Chapter Twelve:

A Glimpse of Heaven

Tuesday
9:00pm

Tea allowed her entire body to relax as she took pleasure in the luxury of a soothing bubble bath.

She sighed deeply as she thought about the horrendous events that had taken place earlier that day- Once again she had managed to make a complete fool of herself in front of Kaiba. She also noticed with great despondency that it was becoming a habit of hers to fall apart whenever she was alone with him.

She bit her bottom lip as she let herself sink deeper into the bubbles, her mind drifting into forbidden territory.

Despite everything that happened however, the one thing she couldn't seem to forget was the blissful sensation of Kaiba's powerful embrace. Even the smell of his cologne was intoxicating. A woman, if she wasn't careful, could very easily die in those arms of his. She blushed to herself, trying in vain to stop but found that she couldn't. She gave herself the freedom to be a girl for a few more minutes until she could regain some control over her good sense.

She let her head rest back against the ceramic tub, her body completely submerged within the pool of suds. She stared out into the night sky through the bathroom window, her mind lost in thought again.

…But in spite of everything she was going through at that point in her life, for some reason he always seemed to be there when she needed to fall to pieces.

Did he actually care for her that way? Or did he really see her as nothing more than an incompetent secretary who needed to be kept under his thumb? Somehow the later explanation didn't seem to hold up well under the circumstances.

But he couldn't really have feelings for her? Why would he? He was Seto Kaiba.

She dismissed the thought, deciding that it was too absurd to even ponder.

As she steadied her thoughts her eyes fell onto a small jewel box sitting on the undersized table next to the tub. There was a golden chain overlapping the edges. Her heart instantly remembered the person attached to the memories which the locket represented.

Why was he still contacting her?

She huffed as she sat up in the tub, feeling a spell of depression wash over her.

Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

And why after so long, was he trying to patch things up between them? She just couldn't understand. The things he had said to her before she left, isn't this exactly what he wanted?

Why was he trying to become a part of her life again?

She wanted to stop herself from thinking about the situation all together….but she knew that would only prove to be a temporary interlude. She knew sooner or later she would have to face him again-and when that time came, she hoped she would find the strength within herself to finally let him go.

Wednesday
8:00am

Kaiba leisurely closed his laptop, trying to fight off the drowsiness in his eyes. He had decided to get some work done that night so he could keep himself informed of the situation at Kaiba Corp while he was away. Apparently things were running efficiently enough for the time being. Of course he had only been away for a couple of days; he would have to check in ever so often to make sure things were kept up to speed.

Feeling satisfied with the work he put in, he headed over to the mini bar to make himself a cup of coffee, hopefully that would break his spell of exhaustion.

He looked at the small clock on the wall as he poured the milk.

When he finished, he headed into the bedroom to clear his head. It was spinning with thoughts that shouldn't be there.

The incident with Tea was practically driving him insane. He couldn't seem to shake the memory of her falling apart in his arms. She was so fragile and vulnerable.

What on earth happened to her back in Domino?

He sat at the edge of the bed and put his smoking cup of coffee on the night stand. He had finally come to terms with his feelings; he had accepted them, despite the stubbornness in his mind urging him on to deny it.

But what was to come of his feelings for her? He knew he couldn't act on them for her sake….But what about him? What about his needs-his desires? Would he be able to keep such a thing bottled up inside of him for so long?

He ran his hand through his hair, feeling the first stages of frustration overshadowing him like a desolate cloud. At this point he had no idea what he was going to do; and not knowing made him uneasy. He shook his head losing his desire for the coffee. Instead, he headed straight for the bathroom. Maybe a cool shower would wash away his uncertainty.

Mokuba scattered an assortment of paperback brochures onto the bed. He eagerly sifted through them with precise interest. Apparently the hotel had added a few new activities to their roster since the last time that he was there.

In addition to the various tours of the island, there were also a number of private excursions available as well. The wheels in his head turned like clockwork. He smiled to himself as a combination of ideas popped into his mind all at once.

Tea stood in front of the half empty wardrobe in nothing but a baby blue bath robe, her hair dripping wet from her morning shower. She hadn't gotten any word from Mokuba as to where they were going that morning so she wasn't exactly sure what she should put on.

Just then there was a knock on her door.

