Chapter 1: The Attractive Stranger

Roxanne sighed, just another night at the bar. Like always. She worked at Domino's most popular venue, watching old and new faces walk through the doors almost every night. But she always had her regulars. The small handful of people who always showed up and sat in the same spot at the bar on whichever nights they decided to show. She knew them all by name, and had a vague idea of who they were and what they did, but there were only a few that she really got along with. She didn't really need to know anything about any of them, she was just there to serve them drinks until their wallets were empty and listen to their sorrows. But knowing a few of the common faces there made it that little bit more bearable. After all, it was a job, and jobs were rarely enjoyable.

One of her regulars, whose wallet she suspected would never empty, was the billionaire CEO Seto Kaiba. He would show up every friday night and sit at the very end of the bar, without saying a word. Ever. The first time she had encountered him, she did her usual routine, welcoming him and asking what he wanted. He hadn't looked very happy (then again, when did he?) so as she normally did for those customers who were glum, she inquired about it. Unlike her normal customers though, he had simply shooed her away, not wishing to speak to her. So with a shrug, she left him to sit and drink his whiskey. And that's how it was every Friday now. He would arrive around 7 o'clock after work and take his seat, while she would hand him his drink with the same friendly hello she did every friday, and he would not so much as grunt a response. He just sat there, not saying a word, every friday. Roxy had found his behaviour quite strange at first, but she held in her curiosity, as he obviously wasn't going to disclose his troubles.

This particular Friday, Seto had just sat down at the bar, when Roxy came over with his whiskey. "Evening, Mr Kaiba," she said with a friendly smile. He didn't so much as look at her, he never did. She thought his behaviour was absolutely absurd, but she didn't question him, and she went back to serving her other customers as usual.

"How's your son's football going, Seth?" she asked as she started washing used glasses.

"Good, very good," the middle aged man said, "I reckon he'll be in the big leagues in no time."

"That's great," she said with a smile. Seth was one of the people here she got on with the best. Sure, he was about 20 years older than her, but he was a friendly, honest, down to earth man, and very easy to get along with. "Guess I'll be seeing him on the TV soon then eh?" she said with a laugh.

"Maybe sweetheart, maybe," he said with a chuckle. Roxy then noticed someone else walk into the bar. What's this? A new face, she thought. She curiously watched as the man made his way across the room, and the first thing she noticed about him was how incredibly attractive he was. He had a sense of boldness just radiating off of him, and his strong figure only backed that up even more as he walked with his shoulders back, showing off the muscles in his chest through the thin sleeveless black shirt he was wearing. She then noticed that his beautifully strong but elegant face was twisted into a distraught expression as he took a seat at the very opposite end of the bar to Mr Kaiba.

"Gee," Seth said, watching her, "Do you always ogle your customers like that?" he said, snickering. The men either side of him laughed, and she flicked a tea towel in his direction.

"I just noticed he was a new face, that's all," she said as she walked over to him. She heard one of the other men say something sarcastic along the lines of 'yeah, right,' but she wasn't listening, she was curious about this new comer.

"Evening, what can I get you?" she asked him. He looked up, trying to hide his obvious distress as he replied politely. She thought he'd been attractive enough already, but his voice. It was so deep and sexy, even though he was obviously upset. Roxy pinched herself on the arm so nobody could see. She had managed to hold off on guys for almost a year now, but after not having a boyfriend for so long it was almost impossible for her not to eye rape this sexy stranger. She handed him his drink and he sighed, taking a swig from it immediately.

She couldn't contain her curiosity, "So why the long face buddy?" she asked.

He sighed, looking down into his drink, "Just had a falling out with the girlfriend," he said, shaking his head.

Roxy could tell that he didn't want to share any more, so she simply said, "I'm sorry to hear, well I hope you can resolve it," she smiled, and he nodded a thanks, before she went back to washing glasses.

Seth set his empty glass down, "I believe another rum and coke is in order, if you don't mind," he said.

"No worries," Roxy replaced his drink, before another voice piped up.

"Don't I get a drink?" she looked up and realised that another one of her regulars had just shown up.

"Oh, sorry Dan," she said with a laugh, fetching him his usual drink, "I didn't realise you'd shown up."

He shook his head, "And you're always so switched on," he said.

"Nah, she was checking out Mr Depressed in the corner," Seth said with a laugh.

Dan looked confused, "Who, Kaiba?" he said, looking over to the man.

"Nah, other corner," Seth said, nodding his head in the other direction.

Dan looked over at the man, "Ah, the young one looking heartbroken," he said.

"That's it," Seth said with a laugh.

"Give him a break, guys," Roxy said, looking over to the stranger, "He just had a falling out with his girlfriend, I'm sure all will be fine tomorrow." She assumed that was the reason he had decided to come here, and didn't like the idea of him not returning again. Because she assumed if he made up with his girlfriend, he wouldn't come back. God, don't be so selfish Roxy, she thought to herself, wishing for something like that just so you can stare at an attractive guy. She shook her head, and continued to wash glasses.

"Ah, I saw that," Dan said, "You were checking him out," he teased. Dan was only a few years older than her, but his maturity may as well have been her age.

"Aren't I allowed to appreciate an attractive guy?" she said, defending herself. "What's happening with your love life anyway?" she turned the conversation around.

"Well, I'm hoping to propose to Cindy in two weeks, if all goes well," he said with a grin.

"Aww, that's so sweet," she said. That's when she noticed Kaiba wave his hand at her, signaling that he wanted another drink. She walked over and replaced the empty glass with a full one, and he nodded. That surprised her, normally he wouldn't acknowledge her presence at all, so a nod was an exceptional progression from that. Though he still didn't look at her, she turned and headed back to the center of the bar thinking that his attitude may be changing for the better.

"Did you see that?" Dan said as she returned.

"See what?" she asked him, dumping Seto's empty glass in the sink.

"He was watching you," he said, nodding his head in Kaiba's direction. She turned and looked down to the end of the bar, where the man was looking down into his drink like he always did.

"That's ridiculous," was all she said, but as the night went on, she would momentarily look over at him, but each time he would be doing the same thing: looking down into his glass.

Hello everyone!

This is the infamous story that I had been mentioning to the readers of my other stories (then again, i only mentioned it like twice, but still)

I'm sorry if this chapter was slightly boring, it was mainly just to introduce the characters and the setting. Trust me, it get's much more interesting, and I have some KILLER ideas for this story!

So hold onto your seats, cause it's going to get hot ;)

Please review and tell me what you think! :D

PharaohsThrone :)