Chapter 11

Serenity headed back to join the party. She immediately felt...regret at what she did to Seto; she knew she was going to lose her job. On the other hand, she finally said what needed to be said. She felt like she had a backbone; she felt stronger after standing up to Seto Kaiba.

Besides, it just means she'll have to look for a new job, but she worried what that would mean for Joey and the future of the apartment. Normally they would both split the total bill, however knowing Joey he'd work extra hours for the both of them, not that Serenity wouldn't feel guilty.

"Hey Serenity, there you are, guess who finally showed up to the party!" Yugi said, pointing to a young man with dark hair and piercing green eyes.

There he was...Duke Devlin sipping his punch. Duke looked over from the corner of his eye and saw Serenity...the girl he wanted as bad as Tristan wanted her. Unfortunately for Tristan, Joey dragged him along by his side throughout the party so he wouldn't flirt with her.

Duke went on a date with a girl before heading to the party; however the girl was nothing special for his tastes. She was like many of the fan girls he had: obsessive, easy, and quite shallow.

However...he felt himself drawn by the now woman he saw. Duke started to approach Serenity with a confident smile.

"Hey Serenity, long time, no see." Duke greeted before kissing her hand softly. However they didn't know that a certain blue eyed CEO was staring at the two, looking a tad uneasy.

Serenity found herself blushing slightly at his handsome features...tanned skin, jet black hair, green eyes. Despite not being one of his obsessed fangirls, even she knew he was pretty handsome and no doubt a chick magnet.

"It's good to see you too... Duke." She replied.

Duke chuckled softly giving a seductive smirk. "Ah but not as good as seeing you, Serenity...and if you don't mind me saying, you look amazing tonight. The best looking one here."

Serenity felt chills coming down her spine from the compliment. She thought she was average looking at best, especially compared to Mai or Tea. "D-Duke.."

"No need to thank me, I'm just telling you the truth." Duke replied, slyly checking her out. "I know this is Yugi's party...but I have a special wish that only you could fill." he whispered huskily.

Serenity blushed slightly. "W-What is it?"

"I'd like to catch up together over dinner...how about Monday at six? We haven't seen in each other in forever and I'm interested in all that's happening to you. " Duke offered. "There's a new restaurant that just opened up called the Burning Flame in town."

"Oh I've heard of that place!" Serenity recalled. "But isn't it hard to get a reservation?"

"Nothing I can't fix up for us." Duke replied with a wink. "So..what do you say? Would you like to go out on Monday night?"

Serenity paused, but then gave a small smile at the Dungeon Dice creator. "Of course, Duke." she replied.

"Perfect then it's a date." Duke commented with a wink. "I'll make sure you have the best time of your life...believe it."

Serenity was absolutely speechless while Seto squeezed his plastic cup in his tight fist. His icy glare intensified as he saw Duke kiss Serenity's cheek before he walked away.

"What the hell is going on…" Kaiba wondered as he felt his chest tighten up, he pried his eyes from the auburn haired woman before he'd do anything drastic.

"Alright, it's time to cut the cake!" Tea announced. The group except for Kaiba headed to the birthday cake. Tea opened the lid which revealed a round cake with buttermilk frosting and the words "Happy Birthday Yugi!" In red icing. There was also a picture of the Dark Magician, the Dark Magician Girl, and the Kuriboh on the cake made of icing.

"That looks incredible!" Yugi exclaimed. "Thanks you guys for this awesome party!"

Everyone except Kaiba sang to Yugi the happy birthday song before cutting the cake. Even Seto Kaiba had a slice of cake; while he didn't enjoy it...he didn't hate it.

"How you liking the party, bro?" Mokuba asked.

Seto subtly glanced over to Serenity, who was talking to Mai, before answering. "It's a waste of time…" he muttered. "After he opens the presents, we're going. Is that understood?"

Mokuba arched an eyebrow, normally something looked like it did bother Seto but...he actually seemed to be really bothered. "Are you okay, big brother?"

Seto stood up and nodded before heading outside the party. Mokuba wanted to go after him..but figured that Seto probably didn't want to be bothered.

"Wonder why he's not wearing his trench coat..." Mokuba wondered.

After Yugi opened his presents from all of his friends, Kaiba of course was the first one to go much to Mokuba's dismay. Soon everyone else started to leave except for Tea who would be staying with Yugi.

Unfortunately for Tristan, he barely got anytime to chat with Serenity; however Duke actually scored a date with her, which was a thing nobody expected.

Serenity decided to be the designated driver in Mai's car since she didn't drink any alcohol. She took both Mai and Joey home to the apartment and had Mai sleep in her room while Joey slept in his own.

The auburn haired woman stripped from her dress, put on her pajamas, and took the couch instead, resting her herself with a pillow and blanket.

"This is surprisingly comfortable…" Serenity thought, before heading into her slumber, which to her surprise..started to have dreams about not Duke Devlin…

…but that incident with the cold hearted CEO.

To be continued….