Chapter Two
"Delia, is that you?" Her mom asked on the other side of the phone before the guy could answer. That was when the thought hit her that she was supposed to be home.
Oops.
The brown-haired boy lifted a brow at her with amusement. Was he this handsome a second before? Delia quickly shook away the thought. "Oh hi, Mom, this is Hara?" she answered as conversationally as possible.
"Don't lie to me! Hara knows who Mr. Kaiba is." Mr. Kaiba? The name rang a bell. Delia suddenly remembered what Hara told her last night. Now she knew what her twin meant by a hot jerk. "Why aren't you home?" The question brought her back to the present.
"Mom, I just want to meet my Duke. You know Duke. He actually goes here. Isn't that great?"
No answer.
Delia quickly continued on, "And I didn't skip. I waited until Mr. Grant left before coming here!"
Her mom sighed. "We'll talk about this later. Now please hand the phone back to Mr. Kaiba."
"Yes, Mom," Delia said and dutifully handed the phone back to Kaiba.
She didn't know if she should stay or leave as Kaiba talked on the phone with her mom. She decided that the safest course of action was to leave. After all, what was she supposed to do here after the phone conversation end? Apologize or something? Not bloody likely.
However, just as she started to walk away, Kaiba stopped talking. She assumed that their conversation was finished. It didn't really matter to her. That was, until he dragged her back by the collar like a dog.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" She shook him off and glowered at him.
"You're coming with me, Miss Yasune."
She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "First, it's Delia, not Miss Yasune." She hated when other people called her Miss Yasune. It made her feel so old. It also reminded her of all those people dressed in their conservative suits that hung out around her parents, with their hypocritical smiles and courtesy. "And I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Your mother, Mrs. Yasune, requested you to come to my company with me. She will be there to meet us," Kaiba said, spun on his heels, and strode toward the stairs.
"Are you doing business with my mom? But why are you in high school? And just what does Mom want?" Questions popped out of her mouth one by one before she could stop them. She followed Kaiba without thinking, hoping that he would answer her question. However, Kaiba didn't say a word and kept on walking.
Once they were outside, a black limo pulled up. When it stopped, a man dressed nicely in a black suit and tie held the passenger door open. Kaiba strolled toward it and stopped before going in.
"Ladies first," he said mockingly with a smirk.
"But what about my car?" Delia asked before being shoved into the limo. She had one moment to notice that the inside was very nice before Kaiba got in and sat down. The door shut behind him with a soft click. She scooted as far away from him as possible. "That wasn't necessary," she said, talking about when he pushed her in.
He simply looked at her in the same arrogant manner. She was starting to hate his eyes, which was really a pity, since he had beautiful eyes. They just shouldn't belong to someone like him. For once, he answered her, his voice deep and smooth, "I'm sure Mrs. Yasune will send somebody to retrieve it."
"No way! Nobody is driving my car!" she shouted at him even though she knew she couldn't get out of this situation. Somehow, she was sitting alone in this large limo with the hottest guy she'd met for a while other than her friends. Yet, all she could think about was getting as far away from him as possible. That just wasn't right. Why couldn't more hot guys be nicer, instead of being jerks?
"That is none of my concern," Kaiba said coldly. He took out his laptop from his briefcase and started to work on something and ignored her for the rest of the ride.
Great, I'm stuck with another computer nerd! Delia thought as she crossed her arms. A very hot computer nerd. The thought came unbidden. She scowled and forced herself to stare at the window, though occasionally she stole some glances at Kaiba. Now she was certain her mom was doing business with Kaiba, since her mom's company specialized in manufacturing computer chips and software programs.
Thankfully, the ride was relatively short. Delia didn't think she'd be able to stay quiet any longer if Kaiba had continued to ignore her. She didn't even wait for the driver to open the door for them. As soon as they stopped at what she assumed to be their final destination, since the building had the sign "Kaiba Corp" on it, she opened the door herself and jumped out.
"You own an entire corporation?" she suddenly asked in amazement. Now she knew why Hara liked the guy. They would be perfect together, if only he was a little bit more approachable. Then something hit her. "Do you own Kaiba Land as well?"
"Yes to both questions. Anything more you'd like to ask?" he said in a bored tone.
She wanted to kick him. For some reason, this guy made her really violent, not that she was a pacifist or anything. She didn't say anything, but stuck her tongue out childishly at his back. She promised herself that she'd never go back to Kaiba Land again and throw away all her duel monster cards. While she was at it, maybe she should organize a boycott or something against Kaiba Corp. It wouldn't be possible, but it was worth a thought.
Everybody bowed to Kaiba as if he was a king as they passed through the grand lobby. The place looked way too extravagant to simply be a company lobby. It was lit with two gigantic chandeliers hanging from the tall ceiling. The floor was paved with shiny black marble that reflected the light of the sun. Flowers, furniture, and paintings were each artfully arranged to give off a feeling of welcome and wealth. She had been to thousands of company headquarters in her life, but few as extravagant as this one.
