Jewels: Hmmm…haven't gotten many reviews yet. Oh well, onward! I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
"Krystal, something major is about to happen today," Valerie said walking into the dining room.
"Does it affect me?" I asked, not looking up from my papers.
"Yeah, I would think so," she said.
"That wasn't a positive answer, whatever it is, keep it to yourself and leave me alone," I said.
"But look…" she said setting a piece of paper on with a lunch invite for all of us in front of me.
"Wow, lunch…I've never had that before," I said, moving the paper out of my way, "He's probably going to sit behind his desk and basically interview as we eat since he's a drone that only uses batteries."
"What is your problem?" she asked, "This is Seto Kaiba…you should be happy."
"Valerie…let me give a word of advice," I said, pointing to the chair across from me. She sat and she stared at me. "I know Seto Kaiba's type…he's a business man who only cares about business at this point. My Father, rest his soul, was the same and my Uncle is the same…and I'm guessing at times your father could be the same way." She gave a frown, she knew I was right and deep down she hated that. "And Kaiba…well I know for sure that he's not doing this because he wants too."
"What?" she said.
"Mokuba is pulling the strings," I said, "I bet Kaiba would rather be stuck in his office alone rather than talking to us…but Mokuba talked him into this whole thing so that his brother doesn't end up alone. Hell, my manager pushed me into this because he thinks if I don't get out and socialize I might end up alone."
"So this is all…" she started.
"Mokuba's idea," I replied.
"So I fixed my makeup, did my hair, and picked out this outfit for something that will never happen?" she asked getting teary eyed.
"Aw sweetie, I never said nothing would happen," I said, "I just said he wanted nothing to do with all this."
She burst into tears and ran out of the room and just shook my head.
"You are one vindictive bitch," I heard from my computer.
"How long have you been listening?" I questioned, switching screens and seeing Akai.
"Long enough," he replied.
"So what's the word hummingbird?" I asked, chuckling.
"They don't like it…" he said cautiously.
"Excuse me?" I asked.
He cleared his throat and sat back in his chair. "They don't like the new book."
"Well you can tell them to-."
"Okay, before you get carried away…they said they liked the old style detective story that you're going for, but they're not crazy about the werewolf part."
"What's not to get? By day Joseph Anderson is one of London's most respected Detectives, but when the full moon comes he's a savage beast…"
"They said no werewolves…Jenna Bernard got the werewolf gig first."
"Jenna…" I growled.
"Krystal…don't lose it okay, like I said, they still like the old school detective thing," he said trying to calm me down.
"Don't lose it?!" I yelled, "You try working on a book for six months and then being told that the publishers don't like it! I can't even go talk to them because I'm stuck here, and to top it off I have to have lunch with Mr. Bossy Pants!"
"Things will be okay…just revise things like you always do," he said before signing off.
"Son of a bitch!" I yelled.
-Lunch-
"Are you going to sit?" Kaiba asked.
"No," I replied, sourly staring out the large window of Kaiba's office at Kaiba Corp.
"Is something wrong?" he questioned.
"Everything is wrong…wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!" I replied.
"I'll take that as a yes," he said, "Sit…eat."
"I am not a damn dog, don't tell me what to do!" I yelled looking over my shoulder at him.
He smirked. "There's no need to yell."
"No need…no need to yell?" I questioned, walking away from the window, "My new book was just denied by the publisher because one of my competitors who uses the same publisher got to the werewolf idea first."
"That must piss you off," he said.
I stopped and shook my finger at him. "You like doing this…you like pissing me off, you like making me angry."
"I heard that it takes a lot to make you angry…except in high stress situations," he said, "Such as this…you just turned in a new book and you got thrown into this competition. That's a lot of stress…"
"You're testing me right now?" I questioned.
He chuckled, finally turning away from his computer. "The other girls are used to all this wining and dining crap…let's face it Miss McKinley, from what I hear, you're a hermit."
"You're one to talk Mr. Do-Not-Interrupt-Me-While-I'm-Working," I retorted, "You're here in your office all day so you can't say much…Office Hermit."
"Touché," he said, standing up.
It was silent as he walked towards the window. I hadn't noticed until that moment that instead of his usual white suit or purple duster, he was going for something different and was wearing a black pin stripe suit, dark blue shirt, and black tie. And I hated to admit it, and mentally slapped myself for this, but he looked good.
'How could I ever even think that?' I thought, rubbing my temples. Don't get me wrong, Kaiba was by no means ugly…but I had never found him attractive before (maybe its because I just didn't really pay THAT close attention to his looks).
"While you're here I have to ask you a couple of questions," he said, finally breaking the silence that was only awkward to myself.
"Fine," I said.
"What's your view on Duel Monsters?" he asked, "I know you were drawing those…Toon Monsters…but that doesn't mean much."
"I don't play…" I started, trying to quickly think of a way to skate around this question, "But I guess you could say that even with my busy schedule, I'm en enthusiast of the game; I pay attention to player stats, watch duels on TV, and I've even got to watch duels live."
He rubbed his chin in thought. "Who's your favorite duelist?"
"Nice try Kaiba, but I don't have a favorite," I lied.
"Favorite food?"
"Italian…more specifically a baby kale salad with artichokes, chickpeas, and prosciutto crisps."
"Hmmm…color?"
"Green."
"Animal?"
"Tiger."
"Family?"
"I don't want to talk about that…"
He looked at me and then nodded towards the door. "You can go."
"That's it?" I asked.
"That's it…" he replied.
"Ok then…" I said, before leaving the office.
-Later-
"You're in my sun," I said to Akai as he stood in front of the pool chair that I was currently laying in.
"Why does it not surprise me that you're already getting started on a new idea?" he questioned, looking at the papers in my lap.
"If I don't Jenna will-," I started only to get off.
"Forget about Jenna," Akai said, "For pete's sake she has nothing on you, her writing skills are mediocre at best."
"That doesn't matter, she was still a step ahead of me," I said, sourly.
CASEY LEE'S POV
"I don't see what you're worried about, Casey," Alanna said, as we stood looking out the window that over looked the pool, "She obviously doesn't even want to be here and think about it…Seto Kaiba President of Kaiba Corp and Krystal McKinley, Writer. Does that sound right to you? She won't win."
"I don't know if you notice, but today she was in his office the longest," I said, "There's obviously something about her that caught his eye at the dinner and now…she may act like she doesn't want to be here, but I'm sure she actually does."
"Casey…I don't think-," she started, but I cut her off.
"Don't be fooled by her," I sneered, "She writes stories for a living…she knows how to lie."
KRYSTAL'S POV
"I heard that you had a meeting with Mr. Kaiba," Akai said.
"Yes…" I said with a nod.
"How'd that go?" he questioned, trying to innocently pry.
"As well as it could…I had to skate around certain questions," I replied.
"Duel Monsters and family?" he asked.
"Yes…" I said, quietly.
"Miss McKinley…" we heard someone say.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Roland. "What?"
"Mr. Kaiba would like to see you and the rest of the bachelorettes by the grand staircase," he said.
I looked at Akai and shrugged my shoulders. "Only the first full day here and already someone didn't make a very good impression."
TO BE CONTINUED…
Jewels: Who will be eliminated? Stay tuned to find out!