Illusions
Disclaimer: I still don't own Kaiba but Dr Shepherd is mine. He is real and much nicer, or not. In fact, I don't own him too and you can guess that I don't own yugioh as well.
If people were asked to describe Serenity Wheeler in one word, "beautiful" would probably top the list or may be "quiet", depending on the mood. Then gain, whenever those same people came to contain a certain piece of information, "Joey's sister" will certainly shadow whatever other single words would have beautifully conveyed. Nevertheless, silence was the game she played the best.
Yes, silence is gold; that was a rule that had served her well over the years. But silence was now broken leaving cutting shards, shards of humiliation. You may ask about the façade, it slipped, but was not shattered yet. Or so she thought.
However, and as much as she nearly got swept away by the overwhelming tide of one particular illusion, she was far from being stupid or will-deprived. That's why the dimly lit office that found its premises on the top floor of one of those giant buildings has still its occupant at such a late hour. She was seated by her desk, files spread across the surface and a forgotten cup of coffee in the corner. The silent sanctuary of her office has never been more desired. Only faint clicks of fingers on a keyboard rhymed with some occasional shuffles of papers with folders.
Struggling to maintain the walls around her emotions, Serenity shoved away the residual sadness that still irks her, and focused on the hourglass which was spinning aimlessly on the screen showing nothing but a blank page. As the link was finally established giving life to a popping window, she proceeded to wade through a heap of incoming messages, idly rolling the thumbwheel on her mouse.
"Duke. Sometimes. Really." She muttered impatiently, almost to herself as she read the lengthy e-mail, skipping what she deemed some countless, useless lines. It was late, seconds ticked by mercilessly and Duke Devlin always makes sure to save room for his irrelevant emotional ranting in what was supposed to be a strictly formulated business thing or whatever, she thought angrily. It was a pure inconvenience which only meant extra work.
"Do I really have to make sure that you don't have a sleepover with your reports" someone's voice snapped her out of her reverie, breaking the silent spell.
"I'll be going in five minutes." Serenity found her hand reaching up to remove the ponytail holder from her hair. With a gentle swoosh, her auburn locks tumbled to her shoulders and she shook away the tightness from restraint.
"You said the same line five minutes ago if I recall well, and since then you didn't give any specific sign of actual departure."
"I just did but the same goes for you, boss. You could as well start camping here." Serenity attempted a patient smile which came across as a grimace.
A low chuckle shortly ensued closely followed by the following statement.
"I have many enemies out there, and one in particular has been recently prying in my business way too much."
Slightly confused by the turn the conversation had taken, she ventured: "Unless there is something else I'm not familiar with, You're not revealing anything to me that I don't already know."
She got nothing and was left to the care of her own thoughts for a while, her mind mulling over the ever-old/new piece of information in a careful way. Cataloguing it with all the other data she complied during the last months, things still didn't add up for her.
As a more elaborated question formed in her mind, her cell phone began to vibrate and the display revealed the ID of the caller who turned to be Joey Wheeler in person. What she heard on the other line made her literally drop the light device and bit back a cry as colour melted right out of her face. Leaving the other occupant of the office to some shaking head gymnastics, she grabbed her belongings in a matter of seconds and dashed outside.
The elevator doors opened with a chime and Serenity stepped out not as casually as she usually did. What she heard propped her to quicken her pace, nearly jogging with her high heels to reach the door. Fumbling with the keys that repeatedly escaped her grasp while fervently prying God that no one was hurt; she finally realized that the door was not locked but slightly agar.
The intruder watched mutely, a satisfied smirk on his lips as Serenity walked toward her fuming brother who didn't waste any further time on some kind of hollow greetings: "What is he doing here?" He sounded exasperated, ready to blow a gasket, a bad sign.
"A visit, or maybe that word is still foreign to your restricted dictionary." Kaiba answered unceremoniously.
Joey shot him a glare full of sheer contempt and said icily: "What dictionary? I don't remember asking you, rich boy!"
"With all due respect, Mr Kaiba" Serenity began, Her voice was that exact steady and controlled cadence which she had learned and grew accustomed to in some board meetings "Your presence here is far from being appreciated."
It was strange, she thought as she observed the man's dominant stance yet nonchalant posture. It wasn't just the magnetic pull that she felt for him or the romantic fancy but something else, maybe the fact that she had always dreamt to be close to him and now that he was here, she felt different. But what exactly did change?
