Serenity's second week of work started off just as boring as the first week had been interesting.
First of all, on the first day following their exchange of messages, Kaiba had simply sent his warning text as promised, come in for his tea, said very little, and left a normal tip. To make matters even stranger, following that day, he had skipped two days in a row. Marianne was more dramatic about this development than Serenity was, saying that for Seto Kaiba to first get tea instead of coffee, then skip two days in a row, probably heralded the end of days.
Serenity, if anything, was actually starting to get bored with the Kaiba drama.
Sure, he was handsome. And mysterious. Whatever. It had been fun enough for a few days to secretly plot messages and make lists and anticipate what she might say to him when he came in, but if he was going to get unpredictable and distant, then so be it. After all, his first dumb message about the tea had been a let-down anyway.
He was really a jerk, after all, at the end of the day. She had wanted to think that there was something buried below all that, but maybe it was possible that her brother had been right all along, and the only thing underneath Kaiba's external layer of self-centered brat was just internal self-centered brattiness.
Serenity had done a good job letting it go and focusing on doing her job the best she knew how - monotony and all - until the third day following the messages, when Kaiba finally came back.
He didn't look any different than he ever did, but it wasn't like she had any real reason to expect him to. The trench coat happened to be black that day, but it was still understated. His mouth was set in a line, and his expression was as hard to read as ever.
"Hey," Serenity called, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. "Can I get something started for you?"
Kaiba gave her a strange look that almost seemed like mistrust, but still didn't say anything.
As he approached the counter, Serenity gave him her own look: one that verged on annoyance.
"You didn't text me anything, so am I to guess it's just going to be the usual black coffee?"
"Black coffee is fine."
Serenity wordlessly turned around to make the coffee, and as she did so, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Marianne had stopped wiping down counters and was instead watching the drama unfold.
If it's awkward enough that she's paying attention, it's awkward enough.
Once she had the coffee poured, Serenity started to turn around and opened her mouth to say something sarcastic - only to find that Kaiba was gone. Without a trace. In fact, there was a five dollar bill sitting on the counter, but no other indicator remained that he had come in the door at all.
Serenity turned to Marianne, who suddenly lost her composure and dissolved into laughter.
"That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen!" she exclaimed. "He doesn't order the coffee, but he pays for it... and then he doesn't even stand around long enough for you to make it. I think the man has lost his mind. I mean, he didn't really have far to go - he's always been sort of a weirdo - but something about talking to you every day made him totally short-circuit."
Serenity shook her head and stood silently, holding the unclaimed coffee, as Marianne laughed.
Serenity didn't smile.
"What do I even do?" she finally demanded.
"Oh," Marianne said quickly, snapping back to reality. "Well, I would just ring it up normally, put the money in the drawer - and the change in the tip jar - and if you want the coffee, you can just drink it. It's paid for."
Serenity thanked her and did as she suggested, because the advice was practical. However, it hadn't really answered the question she was truly asking. What she really meant was, what on earth was she supposed to do about Kaiba? Should she just let him drift in and out of her life like some weird, unpredictable, irritatingly-handsome ghost, or should she demand to know why he had disrupted his entire routine and started acting so strangely as soon as she entered the picture?
She had his phone number, she reminded herself. She could ask.
It was during her lunch break that Serenity decided she might as well send the text message. It might disrupt his day - but hey, he had definitely disrupted hers.
She didn't have to work up the courage the second time like she did originally, because her frustration and annoyance had already given her the boost she needed. That said, she did type a few different versions and delete them before she settled on one she liked. The final prototype - the one she ended up sending - wasn't exactly snarky, but it wasn't the epitome of amicable, either:
WTF was up with this morning? Did you want coffee or not?
She would be the first person to admit that she didn't have the nerve to talk to Kaiba like that in person, but she meant every word.
As before, it took less than a minute to get a response back:
Not particularly.
What kind of answer was that?!
If Serenity had been angry before, now she was fuming. She typed out another message and quickly hit send, before she had time to doubt or censor herself.
Then what were you doing in a coffee shop?!
This time, the reply took two minutes - practically an eternity by his standards.
When's your next day off?
Serenity had to push herself back from the table where she sat and take a deep breath.
This was ridiculous.
Kaiba had such a strange way of getting in her head and making her wonder if she was the crazy one. The man had literally walked into a coffee shop, put money down on the counter, and left without saying a word or even taking his drink, and there she was, wondering if she was out of her mind. Did he have that effect on everyone, or just her? Moreover, was it something he tried to do, or - as Marianne suggested - was he just a weird person?
Still, Serenity decided, she was this far in. He would get a response... but it was going to be a one-word response.
saturday.
This time, the reply came back faster, like it had before.
Meet me at the patio of the coffee shop. 3 pm.
Serenity nodded as she read the response.
Okay.
He wins.
But it was only to figure out what his deal was and try to get some closure. She wasn't following him any further down this rabbithole of weirdness.
k. she sent back. c u then i guess.
