Work Text:
San Francisco was overhyped. The potential business partnership between your company and the larger international firm was slowly falling apart, but the firm requested you and your small team’s assistance with some UX organizational work. If anything, your company, QSOX, agreed purely as a last resort attempt to create a possible contract opportunity for more of that work in the future. Rolling your eyes, you leafed through the papers in your arms as you meandered. Your team knew that your best ideas came while you were on the move, so it was better to let you wander as you pleased.
QSOX was just out of their start-up phase, but they were desperate to prove themselves in the field. You were happy that you made the switch. The company was built from the ground-up with a worker-first mindset and a heavy emphasis on diversity. They lived up to their promises for benefits and pay. Though not one to believe in luck, QSOX did happen to stumble onto some prolific talent who took a gamble on them. And it was paying off, slowly.
The chance to work with Vibrant SofTech though, a lead animation and design company with ties to Kaiba Corp., promised an even wider audience and a chance to really secure them as a main player in the tech field. Being sent out, on Vibrant’s bill, to stay in San Fran was not proving as fun as you would have liked. Certain parts of the city were lovely, and you wished you had more time to explore the side streets, but you specifically left this part of the industry. The stringent twist of stress and anxiety mixed with seeing the evidence of upcoming deadlines – this part of the field you didn’t want to take part of anymore. You still had project deadlines at QSOX, but they weren’t the top dog in the field, so there wasn’t the added pressure of needing to constantly outperform themselves and their competitors.
The curve of the building got closer and you could almost make out the other nearby buildings past the window glare when you caught an muffled argument to your left. Your head tilted and you glanced around; maybe you could sneak a small listen? You leaned close to the door and jumped when it opened slightly. It seemed like a fairly common frustration was happening: the main party wanted the tech to work a certain way and party two doesn’t have any easy answers for why. The arguments reminded you of your complaints: it was promised to be one way, but it was anything but that way.
It appeared that the issues were with combining two different software in a way that they were not exactly meant to mesh. There were dispositions on one that did not match the other and the routing framework was off for the audio. Your bit your lip, a light pressure, and you stepped a bit further into the room to lean against the wall. The people in charge were close to going at each other’s necks, but looking at the details they had pulled up –
“Why not just rename the information you already have?” Your question brought the entire room’s eyes on you. Clutching your papers a bit tighter, you held up a placating hand.
“Who the hell are you?” the words came from one of the leaders, his blue eyes were narrowed, and they felt like drills tearing apart your chest. You were saved from someone else in the room chiming up.
“A contractor, we needed their help with some information and the group is good. You shouldn’t be in here; you need to get out.”
Waving your hand, you pushed off the wall intent on following orders. “Wait,” you stopped and leaned your head back over your shoulder to look at a younger dark-haired man sitting next to the intimidating leader, “what do you mean by renaming the information?” You paused until you got a nod from the other leader and you approached the computer presentation. You set your papers on the end of the table, and cleared your throat.
“If you look, the audio software is trying to continuously pull the audio files from this location because they share a name. That is expected behavior, but you are then trying to remove some of the audio during these sections with this name here,” you moved the mouse over to highlight the area, demonstrating as you spoke, “but the thing is, you are missing the fact that you have an already built equivalent here that is being ignored.” This – this was your ideal situation and why QSOX hired you. There were never going to be times you won employee of the month, you weren’t the hardest worker or smartest person in the room, but when it came to solutions, your brain seemed to find the easiest and most efficient solution even when everyone else in the room was stumped.
You showed that, by renaming the audio file which excluded the extraneous information that they didn’t want at the moment, that they could bypass having to code a whole section to turn off and on functionality. They could just pull from an already built file with a different name during certain sections. Blank stares looked up at you and you coughed lightly. This wasn't a new experience for you, but it did bring up some uncomfortable memories.
