AN: Hello! Happy February everybody! There's this chapter, then there will be one or two more chapters. Enjoy...

Chapter 10

Mai walked into work that morning two hours late. She was tired but awake at the same time. She was tired from a lack of sleep, rest, and relaxation, but misery and worry kept her thoughts buzzing dully. Her stomach felt sour, her head ached, and her eyelids were heavy. Her black boots hit the floor with little enthusiasm. Her thoughts always traveled to Jonouchi. She missed him. There was no question about it. She still missed him. But she couldn't go chasing him. It was over, said and done. She guessed she would be going alone to the gala…what did the gala matter? What did the fancy ball, and the dress, and the jewelry, and the hair matter if Jonouchi couldn't see it? She sighed, walking into her office.

And there it was. Mai blinked in confusion, then gasped in excitement. It was a flower arrangement! Could it be from Jonouchi? She leapt towards the vase and tore off the card. She opened it hurriedly. Her stomach was quivering from nerves. Could it be from Jonouchi? Was their relationship saved?...

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
At the Spirit Magazine Gala
I shall reveal myself to you.
This may seem childish
Or it may seem trite.
But I am exactly
What you need in your life.

Your Secret Admirer

Courtesy of Nosaka Flower Shop

Mai's heart sank. It wasn't Jonouchi. Who was this secret admirer anyway? He was so romantic…who could it be? The mystery and the admiration flattered her, but she didn't really care for it. She was too stuck on Jonouchi. Oh well, she would find out at the gala anyway, she guessed. She shrugged.

She sat down and reluctantly turned on her computer. She had so much work to do. She hadn't done any work over the weekend, and she'd missed two hours of answering emails and returning phone calls. She looked over to her phone-she had seventeen messages. She looked at her computer-she had forty-two emails. Mai sighed and reached to click the answering machine button on her phone, ready to listen to her messages- but there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called softly; her voice was tired and hoarse. Mr. Oshido opened the door and slipped inside quietly, closing the door behind him. He walked slowly the short distance to Mai's desk and sat down in a chair in front of it. He smiled at her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kujaku," he said. She nodded, waiting to hear what he came in for. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking genuinely concerned. No she wasn't alright!

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered. What else could she say? "Why do you ask?" Could he know something about her date with Jonouchi?

"I've been calling and emailing you all weekend and you haven't answered, which is most unlike you. Curt you may be when you do answer, but nonetheless, you answer. Most of it was work related, but…I became a little concerned. Also, you've come into work on time today, which is also most unlike you,"

"I'm two hours late!" she protested. He only smiled.

"No, you're on time. Every other day you're two hours early. By contract, you don't have to be here until 10 A.M." he said. Yes, that was true. She'd made such a habit of coming early she'd forgotten that she was usually early. She nodded at him.

"One more thing," she said. Mai looked at him and nodded. "You don't look well this morning, which is most unlike you," he said. Mai smiled. Yes, it was Mr. Oshiro saying this, but after her weekend, a little affection went a long way. Mai sighed.

"My date with Jonouchi went terrible this weekend!" she exclaimed involuntarily. She didn't want to tell anybody, especially Mr. Oshiro, about her problems, but her weekend was like a weight she needed to lift off of her chest. It was looming over her like a cloud about to rain. A friend, a little sunshine was all she wanted now.

Mr. Oshiro looked shocked and apologetic. She didn't know if it was real or not, but it looked real enough for her.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mrs. Kujaku. I'm even sorrier to see that it has bothered you so."

"That's alright, Mr. Oshiro…" she wanted to say more, but she couldn't. She couldn't form the feelings she had into thought.

"I don't want to pry, but…may I ask?..."

Mai told him. She told him about the date: the silence, the tension between them, her apprehension of him, his embarrassment about something she did not know, and the horrible end their long, awaited second date…

Mr. Oshiro stayed silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating her words.

"I see," he said. "It was not unwise to be wary of a sixteen -year-old's intentions. Not to be judgmental, but most teenage boys are simple-minded when it comes to dating beautiful women like you."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Mai said.

"On the contrary, Mrs. Kujaku, it does. It takes a while, but it does," she replied smiling. Mai smiled back genuinely. He was surprisingly pleasant to talk to. She prayed inside that he would not ruin the moment. They stayed silent for a moment, but then Mr. Oshiro glanced at her desk.

"I see you got some flowers. Apology flowers from Jonouchi?" he asked humorously.

"I wish…Apparently, my secret admirer is going to meet me at the gala."

"Oh-ho! How interesting," he picked up the card and read it. She heard him whisper 'I am exactly/ what you need in our life.' He looked at her and smiled.

"How does he know what I need in a man?" Mai asked mockingly.

"What do you need in a man?" he asked. She thought a moment. What did she need?

"I need a man I can trust," she said. It was the first thing that came to mind, out of all else. Mr. Oshiro nodded. His expression was unreadable. She glanced at the clock. They'd been talking for half an hour.

"Did you need anything else, Mr. Oshiro? I have a load of work to do, especially now with the gala this weekend."

"I'm still open to a date, you know, if you would like to go with me…" he said casually, his arms open. Mai smiled.

"I think I'll wait for my 'secret admirer'," she said jokingly, but she really meant it. Mr. Oshiro grinned widely and stood up, heading for the door.

"Meeting in my office at noon. Don't overstrain yourself between now and then, please," he said, and then walked out the door with a confident stride.

