The Fall
Fall: (verb)
To move from a higher to a lower level, typically rapidly and without control.
As he breezed into work, Seto was surprised to find Serenity already at her desk.
She was talking on the telephone but managed a small smile and a wave in his direction as he walked passed and then quickly resumed her furious typing as she listened intently to the caller on the phone. Seto forced himself to nod back and quickly swept into his office before she could notice how effected he was by her simple gesture.
As he sat down at his desk, he saw a large stack of papers, with a warm coffee and what looked like a home-made slice of carrot cake placed neatly on a plate with a fork. He furrowed in his eyebrows in confusion until he noticed the hand-written note placed carefully on top of the stack of papers.
'Mr. Kaiba,
The disposition from legal in the Wolfam case arrived for you this morning- you will need supplies!
Serenity.'
He regarded the warm coffee and carrot cake and felt the corners of his mouth involuntarily twitch. He read her note several times, admiring the neat loops of the 'L's and the carefully crossed 'T's of her writing. He knew he should have torn the note up and chucked it in the trash, it was just a meaningless note between employee and employer after all. But after he read it again, he decidedly opened the top drawer of his desk and carefully placed the note inside before closing it again and pulled the stack of papers closer. It really was a long, dull document, but for some unfathomable reason he found himself smiling as he read it.
It was the best carrot cake he ever had and that evening as he walked to the elevator, her voice dutifully called to him.
"Goodnight, Mr. Kaiba."
"Goodnight, Miss. Wheeler," he replied, repeating their unspoken nightly ritual just before the elevator doors closed behind him.
….
Serenity proved herself to be a highly competent secretary and he relied on her more than he would willingly admit, especially to her. She would proof-read documents before placing them on his desk; highlighting the important bits so he didn't have to read the rest of the waffle. Occasionally she would write amusing comments in the margin, particularly if the author had made an embarrassing grammatical error or the sentence was a collection of nonsensical words the author had strung together in a pathetic attempt to appear intelligent. Her comments always tickled him. Luckily no one was present in his office to witness his snort of amusement in those moments.
She was meticulous and methodical in her approach to work. The files which appeared on his desk were no longer the messy piles of paper shoved between cardboard jackets; they had now been placed in glossy folders and sorted into neat, indexed sections. She seemed to instinctively know what he needed and the report would magically appear on his desk with another of her hand-written notes on top. He now had a sizable stash of her hand written notes in his top drawer.
He also noticed the sudden appearance of strange plants in his office. He had never had any before, but he found himself quite liking them. Particularly the Jasmine; it smelled exactly like her. He moved that one into a prominent position on his desk.
She was perfect, but he was not the only one to notice and Seto quickly found himself confronting a new feeling.
Jealousy.
Several times he had walked passed her desk to find some nameless male employee sidle up to her, vying for her attention. They would try to schmoose her with charming smiles before casually inviting her out for lunch or a drink after work. She would always give them the same pleasant, beautiful smile she gave to everyone and politely refuse their offer. She never gave a reason why, but Seto knew that for every suitor she turned down, she was another person closer to actually saying 'yes'. Seto would be particularly surly on those days.
It was a Tuesday when it happened again. He was just about to leave his office for lunch when he overheard a loud male voice from her desk. He sank back into the darkness of his room, watching the incident with a scowl from the gloom of the shadows, his hands curling into fists at his side.
Jeremy Bryant was leaning seductively over Serenity's desk. Seto never really liked Jeremy; he was loud, obnoxious and would always boast about his latest conquest in the bedroom, but as Chief Finance Officer, he was competent at his job and managed one of the highest performing teams in the company. But as he leered at his Serenity over the desk and brazenly invited his Serenity out to lunch, Seto scowled. He definitely did not like Jeremy now.
It felt like an eternity has passed before Serenity finally responded to Jeremy's offer. She looked taken aback by his request, but quickly gave him the same friendly smile she gave all her other rejected suitors.
"That is really kind of you Mr. Bryant, however I have a lot of work I need to finish before this afternoon," she politely responded. Seto petulantly noted she did not offer Jeremy an alternative date.
Jeremy shifted closer to Serenity. Did she not notice the desire in his eyes? It was beyond repulsive. His Serenity deserved to be put on a pedestal and worshipped, not pawed at by filth.
"Is Kaiba being a slave driver again?"
Seto scowled in anger, ready to step out of the shadows and announce his presence but Serenity's polite, tinkling laughter stopped him.
"Not at all, Mr. Bryant. It is a pleasure working for Mr. Kaiba. I enjoy it."
Seto churned this over in his mind. A pleasure? What did that mean?
"A pleasure!" Jeremy guffawed. "Kaiba is many things but a pleasure is defiantly not one of them."