“Well, that umm…that was my suggestion. I’ll leave you to it,” you were not rushing out of that room. Your papers were not death gripped as you exited, but you made sure to close the door behind you. And you were absolutely, one hundred percent not followed by the steely gaze of that tall man. He looked vaguely familiar, but the room was only dimly lit so that the presentation could be viewed. He must have been one of their clients or partners.
Your small team started to tease you as you came back to your office seat, flustered and embarrassed. After enough niggling, you admitted to what you had done. Taemin nudged your shoulder lightly after taking his seat, “they probably needed it, boss. It was a promising idea.” You rolled your eyes and shook your shoulders a bit to get rid of the antsy feeling.
“Hush,” you responded, “let’s just finish our contract here so we can get back to our lives.” The few coworkers you had from QSOX chuckled, used to your personality. It was easy to tune everything out once you had your headset on and you were determined to comb through the QA testing cases and bugs that were submitted to locate any commonalities that could pose an issue later down the line for the experience they were looking for.
It took a bit before you stopped feeling the prickling sensation of eyes on the back of your head but being able to hyper-focus on your work helped. You hummed a bit to the Mother Mother song that popped up on your playlist and you missed the large hand on the edge of your desk.
It wasn’t until a ping came up on your computer from the team’s messenger that you blinked and leaned back, following the hand up to meet the blue eyes of the leader before. You put your wireless set down around your shoulders and nodded your head, “Mr. Seto Kaiba.” There was no mistaking his shoulders and sharp features in this light. You wouldn’t think about it, wouldn’t even consider the thought of how you must have appeared in that meeting. Oh god, you paused, he’s a genius who already probably considered and then you stopped. You were not about to go down that rabbit hole.
“You’re smarter than you look.”
If you had been paying any attention to the words coming out of your mouth, you would have been mortified. As it was, your brain was fighting to ignore your earlier actions. “Is that a compliment to my intelligence or an insult to my looks?”
You faced forward, wide-eyed. Fuck. From your peripheral vision, you saw his hand twitch the smallest amount before he stood straight. “You know who I am and yet you still answer this way?” Rather than meet his stare, your gaze flicked up to meet the stare in the reflection of your larger monitor.
Keep it professional, don’t engage. You’ve been down this road before and you didn’t want to deal with it again. “Was there something you needed? As far as I know, our team isn’t working on the KC project,” that deflection wasn’t too hard.
“The fix worked.” You hummed, feeling a rising panic. What did he want? Why had he come here? You’re smarter than you look. It wasn’t a smart idea that you came up with, just an effective one. “You are not curious about it?”
Your mouth felt dry, “not particularly. It wasn’t my place to be there anyway, but I heard the arguing and wanted to see if I could help.”
“You mean got involved in something you should have stayed out of?” he snapped back. You tried to keep your cool and took a breath before answering.
“I’ve been in those meetings before, they are never productive for anyone there once they get to the arguing part. If the engineers are busy being kept in lengthy meetings, it interrupts my team’s ability to get our work complete.”
Taemin flinched slightly beside you, and you shot him an apologetic smile, not meaning to drag any of them into this. “You snuck into a room purely because you cared about your team? Sentimental,” he sneered. You had escaped this environment before, worked enough in the field to know where this was leading.
“Mr. Kaiba,” you motioned him back and you stood, turning to face his chest. You blinked, paused, then looked up. “Walk with me.” You heard Joniqua snicker behind you, and you fought the urge to turn and make a face in her direction. To your surprise, you felt Kaiba stride next to you. “I think better in motion,” you explained. He hummed in acknowledgement.
“Answer me this, how did such a simple fix elude our group?”
“Pride. And being clouded by each leader believing that they knew the way to fix it. Then emotions started to get into the mix which makes it even harder to consider everything.”
“You think it would have been found if we were not already frustrated?” You met his eyes and nodded. “We’ve been working on that fix for nearly a week.”
