More thanks to my new followers, thanking for adding 'A Side I Never Knew' to your reading lists:
Ivy Siren
Neo queen Luna
All your support is greatly appreciated! And now for the highly anticipated gala in Chapter 8 - hope you're all set for some drama.
It was just like the last big event she went to: hot, uncomfortable, too many people. But the speech at the very least was written now, though not without some indignant huffs on Skye's part when Setons 'corrected' her a few times. Just who was the English teacher here? Then they had arrived at the venue and Skye had to put her irritation to one side. She had a job to do in representing Kaiba Corp. and the Kaiba Orphanage. It would be petty to hold minor grudges, whether deserved or not.
Suddenly Seto stopped as they entered the lobby together. Skye looked to him in question.
"Seto?"
"Come in after me." He said abruptly, taking off without her response and into the crowds that applauded him as he entered the main hall.
Way to take things to the extreme for the sake of a public image, Skye thought, wondering how anyone could interpret the two of them as being involved just by entering together, or if in fact it was Seto being Seto. He did like to bask in glory, after all, and always alone if possible. God forbid he would have to share the spotlight, though the spotlight itself was the last thing Skye had ever wanted in this world.
Unable to decide which of the reasons for Seto's behaviour, then being aware that the doormen were waiting, Skye ran a jittery hand over her dress to smooth out the skirt, put back her shoulders and strode forward with as much faux pride she could demonstrate to the public. Upon her entrance, it felt like all motion in the room came to a standstill and that many eyes had turned to one place to see who had entered - all upon her. While many of the eyes were in fact appreciating her beauty, Skye on the other hand did not feel their appreciation, but instead scrutiny, and her anxiousness that had now increased tenfold with the amount of attention she had attracted. But the show must go on. Skye continued her journey and made a beeline for the bar, hoping that a cold water would help.
Seto had watched Skye enter and silently agreed with the rapture of the audience. Skye was much more beautiful than the majority of the women in the room, there was no doubt. Her unassuming nature and her ability to simply blend in when she wanted was an added mystery that the men of the event were clearly finding hard not to stare at. It was just a shame that the majority were already married and probably twice the young woman's age.
Then Seto was interrupted by a relatively unknown millionaire whose he did not know and did not care to find out, because it meant taking his eyes off a far more pleasant sight than this old man. When Seto faced the millionaire, he couldn't help glaring at the man in disdain.
"Yes?" The greeting was harsh and carried no politeness.
"Mr Kaiba, we just wanted to congratulate you on successfully embarking on such a noble project, truly." The millionaire drawled, his praise as empty as the bored look on his wife's face.
"High praise, indeed. Noble enough for your chequebook, I presume?" Seto replied bluntly, looking away briefly to see Skye walking through the crowds.
"One must keep up appearances, no?" The millionaire lost his own politeness only a little, slightly ruffled by Seto's grumpiness. Then the man's eyes strayed to where Seto had just looked. Catching sight of Skye and the way her husband was ogling at the much younger woman, the millionaire's wife huffed and stormed away to join the gaggle of other displeased wives, all of them equally feeling spiteful and jealous of the belle of the ball.
Skye for her part finally got her water, but still didn't feel quite steady enough to mingle yet. Then she turned and saw Seto engaged in conversation with a stocky, bald headed man with a moustache. Judging by his hunched shoulders, she knew Seto was getting more and more annoyed by the millionaire's chatter.
Feeling only a little sorry for Seto and wishing someone had rescued her when she needed it last time, Skye decided to order him a scotch and go over to relieve him of the social torture. As she came towards the men, the millionaire looked at her in a way that made her skin crawl. Clearly he had too much money to truly see himself for what he was: a very unattractive old man.
"Well, well, who do we have here? Is that scotch for me?" The millionaire attempted to flirt with a greedy look on his face, then chuckling to himself at his own poor humour which earned no laughs from either Seto or Skye.
Seto half expected Skye to falter like she had at the last function they met together, where those older men had all but ganged up on her. Yet Skye surprised him by wittily replying, "You must have some interesting experiences with customer service if you can mistake a woman in a ball gown for a waitress."