She wrapped the robe around herself and tied the sashes.

She headed to the door and cautiously cracked it open.

Mokuba was smiling up at her with a white pamphlet in his hand.

"Oh, Hi Mokuba, what's up?"

"Hey Tea, is it ok if I come in? Or should I come back later?"

"No, its ok."

She opened the door and moved aside so Mokuba could enter. As soon as they were inside Tea folded her arms and looked at him suspiciously.

"Hmm, by the look on your face, I take it you found something interesting."

Mokuba grinned and handed her the brochure.

She scanned the details for a few seconds and looked back at him with eager eyes.

"A private yacht?"

Mokuba scratched his head, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh, I guess that is a bit boring…but I thought that…"

"Boring? Are you kidding? That sounds wonderful! I've never been on a yacht before!"

Mokuba beamed at her words, relieved that he had managed to make the right choice.

"Really? Well great! I'll go make the arrangements and you go tell my brother ok."

Tea's smile suddenly vanished as she felt herself shrink with mortification. After what had happened yesterday between her and Kaiba, she had been trying her best to avoid direct contact with him.

"Um...Well, can't you go tell him when you're finished?"

She sounded more like she was pleading than making a suggestion.

"Well it would be better if he knew now, you know how stubborn he can get…and I really want him to come."

"Oh…ok."

Her voice was small and apprehensive.

Mokuba looked up at her with a deliberate frown.

"…Tea, did something happen between you and my brother?"

She was caught off guard by his directness.

"No, of course not…"

She opened her mouth to elaborate but she couldn't seem to add anything more. Great! Could she be any less convincing?

Mokuba shrugged deciding that it was best to pretend that he wasn't interested in the whole truth.

"Oh ok… Well I'll go down to the lobby to book our schedule, when you're finished getting dressed you can go tell my brother ok… don't worry Tea, you managed to come out alive when you brought him breakfast yesterday didn't you? If he didn't kill you then, I don't think he'll kill you today."

Tea couldn't help smiling, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks.

She escorted Mokuba out of the room trying to contain the butterflies that were just now starting to fill her stomach.

When he was finally gone she closed the door and headed back into the bedroom. Sighing with frustration she picked the first outfit she could get her hands on and threw it onto the dresser stool. She sat on the edge of the bed, her thoughts running wild.

Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to be so….so damn…..Sheesh, she couldn't even find a satisfying word to describe him.

Groaning as if she had the worst stomach ache in the world she let herself fall backwards onto the bed, not giving a damn about her wet hair.

Kaiba walked into the bedroom, oblivious to his surroundings; his mind was still spinning uncontrollably. He was clad in nothing but a pair of black boxer shorts, with a towel loosely draped around his neck. His sandy brown hair was damp and disheveled.

He walked over to the laptop sitting on the bed, with the intention of drowning himself in some work in order to create some distraction.

Just then, much to his aggravation, there was a quiet knock on his door. He sighed as he made a u turn and headed straight toward the source of his disdain.

He swung the door open, without trying to hide his mood, only to find himself staring down at the very girl who was running through his mind all morning.

For the first time in his life he was grateful for his conscientious upbringing, courtesy Gozaburo Kaiba; He was able to hide his feelings with ease.

Tea however, wasn't having such a trouble-free time. She looked like a mouse in the presence of a house cat.

Tea looked up at Kaiba, once again in nothing but a pair of boxers. Her voice seemed to be caught in her throat as she looked at him. If one of his fan girls were standing there at that precise moment they'd spontaneously combust! Damn it! It should be a crime to look that good!

Kaiba tried his best to sound like his old unpleasant self so there would be nothing unusual between them.

"Didn't I make it clear yesterday, that I didn't want you bothering me this early in the morning?"

"I'm sorry, it's just that… Mokuba told me to tell you that… we're going on a private yacht ride this morning."

As Kaiba looked down at her, he realized just how difficult it would be to keep his feelings for her bottled up inside of him.

He nevertheless, willed himself to act natural.

"A private Yacht?"

Tea nodded

"He said he was going downstairs right now to book our schedule."

Kaiba let out a frustrated huff.

"And I take it you won't leave me alone until I agree to come along, am I right?"

Tea managed to smile, despite herself.

