Chapter Fifteen
Roux's Mistake
When Roux first opened her eyes early the next morning, she felt a great wave of comfort flow over her. She had awakened in a very comfortable bed, lying on her side and facing the window. She awoke to see that outside the sun was just rising, filling the air with tangy summer sweetness. The birds were singing just outside her sill and everything was in perfect harmony.
She awoke and she smiled, for she had never felt more comfortable for what had seemed like days upon days. She sat up in her bed and stretched out her arms, yawning and feeling the morning take a great effect on her.
While tiptoeing down the hallway, she saw that both Joey and Serenity were still fast asleep. Roux smiled softly as she heard their exhales and inhales soft within their rooms. She looked at her watch quickly. It was 7:30 in the morning. Roux decided that she would quickly go back to her hotel and get some clothes from her room. Maybe she should even check out.
No, she decided not to check out. She would be able to pay easily for the extra nights that she was not there, her salary seemed endless at this point. But she would go to the hotel quickly, just quickly, and maybe she would get back before Joey even woke up.
Quickly Roux showered and dressed in her clothes from the night before, and as silently as she could she crept out of the apartment, and began to walk swiftly down the street towards the direction of her hotel.
Roux was suddenly feeling guilty as soon as she left the apartment. She was putting herself in danger by going around by herself. But it was daytime, and if there were someone after her, they wouldn't attack her in broad daylight on an open road. Would they?
It seemed sensible, but at the same time she felt guilty. What if Joey woke up and she wasn't there? He would have a coronary worrying about her. And then there was Pegasus. She had promised him that she would keep herself safe and with people at all times. She was defying them; she was defying them all.
She bit her lip. She wanted to turn back and go to the Wheeler apartment again, and go to the hotel later, so that Joey wouldn't worry. It would put them at ease, and she wouldn't feel so guilty.
Roux shook her head. No, she was seventeen years old; she could take care of herself. And besides she was already half way to her hotel now, and nothing had happened to her so far.
She had thought too soon.
Some people were out already, getting their breakfasts at the diners or starting up the shops along the boardwalk. When she saw the sign for a coffee shop just ahead of her, she dug in her pocket and found a few bucks. She had left her purse at the hotel. Yet another good reason why to go sooner as opposed to later.
So Roux stepped inside the coffee place and ordered a coffee, and smiled sweetly when the teenage girl running the cash register asked if she had seen Roux anywhere, and that she looked familiar. "I've just got one of those faces, y'know?" Roux asked as she accepted the coffee.
The teenager girl grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "Just watch, I'll remember sometime this afternoon or something." They laughed together before Roux walked out the door.
While sipping her coffee and admiring the morning sun and the people who were out on the prowl early in the morning, Roux happily walked along the boardwalk. She was in a much better mood than she had been the previous evening. All the memories had flown from her mind and to the abyss. She was rather glad they had. For now at least.
After all she did come to Domino City for a bit of a vacation. Despite the news that she had received last night, it had been a great vacation so far. She wouldn't let the whole ordeal with the ring disturb her for too long.
She was rather surprised about how soundly she had slept. She expected to be awake the entire night thinking about everything, remembering memories to assure herself that Kale really wasn't gone, but back at his apartment in Osaka working late on some project, one of the many reasons why they had divorced. She hated how he did his projects so late at night, and the next day he was grumpy and snappy, and she would get mad at him for it.
Roux laughed to herself. He always worried about his work not being good enough for the hot shots at the magazine businesses. But she had a great confidence in him that always held him together, and now he wouldn't have to worry about those problems anymore.
She looked down at the ring on her finger, the stone glinting brightly in the morning sun. Her smile was gone suddenly. Did Kale know that it was a millennium item, this ring that he had given her? And if he did, did he know that he would be hunted for it? And if he knew that, would he have given it to her?
Roux felt sorrow come over her. She was certain that Kale would never purposely put her in danger, but suddenly she wasn't too sure. She sighed, and then remembered something. A dream she had had the previous night, last night. She tried hard to remember it.
Roux remembered being in Egypt, that was a big part of it. She remembered seeing pyramids, and being dressed in ancient Egypt costume, and walking with her bare feet across the scorching hot sand, but it didn't bother her in the least. She enjoyed the sun against her back and the coolness of the wind against her skin.
She had come to the pyramid, and she walked straight inside the corridor, the darkness of the pyramid was terrifying. There was no light anywhere, but she had just kept on going. And then she had stopped when she saw someone in front of her.
A young man, wearing a long tanned robe. He was tanned with deep, wistful eyes, his head covered with a white turban. He had stood in front of her, mesmerized her, and whispered her name.
Then she woke up, and the dream was a lost memory in her mind.