Your palms suddenly felt clammy, and you chewed the inside of your cheek before answering. In the back of your mind, a voice reminded you that this was why you left the industry when you did. Your canines caught and the sharp sting followed by iron bled onto your tongue. “Mr. Kaiba, I am good at what I do. I was kept on this contract because I find patterns efficiently. There are hundreds of other workers who do the same. Maybe you just didn’t have the right people at the table.”
His long legs brought him before you and you stopped before you ran into his chest. “Exactly. I want to hire you. Call your company and tell them you’ve found something else.”
Complete silence. He wanted you to…what the fuck? “Absolutely not.”
“Whatever pay and benefits you are getting, I will triple it,” he retorted. You tried not to flounder in the moment. What sort of maniac was he?
“Thank you for the offer, but are you out of your mind? I just said that there were hundreds of people who would come up with what I said.”
“And yet, only you said it. We only hire the best. You’ll see your new desk and team on Monday.” He turned to walk away, but you snagged his forearm before he could leave.
Staring at your traitorous limb gave you the courage to get it out, “I will absolutely not be seeing you on Monday.” His arm burned beneath your hand and you nearly let go, but his glare made your own indignant feelings rise. “Or are you hard of hearing? Cause I can repeat it again if needed.” He ripped his arm away and grumbled out something in Japanese.
Pleased that he finally got the point, you turned and returned to your team, ready to be as productive as possible. The sooner you were able to finish this project, the sooner you all could get back to Denver.
Seto Kaiba had left you alone, for the most part, for the rest of your time at Vibrant. They were pleased with the organizational plan your team created and were thankful for the testing demonstrations you gave them. With the understanding that any future assistance would be virtual only, your small group was dismissed. Which is why, after a short vacation you felt you deserved, seeing Joniqua leaned up against your desk with a grin on her face.
“Not that I don't love seeing your beautiful smile on a Wednesday morning, but something tells me this isn't because you are happy to see me,” you ventured cautiously, gently placing your lunchbox in a bottom drawer and your small backpack across your chair.
She laughed in response, “we have a betting pool going for what you did.” You blinked, brows furrowed in confusion. What you did? “Boss lady says she needs you.” Taemin tapped his desk, giving you a thumbs up. You knew he meant well, truly, but that thumbs up caused a lead ball to drop in your stomach. It wasn't often that she called anyone in person besides the company heads, and while her official title was Administrative Assistant, even the heads came to order for one Silvia Reyes.
Exiting the elevator and approaching her desk, you leaned in, trying to feign cool confidence. “My darling, love of my life, S-Starshine Silvia, to what do I owe the pleasure of this...uh, this wondrous occasion that I should be called to have me grace your,” you trailed off, unable to keep it together.
“Charming,” Silvia rolled her eyes and brushed away your arm, continuing to remove imaginary dust from where you had leaned against her immaculately clean and organized office. “Tell me why a Mr. Seto Kaiba from Kaiba Corps has called in for you nearly every day, barely contained himself when I told him that I wouldn't confirm you were here or not, and then growled at me when I told him that it is not my policy to release your personal contact information.”
“Well, you see-”
“And tell me why he is wasting my time continually demanding to speak with me and not with Patty who is our secretary,” she continued, plowing through the start of your explanation.
“I mean, he really shouldn't have,” you started again when you thought she stopped only for her to give you a sharp glare.
“Lastly, tell me what you are going to do to rectify this situation.”
You felt like you were 8-years old again. The teacher had caught you at the chalkboard drawing a silly face next to the math problems and you had to explain why what you had done was wrong and had to erase everything in front of the class. Heat bloomed on your face and you were sure that you were blushing with embarrassment; it didn't matter whether she could see it or not. “I'm going to take the contact information that I am sure you have recorded, call him myself, and make sure he never bothers you again unless it is on contractual business matters.”
Silvia huffed, handing over the flowery sticky pad sheet with all the information you needed - numbers, extensions, names to use in order to reach the CEO. Believing you were dismissed, you turned to meet her eyes as she cleared her throat, “oh, and hun?”
