After several hours of flying, driving through downtown traffic, navigating American streets and fighting Jetlag, he had finally arrived at the parking lot. He took the elevator to the top floor without hesitation curious to see if anyone would stop him. Set walked with ease past the cubicles to the main office-his office. There she stood, in front of the desk paperwork in hand, phone cradled against her ear balanced with her shoulder, tangled in her long hair. "No, no! These are not the reports I asked for! I asked for payroll! Not the product cost reports. no! Just send me what I asked for!" She demanded exasperated before hanging up with a heavy sigh. that's when she turned around and saw him. Immediately she rolled her eyes, sighed and gave him a fake smile " Fantastic! I forgot I was going to have to deal with you today, I assume you know who I am, reports are on the desk, still waiting for payroll" Kisara announced. was wearing a charcoal gray suit, with a knee length skirt, and a blue dress shirt. He could see the barest of tattoos peeking out from the hem of her skirt, to him in looked like the tails of dragons and it made Seto wonder of her was right. He stared at the ink on her calves while she moved. He'd deal with his curiosity later.
"I heard," he commented, picking up the stacks of paper on the desk and rifling through them.
" too bad you didn't hear about pride month, I'm sure you'd have rescheduled your trip because now I'm stuck housing you until you leave," She snapped with a fake smile.
"Mokuba scheduled it, and I think he did it on purpose," Seto stated as he focused on the earnings reports.
" that wouldn't surprise me," she admitted as she began to straighten up the desk. " he probably finds this amusing," she pulled her long white hair over her shoulder and tied it back with a heavy sigh " I need another coffee," she lamented with a punctuated yawn. " do you want one?" She asked. He nodded and she picked up the phone once more. Once she hung up the phone she turned to him and said " OK I have an intern picking up coffee that'll be here soon and then around 1 o'clock I usually take my lunch and go home," She told him. He furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair
" why would you even bother going home? With the traffic in the city that sounds ridiculous," he scoffed. Once again she rolled her Crystal blue eyes.
"It's not that far," she posed dripping with sarcasm. He shrugged with indifference. He furrowed his brow as he looked over reports, trying to hide the fact that he was genuinely impressed. He sighed and handed the reports back.
"Well, for someone who used to be a nurse, you are adequate with business," he remarked. She rolled her eyes. "Let's see if you can maintain this,"
"Maintaince is easy, the goal is a 25% increase from where we were, and the projections show close to that with the bedding line that's coming out. Pre orders are all sold out, Plushies just restocked and sold out in six hours. I was the one that designed the bedding and brought it to your brother. Tomorrow, all the bedding orders ship out, restock is expected in one week, and they will be gone in hours," she told him. He looked at her stonefaced and nodded.
"It wasn't a bad idea, that's why I approved it," he told her. She tried but she couldn't read him, Finally, she put her hand on her hip and said,
"Anyway, we need to get you situated. It's nearly lunchtime and I live close enough that we can walk, grab your luggage," he rolled his eyes. was she actually trying to tell him what to do?
"I'm not carrying my luggage across town," he snapped. She pointed out the window.
"Do you see the tall building that says Dispensary, Convenience store, Cafe, across the parking lot? I live on the top floor, the fifth. The first floor is businesses, then apartments, mostly filled with people who work here. You can carry your luggage 100 feet," she explained as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Kisara was quick and he was trailing behind, watching her long platinum hair sway in the wind. in the lot he caught up with her. "I'll grab my lunch from the cafe and meet you upstairs, don't worry, you won't be waiting," she remarked, dashing off while he walked to the stairs. She caught up with Seto on the fourth floor landing. The fifth floor was carpeted in a deep blue plush down the hallway. He followed as she opened the door and showed him around. Immediately, all the dragon statues, pillows, and paintings caught his attention. "That's your room, your bathroom, storage, my room, my bath," she rattled on pointing out doors " and that's the office, in case im ever sick and need to work from home," she ended, pointing to a door in the corner of the living room. she told him to look around and get comfortable while she sat in the open kitchen and ate. Every wall had a painting or sketch of a dragon on it, dragon shelves held mo
"At least you have some taste in decor," he commened. Kisara rolled her eyes and munched on her salad until a fluffy white kitty jumped up. he frowned in distataste, as she began to baby talk the cat before handing her treats of turkey.
