This chapter is quite a bit shorter than Chapter 4, but somehow I think it's just as important. That's a pretty big hint.
Introducing the character of Ms. Hermand! She'll be pretty important, so keep your eyes on her. And as for Hiroko, I don't like her too much, so she's on the way out, sooner or later. But anyway, I'll shut up now.
Chapter 5
November 28th, 2004, 6:57 PM
Kaiba was discharged early on Sunday, with seemingly no ill side effects from his episode Tuesday afternoon. The doctors had stuck by their decision that he had suffered through a seizure that had come across by stress, but Kaiba didn't really believe it. It wasn't like he had been in a meeting or yelling at techies when it occurred; he was simply reliving the past. It was always hard for him to even think about it, but the fact it could give him a seizure was almost frightening.
Most of his thoughts, however, were focused on the short "teleconference" with Max Pegasus a few days before. Despite Pegasus' lackadaisical manner he knew full well that the man whom he used to consider his business partner – even a friend – was simply rubbing in his face that Industrial Illusions was reacting faster to the takeover of von Schroeder Corporation than Kaiba, because he was "too stressed" to handle it. Kaiba would have been vehemently angered by, but not surprised if, Pegasus had waved one of his favorite comic book characters at the screen and declared in a high-pitched voice, catch me if you can!
Kaiba was in the living room of the Kaiba Mansion, downstairs, and a room that was so large even the enormous couch on which Kaiba sat, the coffee table where his feet were laying, and the variety of television screens and bookcases that surrounded the outer walls of the room couldn't contain a feeling of vast emptiness. Mokuba had always liked the very slight echo in the room, and it helped Kaiba when he had to make calls from "home", as he was now.
He was calling Hiroko, at home, conducting business even when Dr. Kujaku and his spiteful assistant had told him to take it easy until Tuesday, a week after the episode. After a few rings, he heard someone pick up on the other end.
"Hiroko, it's me. When can you arrange a meeting with the head of Disneyland Tokyo?"
"…Mr. Kaiba!" Hiroko sounded flustered. "I'm sorry, sir, this is a bad time…"
"It's not a very long answer, is it?" he growled.
"Um, well, to tell you the truth there's so much to be done this coming week I can't remember. Maybe I already did. Can I call you back? I'm-"
Kaiba hung up on her, and placed the blackberry on the table, thinking. Guess he would have to just find out for himself if she did or didn't, wouldn't he?
~ X X X ~
Kaiba's phone rang just as the helicopter was landing at KaibaCorp headquarters the next morning. He answered it to hear an unfamiliar voice, a woman's, addressing him with a heavily foreign accent.
"Am I speaking to a Mr. Kaiba?"
"Yes," Kaiba replied as he nodded at the pilot, and began to walk off of the platform.
"Mr. Kaiba, this is Ms. Hermand, the director of Disneyland Tokyo?"
Kaiba inhaled sharply. This was interesting.
"How did you get my number?"
"Your secretary gave it to me. Anyway, were you aware of our meeting this morning?"
"Am I late or something?"
"No, not yet. You still have around ten minutes. But I thought I'd call and check, seeing as, well, you know…"
"I'm on my way. Where are you?"
"Your office, actually. It's quite nice."
Kaiba scoffed, and hung up. He turned his attention to emailing Hiroko.
When the hell did that lady get my number?
Kaiba didn't get a response until he was walking down the hall to the office and Hiroko was in view. He read it quickly, and decided to respond in person.
The lady in your office has your number?
He almost felt like shouting. Damn, if she didn't actually do the work, Hiroko might have to be fired one of these days. Or maybe she was always this incompetent but Kaiba had always been too busy or too…unavailable…to notice.
"Hiroko, what the hell do you mean? You don't know?"
She turned and faced him, surprised to see him, but not surprised by the tone. She gathered herself up quickly.
"Why the hell is she here? When did this appointment get made?"
"I made it last night, like you told me to," she said with a neutral expression. Her fingers were fidgeting with something Kaiba wasn't bothered to look at.
"You could have at least told me it was at seven-thirty in the morning on the day after I was discharged."
She simply smiled. "Sorry!" she said, almost innocently.
Kaiba grunted and opened his office door. Hiroko saw the foreign lady turn around when the door slammed loudly.
I have to stop being such a bitch, she mused ruefully, smiling, knowing that more than likely that was never going to happen.
~ X X X ~
Kaiba mentally fired Hiroko as the door slammed shut. He forced a smile. "You must be the lady from Disneyland Tokyo."
She smiled back at him. She had auburn hair and startling blue eyes, reminding him of his own physical features slightly. "I am," she answered, her words pronounced thickly and deliberately.
"Nice to meet you. Sit down."
"It would be my pleasure."
"Where are you from?" Kaiba asked as she took a seat opposite him at his desk.
"France," she replied coolly. "I got a promotion to come here several months ago. But that's not what we're here to discuss."
"True. So you took over von Schroeder Corp."