Deep breath, “yes?”
“It's great to have you back at the office, I've been loving these little notepads,” she grinned and waved a small pad with cartoon unicorns and dragons on it. Nodding in response, you hurried to the elevator and let out the breath you didn't realize you held. Kaiba. The arrogant ass nearly had you in trouble with the woman you both feared and adored the most in your company. There was just something about her intimidation factor that was also a huge...
There was no time to consider that thought.
Getting back to your office space, you plopped down heavily. Your day had started out so very nicely and this was just not how you wanted the rest of it to go. “So,” Joniqua started, bumping your shoulder once she sat on the corner of your desk, dark brown eyes crinkled with joy, “was it good or bad?” You shrugged. How could you describe this situation?
“Neither I guess, she's not upset at me directly. It's just that one Mr. Seto Kaiba continues to pester her for my personal information and she's tired of it,” you explained, trying to keep things vague.
“What did you ever do to him?”
You pursed your lips, “said no.” You felt more than heard the stapler fall onto the floor next to you. It's light thud traveled up your feet and settled in your gut. Taemin immediately gripped your shoulder, hard, and you could only blink stupidly at his reaction.
He barely got out the words through a tightened jaw, “he propositioned you? And now won't leave you alone?” Taemin's pulse raced in his grip.
“Propositioned! Taemin, come on man. He's a rich dude and you're not bad looking yourself,” Joniqua winked down at you, “he probably wanted a quick fix and you are the first person to tell him no. He likes the chase.”
“Joniqua!” Taemin protested
“Oh my god, enough of that!” You squirmed out of your chair, feeling the laughter gather in your chest. “He didn't proposition me. It was a work thing and I told him no. You know the places I've worked before,” they both nodded, “and I didn't want to deal with that again. I like working here.”
You squatted, rummaging through your bag to grab your cell. “And I'd like to keep working here by not getting on Silvia's bad side. I have a call to make.” You could just make out the two of them going over pros, cons, and who won the bet as you found a free tech room.
The chair and tables were either pushed in the center or pushed completely to the edges of the room; it left a wide path for you to pace or walk in a circle around the room. You steeled your nerves and you dialed the number Silvia recorded, waiting for the answer.
“Speak,” Kaiba's tell-tale voice demanded.
“Oh, sorry, I haven't learned that trick yet. Maybe if I get enough treats, I'll have it down by next week.”
He breathed your name, softly, but you were just able to make it out. “Where were you?”
Wh-where were you? Oh no, no, no, Mr. CEO, this isn't how this works. “That's none of your business. You got my answer, stop badgering the administration. Silvia will actually murder us both.”
“Then who should I speak with in order to transfer your contact?” You could tell he was annoyed, but you did take a sick sort of pleasure from that fact.
“No one, Kaiba, you speak with no one here. You don't speak with me, you don't speak with my company. Go hire someone more qualified. If you feel the urge to call again, ask to speak with Patty, our actual secretary and maybe someone will call you back,” you felt that this was clear. No room for error, no way he could misinterpret -
He cleared his throat, “I believe your CEO is coming to the Seals and Surf Charity Event. It will be a perfect time to talk to him.”
“You leave Jesse out of this. Xe,” you punctuated the word, heavily, “needs none of you. I am not a good fit for your company. Goodbye.” You hung up and breathed for a moment. The absolute, unrelenting, pompous...your phone chimed and you glanced at the text number.
When can I expect your resignation at QSOX?
You had never blocked someone so quickly in your life.
Unfortunately, in dueling arenas and in business, Seto Kaiba was never known to be anything other than relentless. The silence from his side lasted four measly days before a new number was sent a message to your phone.
What will it take for you to accept?
Downsize your company by 90%.
Unacceptable. Negotiation: You'll be on a team of no more than 5 people.
Declined.
Along with your normal salary, you'll be granted at least 1 sabbatical per year to work on...special interests or outside work.
