A petite red head stood before large mahogany doors, a cup of coffee in one hand and a compilation of folders in the other.
It was past her working hours yet again and her boss didn't seem to be in the mood to answer her insistence. He had been in a foul demeanor since he had arrived, barking orders and issuing threats, making the employees tread even more carefully around him, like dancers in a mining field.
She sighed in frustration and raised a manicured hand to the door, only to immediately retreat it, realization sinking in. Her boss was at a meeting with the legal representatives of an ex-employee who wanted to sue the company, not in his office. She rolled her cinnamon eyes at her own forgetfulness and returned to her desk.
She tucked the skin colored folders under a stack of papers and threw the cup of coffee out. Her eyes drifted to the clock slowly ticking above her desk and sunk when she saw its hour read deep into the confines of the night.
Her gaze traveled the lone waiting room, stopping at the door. No one seemed to be coming and the hour was already too late for her to get any more significant work done. Surely all Kaiba had her waiting for was his personal dismissal.
She took her bottom lip between the grasp of her teeth, hastily deciding she would leave at her own risk and make something up tomorrow when and if she was confronted by the CEO.
She reached a small hand behind her chair and took out her purse and few belongings, taking her jacket off the seat and making sure everything was in place. She flicked off the lights and walked out of the room, leaving the door unlocked, knowing Kaiba would return.
Her short legs carried her in a quick pace into the elevator, her senses peaked for a sign of the CEO.
The sliding doors soon deposited her in the parking garage, dimmed lines painted onto the floor in rectangles, sheltering nothing at this hour. The clicking of her heels was her only company while she walked across the dark garage, a mixture of smells rising into her nostrils.
Her pace quickened in the eerie solitude until the young secretary arrived at the small red car that stood in the last of the parking rows. She hastily entered and turned the ignition until she heard the familiar growl of the engine, not wasting an instant before driving out into the street.
The remainders from the earlier downpour were still evident, gentle streams of water gliding along the curbs of the pavement. Scattered street lights provided the only illumination on a moon less night.
The young woman pressed down harder on the accelerator, her heel digging into the pedal.
The eerie silence inside the car injected her with a shot of adrenaline when it broke, a muffled ringing coming from the passenger seat. She extended her arm towards her purse, keeping her eyes on the road, blindly searching for the source of the ringing.
The shrill ringing of the device began to rise in tension, her desperation causing her to tear her eyes from the road a fraction of a second to search for the cellphone. Short instants passed before she returned her eyes to the road, immediately slamming on the brakes.
The tires squealed as she let out a small shout and the car slammed forward. A blond stopped right in front of the car, her body inches away from being hit.
Her green eyes widened and she seemed to be frozen to her spot.
Wet blonde hair stuck to her face and her eyes shone with fear. Her thin body was wrapped with a bright red raincoat, her bare legs leading into matching red boots.
A look of relief finally sunk into her features after long seconds. She gave the secretary a small smile of gratitude then took off in the direction of Kaiba Corp.
The red head shook her head and slowly accelerated, cell phone forgotten.
"Crazy kids." She muttered.
Kaiba stepped out of a room marked 'Meetings' and slammed the door, rubbing the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes.
He let his back gently curve into the door, leaning as he considered the amount of problems washing down on his shoulders.
An ex-employee was suing the company on the claim that he had been treated poorly while he worked there, witnessing key wrong doings to other employees as well. He was then fired, unjustified by his account.
He had been pressing for investigations into the company and its system, not the first surely, but the only to take the matter to the law.
Kaiba let out the breath his lungs had accumulated as he made his way to his office, aching for the cup of coffee he had ordered.
The cleaning crew had long since left, leaving the floors gleaming, the reflection of his steps as clear as daylight. The windows were impossibly transparent, almost as if they weren't there and the air carried a pleasing fresch scent.
As his eyes glided over the now empty cubicles, he considered the importance of the company in his life. His pride, his utmost highest regard was held in the empire that extended its pristine ivory tiles in front of him. He had dedicated his whole life to it, striving to be the best in the business and now a stranger thought he could swoop in like an eagle picking out a fish from the ocean, removing him from his home.
A small pang of anger lit his heart at the thought of losing it, willing him to fight harder for what he knew belonged only to him.
He walked into the large waiting room, met only by the plants that gently swayed to the breeze emerging from an open window.
Kat, his secretary, wasn't at her desk and her belongings were no longer at her station, defying the very first rule of serving Kaiba: if he needed you, you were there.
Irritation flashed across his temple in the form of a severe pound, his lips already forming the words he would confront her with tomorrow.
Scowling, he crossed the waiting room in silence, the carpet beneath muffling his footsteps.
A string of keys wrapped around his fingers as he reached into the pocket of his white trenchcoat, only seconds transpiring before the correct one unlocked his office door.
He stepped inside, met with the view of the entire city stretching out before him, the glass wall behind his desk filtering in the splash of colors the city's varied buildings had to offer, the only source of light in the dim office.