The millionaire's face contorted to one of pure confusion, while Seto bit his lip to stop himself laughing out loud. Who would have thought Skye McLaughlin could be so quick and so humorous? Something was then pushed into his free hand and he looked down to see the scotch Skye had ordered in that hand.
"Mister Kaiba." Skye said by way of excusing herself, her eyes sparkling with amusement and triumph as she walked away.
Still staring after the young woman, despite being perplexed by her last remark, the millionaire was barely able to remember he was blundering in front of the most powerful businessman in the room.
"A pleasure, Mister Kaiba." He all but stammered, awkwardly bustling away to find his wife, who Seto secretly hoped would beat the man with her disgusting looking handbag.
Nicely done, Miss McLaughlin, Seto thought, unable to resist a small smile at the thought of the great performance she had just set off. It didn't take long for him to seek her out again, because she had picked a seat near the back of the hall - a choice that he would make if he had the choice to stay hidden away from everyone for the rest of the evening.
"I think his wife will be mustering some troops to shoot me down if he doesn't stop staring at me and then encouraging the rest to do so." Skye grumbled into her glass as Seto sat down next to her, referring to the millionaire.
Seto snorted with laughter and replied, "I'll make sure your family get your body back once the harridans have finished with it."
"Good luck getting my father and grandfather to take a break from their ivory tower." Skye joked back, though her words weren't a joke at all really. It was a sad fact to acknowledge and for a brief second, so quick that Seto almost didn't see it, her smile dropped. Then the smile was recovered and Skye looked at Seto.
The two looked and kept looking. Neither were sure what each other was thinking, but a certain sense of understanding had settled between them, whatever that entailed. For once, they were comfortable to be at an event because they finally had good company in each other.
Waiters and waitresses began to file through the kitchen doors, bringing trolleys of food through to the dining room, steaming with carvery meats waiting to be sliced. Skye got to her feet, pleased to see that a welcome break in the evening was finally here.
"I suppose we had better sup to be ready for the carnage." She said, blushing slightly at the memory of the night before and her definition of carnage she had described to Seto.
Remembering the night before also, Seto merely smirked, rose to his feet and offered Skye his arm to walk her to their table. She accepted graciously and the two walked to their seats.
As Skye had anticipate, the food was delicious and she thoroughly enjoyed the meal, despite some of the inane chatter that the surrounding table guests tried to engage her in. Seto, true to form, said very little and many on the table, thankfully, did not even try to talk to him. To keep himself entertained, he watched Skye and how she continuously - and mostly successfully - dropped in and out of conversations, able to daydream and yet still quip an answer as though she had been engaged the entire time. Then she would look up and catch his eye every so often.
Each time she did, her face would soften and slightly, ever so slightly, colour would rise on her face, as if she knew that he was enjoying what he was looking at. It was an endearing display at least. Seto wondered what she would do if he asked her to dance again.
Not a moment too soon for both Seto and Skye, the meal was complete. After a last and very delicious spoonful of soufflé, Skye felt thoroughly replete. There was great temptation to retire the evening earlier than she should and go to bed back at the hotel, but of course she would never do so. An applause suddenly rung across the room as the host of the event walked onto the stage.
"Good evening all, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the opening gala for the Kaiba Corp. Orphanage, the very first of its kind, and so generously created, built and funded by Mister Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corp. Please raise your glasses and your hands to welcome Mister Seto Kaiba to the stage!"
The applause rang loud across the room as the man himself strode with absolute confidence to the stage and took the podium from the host. Skye smiled a little, finishing her clapping, then waiting to listen to Seto's speech - written by her.
"Ladies and gentlemen…" Seto began. The speech itself was cordial, charmingly written and yet concise. It was a pleasant change to the long, drawn out pieces that had been written for him before, most of which made him sound completely disingenuous and completely unlike him. Skye had done well to make the speech appropriate, as well as staying true to what he probably would say. As he spoke, his gaze strayed to the woman in question who had helped him and for a while remained there. There was something pleasant about the way she was paying attention to him, her eyes silently yet clearly encouraging him.
"…so I hereby now declare Kaiba Corp. Orphanage - open."