"Yes," she said, her eyes scanning him, as if searching for information, a process Kaiba believed she must have done tens of times beforehand. "Disney usually would not be interested in such technologies as von Schroeder's, or in that case your own, but I think the move was wise."
Kaiba frowned. "Whose idea was this?"
"My own," she responded. She smiled faintly, but her eyes were flaring with a brightness that kept Kaiba alert to a possible deal on its way. "And now we must make sure that von Schroeder Corp's previous allies do not see this development as a threat."
"I almost am happy about it," Kaiba admitted, crossing his hands in front of him. "You may or may not know that Zigfried and I were not on the best of terms."
"I did not," she answered equally, and then her brow furrowed. "You know him personally, then; and not through somebody else?"
"Yes."
They sat in silence for a moment, each looking at the other one. It was Ms. Hermand who broke the silence.
"Would it be wrong to say that my presence is almost threatening to you?"
Kaiba looked up, intrigued slightly. "Not at this point," he said, "but if you take von Schroeder Corp's position with us as well, that won't make us any more friendly."
"I see." Ms. Hermand pursed her lips. "Then we might as well start a new partnership."
"What?" Kaiba said it without even thinking.
"It surprises you, Mr. Kaiba? Though we took over von Schroeder Corp, we want to begin on positive terms with everyone they had relations with. Start from scratch. If they were your rivals, then we will be your friends."
Kaiba considered the proposition for a moment. Kaiba knew intuitively that Disney was not known for having complete employee satisfaction, and so far as Kaiba knew their monopoly on their portions of the entertainment industry was absolute. It was dangerous territory to try any sort of agreement.
"Do you want a definitive answer right away?" Kaiba asked her, his hand moving to rub his chin in thought.
"The end of the week would be convenient for me," Ms. Hermand replied, and she pushed back her chair, as if readying herself to leave.
"Before you go," Kaiba said, "there is a question I must ask of you."
"Please," Ms. Hermand said, and she adopted a smile more than likely as fake as her attitude.
"What have you already decided with Maximilian Crawford, president of Industrial Illusions?"
She looked taken aback at the question; apparently, she had not expected Kaiba to have guessed she had talked to Maximilian beforehand.
"That I needed to talk to you before we could decide anything," she said calmly. "But so far as I can tell I need more time on your part before Disney can reach any sort of agreement with either of you."
Kaiba nodded. "Don't take this as a negative. I'm sure by Friday would could meet again and actually come up with something…productive."
Her eyes flashed, almost with a spark of recognition, at the words. "Quite like your health. Good day, Mr. Kaiba."
And with that, she got up and left without a single glance behind her. Kaiba frowned again at the unnecessary reference to the previous week, and then turned to gaze out the window to think things through. It took him over twenty minutes to remember Hiroko's impertinence; but the current situation drowned her out for the time being.
~ X X X ~
As the foreign woman glided by her cubicle, Hiroko glanced upwards; daring not reveal that she was watching her pass. Ms. Hermand's expression was neutral; there was not the slightest hint of agitation, nor any sign of altercation, with her boss. She reached for the phone, then glanced down at the number written hastily on a yellow sticky note, half hidden under various other papers that cluttered her work space. She dialed the number, then, looking around as if afraid people were going to find her in the act of wrongdoing, held the phone to her ear.
A few rings. Then a male voice answered, "Industrial Illusions, this is Honda. How may I help you?"
Hiroko cupped her hand over her mouth and kept her eyes fixed on Kaiba's office door. "This is Tanaka Hiroko. Forward me to Croquet."
There was a shuffling on the other side, and then a click as the call was forwarded. Within a few seconds another male voice, this one more gruff, answered.
"I need to speak to Pegasus," Hiroko said rapidly. "He wants me to tell him something."
"Who is this?"
Hiroko thought for a moment, and then said, "tell him it's his connection to Kaiba."
"Right away," Croquet murmured, and there was more shuffling. She vaguely heard Croquet call out "Mr. Pegasus!", and it was a few more seconds before she heard a tired Max Crawford respond.
"It's me," she replied softly. "Kaiba met with her."
"Good," Pegasus yawned. There was a scratching noise. "Dear me, it's quite late here. Do you mind if we talk later today, in your time?"
"Not…really," Hiroko hesitated. "But I don't think Disney and KaibaCorp are off the way you wanted them to be."
"I didn't expect them to, actually, on only the first meeting," Pegasus responded. "Anyway, thanks for the help today. You should be getting my package soon!"
A click. Hiroko put the phone back down, and almost smiled in her deviousness, but inside her, she was a bit worried. If Pegasus didn't pull through? Or his plan didn't work and she was found out…?
Her phone rang again, and if the caller ID was correct, it was Kaiba.
I'll worry about him later, Hiroko thought, and she reached to pull the receiver towards her.
So, is this beginning to make sense? The story is more of a mystery than you might have first thought it would be. Which is of course, the point. So what do you think the blurb that introduced the story means? Mull over it, I don't find it too difficult to make the jump. But then again, I wrote it! :D