Hi…me again! I just wanted to say that there's nothing like a good review to get the creative juices flowing (not to mention the odd episode of yu-gi-oh:). Seriously, receiving a review is a truly super-special-awesome feeling (good thing my brother's not here, he's getting super annoyed with my excessive usage of that particular phrase;), anyway, thank you to all my readers, especially my reviewers…I love you all! Oh yeh, and as for the intensity, I'll try to tone it down in this chapter…though no promises about that;) After all, I've been looking forward to writing this chapter from the very beginning…
Now…we return to a pantry situated in the distinguished albeit super-pricey restaurant "The Blue Star" where our favourite blonde is huddled adorably in the corner, shaking and whimpering…
Joey's POV
Joey peered dejectedly into the gloom surrounding him, fearing he was hearing something other than the incessant whirr of the refrigerator, a sound that would have driven him mad had he not been quite so depressed.
Looking at the luminous display on his watch, he noticed it was fifteen minutes till midnight and, with a thrill of horror, he heard the repetitive sound increase in both volume and speed. By this point he had no doubt as to the nature of the rapidly approaching sound. Heels.
"Oh no! Alice must have come to check up on me!" Panic making him forget that she had been sent home several hours earlier. With a yelp of horror, he made to turn on the lights…only to prevented from doing so by a very tall man crashing through the fire escape and pushing him up against the wall.
"K-Kaiba…you're not wearing heels are you?"
Amidst the gloom of the pantry it was almost impossible to discern the expression of said tall man, however, Joey could have sworn he had witnessed a smile flash across his face before the inevitable retort,
"Actually, Wheeler, I believe heels are worn by the female of the species, then again, I suppose dogs wouldn't know about heels, would they?"
Joey felt his heart rate quicken as Kaiba brought his face within a few inches of Joey's, whispering "What have you got to say to that mutt?"
For once Joey was speechless. All the usual retorts concerning Kaiba's excess of wealth as well as his extraordinarily large ego being driven right out his head by the strange look in Kaiba's glittering blue eyes. A look that could only be described as…. Smouldering…
Feeling Kaiba's body press up against his own, he was forced to prevent his perverse sense of excitement becoming any more apparent by shrinking Kaiba a good foot and turning his pristine brunette locks into the much more chaotic ones of his chef Alice.
But it was hard. That muscled leg pressing fiercely against his own was much too masculine to belong to the petite Alice. Those long, spidery fingers splayed around his neck wielded a power that even Alice didn't possess. That was to say nothing of other more…. Prominent differences. Differences that made his breathing hitch in his throat and his heart to stutter until he thought he was on the verge of a myocardial infarction.
Closing his eyes, he focused all his strength on recalling the events of the afternoon and removing himself from the situation at hand. That was the only way he was ever going to douse that raging fire flowing through his veins. That all-encompassing fire that made him want to wrap his legs round Seto's waist and request to be pushed even harder against the wall. That fire that reduced all their heated arguments into lovers quarrels, pale in significance when compared to…
And then Joey was flying…
Kaiba's POV
Kaiba was livid. Storming into the pantry he had been determined to give Joey a piece of his mind. Joey had distracted him from an extremely important business meeting and was going to pay for his insolence.
However, all that had changed when Kaiba finally clapped eyes on him. The frightened little puppy dog with huge golden eyes (further enlarged through his long stint in a darkened pantry) and a drooping tail. And that moment he made his first instinctive move in years – he had pushed Joey against the wall, regardless of the possible ramifications on this ridiculously careless action.
Thank goodness Joey had made that heels joke or he might have done something he would have seriously regretted. Nevertheless, he wasn't home free. Though his common sense was screaming to let Joey go, something much stronger was preventing him from doing so. The same something that made him want to laugh ecstatically when Joey had asked that inane heels question.
Whatever it was that was blocking the stimuli to his mind, it was powerful. And dangerous. At first he had tried to categorize the rushing, unfamiliar heat but the stronger it had become the less he had wanted to discover its identity. Within moments it had become almost painfully intense and was clouding his judgement in a way that mere alcohol had never been able to.
He didn't know what it was but he did know one thing. It was winning. And that was unacceptable. The small bit of sanity that was yet to be absorbed by the enemy told him what to do. And, with a growl of defiance at the traitorous feeling that had dared to challenge his will, he rid himself of both the feeling and the mutt that had evoked it.
Now the mutt had two things to pay for.
Joey's POV
Slowly getting his bearings once more, Joey rubbed his now very sore head. With a flash, the memories from a few minutes ago returned, and Joey immediately wished they hadn't. However, Kaiba didn't give him much time to collect his thoughts.
Within seconds Kaiba was yelling at Joey at the top of his voice,
"You worthless dog, you piece of trash, you pathetic lousy third rate duellist!"
Joey could do nothing but blink. He had never seen Kaiba as angry as this. Not even the last time Mokuba had been kidnapped.