As he finished, all of the audience rose to their feet, their applause even more enthusiastic. Skye, too on her feet, clapped gently. When Seto nodded to her in acknowledgment, thanking her, she smiled a little and looked down at her feet.
When the applause died down and Seto dismissed everyone, Skye excused herself to make a bathroom trip. Just as she approached the corridor, a hand gripped her forearm. She turned and her expression became one of horror when saw that the hand in question belonged to Edison.
"Hello my little beauty. I thought I'd pay you a visit to see how you're getting on with dear old Seto." Edison greeted her with a grin that didn't match the feral look in his eyes.
"How kind of you, Edison. Now if you'll excuse, I must visit the bathroom -"
"So keen to be out of my sight, my sweet?" Edison then tutted and used his other hand to take her waist, making sure she got full view of his face. "I'm beginning to think you're not missing me now."
"Truly, Edison, I must go for a bathroom stop." Skye replied with forced politeness, beginning to sound a little desperate, though not because of her impending bladder. "Now if you could release me, please."
Ignoring her, Edison's grin got a little more sinister looking and he gently pushed her to a nearby wall.
"You do look very beautiful, my sweet. In fact, I declare no other woman compares to you, especially in such a dress…" He took a finger and used to fiddle with the edge of the dress that left a view of the gap between her breasts.
She should have been familiar by now with Edison's pressing, but each time it happened, she couldn't help feeling sick, even scared.
"Please." She murmured, feeling her chest constrict in panic.
"Please what, my sweet?" Edison hummed his laughter and kissed her gently on the lips, using his other hand to put up her skirt. "Come on now, this is hardly new, remember our little agreement? Just one night, my sweet, for old times sake…"
Skye froze and turned her head away. If she let it happen and let it all be over, let him have what he wanted, maybe he would leave her alone - but for God's sake, her mind screamed at her, he never left her alone! - wherever she went, he followed, still pressing, still making sure she couldn't fully enjoy her life without that familiar inkling of dread, no matter how big or small it was. It was always there. Only when she went to University and then starting working for Seto, that she thought he might forget, that he might just move on.
And yet here he was -
"Skye?"
Gasping in fright at Seto's voice, Skye took the moment of opportunity where Edison had lessened his grip and jumped away. She caught sight of Edison's face and to say that he was displeased at the interruption was an understatement, but that look was quickly replaced by a cocky looking smile, aimed directly at Seto.
"Good evening, Mister Kaiba." Edison said, enjoying the way Seto was looking at Skye with furious questioning. Yes, let the seeds of destruction start to blossom.
To then add insult to injury, Edison took Skye by the waist and kissed her gently on the cheek.
"I will see you again soo, my sweet, I'm sure. Do keep in touch." He whispered in her ear. When Skye gave him a blank look, he continued smile smugly and swaggered away.
The sheer and utter humiliation Skye felt was indescribable - and Seto, he had seen - sweet lord, what had he seen?
And Seto for his part was stunned. At first he had seen Skye go, and then he saw her being approached by Edison. Then he finds them entangled, of all scenes! It had been the tip of his tongue to reprimand Skye for acting so appallingly, until he saw the look in her eyes: fear. She had not wanted Edison's advances clearly, but why did she not fight him off?
"Skye -"
"Excuse me." Skye interjected abruptly, suddenly resuming herself back to reality. She needed to get away, from the crowds, from this awful feeling in her chest that felt like her ribs were squeezing her lungs. She needed to get home, as far from Edison as possible and back to safety, to the Orphanage which would keep her safe. She might forgive herself later on, she thought, but for now, she took what she would reflect later on as the cowardly way out: she ran away.
Before Seto could catch her, she slipped past him and hurriedly made for the exit. She knew Roland wasn't there with the limo but she didn't care. There were plenty of cabs in New York, she would flag one down and get back to base. Luckily for her, one was parked nearby and she all but jumped in, gasping out the address of the hotel.
The taxi driver was bewildered to see a young woman enter his cab in such distress, but nonetheless obeyed her wishes and drove off. He looked through the rearview mirror to see Skye bent over, trying to control her breathing, her knuckles white where they were gripping her hair and scalp in tight fists.
"Is there anything I can do to help you, ma'am?" The driver asked awkwardly, not sure how to deal with the situation at all.