"..Well, he really wants you to be there…"

He sighed heavily knowing when he was beat. It made absolutely no sense trying to pull himself out of it.

"Fine, just let me know when to come down!"

Tea nodded.

Their eyes remained locked on each other for a few seconds until Tea broke the spell.

"Um, well, I'll see you when you get down ok."

Without another word, she turned to walk down the hallway toward her room. Kaiba kept his eyes on her until she was no longer in his sight zone.

When he finally closed his door, he couldn't help feeling that their little island vacation was about to get a whole lot more complicated.

After about half an hour, they were all standing in the lobby downstairs. A young man with medium length hair joined them from hotel administration. He appeared to be in his mid twenties, with blond hair and green eyes which complimented his features nicely. Tea of course was the first one to notice.

"Oh man, I can't believe I'm actually getting to meet, the one and only Seto Kaiba!"

He reached out to shake Kaiba's hand, too star struck to notice the expression on Kaiba's face.

"Your Games are the best man…"

Before he could say another word however a much older man stepped out from behind the check in counter.

"Uh, you'll have to excuse my son, Mr. Kaiba; he's fairly new here at the Hotel."

The older man shot his son a nasty glance before turning his attention back to Kaiba.

He smiled apologetically as he shook Kaiba's hand much like his son did.

"Jack Wellington, I understand that you're interested in one of our private packages this morning, Young Mr. Kaiba here explained that you wanted as much privacy as possible so I've made the necessary arrangements."

Kaiba folded his arms not saying a word; he was obviously less than thrilled to be there.

The man, now introduced as Mr. Wellington, noticed the disgruntled look on Kaiba's face and decided it best to get straight to the point.

"Um, my son here, Ryan, will be your captain and tour guide this morning…"

He led them out of the hall and outside into the front of the hotel.

"You and your mistress will find it's much to your liking. Maximum privacy Guaranteed."

Kaiba was losing his patience, he didn't even have the energy to set the real story straight anymore.

"Whatever, can we just leave already?"

"Oh yes of course, please excuse me while I arrange some transportation to the dock."

Kaiba just sighed leaning against the wall.

Both Tea and Mokuba decided that it was best to just leave him be. It wasn't wise to upset him any further than he already was.

After a few minutes Mr. Wellington returned, closing his cell phone.

"Well, the jeep should be here in a few minutes. I hope you and your mistress find our accommodations to your liking Mr. Kaiba."

He tipped his hat to Tea and headed back into the hotel lobby leaving the three of them standing outside the entrance. Tea willed her self not to turn red. She glimpsed at Kaiba, who seemed to be deliberately avoiding her glance. There were quite a few eyes on them as per usual as they stood waiting for their transportation.

After a few minutes Ryan emerged form inside the hotel, looking annoyed. Tea decided that his Father must have given him a generous amount of fore warning about keeping a lid on his mouth.

Just then a black & white 4x 4 Jeep wrangler pulled up into the entrance.

Ryan, waved at the driver.

"Oh, looks like our rides here."

With that said they all gathered themselves to enter the vehicle.

The morning went by rather quickly and much to Tea's relief, it went by without incident.

They all arrived at the dock in less than five minutes, Tea noticing with great pleasure that this part of the island seemed to be void of any other guests and/or fan girls.

Kaiba's mood hadn't improved in the slightest, not even the sight of the luxurious yacht did anything to uplift his spirits.

Tea however had felt as if she had just stepped onto a movie set.

They all boarded the yacht accompanied by Ryan who seemed to have lost the memory of his father's warning.

Ryan, Kaiba noticed with disgust, had a distinct similarity to Joey Wheeler.

After giving them a formal brief, history of the yacht, Ryan led them down into the cabin area.

Tea couldn't believe her eyes as she stepped foot into the spacious interior. It was much larger than she thought it would be; she felt as if she were standing in another section of the hotel. All the furniture were arranged so as to give the impression of a small apartment; with glass windows surrounding the room giving them a clear view of the vast open ocean all around them. There was even a flat screen TV and a dinning table arranged with an assortment of drinks and deserts at the far left hand corner of the room. Tea had to bite down on her lip to keep from gaping like a complete idiot. Was this what the Kaibas considered normal? She suddenly felt like a black sheep.

