There was a bite in the November air that made Téa pull her peacoat a little tighter around her. She knocked on the door again, but before she could even pull her hand away, it swung open, spilling light and warmth onto the front stoop.
"Téa!" Yugi stood in the doorway with hair as impossibly big and spiky as ever and a smile that felt like home. Some of the tightness in her chest eased away. "Come on in!"
The smells of cranberries sauce, pumpkin pie, fresh-baked rolls, and turkey wafted through the game shop air, floating over the noise and clatter of too many people talking, working, and moving about in the same space. Through the din, Téa caught familiar voices.
"Joey, I don't think potato chips are really a Thanksgiving side dish."
"Heh, you haven't had potato chips like these before."
"As long as there's no candy bar casserole, I'll allow it."
The edges of her mouth tugged upwards. It was good to be back.
Téa wasn't entirely sure how they all crowded around the battered kitchen table—even with the card table stuck on the end—covered in a festive tablecloth. Grandpa Muto presided over the turkey at the head of the table, brandishing an enormous carving knife. Yugi sat beside him, while across the table were Rebecca and Professor Hawkins. Tristan, Serenity, Joey, and Mai rounded out the party. Bakura was still in Oxford—Thanksgiving wasn't exactly a thing on the University's calendar—and the Kaiba brothers had declined the invitation.
"Rich boy probably has some fancy-pants cocktail party to go to," Joey put in with a roll of his eyes.
"Maybe they just like to celebrate together as a family," Serenity objected, giving her brother a look.
"Sure, give him the benefit of the doubt, why don't you?" Joey grabbed another roll and piled it on his plate.
"Duke was going to come," Rebecca told her, "but he went to Vegas instead." She made a face.
"His loss," Tristan said, loading up his plate with mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, and throwing an appreciative glance Serenity's way. Tea had to hide her smile. Some things never changed.
"So, where's Ethan?" Mai asked as she sliced open her roll and buttered it. "I heard we were going to get to meet him."
Téa's gut lurched. Suddenly, she had absolutely no appetite whatsoever. "He couldn't make it," she mumbled. Her eyes dropped to her empty plate.
"Oh, is everything okay?" Serenity asked. Her warm hazel eyes oozed concern.
No, nothing was alright. The wave of grief, anger, and shame came crashing back over her. She twisted the cloth napkin in her lap. "Well, actually," she managed, feeling like every word was being forced through an iron grate, "Evan and I broke up."
There was the predictable chorus of gasps and sympathetic noises. Téa closed her eyes. Soon would come all the usual questions and the well-meaning comments. She didn't want to hear any of it. Didn't want to deal with it. What she really wanted was to be back on her couch in her apartment, eating peanut butter swirl ice cream, watching Hallmark Christmas movies, and crying her eyes out. But it was either this or face her extended family at her grandmother's house. This, at least, was bearable.
"Thanks," she murmured, "but I really would rather not talk about it, if you don't mind." She looked around the table, desperately searching for a conversation topic. "Um, Serenity, how's college going?"
"Oh, you know." Serenity looked a little off-put at Téa's dodge, but she accepted it. "We nursing students are always running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Break couldn't come soon enough." Tristan started nodding his head in agreement until Téa noticed, and he froze.
"You said it," Rebecca chimed in. "I think my professors are determined to kill me."
"I'm sure they simply want to push you to do your best," her grandfather replied.
Rebecca snort. "What they want is for me to not write my dissertation about the existence of Atlantis or about the history of Duel Monsters in Ancient Egypt." She sighed and adjusted her glasses. "The history department at Princeton could be a little less conservative, but that's everywhere I suppose. I'm still considering what I do want to write about."
The conversation moved along to other topics, and Téa breathed a little easier, having successfully diverted attention away from herself. It didn't help the gnawing emptiness inside her any, although hearing the stories about Mai's dueling tour overseas or Yugi's recent charity work was a decent distraction. There were even moments, when the room was full of laughter and smiles, that she even felt at peace.
