom of her stomach. She wasn't too eager to start her new job as Kaiba's personal secretary. In fact she was a little mortified. Kaiba had a way of doing that to people no matter how long you'd known him for.
She took a deep breath and walked up the steps leading to the Front entrance. There were two beefy looking security officers dressed all in black standing on opposite ends of the doorway.
"Good morning miss."
Tea smiled politely.
"Good morning."
The officer on the left held the door open for her.
She walked past him and into the air-conditioned building where an old man was apparently waiting for her at the front desk.
As soon as he spotted Tea he hurried over to her.
"Tea Gardner?"
"Yes."
The neatly dressed old man smiled warmly and shook Tea's hand with a much stronger grip than she was expecting.
"Mr. Kaiba is expecting you."
Tea didn't know why she was feeling so nervous. She decided that maybe it was the idea of Seto Kaiba actually being her boss that was making her feel so intimidated. His reputation as the boss man wasn't exactly favorable. She remembered a while back actually feeling sorry for people that were under his employment and now here she was, one of those very people. What a joy.
The old man introduced himself as Mr. Johnson. He escorted her to the elevator where he informed her to go up to floor 12 where Kaiba was waiting for her in his office. Tea stepped into the elevator and pushed the number 12 button.
While waiting Tea's mind wandered back to Yami. He actually wanted them to get back together, but how could she allow that to happen? She couldn't. She promised herself she wouldn't. Sure she thought about him every day since they broke up but Yami had changed some how. The Yami she longed for wasn't there anymore, he was different. And now that she had seen him again all of her old wounds had opened up…. bleeding before they even got a chance to properly heal. She felt a pang of sadness wash over her as the elevator doors finally opened. She stepped out into the empty hall way and saw the door to Kaiba's office straight ahead. She noticed that the reception desk right outside was empty. She assumed that would be where she came in. She straightened her jacket and made sure that her hair was in place before heading for Kaiba's office. She stopped directly in front of the door, staring at the letters CEO directly in front of her face. The letters she noticed were neatly engraved in gold.
Her mind was still tangled with thoughts of Yami and she decided it best to get rid of them before entering the room. Sighing heavily she turned the knob on the door and entered.
Kaiba was sitting at his desk with a lap top opened in front of him. When he saw her his expression remained the same-neutral.
"Don't you know how to knock Gardner?"
"Oh, sorry I …"
"Just forget it have a seat."
It was remarkable how easy it was to unnerve her.
Tea closed the door behind her and walked over to the comfortable looking chair in front of Kaiba's desk.
He had to admit, she looked pretty damn good. Conservative and sexy at the same time.
As she sat she felt Kaiba's eyes on her. Why did he have to be so overbearingly strict when it came to his work?
Kaiba made himself more comfortable by reclining on his chair.
"So let's get straight down to business shall we."
Tea nodded her approval feeling a bit weird treating Kaiba like her boss.
"Since today's your first day I think I'll be a little nice and go easy on you, and we both know nice isn't my thing so enjoy it while it lasts because tomorrow I won't be so lenient."
Tea didn't say anything; she was still trying to stop thinking about Yami. Kaiba sensed her distraction right away but wasn't sure if he should say anything about it. He was beginning to think that Tea was more fragile than she led people to believe. Once again he was confused as to why that bothered him so much.
"I don't have any major meetings to attend today so I'd like you to do some filing work for me. And I'd like it to be finished before you leave this afternoon"
She nodded.
"Is something wrong?"
His tone was a little less business like when he said it.
"Huh … no nothings wrong, everything's fine, why'd you ask?"
"You seem distracted."
"I'm not."
Kaiba knew she wasn't being honest with him but decided it was no use getting further into it. He knew she wouldn't be willing to tell him, not that he blamed her, they weren't exactly what you would call the best of friends, but he assumed it had something to do with Yami showing up at her apartment yesterday. For whatever reason he was pretty curious about what happened between them after he left.
He would leave it alone for now.
"Alright whatever, the desk outside my office is yours. All you have to do in addition to your filing duties is answer my calls, anything that's not important, just say I'm busy or at a meeting, if it is important then you can just transfer the call over to me, got it?"
"Yea, I've done this sort of thing before"
"I'm just letting you know before hand what I expect from you."
She nodded again. She looked so cute, almost vulnerable as she sat there soaking up every word that he said.
Damn it, It was as if he had no control over his thoughts when he was around her.
He was becoming increasingly annoyed with himself
"Well I guess everything's settled, any questions or anything you want me to clear up for you?"
"…no I'm okay."
"Alright, you can go."
Tea got up out of the chair and started heading for the door.
"Oh one more thing Gardner."
She turned around.
"Sometimes I work late, since you work directly under me I'll need you to stay after regular working hours as well. Will that be a problem for you?"
"Exactly how late are you talking about?"
"That depends on how much work I have, it shouldn't be any later than about 7.00pm."
"Oh, okay no problem."
She was used to working late hours thanks to her job at the restaurant.
"Will I have to stay late today?"
"I'll let you know."
Tea left his office feeling a bit worn out. Yami was really starting to get to her.
Outside, Tea walked over to the fairly large reception desk and stepped behind it. There were about four large piles of disorganized folders and loose documents sitting on the floor next to the chair. Just Great. There was nothing Tea hated more than filing.
Sighing heavily she sat herself down and leaned over to pick up the first stack of folders.
The entire day went by fairly quickly. She managed to get everything done by four that afternoon, despite the splitting headache she developed later on in the day. Kaiba was even nice enough to give her an aspirin. She guessed that he really needed those documents filed, other wise hell would freeze over before he was so generous. Then again he did give her this job when he easily could have gotten somebody else. Maybe Kaiba wasn't as horrible as she thought he was.
She was glad when he told her that she wouldn't have to stay after hours today, mainly due to the fact that she wasn't feeling very well. She wasn't too eager to head home, too afraid that Yami would be waiting at her door. But her headache was comming back and she needed some rest.
4:30pmTea was walking across the Kaiba corp. parking lot feeling rather worn out and slightly miserable. The aspirin seemed to be wearing off as her headache started acting up again. She was starting to believe that she was getting immune to headache medication. Her constant worrying about Yami wasn't helping her situation either. She couldn't believe that she was actually considering accepting him back into her life. He did seem really sorry for what happened between them. She sighed as she pulled her hair tie out of her hair letting it fall loose. It was so unfair; she knew her loneliness would cloud her judgment. Just then she noticed a red posh looking sports car heading in her direction. She stared, confused as it slowed to a stop in front of her. She wasn't surprised to see Kaiba in the driver's seat; he was entitled to such luxuries; however she was surprised about him stopping for her.
"Get in Gardner; you're in no condition to be traveling on your own."
Her head was spinning but that didn't prevent her from noticing just how good he looked in that car.
"Kaiba I'm perfectly capable of …"
"Would you just get in the damn car. I'm taking you home whether you like it or not."
There was no use arguing with him when his mind was made up. Mumbling her disapproval under her breath, she walked around the front of the car and opened the passenger door. She sat down and closed it. Kaiba didn't even look at her as he drove off out of the parking lot. Tea couldn't help but feel grateful for the ride but she didn't understand why he was being so nice to her. He sent the windows all the way up and put on the air-conditioner.
"So how's the head trauma?"
"It's starting to act up again."
"Leave it to you Gardner, to fall sick on your first day working for me."
"I'm not sick; I just have a really bad Headache."
"Right."
Tea loved the way it felt inside his car. There was a new and comfortable feel to it.
"So other than that how was your first day at Kaiba Corp?"
"It was fine"
"Well don't expect things to be so easy tomorrow."
"Ya I know."
She sounded a bit withdrawn as she spoke.
Kaiba glanced at her for a second. She looked exhausted as she turned to look out the window. He decided not to say anything further, despite his acute interest in certain matters.
Tea stared out the window watching the buildings go by as they drove through the city in silence. She thought about Yami, her parents, her uncle, everyone who at one time or the other let her down and left her alone in the world. She hated her weakness, why couldn't she just let go of the past and move on with her life?
Kaiba tried his best to push his thoughts about the girl sitting next to him aside but he couldn't. He kept his eyes focused on the road, not wanting to look at her.
Tea was still staring out the window as they finally approached her apartment building, her anxiety about Yami resurfacing, causing her throbbing headache to increase in size.
As Kaiba stopped the car at the front of the building he turned to look at her. She looked like she was lost in her thoughts again. What on earth could she be thinking about? Was it Yami? Damn it, Why was he so curious about this? She felt his eyes on her and turned to look at him.
"Thanks for the ride."
"Just try not to get sick tomorrow."
She smiled.
"I'll try."
Kaiba thought he saw something in her eyes as she looked up at him. Was it worry? Or was it longing? Maybe it was both. At that moment he felt an uncontrollable urge to kiss her.
But she was already opening the door. As she climbed out he had to tighten his grip on the staring wheel in order to stop himself from pulling her back.
He watched her until she disappeared behind the front door of the apartment building.
He swore under his breath as he drove off. What the hell was wrong with him? If he continued feeling like this who knows what would happen next time.
Back To The Top
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter six:
Curiosity
Tea struggled to find her keys at the bottom of her purse, relieved to see that Yami wasn't anywhere in sight. She stood at her door fishing in her purse, until she finally bunged her fingers around her keys.Moments later she was inside the comfort of her apartment in desperate need of a shower and some chocolate ice-cream. Ice-cream always had a way of making her feel better. Her head was still spinning as she walked into her bedroom.
She sat at the edge of her bed as she pulled off her shoes. She was way too young to be feeling so frustrated and worn out. And she definitely needed to do something about her headache. She headed to her bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. Aside from her regular toiletries there wasn't much else in there, least of all headache medication.
She decided that she had no choice but to go down to the drugstore and get herself some more aspirin.
After taking a quick shower she changed into something more comfortable and headed back out of her apartment.
She looked at her watch as she walked down the sidewalk; it was still rather early; only 6:30.
Luckily the drugstore was only about a block away other wise she would have to take a cab. She really needed to get a car.
As she neared her destination she found that for some reason she was starting to think about Kaiba. Her headache must be interfering with her thought process. She knew she was attracted to him physically, most girls were, but to actually have some kind of crush on him on a deeper level was completely absurd. Wasn't it?
When she finally entered the drugstore her head was spiraling out of control. She needed to get back home as soon as possible.
She bought one bottle of aspirin and got out as hastily as she came in.
All she needed to do now was to get to her apartment.
As she walked along the sidewalk again, annoyingly enough her thoughts fell right back onto Seto Kaiba. Crap, this stupid headache.
When she was finally home she headed straight for the kitchen. She filled a glass with water from the faucet, popped two of the Aspirin in her mouth and washed it down immediately. After that she headed to her living room and sat down on the couch to watch a little T.V. She grabbed one of the small cushions and hugged it to her body as she flipped through the channels.
After about half an hour her headache finally started to ease up. She was still pretty worried about Yami showing up at her door but she decided not to think about it too much. She needed to clear her thoughts if she wanted her headache to stop.
After she had her fill of some of her favorite shows, she decided to call it a night. She definitely needed some rest if she wanted a lucid frame of mind in the morning. And she knew Kaiba wouldn't be as kind to her tomorrow as he was to her today.
With her mind in a torrent she climbed into bed and fell asleep shortly after.
The next day at Kaiba Corp went by just as quickly as the last, without the damper of a splitting headache. Tea had managed to put on a sunny disposition through out the entire day despite the glum state of her heart. She had tried extremely hard to keep Yami as far away from her thoughts as possible and was surprisingly more successful at it than she thought she would be.Kaiba was definitely a man of his word, just as he had promised he had loaded her with errands and almost made her faint at the amount of files he dropped on her desk that morning. So by quitting time she was pretty worn out. This is why she wasn't too happy when Kaiba informed her that she would have to stay a few extra hours with him at the office. He needed her to organize a number of important documents for a meeting he had the next day. Oh joy another three hours with Seto Kaiba.
5:30pm (Kaiba's office)
Kaiba's fingers moved swiftly across the keys of his laptop as he tried to keep his mind focused on his work. His concentration levels were lower than usual and he knew exactly why they were. Tea was sitting on the leather couch only a few feet away from him busily flipping through documents and files that still needed to be sorted out. Kaiba knew she was hiding something but he wasn't really sure what it was.
He glimpsed at her just as she was trying to reach one of the research files on top of his bookshelf. It looked like she was having a fairly hard time, it was pretty high up after all. Sighing to himself he decided to give her some help.
"You know if you wanted some help all you had to do was ask."
Tea was startled as he appeared at her side.
Kaiba retrieved the book with ease and handed it to her. She took it from him feeling a bit silly.
"I didn't want to disturb you."
Kaiba felt his baser instincts taking control of his body again as he looked down at her. They were standing pretty close and he could sense her uneasiness. He wondered what she was thinking as she stared back up at him.
"Next time just ask"
With that said he headed back over to his desk. He was starting to get irritated, more so with himself than anything else. Could he be getting soft? Something was bothering her, but why was that bothering him?
He had to do something about this, but what? His concentration didn't get any better as he resumed his work, in fact it got worse. He sighed inwardly as he dragged his eyes from the lap top to look at Tea again. She was flipping through the file he had just handed to her, but she looked as though she was looking straight through the pages, as if her mind was on something else.
He stared at the screen of his lap top, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't know what was going on with him but he decided that it had to stop and the only way to do that was to satisfy his impending curiosity before it ate him alive. He wasn't sure how he was going to do that but somehow he would find a way.
He forced himself to continue his work in silence, for the rest of the evening.
7:00pmKaiba managed to convince Tea to let him give her a ride to her apartment again despite all of her protests. Tea had barely said a word to him all evening. Again he was both annoyed and confused as to why that was suddenly a bad thing.
By the time they had driven only half of the distance Kaiba decided to take matters into his own hands. This new concern for Tea was getting old and he needed to regain some of his sanity. He glimpsed at her as she stared out the window.
"Why so quiet Gardner?"
"I just don't feel like talking."
She sounded exhausted and withdrawn, much unlike the Tea he had known back in high school.
"humph, I never thought I'd see the day that you didn't have anything to say."
"Well there's a first time for everything."
Now he knew something was wrong for sure, the Tea he knew would never let him get away with a statement like that one.
He decided to push the conversation further to see where he could take it, hopefully in the direction of some answers.
"Any particular reason you don't feel like talking? Or… could it be you just don't feel like talking to me?"
"No, Its not that, I just feel tired that's all."
"That's bullshit."
Tea turned to look at him, a little annoyed
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean why don't you just stop sugar coating everything for once and just admit that you just don't feel like talking to me in particular."
It wasn't his intention to get her agitated but his only goal at the moment was to get some answers. So he was prepared to say or do what was necessary to get them
"What are you talking about? Look its not you, I'm tired, I don't feel like talking, is that so hard to understand?"
"In your case , it is hard to understand…"
"Kaiba, what do you care if I don't say anything anyway."
"Actually I don't care; I just want you to admit that I'm the reason you're not saying anything. It's obvious to anyone with eyes that you despise me Gardner."
Tea was getting aggravated.
" What? I never said I despise you…"
Tea saw the smirk pulling over his lips and immediately wished she could erase what she had just said.
"So does that mean you like me then?"
"No, it doesn't mean anything."
"You sure about that?"
"I know this might be a shock to you but I'm not one of your little fan girls, if that's what you're suggesting."
She turned to stare out the window again, clearly trying to evade their conversation.
But Kaiba wasn't about to let her off the hook that easily. He knew he had to keep pushing her if he wanted some insight.
"Actually I'm not shocked; you seem to be more of a Yami fan to me."
Kaiba knew he was threading on thin ice now but he needed to know if his suspicions were true or if he was just being paranoid. He paid close attention to her response.
"I'm nobody's fan girl, least of all his."
She sounded a little bitter, as if she was speaking more to herself than to him.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't he your boyfriend at one time, and by the way you acted when he showed up at your door the other day, I'd say fan is an understatement."