Seto mentally logged the insult, knowing he would reprimand Jeremy for his flippant remark later. Serenity's back stiffened and Seto noticed she started shifting papers on her desk. He wished he could see her facial expression.
"You know," Jeremy continued smugly. "You could always transfer over to the finance te-"
"It has been a pleasure talking to you Mr. Bryant," Serenity smoothly interrupted. Although she maintained her usual politeness, Kaiba detected an agitated edge to her voice. "However, I really need to get back to my work."
Jeremy looked displeased by his dismissal.
"Maybe next week then?" He said dejectedly. Serenity didn't appear to be listening as she continued her paper shuffling and Jeremy reluctantly turned away and with a final lustful look in Serenity's direction, stomped back to whatever dark corner of the building he usually lurked in.
Seto remained in the shadows for a moment. Why did she decline Jeremy's invitation? Was it genuinely because she had too much work to do? Or was there another reason? Or another person! Seto had not considered this before. He felt the heat of anger prickling his skin. Even though he could never have her for himself, he selfishly did not want anybody else to have his Serenity.
Before he had an opportunity to reconsider, his feet propelled him forward and he marched purposefully towards her desk before he changed his mind. She looked at him questionably.
"I am going to lunch. Will you accompany me?" He asked with a dangerously low voice. He didn't mean to be so abrupt but he was impatient to know what she would say. He kept his expression firm; he could not allow her to see how desperately he needed to know her response.
She seemed genuinely startled by his invitation and dropped the stapler she had been holding. She bent down to retrieve the stapler and it took all of his resolve not to demand an immediate answer from her.
When she straightened her body he noticed her cheeks were tinged with pink.
"Yes. I would like that." She said breathlessly.
He almost dropped his briefcase from shock, his carefully controlled façade almost breaking.
She said yes!
His heart started thrumming loudly in his chest as he watched her gracefully collect her coat and pick up her handbag. When she was ready, he stiffly walked to the elevator with her dutifully following in behind him.
What did this mean?
Did she like him?
Or did she really just want lunch?
His brain was whirring with a million thoughts as the elevator door closed behind them. She had already turned down Jeremy, did she only agree because Seto was her boss? Did she think it was a business lunch and that was the only reason he asked her?
Why did he ask her?
And why was he so damn pleased she said 'yes.'
She said yes!
He turned his head to look at her as the elevator began its decent. She was already looking in his direction and when their eyes met, she smiled at him. He felt an unfamiliar warmth inside and for a brief moment, he felt special. His thoughts quickly turned cold. Was this the same smile she gave the rest of those idiots that vied for her attention? He was not special at all. He was completely inadequate for her attention.
The elevator door pinged open on the ground floor.
"Follow me." He said simply and stalked off, forcing a stunned Serenity to quickly run to keep up with him.
He led her towards a small, independent café he had discovered a few years ago. It was just around the corner from the office, but hidden down an obscure alley which meant not many people knew of its existence. He allowed Serenity to push open the door and followed closely behind. The small bell tinkled, announcing their arrival and Devina, the owner, quickly rushed over to greet them and showed him to his usual seat. If she was surprised he had company, she knew better than to mention it. He had never taken anyone to his café before.
Once they were seated and Serenity was perched in the chair opposite him, he felt his anxiety creep up again. His objective when asking her to lunch was to see what she would say, he hadn't contemplated that she may have actually agreed. Now he had got her here, what was he supposed to actually do? He had no idea how was he meant to behave with someone he liked. The only other person he liked was Mokuba, and that was completely different.
As Serenity looked at her lap nervously he settled on a question which had been plaguing him for a while.
"Why KaibaCorp?" he asked abruptly. She instantly looked at him and her cheeks reddened at his bluntness. She cleared her throat.
"My parents told me from a young age that I should always aim for the best in life. After I finished my degree, I knew I wanted to pursue corporate business and so I did exactly that; I aimed for the best. You don't get any better than KaibaCorp in Domino."
He felt an unfamiliar swell of pride for her esteem for his company.
"You have a degree?" he enquired with interest.
Her whole face lit up with enthusiasm. "A Masters in Corporate Communications and Public Relations."
Seto was impressed. Then again, everything about her impressed him. A waiter quickly took their order and she nervously resumed the conversation.
"You know, I have been meaning to say thank you, for hiring me I mean."
"I didn't hire you."
He mentally scalded himself. Why did he always have to be so rude? But she didn't seem offended by his rudeness and giggled. It was the most beautiful noise he had ever heard.
"You didn't fire me either," she lightly teased.
"There's still time." He quipped. Wait, did he just try to be funny? He really did have it bad. Their lunch arrived and he was glad for the distraction.