Finally controlling herself enough to respond, Skye lifted her head, not quite high enough to be seen in the rear view mirror and replied, "No, thank you."
"Ok." The driver wasn't entirely convinced but continued onwards, feeling it best not to pry. All the way back, he heard her shaking with all but silent cries. Still, he drove on.
Seto wasn't long behind Skye after she had left in the cab. The doormen dutifully informed him that she had left ('in a great panic' one of them commented) that way and so without further delay, he called Roland for the limo. As soon as the limo arrived and he was comfortably seated inside on the way back to the hotel, Seto tried ringing Skye on her phone, though why he did, he clearly didn't think about. Of course she wouldn't answer. Anyone in that state wouldn't answer the phone.
It was a ridiculous situation, and one Seto scolded himself for not foreseeing earlier. That Edison was a creep and clearly well connected. He was bound to show up and cause trouble. Then Seto felt a bit angry at Skye for not dealing with the situation well either - she had assured him Edison wouldn't cause trouble, and now look where they were! The amount of excuses Seto had to make to cover up what had actually happened weren't even a guarantee that the night would end well, though really, how difficult could it be for millionaires to get drunk at his expense and then pay a cheque over?
Then, completely unbidden, came the words that Mokuba had spoken earlier: 'you did give her a job, and you trusted her enough to take her with you to this shindig, so seriously, you need to start treating her a little better.'
Calming down and thinking about things properly, Mokuba was right: up until that moment, Skye had done everything he had asked of her, and to a pretty good standard. Perhaps, behind closed doors where only he and Skye would be privy to the conversation, he would give her a chance to explain herself. It would do no good now going in with a rage in his belly. If he knew her as well enough as he thought he did, she would not tell him anything if he approached her in anger, and even less so because of what she experienced.
The limo stopped outside the hotel and unlike how he got in, Seto stepped out in good time and made steady progress to his suite. As he went up the elevator, he received a message from the host:
$24,000,000 in donations have been made. Congratulations, Mister Kaiba! We thank you for using us to host your gala. Kind regards.
Seto wanted to laugh out loud. Even with the drama, people just couldn't resist a sob story and a chance to prove they were 'charitable' souls. At least that meant Skye was definitely off the hook; he couldn't blame her for the evening being unsuccessful when just the opposite had happened. When he arrived there, he heard Skye rummaging around quickly upstairs, occasionally cursing when she couldn't find something. Is she packing? He wondered, walking towards the bedroom.
When he arrived, Skye indeed was packing, and not slowly either. She was clearly hoping to avoid him.
"Skye."
Jumping again for the second time this evening because of him, Skye whipped around to face him. Her eyes were slightly red-rimmed, as though she had been crying. At first she was defensive, but then it dawned on her that Seto had every right to be annoyed with her right now. He had relied on her to be there tonight; she didn't deliver entirely in the end. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, fully preparing for this to be her only and final chance.
"I shouldn't have left like that, especially in such a state. I apologise." She said stiffly, smoothing her dress even though it mattered little whether it was ruffled now. "Are you firing me?"
"No."
The answer shocked Skye so much that she sat on the bed.
"No?" She repeated.
"I may be ruthless, but I am not blind to some very blatant wrongs. I just don't want something like this to happen again. You assured me that this Edison wouldn't be a problem." Seto said matter-of-factly, leaning against the doorframe and loosening his tie.
"I see."
Another silence ensued as Skye continued to pack her things and Seto thought of what to say.
"How long?" He asked, unable to contain his curiosity. He wanted to know what Skye was dealing with, and in turn how that might affect her work with Kaiba Corp. He knew she would know what he meant.
And Skye did know exactly what he was getting at. It was too much to contemplate, let alone voice, so she shook her head and murmured, "Please don't ask me to answer that."
Her answer was vague on the surface, so Seto couldn't be sure if these events he had witnessed were isolated or a symptom of a far deeper issue. Either way, he wasn't about to pry any further. The message was clear: don't interfere.