Tea suddenly became very angry and very hurt all at the same time. She knew Kaiba had no idea what had really happened between her and Yami, but he still had no business talking about it as if it were a joke.
She turned to look at him feeling her temper rise
"Kaiba you don't know anything about me or Yami, so why don't you go mind someone else's business."
Kaiba noticed the sudden change in her tone which confirmed his initial assumption right away. Just what the hell did that asshole do to her?
He glimpsed at her again, she was looking straight ahead but she was fiddling with her purse. She looked down at her fingers, clearly trying to hold back tears.
Kaiba felt a pang of guilt wash over him as he pulled his eyes back to the road. He felt like a jerk, he should've known that Yami would be too much of a touchy subject for her.
After a few minutes of silence they finally arrived at her apartment building. He switched the engine off and turned to look her. She was already scrambling to get out of the car, when he gently grabbed her by the arm, preventing her from getting up out of her seat.
"Look …Tea…I didn't mean to upset you."
She was thrown completely off guard by the tenderness in his voice. She turned to stare back at him noticing that his eyes were a little softer than they usually were. She felt intimidated looking up at him at such a proximity. She didn't quite know how to respond, all she wanted was to get out of the car, she didn't want him to see how upset she was but she knew it was already too late.
Kaiba's concern for her rose as he looked at her, her eyes were glistening and it was obvious that she had a lot on her mind. He waited for her to speak.
"I… I'm not upset ok…"
"But you are…I can tell…"
She didn't give him a chance to say anything further
"Ok fine I'm upset…..but it's not your fault or your problem ok."
Her voice was soft and her eyes were slowly filling up with tears as she spoke.
"I know it's not my problem …."
He leaned in closer and wiped the first trace of a tear from her eyes with his thumb.
"…but I shouldn't have said what I said ok."
She felt her heartbeat speeding up as she felt him touch her face. She didn't say anything, trying hard to pry her eyes away from his, but was surprised to find that she couldn't.
What in the world was going on here?
She felt vulnerable as she stared up at him with teary eyes. Why was he being so nice to her?
But before Kaiba could say another word, she gently pulled away from his touch. He moved back slightly studying her expression. She looked a little frightened and even more upset than before. He felt his guilt return full throttle.
When she spoke her voice was calm but he knew she was anything but.
" I… I really need to go ok, I'm tired."
Despite his concern for her Kaiba decided it best not to press her anymore. His little attempt to eliminate his curiosity had somehow back fired; horribly.
He started the engine again as he watched her climb out of the car deciding that it was better if he didn't say anything further. What was he thinking? he should have never let his curiosity get the better of him. He drove off after watching her walk to the door feeling even more annoyed with himself than the day before.
Tea shut the door to the front entrance of her apartment building as she heard Kaiba drive off down the street. She kept her hand on the door knob, feeling distraught and a little perplexed. What the hell was that about? Her heart was still racing as she tried in vain to steady her thoughts.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter seven:
A rainy invitation.
The rest of the week went by comparatively slow.Tea was a little reluctant to face Kaiba after what had happened between them on Tuesday night but fortunately he didn't appear to be affected by it too much. In fact, he acted as though nothing happened at all. A reaction Tea was more than grateful for.
Actually, Kaiba was barely even in his office for the rest of the week, being occupied with quite a few business deals and corporate ventures.
Luckily she didn't have to tag along with him every where he went, she much preferred being swamped with paper work safe and sound behind her desk than to have to be left alone with Kaiba all day. She was still confused as to why he had been so nice to her but for whatever reason, she had a strong feeling that his curiosity about her life, in particular Yami, would somehow resurface.
Friday 5:30 pmIt was raining buckets and Tea had been practically stranded at Kaiba Corp. headquarters for more than half an hour. She looked at her watch and sighed. Typical that Kaiba would pick a day like this one to be out of office, she definitely wouldn't have objected to getting a ride to her apartment today. As she stood at the front entrance of the building, she peered out into the heavy curtain of rain looking for any sign of hope.
Just then she managed to make out a very familiar black Limo pulling to a stop directly in front of the steps before her. What? Is that Kaiba's limo? I thought he was at a meeting.
She squinted her eyes to peer through the torrent and to her pleasant surprise, saw Mokuba waving at her from behind the window. She heard him shouting over the heavy down pour.
"Hey Tea, looks like you could use a ride."
She couldn't have been happier to see him. She smiled appreciatively, but hesitated before heading out.
She heard his voice pierce through the rain again.
"Come on, you'll have to make a run for it"
She looked down at her shoes with a slightly worried expression. Great day to be wearing heels Tea.
After a few more seconds of hesitation she braced herself and rushed out into the rain. She was a little careful running down the steps however; deciding that getting soaked was much better than twisting her ankle.
When she made it to the limo Mokuba hastily opened the door to let her in. She was soaking wet and freezing by the time she sat down.
As they drove off she started to recover some of her composure. Mokuba offered her a blanket from one of the compartments for her to dry herself off. She took it from him feeling extremely grateful.
"Thanks Mokuba, you're a life saver."
"No problem Tea."
"So did you come to see your brother?"
"Yeah, I didn't know he was at another meeting."
"Well he has been pretty busy these days."
"Tell me about it, I hardly even see him anymore; and when I do see him he's got his face stuck behind a laptop."
"Well that's Kaiba for you."
"I guess so."
Mokuba sighed and looked out the window. He looked like he was pondering a math problem. After a few seconds of silence he turned to look at her, a sparkle in his eyes.
"So Tea, are you busy right now?"
"..No not really. Why?"
"Well I was just going to get a bite to eat; and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me?"
Tea considered his invitation for a minute. She didn't really have anything to do for the rest of the evening and she really could've used a chance to unwind.
"You know what Mokuba that sounds like fun."
"Really?"
"Sure why not."
Mokuba's face lit up.
"Alright then it's my treat."
6:00pmTea watched as Mokuba took a big bite out of his slice of pepperoni pizza. He had taken her to one of the nicest pizza joints in the city.
The rain was still falling outside but it had slowed up a bit. Tea was already full by the time she had finished her third slice of pizza. She slurped down the remainder of her milkshake as she waited for Mokuba to finish his last slice.
She smiled as he slouched back against the chair patting his stomach as if he had just eaten a whale.
Tea put her cup back on the table.
"Well looks like you were hungry."
"A growing boy needs his nourishment."
She smiled warmly at him. He was so sweet and so easy to talk to; it was hard to believe that he and Kaiba actually shared the same bloodlines.
"So Tea..."
He sat back up as if he were ready to clench a business deal.
"...I need your opinion on something."
"My opinion?"
He nodded courteously.
"Ok, sure"
"K…. well you know that Seto's always busy right."
"How could I not know, I work for the guy now."
"Exactly, so you know as well as I do that he seriously needs a break from his work right."
"Well I guess so, but I think he actually enjoys being a workaholic."
"Come on Tea no one likes to be overworked, even Seto, that's why I want to try to convince him to take a vacation."
"A vacation? I'm not an expert on your brother Mokuba but I don't think that Kaiba's into relaxing."
"I know he'll be tough to convince but I have to try. He needs a break but he's too stubborn to realize it."
Mokuba stared at her as if he wanted to know what she was thinking. She could see that he was really concerned about his brother.
" You know what Mokuba I think that's a great idea, Kaiba definitely needs a vacation and you should try your best to convince him."
"You think so."
"Sure"
Mokuba smiled; apparently quite satisfied that she agreed with him.
"Thanks Tea, I really needed a second opinion."
" No problem, Glad I could help; besides, while your brother's away I wouldn't have to go to any of his business meets, so it'll work out good for everyone."
"Well Um actually Tea, that brings me to my next question."
She noticed that he looked a little reluctant to ask.
"Oh ok what is it?"
"Well... I was kinda hoping that...uh...maybe you could ...come with us."
Tea almost fell off her chair.
"What? You can't be serious."
"Actually I am, I wouldn't feel right leaving you here alone while me and Seto are lounging on a beach somewhere."
Tea suddenly felt a sinking feeling creep into her stomach.
"Mokuba, you and Kaiba are family, I wouldn't feel right...I'd feel like I was Intruding or something."
"Tea you're like a big sister to me there's no way you'd be intruding."
"But what about your brother, how will he feel about me going with you guys."
"Oh he wouldn't mind, besides I think he likes you."
Tea felt an instant rush of heat rise to her cheeks.
"Likes me?"
"Yep, I know my brother Tea."
"Mokuba, that's insane, Kaiba does not like me."
"Ok, if you say so."
Mokuba didn't say anything further about it, but he knew that his brother always had a soft spot for Tea, even if he wouldn't be caught dead admitting it to any one.
"Any way Mokuba, I still don't think I should go with you guys."
"Come on Tea, It'll be fun."
Tea sighed as she looked at Mokuba not knowing what to do. A vacation didn't sound half bad, her only discouragement was Kaiba.
"Tell you what, why don't you talk to your brother and see what he has to say about it first okay?"
"Well okay, but if I talk to him and he agrees, do you promise to come with us?"
Tea wasn't sure if she should agree but one look at Mokuba's innocent face sent her hesitation crashing helplessly to the floor.
"…Okay, I promise."
Tea left the pizza parlour with Mokuba feeling a little bit uneasy, what had she gotten herself into? Obviously she should have given the situation a little more thought before promising anything. But it couldn't be helped now, she already made her promise and there was no way that she was going to break it. Hopefully
It was already 7:30pm when she opened the door to her apartment. She had gotten drenched all over again running from the limo to her apartment building. She needed to dry herself off and get out of her working clothes if she wanted to avoid catching a fever. Although she knew it might already be too late for that.As she walked into her bedroom she put her keys and her purse onto the dresser. She stepped out of her shoes and started fiddling with her wet hair. As she did her mind suddenly wandered back to what Mokuba had said during their little talk.
For some reason that simple statement he had made about Kaiba liking her kept popping into her head.
The very idea of Kaiba liking her was absolutely ridiculous... Wasn't it?
She knew he had always acted a little differently with her compared to the way he acted around Yugi and the others; he had even saved her life once but that didn't mean anything; it can't, he's Seto Kaiba.
But her memory kept floating back to the night in the car, where he had touched her and made her heart leap. Where he seemed so different, so gentle and somehow caring. But before letting her mind slip away she reminded herself that he was only doing what anyone would have done in a situation like that. She was upset and his guilt had gotten the better of him, that's all it was, that's all it could've been.
What was the matter with her? She was confused; did it really matter that much how Kaiba felt about her?
Damn it, she was driving herself insane; you'd think she had a crush on him or something.
She sighed as she sat down on the bed, finalizing her thoughts as she unbuttoned her jacket.
(Kaiba Mansion) 8:30pmKaiba took a sip of his coffee as he concentrated on the computer screen in front of him. As usual he was trying to get an early start on his workload for the following week.
Despite his strong focus however his mind suddenly started drifting toward Tea. He wondered if she was alright and if that son of a bitch Yami was still bothering her. It worried him that she had gotten so upset the other night and he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since; much to his aggravation. He had scolded himself more times than he could count for letting her see just how concerned he was about her but for some reason he felt as though he had done the right thing. She was obviously going through a difficult time.
Feeling extremely annoyed with himself for being so easily distracted he dove back into his work determined to drive her out of his mind.
He was Seto Kaiba and he couldn't and wouldn't allow himself to fall into such a petty state.
Just then he heard a light knock on his door. He looked up and saw Mokuba standing in the doorway.
"Hey Seto, can I come in?"
"Sure kiddo."
Mokuba walked into the room looking a bit nervous. Kaiba knew his brother well enough to know that something was up.
"Is something wrong?"
Mokuba stopped directly in front of Kaiba's desk.
"Well not exactly, I just have something I want to ask you."
Kaiba leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, a bit curious as to why Mokuba was so uneasy.
"I'm listening."
"Well you see Seto…. I was wondering, since the summer's almost over…... if we could go on a real vacation before school starts."
"…a vacation?"
"Yeah, I know you're busy but can't you just take a break from all your work for just a week or two?"
Kaiba sighed as he stared at Mokuba, not knowing what to do.
"Mokuba you know how I feel about vacations."
"I know but can't you make an exception just this once…please… besides big brother; you look like you could use a break from all your work anyway."
Kaiba didn't want to admit it but he knew his brother was right; he had been working extra hard for the past few days. The only problem was that he hated vacations, especially at this time of year.
But then again he loved his brother and they hadn't been on a real vacation in years. Maybe he should make an exception and give the kid a break this time.
He sighed in defeat as he looked at Mokuba's eager face.
"...Okay, fine, I'll take you."
Mokuba smiled in surprise.
"Really Seto?"
"Sure, why not."
"Awesome!"
Kaiba resumed his work on the computer.
"So where exactly do you want to go?"
"…hmm I was thinking, maybe a beach resort?"
A beach resort? Great.
Kaiba hated the beach but he didn't want to say anything to put a damper on Mokuba's mood.
"Ok if that's what you want."
Mokuba took a silent breath and gathered himself for the second faze of his request.
"Uh Seto, I have another question I'd like to ask you."
Kaiba pulled his eyes away from the computer screen and looked at Mokuba.
"…Another question?"
"...Yeah."
"...Okay, what is it?"
"Um, I was just wondering if...uh...
Mokuba braced himself before saying the rest.
"…if Tea could come with us?"
Kaiba's fingers slipped over the keys.
"What? Did you just say TEA?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Mokuba, are you out of your mind? And what makes you think Gardner would even want to come with us?"
"Well, I kinda sorta asked her already and..."
"You asked her?"
"Yeah I did and she said she would come with us but only if it was okay with you."
Kaiba felt obliged to simply refuse all together; but there was something rather alluring about the idea of having Tea practically all to himself for the rest of the summer. Damn it, get a grip!
"Well Seto, can she come with us?"
Kaiba looked at his brother's innocent face, feeling a bit indecisive. He thought about it for a few seconds. Maybe he should take her with them, at least then he wouldn't have to worry about that spiky haired asshole causing her any more trouble for the time being. Crap, he was definitely getting too soft for his own good. He folded his arms and stared thoughtfully at his brother.
"Humph, I think I'll just have to pay Gardner a little visit tomorrow."
Mokuba gulped.
"You really think that's necessary?"
"Sure it is; I need to hear what she has to say about all this."
"Ok big brother."
Kaiba switched his attention back to the screen in front of him already searching for a suitable five star beach resort. He wanted to get this vacation thing over and done with as soon as possible. When he found what he was looking for he flipped out his cell phone and dialed the number for the Oceanview Hotel and Beach Resort.
Mokuba watched as Kaiba made their reservations feeling a bit apprehensive.
"Uh Seto don't you think you should wait until Tea actually agrees to come along with us before making reservations for three?"
Kaiba snapped his cell phone shut and looked at his brother, a mischievous smirk pulling over his lips.
"Don't worry Mokuba I'll make sure she doesn't go back on her word."
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter eight:
Dejavu city
Saturday 8:30amTea was in a miserable state. Her nose was stuffy and her temperature was a little above average. She was curled up on the couch with a cup of herbal tea in her hand, flipping through the TV channels with no particular interest.
She knew that she would've caught a cold by the way she had gotten soaked yesterday but luckily it wasn't as bad as she expected. Hopefully with her mom's special herbal tea remedy she would be back on her feet by Sunday. She listened to the rain falling outside, trying her best to keep her thoughts clear.
As she was feeling a bit chilly she had put on her blue night robe over her regular clothes to keep in some warmth. She clinched the soft fabric around her as she took a sip of the sour tasting tea.
Just then there was a steady knock on her door. She almost spilled the contents of the cup as she looked up from the television. Her worst thoughts immediately took control. What if it was Yami? She definitely didn't want to deal with him in her current state. She stood up from the couch and reluctantly headed for the door. With a deep breath she peered into the peep whole. Her anxiety suddenly turned to relief which quickly turned to exasperation as she saw who was standing there.