"You implied that last time in the restaurant, but it turned out that my presence was highly appreciated, if not desired."
Serenity's head snapped up at the provocative comeback, her eyebrows raised at the man's lack of tact, "Excuse me?"
Whether on purpose or not, Kaiba refused to take the hint as he pressed on:
"Did you have a heart change lately, or maybe I did hit a nerve. Did I?"
She risked a glimpse at her brother who had already jumped to the conclusion that something was seriously and wrongly amiss and he grew wary of at once. Joey had effectively recognized the mischievous gleam in Kaiba's eyes, and not one to ignore the obvious-Not that Joey was notoriously perceptive in the first place, but he wasn't that oblivious too- he charged headfirst into the situation.
"Get out" He barked.
How to attack this situation? What was this man's weak point? Could she just appeal to his softer side at the risk of sounding too desperate?
"Please, just go." she attempted tenderly, not urgently pleading but carefully letting out a little more line on her reel.
It simply didn't work. Now, she was a terrible liar and an even worse actress even if she managed to pick some tricks and pauses due to her compelling career. She racked her brain to think of something that would be plausible enough and that would gel in some kind of way with what she had done and said previously. A wave of uneasiness washed through her, but she held her ground. It was now or never, she urged herself. She told herself that until she actually began to believe it.
Drawing a sharp breath, she slowly closed her eyes. With her hands, she shielded her face and started crying.
"Will you ever be able to forgive me?"
Was it a form of a renewed confession? This was definitely getting interesting especially with Joey Wheeler as a special guest. That what the CEO thought for a split second as a corner of his mouth twitched upwards into a knowing smirk that was soon wiped off when the auburn-haired young woman burst into a sing-song laugher. Only the look in his eyes betrayed his growing irritation as for the reasons of that sudden mood swing.
When Serenity opened her hazel ayes again, all evidence of tears had been safely pushed away.
"Will you ever get it?" She inquired in a mocking voice giving Kaiba's glare an overdose.
By the blank look in his eyes, no, he didn't. But something about her was setting his teeth on edge; and her strange behaviour seemed to grate on his nerves.
"Let me tell you something Mr Kaiba" she said "Since you don't seem to understand the nature of women, I will enlighten you! They're actresses and dangerous creatures. They lie as they breathe and cannot be trusted. They find delights in crushing the hearts of the poor men that were unfortunate enough to cross their paths. And the more their prey is untouchable, the more they feel special and take pride in bringing them to their knees!
« Never believe a woman's tears! And don't ever let a woman fool you with this salty water! » her last advice stung with venom.
The look that danced across Kaiba's face could only be referred to as 'do I look like an idiot?' may be he conjectured that her little demonstration was some sort of defence mechanism that she had poorly executed. But it looked like he would play along too. If he was acting, she didn't want to know what true horror looked like.
"Never believe in a woman's tears, huh?" He paused for effect. "I'm glad that you told me that. From now on, I will not be fooled by yours anymore."
"Is that a threat, Kaiba?" Of course Joey Wheeler thought he ought to have the last word.
They exchanged heated glares, literal lightning bolts practically shooting out of their eyes from the substantial electricity they had generated between them. Neither said anything for several long ticks of the now loud wall clock, and Serenity was about to lamely intervene again when Kaiba's phone did.
The ear-splitting ring lanced straight through the tension, and the tall brunette reluctantly abandoned his staring contest to answer it. He listened to the other end of the line, and when time came to click the phone shut, he threw the last line in the threshold.
"Call it a free advice."
Maybe that was a stupid thing to do; sad, even pathetic. Judging by her brother's disapproving look -that followed closely the quick one of relief that she couldn't miss by anyway- it certainly was. But she was desperate, desperate to bring things back to square one when nothing happened at all. And desperation does make people do stupid, careless things.
So after some hard explaining, profuse apologies and some other forced, shallow promises to an elder brother who gladly reminded her in wise tone: "you don't know him!», Serenity sighed heavily. It was like talking to a wall; her shoulders sagged wearily as she answered "How well do we really know anyone."
Then again, the façade had to be saved, no matter what. And about the consequences, only God knows.
A/N:I really hope that this chapter was not confusing, I tend to leave-whether on purpose or not- many things implied.
Thank you so much for all your reviews and one particular reminder, if anything they helped speeding up the updating process. So go ahead, click on the blue button. I no longer charge for reviews as I used to; yes the operation is for free now.
I don't own my time too, that's why I'll be somehow slow and may be selective. .