Okay, as an intro... This is the first story I've ever written, so don't be too mean! But I really would appreciate some reviews, so if you read it, don't hesitate to tell me what you think. Rated M for the content of future chapters...hehehe.

Obviously, none of the characters you recognize are owned by me. I just love love love all things Yu-Gi-Oh (particularly Kaiba), and that's why I'm writing this. Enjoy! :)

He snapped his briefcase shut and pushed away from the table, quickly. He briskly walked to the door, then halted in the doorway and turned around, his cloak flaring out behind him. "Gentlemen, I can assure you it would be in all of your best interests to reconsider the choices you've made tonight. You might not be happy with what happens to your investments otherwise…" he snarled. The room was silent. He waited a few seconds, but no one responded; he then exited quickly, snapping the door shut behind him.

Friday night board meetings. How Seto Kaiba hated them. Those fucking people don't know shit. He had just presented his brilliant plan to them, a new idea he'd been working on for weeks. He'd compiled data, computed statistics, projected costs and predicted fiscal effects, only to hear the board say, "that seems a little risky."

Kaiba knew it would work. And he knew he would make it happen. After all, he was Seto Kaiba. He just hated that he had to run it by the board first. They made everything so much more difficult by disagreeing with him…

His shoes clicked on the tiles as he walked back down the hall from the conference room to his office. Hardly anyone was still there at 8:15 pm, but anyone who did pass Kaiba in the hall immediately averted their eyes. They hunched down and crept past him. But he wasn't paying attention anyway. He already knew everyone was scared out of their wits of him. He was particularly terrifying when he was angry, like he was now.

Kaiba stepped back into his own office and sat down at his desk, then saw the clock. Oh shit, 8:17. Mokuba won't have known I had a meeting tonight. He grabbed his briefcase and left the room.

XXX

I stared at my computer screen blankly. I'd been looking at these same numbers for days now, trying to write my report on which department could stand to lose a few personnel. This topic was proving to be harder than expected; looking at the raw numbers of each department alone, my own department really seemed to have more people working to do the same tasks than was necessary… But I didn't want to be personally responsible for getting anyone I knew fired.

Ugh. Maybe I'd just give these numbers another run tomorrow, at home. I was honestly too exhausted to do any more tonight. These crazy hours working for KaibaCorp were killing me.

There was no one else in the office when I stood in the doorway to leave. Looking over what seemed like miles and miles of cubicles, I realized how far I'd come in such a short time. I mean, just a few months ago I'd only been an intern here. My main responsibility then was making sure I knew how to make everyone's coffee the way they liked it.

And a few months before that, I'd been studying business and mathematics at university. Living here, in Domino City, was such a change from living on campus in the U.S. But honestly, it was the best change I'd ever made in my life. I had a great (though stressful) job, I had made some awesome new friends, and I was living on my own, in a foreign country, and loving it.

I flipped off the lights and headed for the elevator. After having pushed the button, I waited. The elevator was coming down from the top, from the 52nd floor.

When it got to my floor, and the doors opened, I saw a tall man with long brown hair standing there, wearing a long white cloak and carrying a small metal briefcase. I took one look at his ice blue eyes and knew who it had to be: Seto Kaiba himself. I'd never met him before, but I had heard enough stories to be totally freaked out and not want to go in the elevator at all, and enough physical descriptions by my female coworkers to know it had to be him. They raved about his piercing eyes, his cocky smirk… And looking at him now, I could definitely see where they were coming from. Not only was he terrifically handsome, he was tall, thin, and ridiculously wealthy. But I wasn't about to go all fangirl on him. If I didn't introduce myself, and we met again, he would probably remember me as that girl who awkwardly stood in the elevator with him for forty-one floors.

The doors shut behind me and I turned to face front, then looked at him…hesitantly. Okay. Introduce yourself in three, two, one…

"Mr. Kaiba." I inclined my head slightly in a bow, and turned towards him. Then he angled towards me a bit.

"I don't know you," he stated. His voice was deep and harsh, alluring.

I swallowed my fear and stuck out my hand. "Natalie Minor, sir. I work right under Seichi Takamatsu. Department of Finance, Risk Management, and Operations."

Now he turned all the way to face me. He took my hand and shook it. "You already know who I am. And you're Takamatsu's Deputy Director?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"I think I may have been scheduled to meet you a month or so ago. How recently did you get the job?" He spoke slowly, dragging out his words like he loved to hear the sound of his own voice.

"Yeah, a little over a month ago." I thought he maybe would have known something about me. Not to brag, but I really am pretty high up in this company. So now I knew why I hadn't met Kaiba until now. He blew off our first meeting.

My eyes met his, for the first time. His gaze actually gave me shivers.

"I've been meaning to reschedule that meeting…But I think now will do." He looked just above the elevator doors. "Thirty-three floors left. That's enough time."

Oh, fantastic… He was going to interrogate me now.

"How long have you worked here for?"

"Going on five months."

He raised an eyebrow. "What project are you working on now?"

"I'm writing a report on which department could stand to consolidate its tasks into fewer positions."

"You're telling us who to fire. Don't pussyfoot around it."

Kaiba was glaring, and I was definitely scared. "Okay. Yeah. I'm telling you what department could stand to lose a few people."

"They could all stand to lose a few, you're just telling me where the waste is costing us the most. Correct? So tell me what you've found."

I clenched up. I was definitely dooming a few people I knew to losing their jobs… But the way Kaiba looked at me made me afraid not to give an honest answer.

"Well, at first it looked like it would be Performance Management. You know, because their employee's average salaries are, statistically speaking, significantly higher than anyone else's. And they bring in outside consultants all the time, so… But then when I ran some more tests… It seems like it's Finance, Risk Management, and Operations. But by no means is anything final."

As I spoke, Kaiba had been looking at the floor. But when I said the name of my department, he looked back up. "Your department."

I backpedaled. "Well like I said, nothing's final. I still need to look at some of the expense reports from last quarter, and–"

"You know what the numbers say. It's your branch. If things weren't final, you just would have said you didn't know yet." He narrowed his eyes and looked at me, questioningly.

That wasn't entirely true… I mean, these expense reports could still show a whole different story. I said that to him.

He kind of grunted. I felt that this really wasn't going too well for me…

He continued with the questioning. "You've been promoted to a high position in my company in an extremely short time period. Why is that?"

Yikes. "I'm…good at what I do. I see patterns in numbers. I can apply my statistical knowledge to make decisions and advise my supervisors to take the best course of action based on the bare facts of what is best for the company, financially." Nailed it.

Kaiba snorted. "That sounds like the kind of garbage you'd memorize and spout out at a job interview."

I was taken aback. I mean, not only was that not true, it was a bitchy thing to say.

"Well. Isn't that sort of what this is? You're questioning me to see if I'm competent enough to be one of KaibaCorp's top financial advisors. What happens if you don't find me capable?" I asked.

He let out a small chuckle, which was a surprising reaction. "You would lose your job." He looked me in the eyes again, and I quailed. "But don't worry, Miss Minor. From what I've seen, you appear to be qualified."

Um, what? Was that it? "Uh, thank you. Sir… Interview over?"

He nodded, a smile in his eyes. "Interview over."

I could feel him staring at me as we waited in silence for the elevator to descend the last three floors.

Now review this please, and I'll be really happy with you! :D