Roux tried to remember every detail of the dream, and she would regret it for the rest of the day. Because at the moment where she studied her mind trying to recall the last details of her dream, she had unintentionally ran into someone, the lid to her coffee flew off.
Before she knew it Roux saw that her coffee had stained the front of this person's shirt, and she gasped. "Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped, and held the coffee cup tightly, which was a quarter full.
"Watch where you're going!" the man snapped at her angrily.
Roux searched in her pockets for a Kleenex, and then she suddenly realized something.
The navy blue jacket.
Roux's mind went blank, and tightly she shut her eyes. ~ Oh please, no! ~
Very cautiously and slowly she looked up, knowing she would regret it. She started straight into the deep, cold eyes of Seto Kaiba.
One look at her and his eyes narrowed furiously. "You!" he snarled at her.
Roux took a step back and looked up at him. She could clearly see that he was downright pissed. The whole front of his olive-green shirt was stained with coffee. Roux bit down hard on her lip. ~ Oh, anyone but him! If only it were anyone but him! ~
"I'm sorry!" she said quickly and swallowed. She could see the fury burning in those sapphire eyes that held the greatest hatred. "I-I had my mind on other things and I didn't see you."
Kaiba smirked and brought out a tissue from his jacket pocket. "Typical. It's you show-business types. You waltz down the street thinking you don't have to pay attention to other people." He retorted gingerly and patted his shirt, giving her an evil look.
Roux's eyebrow rose in suspicion. "H-how did you know I was a show-business type?" she wasn't sure if she was a show-business type. She was a model. That was basically it.
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Please, give me a little credit." He said. "I can perfectly tell when there's a model airhead walking down the street, with your skinny figure and your hair."
Roux scowled slightly. "Airhead? Who says I'm an airhead?"
"I do," Kaiba told her sinisterly, his eyes darting at her, as if to dare her to talk back.
Roux rolled her eyes. "As if I care of what you think of me." She said to him. "And what makes you think that what you say goes for everyone else? They wouldn't listen to you."
Kaiba glared at her. "They don't, but perhaps they should. And if they did, everyone would recognize that you were nothing but a bones and hair airhead and you don't belong in my tournament."
Roux took a deep breath in to sustain her anger with him. "Are you intentionally insulting me because I'm friends with Joey?"
Kaiba smirked again. "How you came to be friends with Wheeler is a clear mystery to me. But then again maybe you two deserve each other." He tucked a hand in his pocket. "A walking camera fest and an idiotic monkey, a mere match made in Heaven."
Roux's teeth clenched and without even thinking about who he was and where they were, she intentionally threw the rest of the coffee into his face.
Kaiba froze, and his eyes remained clenched together as Roux watched the coffee soak his bangs, and then fall to the edge of his jawbone. He wiped his face quickly with his napkin and gave her a very detestful look of great warning.
"It's one thing to insult me," she said to him, as though talking to someone she respected, but in this case she had no respect for Kaiba. "But it's quite another to insult Joey, and I won't let you get away with it." She was smiling, and he wanted to hit her.
"You'll regret this!" he told her through his clenched teeth. He was so angry he was sure he was turning a whole different colour than red.
"Will I?" she said cockily, and then she threw the cup into a garbage can off to the side, then she turned to him and smiled sweetly, which made him even angrier. "Because it seems to me, Seto Kaiba, that I'll just laugh." And she did.
And she walked past him.
Roux walked and walked and she never once looked back. Suddenly she felt incredible, like nothing could stand in her way. She had just thrown a coffee into Seto Kaiba's face, probably one of the richest men in Domino City. What part of her made her do it?
Her heart was beating so fast, and she was excited. She couldn't wait to get back to Joey's apartment to tell him about what had happened. But she saw the hotel just up ahead of her and she continued on towards it.
Quickly she looked over her shoulder. Kaiba wasn't anywhere in sight, and she was thankful, but she turned her glance ahead. She was too scared now to look at him again.
~*~
Kaiba slammed the door open when he arrived back at the front door of his mansion. He was seething in anger, the front of his shirt had dried considerably, but it was still stained, and his bangs dripped of cold coffee.
The passing maids took one look at him and hurried off. They knew if they said even one word to him at this point, they would be fired on the spot in an instant.
"Mokuba!" Kaiba called out as he slammed the door shut and stomped into the foyer of the house, looking around. There was no one around. It seemed almost deserted. All the servants were terrified. It gave him a soft of satisfaction. ~ Yeah, that's right! You better flee! ~ he thought to himself angrily.
In no time at all after Kaiba had called for Mokuba, his little brother came hopping down the stairs, smiling at his older brother. "What's up big brother?" then his gray eyes went wide with astonishment. "What happened to your shirt?" he asked, bewildered.
Kaiba's hand curled to a fist. "Nevermind that Mokuba. Go to the computer. There's someone from the tournament who needs disqualification!"