As they walked further into the room she also noticed also that there was actually a fully furnished patio extending out onto the deck. She never dreamed that it would be this elaborate, her eyes sparkled with fascination.

"Well I guess that's all, there's food and the works already prepared; Just head into the pantry through the door on your right….and if you guys need a bit more privacy, there are two couple sized bedrooms in the lower deck. Just make yourselves at home ok."

Winking at both Tea and Kaiba, Ryan the inexperienced captain, headed back up the stairs to the upper deck; leaving them staring after him. Tea was scarlet red as she forced herself not to look at Kaiba. Apparently everyone at the hotel thought that they were an item.

Kaiba wasted no time; he headed straight to the bottle of non alcoholic wine. He popped the bottle open and poured himself a generous glass.

"You guys dragged me out here, so I intend to do whatever the hell I want."

Mokuba was happy to see his brother doing something other than work, even if it was sulking like an 8 year old. He turned to Tea who seemed to be a bit out of place, not knowing what she should do next.

"Come on Tea; let's go out on the deck! We'll be able to see the whole island once we set sail!"

He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her outside.

Kaiba took a sip of his drink as he stared after them. Once again Tea seemed to be completely oblivious to how attractive she looked. Her hair was loose and she was wearing a closely fitted white tank top and a navy blue mini skirt. He had to shake himself out of his stupor before following them out on deck. Once there he noticed that they were just now starting to move, the dock was slowly drifting further and further away from them.

"I hope you didn't have to pay extra for this Mokuba!"

"No of course not Seto, the Kaiba name comes with a lot of perks you know."

Kaiba scoffed as he took another sip of his wine.

Mokuba turned his attention to Tea.

"So Tea what do you think? About the yacht I mean?"

"Are you kidding? It's beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like it."

Kaiba watched the both of them converse. He couldn't help feeling grateful that Mokuba was having such a good time. Because he was always so busy, he hardly ever had any time to spend with his baby brother, he was glad that he and Tea got along as well as they did.

The day passed by quickly. Mokuba saw it as his responsibility to make sure Tea's first time on the yacht was as enjoyable as possible; while Kaiba saw it as his responsibility to be as difficult and immature as possible.

As the evening drew to a close Mokuba decided to head up to the upper deck to speak to Ryan, who turned out to be an excellent captain after all; despite Kaiba's rotten disposition of course.

Tea and Kaiba who hadn't had much to say to each other for most of the day were suddenly left alone.

Kaiba felt his 'male instincts' kick into full gear as he watched Tea helping herself to a glass of red wine. He didn't want her to know what was really going on his head; but that didn't mean he couldn't have a normal conversation with her right?

"Don't you think you had enough alcohol for the day?"
Tea turned to look at her tormentor who was smirking at her form one of the couches by the window.

"What do you mean; this is the only alcoholic drink I've had all day!"

"That's one more than me."

Somehow hearing him badger her like that seemed to make her feel more at ease around him.

"Humph, well it's not my fault you're Mr Perfect, Who thinks he's above everything, even alcohol!"

"So you think I'm perfect?"

"What? Would you stop playing on my words!"

"I wasn't playing on your words, I simply repeated exactly what you yourself said."

"That's not what I meant and you know it so stop trying to get on my nerves."

Kaiba enjoyed seeing her work herself up; her buttons were just too easy to push.

Tea took a seat on the single couch opposite the one Kaiba was sitting on. She pulled her eyes off of him to take a sip of her wine.

Kaiba kept his eyes on her, wondering if he should try getting some answers. He wanted to know what had happened to her before she left Domino. He wanted to find out exactly what that asshole did to cause so much pain in her life.

But how was he supposed to do that without sounding completely obvious? He decided that he would try nevertheless.

"…And since when do you drink anyway? I seem to recall you yourself being all straight laced back in high school."

Kaiba studied her reaction to his question closely. Fortunately she didn't seem angry or dismissive at all.

She put her glass down on the table next to the couch.

"Well, people change as they get older Kaiba."

He saw a sort of sadness reflected in her eyes as she spoke.

"So I take it you're out of the cheerleading business for good now?"

He was glad to see her smile.

"It's just that, we were all so ignorant back then, we didn't know the first thing about real life. It's different when you get older, people who you thought you could trust forever…."

She shrugged without finishing her sentence. She picked up her glass of wine again and took another sip.

