It had been six months since Alicia had started working for Kaiba. Six long and painful months of paperwork. Itineraries, reports, letters, briefings- anything that required paper, she was forced to do, and all of it was tedious and painful. She didn't know what she did to piss God off, but she was definitely paying for something she did. Divine retribution was the only explanation.

Or maybe Kaiba was just a cruel, vindictive asshole. One or the other.

Regardless of how much she was certain that some divine being or her boss just simply hated her, she still did her work extremely well just to spite them both. As far as she was concerned they deserved it. So in the past six months, she'd gone from just being Kaiba's secretary to being his assistant. It pained Kaiba to admit that she was the most competent and useful person who worked for him, so he never admitted it.

At least, not out loud where she could hear him.

Given this tolerated relationship between the two of them, it was incredibly odd to see the two of them together outside of work doing nothing work related whatsoever: having dinner. It had come completely out of the blue when she was getting ready to leave and he just walked up and asked her out to dinner. This was their current situation.

Kaiba was swirling the whiskey in his glass around pensively, watching Ali avoid looking at him and taking nervous sips from her club soda.

"We do have a chauffeur," he remarked. "You can drink as much as you want."

Ali looked up at him and shrugged before diverting her gaze again.

"I don't drink," she said simply.

Kaiba's brows went up in mild surprise, though it didn't really show because the man had the expressional capacity of a rock.

"Bad experience?" he asked casually, taking a sip from his own drink.

Ali shrugged again and suddenly became very interested in the light fixture at the table behind him.

"I just choose not to. It's never really appealed to me."

"Huh."

Kaiba sat back in his chair and Ali finally looked at him. Her expression was a little indignant at hearing his quiet interjection, as she was frowning slightly.

"What?" she asked.

Kaiba shrugged.

"Nothing. You just strike me as the kind of woman who would take solace in a glass of wine."

"...You think I'm a drunk," Ali deadpanned.

He took another sip of his drink and resisted the urge to smirk.

"I never said that."

"You were thinking it."

Okay, he had to give her that.

"Touche," he muttered.

"Touche indeed."

A tense quiet descended on their table and Alicia immediately went back to avoiding his gaze again, though she was no longer nervous. After about a minute or two, she broke the silence.

"I'm curious," she said idly, looking at him again. "Why the sudden urge to go out to dinner?"

"I didn't feel like eating alone," he replied curtly.

"Wow." Ali chuckled softly and set her glass back down on the table. "And here I thought you had no emotions."

Kaiba scoffed, frowning slightly.

"Very funny."

"Yeah, but here's the part that gets me," she continued, "Why me? I mean, you don't really like me and the only other human being you actually interact with is your brother."

His frown deepened and now it was his turn to look away from her. She was even smirking now, so it was just adding insult to injury. Being quiet would just give her more of a reason to pry, however, so he reluctantly admitted to himself that he had to give her something.

"He's been...occupied lately."

"So he got a girlfriend and you're just lonely?"

Kaiba glared at her and set his own glass down on the table.

"I am not lonely," he snapped.

Ali rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Please," she scoffed. "I have two brothers who are inseparable. One of them got a girlfriend and the other one was miserable until he got one, too. Up to that, however, he hung out with me non-stop to fill the void."

Once finished with her explanation, she picked up her glass again and wagged a finger at him.

"I know these things."

Kaiba grumbled something under his breath that Ali was certain to be a denial mixed with an insult. She ignored him, however, and took another sip from her drink. Kaiba leaned forward and pointed a finger at her.

"So say that I am lonely," he said, "Why would I use you to fill the void?"

Ali shrugged again for the third time that night and sipped her drink nonchalantly.

"Convenience," she said simply. "You see me practically every day, all day, and I'm usually the only person you see before hiding away in your office."

She chuckled and smiled warmly at him for the first time that night.

"Not to mention, I can't necessarily say 'no' because you sign my paycheck."

Kaiba sighed and shook his head.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Ali's smile broadened into a grin.

"Not in the slightest."

Kaiba had to admit that he admired the fact that she was willing to be honest with him. Out of all of his employees, Alicia was the only one with enough guts to stand up to him. Maybe that was why he was trying to "fill the void" with her.

The quiet descended on their table again and the two of them spent the rest of their evening in silence. They didn't speak again until they pulled up in front of Ali's apartment building. Exhaling, Ali shifted on the seat of the limo and looked over at Kaiba.

"Thanks for dinner. As awkward as it was, it was actually kind of nice."

Kaiba looked away with a derisive snort.

"Well don't get used to it."

"Didn't plan on it."

Ali pushed open the car door and stepped out onto the pavement before closing it behind her. The limo sped away seconds later, leaving her on the alone on the sidewalk. Heaving a sigh, Ali turned and walked back into the building.