"This is Momo, I've had her since I was seven, and she's been through everything with me," she gushed scratching her ear. Strands of white cat hair stuck to her suit jacket and skirt. She didn't seem to mind and Seto used it as an opportunity to try and peek at her tattoo.
"Animals as pets are gross," he offered. She rolled her eyes again and took a drink of coffee.
"We're not having this discussion. Do you want me to make you something to eat?" he was thrown off guard. She had to be playing a game, what was her goal? He declined. She shrugged and finished her lunch while he explored his new room. He didn't want to admit that he loved it. No one else understood and appreciated dragons like he did, but it seemed as though he now found a counterpart. He hated her attitude, but loved how well she excelled in her job. She had a weird backstory, like he did, but she proved that she was more than competent. He swore Mokuba set it up like this on purpose, and booked his trip when he would have no choice but to stay with her for 2 weeks. He hated it, it was only day one and he was dreading the next 13. They returned to the office and finished the day. Returning to the flat, all Seto wanted to do was sleep off the jet lag. He took a shower and changed before being enticed by a delicious smell. He stepped out into the kitchen and before he could say anything she spoke up.
"Oh good, there you are, dinner is ready," she began plating chicken with broccoli, potatoes, carrots, and other she was dressed in a blue t shirt and pajama pants. However, it did expose the tattoos of dragons on her forearms, one blue,and white, and one that was red and black He began to wonder why she covered them up. To him, they looked well done and detailed. He thought that they should be shown off and not hidden. It made him curious about how many she handed him a plate and a glass of wine. "I dont care where you eat, just put your dish in the sink. I'm going eat and watch tv before I go to bed, if you need anything, figure it out yourself," she told him before doing just that, Seto remained in the kitchen and caught up on his texts. She was finally silent, and he liked that.
It was day 4 and he had finally started warming up to Momo, as he was getting ready to leave he scratched her ear. She didn't move and was ice cold. Startled, Seto grabbed his phone and keys and hurried out to the car. Once in the safety of the car, he looked up cat shelters and selected one, putting it into his gps he started the car and drove out. His mind was racing. This is exactly why I don't let Mokuba have a pet. What else should I do? How can I fix this? I dont want to deal with her crying over a cat.
Pulling in to the shelter, he parked and headed in, making a beeline for kitty corner. From there he rows in each and every cage at every single cat. there were songs that were alone and some that were grouped into three or four. most of them seem nice and it was making his decision difficult. That's when noticed two of them in a cage with a red card on it, it made him curious both of the cats in the cage were friendly. They Lovingly rubbed against his hand, one of them squeaked curiously before licking his knuckle.
"Why do these two have a red card?" he asked the worker.
"they're scheduled to be Euthanized," she said, immediately, he demanded why. "They've just been here too long. They're almost 4 years old and have to go together, and because of that no one wants them," Seto furrowed his brow and grit his teeth.
"That's ridiculous. Box them up, I'll take them," he annoinced. she smiled politely and wrung her hands nervously.
"There's a whole process, we do background checks," she told him. He growled, he was on a mission and would not be stymied.
"How much do I have to donate to take them today?" he barked. She smiled again and told him she was going to go get the director. About five minutes later a middled aged woman with blonde and grey hair walked in and announced herself.
"What can I do for you Mister?" she asked
"Kaiba, I'm the executive and owner of Kaiba Corp," he told her. she looked skeptical and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I do believe that the LA Executive is Kisara Payne, am I correct?" He nodded.