"If the KC website crashes, the IT department is not going to be getting a Christmas bonus this year," Seto Kaiba barked grimly into his cell phone. He refreshed his browser. So far, the site looked good, but as soon as the Black Friday sales went live, all hell was going to break loose.
"Seto, aren't you even going to eat any turkey?" Mokuba complained. He was stretched out on the black leather sofa with a plate loaded with enough stuffing and sweet potato casserole to feed the entire population of Domino. "Miracle on 34th Street" was playing on TV. At least it was the good black-and-white version.
"How can I when all you've left is the bones?" he called back wryly, putting his hand over the microphone. A balled-up napkin sailed over the edge of the couch in his general direction.
"C'mon, Seto, it's Thanksgiving."
Seto sighed, but he finished up the call. He added sautéed asparagus, potatoes au gratin, and, yes, turkey to his plate and joined his brother on the couch. Maureen O'Hara was in the middle of firing the drunk Santa from the Thanksgiving Parade when his phone buzzed again. Mokuba threw him a look. "It's a holiday. And don't tell me it's just a made-up Hallmark holiday, because we've talked about that already and you know it's not."
"It might be a holiday, but it's also a very important business day for KaibaCorp," Seto reminded him. "We're projecting to sell over two million of our new Duel Disk models over the next two days. And then there's the beginning of the Christmas season at KaibaLand, which you are supposed to be overseeing, Mr. Vice President…"
"Everything's running perfectly smoothly," Mokuba informed him. "And it will continue to run smoothly whether or not you eat that turkey or you let it go cold."
The kid had a point. But the phone kept buzzing, so he answered it. He had expected Roland, or perhaps the head of the online sales department. But instead, it was Ed Stuart, the publication relations specialist the company had brought aboard only a few months ago.
"What can I do for you?" Seto wanted to know, trying to hide his annoyance.
"Well, I sure am sorry to disturb you at home, Mr. Kaiba, but I have to say, I'm surprised to find you here."
"Where else would I be?"
"Ah." From the note of satisfaction in Ed's voice, Seto had the feeling his question played perfectly into the man's hands. "I had thought perhaps you'd be at the Biltmore right now, for the Season of Thanks Gala."
Ah, that. The invitation for the black tie event, which gave millionaires, politicians, and celebrities some soft-focus press coverage in exchange for generous donations to big-name charities, had arrived several weeks ago, but Seto had never entertained the slightest intention of going. "I prefer to celebrate with my family," he told the publicist firmly. "At home."
As far as he was concerned, the conversation was over, but the publicist wasn't done. "With all due respect, Mr. Kaiba, you're making a mistake. You are the face of the company. Your reputation is the company's reputation."
"Is there something wrong with my reputation?" His tone was perilously frosty, but publicist seemed impervious to it.
"Not per se, no, but the trouble is, you haven't given the public much chance to get to know you, not recently. When you reinvented KaibaCorp as a gaming company, that change was accompanied by your rise in the international dueling community as a shining star. Your wins, and even your losses, and your very public rivalry with Yugi Muto kept KaibaCorp's name out there. But it's been several years since you last dueled in public. You don't give interviews, and you rarely attend events that will be covered by the media."
"I value my privacy," Seto said. "We've discussed this."
"Yes, sir, but you also value your company. If you give the media a little face time, I guarantee that KaibaCorp's stocks will see a corresponding rise. However, if you continue to lurk in the darkness…"
Oh, for pity's sake. Seto glanced over at his brother and bit back the curses that rose to his tongue. "Fine. Sign me up for a photo-op or two. Maybe a Christmas party." Just shoot me now, he thought. "One with vodka, preferably. Now, if you don't mind, I have a turkey to eat."
