Guardians
Note: Well, as promised, this chapter is about our dear Seto.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Another Late Night in the Office
His workers had, of course, accepted his excuse of being at an extended business meeting. They were too afraid of getting fired, too afraid of him, to argue. He'd forgotten how annoying it was while he'd been away. Away with- No, he wasn't going to think about her.
He'd fallen rather easily back into the swing of things, at least on the outside, but his mind kept wondering elsewhere. He knew that some of his employees, and Mokuba, had noticed, but they never scolded him as Karmina might have. Mokuba had asked, once, if it had anything to do with 'that Karmina girl', but he'd shrugged the question aside, pretending he didn't even know who Karmina was, something that he knew she would not be happy about.
And there he was again, thinking about that girl.
Inside, he knew that he was feeling guilty about pushing her aside, but he wouldn't admit to it.
"It's better this way," he told himself, knowing instantly that it was the wrong thing to do. He was immediately reminded of all the times he'd scolded Karmina for thinking aloud. He could still see her pink face, glancing nervously at him.
Shaking his head to clear it, he tried to pay attention to the calculations scrolling across the screen of his laptop, but just couldn't focus.
He saw her face instead of the numbers, first happy, and smiling, then pained as she tried to hold on just a minute longer to keep the light filtering in to defeat the darkness, and finally shell shocked and upset as he thought about his image.
It's hopeless, he thought sadly. I can't deny it anymore; I miss her.
He suddenly recalled that secret file on his computer and pulled it up, glancing warily around the room as if there could be invisible people watching him, waiting to get dirt on the famous Seto Kaiba.
Here I go again, he thought sadly. Acting like a… a lovesick fool.
Shocked at his own thought, he knew that it was true. He'd known it for while, though he'd been reluctant to admit it, partly for fear that Karmina herself would overhear the thought. But now, she'd probably never so much as look at him again, and he'd never know what she'd have thought, had she known.
So, he typed, it comes to this.
That was the opening to a long, very un-Seto Kaiba like passage, written very well for an emotionless CEO. He was so immersed in his writing that, upon finishing, he was surprised to see the sun peeking over the trees outside his one, small window.
"Mr. Kaiba?" Roland asked through the door. "Are you ready to go to your meeting?"
He shook off his drowsiness at once and slapped his laptop shut. "Yes. And I'll need a large coffee, dark, for the ride," he said in his business tone, the one that had been long unused while in the Realm of Monsters.
"Yes sir," Roland answered.
He pulled open the door, stifling an undignified yawn, and called himself to attention, putting Karmina out of his mind with difficulty. He had business to attend to, and that had to come first. It always had, apart from, of course, his little brother Mokuba, but now… now he wasn't so sure anymore. Was it possible that there was still hope for his happiness?
Again he could see her in his mind's eye, this time from the day in the garden. He'd nearly told her then… nearly taken her in his arms and kissed her the way he'd wanted to.
"Large coffee, dark," one of the nameless, faceless, Kaiba Corp employees said, handing him the steaming cup.
He mentally kicked himself for getting distracted, and as he slid into the limo, told himself firmly not to lose his cool over a girl. That was the type of thing that idiots like Wheeler did, not him. There now, that was sounding more like his old self already. And somehow, that didn't feel as reassuring as it should have.
As he looked out the window, sipping his coffee, he suddenly recalled the words of the healing fairy
"Besides, eventually, her mind will recover from the stimulus she put it through… to save YOU, I should remind you, because, the way you've been acting towards her, you seem to have forgotten."
He shook his head again, hoping to finally shut his thoughts out, but it didn't work.
Why would she do that? Why would she want to save me so badly that she'd risk her own life to see that I was safe?
He placed two fingers on his temple, wishing that he could just forget that it had ever happened. That would set things right.
But even as he thought it, he knew he'd never really want to forget. Karmina was the best thing to happen to him in a very, very, long time, and the time he'd spent with her had given his constant headache an end. It was back now, of course, but that was beside the point, really.
"We've arrived, sir," Roland told him.
Snapping back to the present, he nodded curtly and got out of the limo, bringing his suitcase with him, knowing it was going to be a very long day, and wishing he c ould somehow make it pass without him.
Because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get Karmina out of his head. She was there like a fixture, permanent, and he didn't like it in the least.
End note: Hope you liked it! Please review!