She unlocked her door and swung it open, finding herself staring up at Kaiba.
"….What are you doing here?"
"Good morning to you too."
Tea only stared back at him with a confused look on her face. What on earth could he be doing at her apartment at this hour? She searched her memory for any trace of an explanation. Did she somehow mess up at work?
She felt a little uneasy looking up at him, he looked a little irritated and she noticed that his hair and coat were a little damp from the rain. Whatever it was it had to be important for him to come all this way.
"Are you gonna let me in or not?"
Tea sighed and stepped aside
"Fine."
Kaiba walked past her and waited for her to close the door behind her before speaking.
"Are you sick or something?"
"Yeah, just a cold."
She walked past him and gestured for him to follow.
He did so without hesitation as she led him to the living room.
She sat down in the same spot that she was sitting in before and continued flipping the channels as if he wasn't there.
"So why are you here again?"
"Well..."
He took a seat on the single couch opposite the one she was sitting on.
"I'm here because of the promise you made to my brother."
Tea immediately stopped flipping through the channels. She had completely forgotten about that.
Kaiba saw the look of unexpected surprise on her face and couldn't help feeling complacently satisfied at her reaction. He liked having the upper hand.
"What's the matter, don't tell me you forgot your promise already? Maybe you really are suffering from short term memory loss."
He made no attempt to hide his teasing demeanor.
Tea didn't exactly know what to say and had to take a few seconds to respond. When she finally spoke she was looking a bit anxious.
"So this is about me… actually... going with you guys on your vacation?"
"That was what you agreed to right?"
"…Yeah, but…"
"But, let me guess; now you want to go back on your word?"
"…Well… no… not exactly, it's just…. I didn't think that you would actually agree to let me come along…"
"Humph, don't get ahead of yourself, I only agreed for Mokuba."
He knew all too well that that wasn't exactly the case, but he couldn't afford to let her know his true motives. He had already revealed some of his concern for her once before and that was more than enough for him. At least for now.
Tea looked a bit nervous.
"Well if you have a problem with me going then…."
"Look it doesn't matter to me whether you go or not ok, I wouldn't even be going on this vacation if it wasn't for Mokuba so you'll be doing it for him, not for me Gardner."
"But I… I can't possibly… I mean it wouldn't be right..."
Kaiba knew it was the thought of spending a vacation with him that was making her nervous. Was that good or bad? He couldn't decide.
"Well you should've thought about all that before you made any promises to my brother; and seeing as I'm your boss, you really don't have a choice in the matter."
His brashness caught her off guard. She looked at him with an incredulous glare.
"Are you threatening me?"
"Not at all."
His slightly malicious smirk said other wise.
She gave him an 'I can't believe you' look as she reached for her cup of tea.
"….Well for your information, I am going to keep my promise to Mokuba, so you don't have to resort to petty threats Mr. Kaiba."
Kaiba made little to no attempt to hide his amusement. He had always found her to be especially cute when she was telling him off.
"Glad to hear you're finally using some of your brain cells for once."
Tea bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything as she felt her aggravation mounting. He was such a jerk, ugh, how could she have possibly thought he had changed?
She felt his eyes on her as she took a sip of her tea. And why the heck was he making her feel so on edge?
Damn this stupid cold.
She put the cup back onto the table feeling irritated.
"So… where exactly are we going?"
"Mokuba wanted to go to a beach resort so I made reservations for Monday at the Oceanview."
The Oceanview? That was one of the most expensive and most luxurious hotels around. It was practically impossible to get reservations there at such short notice
Tea looked a bit baffled
"…Monday?... as in… this Monday? "
"Yea, the sooner the better."
Wow, Kaiba definitely knew how to pull strings.
"So I'll expect you to be ready by 7:00 am sharp on Monday morning, we'll be traveling by jet."
"…you mean… in one of your private jets?"
"Obviously Gardner"
Tea felt awkward again. Why was this so hard to swallow? She just couldn't come to terms with the fact that she was actually going on a vacation with the Kaiba brothers. She picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels again.
"…And how long are we going to be staying there?"
"Two weeks."
Two weeks? That was like a lifetime.
Her head was starting to hurt. Great leave it up to Kaiba to make her feel worse.
Kaiba kept his eyes on her mainly because he couldn't seem to keep them off. She looked so cute sitting there with that worried look on her face. Was he really that unpleasant to be around? He thought about it for a second Oh yea, he was.
Tea sighed as she put her hand to her head; she was starting to feel a bit queasy. She slowly stood up from the couch.
"Ok, don't mean to be rude or anything but you really have to go now."
Kaiba stood up as well and stared at her, trying hard to hide his worry. He noticed that she was looking exhausted.
"Kicking me out already?"
Tea started walking out of the living room meaning for him to follow.
"Sorry, but I really don't feel well."
Tea felt her energy draining. She needed to rest if she had any hopes of getting better by Monday.
Kaiba didn't say anything as he followed close behind her. For some reason he was bit apprehensive about leaving her alone.
Seconds later they were at the door.
"Are you gonna be ok?"
Damn it why did he have to be so soft around her.
Tea turned to face him, surprised by his question
"…Yeah, I'll be fine."
She stared up at him feeling uneasy and wondering why he was suddenly so concerned about her well being.
Kaiba's thoughts took a turn down the compassionate path again as he looked down at her, much to his dismay. Why did she have so much power over his feelings?
Tea pulled her eyes away from his spellbinding ocean blues and turned to open the door. She felt her headache worsen as Kaiba walked past her and out into the hallway.
"Ok Gardner, just remember, 7:00am sharp on Monday, I'll send a limo over to pick you up."
Tea nodded, feeling like a kid at school.
As she watched him leave she couldn't help feeling a little worse than before. She sighed hopelessly as she shut the door. What had she gotten herself into?
Kaiba walked out into the light drizzle, looking up at the grey sky; by the looks of it they were in for a stormy night. He walked briskly toward his car, running his fingers through his wet hair as he got in.
When he was seated he glanced up at Tea's apartment building as he turned the engine on. As he drove off, his thoughts wandered back to her, he hoped that she was alright and that she would be ok for Monday. His original intentions were to keep her as far away from Yami as possible, but now there was something more, the need to keep her closer to himself. He sighed as he drove through the rain. When did he lose himself? How on earth did he get so damn soft?
Sunday 10:30amTea stepped into the air-conditioned drug store. She was feeling much better than yesterday but she decided it best to get some more medicine just in case her illness started acting up later on; Lord knows she needed all of her strength on Monday in order to put up with Kaiba's ego. She was glad that the weather had cleared up a bit that morning. It was nice to have the warmth of the sun again.
She found that her mind was starting to drift. She was still rather confused as to why Kaiba had been so nice to her back at her apartment but she couldn't help the blush creeping up to her cheeks at the thought. Could he really have some ounce of feelings for her? No that's crazy. She tried her best to push her thoughts away with little success. She felt a profound knot forming at the pit of her stomach as she thought of the vacation. Will she be able to survive that long with him? Will he drive her insane before the two weeks were up? It was hard enough being around him for eight hours at work everyday, how will she survive this? Not only that, but she was starting to feel more attracted to him. She sighed inwardly at her girlish absurdity as she bought what she needed at the counter. Why the heck did he have to be so gorgeous anyway? She felt even sillier as she paid the cashier for the medicine. She definitely needed to stop thinking so much, if she continued this way she would give herself a headache for sure. She smiled politely at the old cashier and was just about to turn around when she heard someone speak behind her. She recognized the voice straight away.
"Hello Tea."
She was more than a little reluctant to turn around but nevertheless did. She felt her heart rate speeding up as she found herself staring back at Yami who was standing right behind her, a pleasing smile on his face.
"…Yami?..."
" Hi, surprised to see me?"
Tea clenched her fingers around the strap of her purse.
"I… I don't… I mean, what are you doing here?"
"I told you I'd be back didn't I?"
"Well, yea …..But I wasn't expecting you to…."
Yami noticed the cashier staring at them. He stepped closer to her and lowered his voice.
"Look Tea, let's just go somewhere and talk ok."
Tea felt slightly nauseated, she wasn't prepared for this. She didn't want this, not now; but what could she possibly do?
She didn't know how to respond. As he stared down at her she felt her will power slipping. How could he still have so much power over her?
He lowered his voice even more as he came closer and put his hand on her waist, gently nudging her with him.
"Come on lets go ok."
Tea felt herself resisting but her words were frozen. For some reason she couldn't say no to him and she couldn't pull away.
She walked with him out of the drug store feeling hesitant and upset.
When they were finally outside, Yami turned to face her.
"Tea, I really need to talk to you…"
"Yami what … could we possibly have to talk about?"
Yami noticed right away just how distraught she looked. He had hoped that she would be willing to at least hear him out when he returned but apparently he was wrong.
"Tea, don't be like this…."
"How do you expect me to be? I told you before…you can't expect me to just…"
"Look, I just need to talk to you ok; I have some things I'd like to explain."
Tea stared at him with hurt, weary eyes. She couldn't allow this happen, he was going to try to ease his way back into her life.
"Yami I…"
"Please Tea, just give me a few minutes of your time, that's all I'm asking."
Tea stared at him as a cold gust of wind blew past them. The sun was just starting to disappear behind a thin layer of clouds lining the sky, how typical.
They both looked up at the darkening sky.
"Come on, it's gonna rain soon, lets go somewhere and talk ok."
Tea didn't say anything, she just watched him with a worried expression. She didn't know what to do.
She sighed as she reluctantly walked with him to his car, which was parked across the street.
11:15 am (Coffee shop)Kaiba checked his watch as he entered the coffee house. He was in one of his bad moods again; he had gone to Kaiba corp. to tie up some last minute business deals before having to leave on Monday. The whole vacation deal was giving him a major headache, but for Mokuba he was willing to endure it. He was glad that the café was practically empty as he walked over to the counter to get himself a cup of coffee. He still had a few things to take care of back at the office and he wasn't too happy about it. He needed to finish his workload before he left tomorrow, of course he could easily take his work with him to the beach but knowing Mokuba there would be nothing of the sort. As he waited at the counter his eyes wandered to one of the tables at the far corner of the room.
What the hell.
He frowned as he stared at the two persons sitting at the table. He looked closer to confirm what he thought he saw.
Is that Tea…..and…..Yami?
Kaiba felt a dangerous swell of anger welling up inside him as he turned to take the cup of coffee from the flustered young woman at the counter. He stood with the coffee in his hands not knowing what he should do or if he should do anything at all. It was none of his business after all right. But none of his reasons seemed plausible enough to keep his anger at bay. All he wanted to do at that moment was to go over there and punch Yami square in the face. He looked over at them, paying close attention to Tea's expression. She was looking a bit nervous and her frustration was more than apparent. His irritation increased as he stared at her. He wasn't exactly sure what he should do. Should he really go over there? He kept reminding himself that it wasn't his business to get involved, but then again, maybe he should make it his business.
Besides, how could he pass up an opportunity to disrupt one of his most hated rivals?
Tea took a sip of her smoothie as she tried to gather herself. She glanced out the window, looking at the light drizzle; a million and one thoughts swimming through her mind. Yami was staring at her from across the opposite end of the table and she couldn't help feeling extremely uncomfortable.She put her cup back on the table and reluctantly met his gaze.
"…Ok, now can you tell me what this is all about."
"Tea, Look….. I know I've hurt you before..."
Tea fiddled with her purse resting on her lap as she listened to him speak.
"..But I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
Tea was trying hard to keep her emotions under control. Every word that came out of Yami's mouth seemed to pierce her heart.
"…I, I can forgive you Yami …but I… can't forget what you did."
Yami looked intently at her. She was looking almost too hurt to talk about it.
"Look, I didn't mean for any of that to happen, I don't know what I was thinking Tea."
"…I really don't see the point in us talking about the past Yami."
Tea noticed that Yami's expression changed slightly. He looked a bit mad that she had said that.
"All I wanted to do was apologize Tea, I didn't get a chance before you came to the city…."
"..And after I accept your apology, then what?"
"Well I thought that you…"
But before Yami could say anything further he was interrupted by a voice he knew all too well.
"Well, well, what a surprise?"
Both Tea and Yami looked up to see Kaiba looming over them, a smirk on his face and a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Tea looked up at him surprised. She felt her uneasiness increasing considerably. This was definitely not good.
Back To The Top
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter nine:
A Silver Lining
It
was raining buckets as Mokuba stared out the limousine window. He was
waiting patiently for his brother to return from the coffee house but
was just now starting to get impatient. What was taking Seto so long anyway? He sighed quietly to himself as he traced the letters of his name along the frosted glass.Meanwhile (coffee shop)
Tea stared up at Kaiba, a perplexed expression on her face. What the heck was he doing here? She spared a quick glance at Yami sitting silently at the opposite end of the table. From his vacant yet livid expression he was obviously just as confused about why Kaiba was standing there as she was and then some.
She directed her attention to Kaiba once again, his trademark of a smirk never left his face but she noticed an undeniably dangerous glint in his eye. Something was definitely wrong.
Not knowing exactly what she should do or say next she stared at him expectantly, silently demanding an explanation.
But before another puzzled assumption could enter her mind, the sound of Yami's voice broke into the uncomfortable silence, shattering the tension and replacing it with something worse….enmity.
"What the hell are you doing here Kaiba?"
Kaiba responded as if he had come prepared for just such a welcome.
"Since when is my business any of yours?"
The acid dripping from his words was as lethal as venom.
"And what business could you possibly have here?"
The rain continued its relentless downpour outside, adding to the intense cold between them.
Kaiba took a cool sip of his latte as he diverted his gaze to Tea, making her cringe.
"Not that it's any of your concern, but I'm here to see my secretary."
Tea's eyes widened slightly as she stared up at him.
What? Here to see her? But…Why? Was she in some kind of trouble? Had she done something wrong? Her thoughts were going a million miles an hour.
She pried her eyes away to look at Yami… he was staring back at her as if he were waiting for some kind of an explanation…a good one at that.
Kaiba kept his eyes locked on her, hoping that she would at least say something to him….anything. But she looked as though she was at a loss for words.
He studied her expression closely, she was agitated, and he could tell that it wasn't entirely because of him.
He grit his teeth, silently trying to gain control of his anger. He had to struggle to keep himself from grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out of her seat. He spared a glance at Yami, feeling his temper rising not giving a damn about the reasons why. All he wanted at that moment was to get her out of there.
But how the hell was he supposed to do that without looking like a complete psycho?
He decided that he would just have to use his intuition … He was Seto Kaiba after all.
Yami was still staring at Tea, obviously waiting for her to say something.
When she didn't respond, he snatched the opportunity to speak.
"Your secretary?... Listen Kaiba, just because Tea works for you now, doesn't mean that you can…"
Kaiba didn't give him the chance to finish.
"….Why don't you shut up and stay out of matters that don't concern you."
Yami's expression immediately shifted, Kaiba's brashness catching him completely off guard.
"What the hell? Listen you arrogant fool, don't you think for one second that you can just…."
"…..I can do what ever I want, and right now I have business with Gardner, so I suggest you stay out of it!"
Yami's eyes were pools of fire as he glared at Kaiba.
"What ever business you have with her can wait…."
"Actually it can't wait, and I didn't come here to listen to the likes of you!"
What in the world was going on here? Tea was at a loss for words as she looked at them both. She felt the rivalry between the two and couldn't help feeling particularly nervous. She didn't understand…. why was Kaiba acting this way? What was it that was so important?
She decided to intervene before the situation got any more out of hand
"Wait, hold on Yami…"
She looked up at Kaiba, real concern in her clouded eyes.
"What is it that you want Kaiba, I mean ,I don't usually work on Sundays."
She made sure to keep her tone under control; she didn't want to betray her feelings to either of them.
