Chapter 16
"I'm sorry you had to witness such an idiotic display, Gardner," Kaiba apologized gruffly, organizing some random papers on his desk. Téa had been frozen in the same position for some minutes after Garcon's exit. She regained her normal self.
"I'm just glad you didn't make me go with him," she admitted, blushing. He looked up at her, and she wasn't sure she liked the expression. What kind of a glance was it?
"You didn't appear all that enthusiastic to go. And no matter how much I want to get rid of you, I'd never force you to transfer to a company where you felt harassed. To be honest, I don't like that Garcon person myself," Kaiba was now back to the usual scenario of typing, designing a new who-knows-what for the company.
Téa dropped her eyes to the carpet. Was that comment supposed to mean something? That he really did hate her? For some reason, she felt the burn of tears threatening to flood her eyes. "Thank you," she told him, "for doing that for me." She knew her voice betrayed her, and before any further embarrassment could jeopardize her pride, she left, no alteration in her gait, closing the door softly behind her.
Kaiba stared for a second at where she had stood, temporary guilt consuming him. But it went away after a moment, and he resumed his activities. What did he care about what she felt? He had done a lot more for her than she'd ever even think to thank him for.
Téa wandered down to Ms. Sigmon's desk, desperate for someone to talk to. "Are you alright, honey?" the secretary asked, concerned, but the girl only nodded.
"I'm fine," she mumbled. She decided that she didn't want to converse with anyone right now. She'd be of more help in the lab. That's where she headed.
"Ah, Téa!" the head chemist called out to her as she came in. "We're just testing the new disk! Wanna come see its debut?" Grateful for something joyful to do, she agreed, and pressed her nose to the safety glass. Two kids were in a stadium, about to commence battle.
After a few trial runs, even this display became boring. The experiments were the only things scheduled to be carried out for the day, so she just sat down on one of the plastic chairs, observing the lab technicians take notes. She crossed her left leg over her right, and rested her chin in her right hand, arm on knee.
"This isn't too fun," she thought aloud, in a sort of whispering trance. She remembered how much fun she had had with Kaiba, on the date, and at the meeting. Fun she never would've had had she not done Mokuba the favor or lost her job at the restaurant/accepted the job at Kaiba Corp. She had never once regretted coming, it had all been a great and wonderful experience for her. But now...she was almost having second thoughts. If Kaiba really hated her, did that mean she should quit? Spare him the trouble of having to put up with her?
"Maybe I should resign..." she thought audibly, keeping her voice down. "Maybe that'd make everyone happy..."
No one was now paying attention to her. They had all accepted her excuse of feeling a little tired. A hand fell upon her shoulder from behind. "I would think we would all prefer you didn't," a voice accompanied it. Téa turned around to see none other than Kaiba.
"Oh...hey," she greeted him, still in a sort of trance. She shifted her eyes back to the other employees.
"You look like you need someone to chat with," he commented, surprising her. "Get up," he ordered, and, taking her free hand, pulled her dazed self to her feet. "I think we have something to discuss."
Without any resistance, she followed him, almost being dragged, back to his office. A few curious stares from the other workers pursued them, but neither cared at this point. She was tugged into the room and the door was closed. He leaned against the part of the desk that faced her, picking up a manilla folder and organizing a few things while he talked to her.
"What is it that's bothering you?" he asked as he went throught it. He wasn't good with making eye contact.
"N-nothing," she stammered. It was a lie. But what could she say? He threw her a glance that made her feel like he was well aware that she was fibbing. Silence ensued for a little while, but he didn't press her to speak. 'I'm gonna come clean. It's time I told him anyway,' she convinced herself. "Well..." She had his full attention.
Ms. Michelle interrupted on the intercom (could you call it that?). "Mr. Kaiba, someone wants to talk to you."
Kaiba sighed and turned around to pick up the phone again. How many people were going to request an audience with him today? They exchanged a few words, Téa remaining quiet the entire time, resisting the urge to eavesdrop. Eventually, he hung up. "Go to the lobby," he commanded her.
"What? But..." she protested, but he shot her a look that demanded to be obeyed. "Okay..." As she was leaving, he came, too, obviously going to escort her down there. Not that she was complaining...but she wasn't too thrilled, either.
The elevator dinged as they reached the bottom, and a carefree and familiar voice greeted her upon her entry into the lobby.
"Anzu! Hey, how's it going?!" (Sorry, I keep switching between names, but it just sounds more like something they'd say...)
"Joey?" The whole gang was here. She rushed over to them, and Kaiba watched the whole meeting from the counter on the front desk, ignoring Ms. Michelle's attempts to start a conversation.
"Why didn't you tell us you got a job here?" Wheeler asked, amazed and proud of his friend, even though he hated Kaiba's guts.
"I'm impressed, Téa," Yugi confessed truthfully, making her blush again.
"Yeah. It's not exactly easy to get a job here, ya know," Tristan pointed out.
She spilled. She left out about the dates and meetings, but she told them how she got fired from her old job and how she had been offered one here, and all that she had done in the ways of work. The easy life, they all agreed.
"Eh, I never liked that old restaurant anyway. Food's too greasy," Joey commented in regards to her being fired.
"That's why you said you liked it when we first started going," Tristan contradicted playfully (NOT DIRTY!), causing an argument.
Kaiba observed it all, Ms. Michelle taking the hint that he didn't want to talk. He almost wanted to smile. Téa forgot that he was even there. She talked with her buddies, ignoring him completely. Right now, it didn't matter; he preferred it that way, not exactly wanting to join in the little group. After a while, he left, leaving a message at the desk. No one noticed but a coveting Ms. Michelle.
Finally, it occurred to Téa where she needed to be. She said good-bye to her friends, and was passing the front counter when she was informed that she need not return to work for the rest of the day. Stunned, she nevertheless rushed up to Kaiba's office to find it...empty. That wasn't like him. She was a little sad.
She returned to the lobby, a little relieved. Prior to her friends' arrival, she had almost let loose a big secret. A dangerous one. They all put Kaiba Corp. out of their minds for the day and left for one of their favorite hang-outs, happy to be together again for the first time in a long time after she'd been hired, and not thinking any more about Kaiba's mysterious disappearance.