Mai drove her red convertible to the front of the Kaiba Corp. building. Kaiba Corp. was a gaming company that has some of the most advanced equipment in all of Japan. It was a family business owner by a man named Seto Kaiba. The building was very large and had many glass windows all around it. It was taller than all the other buildings around.
She parked in the parking lot out front and locked her car. When she walked through the large glass automatic doors, she flashed her card to the lady who was standing at a podium inside. The lady at the podium had short brown hair ending at her chin. She wore a blue shirt and skirt, which was her uniform. She also wore a hat on the top of her head that was the same shade as the rest of her clothing.
"Good morning, Ms. Valentine." She said while marking something down in the book that sat in front of her. "Just in time, as always."
"Yeah. I know. I got…held up." Mai said, hurriedly walking past the podium.
"That's what you say every day." The girl called after Mai and she laughed quietly.
She hurried down the long hall, her heels making a soft clicking sound on the hard wood floors. A few people passed by her, but none of them said anything. At the end of the long hallway, she turned to come face to face with a door.
She searched her purse for a card and swiped in through the keypad on the side of the doorframe. The light at the top turned from the bright red to a mellow green, allowing Mai to open the door. She returned the card to her purse and entered the room.
The room was filled with people in uniform. All were females who wore light blue jackets and blue skirts of matching color.
"Good morning, Mai." A passing girl said. "Would you like me to get you a cup of coffee?" She asked.
"No thanks, Julie. I just got back from the café." Mai replied while walking through an aisle with lockers on each side. She stopped at the locker on the end and punched in a number in the keypad. It beeped softly and Mai opened it.
"Is that the same place you go to every morning?" Julie asked. She had light brown eyes and a kind face. Her shoulder length black hair had a bright shade of red on the tips.
"No. Only on Wednesdays." Mai took off her purple coat and took a blue jacket out of the locker. She put it on over her white blouse and put on her blue skirt that she also took from the locker. She folded her old clothes and placed them in the locker. "I met a few people today." She said conversationally.
"Really? Who did you meet?" Julie asked, sounding amused.
"Some friends of Yugi's. A girl named Serenity, and two guys. I believe their names were Tristin and Joey. I'm not sure though." She shrugged.
"Well, do you like any of them? You know…Like like anyone?" Julie raised an eyebrow and looked at Mai expectantly. Mai could tell she couldn't wait for an answer.
"No! Of course I haven't! You can't come across something like that on just a first meeting!" Mai was blushing.
"Well, Mai, you have got to get yourself a boyfriend. You're still hanging onto that boy from fifteen years ago, aren't you? Mai! You have got to stop doing that. I doubt it can be healthy."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Mai slammed her locker shut and turned away to hide that she was blushing.
" Mai, He's gone and he's not coming back. You have to accept that."
"I know." Mai said quietly and tried to fight back the tears. She had known for a long time that he was gone and knew he was never coming back. But, part of her just didn't want to let go. Her hand went to a golden heart shaped locket that hung around her neck and smiled.
All of a sudden, Mai was no longer in the crowded room, but in a large yard. Looking down at herself, she was no longer the Mai that she used to be. She was shorter and a lot younger.
"Hey, Mai! It's your birthday today, isn't it?" A young blonde haired boy asked her with his silly lopsided grin.
"Yes it is. How did you find out?" A small version of Mai asked.
"I asked around. I got you a present."
"Really? What did you get me?"
"Close your eyes and I'll give it to you." The boy insisted.
"Ok." Mai said and closed her eyes tight.
"No peeking, ok?"
"Ok." She squeezed her eyes shut tighter and tried to fight the temptation to sneak a peek. She could feel something cold around her neck. "Can I open my eyes now?" Mai asked impatiently.
"Just a second. Ok, now you can open your eyes."
Mai slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the face of the small boy grinning back at her. "Do you like it?" he asked.
Mai looked down at her neck and gasped when she saw a golden heart shaped locket dangling loosely. "It's beautiful!" She said in awe.
"Look inside." The boy insisted. Mai did as she was told and saw a picture of the two of them inside of the locket. Mai was pulling a large blue cap down over the boy's face as he struggled to get it off.
"I love it!" She gave the blonde haired kid a big hug. "Thank you!" She said excitedly.
"I knew you would."
"You ok, Mai?" Julie asked, now in front of Mai and looking up at her.
Mai shook her head slightly and the yard disappeared replaced by the room she was just in. "Yeah. I just…zoned out for a second there."
"Really. You gave me quite a scare. You just blanked out and wouldn't answer when I talked to you." Julie gave Mai another look. "Are you sure you're ok? You look a little pale."
"Yeah. I'm fine. I just…didn't get much sleep last night." Mai lied.
"Alright. Well, I have to get off to work." Julie started to walk off, but turned back to wave. "Maybe you should do the same before Kaiba get mad. Bye!" And with that, Julie left the room.
Mai sighed and then left the room also. She walked back down the long hallway and walked up the steps near the entrance. She looked down at her feet and counted the number of steps as she walked up.
'12, 13, 14…' She thought and continued to walk at a brisk pace. '23, 24, 25…Almost done with the first flight.' When she had finished walking up one more flight of stairs, she was at a total of 56 stairs. 'Same as yesterday.' She smiled to herself and walked down another long hallway, only this one was much wider.
Counting the number of doors she passed by this time, she stopped when she reached six doors on the right. She swiped her card once again through the keypad and the light turned green. She opened the door and walked into the room.
This room was large but appeared to be smaller because of all the cubicles there were. She walked down a row and, after a couple of 'good mornings', reached her cubicle. She sat back in her rolling chair and let out a deep sigh.
A computer sat in the corner of the desk and there were stacks of paper everywhere. A few pictures of her, Yugi and a couple of her other friends together were hung up on the walls. She smiled when she saw them. She looked down at a stack of paper and sighed once more.
She found a pen lying on the desk next to the stapler and she looked at the first piece of paper on the stack closest to her.
She started reading over the sheet of paper and occasionally wrote something down. Once she was done reading over the piece of paper, she turned to her computer. Mai tucked the pen behind her ear and started to type.
And so the process repeated itself until the stack was completed. She leaned back in her chair and let out a sigh of boredom. A man peeked over the wall of her cubicle and waved.
"Good morning, Mai." He said cheerfully. Only the top half of his head was visible. He had a clearly un-brushed mop of black hair atop his head, but friendly blue eyes. "You sound bored. Is something wrong?"
"This job is boring. All I do is sit here all day, read papers and type on my computer."
"Well, that might be about to change. Mr. Kaiba wants to see you in his office." The man jabbed his thumb in the direction of Kaiba's office.
"What?" Mai asked in surprise. "Do you think I'm in trouble?"
"It might be. If it is, I wouldn't keep him waiting." The man said and waved again. "Good luck." He said cheerfully and walked away.
Mai stood up nervously and headed towards Kaiba's office, worrying about what was gonna happen next the whole way.