Luckily Kaiba was more than quick on the uptake, he fabricated the most plausible reason he could think of.
"There's some last minute paperwork I need you to take care of before we leave tomorrow. It's important that I get it done today. I can't afford to put it off for a whole two weeks."
Kaiba kept his eyes glued to hers, holding her gaze and making sure that she understood just how serious he was
Tea felt a sudden case of nausea at the pit of her stomach as she looked over at Yami. He was already glaring suspiciously at them.
He folded his arms, and looked directly at Tea, a serious and not to mention intimidating expression on his face.
"…..Did I miss something here….are you two….going somewhere?"
Tea stared back at him feeling even more nervous than before. Oh no, now he was going to find out about the trip tomorrow. Definitely not good…. knowing Yami, he wasn't going to take this lightly.
But wait, maybe there was someway she could change the subject….no….. that would look way too obvious. Great; She sighed inwardly….why did Kaiba have to say that?
She opened her mouth to speak but Kaiba beat her to the task.
"I don't think that's any of your business brush head."
Tea looked up to see Kaiba glaring dangerously at Yami. His response was laced with acid.
Yami returned the look of disdain, retaliation written as plain as day on his perplexed face…but instead of responding to Kaiba he turned his attention to Tea, who was looking a bit frightened.
"Tea…could you please explain what the hell is going on here?"
He was obviously trying to keep his tone under control.
Tea clenched her purse weakly, she felt the pressure and she hated it…..what the heck was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to just tell him the truth? If she did, there would be no telling how he would react.
What was wrong with her? Why did she even care anyway?
"There's nothing going on Yami….its just, we… I mean…I….."
Kaiba intervened before she could say anything further.
"If you must know….I'm taking her to the Ocean view Tomorrow…."His eyes flashed evasively, an evil smirk gracing his face…..
"Call it….a business trip if you will."
Tea couldn't believe what she was hearing. What the heck was Kaiba thinking? Why on earth did he say that? Sure, what he said was technically….the truth….. But for one thing, he made it sound as if they were…..as if they were involved or something….…and secondly he should have known better than to say anything at all in the first place.
She reluctantly forced herself to look at Yami.
He looked as though someone had just thrown cold water over his head.
"What the hell? The ocean view?"
"That's what I said genius, you got a problem with that?"
Yami looked over at Tea, who was biting her lip nervously
"Tea is this true?"
Tea braced herself for the worst.
"Um, Well it's…..it's really not that big of a deal Yami….it's just…..business."
Kaiba stared at her as she spoke, his anger building steadily, why the hell was she explaining her self to that asshole? they weren't an item anymore, so why was she so damn nervous about him finding out about their trip tomorrow.
"Tea you can't be serious…is there something going on between you two, I think I have a right to know!"
His voice was harsh and bitter with anger.
"….No there isn't anything going on….I told you its just business."
"Business? Yea… I'm sure."
His sarcasm cut through her like a knife.
He folded his arms angrily, clearly trying to contain his temper.
He turned his attention to Kaiba, a seriously devious look on his face.
"You really are the snake everyone makes you out to be Kaiba."
"Hmph, then I'm more like you than I realize."
Kaiba kept his tone level, but dangerously sharp.
An uncomfortable silence fell over them again.
Kaiba felt his anger growing and he knew that it would only get worse from there. Damn it, why was she acting as if she had to explain herself to him. And why the hell was she even with him in the first place? He wasn't 100 percent sure, but from the way she had broken down in his car the other night, he could tell that Yami was the reason she seemed so depressed lately.
He grit his teeth, the thought of punching Yami square in the jaw popping into his head again….a welcoming thought no doubt …..But unfortunately that would be pushing it a bit too far on his part….at least for now anyway.
Kaiba's patience had just about run out. It was time to get her out of there NOW.
"Let's go Gardner; I've wasted enough of my time here already!"
Yami was clearly losing his cool. He looked at Tea, who was obviously too busy staring at Kaiba to notice him glaring at her. He studied them both as an old suspicion reared itself to the surface again. There was definitely something else going on here, something buried under this little charade.
Yami didn't give Tea the chance to respond.
"Look Kaiba... She's busy; she's not going with you!"
"I don't believe anyone was talking to you!"
Yami wasn't one to lose his head but Kaiba had a way of bring out the worst in people….
Yami immediately stood up from his seat, fire in his eyes
"Don't make me repeat myself Kaiba; SHE'S NOT GOING WITH YOU!"
"And don't make me say the same thing twice….stay out of matters that don't concern you!"
Listen you arrogant bastard, she's not going anywhere, got it!"
"I'm her boss and I say she's coming with me, and I'd keep my mouth shut about it if I were you!"
By now the handful of people in the coffee shop were staring apprehensively at them.
Tea looked around nervously feeling traces of heat rushing up to her face. This was getting way out of hand. If she didn't do something fast, there's no telling where this could end up. Both Kaiba and Yami were glaring dangerously at each other, neither showing any sign of backing off.
"….Wait, stop it you two….."
Both sets of eyes were focused on her now, making her cringe under the sudden pressure. Great now what? Was she supposed to just get up and go with Kaiba or stay here with Yami? She thought about it carefully. If she stayed with Yami she could risk losing her job and she'd obviously be forced into an argument about the trip tomorrow, he'd never let her hear the end of it…..which would obviously lead to an emotional train wreck… something that she definitely didn't need. She sighed inwardly, there was just too much at risk if she stayed…... Yami wasn't going to take this very well, she knew. It bothered her that she cared... but for some reason she did, his power over her was still undeniably strong. She braced herself for what was coming.
"I…Yami, I'm sorry but I have certain responsibilities to Kaiba now, please understand…I have to go with him."
Yami was obviously shocked at her response. He stared at her, not knowing exactly what he should say next.
Kaiba couldn't help feeling smug; he knew that she would have had to agree sooner or later, his task there was practically done.
"Hmph took you long enough Gardner, come on, let's go."
Yami smiled bitterly, shaking his head slightly as he stood up from his seat, His eyes averted to Tea's, cold and void, bitter with disgust.
"I thought you were smart enough not to get caught up in his bullshit, Tea…."
He shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking away from the table. He glanced at them over his shoulder, fire in his eyes
"This isn't over Tea, not by a long shot."
Tea couldn't hold his stare, she pried her eyes away. She could tell by his tone that he was dead serious.
Kaiba stared daggers after him as he walked out of the coffee shop.
He turned his attention to Tea, who was still sitting down, she looked a bit frightened and upset by what Yami had said to her just now. His anger grew considerably. Who the hell did that asshole think he was? If he thought he was getting anywhere near her again he was sadly mistaken.
Everyone around them were still staring nervously at them, but neither seemed to notice or care.
"Humph…. that was a complete waste of my time."
Tea looked up at him with weary eyes sighing with defeat as she stood up.
"I thought I finished everything Friday afternoon Kaiba, what exactly do you need to get done?"
Kaiba wasn't exactly sure what he should say to her, his little story about 'important paperwork' was nothing but a spur of the moment lie. Should he let her know his true motives? He couldn't exactly decide, but he was a bit too angry at the whole situation to care about anything else.
"Correct me if I'm wrong…..but I thought you two were over?"
Tea narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"….We are…."
"Then what the hell were you doing with him?"
"Excuse me? I don't believe that's any of your business Kaiba."
"It's my business to make sure you're ok for the trip tomorrow, its no secret the kind of effect that asshole has on you and I can't have you backing out of the trip tomorrow because of him…Mokuba is counting on you being there, and I'll be damned if you disappoint him."
That wasn't exactly true, he knew, but he needed to at least have a plausible enough reason to excuse his actions. She would be mad at him either way.
"Effect on me? And just what kind of effect does Yami have on me?"
Kaiba heard the distress in her voice and knew all too well that this could get out of hand, if he didn't say the right thing. But he also knew that she needed to hear the truth, she might not like it, but he was willing to take the bashing for it.
"You know damn well what effect Gardner, you think I don't notice! It's so damn obvious that he's nothing but bad news for you."
"What?...you have absolutely no right to tell me what's good and what's bad for me…My life is none of your god damn business Kaiba."
Tea glared at him, the hurt in her eyes more visible than she realized.
Oh Great…Guilt…that's all he needed.
So that's what this was all about, Kaiba was just trying to get her away from Yami... In other words, sticking his nose in where it didn't belong.
She couldn't believe that he had actually sunk that low, to actually use her job as a crutch for his little game. She grabbed her purse and started walking ahead of him toward the door.
Tea stepped out of the shop, Kaiba close behind. She folded her arms as she peered through the rain, not seeing anything. She was upset and she wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it either. They both stood under the small shelter of the rooftop ridges above them, neither saying a word to the next. Kaiba spared a quick glance at her standing next to him. He silently reassured his himself …, he had gotten her away from Yami…..that's all that mattered. She was mad at him but it was a price he was willing to pay for her. He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He whipped it open and pressed a single button with his thumb."Mokuba, tell John to drive up to the entrance, I'm done here"
With that said he flipped the phone shut and shoved it back into his pocket, not saying another word.
Tea could tell by his tone that he was somewhat angry about the situation as well. But why? Why was he getting so involved in her life? It wasn't his place or his responsibility and yet he was acting as if it was. This wasn't the Kaiba she knew back at school. He was different.
Part of her was grateful to him for getting her out of a sticky spot with Yami but the other part of her felt ...angry. But should she really feel that way? He was only trying to help after all, wasn't he? But she knew that her feelings ran deeper than that, she wasn't mad at the fact that he tried to help her, she was mad at the fact that he made her feel weak and not to mention stupid. He had no right interfering like that, he didn't understand the situation, she wanted to deal with it on her own, the way she was used to dealing with everything else in her life….but he made her feel inadequate, a feeling she despised above all others.
Kaiba tried his best to pry his mind away from the girl standing next to him but to his annoyance he found that he couldn't. It bothered him that she was so upset, and it was really starting to bother him that he actually cared. Just what the hell was happening to him? Had he actually done what he just did? Was he losing his mind? Since when did he act on mere impulse? As the black limo pulled up in front of them his foul mood returned, this time worse than before.
Mokuba hurriedly opened the door as Tea scrambled inside."Hey Tea…."
"Hi, Mokuba."
Tea didn't even look at him, she scrambled into the limo and took a seat right next to him, she kept her eyes averted to the floor, barley even flashing a smile. She rubbed her arms and tucked some of her wet hair behind her ears. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Seconds later Kaiba had crawled into the other side of the limo, his hair soaking wet, some of it falling over his eyes and covering his expression. Mokuba sensed that something was wrong, but he knew better than to let his curiosity get the better of him. Something obviously happened between Tea and his brother, but he had no clue what. Should he say something? By the looks of it, it was serious, but did that mean their vacation trip was off? He looked at his shoes with a worried expression; he was really looking forward to the trip tomorrow. He decided to take a chance at saying something.
"Um …so Tea, have you packed for the trip yet?" He was smiling brightly at her, hoping to get a positive answer. She turned to look at him, she managed a small smile. What should she say to him? after this little incident, the idea of spending a whole two weeks with Kaiba had even less appeal than it did before….but as she continued looking at him, the distress in her heart seemed to be slowly melting away.
"Well almost, I still have a few things to pack away though."
He smiled warmly at her, relieved to hear her sounding more like her old self again…and he was glad that their vacation trip was still on too.
The limo came to an abrupt stop at the front of Tea's apartment building. The rain was still pouring heavily outside, with no sign of stopping. Tea grabbed up her purse and turned to Mokuba, a small smile on her face."Bye Mokuba, I'll see you tomorrow ok.…"
"…Wait Tea…."
He reached into the small compartment at the bottom of one of the seats, pulling out an expensive looking umbrella, a warm smile painted over his innocent face
"….You can't go out in that rain without an umbrella, I'll take you upstairs…ok."
Tea smiled back…he was so sweet.
"..Don't worry about it, Mokuba, I'm already half soaked….."
Just then Mokuba felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder. He turned to see Kaiba looking intently at him.
"It's ok Mokuba, I'll take her."
Tea felt a bit nervous all of a sudden. She sighed quietly in defeat as she looked at Mokuba who was looking a bit worried.
"Ok, Mokuba…I'll see you tomorrow, and make sure your all packed ok."
Mokuba beamed at her
"Sure thing Tea."
She smiled as she gave him a thumbs up, a bit of her old self floating to the surface again.
Tea fumbled with the keys to the front door, Kaiba only inches behind her, holding the umbrella above them both, the rain still pouring relentlessly around them. After a few awkward seconds she managed to unlock the door and slowly pushed it open. She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder and stepped inside. She felt Kaiba's eyes on her and couldn't help feeling girlishly nervous. Sheesh, why was he so damn intimidating? She turned to face him as she put her keys in the front pocket of her jacket. She reluctantly met his ice blue gaze, urging her self not to show any emotion.
"Thanks"
She was just about to walk away when Kaiba intervened
"….wait…."
Tea spun around to face him again.
"…Look, I wasn't trying to intrude, I was only doing what I thought was best ok."
Tea looked a bit indifferent.
"Kaiba,….look, don't worry about it ok, I understand."
Kaiba stared down at her, he could see the hurt in her eyes and he was surprised that she was so calm about it. He wasn't expecting this kind of reaction.
He felt even worse about the things he said to her now.
He hated that he was being so damn soft but at that moment he didn't really give a damn. She didn't deserve this, any of it. His curiosity about what had happened between her and Yami increased considerably. But he knew now better than to get himself involved, he would only end up hurting her even more in the end.
He sighed inwardly, wishing he could say something to make her feel better.
"… just try not to read too much into it ok."
"Ok, I won't."
Despite her distraught state of mind, Tea couldn't help feeling butterflies in her stomach as he looked at her. What the heck, get a grip Tea. Why did he have to be so damn attractive, it was almost unnerving standing there in front of him.
Kaiba felt his baser instincts taking over again, shit, what the hell was wrong with him, this wasn't the time or place. He silently scolded himself.
He decided to say something to cut the tension between them.
"Ok , don't forget, 7:00am sharp in the morning… and try not to have us waiting too long."
Tea couldn't help the small smile pulling over her lips despite herself. Same old Kaiba
"Don't worry I won't"
He flashed a small smile back at her as he turned to walk away.
Tea stared after him for a few seconds before shutting the door. Did he just smile at her…intentionally?
She walked slowly toward the elevator, feeling confused. She thought she'd be more upset than this, but to her surprise she wasn't.
As the elevator doors parted, for some reason, all she could think of was Kaiba's smile as he walked away.
Back To The Top
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter Ten:
Ocean in a bottle
Monday 5:45a.m
Tea awoke to the soothing sound of The Dave Mathews Band "Crash" playing softly on the small alarm clock radio sitting on her dresser. She felt reluctant to get out of bed but decided that it was best she got an early start before Kaiba's limo arrived to pick her up at 7:00. She lay silently in bed, pulling the covers up to her chin, enjoying the soft music of one of her favorite bands. The morning was cold and she was starting to feel a bit apprehensive about the trip. She still couldn't fully come to terms with the fact that she was actually going on a vacation with the Kaiba brothers….to the Ocean View no less.
It all seemed so…surreal.
Kaiba mansion 6:00a.mKaiba brought the steaming cup of coffee to his lips and took a light sip. His ocean blue eyes were glued to the computer screen in front of him. He was still trying to get as much work done as he could before having to leave for the trip that morning. He sighed as he put the cup back on the table. He wasn't looking forward to it in the least, he hated vacations but there was nothing he could do about that now. He had already made his promise to Mokuba and there was no way that he was going to back out of it…...no matter how much he wanted to.
As he continued his work, he found that he couldn't concentrate. He didn't have to think hard to know why.
He ran his fingers through his ruffled hair, trying to take his mind off of Tea and the incident that took place the day before. What the hell was he thinking? Should he really have done what he did? Sticking his nose in her life like that?