A series of certificates and diplomas hung neatly on the western wall in chronological order, his name printed largely on every one of them. Beneath the framed documents, a row of shelves supporting books upon books extended itself until colliding with a set of file cabinets, all tightly locked.
On the opposing wall a plain white door with a golden knob sat shut along with an electric panel and a blue water cooler.
In the very center of the office sat a large mahogany desk, computer, printer and fax machine all sitting atop it. A small black telephone sat off to the side, its bright green light flashing incesantly.
He approached his desk and stepped behind it, clearing the papers he had hastily spewn upon its surface when called to the meeting. As his fingers ran expertly through the many files, one crisp new folder stood out to his searching eyes.
'LeRouse Case.'
Read a yellow post it note stuck to the face of the folder.
He crumpled the note and threw it into the trashcan beside his desk, eyes hungry for the information awaiting him. He slowly let his body seep into the large leather chair, his fingers picking through the folders insides.
His lawyers had been quick to retrieve all the information they possibly could on Lance LeRouse, his testament, his birth certificate, even the state of his bank account. He had charged more than 70,000 to a single credit card in the last month alone all in bills, school tuition and other more lavish expenses.
His estate was located on the outskirts of the city, recently acquired after moving into town from Scotia, a neighbouring city.
The man had several business degrees and was now trying to start his own chain of restaurants, not to much success.
Kaiba recalled the man as the leader of the marketing team. He had signed a 4 year contract with the company after the contract previous to that one had become invalid upon Gozaburo's dissapearance, only to not have it renewed when Kaiba suspected him of stealing money from the summer earnings of the Duel Disk.
LeRouse had been faced with no other option but to leave, all though not on the best of terms. Furious, he made an appointment with the CEO himself, claiming he was an essential piece in Gozaburo's trusted team. He threatened to open an investigation, to look not only into Kaiba's new operating system for the company but also into Gozaburo's disappearance, haste words born from a blind rage.
Bullshit.
Kaiba knew himself the amount of money and effort it took to look for the man, all from his own experience. Not only would it have proven difficult but later futile when Gozaburo's body had been found years later.
It had been him who stole the money, Kaiba was sure of it and wasn't surprised when said money never showed up after processing every single employee. His pride had gotten the best of the CEO, so he dropped it after the final payment of the man's paycheck.
He continued to scan through the folder, eyes stinging from trying to read without the necessary amount of light, words and images slowly blurring.
He was pulled harshly out of his thoughts when he heard a loud crash in the waiting room outside his office, the splitting sound ringing in his ears.
He looked up at the door he had propped open, seeing no movement on the other side.
Slowly he rose from the leather chair, straining his body to remain in the strictest of silences. Holding his breath and feeling his heart crash against his chest he made his way to the door as the adrenaline started kicking in, senses sharpened.
He gently opened the door wider, finding nothing immediately distressing. The only lighting was coming from one of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling in the hallway, his eyes scanning the room like a lion searching for its prey.
Everything apperead just as it had been when he walked in only minutes before, lights flickered on as his fingers pressed the light switch while he blinked rapidly adjusting to the change.
A blue vase that had been on Kat's desk was now on the floor shattered into tiny pieces, dirty water spilled in every direction. The few roses that had been inside were now gone. He followed the footprints that surged from the spilled water surprised to find they led to his office.
He had just come from his office; there was no way someone could have entered without him seeing. His slender fingers reached for the light switch while he scanned his office. The room was instantly lit, revealing nothing.
Everything seemed to be in order and the footprints stopped right at the foot of his desk.
He turned back to look at the waiting room then to his office, finding no other trace of entry. He sighed heavily as his shoulders drooped, releasing his tension and tossing his emotions into the excuse of fatigue.
The footprints had probably been his and the vase was too close to the edge of the desk, those seemed to represent the only logical conclusions.
He packed the case folder into his suitcase along with a few other files before turning the lights off in his office and crossing the waiting room; he stood at the door and took one last glance at the room before shutting off the lights.
He walked briskly down to the main entrance where his limousine always awaited his exit. A man in a black suit and sunglasses opened the door for him, nodding his goodbye.
He walked out into the cold night, thoughts flooding his mind. He took rapid steps to the corner where his ride was waiting, stopping harshly when he heard footsteps matching his.
As soon as he stopped the footsteps did as well, his brow furrowed, eyes shifting to the side. The street was quiet; the only sound was Kaiba breathing.
He shook it off and kept walking, the footsteps following. He quickened his pace as did the footsteps; he could feel his heart thumping harder and harder, deafening his senses.
He whirled around only to be met with an empty street.
he night wind floated towards him, caressing his face and rustling his hair. He was lightly panting, anger welling up inside of him.
Was this some kind of practical joke? Did someone think this was amusing?
He promptly made his way to the limousine, alert as can be.