Nope. Not enticing enough. I would also need 24/7 access to the CEO with a guaranteed response time of no longer than 2 minutes.
....Counter Offer: Access to a team lead with those response preferences.
You had the pleasure of putting in a shocked emoji.
Am I not even good enough to be a team leader?
You then promptly blocked his second number.
During your next status meeting, you let Jesse know what was going on so that xe could be prepared for the Seals and Surf event. Xe was surprised, but more so at your continued refusal. “He sounds like he's willing to make even more concessions. How long will you hold out and demand more? He may change his mind if you don't accept soon,” Jesse pulled at xir lip, worrying the skin with xir teeth.
“Jesse, Jesse, look at me,” xe looked up at you, “I'm not going anywhere. He could offer to completely give me KaibaCorp and I would still tell him no. You know this. You know me. If I wanted to go to them, I would have stayed at...” You trailed off, not wanting to dredge up old feelings.
“Right, right, of course. It is just, sometimes I feel like you are wasted here,” xe waved a hand before looking at you intently. “You undersell yourself a lot.” Rolling your eyes, you announced that this meeting was over and stood up to leave.
“By the way, I'm bringing you with me to S&S. Loraine misses you and I need you for networking skills,” you heard before the door closed behind you. You rolled your eyes, knowing xe was messing around to make you laugh.
Wonderful joke.
It had been a blessedly quiet week. Kaiba seemed to have finally gotten the hint. Patty had no messages for you. Silvia wasn't calling you to the office. Jesse was off your back about taking up Kaiba's offer. And you hadn't had any new numbers texting you. When you reported for your ending shift on Friday, you were positively radiating excitement and the team all fed off the energy. Joniqua had worked ahead so that you could shift your attention to helping Taemin de-code the backwards instructions you received from the client he was working with. While you balanced the work, Jesse let you know that xe received notice that their newest client may have to back out due to a database leak.
You asked if they needed remote back-up to reset files to recover data and xe wasn't sure. It had been a bit since you worked in the security section of a company, but you still enjoyed the work. Xe had reached out to their company and approved a contract shift and QSOX would now be working with their team for a full database recovery and server reset. Taemin assured you that he was all set with his assignments before you left to join the security office for the rest of the day.
“In case of emergencies, boss, I'll be sure to wait at least 2 hours before letting you know,” Joniqua joked. The client's security team hadn't noticed the breach for 30 minutes which gave the hackers more than enough time to corrupt their entire systems. Even with their entire team pulling overtime, they would have been fools not to accept your company's help.
You eased into a free seat in the corner, Fisher, Matthieu, and Melodie all making sure that you were all set before they all dug into their own reviews. They would be balancing their normal sweeps for your company as well as popping in to assist you with the accounts. Manually updating accounts across hundreds of servers was a mess, but you were added as a guest on the client's team chat and you were lucky to have a connection from prior work. You all commiserate the work and you assured them that your team would try to help as much as you could.
By the time you finished pulling your 10-hour shift, you could feel it in your neck as you stretched from side to side. Wishing the temp team chat a nice weekend, you assured that the weekend crew at QSOX would be popping in to help with accounts periodically and that you would be back to help on Monday. Before closing the app, you noticed the last chat from your acquaintance: It's good to work with you again. Moxfonn wasn't the same without you on the team.
Seeing the name of your previous work company caught your breath and you glanced behind you. You took a deep breath, a silent reassurance that you no longer had to worry about being grabbed, being forced - you shook your head. Those days were long gone, you were safe.
You were fine.
You were definitely fine.
You were definitely, absolutely fine until you stepped outside into the cool Denver evening and a man with a neat buzz cut wearing sunglasses and a pressed suit shifted his gaze to you and pushed away from the compact limo he was leaning against. You were forced to stop as he blocked your way forward.
“Mr. Kaiba is waiting. Come this way,” he said, authority in his tone.