As he took a bite from his biscotti, he took the opportunity to admire her as she slowly nibbled on her pastry. She was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. She was wearing a white, silk blouse with a pale pink, knee-length skirt. Her long, auburn hair was swept over her left shoulder and it tumbled down in soft, glossy waves. It was beautiful. He wanted to reach out and touch it. He quickly stuffed more biscotti into his mouth to suppress the urge and he almost choked.
"Is biscotti your favourite?" she asked pleasantly. He regained his composure and swallowed his mouthful but still paused before answering. He was not the most forthcoming in revealing personal information about himself unless it was business related but if he was going to indulge his craving for Serenity by inviting her to lunch then he needed to get over his discomfort. He decided that revealing his pastry preferences was a good place to start.
"Yes." He said simply. There, he can talk about himself after all.
"And carrot cake." He added as an unconscious afterthought, remembering the delicious carrot cake she had made him before. Crap, he wasn't supposed to say that out loud.
He quickly stuffed more biscotti into his mouth.
"I will have to remember that when you start getting grouchy." She said with a smile.
Seto found himself watching the way she took small, polite bites at her lunch.
"Your manners are a vast improvement to your brothers," Seto mused out loud.
Serenity stopped chewing and slowly put her pastry back down on her plate.
"I didn't think you knew. About my brother I mean." Her voice was quiet and her eyes seemed to be avoiding his.
"I make it my business to know my employees." He didn't mention that he made it his business to specifically know everything about her.
"Mr. Kaiba I assure you that I am a competent employee and your relationship with my brother should hold no bearing on my ability to-"
He held up his hand to stop her. "You misunderstand me Miss Wheeler, I was merely making a comparison in your favour."
"Oh." Her shoulders relaxed and she flashed him a relieved smile.
She picked up her pastry again and resumed her small nibbling. Seto had to repress the urge to lean over and nibble on her pretty mouth in the same way. It was very distracting.
Luckily Serenity appeared oblivious to his wild thoughts as her attention focused on the interior of the café. It was a long time until she broke the silence.
"I didn't know this place was here," she eventually said, her eyes gazing around in wonder as she continued to eat her pastry. "It's lovely." Her voice was so quiet it was almost like she was talking to herself.
"Not many people do."
Her attention quickly switched to him, her amber eyes unblinking as she stared into his eyes. It made him feel suddenly uncomfortable.
"Is that why you come here?" she pressed.
Seto shifted in his seat as he contemplated how best to answer.
"I don't like people pestering me."
Serenity nodded in understanding and looked away again, taking a small sip of her tea. They lapsed into another silence and wordlessly ate the remainder of their lunch. Seto sneaked a glance in her direction as he finished drinking his tea. He could tell by the thoughtful expression on her face that she was pondering how to ask her next question. Seto quietly placed down his cup and patiently waited.
"Why did you invite me here?" she blurted out. Seto was surprised at her forwardness and instantly turned his cold eyes to study her. She was trying her best to look nonchalant but the intense narrowing of her eyebrows betrayed her eagerness to know the answer to her question. Seto felt a tightening in his chest, could he tell her? He wasn't even sure of the answer himself. She would probably laugh in his face if she knew how pathetic he really was.
"Have you finished your lunch?" He asked coolly, choosing to dismiss her question all together. That was the Kaiba way to deal with confrontation.
He noticed she chewed on her lip for a moment, and he knew she was internally debating whether to challenge him about his lack of a response to her question. He wasn't sure what he would accidentally blurt out if she did ask him again. It felt like an eternity had passed before she made up her mind.
"Yes. I have finished thank you." She said, brushing the crumbs off her skirt and promptly standing up from her seat.
She seemed to be avoiding looking at him and Seto could feel the tension his unanswered question had caused as he slowly stood up too. He wanted to say something to her but knew it was better this way. She could not know about his feelings.
He slapped down some money on the table, ignoring her offer to pay and held the door open for her as they silently left the café with a cloud of awkward energy following them back to the office.
…
Apparently Serenity had forgiven him by the time he arrived at work the following day; waiting on his desk was a basket of freshly made biscotti. He ate them all.
Dear Readers,
You guys rock! Thank you for your kind words of encouragement and I hope this chapter does not disappoint. Whist I am enjoying writing Kaiba's POV, it is terrifying posting a new chapter and I am finding it hard to get the balance right between 'story' and 'Kaiba ramblings'. I hope I get it right.
Special thanks to Kingdom's Oathkeeper, Lppurplegirl11, , XOXOserenityXOXO and guests for your reviews- your reviews give me wings (along with copius amounts of Redbull).
Peace and love,
Mimzical
x