Roux's Mistake
When Roux first opened her eyes early the next morning, she felt a great wave of comfort flow over her. She had awakened in a very comfortable bed, lying on her side and facing the window. She awoke to see that outside the sun was just rising, filling the air with tangy summer sweetness. The birds were singing just outside her sill and everything was in perfect harmony.
She awoke and she smiled, for she had never felt more comfortable for what had seemed like days upon days. She sat up in her bed and stretched out her arms, yawning and feeling the morning take a great effect on her.
While tiptoeing down the hallway, she saw that both Joey and Serenity were still fast asleep. Roux smiled softly as she heard their exhales and inhales soft within their rooms. She looked at her watch quickly. It was 7:30 in the morning. Roux decided that she would quickly go back to her hotel and get some clothes from her room. Maybe she should even check out.
No, she decided not to check out. She would be able to pay easily for the extra nights that she was not there, her salary seemed endless at this point. But she would go to the hotel quickly, just quickly, and maybe she would get back before Joey even woke up.
Quickly Roux showered and dressed in her clothes from the night before, and as silently as she could she crept out of the apartment, and began to walk swiftly down the street towards the direction of her hotel.
Roux was suddenly feeling guilty as soon as she left the apartment. She was putting herself in danger by going around by herself. But it was daytime, and if there were someone after her, they wouldn't attack her in broad daylight on an open road. Would they?
It seemed sensible, but at the same time she felt guilty. What if Joey woke up and she wasn't there? He would have a coronary worrying about her. And then there was Pegasus. She had promised him that she would keep herself safe and with people at all times. She was defying them; she was defying them all.
She bit her lip. She wanted to turn back and go to the Wheeler apartment again, and go to the hotel later, so that Joey wouldn't worry. It would put them at ease, and she wouldn't feel so guilty.
Roux shook her head. No, she was seventeen years old; she could take care of herself. And besides she was already half way to her hotel now, and nothing had happened to her so far.
She had thought too soon.
Some people were out already, getting their breakfasts at the diners or starting up the shops along the boardwalk. When she saw the sign for a coffee shop just ahead of her, she dug in her pocket and found a few bucks. She had left her purse at the hotel. Yet another good reason why to go sooner as opposed to later.
So Roux stepped inside the coffee place and ordered a coffee, and smiled sweetly when the teenage girl running the cash register asked if she had seen Roux anywhere, and that she looked familiar. "I've just got one of those faces, y'know?" Roux asked as she accepted the coffee.
The teenager girl grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "Just watch, I'll remember sometime this afternoon or something." They laughed together before Roux walked out the door.
While sipping her coffee and admiring the morning sun and the people who were out on the prowl early in the morning, Roux happily walked along the boardwalk. She was in a much better mood than she had been the previous evening. All the memories had flown from her mind and to the abyss. She was rather glad they had. For now at least.
After all she did come to Domino City for a bit of a vacation. Despite the news that she had received last night, it had been a great vacation so far. She wouldn't let the whole ordeal with the ring disturb her for too long.
She was rather surprised about how soundly she had slept. She expected to be awake the entire night thinking about everything, remembering memories to assure herself that Kale really wasn't gone, but back at his apartment in Osaka working late on some project, one of the many reasons why they had divorced. She hated how he did his projects so late at night, and the next day he was grumpy and snappy, and she would get mad at him for it.
Roux laughed to herself. He always worried about his work not being good enough for the hot shots at the magazine businesses. But she had a great confidence in him that always held him together, and now he wouldn't have to worry about those problems anymore.
She looked down at the ring on her finger, the stone glinting brightly in the morning sun. Her smile was gone suddenly. Did Kale know that it was a millennium item, this ring that he had given her? And if he did, did he know that he would be hunted for it? And if he knew that, would he have given it to her?
Roux felt sorrow come over her. She was certain that Kale would never purposely put her in danger, but suddenly she wasn't too sure. She sighed, and then remembered something. A dream she had had the previous night, last night. She tried hard to remember it.
Roux remembered being in Egypt, that was a big part of it. She remembered seeing pyramids, and being dressed in ancient Egypt costume, and walking with her bare feet across the scorching hot sand, but it didn't bother her in the least. She enjoyed the sun against her back and the coolness of the wind against her skin.
She had come to the pyramid, and she walked straight inside the corridor, the darkness of the pyramid was terrifying. There was no light anywhere, but she had just kept on going. And then she had stopped when she saw someone in front of her.
A young man, wearing a long tanned robe. He was tanned with deep, wistful eyes, his head covered with a white turban. He had stood in front of her, mesmerized her, and whispered her name.
Then she woke up, and the dream was a lost memory in her mind.