Pumpkin pie absolutely smothered in whipped cream was almost a cure for a broken heart, Téa thought as she went into for her fourth forkful. She let her mouth fill with pure Thanksgiving goodness, and tried to push all thoughts of her erstwhile boyfriend out of her head. He wasn't worth it.
She'd even revived enough over the course of the evening to give a description of her life in New York without dissolving into puddles of tears. Mai and Serenity oohed and aahed over every detail as if it was much more glamorous than it really was, which was gratifying, even if she suspected they were mostly trying to make her feel better. After all, Mai was a world traveler, and she'd definitely spent plenty of her own time in Manhattan. Still, it was nice to have people impressed by her. That wouldn't have been the case at her family's Thanksgiving, that was for sure. Broadway might have been what Mom'd always wanted for her—once she realized Téa was stuck on dance lessons, anyway—but chorus parts definitely weren't, and neither were the waitressing jobs Téa used to fill in the gaps between gigs. Actually, the waitressing paid better than the dancing, truth be told.
Evan would have impressed them. Mom'd only met Evan once, but she'd gushed about how handsome and charming he was ever since. Yeah, well, Mom wasn't the only one he'd charmed, was she? Besides, Téa was pretty sure that his bank account had a lot to do with the magic he'd worked over her parents, that, and his job at a prestigious Wall Street firm.
She still had to break the news to them sometime. Téa put down her fork, the luscious pie suddenly tasting like mud. That was going to suck like nothing else, wasn't it? It was bad enough having to break up with her boyfriend of over a year and completely rearrange her life and all her future expectations, but dealing with Mom chewing her out for how she let the best thing she ever had get away from her and relentlessly trying to fix her up with anyone she could find was going to absolutely be the worst of it.
Maybe she could go away for the holidays. Someplace festive, like Antarctica, maybe.
It was sometime after eight, when Mokuba was in a full-out turkey-and-pie coma and the movie had changed to "Jingle All the Way, when Seto's phone buzzed again. He was currently looking over the early sales figures—the Black Friday deals had gone live on the KC website two hours ago—and he ignored it for a few minutes.
When he did look at it, his eyebrows skyrocketed. It was a schedule of "suggested" events he attend between now and January. It had over twenty entries. "What the…"
At least half of them had an asterisk next to them. "Optional," Seto guessed, relaxing fractionally as he scrolled down to trace the asterisk. Ed probably wanted him to pick out a few he was interested in from the asterisked list. He doubted he'd select as many as the publicist wanted him to, but at least the man realized there would be some give and take to this arrangement.
Then, he found the asterisk. "Bring date," it read.
Seto blinked at it, then scrolled back up, looking at the list of events. "Call Ed Stuart," he barked into the phone.
Joey whirled around the room, stretching his hands over his head.
"Kuriboh!" Serenity shouted.
She got a dirty look from her brother. "Kuriboh? Are you kiddin' me? I—"
"Ah-ah," Mai tutted, wagging a finger at him. "No talking, Joseph."
Grumbling under his breath, Joey continued his performance. Was that a pirouette? He had his hands pointed over his head again. Now he was waving one around.
"Celtic Guardian," Tristan guessed, but Joey shook his head.
"Um, Little Swordsman of Landstar?" tried Rebecca.
"Red Eyes Black Dragon?"
Joey was getting increasingly frustrated. He put his hands on his hips and rocked them provocatively. Then, he blew a sultry kiss in the audience's direction.
"Harpie Lady?" Mai asked dubiously.
Joey scowled, red in the face. He twirled again, waving his right arm around. Then he pointed at Yugi.
"Yugi?" Grandpa Muto said. "But Yugi's not a Duel Monster…."
"Dark Magician?" Yugi guessed.
This earned a better reaction from Joey. He nodded vigorously, then twirled again. He blew another kiss—this one distinctly in Mai's direction, Téa thought. "Dark Magician Girl," she said.
"Thank you!" Joey flung himself back in his seat. "Who da heck wrote Dark Magician Girl down?" he demanded.