:j:m:

Mai looked tiredly out of her office window. Then sun was setting over Domino. Her room was glowing orange. She felt her muscles tiring and her concentration dwindling. She'd been working like a mad-woman all day. She'd been going through countless emails and messages (replying to almost all of them), reading and writing files and articles, and dealing with her employees all day. They all looked at her strangely; a few were brave enough to ask about her apparently disheveled appearance (she didn't answer any of them). She actually managed to catch up- a feat most would deem impossible, judging from all the work she did on a daily basis.

She didn't mind all of the work she had to do today…anything to distract her. But now, as she sat at her desk, resting her head in her arms tiredly on her desk, she had free time to think. She thought of Jonouchi. Her heart ached dully for him, but she was better than that…she closed her eyes, knowing that she shouldn't. She just might fall asleep…There was a knock at the door…

"Unn…" she moaned, unable to speak.

…May I come in?" a voice asked. It sounded familiar…

:j:m:

Jonouchi reached to open the silver doorknob with a shaking hand. He was nervous. He didn't have a vase of flowers for her, which meant he had no excuse to be here. He just needed to come here. He would probably be forced to leave the office the second she saw who it was, but he had to try. He knew inside that it was worth the effort, and that she was worth chasing. If she didn't want him, that would be her decision, but he would never forgive himself if he didn't go in there, apologize, and ask her for a second chance. His desire to have her back was greater than his fear of rejection. He realized that now…

He opened the door slowly and walked in quietly. He saw the blonde sitting in her chair. Her arms were functioning as a pillow for her head on the desk. Her computer was still glowing. Her disk was even more cluttered with papers and books than the last two times he'd seen it. He could see why she must've been tired.

"Mai?" he asked. She jerked, opening her eyes and lifting her head off of her hands. She locked eyes with him. Jonouchi waited.

She stared at him blankly for what felt like an hour. It must've been less than a minute. Her eyes looked sleepy.

She blinked several times. She rubbed her eyes with her hands quickly and looked back at him.

"Jonouchi!" she stated loudly. Her tone was indifferent.

"Mai…I'm sorry," he started. He searched his mind for the words he'd written down on paper earlier. They were the words that he'd rehearsed, and the words that he would be depending on to get her back. "I'm sorry that our date was bad on Saturday. I…want you to now that if you think I'm just dating you for your looks, which is what I think you're thinking, I'm not…I think you're beautiful, don't get me wrong, but…I like you because you smart, and funny, and…" what was that third adjective he'd written down to describe her?… "there's just something about you that I like! I don't know…And…" he searched his mind for the second part of what he'd written. "I was in a bad mood on Saturday because I was mad about everything, and I was thinking about how my small and old my apartment is, and how my dad is…he's an alcoholic…I don't have a lot of money, and…I was thinking that it might get in the way…I don't know, I…I'm sorry…I was wondering whether we could start over."

Jonouchi finished. That hadn't gone nearly as smoothly as he would've preferred, but he'd done all that he could do. He poured all of his feelings out. He would just have to leave it up to her now.

Mai was still looking at him. Her expression was blank. She didn't say anything for a long moment, maybe a whole minute or two. What was she thinking? His stomach was sour, and his limbs were starting to shake with impatience. Mai sighed, still looking at him.

"You shouldn't have come here," she said softly. It sounded as if she was speaking more to herself. She stood up and walked over to him. They were extremely close now. He could smell perfume…it was something spicy. He liked that…

She kissed him on the lips softly. She placed her hand lightly on his side. He could barely kiss back, he was so petrified by it. Suddenly, he was extremely confused.

She pulled away as suddenly as she had leaned towards him. She looked at him sadly. "I was the one who asked you to leave. I was the one who should've asked for you to come back," she said. Jonouchi realized what she meant.

"No…it doesn't matter now. I'm sorry. Can we start over?" he asked pleadingly. Mai smirked slightly.

"You can never start over, Jonouchi. The question is- can we please keep going?" she said craftily. Jonouchi nodded enthusiastically, a little unsure of what she meant. Whatever she said was the truth, at least right now.

Mai kissed him again. Her kiss was short and sweet- nothing lustful. It was gentle.

"Jonouchi?" she asked and he nodded. "Would you like to be my date at the Spirit Magazine Gala this Saturday night?"

The truth was, he had plans. Anzu's birthday party was Saturday night, but forget that! Hell yes he was going! But there was one thing…

"What do I need to wear?"

"What would be a good time between now and Saturday to go shopping for you? I'll pay for you to rent a-"

"No! I'll pay! Just tell me when."

"Jonouchi! I'll pay. Take it as an apology gift."

"You don't need to buy me an apology gift!" he said angrily. What was she thinking? She looked angry herself.

"Yes I do! You don't even know how terrible I feel right now! And I'll keep feeling terrible until I buy you something! Now take it or else you're not going!" Mai shouted. Her breathing was heavy from yelling and being angry. Jonouchi sighed.

"Wednesday I only work until five."

"We'll have two hours then. I'll pick you up…"

"At Nosaka's flowers shop. It's on-"

"Right! Right, I've been there before. Now let me give you a ride home," she said impatiently as she looked around, pushed the off button to her computer, and stomped out the door. He followed obediently, grinning toothily.

AN: Hooray! I didn't make it too dramatic. Reviews appreciated.