She turned back to Seto and his expression was unreadable except for his eyes. Was that concern there inside them? Probably not, or if it was, it would be for the reputation of himself and his company, naturally. She couldn't be a liability and as soon as she got back to Domino, she vowed to keep proving why it was a good choice for Seto to pick her for the job.
"How many donations were received in the end?" Skye asked.
"$24,000,000."
Now that was an impressive sum. Skye didn't know what to say.
"Wow."
"Indeed." Seto agreed, walking towards her and stopping just before he got in her space. His eyes strayed to the bag she had packed. "Running back to Domino won't stop him following you."
Skye huffed out a bitter chuckle. "I hardly have much choice if he intends to bother me wherever I go. Do you have a suggestion?"
"Join me for a drink at the bar downstairs at the very least before you fuck off and leave me alone."
Skye gaped at him a moment, then laughed out loud, a merry sound that Seto was surprised to find he liked. He preferred her in good spirits, he decided now. He wasn't used to the moping and sadness of people, especially women.
"Of all the offers I could have received tonight." Skye said wryly, smiling despite herself. "Are you sure you want to risk losing my sobriety after all this drama? I can't promise I'll be a proper lady, if you recall last night."
Seto smirked. "If you might use naughty words again, Miss McLaughlin, then yes, I am willing to take that risk."
"I'll freshen up then."
Grateful that Seto had not delved any deeper to try and discover why Edison was even in her life, Skye went to the bathroom with more spring in her step. She washed her face of make up and didn't bother to re-apply it. She was only going for a late night drink anyway…with her employer.
She sighed as she caught sight of herself in the mirror, her curls now even messier, her pale skin now flushed and glistening from the water she had washed it with. So long as he keeps employing me so that I can stay safe and away from him, I'll take a drink with him anytime, She thought. She was just happy to be given a chance to forget that earlier had ever happened. It did no good to dwell on the past and she could only hope she was more resilient in the future, especially now Seto had granted her clemency.
As she exited the bathroom, Skye noticed that Seto had disposed of his tie and jacket, standing only in his suit trousers and his shirt. The three top buttons were undone. She raised an eyebrow as she remembered what she had said earlier that evening about suited men and their lack of ties. He was surely teasing her now.
Seto saw her raised eyebrow and continued to smirk.
"Are you ready now, Miss McLaughlin?" He asked, offering her his arm once again
Taking it without hesitation, Skye looked up at her employer thoughtfully, then she said softly, "Thank you, Seto."
It could have been for the offer now, it could have been for coming back to find her, hell, it could have been for persuading her not to run away. Whichever it was, Seto coughed a little awkwardly, as though her thanks were no big deal.
"Right." He said gruffly.
Nodding that she was ready to go, she obediently allowed Seto to guide her out of the suite. They reached the elevator and for whatever reason, they looked at each other. Skye simply smiled, feeling like the night was slowly returning to some normality, including between them. It didn't suit either of them to be vulnerable or feeling sorry for each other. Seto's expression didn't change, but when Skye entered the elevator first, he allowed himself a quick and very small smile before she turned around.
Finding musical inspiration for this chapter was bloody difficult, I tell you! I don't always post what songs I listen to when I write these chapters, but in short, I usually have at least a couple of songs to properly get the feeling I want when writing. Yet because so many sad songs can be about love, and then of course Skye and Seto aren't romantically involved, what in the heck do I have in my knowledge of music to truly voice the feeling of this chapter?! The answer is absolutely bugger all. Seriously, I have spent ages going through my playlists, my iTunes and even YouTube recommendations. So I guess if you guys read this chapter with your own thoughts for music in mind, you're doing better than I am…
But back to the chapter just done: Drama, drama, drama! I'm almost as sick to death of it as Skye and Seto are and I'm only writing it :3 The scene with Skye and Edison was particularly intense, yes, but nevertheless it needed to happen to start giving an insight into why Skye has been so desperate to escape her previous lifestyle. In any case, what's happened has happened and I'm glad to be making some good progress again with this story. Next chapter will see Skye and Seto returning home to work, so no more calamities…for now. And I'm super-excited for Skye's date with Ricardo as well, it's about time she got a little bit of a break!
So I guess I better get back to planning and writing the next chapter, eh? Let me know what you guys think if you will.
xXxCometxXx