"Is there something wrong with Dark Magician Girl?" Rebecca demanded.
"She is a pretty well known monster, Joey," Yugi contributed mildly. "The rules just said it had to be one that everyone knows…"
"Unless you have an issue with female monsters." Rebecca arched an eyebrow aggressively.
"No," Joey muttered. "I ain't got any problem with females at all…"
"I think it's your turn, Téa," said Serenity, stepping in to save her brother from further trouble.
Téa made a little face. She really didn't feel like trying to act out a Duel Monster right now. "Can I pass?"
"What? No way!" Joey protested. "After I just made a fool outta myself—"
"You didn't make a fool out of yourself; you were just born that way, hon." Mai stood up, smoothing her miniskirt with an elegant motion. "I'll go."
Téa smiled her gratitude at the blonde, and did her best to make up for her refusal to act by guessing as much as she could. Since she had somehow drawn Harpie Lady—Téa suspected sleight-of-hand—her turn didn't take long. Rebecca went next, pantomiming Mystical Elf, and then Serenity went with Kuriboh. After that, Tristan's attempt to get everyone to guess Blue Eyes White Dragon had everyone in stitches, and the game broke up amid laughter.
"Well," said Serenity, wiping tears away from her eyes, "I think I am going to head out now. Gotta get some sleep if we're going to get up at 2."
"Are you really getting up at 2 am?" Téa asked.
"What, you're not going to come with us?" Serenity looked disappointed. "Mai and I just sort of figured you would."
Téa glanced over at Rebecca, but she was shaking her head. "Nope. These brain cells don't function before 5 o'clock. I'll hit some online sales tonight, but Cyber Monday's where it's really at."
"And the boys?"
Mai snorted. "Do you want to try to get Joey out of bed before the break of dawn? Trust me, it's not a pretty picture."
"Yeah, I'll pass on that too," put in Tristan.
"I think Grandpa was hoping we'd help him get all the Christmas decoration up on the game shop," Yugi said. "He can't really climb up the ladders and such like he used to."
"Hey, I may be old, but I'm not dead yet," protested Grandpa, but Téa noticed he didn't protest much.
"All right," she decided suddenly. "I'm game." Maybe a crazy Black Friday shopping trip with her girls was exactly what she needed. After all, people kept telling her she needed to do new things, things she never used to do with Ethan. Ethan would have absolutely hated the idea of her tramping around a department store in the middle of the night to save some money. "See you in the morning."
"Look, I know the schedule is a little on the aggressive side," said Ed Stuart, "but I think you'll agree that something worth doing is worth investing the time to do it well."
"Don't bullshit me, Stuart." Seto rubbed his temple. "There are over twenty events on this schedule, in less than forty days. Do you seriously expect me to have time to attend all of these? I'm an extremely busy man. My time is valuable."
"I assure you that I understand that, Mr. Kaiba." Ed's voice was as smooth as butter, and as slippery. "But crafting the desired public image after spending so long out of the spotlight is going to take a concerted effort." He sighed. "I do appreciate your concerns, however. I will go back over the list. Perhaps I can pare down a few of the dates."
"Speaking of, that was not my only concern with your list. Most of those events said 'bring a date.'"
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "And that's a problem," the publicist said finally.
Sudden embarrassment washed over Seto, swiftly followed by anger over being embarrassed. "Like I said, I'm a busy man. Relationships aren't something I've had time for." He'd only been a little busy building a gaming empire, developing a billion-dollar theme park, running highly acclaimed tournaments that raised KaibaCorp's visibility, and trying to make sure his little brother had something of a childhood. When he wasn't getting sucked into the vortex of insanity that seemed to follow Yugi Muto around, or trying to rescue Mokuba for the umpteenth time, that was.
"…so finding a date for these events is a problem."
Seto squeezed his eyes shut. If this man made a crack about him having his priorities in the wrong order or about the improbability of the Seto Kaiba being dateless, he swore he would fire him.