"First you mess up my business meeting, then you try and mess up my LIFE! How dare you treat me like that! I'll have you know that I, unlike you, am WORTH something, so don't you ever come near me again, you little mongrel! I've put up with your lousy tricks for far too long. I never want to see your face again – do you hear me? In fact, if I ever see you on this side of the grave, then it'll be too soon!"
And with that Joey was left sprawled on the cold, pantry floor as the mighty Seto Kaiba burst out of the fire exit and towards the car park, once again.
Emma Charmer's POV
During the last 5 minutes Emma Charmer had experienced more intense emotions than she had during the last 5 months. First there came that maddening irritation when Kaiba had beaten her to her target, just as she was preparing to meet her soul mate for the very first time. Then came the fear as for 3 whole minutes, 180 seconds, there had been nothing but silence. After one minute she was feeling anxious, by 2 nauseous and by 3 positively petrified.
Being an apprentice magician, Emma had used her powers to spy on the boys and the way Kaiba was crushing Joey against the wall had caused her blood to run cold with unadulterated fear. Could this be the moment when Joey finally realised the extent of his feelings for Kaiba?
However, all feelings of apprehension were at once alleviated when Kaiba proceeded to send Joey flying across the room. And, by the time he had finished yelling at the blonde sprawled on the floor, Emma was practically giddy with happiness and relief. Operation Sycophant would be over before midnight.
Joey's POV
Pressing his head against the cold floor, Joey tried to gather up the resolution he needed to move his redundant corpse, only to fail once again. He screwed up his eyes, trying to figure out why he felt so drained. After all, he had been in worse fights than this! WAY worse, in fact! If only he could just focus on trying to…
There it was again, that damned clicking noise! Using the wall to support himself, he dragged his tired body towards the door that lead back to the kitchens – he was going to discover what that incessant noise was if it was the last thing he did!
He needn't have bothered. Within seconds, the door opened and Emma Charmer walked in.
"Hello dear, please may I speak to the head chef? I've simply must compliment her on her wonderful lobster bisque!
Joey regarded the woman coldly. It was the woman whose bright red lips had recently been all over Kaiba's million dollar face. "Damn her" he cursed silently.
"Ya not supposed ta be here. Besides, the chef ain't here. Ya had better leave."
Emma Charmer's eyes narrowed in confusion and then she sighed in irritation as if she had just been thwarted in her attempt to find something. She sighed again.
"Listen, dear, I'm going to cut to the chase, I like you and I know I'm not exactly an eyesore so how about we go out for coffee sometime."
Joey's eyes bulged in disbelief and his fists curled involuntarily into fists. This woman had been honoured with the distinguished attention of one of the country's – no, the world's – greatest minds and, in spite of this, she still had the audacity to ask JOEY on a date! How dare she disregard Seto like that? No one treated moneybags with such blatant indifference 'cept him!
Joey's answer had become apparent a long time before he said it, "If you don't leave now then I'm gonna have to call security."
Once again the woman's eyes narrowed, however, this time they narrowed in anger as opposed to confusion.
"So you're saying that, regardless of all the insults he pelts you with, despite the fact he treats you like dirt, despite the fact that he has never had one civilised conversation with you, you'd still rather be Seto Kaiba's lapdog than my boyfriend?"
Joey's anger had vanished at the sound of Kaiba's name. Now he was just confused.
"I-I….don't understand."
"So I see, you pathetic mongrel" rejoined the woman. The acrimony on her face was so great that it distorted her once beautiful features, making them alien and grotesque. All of her sudden her eyes, previously narrowed with acerbity, opened once more and, to Joey's horror, they seemed to be shining with the promise of revenge.
"You know, I'm actually not such a bad person, if you get to know me. I've got a decent heart and a pretty good insight into people's….desires. That's why I'm going to give you a chance."
"What d'ya mean – chance?" By this point Joey was almost excruciatingly confused.
"You dream of being with him so I'll set you a mission. That so-called genius hasn't a clue how to understand and realise his true desires – just like you. If you can make him realise the truth by learning it yourself and showing it to him, well, then I'll just accept that we were never meant to be – as you were destined for someone else. However, if you fail in your mission, it means that you rejected me for no good reason and I will punish you by forcing you to spend all eternity as the dog you are."
Joey opened his mouth to call security. He had no idea what this crazy lady was on about and, to be honest, he didn't really care. Geez, some people really needed to deal with rejection and move on! However, just as he opened his mouth to yell for security, a loud dog started barking. Irritated, he tried again. With the same outcome. It was then that her speech began to sink in.
Joey hadn't just rejected a crazy lady. He had rejected a crazy witch! With a frightened yelp he threw himself towards her…only to fade away into the velvety blackness.
And…that's it! Joey's now officially a pup! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter…I think it might just be my favourite one so far!
On a side note, Emma Charmer isn't exactly an original character but she isn't completely a figment of my imagination either….;)
All reviews are very much appreciated…I just love to know what you guys are thinking and it also gives me inspiration to get into the next chapter