Hey peeps!
Hope all is well - sorry again for the long wait. I'm going to keep at this one, it's not going anywhere… there just might be some gaps between post times. I just got a new job and it's a lot!
If you read Songs I'd Never Learned, you know that I'm big on musical inspiration. The song for this chapter (and the one after) is definitely "gold rush" by Taylor Swift.
Sorry-not-sorry for the cliffhanger ending. ;)
Leaning in closer to the mirror, Serenity put the finishing touch on her winged eyeliner and smacked her lip gloss for effect.
Tossing her hair, she scrutinized her reflection. Maybe it wasn't absolutely perfect, but it was the best she could do on her own, and she was pretty proud of how it had turned out.
It was unusual that Serenity took the time to do a full face of makeup - for regular work days at the coffee shop, she did a little bit of concealer and a tinted lip balm at most - but on the rare occasion that she did, she wished that she went to the trouble more often. Something about the complete package of primer, foundation, eye makeup, and lip gloss made her feel glamorous and exotic and twice as confident as usual.
Her wardrobe for the evening was carefully chosen as well. Marianne had told her that the company policy for a catering event was just to dress in all black and make sure her clothing was neat and ironed, but Serenity had taken it a step further. She had picked out a chic fitted black blouse, a pencil skirt, and a pair of platform, peep-toe pumps that made her a full five inches taller than usual.
The day she had accepted the catering job, she had decided that when the big night came, she was going to put her best foot forward - for several reasons. There were the obvious ones, of course: she wanted to represent her company well and make some good tips to pad her savings going into the holidays.
However, she also had her own reason: Kaiba was going to be at the event, and she was going to make him regret having gotten bored with her.
Or whatever it was that had happened; she still wasn't entirely sure.
All she did know was that regardless of what was going through his head, he was going to notice her that night and do a double-take. And maybe - just maybe - he would wish he hadn't gotten too busy for his usual morning coffee run.
As Serenity walked into the lobby of the hotel, she was suddenly stunned by the size and luxury of her surroundings.
It was like stepping into another world.
The hotel was built around a center atrium with a giant clear elevator going up almost higher than she could see. Though many of the balconies on the upper levels were still illuminated, the lights on the ground level had been dimmed so everything looked mysterious and ethereal. There were gold fountains in each of the four corners of the room, and tables had been set up every hundred feet or so - each with a candelabra in the middle.
Serenity suddenly felt a stab of anxiousness, but before she could dwell on it too long, she heard a voice from the desk in front of her.
"May I help you, miss?"
She scurried over, trying to clear her head.
"I'm Serenity Wheeler, I'm uh, here with CoffeeWorks - "
"Ah, yes," the man replied, coming out from behind the desk. "For future reference, the catering staff usually uses the back entrance. But follow me - I'll take you to where they have your table set up."
"Oh, sorry… thanks."
The man didn't respond, and Serenity silently followed along behind him. To distract her from her nerves, she tried to notice all the small details about the decorations around her. She had studied a little bit about event planning while she was in high school, and a few key takeaways came back to her as she observed the meticulously-placed evergreen garlands and fairy lights surrounding the various sitting areas:
Incorporate the style of the venue.
Keep to a theme.
Be intentional with lighting.
Whoever had put this together knew what they were doing - not that that should have been a surprise, given the amount of money she knew had gone into it.
Finally, the man from the front desk came to a stop.
"And here you are," he announced, indicating a square of black-draped tables. "As you can see, a catering team from corporate - I assume - was here earlier to set up your equipment. All of the cups and napkins should be in boxes below the tables, and all your machines should already be plugged in and in working order. Should you encounter any problems with utilities, there is a phone - "
He reached out a white-gloved hand and gestured back the way they had come -
" - behind that column over there near the center fountain. The extension for the concierge is 777. Do you have any pressing questions?"
"I... think that's got it covered," Serenity replied, still feeling a little awkward. "Thanks."
The man gave a small half-bow and wandered away without another word, leaving Serenity feeling quite alone in the giant, sparsely-populated room.
She glanced down at her phone.
It was still thirty minutes before even the earliest guests would start arriving, but that would give her time to get set up and figure out where everything was. She also decided that she might as well go ahead and brew one urn of the house blend in the unlikely scenario any rich weirdos broke down the door demanding a cup of coffee at five-thirty in the evening.
It would give her something to do other than glance furtively toward the door every thirty seconds to see if Kaiba had walked in yet.
It had been hours, and Serenity's door-glancing had gone from every thirty seconds to approximately every ten seconds.
Was he even coming?
Would it make a difference even if he did?
Was she pathetic for caring so much?
She had spent more than three weeks neither texting Kaiba nor meeting him for coffee, and on the whole, her life had been no less fulfilling as a result. In fact, there had been something liberating about just going about her daily routine, not wondering when he was going to swoop in and make her feel antsy and breathless, only to make a few witty remarks then silently retreat away again for some untold amount of time.
Maybe it would be better if he just didn't show up at all.
But if that was the case, then why did that thought depress her so much?
Well, either way, she tried to console herself, the night certainly wasn't a waste. The money alone was worth her being there.
She had been told to expect generous tips, but she really hadn't had any idea what that meant.
The coffee she served was complimentary for the guests, having been paid up-front by the event's hosts. That meant that any money that came her way, she got to keep. The crystal-looking plastic vase that had been left on her table for that purpose had already filled up twice over the course of the night, and she'd had to empty it into a black lock-box under the table. She had learned that the people who went to events like this definitely didn't carry small bills. The lowest denomination she had gotten was a ten, and there had definitely been at least one hundred-dollar bill go by.
Serenity decided to take a momentary break from her door watching to look over at the clock instead - and was shocked when it said nine-thirty.
Had she really been there for over four hours?
Must have been.
That meant that the event only had a half an hour left, and she should probably start thinking about how she was going to close up shop. It meant something else, too:
Kaiba must just not be coming.
Serenity felt a sense of disappointment at the realization, but she had to admit that it was also tinged with relief. Whatever butterflies she had been feeling about seeing him began to dissipate, leaving her with a certain level of resigned acceptance. She wouldn't get her dramatic "Voila!" moment in her dramatic black skirt and stilettos on his own home turf, but she also wouldn't have to hold her head up and make playful conversation when things were so awkward and the stakes were so high.
Whatever was going on, they could work it out later. On the phone, or over coffee.
Speaking of which, she had a partial carafe of the house blend left as well as a few cups of decaf, which would be enough to get through the rest of the night. The demand for the latter had not been as high as she had suspected - but then again, this crowd was probably trying to stay energized for after-parties.
Serenity decided to go ahead and look around to see if she could find the entrance to an industrial kitchen - or at the very least a good sink - to dump whatever coffee was left when the event ended. She supposed she could always call the 777 number and ask, but she decided she would much prefer to figure it out by herself than to involve another stuck-up hotel employee.
Starting with the direction from which she'd arrived, Serenity began to scan the room for a sign or sink - only to be stopped in short by a sight that made her heart plummet down into her gut:
Seto Kaiba stood nonchalantly on the periphery of the crowd, his arm clutched tightly by a stunning blonde in an emerald-green evening gown.
