Groggy eyed, Alex blindly reached for her phone when the ringing woke her from her restless nap. As she grabbed her phone a fragment of her dream lingered through her mind. She pictured a handsome brunette man surrounded by bottles of champagne bubbling over and beautiful women none of which were her. Her mood was low and it showed in her voice when she answered the call.

Alex," Hello?'

Seto," Hey…are you sleeping?"

Alex," Oh, I was just taking a little cat nap. What's up?"

Seto," Just seeing if you still wanted to come over for dinner."

Alex," You know I'd love to, but I've got a late night ahead of me, that's why I was trying to squeeze in a little nap."

Seto," I didn't realize you already had plans for dinner."

Alex," You know me, busy woman with a busy social calendar."

Seto," I see. Well have fun."

Alex," I'm sure I will."

Seto," Goodnight then."

Alex," bye…"

Alex had no clue as to why she lied to Seto. She had absolutely nothing planned for dinner or anything planned for the night. This behavior was very unlike her normal self and she mentally kicked herself for lying to Seto like that. Her insecurities had really gotten the better of her and instead of taking over these negative feelings, she let them run through her body and it caused her to deceive someone she cared about. She decided immediately that she had to make amends for what she had done as the guilt was already setting in. She dressed to go out and drove over to the Kaiba estate.

When she arrived, Mokuba ran to the front entrance to greet her. He mentioned that Seto would be down shortly since the cook had just finished preparing dinner.

Mokuba," Alex! Seto said you weren't coming for dinner. I'm glad you changed your mind."

Alex," Hey Moki. Actually I can't stay, I just wanted to say hello and see your warm little face for a while."

Mokuba," What? You're not staying for dinner? WHHHYYYY?"

Alex," Moki, I do have other social obligations you know. I can't be here 24/7."

Mokuba," You're starting to sound like Seto, pooh!"

Alex," I'll be back later this week, you know that."

Seto," I didn't realize you wanted to stop by."

Alex," I hadn't planned on it, but I figured I had a little time to spare. Did I come at a bad time."

Seto," No. Come on Mokuba, let's eat."

As he turned his back and walked towards the dining room, Alex thought he was acting even colder than he did this morning. She resisted the urge to throw something at him or just walk out of the house. She had to keep those kind of emotions in check in front of Mokuba. As the trio sat down at the dining table, Mokuba was the only one who spoke. Alex was glad that he had a lot to talk about because she had nothing to say and Seto didn't seem to be in a talkative mood. Mokuba continued his chattering, when Alex's phone rang. She was relieved at the interruption and was even happier to see that it was Duke's name on the caller id.

Alex," Hey, hope you not waiting on me. I should be there soon."

Duke," I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I'm willing to play along."

Alex," So you want me to come over to your place first, that's cool."

Duke," Sure! Come one over. You're really the person I want to talk to right now."

Alex," Well, looks like I've got to be going now. Bye Moki, Seto."

Seto," I'm sure Mokuba can show you out."

Mokuba," Yeah, I'll walk you out, maybe then I can skip eating the broccoli." Seto didn't even look up from his plate as he ate his dinner.

Alex was now officially pissed at Seto. She could understand him leaving that morning to get work done, after all he was the CEO of a huge corporation, but he was cold on the phone and now he might as well have been made of ice. As she drove away, she was so mad that it didn't even occur to her that Duke wanted to discuss something serious with her. When she arrived at Duke's, he appeared melancholy. He needed her to lend him an ear about his love troubles and give him some advice about a girl he had recently met and felt passionately about. Alex did her best to act like a good friend. She listened to him go on and on about his dilemma, but her heart kept breaking little by little. Finally hours had passed and she used the excuse that it was getting late and that she should get home. Normally, she would've been ecstatic that Duke had finally met someone, but right now her aura was dark and she was of no real help to anyone.

After Alex left the house, Seto pushed his diner plate away and walked back to his office. His anger was about to boil over and he didn't want to have to explain himself to Mokuba. He had seen Duke's name appear on Alex's cell caller id and heard every word she spoke to him about meeting him at his house so they could go and spend the evening together. 'Did she think she could pull the wool over his eyes that she was still involved with Duke?' Seto thought to himself. He tried to busy himself with work to get is mind off his frustration and jealousy, but after several hours he couldn't sit still anymore. He grabbed his car keys and screeched out of the driveway in no particular direction. When he eventually ended up at Alex's house, he quietly parked the car down the street. He wanted, no needed to know whether she was spending the night with him. His mind was racing with crazy jealous thoughts, when he finally noticed that the first floor lights were being turned off and her bedroom light was being turned on. 'So she's home, but is she alone' he thought. He decided to call her to find out.

Alex," Hello?' surprised to see Seto's name on the caller id.

Seto," Hey, Mokuba wanted to know if you could take him to that new nature exhibit at the museum this week."

Alex," Sure, I didn't know he was interested."

Seto, searching for a good way to transition," Yeah…so how was your night?"

Alex," It was okay." Finally being straight forward and honest.

Seto," So what did you end up doing?"

Alex," I went over to a friend's house. I thought we were gonna go out for a drink, but he ended up spilling his guts to me all night about some girl he recently became obsessed with. Did you get a lot of work done?"

Seto, wondering why she didn't just say that she went to Duke's house," Work…well its never ending."