Roux tried to remember every detail of the dream, and she would regret it for the rest of the day. Because at the moment where she studied her mind trying to recall the last details of her dream, she had unintentionally ran into someone, the lid to her coffee flew off.
Before she knew it Roux saw that her coffee had stained the front of this person's shirt, and she gasped. "Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped, and held the coffee cup tightly, which was a quarter full.
"Watch where you're going!" the man snapped at her angrily.
Roux searched in her pockets for a Kleenex, and then she suddenly realized something.
The navy blue jacket.
Roux's mind went blank, and tightly she shut her eyes. ~ Oh please, no! ~
Very cautiously and slowly she looked up, knowing she would regret it. She started straight into the deep, cold eyes of Seto Kaiba.
One look at her and his eyes narrowed furiously. "You!" he snarled at her.
Roux took a step back and looked up at him. She could clearly see that he was downright pissed. The whole front of his olive-green shirt was stained with coffee. Roux bit down hard on her lip. ~ Oh, anyone but him! If only it were anyone but him! ~
"I'm sorry!" she said quickly and swallowed. She could see the fury burning in those sapphire eyes that held the greatest hatred. "I-I had my mind on other things and I didn't see you."
Kaiba smirked and brought out a tissue from his jacket pocket. "Typical. It's you show-business types. You waltz down the street thinking you don't have to pay attention to other people." He retorted gingerly and patted his shirt, giving her an evil look.
Roux's eyebrow rose in suspicion. "H-how did you know I was a show-business type?" she wasn't sure if she was a show-business type. She was a model. That was basically it.
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Please, give me a little credit." He said. "I can perfectly tell when there's a model airhead walking down the street, with your skinny figure and your hair."
Roux scowled slightly. "Airhead? Who says I'm an airhead?"
"I do," Kaiba told her sinisterly, his eyes darting at her, as if to dare her to talk back.
Roux rolled her eyes. "As if I care of what you think of me." She said to him. "And what makes you think that what you say goes for everyone else? They wouldn't listen to you."
Kaiba glared at her. "They don't, but perhaps they should. And if they did, everyone would recognize that you were nothing but a bones and hair airhead and you don't belong in my tournament."
Roux took a deep breath in to sustain her anger with him. "Are you intentionally insulting me because I'm friends with Joey?"
Kaiba smirked again. "How you came to be friends with Wheeler is a clear mystery to me. But then again maybe you two deserve each other." He tucked a hand in his pocket. "A walking camera fest and an idiotic monkey, a mere match made in Heaven."
Roux's teeth clenched and without even thinking about who he was and where they were, she intentionally threw the rest of the coffee into his face.
Kaiba froze, and his eyes remained clenched together as Roux watched the coffee soak his bangs, and then fall to the edge of his jawbone. He wiped his face quickly with his napkin and gave her a very detestful look of great warning.
"It's one thing to insult me," she said to him, as though talking to someone she respected, but in this case she had no respect for Kaiba. "But it's quite another to insult Joey, and I won't let you get away with it." She was smiling, and he wanted to hit her.
"You'll regret this!" he told her through his clenched teeth. He was so angry he was sure he was turning a whole different colour than red.
"Will I?" she said cockily, and then she threw the cup into a garbage can off to the side, then she turned to him and smiled sweetly, which made him even angrier. "Because it seems to me, Seto Kaiba, that I'll just laugh." And she did.
And she walked past him.
Roux walked and walked and she never once looked back. Suddenly she felt incredible, like nothing could stand in her way. She had just thrown a coffee into Seto Kaiba's face, probably one of the richest men in Domino City. What part of her made her do it?
Her heart was beating so fast, and she was excited. She couldn't wait to get back to Joey's apartment to tell him about what had happened. But she saw the hotel just up ahead of her and she continued on towards it.
Quickly she looked over her shoulder. Kaiba wasn't anywhere in sight, and she was thankful, but she turned her glance ahead. She was too scared now to look at him again.
~*~
Kaiba slammed the door open when he arrived back at the front door of his mansion. He was seething in anger, the front of his shirt had dried considerably, but it was still stained, and his bangs dripped of cold coffee.
The passing maids took one look at him and hurried off. They knew if they said even one word to him at this point, they would be fired on the spot in an instant.
"Mokuba!" Kaiba called out as he slammed the door shut and stomped into the foyer of the house, looking around. There was no one around. It seemed almost deserted. All the servants were terrified. It gave him a soft of satisfaction. ~ Yeah, that's right! You better flee! ~ he thought to himself angrily.
In no time at all after Kaiba had called for Mokuba, his little brother came hopping down the stairs, smiling at his older brother. "What's up big brother?" then his gray eyes went wide with astonishment. "What happened to your shirt?" he asked, bewildered.
Kaiba's hand curled to a fist. "Nevermind that Mokuba. Go to the computer. There's someone from the tournament who needs disqualification!"