To his credit, however, Ed Stuart did neither. "Hmmm." He sounded genuinely contemplative. "Let me ponder this. It's a bit more complicated than I expected."
"How is it complicated?"
"Well, the obvious solution, of course, is we hire someone. Or multiple someones. But even a robust non-disclosure agreement doesn't always stop leaks, and of course, suing the girl afterwards won't do much to stop the bleeding."
Seto suddenly felt like he had just gotten off a tilt-a-whirl. Hire someone? Why was that the obvious choice.
"Besides, if you make the kind of splash we're hoping for, the first thing the rags are going to do is try to find all about the lady you're stepping out with. If we go with someone from any kind of agency, that's going to show up right away."
"Agency?" Seto echoed, feeling stupid. He shook his head to clear it. "Hold on. Why can't I simply attend these events by myself. Or maybe with Mokuba, if the occasion's appropriate?" His younger brother was cute, approachable, very-public relations friendly, after all. Besides, Mokuba would have much more fun going to holiday parties and Christmas tree lightings than he would.
Again, there was a pause. Seto couldn't decide whether he had shocked the man into silence, or he was simply trying very hard to parse his words. "I don't think that would be the best idea, sir," he said finally. His voice sounded a little strained.
"Why not?" Seto was frankly exasperated by the man's talking in circles. Why couldn't he just flat-out say what he meant?
"Well, the rumors, frankly."
"Rumors?" A muscle in Seto's jaw twitched. What was this man gibbering about?
"W-well, you can't be unaware of the fact that your name has been linked in the past with Yugi Muto's."
Seto's eyes narrowed. "What does my rivalry with Yugi have to do with anything?"
He could hear the man swallow on the other end of the line. "Um, well, that is, some people believe that your association may be of a more personal nature."
"What?" At first the word was pure confusion. Then, the penny dropped. "What?"
Ed Stuart sounded apologetic. "I don't make the rumors, sir, but..."
Seto could hear what he didn't want to say. Being seen in public with a date, a female date, would start to dispel those rumors without KaibaCorp ever having to address them.
"Assuming that's not a signal you want to send to the public. I mean, the cultural climate certainly has shifted dramatically over the last several years, and if you'd like to make a different sort of statement…" the publicist trailed off. Even over the telephone, he could somehow sense the bone-chilling glare being sent his way.
There was a moment of dead silence, and then Seto said, "Well, I have no intention of going to any of these events with Yugi Muto—or any other man, just in case that wasn't perfectly clear." He kneaded the bridge of his nose in a colossal effort to keep his temper. "I won't say that I can't see the value of going to one or two of these events with a date. Surely that can be arranged without too much trouble," he said stiffly. Yeah, needing to have a date "arranged" for him. That sounded real straight. He cleared his throat. "But I don't see why I need a date for all of them—" He kept talking as the publicist tried to protest that it wasn't all of them "—or why I can't simply bring my brother to something like this Christmas tree lighting."
The publicist sounded absolutely miserable. "There are other rumors."
Seto felt his jaw go slack. His stomach plummeted, and he suddenly felt cold and then hot all at once. He felt sick and simultaneously angrier than he had ever been in his life.
"Look, I'm not the one who's saying these things," Ed Stuart scrambled to say, sounding like he was afraid Seto was going to flay him alive with the power of his mind alone. To be fair, if he could, he probably would.
He ground his teeth and hauled in a deep breath. "…I don't even… I refuse to dignify that kind of sick delusion by even…"
"Of course," Ed soothed. "Of course not. I only meant… you can clearly see that this is no little matter we're dealing with."
He hated this. He hated it with every fiber of his being. But he hated the idea of people saying those kinds of things about his brother even more. This was a battle of public opinion. This man, as loathsome as he was, knew how to fight it. He sighed. "Looks like I need a girlfriend."