Without warning an image of the night she starting crying in his car flashed across his memory. He replayed the precise moment he had touched her face and wiped a single tear away with his thumb….He remembered the look in her eyes as she looked up at him, the hurt, the frustration, the fear and the uncertainty…..and the feeling within his own heart as he looked back. Should he really have done it? Yes…. without a doubt…it was the right thing to do, she needed protection and there was a desire within him to offer his….It wasn't a reason that he understood but it was a reason that he could live with. A reason that was nevertheless strong enough to conquer the greater portion of his guilt.
He sighed quietly as he folded his arms and reclined into the cushioned armchair. He glanced at his watch,6:05am, it was still a bit early. He had already packed everything he needed the night before, specifically to avoid any last minute hassle. Lord knows any further frustration would only prove hazardous to his sanity.
This trip was going to be such a pain in the ass…. he knew it without even thinking. Vacations, especially ones that involved sea and sand never turned out to be good….at least from his experience. He blew some of his bangs up from his eyes as he tried to overcome his dull anticipation.
Just then the door to his office flung open. Mokuba gushed into the room, overzealous and excited as ever.
Kaiba braced himself for the storm.
"Seto, it's almost 7:00 o'clock and you haven't even gotten dressed yet!"
"Really? I hadn't noticed."
Kaiba ran his hand through his hair, yawning stubbornly.
Mokuba knew his brother all too well, and judging by his response he was in a pretty bad mood right about now. Which of course was no surprise considering what day it was.
Mokuba sighed as he plumped himself onto the couch.
"Come on Seto, at least try to be a little excited."
Kaiba sat up in his chair to resume his work.
"Why the heck would I be excited about wasting a whole 2 weeks of my life at that idiotic resort."
"Well for one thing, it'd be a chance for you to actually relax."
"I don't do relaxing."
"But Seto, you need to stop working yourself so hard, it's not healthy and you know it, this vacation is exactly what you need."
"Yea about as much as I need flesh eating skin disease."
Mokuba sighed hopelessly.
"But Seto you promised that we'd go, didn't you?"
Kaiba stopped what he was doing to look at his little brother who was looking a bit worried.
"I didn't say we weren't going Mokuba, I'm just in a bad mood ok, so don't worry."
Mokuba breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well in that case Seto, don't you think you should go get dressed now. I mean I know you're in a bad mood, but we'll be late if you don't hurry up."
"….Ok fine, I'm going."
"Besides big brother, you wouldn't want Tea showing up here and seeing you in nothing but your boxers right." -
Mokuba smiled mischievously as if to hint at something more.
Kaiba caught his intent right away.
"Huh, very funny Mokuba."
He finally got out of his seat and headed upstairs, a small smirk playing on his lips as he thought of what Tea's reaction would be if something like that ever were to happen.
The morning passed quickly, much to Tea's dismay. She glanced at her watch as she dragged her suitcase out of her apartment and out into the hall.It was already 7:05. Oh no, she was going to be late. She walked briskly toward the elevator, her heavy suitcase rolling along behind her. After a few seconds she finally stopped at the elevator doors. Darn, how could she have lost track of the time like this, she was hardly ever late for anything. Sighing heavily she straightened her sun dress and stepped into the elevator, a prominent knot forming at the bottom of her stomach.
Kaiba Mansion Grounds 7:10amKaiba's mood hadn't improved; if anything it was worse than before. He stood next to the jet with his arms folded, his patience running thin.
"Where the hell is she?"
Mokuba looked up at him, with a worried look on his face.
"Seto, she's only 10 minutes late…."
"It wouldn't matter to me if she was half a second late, tardiness is unacceptable!"
He scuffed as he turned to the jet plane steps, the strong wind whipping his hair about his eyes.
"If she doesn't show up here in the next 5 minutes we're leaving without her!"
"But Seto..."
Just then, a black limo pulled up at the far side of the grounds.
Seconds later a nervous looking Tea was running toward them, rolling her luggage behind her, looking cute as ever in her white sun dress.
"Hey you Guys."
She stopped abruptly in front of them, putting her hand to her chest to catch her breath.
"Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time."
"That's no excuse Gardner, We do have a schedule to keep you know!"
Tea looked up at Kaiba feeling heat rush to her cheeks
"Oh, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to..."
Kaiba didn't give her the chance to finish.
"Fine whatever, lets just go already."
He was already heading up the jetliner stairway.
Tea sighed quietly as she looked at him. She felt bad about her tardiness enough as it was.
"Don't worry about him Tea, you know Seto, he's just in a worse mood than usual today…you need any help with your luggage?"
She smiled cheerily at him.
"No, that's ok Mokuba, I can manage."
"Would you two hurry up already!"
Both Tea and Mokuba looked up to see Kaiba glaring at them from the top of the passage way entrance.
Mokuba rubbed the back of his head as he smiled at his big brother.
"Sorry Seto, we'll be right there"
Kaiba looked at them both with a 'mad enough to kill' look.
Mokuba turned back to Tea.
"Well Tea this is it, our vacation is just a jet ride away."
"Yep, just a jet ride away."
She smiled nervously at him, as she pried her eyes away from a glaring Kaiba.
With that said they all headed up the steps toward the jet liner passenger entrance.
The jet ride to their seemingly never ending destination was as to be expected. Long and a bit nerve racking. Tea had no idea what to expect from the coming two weeks ahead. Mokuba she could handle, but Kaiba... he was an entirely different story all together.. the one that posed the most concern. What would it be like actually living under practically the same roof as him? The thought made her agitated.Finally, after few hours of exasperation they finally reached their destination. The ocean view beach resort...in full view at last!
The jet landed on a private platform seemingly about a mile from the main land. After a short briefing from the pilot they all exited the jet liner. Tea immediately felt the cool ocean air surround her as she followed both Kaiba's onto the platform. She looked around, astonished at the sight. Apparently they were on a very private part of the island, obviously reserved for the insanely rich and famous. Kaiba fitting perfectly into the status quo.
Seconds later a young man with an expensive but, in Tea's opinion, tacky looking business suit approached them from one of security boots along side the jetliner runway. He was wearing an over anxious smile on his face. As he walked toward Kaiba he outstretched his hand in polite expectancy.
"Welcome, welcome Mr Kaiba, Such a pleasure it is to have you here."
Kaiba shook the young mans hand with half hearted respect.
As they broke the handshake the young man immediately switched his attention to Tea who was standing quietly next to Mokuba.
"Well ,Well, and who might this beautiful young lady be?"
His question took Kaiba by surprise… and not a very pleasant one at that.
Tea flushed a bit as she waited for Kaiba to respond, not knowing exactly what to expect.
He cleared his throat before speaking.
"…..This is Miss Tea Gardner, an... employee of mine, she'll be… handling any business ordeals that may crop up while I'm here."
"Oh I see..."
The young man outstretched his hand to Tea.
"Nice to meet you Miss Gardner, I hope you enjoy your stay here, despite your workload of course."
Tea smiled back as she shook his hand, feeling a bit amused at Kaiba's response...he obviously didn't want anyone getting the wrong impression about them. Nicely done
"I'm sure I will."
"And how are you this morning Mokuba, bet you can't wait to get to the beach."
Mokuba smiled politely.
"You bet sir."
He smiled cheerily at them
He looked at his watch and peered out toward the ocean behind them.
"Well then, I mustn't keep you all waiting any longer, I see the boat's already arrived"
Tea glimpsed behind them. Beyond the runway there was a small pathway of sand bordered on both sides by a row of well kept palm trees. Beyond that….the Ocean, where a small speed boat was waiting on the docks.
"You can head straight to the main land now, Please enjoy your stay with us Mr Kaiba."
He flashed a winning smile at them as he turned to leave.
Kaiba shoved his hands into his pocket as he started walking toward the pathway.
"Come on, let's go."
Both Tea and Mokuba immediately followed suit.
Despite the short but nauseating boat ride, they all managed to get to the mainland with their stomachs still in tact.They made their way from the docks and through the unbelievably beautiful beach straight on to the hotel. Tea couldn't help gawking at everything in sight. She knew it was going to be picturesque but she never dreamed that it would be this extraordinary.
After a few minutes they finally arrived at the front entrance of the hotel. They all walked into the air conditioned lobby, Kaiba leading the way. Tea followed close behind, trying hard to contain her astonishment. Everyone she noticed, had the words 'I'm filthy rich' practically scribbled in red across their foreheads. Some of them stopped to stare at them apprehensively, more so at her than Kaiba and Mokuba. She swallowed hard, feeling like a pebble among gem stones.
They finally got to the reservation desk where a young woman was smiling brightly at them. It was more than obvious that she was a member of the Seto Kaiba fan club, from the stars in her eyes. How typical.
"Why Good morning Mr Kaiba, Welcome to the Ocean View beach resort, and may I say what a great pleasure it is to have such a renowned guest at our hotel!"
Kaiba kept his cold demeanor, making it blatantly clear that he couldn't care less.
"We have reservations for three."
The young woman nervously typed in some information onto the computer, smiling when she found what she was looking for.
"Yes of course, three single suits, rooms 107, 108 and 109, three of our very best of course sir."
Kaiba merely scuffed.
The young woman suddenly turned her attention to Tea, as if just noticing her for the first time, her expression changing noticeably.
"...But, of course….we do have couple suites, if you'd prefer..."
Tea could have sworn she saw Kaiba flinch for an inch of a second.
"If I wanted a god-damned couple suite I would have asked for one, now stop wasting my time and give me the damn keys!"
The young woman seemed stunned into reality.
"...Uh yes sir, pardon me."
She nervously handed him the three key cards, and flipped out the guest registry.
Kaiba angrily scribbled his initials onto the page.
The young woman waited for him to finish before speaking.
"Thank you Mr Kaiba, please enjoy your stay with us."
Her voice trembled a bit as she smiled timidly at him. Kaiba made no attempt at being courteous, he simply picked up his briefcase and stormed away from the desk, meaning for Tea and Mokuba to follow. Sheesh, did Kaiba have to be so rude to everyone?
Before turning to leave Tea noticed the young woman staring apprehensively at her. Great, obviously Kaiba's words didn't quite accomplish what he had intended them too… Great, now she was pretty sure that everyone at the hotel was going to think that she and Kaiba were having some kind of love affair. She sighed as she walked over to the elevator, trying hard to push her skepticism aside.
They finally arrived at the 10th floor. Kaiba seemed to be in a seriously rotten mood as he stepped out of the elevator. He headed straight down the well air-conditioned hallway toward the three rooms, Tea and Mokuba following sheepishly behind him. The two bellhops followed close behind them with the suitcases. Tea gaped at her surroundings as per usual. Even the hallways were exquisite and well put together. As they approached the rooms Tea noticed that there were only a total of four rooms on that floor all evenly separated. The layout gave her the distinct impression that the rooms were extremely large and reserved only for the renowned.
Mokuba turned politely to the two young bellhops, who seemed star struck in the presence of Kaiba.
"Thanks for your help, but we can take it from here."
Both young men, smiled politely as they collected their rather generous tip and headed back toward the elevator.
Before any of them could say anything, Mokuba ran over to the door at the end of the hall, Room no.109.
"I want this room Seto."
"Whatever, Mokuba, it doesn't matter which room we get, they're all the same."
"I know Seto, but I just want this one ok."
Something about his tone made Kaiba a bit suspicious, but he was way too irritated to think about anything other than his inevitable doom.
"Fine, just take the key card already."
Mokuba ran back over to Kaiba and Tea and took the card.
Tea noticed that for some reason Mokuba had a small yet mischievous glint in his eyes.
Mokuba hurriedly grabbed his suitcase and started heading to his room, excited as ever, leaving Kaiba and Tea staring after him. Seconds later he had disappeared into the room.
Tea suddenly felt a pang of awkwardness wash over her as she stood in the hall alone with Kaiba. As he turned to look at her, for some reason she felt even more intimidated than usual.
Before she could say or do anything he handed her one of the key cards without so much as a word.
"Do you need help with that over sized suitcase of yours?"
Tea tucked some of her hair behind her ears as she looked up at him, trying extremely hard not to blush.
"..Oh, no that's ok; I can manage by myself, thanks."
God, why did she have to be so nervous around him?
Kaiba irritably pried his eyes away and turned to the door behind him.
He swiped his card through the lock and opened the door. He left it open and turned to grab his suitcase.
"Well, just so you know, I don't want either of you two bothering me for the rest of the day got it. I have work to do."
Tea stared at him as he walked into the room.
"..oh..ok."
She watched as he slammed the door behind him, leaving her standing out in the hall feeling stupid.
She sighed hopelessly. Well, that was Seto Kaiba for you.
She took her suitcase and dragged it to the room positioned directly between both Kaibas. Room 108.
As she swiped the card through the lock she suddenly realized why Mokuba had chosen the last room. He had made it so that she and Kaiba would be next door to each other no matter what room each of them chose. She smiled to her self as she opened the door. Pretty sneaky, but amusing nonetheless.
Tea slowly walked into the room. She gasped at the sight before her. It was the most beautiful room she had ever seen, it was like an excerpt taken straight out of a magazine. Lavish, spacious and practically teeming with luxury. She stood only a few feet from the door, gawking at what was to be hers for the next two weeks.After a few seconds, she finally snapped herself out of her stupor. Dragging her suitcase along with her, she walked slowly toward the bed. She let out a breath as she sat down. She still couldn't believe that she was actually at the Ocean view. She studied her surroundings again, everything looked spectacular, form the beautiful flowers that adorned the room to the king sized bed. But the thing that she loved the most was the wide set balcony extending from the bedroom over looking the vast ocean. She could sea the view perfectly from where she sat on the bed. She smiled as she walked over to the sliding door and stepped out onto the veranda, feeling the cool, salty air rush past her face. As she gazed at the marvelous scenery she felt a welcoming sense of tranquility, something she hadn't felt for a long time. She walked toward the railing and touched the cold steel with the tips of her fingers. If only moments like this lasted forever.
Kaiba's mood hadn't improved. His suitcase was already opened, most of his belongings already unpacked. He was no stranger to the finer things in life so he wasn't all that impressed by anything in particular but he had to admit that the view from his room was spectacular, even by his standards. He walked over to the balcony to get a closer look. He could see the beach from there, a handful of people were scattered across the sand, a few in the shallow areas of the water. He scuffed as he looked at them...what a bunch of idiots. He headed back into the bedroom, feeling irritated. He wondered what Mokuba was doing and if he was already unpacked. Knowing his little brother, he probably was. .As he took off his coat, without warning his mind suddenly shifted to Tea. It was a bit strange having her with them on one of their vacations, but for some reason he didn't mind in the least, in fact he was actually, for lack of a better word, glad about it; Especially if he could keep her away from that son of a bitch ex boyfriend of hers. He hung his coat on the brass hanger protruding from one of the walls.
Mokuba stuffed his face with one of the chocolate chip cookies he had stuffed into his suitcase the night before. He sat at the edge of his bed, feeling childishly over excited. He had a lot of high hopes for the coming two weeks. Despite his brother's stubbornness he knew he had to find some way to pry him away from his lap top for the time they were there, other wise the trip would have been for nothing. Knowing Seto, he would keep himself locked in his hotel room for most of the time they were there. It was going to be difficult, he knew, but luckily Tea was there and maybe both of them could find a way for Seto to relax. As he stuffed another cookie into his mouth, a small smile played over his mouth….. besides he knew his brother had feelings for Tea, contrary to what he led everyone to believe. Just then, before he could reach for another cookie there was a blood curdling scream from the room next door.
Huh, was that Tea?
He hurriedly ran over to his door and flung it open. Within seconds Kaiba had done the same.
They both ran over to Tea's room.
Before either of them could make a move, the door flung open and a timid, slightly pale looking Tea hurriedly dashed out. Not expecting anyone to be standing outside her door, she crashed straight into Kaiba almost throwing him completely off balance.