"Yes, she is. Now, down to business. How much will it cost for you to stop redcarding animals? Also, I want to take these two home today, so name your price," he declared, beginning to get impatient.
"Well for us to become a no kill shelter it will take about half a million, and we've been raising money for a while, and we're at 68,000." she said with pride. He nodded and pulled out his checkbook, and calmly, wrote a check for 2 million dollars. He tore it out and handed it to her.
' "Now can you box up these cats so I can take them," he barked. She took a deep breath as she stared at the numbers on the check. She began to shake and tear up.
"Are you serious? With this we can do so much. Is this real?"
"Yes, as long as you give me these two cats," he told her again. She nodded and left the room. About ten minutes later she returned with a large crate and some paperwork.
"Ok, you passed the background check Mr. Kaiba, thankfully I was able to rush it. Here's all the files for these two, their shots and vet visits are all in here, as well as their preferred food," she handed him a packet of paper and a file folder. "Thank you, because of you we'll no longer be red carding animals, we can expand and let animals wait to find forever homes," she continued.
"Good, you shouldn't be murdering perfectly good pet options," he remarked, grabbing the crate of cats and striding back to his car. He put them on the passenger seat and tossed the paperwork in the back before he began to drive back to the loft.
"This is stupid. this is why Mokuba can't have a dog, I should call you Moneybags 1 and 2. Why am I talking to cats?" he mumbled while he drove. The cats remained quiet save for the occasional squeak or meow.
He hauled the carrier into the apartment only to find that Kisara wasn't there, and neither was Momo. Frustrated he texted her and told her to come back to the apartment, when she asked him why. he said that she needed to sign for a package. She didn't respond, a few minutes later the elevator dinged and Seto opened the door only to find a delivery man conveniently looking for Kisara, with an entire cart of packages. It didn't take long before they both heard her heels clicking on the steps. She apologized to the delivery man and signed for the packages. He pushed them inside and left them right in front of the cat carrier. Thats when Seto noticed that Kisara's eyes were rimmed red from crying. She thanked the delivery man and closed the door. Briefly she looked at the packages before she announced that she was going to go back to work. That was when he noticed she was wearing a knee length black dress with flared sleeves, instead of her usual suit. Immediately his brain tied the attire to the cat.
"Wait, I have something for you," he told her. He grabbed the crate and put it on the table. Kisara furrowed her brows, her face twisted and turned red.
"You knew my cat died? What the fuck Seto!" she nearly yelled. He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I didn't know what else to do, I'm not familiar with this. I'm trying to help," he shouted back gruffly. "I'll take it back, but going back is death," he told her, deliberately withholding his donation effort that ended red carding. She sighed, took another deep breath and ran her hand across her face.
"No, don't. I'll keep it," she responded, kneeling down and opening the crate on the coffee table. "Oh, there's TWO of you in here," she declared. The first one, fluffy gray and white jumped into her lap, while the brown one cautiously stuck it's head out to survey the surroundings.
"That's why they were red carded. I figured you could give them the love and lifestyle that you gave Momo, and that why that love will never die or whatever, you know," he muttered awkwardly. She took a deep breath and fought back tears.
"That's actually a really nice sentiment, thank you, but do not bring home anymore animals," she remarked, her breath and words shaking.
"What if I find a stray?" he remarked sarcastically. She chuckled lightly and told him to call a shelter. He shrugged his shoulders. "Why don't you take the day off and get these two adjusted. I can handle the office for the rest of the day. That way I don't have to stare at your puffy red cry face all day and listen to your laments," he ranted. "Besides, I think we could both use some alone time," he added. She nodded and gently coaxed the brown cat from the cage.
"Sure. Thank you. I appreciate the effort that you made to help. In fact, tomorrow, we can have whatever you want for dinner," she answered, while petting both cats.