Kaiba, despite how hard it was for him to see the hurt in her eyes, kept his questions constant.

"So someone betrayed you?"

She looked at him and then looked away.

"..That's not important, that's all in the past now."

She tucked some of her hair behind her ear as she looked back at him, forcing herself to smile.

"…and it's not exactly fair for me to keep boring you with my problems."

"You're not. I wouldn't ask you to tell me if I didn't want to know."

"But why do you…."

"I already told you, whether you like it or not you are one of my responsibilities now. You work for me remember."

"Yea but, don't I get to keep my personal life to myself? I didn't know working for you meant I was signing over my soul."

"Well you should've read the fine print at the bottom of the contract."

Tea couldn't help herself smiling for real this time. When he wasn't being a jerk, Kaiba could actually be quite charismatic.

She took another sip of her wine.

"Maybe I should have."

Tea noticed that the sun was just now starting to set. She wanted to get a good view of the horizon before night fall.

She got up from her seat and started heading out into the patio. She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Kaiba.

"I'm going to get a better look at the sunset; you want to come with me?"

"Why would I be interested in something as stupid as that? And besides you can see everything fine from right here."

Tea rolled her eyes and walked over to where he was sitting. She folded her arms and looked down at him. Kaiba knew that it was just the wine finally taking its toll, other wise, she would never have approached him the way that she did.

"Why are you always such a jerk?"

Kaiba stared up at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Are you saying you have a problem with my attitude?"

"Maybe."

"Well why don't you do something about it?"

She looked down at him not knowing what she should say next.

He smirked up at her.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid to put me in my place?"

"Afraid? I'm not afraid of you!"

"You're not?"

Without another word he kept his eyes glued to hers as he deliberately stood up from his seated position. He was now standing directly in front of her, his body towering over hers, purposely holding her gaze.

"Are you sure?"

Tea felt her heart rate increase rapidly as she instinctively tried to step back. But he had already placed one of his hands around her waist, keeping her rooted on spot; His eyes drilling into hers

Tea felt like she was about to have a panic attack. She looked up at him, finding that she didn't even have the strength to generate any kind of resistance.

Kaiba kept his iron grip on her, feeling his baser instincts kicking in once again; but he knew he couldn't act on them, not at that moment. He wasn't exactly sure how she would react to him. He decided to drop the notion all together. A simple ruse was all she needed.

He casually let her go, causing her to stumble back a little.

Tea felt her face practically glowing as she stepped further away from him.

"What the hell was that for?"

Kaiba simply smirked and folded his arms.

"You should think before you mouth off."

Tea pouted as she looked up at him.

"You really are a jerk, Kaiba!"

With that said she angrily got up and headed out toward the patio, to watch the sunset on her own.

As she stood out on the deck, allowing the ocean air to sweep through her hair, to her surprise she turned to see Kaiba approaching her with another glass of wine in his hand.

He handed it to her, his blue eyes much kinder than before.

"I was only joking you know, you shouldn't let people get under your skin so easily."

She took the glass from his hand her fingers brushing against his.

One look at his face and her anger had disappeared completely. She smiled as she felt her cheeks turning red again.

"I'm sorry…"

She sighed as she watched the breathtaking sunset.

"… I guess you were right, I am just an over emotional secretary."

He smiled at her, wishing she could somehow see the truth in his eyes.

"Maybe you are…but I wouldn't have you any other way."

Tea turned to look at him, trying in vain to stop herself from blushing.

Suddenly his smile turned into a mischievous smirk.

"…Who needs a secretary who can get through the day without a meltdown? No body needs that kind of aggravation."

Tea had to force herself not to laugh out loud. She smiled as she deliberately took another sip of her wine, so as not to give herself away.

"You're such a jerk Kaiba…"

He shrugged, knowing that he couldn't deny the fact.

She turned to watch the ocean again.

"..But... I wouldn't have you any other way either."

Kaiba kept his eyes on her, feeling her words touch his heart.

Did she really just say that to him?

Great! This was going to be much harder than he thought! At this rate there was no telling what would happen between them. But despite his feelings, his resolve would remain cast in stone, until the moment was right to shatter it into a million pieces.

He chose not to say anything further, as they both watched the sun disappear into the ocean.