Alex, feeling bad at that moment, realizing that Seto was probably always torn away from the things he really wanted to do in order to keep Kaiba Corp. up to par," I admire what you do. I mean giving up so much for Moki and both your futures."

Seto, surprised to hear a comment like that from Alex after the tense vibe he felt from her earlier," I just do what I think is best for my family, its actually really simple" he said, feeling the jealousy leave his system and the calm, content feeling he usually had when he was around Alex return to him.

Alex," I'm sorry we didn't get to have dinner together earlier." Truly feeling bad for the way she handled everything today.

Seto," Well, actually I didn't get a chance to eat much after you left, so maybe its not to late to still have dinner. I think that diner Charlie likes is still open."

Alex," That sounds perfect, let me get dressed and I'll meet you there in 20 minutes."

Seto," Why don't I just come and pick you up?"

Alex," No, you've had a long day, I don't want to make you come over here and then have to drop me off later. I'll just meet you there."

Seto," I want to.."

Alex," yeah?...well okay." She said with a huge smile on her face.

Seto waited in the car for 15 minutes and then pulled up to Alex's driveway. When he rang the doorbell, it was only seconds before Alex popped out. She was so happy to see him, she couldn't help but wear a silly smile on her face, but a part of her still felt unsure about his feelings. Those feelings were diminished when Seto took her into his arms and held her in a romantic embrace. Alex looked up into Seto's eyes and saw the same loving look he had the previous night. They began an innocent kiss that turned into a passionate make out session against Alex's front door.

Alex pulled away, saying," Hey, I thought we were supposed to be getting something to eat."

Seto," Guess I'm easily distracted by you."

Alex," Well you could've fooled me this morning."

Seto," C'mon, lets go eat."

They spent the ride to the diner in silence. Alex wasn't regretting her earlier comment, she just wished he would respond, let her know what was going through his mind. When they made it to the diner, they made minor small talk about Mokuba and Kaiba Corp through the meal. There was a bit of akwardness mixed with a bit of tension in the air. The meal had finally come to an end and they both eagerly left the diner to be on the road home. Seto walked Alex to her front door and stopped.

Seto sighed and responded," This morning…" Then paused to run his fingers through his hair and then continued," Listen Alex, I don't lead a run of the mill life. I've got responsibilities, not just to Mokuba, but to Kaiba Corp too. Yeah, most of my motivation is to take care of Mokuba and keep on the leading edge of gaming technology, but I am also responsible for the direction, reputation and success of Kaiba Corp. as a whole including all of my employees. If the company were to take a downfall, then many employees would have to be laid off and that is not something I want to be responsible for. So if it means that I have to give up personal time to take care of important business projects then that's what I do." He could tell Alex wasn't excited about what he had to say, so he added," Don't take what I'm saying the wrong way. You're the first person that's been able to take my mind off all of those things. This morning…this morning it was insanely hard for me to walk away from you, but I have to keep to deadlines, just as I expect my employees and business partners to keep to their deadlines."

Alex," Hmmm, well I knew there were many reasons that attracted me to you and you just gave me another."

Seto, surprised by Alexs' response, said," what do you mean? Seems like most girls want the man to drop everything to romantically run amuck with them."

Alex," I just think its admirable that you feel responsible for so many people, people outside your family. Who would've thought the stoic businessman, Seto Kaiba, felt so much for his extended family, so to speak." Alex looked down at the ground afraid to ask the next question on her mind," So what exactly does that mean…for us that is? Can there be an us or is that even something you want?"

Seto smiled his fabulous smile and replied," I want to spend every spare second I have with you. The nights that I come home and you haven't come to the house to visit I feel like I'm missing something important. But you have to understand my lifestyle in order for there to be an us. I can't break from my business on a whim or even just to have a nice dinner. You've been over often enough to know that work can consume me and I can't have someone hanging over my head asking when I'm going to be done, Mokuba does that enough already. If you can deal with the circumstances of my life then it would make me a very happy man for there to be an us."

Alex," Well, I can't say that it's the most romantic proposition I've ever been pitched, but its real and I appreciate the honesty. Why don't we just take it one step at a time."

Seto," Sounds fair. So what should we do with ourselves now?"

Alex," Hmmnnn. Since we're taking it slow, maybe it's a good idea that we call it night."

Seto, a little surprised that she didn't want to spend more time together, slightly defensively responded," Alright, well goodnight then I guess."

Alex didn't let him go right away. She had slipped her arms around him waist and pulled him close to her for a quick goodnight kiss. Seto deepened the kiss and the two lingered on Alex's front porch with their lips locked in a sensual embrace. She finally forced herself to pull away and bid Seto goodnight.

Once back inside her house, she stood in the dark peering out the window to watch Seto walk back to his car and drive away. She let out a big sigh and plopped down on the floor. She wanted so badly to spend another night with Seto, but she knew with the big speech Seto just gave her about not being able to spend much time with her that she needed to guard her own heart more carefully and that meant not giving into him everytime their lips met. She did admire him for the reasoning behind his tough work ethic, but it made her sad that he couldn't forsee giving up a tiny bit of that to spend a few quality moments with her. 'How can we build a strong base for a relationship if he can't spend any time working on it?' Alex thought to herself. As happy as she was to hear Seto say that he would be happy for them to date, she was just as saddened by unwillingness to compromise.