"I'll think about it. I might just order out. I'm told you have good food out here, but I have yet to try anything but yours. I think I want to try that famous Mexican place. You have fun with your chicken and broccoli." he mocked before walking out. In the hallway he noticed that he was still feeling warm and happy, like when he won a duel. He huffed a sigh and waited for the elevator. Hopefully, he had averted some of the crying and morose lethargy of Momo's loss, but he didn't want to stick around to find out.
However, she never broke down bawling in front of him, at least not over Momo.
It was day ten and Seto was looking forward to leaving in four days. He had more than enough of Kisara. She was far too stubborn and headstrong for his taste, or at least he thought so. Both of them were working in the office when one of the assistants walked in flustered.
"Miss Payne! They just shut down the airports! There's a stay at home order going into effect on Monday!" she blurted, red faced and teary eyed. Kisara looked up startled, irritated.
" What do you mean they shut down the airports? This asshole is supposed to leave in 4 days," she bellowed back. The assistant handed over a shuffled stack of papers and Kisara began skimming them all while her assistant shuffled her feet and wrung her hands before she began stuttering out questions.
"Are we all losing our jobs? What's going to happen? Do I need to file unemployment? Do you have a plan Ms. Payne?" Finally, she looked up and began to soothe her assistant. She began pacing, her heels clicking loudly. She was wearing another suit, but this one was navy blue with pants and matching shoes. She always dressed so professionally, in fact, aside from her occasional vulgarity, everything she did was professional. He was beginning to see why Mokuba wanted to hire her and at the moment was agreeing with his choice.
"No, you're not losing your job. Gather your stuff, youll be working from home. I'll talk to the office in a few minutes, and please tell the warehouse I'll be talking to them in an hour and to all meet in the break room. I've got this handled, just calm down," she assured. Seto watched as she walked into the office and announced they'd all be keeping their jobs and they would all be working from home during the government shutdown. Then he watched through the security camera as she talked to the warehouse staff, telling them to file unemployment, and that any workers who lived in the apartments on site would be allowed to continue working with a 50 percent hazard pay raise, plus standard overtime. Those that lived off site and wanted to work would be given a temporary address at the apartment, and allowed to stay in the loft office until the apartment building was finished. After answering all their questions and ordering a memo to be typed and emailed to all off duty employees, Kisara returned to the office and gathered up paper work while Kaiba sat with a sly grin at his desk. She was frazzled, tired and obviously irritated by this impediment,
"I've got marketing working on the website to add free shipping and announce delays, the office staff is getting together to work from home and the warehouse, luckily won't be shut down entirely since we can loophole the 'home business' and onsite work, but we're only going to have a skeleton crew working, everything's going to slow down, meanwhile the orders will be skyrocketing, I've done the best I can do. At least we're not shut down entirety," she rambled on while collecting her things, "I'm going home to a glass of wine, I need it," she added. He scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You know, today you accomplished something that most people never do. You actually impressed me with how you handled this obstacle, and how quickly you remedied it. Most people would break under that kind of pressure, but you handled it just as I would and in the proper immediate fashion. I'll probably never say this to you again, so I'll repeat it just once, I'm impressed. You've met a standard most fail to even fathom," he divulged. She chuckled and headed for the door.
"I didn't do it to impress you. I did it to keep our workforce alive and living indoors. I told you I could do my job. You never should have questioned me, Now you coming with or staying here?" she asked in an obviously irritated tone. He scoffed and uncrossed his arms.
"I'm staying here. I have to adjust our profit projections because of this shutdown, and look into why this is happening," he told her. She nodded.
"There's an epidemic, some hardcore flu virus from what I've heard. You have fun in the office. I'm going home to wine, music and two kitties who are stealing my heart," she dramatized before stepping out. Now, there was silence in the room and that was just how Seto liked it. Finally, he had time to think.
AN/: You can expect longer notes in upcoming chapters, including one regarding Mr. Takahashi. As for this one all I really have to say is I'm sorry this took so long, I love you guys. MK