She followed Kaiba to the elevator still in amazement while Kaiba didn't even spare a glance at his surroundings. Obviously he'd grown up in such luxury, but so had she. Yet she was still shocked. It said something about his stoic character that he didn't notice all this.
They got off on the nineteenth floor. Now the hallway reminded her of a hotel, since it was just one long hallway with doors to their left. They walked to the end of the hallway where it suddenly opened up to an open space. One woman in her late twenties sat behind a mahogany desk.
"Mr. Kaiba, Mrs. Yasune is waiting for you inside," the woman said with a professional voice.
"Thank you, Saki." Kaiba walked past her and opened the door.
Delia sighed and prepared for her mom's wrath. It didn't matter that she hadn't skipped "school" today. She hadn't stayed home as her mom commanded. That was all that matters.
Kaiba's office was bigger than she had imagined. It reminded her more of a suite room than an office. One single desk sat in front of the glass windows that made up the entire back wall. One wall was lined with bookshelves while two sofas sat on the other side of the room. Her mom sat in one of those sofas and stood up when they entered.
Kaiba shook hands with her mom, who didn't seem to be mad at all. Instead, she had a big smile on her face and even hugged Delia. Delia now knew her mom definitely had something up her sleeve.
"Mom, what are you planning?" she whispered as they sat down in the two chairs in front of Kaiba's desk.
Mrs. Yasune simply smiled mysteriously and said, "That is for me to know and for you to find out." She settled in her chair comfortably while Delia frowned and fidgeted in her chair.
As soon as Kaiba sat down, Mrs. Yasune spoke, "Mr. Kaiba, I'm going to get straight to the point as to why I called you. As you know, this is my younger daughter, Delia. As of now, she is completely out of control. I am worried about her future because no matter what school I put her in, or what private teacher I hire for her, she can't seem to settle down and study. She is very behind on her education. My husband and I are very worried about her.
"As for how all this have anything to do with you, well, when I checked up on your files before we became business partners, I was extremely impressed. You are only eighteen and you are the CEO of this successful company. I am thinking about leaving Delia in your care. I wasn't sure until I met you a few days ago, but you are exactly the way described in your report: ruthless, ambitious, intelligent, arrogant, even egotistical. You would make a great teacher to my daughter. You could rein in her craziness.
"In this tough world today, I would want Delia to receive the best education possible. The way she is now, I can't let her succeed either my husband's or my company. Since I can't force anything on her because she is my dear daughter, I am sure you have ways to deal with her mischievousness."
Delia's jaw dropped as she stared at her mom. She could see that Kaiba did not trust her mom. His eyes narrowed and his brows drew together in thought.
"I, for one, will not do it, Mom. I do not want to succeed either Dad's or your company. You can give them all to Hara for all I care. Besides, I am sure Mr. Kaiba here is a very busy man. He would not have the time to take care of a girl who would disappear as soon as he turns his back on her."
She stared at Seto Kaiba as if challenging him to accept the offer. He met her gaze and his lips twitched into an arrogant smirk. He faced Mrs. Yasune once again and said, "This is very unexpected. I've accepted thousands of business offers, but never one like this. Who would've thought that your two daughters are so different? One is the smartest kid in school. Her abilities with computer programming almost match my own, but this," Kaiba gestured at Delia without so much as looking at her and let the sentence hang.
Delia growled, daring him to continue. He did exactly just that. "I don't like to turn down good offers, Mrs. Yasune, but I really can't see what I can get out of this."
Her mom smiled while Delia cursed him. Cheap bastard! He's actually thinking Mom would pay him. There're thousands of better teachers out there.
"Of course I will pay you, Mr. Kaiba. If you think Hara is competent enough, then I will let her work for your company for free. You should know how much of an asset she will be to your company as a computer programmer. Also, I will provide you with any equipment under the cost of $200,000."
Delia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did Mom just talk about Hara as if Hara was just another person on the job market? And $200,000? Surely no teacher ever cost that much.
Then Delia did something she should've done at the beginning of this entire ordeal. She pinched herself on the arm. Oww! Oww!
It wasn't a dream.
"Then I accept. Where do you want to draw up the contract?"
No! No! You can't accept! Delia wanted to strangle Kaiba. She made the most furious face she could manage, but that bastard didn't even spare a glance at her.
"I will let my people do it. We will sign it tomorrow morning. Hara will start here next Monday after school. As for Delia, she will start here tomorrow."
Kaiba nodded. Then he and Mrs. Yasune shook hands and sealed the deal.
"Mom, I can't believe you did that! You just sold Hara and me to the devil!" Delia shouted as soon as they were alone in the elevator.
"Don't be ridiculous, Delia. I did this for your own good. As for Hara, she will gain valuable experience working with Mr. Kaiba."
Delia didn't say anything. She knew nothing could change her mom's mind at this time. Instead, she started to plot on how to get out of this mess. All she had to do was make Kaiba back out. She smiled deviously to herself as all sorts of plans popped into her head.
Seto Kaiba, you'll regret this! I will make sure of it!
A/N: Plz REVIEW!!!!