Luckily he wasn't one to loose his footing; he caught her in his arms and held her to him before either of them could fall. He looked down at her feeling a bit flushed.
"Gardner, what the hell…."
She didn't give him the chance to finish.
"Oh my God, there's a huge lizard thing out on the balcony!"
"You can't be serious, that's why you were screaming like a banshee? Because of some stupid little lizard?."
Tea suddenly felt her senses return, only then realizing that Kaiba actually had his arms around her.
For a second she seemed to have forgotten what she was trying to say. She felt the heat rising to her face and immediately wished that she could sink into the ground. What was wrong with her, why was she getting so damn worked up?
Kaiba noticed the look of girlish astonishment on her face. Without wanting to seem obvious he casually let her go, trying hard not to turn red himself.
Tea finally seemed to get a hold of herself. She responded quietly.
"It…It's not little, it was huge and….. Green."
She shuddered at the thought and clenched her arms as if she were cold.
"Don't worry Tea; I'll get rid of it for you."
Mokuba ran into the room, leaving Kaiba and Tea staring after him. Kaiba folded his arms as he stared down her.
"Damn it Gardner, do you have to be so dramatic about everything?"
"I, I wasn't being dramatic, there was a disgusting lizard about an inch away from my feet….it was…. just a reflex action to scream…."
Despite his rotten mood he couldn't help noticing just how cute she looked with that scared expression on her face.
He sighed hopelessly; great... they haven't even been there for more than 10 minutes and already his thoughts were turning to mush over her.
He ran a hand through his hair as he followed Mokuba into the room, leaving Tea standing safely out in the hall.
After a few minutes and about five crashing sounds later she heard Mokuba shouting from inside the room.
"It's ok now Tea, you can come in."
Tea cautiously cracked the door open and peered inside.
"Are you sure Mokuba?"
"Yea, I caught it, well me and Seto did and we let it go free on one of the trees outside."
"oh, ook."
She closed the door behind her and slowly walked over to the bedroom.
Kaiba was just now stepping out of the veranda and into the bedroom.
"The big scary lizard's gone now ok. So you can stop bothering everyone with your melodrama."
His sarcastic tone didn't bother her in the least, she was too busy staring out at the balcony.
"Are you guys sure it's gone?"
Mokuba folded his arms importantly,
"Yep, positive, I made sure it was gone before I came back in."
She sighed a sigh of relief as she sat heavily on the edge of the bed.
"Oh man...I hate lizards, I wasn't expecting to find that sort of thing in a place like this."
"Get a clue Gardner, Just cause it's a five star hotel doesn't mean that they scan the entire beach for lizards...You're bound to find that sort of thing no matter where you go."
Tea pouted as she looked at a disgruntled Kaiba
"….Well maybe they should start."
Kaiba smirked mischievously at her despite his foul mood.
"Why? The lizards are perfect for all the spiders around here."
Tea gasped at the word spider, much to Kaiba's amusement.
"Very funny Kaiba, I'm glad you can find humor at my expense."
Mokuba suddenly looked as though he had thought of something spectacular.
"Hey you guys, I have a great idea! Why don't we all go down to the pool?"
Kaiba scuffed as he turned to walk out of the room, his foul mood getting the best of him.
"Humph, you're kidding right? What makes you think I'd even want to go any where near that stupid pool?"
Mokuba's face dropped. He ran in front of Kaiba before he could walk out into the hall.
"Please Seto, just this once; I thought you said you were going to try to relax?"
Kaiba folded his arms as he looked down at his brother.
"And when exactly did I say that? Please refresh my memory, because I don't recall ever saying anything about relaxing, the only thing I agreed to do was take you here. I never said anything about what I was going to do."
Mokuba looked up at his brother pleadingly.
"But Seto..."
"Mokuba, you know how I feel about the beach, or any kind of idiotic water activities...so I would appreciate it if you stop throwing those puppy dog eyes at me...it's not gonna work."
Mokuba finally gave up knowing how incredibly stubborn his brother was when it came to things of this nature. He stepped aside and let out a long sigh as Kaiba walked past him.
Tea noticed the upset expression on Mokuba's face.
She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry Mokuba, it's only the first day, just give him some time ok, he'll come around."
"I don't think so Tea, my brother's one of the most stubborn people on the face of this planet, he doesn't even realize that he's working himself to death."
Tea didn't like seeing him so worried.
She sighed heavily before responding.
"Well, I guess we have no choice then."
"What do you mean?"
"We'll just have to take matters into our own hands."
She winked mischievously at him.
"Oh, I like the way you think."
He beamed up at her excitedly.
Tea smiled back, glad to see him cheer up a bit. But she couldn't help the nauseous feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. What the hell was she getting herself into?
Kaiba stared out at the beach as he stood out on the veranda. He folded his arms and sighed angrily. He wanted so much to just storm out of that damn hotel and get back to his regular routine. He had a company to run for god's sake. Well at least he brought his lap top with him, he could still at least get some work done….and at least Tea was safe and sound under his watchful eye…Huh? Where the hell did that come from? Couldn't he go at least a day without thinking about her? He sighed angrily as he stormed into his room, thinking about his two weeks of inevitable headed straight to the mini bar/kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and chugged it down. Maybe he was working himself up about this stupid vacation too much. He reassured himself that he was only over reacting. It would be just like a regular business trip…..wouldn't it?.
Tea sat on the edge of her bed, her suitcase almost completely empty. She took the last of her clothes out and folded them neatly, before putting them away in the chest of drawers next to her bed. Mokuba had left her room only a few minutes before. She still felt nauseous thinking about her little proposition to help Kaiba relax for the time that they were there. Why did she have to be so damn soft?... the very thought of it made her nervous. She closed the drawer and sank down onto her bed. She lay on her back staring up at the ceiling trying not to anticipate the worst.This was going to be one heck of a long vacation.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter Eleven:
Open & Shut Case
Kaiba lay awake in his bed, staring up at the ceiling above him. His mind was a muddle of utter confusion and anger.
Why the hell was he even there?
He sighed helplessly as he reminded himself of the reason.
It was for Mokuba that he endured this torment. But unlike any other, this was a torment that he was willing to endure, for his brother's sake. Mokuba was everything that mattered to him and he would be more than willing to go an extra mile just to make him happy.
He shifted over onto his side and stared out at the moonlit sky through the screen door which led out to the veranda. He grabbed a pillow and pressed it over his face.
He knew exactlywhy he was there, but that didn't change the fact that he was there. It wasn't his fault that he hated the beach with a special kind of loathing.
His mind shifted again. And to make matters worse, Yami's cheerleader was there with them. To think that he was actually on a vacation with a genuine member of the geek squad. What was happening to the natural order in his life? He dismissed the thought of Yami and his annoying friends as fast as he could manage, in an effort to retain some of the sanity he still possessed. One member however remained etched clearly in his mind, and he was having a hard time dismissing her as easily as he did the rest.
Tea Gardner.
She was all that remained within the confinement of his troubled thoughts.
He had asked himself over and over, why he was feeling the way he felt; but he couldn't seem to give himself an honest answer. Why was she always on his mind?
Ever since the day she started working for him, he started developing these strange feelingstoward her. At first he thought it was just the sensation of seeing an old face after so long, but after everything that happened between them, now he wasn't so sure. The feelings were new to him and he couldn't decipher what he should make of them. Was he starting to… No, that couldn't be it, that was absolutely ridiculous. He cleared his mind of the thought.
He sighed again, feeling his anger getting the better of him.
He wasn't getting any answers from himself that was clear; he knew he was too stubborn to admit anything of the sort.
But nevertheless, something had to be done about this.
He made up his mind as he pulled the pillow off his head and closed his eyes, letting the sleepiness wash over him.
He would use this vacation to his advantage. He would find out once and for all, if his feelings for Tea were exactly what he thought they were.
Tea awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. Despite the unexpected run in with the lizard yesterday, things had gone pretty well for their first day at the hotel. She had unpacked her things in a flash and managed to put everything in its place before heading down to the pool with Mokuba.
Kaiba of course wanted nothing to do with them for the rest of the day. Instead, he locked himself in his room for the rest of the afternoon, claiming that he wouldn't step foot anywhere near the pool or the beach for the remainder of their stay there.
Both she and Mokuba didn't take him too seriously knowing fully well that he was just being the same old stubborn CEO that everyone knew and loved. They knew they would eventually find a way to get him out of his room sooner or later.
Unfortunately, Tea had the feeling that that would be solely her job.
She yawned like she never yawned before, feeling more rested than she ever felt in her life. She got off the bed and headed out to the veranda, wanting to get a first glimpse of the ocean at the crack of dawn. The sight was absolutely breath taking. The white sand sparkled with the fistful of light from the morning sun; contrasting brilliantly against the sleek blue stretch of ocean.
Breathing in the cool air, Tea closed her eyes against the overwhelming calm.
If only her life outside the walls of this serene paradise were as beautiful as this.
Tuesday:
Ocean view Hotel
Kaiba's Room
9:06AM
"What the hell?"
Kaiba awoke feeling robbed of the best sleep in his life. His anger immediately rushed to the surface.
He got out of bed and headed to the door in nothing but his boxer shorts, not giving a damn about appearances.
He swung open his door and found himself staring down at a nervous hotel attendant.
He was standing behind a breakfast cart, topped with an array of breakfast dishes.
Kaiba frowned instinctively, knowing fully well that he hadn't ordered any breakfast that morning.
He opened his mouth to say something clearly unpleasant, but before he could utter a word, a lively brunette popped in next to the terrified hotel attendant.
She looked up at him with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster under so much pressure.
'… Good morning Kaiba….. I thought I'd help you start your day right, with a hearty breakfast.'
Kaiba stood frozen in his doorway, staring at Tea who was now busily ushering the attendant inside his room, forcing him to move aside.
"Gardner? What the hell….?"
She led the attendant straight into the bedroom, trying her best to ignore Kaiba for the time being.
After leaving the cart of food the attendant bowed politely to them both and hurriedly left the room, leaving Kaiba and Tea alone inside the bedroom.
Tea swallowed hard as she only then realized the predicament that she was in. It was such a spur of the moment decision that she didn't have time to contemplate the repercussions.
She stood silently by the cart of food trying to disguise her utter terror as she looked up at Kaiba who was glaring at her in nothing more than a pair of boxer shorts.
The tension was thick around them and either of them said a word for a few seconds.
Kaiba was the one that spoke first,
"What the hell do you think you're doing, ordering me breakfast? I don't remember asking you to do anything of the sort! If I wanted breakfast I would have ordered it myself!"
Tea couldn't seem to open her mouth to speak; her heart was pounding for some reason. Him standing there like that, the sight made her nostalgic. He was so beautiful, his eyes seemed even bluer than before and his body was so perfectly chiseled.
Geez! Snap out of it!
"I….I'm sorry, I just wanted you to have a good breakfast, and you…..you hadn't eaten anything since we got here so I thought…"
As she spoke Kaiba found himself getting lost in her words and the sound of her voice. His feelings were acting up again; they were undeniably more intense than before.
What the hell was she doing to him?
He cut her off before she could finish, he knew how hard it must be for her to stand there and say those things to him. especially with his temper flaring the way that it was.
"….Ok, fine, I get the picture, no need to babble on like that."
He walked over to the cart and folded his arms. He looked at the breakfast layout with intense scrutiny.
"Hmm, not bad, you've got good taste."
Tea, surprised by his comment, smiled sincerely at him.
"Thanks."
Tea tried in vain to slow her heart rate.
Why was she acting this way? It's not like she was one of his fan girls or something.
Kaiba scuffed as he turned his attention back to her.
"..I'll let this one go for now Tea, but if anything like this happens again, I won't be so lenient got it?"
"Ok, I understand..."
She headed toward the door and stopped.
"..Um Kaiba?"
"What?"
"Well, I was just wondering, will you be hanging out with me and Mokuba today?"
Kaiba scoffed again, trying hard to hide his true feelings.
"Didn't I make it perfectly clear that I wasn't going anywhere near that stupid Beach?"
"Well Yeah but, I mean for Mokuba's sake, he's worried about you, he wants you to relax more."
"I don't need to be on the damn beach to relax you know. I can relax just fine in here!"
Tea sighed as she headed to the doorway. She turned to look back at him before leaving.
"Please, Kaiba, just try to understand the way your brother feels ok- and… he's not the only one who's concerned about you."
With that said she left the room, leaving Kaiba staring after her.
Did she just say that she was concerned about him?
Kaiba stood frozen for a half a minute his mind buzzing with a million assumptions.
He smirked to himself as he regained his composure.
He took one of the blueberry waffles from the dish closest to him on the tray and took a bite, surprised by the succulent taste. It was definitely time to have these questions in his mind answered once and for all.
Tea shut the door behind her, her heart still racing.
Why did she say that? It was as if she had no control over what was coming out of her mouth just now.
She took a deep deliberate breath as she headed to her room trying to regain her composure. Maybe being impulsive about this wasn't a very good idea. It was Seto Kaiba that she was dealing with after all. He wasn't exactly your typical everyday guy. It wasn't even the fact that he was a celebrity, it was his very aura that was intimidating, - and the fact that he was ridiculously good looking didn't help the situation either.
Within the safety of her room Tea pressed her back against her door, cursing her self for her irrational tendency to act without thinking. She put her hand to her chest, feeling the rapid beating of her heart.
She needed to find a way to get past this ridiculous school girl syndrome.
She took another deep breath and walked into the bedroom; willing her emotions away. Where was this coming from? Could it be the fact that they've been through so much lately? He was still the arrogant bastard that he always was, but there was something different about him- Or maybe it was something that was always there, and maybe she just never noticed it before. All those years ago when he saved her life in Battle City…it was enough to make her see his hidden side….His compassionate side. But her love for Yami blinded her to all other truths.
But she was a damaged woman now, how could she allow her self to feel so deeply for another person again? Despite her growing affection for him, she couldn't subject herself to such horrible pain ever again.
She sat at the edge of her bed and stared at the floor.
She couldn't deny that she cared for him, but there was nothing stronger than her resolve to protect her heart.
She promised herself with sincerity that her feelings would not become a danger to her.
11:00AM
Pool Area:
Bar Stall
Mokuba took a long hard slurp of his orange juice.
"Hey, take it easy, you'd think you were drunk or something"
Tea smiled brightly at Mokuba, who was busy ordering another cold glass of orange juice.
"Mokuba, there are a lot of other more exciting drinks here you know, and they're all free, why don't you try something else?"
"Are you kidding? Have you tried their orange juice before, it's the best I've ever had!"
Tea shook her head and smiled enjoying her company all too well.
The warm breeze was soothing against her skin. The bar was situated a few feet away from the pool, decorated with an assortment of exotic foliage, giving it an exquisite Caribbean flare.
She had decided to tie her hair up into a pony tail due to the humidity.
Her beach wardrobe was in a word pathetic to say the least but she still managed to put together something presentable enough to be seen by the eyes of such high society on lookers.
She had decided on a baby pink two piece bathing suit complimented by a cute wrap skirt that she had bought a few years ago when she was still living at home.
The simple assortment must have been a good choice, since she attracted quite a bit of attention when she and Mokuba were heading to the bar. She decided it must have been because they were curious about Kaiba's entourage.
"So I take it, my brother isn't coming down today either?"
Tea sighed as she took a sip of her chocolate martini.
"Well, I didn't really get an official answer from him, he just sort of yelled at me like he usually does."
They looked at each other and laughed, thinking about the breakfast incident earlier that morning.
"Nice attempt Tea but my brother's the most stubborn person I know."
"Yea, well it was worth a try, but don't worry, we'll get 'im next time."
They continued laughing to themselves, trying to think of other ways to get Kaiba to come out of his room.
Suddenly Tea noticed a trio of girls gasping and pointing in the direction of the pool. Instinctively she turned in her seat to see just what they were so excited about.
Her eyes widened as she saw the last person she was expecting to see walking toward them from beyond the other side of the pool.
