YUGIOH
The Times Between Darkness and Light
Chapter 7.
Kaiba arrived at work, trench coat billowing behind him as he imperiously walked into his building. The guard didn't seem to pay any attention, who was eyeing the secretary. As for the secretary, she was gossiping to someone on the phone. Kaiba had intended to head straight into the elevator, but would not tolerate seeing his employees not doing their job.
So, he stopped and walked over to the front counter, facing the secretary while also stepping in the way of the view from the security guard. The man seemed ticked-off from his view being blocked, and gruffly turned away for the moment.
She seemed to be ignoring him and continued to talk on the phone.
"Excuse me." He calmly said to her.
She glanced up at him only a second, then put her finger up for him to hold on for a moment, as she continued to yap on the phone..
So Kaiba took his own finger and used it to hang up the phone. "I think you can talk to Claire later when you're 'not' on the clock." He said, identifying the girl on the other end easily, after the secretary had said it enough times.
"Hey, just who do you think you are? Maybe I should have you es-...." She was saying, and suddenly she paled, recognizing who he was. She gulped, and giggled, saying, "Uh, of course, sir. My apologies. How may I help you?"
"You can start by doing your job, not ignoring a client when they come to the counter, and not wasting my time with your friends....got it?" He asked, coldly.
"Of course, sir....my apologies. That doesn't normally happen, I assure you. Claire was in the hospital, and...."
"I don't want to hear your life story. Talk to her outside of work." Kaiba snapped.
"Yes, sir....it wont happen again." She said.
Kaiba then headed for the elevator. He got off at the floor where Mokuba's office was, and headed to visit him first. Many people were working very professionally, which he was pleased to see, but when he was almost there he noticed three people hanging out, laughing at the water fountain. By now about ¾ of the thing was empty, there were cups almost over-filling the garbage can next to it, and they were laughing up a storm like they were there for hours.
He approached them, asking, "What do you three think you're doing? Don't you have jobs to do?"
One laughed, "Don't tell me you're buying into that little announcement, too? Don't worry about it, pal....that's just Kaiba's little brat kid-brother trying to scare everyone."
Kaiba wasn't impressed, but asked, "I think I missed that announcement. What exactly did 'the little brat kid' have to say?"
The second guy said, "That his brother supposedly snapped out of his coma and was going to come waltzing back to work. Gimmee a break....that living stiff's been out for over two weeks now, with no sign of recovery. I know, I read the papers!"
"Yeah." A woman chimed in, "I hear that coma patients have a good chance to be out like that for the rest of their lives. Infact, almost all of them don't wake up for years."
The first then said, "Yeah, so don't worry about it. Take a load off. That snot-nosed kid can't do anything about it. There's no way the labor board would take the word of a twelve year old over the word of 3 adults....it's just not going to happen."
Kaiba now leaned against the wall, saying, "That's a good point." As if joining them on being lazy.
As they began to gossip again, he look straight ahead at the wall, saying, "Then again, he could probably use that camera as evidence over there that's pointed right at you."
"What??" The second said, following Kaiba's view. Sure enough, there was a small camera that moved back and forth, showing all of the hallway, including the three that's probably been there all day doing nothing.
"Shit!" The third said. "Why didn't the kid say anything to us about it?"
"Maybe he didn't know....or maybe he's just a nice kid who felt sorry for you three, if you lost your jobs." Kaiba said, making them feel bad. He then added, "Then again, maybe his brother 'was' coming, and he wanted to allow you all to make even bigger fools of yourselves, when he showed up and caught you three loafing around on his time."
They looked at him and the first said, "Buddy, that aint gonna happen. Kaiba isn't gonna show up....it's a scam, I'm telling you!"
"Well, guess what....it's not a scam. His warning to you and the building was the truth. Infact, his brother's here right now, and he's not very happy about what he sees." Kaiba said.
They looked around, as the woman said, "You're shitting us, are you serious? Did you see him? Where is he?"
"You people really are idiots....you know that? You've been talking to the supposed 'living stiff' for the past 5 minutes, now!"
"Huh?" They all chimed in unison, looking over at him. They seemed to just stare as they slowly absorbed this information, like time had stood still.
Finally the second one said, "Are you saying, that you're...."
"No way...." The woman said.
The first said, "You can't be! I've seen the guy, and he looks well....different."
"Maybe this will help." Kaiba said with a cold smirk, then instantly frowned coldly, snapping, "You're all fired. Get your things, and get out!"
In terror, they all scrambled away, even more fearful that if they didn't leave in a hurry, he was going to do much worst to them than just being fired.
Kaiba shook his head, and headed to his brother's office.
