Chapter Three: Pleading His Case
"Goodbye, have a nice evening."
Astra smiled as she helped to load the last computer into the customer's car. 'Whew! Glad that's the last one. She turned back to the store to lock up, and then slid the keys into her pocket.
"Would you like for me to give you a ride home? Your brother must be pretty worried by now, even if you did give him a call earlier."
"Sure, if you've got the time."
"Not a problem, hop in."
She drove down the street, following his directions. 'Hmm…guess he lives downtown.' They were passing the Kaiba Corp. building when he asked her to pull over.
"But…this is…"
The boy laughed at the expression on her face.
"I guess I forgot to tell you my name. Hi, I'm Mokuba."
He held his hand out to her; she ignored it, continuing to stare at him.
"You mean Mokuba, as in Kaiba? Seto Kaiba's younger brother? I thought you looked familiar, but I had no idea."
"Yeah, that's me; by the way, what's your name?"
"Astra," she said breathlessly.
She still looked slightly shell-shocked.
"Come on; Seto will want to thank you for helping me today."
Mokuba doubted Seto would even want to meet her, let alone thank her, but after watching her work all afternoon, he wanted her on their payroll and maybe even on their newest project. She nodded absently and followed him into the building; he led the way toward the elevators. Along the way, he was greeted by various members of the staff; they gave her strange looks as they entered the elevator, probably wondering who she was and why she was accompanying Mokuba. Mokuba ignored the looks and punched in the button for the fourth floor.
"Why didn't you tell me who you were? Did you think I would call the press?"
"No, of course I didn't; I guess I just forgot?"
Astra stared at him in open-mouthed astonishment, "You forgot?!"
"Forgot what?"
They were both startled by the sudden question; they had been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't noticed the elevator stopping and the doors opening.
"Hey, Seto; do you have anything to eat? I'm starved."
"Explain to me what you were doing out when I told you to stay inside the building, and then tell me where you've been because a vague phone call saying you're ok and will be back by six doesn't cut it, Mokuba, and who is she?"
"Well, I got swamped by reporters; just like you said I would, and Astra," he pointed at her before continuing, "gave me a place to hide. Then, she gave me a ride back here after she got off work."
Seto reached into his pocket, pulled out a pad, wrote something down, and ripped it out before handing it to her.
"Go to the counter by the doors downstairs in the lobby; give them this."
He then left the room, effectively dismissing her. Astra looked down at the note in surprise, and a little disgust, and then at Mokuba.
"I didn't help you to get a reward; I helped you because you seemed to need it."
She handed the note to Mokuba and moved to reenter the elevator.
"Wait a second, Astra."
"I really don't think your brother wants to talk to me, Mokuba. It's fine, though; I'll see you around; try and stay out of trouble."
"Just wait five minutes, ok?"
She looked at him in confusion.
"Why? I mean…"
"Please…"
She sighed in defeat and allowed him to pull her into a small waiting room. She sat down in a chair and watched him enter a room at the end of the hall.
"Seto…about Astra…"
"Who?"
"Astra, you know the girl who helped me today, the one you just met?"
"I gave her more than any reporter would have; she should be happy enough. If she wants more..."
Mokuba sighed in exasperation; throughout their conversation, his brother hadn't even looked up from his computer screen. Mokuba threw the note down in front of him. 'Well, at least that got his attention.'
"What is this," his brother asked, looking at the piece of paper in confusion.
"She didn't do it for money, and she doesn't want it; I mean, she didn't even know who I was until fifteen minutes ago."
"You spent the afternoon with her, and she didn't even ask you your name? That doesn't show she's a good person, Mokuba; it shows she's unstable."
"She was busy; besides, I didn't ask hers either."
"With what?"
"Huh?"
"You said that she was busy; I want to know, busy with what?"
"Repairing and programming computers, she works in a small computer store called the Techno Corner. That's what I want to talk to you about big brother; I saw her work, a lot of it. She'd be great for Kaiba Corp.."
"Have you lost it, Mokuba? What did this girl give you to eat? She must have drugged you because you're suggesting I hire an untried, average, computer, repair-person? Do you even know if she has a license as a programmer? Has she ever seriously studied computer programming? What we do here is beyond what she'd ever see in a computer store."
"Give her a chance, Seto; you didn't see her this afternoon. She's so fast and meticulous, and she keeps at it until she figures it out. She's not like the others we've ever seen or hired. She's got talent, and it's being wasted where she is now. Worse, every second she's there is a second we don't have her working for us."
"There is no way that I'm going to…"
"Just give her a try; test her if you want, but just talk to her for one minute."
Seto carefully studied his younger brother's expression.
"You usually couldn't care less who I hire. Why the sudden interest in this one insignificant programmer?"
"Because I know she's good. Like you said, Seto; this isn't normal behavior for me. If I'm doing this, then doesn't that mean I'm serious? Please, Seto, just give her a chance; you can give her any test you want. You'll see, she's great."
"Alright," Seto relented, "I'll test her, but I'm not promising you anything."
Mokuba grinned in delight and hugged his brother tightly. Seto figured he'd give her a test, she'd fail, he'd send her on her way, and everything would go back to normal.
"Thank you so much, Seto."
"Astra, you don't have any plans for the rest of today, right?"
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