"Huh? Is that….Kaiba?"
Mokuba spun around immediately at the mention of his brother's name.
He smiled and waved at his brother indicating to him where they were seated.
Tea turned back to the bar and tried to keep her butterflies at bay. What was he doing there? She wasn't expecting him to actually show up! Her guard was completely off!
She prayed that she wouldn't make a fool of herself.
Kaiba finally got to the bar, ignoring the attention he was attracting from everyone around him like it was second nature.
Tea turned to him casually keeping a steady grip of her drink.
"Hmm, funny seeing you here."
She was glad she could still keep her voice neutral; she would have died if her feelings were betrayed by her speech patterns.
"Whatever, I only came down here because I found Mokuba's cell phone on the floor. It's been ringing every 10 minutes. Someone named Rebecca keeps calling. It's annoying the hell out of me!"
He handed the phone to Mokuba, who seemed delighted upon hearing the information he just received.
"Um, thanks Seto…..I'll be right back you guys"
Without another word he sped off toward the hotel, leaving Tea & Kaiba staring after him.
A few seconds later, Tea only then realized that she was once again alone with Seto Kaiba. She bit her lip, expecting him to head back up to the hotel. To her dismay however, he took a seat next to her on the stool that Mokuba was sitting on previously.
She felt extremely uncomfortable, especially with the assortment of female eyes that were glaring at her from every angle.
"Well, well getting used to the good life are we?"
The bantering sarcasm in his voice was all too familiar to her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said."
"I'm not! I'm just trying to enjoy our vacation you jerk!"
"Now is that any way to talk to your boss."
With a pout, Tea turned to face the bar counter, taking another sip of her drink, trying in vain to ignore the incredibly hot CEO sitting next to her.
With her eyes averted, Kaiba took the opportunity to get a good look at his flustered employee.
She was obviously blissfully unaware of just how stunning she looked. He had a hard time not looking at her. He noticed a few other guys were having the same trouble. For some reason that irritated him a lot more than it should.
"So, did you actually eat your breakfast this morning? Or did you just throw it out the window?"
Tea willfully attempted to steer the conversation in a different direction.
Kaiba scoffed as he ordered a drink from the bar tender, much to Tea's surprise.
"Unfortunately no, I was hungry."
Tea smiled, grateful that he didn't make her feel bad about it.
"So how come you're not marching back up to your room? I thought relaxing wasn't your thing?"
"Who said I was relaxing? I'm just sitting here talking to my over emotional secretary, what's so relaxing about that?"
Tea took a sip of her drink, forcing herself not to smile, for the sake of her own self-respect.
"Whatever…and I'm not over emotional."
"Sure you're not."
Tea couldn't help herself, she couldn't blame him, he's practically seen every side of her for all the years that they've known each other.
Suddenly Tea's cell phone started ringing from inside her bag.
Kaiba took a sip of his drink so as to give her some privacy, but for some reason he noticed that she wasn't even making an attempt to answer her phone.
"Aren't you going to get that?"
There was a definite change in her expression as she shook her head.
"..No don't worry, it's no body important."
"Well if you're not going to answer could you at least turn it off?"
She automatically reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. Before she cancelled the call, Kaiba managed to get a clear glimpse of the name flashing across the display screen.
His mood suddenly took a nose dive.
They sat in silence for a few seconds until Kaiba's aggressiveness got the better of him.
"Why the hell is that asshole still calling you?"
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Drop the act already, I know it was him!"
"Kaiba, I thought we've already talked about this, I don't want you butting in to my personal life!"
"In case you haven't noticed, you are my business!"
Tea's heart skipped a beat at his words.
"I'll be damned if you get a nervous breakdown because of him, you're on my payroll remember."
Although his words were partially true, the whole truth remained hidden.
"A nervous breakdown? Why the hell would I have a nervous breakdown?"
Although they were practically whispering to each other, they were still attracting a lot of unwanted attention. They were after all bickering back and forth like an old married couple. Kaiba not wanting them to make the morning tabloids decided to take their little 'discussion' somewhere more discrete. Lord knows he wasn't through telling her off yet. The situation with Yami was getting on his last nerve.
He took a calming breath and cleared his face of any emotion.
"Come on, let's go."
"What? Go where?"
"Just follow me, and try not looking so red in the face for god's sake."
She decided that it was best not to argue with him any further, she had learned that it was a futile premonition.
She willed herself to appear as secretarial as possible as she calmly took her bag from off the bar counter and obediently followed Kaiba out of the pool area. She kept her eyes forward so as to avoid the nasty stares. She still however managed to get a glimpse of a pair of girls practically trying to murder her with their eye contact. Sheesh, if looks could kill she'd be a mutilated corpse by now.
She had no idea where Kaiba was taking her but she followed without a word of objection.
Finally she noticed a small hutch located in a private section of the beach a little distance from the pool.
It was surrounded by palm trees and the same sort of exotic plant life she had noticed inside the bar.
They made their way up the stone steps and across the pathway until they were at their supposed destination.
Once inside the hutch, she was able to appreciate its beauty even more. The beach was clearly visible but they were sectioned off from all the other guests.
There was a single wooden table at the center and a pair of long benches on the either side. She assumed the privacy would come in useful to business tycoons who had a hard time putting their laptops down; a perfect place for the disgruntled CEO standing next to her.
She put her bag on the table and folded her arms.
"Kaiba, what's the matter with you, why do you keep insisting on sticking your nose into my business?"
"I already told you why! I don't like repeating myself!"
Tea sighed hopelessly as she slumped onto one of the benches, not knowing what else to say.
Kaiba glared down at her, all the while trying to stop himself from getting lost in how attractive she looked.
Just then her phone started ringing again.
"I thought I told you to take off your god damn phone!"
"What the hell? Just because I work for you now, doesn't mean you own me! '
"…..If you don't do something, I will, so if you don't want me to give that son of a bitch a piece of my mind, you better switch it off right now!"
Tea irritably obeyed, feeling angry at herself for complying without so much as an objection.
As she switched her cell phone off, she looked up at Kaiba with woeful eyes.
Her expression practically killed him. He wanted so much to make her smile, seeing her so tainted was the last thing he wanted for her. But what should he do?
"Why are you doing this to me?"
Tears were welling up in her eyes as she spoke, so delicately that he could barely hear her. Before he knew what was happening she had already gotten up from her seat and was heading out of the hutch.
Before she could make another step however, he grabbed her by the wrist and gently pulled her toward him. Tears were already flowing down her rosy checks.
Before she could protest he pulled her into his embrace and held her to him so that he didn't have to look into her eyes, too afraid that they might betray his feelings.
"I'm sorry if I'm hurting you"
His voice was a little above a whisper but she had no trouble hearing him from the proximity of his mouth to her ear.
Tea's heart pounded in her chest, and she hoped he wouldn't feel the effect he was having on her.
Kaiba felt her body tremble against his, making his self control slip further.
"This vacation isn't just for me and Mokuba, it's for you too. I want you to forget everything while you're here…"
Tea felt her strength leave her body. She felt so safe in Kaiba's arms that she felt she could stay there forever.
"I don't know how… to…forget."
She spoke through her sobbing, finding herself gripping onto him as if she would disappear if she let go. It felt as if someone had opened a large valve within her and a lifetime of pain was about to gush out all at once. She used every ounce of strength left in her to contain her self.
"You have to try, you have to let go of the past."
Kaiba rubbed her back, trying his best to comfort her, not giving a damn about anything else. For some reason, the world around them seemed so far away.
'I'm so sorry….I'm sorry that I'm so…weak."
"You're not! You're not weak at all. Stop telling yourself that you are. If he hurts you, you just need to let him go."
Kaiba couldn't believe how fragile she had become. She felt overwhelmingly vulnerable in his arms. Whatever doubts he had in his mind at that moment were suddenly gone completely. He was falling for her, and he was falling badly – but he knew he couldn't let her see, not yet at least. It would be too much for her, and the last thing he wanted was to cause her anymore distress.
He felt her breathing become more deliberate as if she were trying to calm down. He allowed her to slowly loosen her grip on him. As she wiped her eyes she stepped a few inches backward.
"If only it were so easy..."
Kaiba's arms were still around her as she spoke.
"If you want, I could hire someone to take him out for you."
He was relieved to see her smile despite the tears running down her checks. They were both vaguely aware of the position they were in.
"You must be really tired of having to deal with a secretary who has a nervous breakdown every day."
"Of course not, this kind of thing happens all the time…It's so hard to find good help these days."
He spoke so tenderly that Tea couldn't help herself blushing. She appreciated the fact that he was trying to make her feel better, the gesture was more than welcome in her present state of mind. As she dried her tears however she slowly began slipping back to reality. A reality in which she was actually wiping her tears in Seto Kaiba's arms. Why hadn't he let go of her yet? And why wasn't she stepping away from him?
But before either of them could react, a zealous teenaged voice interrupted.
"Uh… am I interrupting something? Because I can leave, it's not a problem for me."
Both of them were surprised to see Mokuba standing a few feet away from them, arms folded with a smirk on his face.
"Uh Mokuba…it's not…"
Kaiba jumped in before Tea's emotions could take control of her again, casually letting her go; so as not to seem too conspicuous.
"…And where were you? What's up with that Phone call? Is there something you're not telling me?"
Kaiba's desperate and pathetic attempt to change the subject actually seemed to work as Mokuba's smirk suddenly disappeared from his face.
"Uh no, it's nothing, that was just a friend."
He suddenly couldn't hold their gaze anymore as he turned a brighter shade of red than Tea.
Kaiba willingly jumped at the opportunity to escape home free….at least for now.
"Right, You and I need to have a little heart to heart later."
Mokuba turned his attention to Tea, who flushed under his gaze, knowing that her face must still be red from all of her crying.
"Yea…definitely..."
Kaiba understood exactly what his tone meant. He sighed knowing he had just dug his own grave.
The rest of the day managed to go by without incident. The three of them all decided to head down to the beach to have a swim - Kaiba of course keeping clear of the water, instead he sat in the sand looking at them from the shore with an incredibly annoyed expression on his face. He had decided to tag along with them for Mokuba's sake...and also because he wanted to keep an eye on Tea. He didn't like the way some of the guys were ogling her. As he sat alone, uninterrupted, he had plenty of time to think about certain things. He looked at Tea laughing and having a good time with Mokuba. From looking at her at that moment no one would believe that she was hiding so much pain inside of her. Her smile was so beautiful, how could anyone destroy such a thing? He wanted to protect her, seeing her unhappy was tearing him apart. He wondered what had happened between her and Yami to make her so fragile.
Eventually, she would open up to him; eventually he would know the root of all her sadness. Until then he could only try his best to keep her away from the darkness in her life.
He had finally come to terms with the fact that he had feelings for her, and they were growing. He sighed as he thought of his predicament. Despite all the walls he had built up around himself, she had managed to break all of them down without a single effort.
But despite what he felt, his resolve remained unchanged. He would keep it locked away for now. If anything at all was to come of this, it would happen when she was ready for it.
Back To The Top
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Chapter Twelve:
A Glimpse of Heaven
Tuesday
9:00pm
Tea allowed her entire body to relax as she took pleasure in the luxury of a soothing bubble bath.
She sighed deeply as she thought about the horrendous events that had taken place earlier that day- Once again she had managed to make a complete fool of herself in front of Kaiba. She also noticed with great despondency that it was becoming a habit of hers to fall apart whenever she was alone with him.
She bit her bottom lip as she let herself sink deeper into the bubbles, her mind drifting into forbidden territory.
Despite everything that happened however, the one thing she couldn't seem to forget was the blissful sensation of Kaiba's powerful embrace. Even the smell of his cologne was intoxicating. A woman, if she wasn't careful, could very easily die in those arms of his. She blushed to herself, trying in vain to stop but found that she couldn't. She gave herself the freedom to be a girl for a few more minutes until she could regain some control over her good sense.
She let her head rest back against the ceramic tub, her body completely submerged within the pool of suds. She stared out into the night sky through the bathroom window, her mind lost in thought again.
…But in spite of everything she was going through at that point in her life, for some reason he always seemed to be there when she needed to fall to pieces.
Did he actually care for her that way? Or did he really see her as nothing more than an incompetent secretary who needed to be kept under his thumb? Somehow the later explanation didn't seem to hold up well under the circumstances.
But he couldn't really have feelings for her? Why would he? He was Seto Kaiba.
She dismissed the thought, deciding that it was too absurd to even ponder.
As she steadied her thoughts her eyes fell onto a small jewel box sitting on the undersized table next to the tub. There was a golden chain overlapping the edges. Her heart instantly remembered the person attached to the memories which the locket represented.
Why was he still contacting her?
She huffed as she sat up in the tub, feeling a spell of depression wash over her.
Why couldn't he just leave her alone?
And why after so long, was he trying to patch things up between them? She just couldn't understand. The things he had said to her before she left, isn't this exactly what he wanted?
Why was he trying to become a part of her life again?
She wanted to stop herself from thinking about the situation all together….but she knew that would only prove to be a temporary interlude. She knew sooner or later she would have to face him again-and when that time came, she hoped she would find the strength within herself to finally let him go.
Wednesday
8:00am
Kaiba leisurely closed his laptop, trying to fight off the drowsiness in his eyes. He had decided to get some work done that night so he could keep himself informed of the situation at Kaiba Corp while he was away. Apparently things were running efficiently enough for the time being. Of course he had only been away for a couple of days; he would have to check in ever so often to make sure things were kept up to speed.
Feeling satisfied with the work he put in, he headed over to the mini bar to make himself a cup of coffee, hopefully that would break his spell of exhaustion.
He looked at the small clock on the wall as he poured the milk.
When he finished, he headed into the bedroom to clear his head. It was spinning with thoughts that shouldn't be there.
The incident with Tea was practically driving him insane. He couldn't seem to shake the memory of her falling apart in his arms. She was so fragile and vulnerable.
What on earth happened to her back in Domino?
He sat at the edge of the bed and put his smoking cup of coffee on the night stand. He had finally come to terms with his feelings; he had accepted them, despite the stubbornness in his mind urging him on to deny it.
But what was to come of his feelings for her? He knew he couldn't act on them for her sake….But what about him? What about his needs-his desires? Would he be able to keep such a thing bottled up inside of him for so long?
He ran his hand through his hair, feeling the first stages of frustration overshadowing him like a desolate cloud. At this point he had no idea what he was going to do; and not knowing made him uneasy. He shook his head losing his desire for the coffee. Instead, he headed straight for the bathroom. Maybe a cool shower would wash away his uncertainty.
Mokuba scattered an assortment of paperback brochures onto the bed. He eagerly sifted through them with precise interest. Apparently the hotel had added a few new activities to their roster since the last time that he was there.
In addition to the various tours of the island, there were also a number of private excursions available as well. The wheels in his head turned like clockwork. He smiled to himself as a combination of ideas popped into his mind all at once.
Tea stood in front of the half empty wardrobe in nothing but a baby blue bath robe, her hair dripping wet from her morning shower. She hadn't gotten any word from Mokuba as to where they were going that morning so she wasn't exactly sure what she should put on.
Just then there was a knock on her door.
She wrapped the robe around herself and tied the sashes.
She headed to the door and cautiously cracked it open.
Mokuba was smiling up at her with a white pamphlet in his hand.
"Oh, Hi Mokuba, what's up?"
"Hey Tea, is it ok if I come in? Or should I come back later?"
"No, its ok."
She opened the door and moved aside so Mokuba could enter. As soon as they were inside Tea folded her arms and looked at him suspiciously.
"Hmm, by the look on your face, I take it you found something interesting."
Mokuba grinned and handed her the brochure.
She scanned the details for a few seconds and looked back at him with eager eyes.
"A private yacht?"
Mokuba scratched his head, feeling embarrassed.
"Oh, I guess that is a bit boring…but I thought that…"
"Boring? Are you kidding? That sounds wonderful! I've never been on a yacht before!"
Mokuba beamed at her words, relieved that he had managed to make the right choice.
"Really? Well great! I'll go make the arrangements and you go tell my brother ok."
Tea's smile suddenly vanished as she felt herself shrink with mortification. After what had happened yesterday between her and Kaiba, she had been trying her best to avoid direct contact with him.
"Um...Well, can't you go tell him when you're finished?"
She sounded more like she was pleading than making a suggestion.
"Well it would be better if he knew now, you know how stubborn he can get…and I really want him to come."
"Oh…ok."
Her voice was small and apprehensive.
Mokuba looked up at her with a deliberate frown.
"…Tea, did something happen between you and my brother?"
She was caught off guard by his directness.
"No, of course not…"
She opened her mouth to elaborate but she couldn't seem to add anything more. Great! Could she be any less convincing?
Mokuba shrugged deciding that it was best to pretend that he wasn't interested in the whole truth.
"Oh ok… Well I'll go down to the lobby to book our schedule, when you're finished getting dressed you can go tell my brother ok… don't worry Tea, you managed to come out alive when you brought him breakfast yesterday didn't you? If he didn't kill you then, I don't think he'll kill you today."
Tea couldn't help smiling, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks.
She escorted Mokuba out of the room trying to contain the butterflies that were just now starting to fill her stomach.
When he was finally gone she closed the door and headed back into the bedroom. Sighing with frustration she picked the first outfit she could get her hands on and threw it onto the dresser stool. She sat on the edge of the bed, her thoughts running wild.
Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to be so….so damn…..Sheesh, she couldn't even find a satisfying word to describe him.
Groaning as if she had the worst stomach ache in the world she let herself fall backwards onto the bed, not giving a damn about her wet hair.
Kaiba walked into the bedroom, oblivious to his surroundings; his mind was still spinning uncontrollably. He was clad in nothing but a pair of black boxer shorts, with a towel loosely draped around his neck. His sandy brown hair was damp and disheveled.
He walked over to the laptop sitting on the bed, with the intention of drowning himself in some work in order to create some distraction.
Just then, much to his aggravation, there was a quiet knock on his door. He sighed as he made a u turn and headed straight toward the source of his disdain.
He swung the door open, without trying to hide his mood, only to find himself staring down at the very girl who was running through his mind all morning.
For the first time in his life he was grateful for his conscientious upbringing, courtesy Gozaburo Kaiba; He was able to hide his feelings with ease.
Tea however, wasn't having such a trouble-free time. She looked like a mouse in the presence of a house cat.
Tea looked up at Kaiba, once again in nothing but a pair of boxers. Her voice seemed to be caught in her throat as she looked at him. If one of his fan girls were standing there at that precise moment they'd spontaneously combust! Damn it! It should be a crime to look that good!
Kaiba tried his best to sound like his old unpleasant self so there would be nothing unusual between them.
"Didn't I make it clear yesterday, that I didn't want you bothering me this early in the morning?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that… Mokuba told me to tell you that… we're going on a private yacht ride this morning."
As Kaiba looked down at her, he realized just how difficult it would be to keep his feelings for her bottled up inside of him.
He nevertheless, willed himself to act natural.
"A private Yacht?"
Tea nodded
"He said he was going downstairs right now to book our schedule."
Kaiba let out a frustrated huff.
"And I take it you won't leave me alone until I agree to come along, am I right?"
Tea managed to smile, despite herself.
"..Well, he really wants you to be there…"
He sighed heavily knowing when he was beat. It made absolutely no sense trying to pull himself out of it.
"Fine, just let me know when to come down!"
Tea nodded.
Their eyes remained locked on each other for a few seconds until Tea broke the spell.
"Um, well, I'll see you when you get down ok."
Without another word, she turned to walk down the hallway toward her room. Kaiba kept his eyes on her until she was no longer in his sight zone.
When he finally closed his door, he couldn't help feeling that their little island vacation was about to get a whole lot more complicated.
After about half an hour, they were all standing in the lobby downstairs. A young man with medium length hair joined them from hotel administration. He appeared to be in his mid twenties, with blond hair and green eyes which complimented his features nicely. Tea of course was the first one to notice.
"Oh man, I can't believe I'm actually getting to meet, the one and only Seto Kaiba!"
He reached out to shake Kaiba's hand, too star struck to notice the expression on Kaiba's face.
"Your Games are the best man…"
Before he could say another word however a much older man stepped out from behind the check in counter.
"Uh, you'll have to excuse my son, Mr. Kaiba; he's fairly new here at the Hotel."
The older man shot his son a nasty glance before turning his attention back to Kaiba.
He smiled apologetically as he shook Kaiba's hand much like his son did.
"Jack Wellington, I understand that you're interested in one of our private packages this morning, Young Mr. Kaiba here explained that you wanted as much privacy as possible so I've made the necessary arrangements."
Kaiba folded his arms not saying a word; he was obviously less than thrilled to be there.
The man, now introduced as Mr. Wellington, noticed the disgruntled look on Kaiba's face and decided it best to get straight to the point.
"Um, my son here, Ryan, will be your captain and tour guide this morning…"
He led them out of the hall and outside into the front of the hotel.
"You and your mistress will find it's much to your liking. Maximum privacy Guaranteed."
Kaiba was losing his patience, he didn't even have the energy to set the real story straight anymore.
"Whatever, can we just leave already?"
"Oh yes of course, please excuse me while I arrange some transportation to the dock."
Kaiba just sighed leaning against the wall.
Both Tea and Mokuba decided that it was best to just leave him be. It wasn't wise to upset him any further than he already was.
After a few minutes Mr. Wellington returned, closing his cell phone.
"Well, the jeep should be here in a few minutes. I hope you and your mistress find our accommodations to your liking Mr. Kaiba."
He tipped his hat to Tea and headed back into the hotel lobby leaving the three of them standing outside the entrance. Tea willed her self not to turn red. She glimpsed at Kaiba, who seemed to be deliberately avoiding her glance. There were quite a few eyes on them as per usual as they stood waiting for their transportation.
After a few minutes Ryan emerged form inside the hotel, looking annoyed. Tea decided that his Father must have given him a generous amount of fore warning about keeping a lid on his mouth.
Just then a black & white 4x 4 Jeep wrangler pulled up into the entrance.
Ryan, waved at the driver.
"Oh, looks like our rides here."
With that said they all gathered themselves to enter the vehicle.
The morning went by rather quickly and much to Tea's relief, it went by without incident.
They all arrived at the dock in less than five minutes, Tea noticing with great pleasure that this part of the island seemed to be void of any other guests and/or fan girls.
Kaiba's mood hadn't improved in the slightest, not even the sight of the luxurious yacht did anything to uplift his spirits.
Tea however had felt as if she had just stepped onto a movie set.
They all boarded the yacht accompanied by Ryan who seemed to have lost the memory of his father's warning.
Ryan, Kaiba noticed with disgust, had a distinct similarity to Joey Wheeler.
After giving them a formal brief, history of the yacht, Ryan led them down into the cabin area.
Tea couldn't believe her eyes as she stepped foot into the spacious interior. It was much larger than she thought it would be; she felt as if she were standing in another section of the hotel. All the furniture were arranged so as to give the impression of a small apartment; with glass windows surrounding the room giving them a clear view of the vast open ocean all around them. There was even a flat screen TV and a dinning table arranged with an assortment of drinks and deserts at the far left hand corner of the room. Tea had to bite down on her lip to keep from gaping like a complete idiot. Was this what the Kaibas considered normal? She suddenly felt like a black sheep.
As they walked further into the room she also noticed also that there was actually a fully furnished patio extending out onto the deck. She never dreamed that it would be this elaborate, her eyes sparkled with fascination.
"Well I guess that's all, there's food and the works already prepared; Just head into the pantry through the door on your right….and if you guys need a bit more privacy, there are two couple sized bedrooms in the lower deck. Just make yourselves at home ok."
Winking at both Tea and Kaiba, Ryan the inexperienced captain, headed back up the stairs to the upper deck; leaving them staring after him. Tea was scarlet red as she forced herself not to look at Kaiba. Apparently everyone at the hotel thought that they were an item.
Kaiba wasted no time; he headed straight to the bottle of non alcoholic wine. He popped the bottle open and poured himself a generous glass.
"You guys dragged me out here, so I intend to do whatever the hell I want."
Mokuba was happy to see his brother doing something other than work, even if it was sulking like an 8 year old. He turned to Tea who seemed to be a bit out of place, not knowing what she should do next.
"Come on Tea; let's go out on the deck! We'll be able to see the whole island once we set sail!"
He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her outside.
Kaiba took a sip of his drink as he stared after them. Once again Tea seemed to be completely oblivious to how attractive she looked. Her hair was loose and she was wearing a closely fitted white tank top and a navy blue mini skirt. He had to shake himself out of his stupor before following them out on deck. Once there he noticed that they were just now starting to move, the dock was slowly drifting further and further away from them.
"I hope you didn't have to pay extra for this Mokuba!"
"No of course not Seto, the Kaiba name comes with a lot of perks you know."
Kaiba scoffed as he took another sip of his wine.
Mokuba turned his attention to Tea.
"So Tea what do you think? About the yacht I mean?"
"Are you kidding? It's beautiful!"
"I'm glad you like it."
Kaiba watched the both of them converse. He couldn't help feeling grateful that Mokuba was having such a good time. Because he was always so busy, he hardly ever had any time to spend with his baby brother, he was glad that he and Tea got along as well as they did.
The day passed by quickly. Mokuba saw it as his responsibility to make sure Tea's first time on the yacht was as enjoyable as possible; while Kaiba saw it as his responsibility to be as difficult and immature as possible.
As the evening drew to a close Mokuba decided to head up to the upper deck to speak to Ryan, who turned out to be an excellent captain after all; despite Kaiba's rotten disposition of course.
Tea and Kaiba who hadn't had much to say to each other for most of the day were suddenly left alone.
Kaiba felt his 'male instincts' kick into full gear as he watched Tea helping herself to a glass of red wine. He didn't want her to know what was really going on his head; but that didn't mean he couldn't have a normal conversation with her right?
"Don't you think you had enough alcohol for the day?"
Tea turned to look at her tormentor who was smirking at her form one of the couches by the window.
"What do you mean; this is the only alcoholic drink I've had all day!"
"That's one more than me."
Somehow hearing him badger her like that seemed to make her feel more at ease around him.
"Humph, well it's not my fault you're Mr Perfect, Who thinks he's above everything, even alcohol!"
"So you think I'm perfect?"
"What? Would you stop playing on my words!"
"I wasn't playing on your words, I simply repeated exactly what you yourself said."
"That's not what I meant and you know it so stop trying to get on my nerves."
Kaiba enjoyed seeing her work herself up; her buttons were just too easy to push.
Tea took a seat on the single couch opposite the one Kaiba was sitting on. She pulled her eyes off of him to take a sip of her wine.
Kaiba kept his eyes on her, wondering if he should try getting some answers. He wanted to know what had happened to her before she left Domino. He wanted to find out exactly what that asshole did to cause so much pain in her life.
But how was he supposed to do that without sounding completely obvious? He decided that he would try nevertheless.
"…And since when do you drink anyway? I seem to recall you yourself being all straight laced back in high school."
Kaiba studied her reaction to his question closely. Fortunately she didn't seem angry or dismissive at all.
She put her glass down on the table next to the couch.
"Well, people change as they get older Kaiba."
He saw a sort of sadness reflected in her eyes as she spoke.
"So I take it you're out of the cheerleading business for good now?"
He was glad to see her smile.
"It's just that, we were all so ignorant back then, we didn't know the first thing about real life. It's different when you get older, people who you thought you could trust forever…."
She shrugged without finishing her sentence. She picked up her glass of wine again and took another sip.
Kaiba, despite how hard it was for him to see the hurt in her eyes, kept his questions constant.
"So someone betrayed you?"
She looked at him and then looked away.
"..That's not important, that's all in the past now."
She tucked some of her hair behind her ear as she looked back at him, forcing herself to smile.
"…and it's not exactly fair for me to keep boring you with my problems."
"You're not. I wouldn't ask you to tell me if I didn't want to know."
"But why do you…."
"I already told you, whether you like it or not you are one of my responsibilities now. You work for me remember."
"Yea but, don't I get to keep my personal life to myself? I didn't know working for you meant I was signing over my soul."
"Well you should've read the fine print at the bottom of the contract."
Tea couldn't help herself smiling for real this time. When he wasn't being a jerk, Kaiba could actually be quite charismatic.
She took another sip of her wine.
"Maybe I should have."
Tea noticed that the sun was just now starting to set. She wanted to get a good view of the horizon before night fall.
She got up from her seat and started heading out into the patio. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Kaiba.
"I'm going to get a better look at the sunset; you want to come with me?"
"Why would I be interested in something as stupid as that? And besides you can see everything fine from right here."
Tea rolled her eyes and walked over to where he was sitting. She folded her arms and looked down at him. Kaiba knew that it was just the wine finally taking its toll, other wise, she would never have approached him the way that she did.
"Why are you always such a jerk?"
Kaiba stared up at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Are you saying you have a problem with my attitude?"
"Maybe."
"Well why don't you do something about it?"
She looked down at him not knowing what she should say next.
He smirked up at her.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid to put me in my place?"
"Afraid? I'm not afraid of you!"
"You're not?"
Without another word he kept his eyes glued to hers as he deliberately stood up from his seated position. He was now standing directly in front of her, his body towering over hers, purposely holding her gaze.
"Are you sure?"
Tea felt her heart rate increase rapidly as she instinctively tried to step back. But he had already placed one of his hands around her waist, keeping her rooted on spot; His eyes drilling into hers
Tea felt like she was about to have a panic attack. She looked up at him, finding that she didn't even have the strength to generate any kind of resistance.
Kaiba kept his iron grip on her, feeling his baser instincts kicking in once again; but he knew he couldn't act on them, not at that moment. He wasn't exactly sure how she would react to him. He decided to drop the notion all together. A simple ruse was all she needed.
He casually let her go, causing her to stumble back a little.
Tea felt her face practically glowing as she stepped further away from him.
"What the hell was that for?"
Kaiba simply smirked and folded his arms.
"You should think before you mouth off."
Tea pouted as she looked up at him.
"You really are a jerk, Kaiba!"
With that said she angrily got up and headed out toward the patio, to watch the sunset on her own.
As she stood out on the deck, allowing the ocean air to sweep through her hair, to her surprise she turned to see Kaiba approaching her with another glass of wine in his hand.
He handed it to her, his blue eyes much kinder than before.
"I was only joking you know, you shouldn't let people get under your skin so easily."
She took the glass from his hand her fingers brushing against his.
One look at his face and her anger had disappeared completely. She smiled as she felt her cheeks turning red again.
"I'm sorry…"
She sighed as she watched the breathtaking sunset.
"… I guess you were right, I am just an over emotional secretary."
He smiled at her, wishing she could somehow see the truth in his eyes.
"Maybe you are…but I wouldn't have you any other way."
Tea turned to look at him, trying in vain to stop herself from blushing.
Suddenly his smile turned into a mischievous smirk.
"…Who needs a secretary who can get through the day without a meltdown? No body needs that kind of aggravation."
Tea had to force herself not to laugh out loud. She smiled as she deliberately took another sip of her wine, so as not to give herself away.
"You're such a jerk Kaiba…"
He shrugged, knowing that he couldn't deny the fact.
She turned to watch the ocean again.
"..But... I wouldn't have you any other way either."
Kaiba kept his eyes on her, feeling her words touch his heart.
Did she really just say that to him?
Great! This was going to be much harder than he thought! At this rate there was no telling what would happen between them. But despite his feelings, his resolve would remain cast in stone, until the moment was right to shatter it into a million pieces.
He chose not to say anything further, as they both watched the sun disappear into the ocean.
No comments:
Post a Comment