“Not even a please,” you snarked, crossing your arms.
He paused for a moment, “please come this way.” He adjusted, his stare behind the glasses intent. It was getting too dark for the glasses, but you were sure that he probably continued to wear them for an intimidation factor.
“Inform Mr. Kaiba that I think he's a coward for not confronting me again. But I hope you have a good night.” You turned and walked right back into the QSOX building, ignoring the sound of a car door opening behind you. It took 3 hours for him to finally leave, which you knew because, at various intervals, you created mocking drawings on printer paper and stuck them on the office window that faced his car. When the sun finally set, you amused yourself by flashing your phone light behind the page to highlight it against the darkness.
If he wanted to be ridiculous about this, about coming to a city he had no business being in until the charity event, you would serve it right back to him.
Things seemed to subside again after that. You didn't receive any random text messages from new unknown numbers - though the entitled attitude never changed in the wording. QSOX hadn't received any phone calls demanding your attention. Not that you expected them to. It felt like deja vu all over again before you met up with Buzz Cut.
The silence was nice because you did not quite have the capacity to deal with anything more than what you were currently working through. Just dealing with the new situation, regardless of the fact that you volunteered, was enough work as it is. Your heartbeat drummed in your ears anytime you entered your temporary team space and you waited until everyone else was gone every night to stagger out and compose yourself.
While you had thought it was just the initial shock of seeing Moxfonn's name on screen, the continued chatter about it from your acquaintance made it hard for you to find your center. You dreaded pulling up the office chat, chest-tight, pulse-racing. It took a week to remember to breathe while you were pulling it up, waiting at the edge of your seat for previous management to slam open the doors and berate you. Jesse knew a bit of your past experiences and xe was careful not to overstep and drive you away. It had taken almost a year of therapy before you could enter a closed office space without the panic rising.
Xe always said that xe was proud to have you at the company, as well as the rest of the leadership team, but you had only felt like a burden at first. It took many reminders, and the comforting presence of your small team to get through it. And so, being forced to live in the memories of your past torment-
arms boxed you in, driving you to a corner. you had double-checked
all the work, but it still didn't seem like enough. you barely had time
to raise an arm against the backhand that came your way
-you shook your head. But you were proud of yourself for coming in every day, sitting down amongst the security team, and pumping out quality solutions. Did you fall into toxic habits and stay later (even after everyone had left) to work more? Perhaps. But you were still able to get up every day, not completely full of dread, and report to the team.
You rolled your neck from side-to-side, trying to ease the tightness, the tension that had settled deep in your muscles. Rolling back your shoulders, eyes closed, you took a breath before focusing again. The sooner you could finish this project and return to your team, the better your overall mental health would be. The shadows wouldn't shift in the corner of your eye anymore, your stomach would untwist, and you may be able to sleep without being wracked with nightmares. You breathed, trying to settle into your skin to finish the last bit of this. With all the time you and the others spent helping, the work was nearly done, and then you could go back to not thinking about Moxfonn or any of its employees for a long time. This was an especially nice thought because you felt that Jesse would be understanding if you were to ask xem for a few days off once this was completed.
The thought of your possible days off as well as the peace from not having random messages from Kaiba brought a smile to your face. You sat up straighter in your chair and shook a little to wake up a bit more. A soft ping echoed in the quiet meeting space and you lazily glanced over to see a notification for your linked personal email. It was an incoming message, marked and titled Urgent, and your brows furrowed. You didn't often give out your personal email and there wouldn't be anyone who had it that would mark anything as urgent without calling you first.
Opening the message, your soft smile dropped, lips pursed and teeth clenched.
Hello.
Don't ask how I got your email. You should really be more careful with linking social media accounts and your email. Before you say anything back, I do consider a LoopedIn profile social media.
You have been working too much every night. I've been told you arrive early and leave late. And I doubt you have been eating properly. I believe that working for me can remedy this. I have superior healthcare for all my employees, there are at-office doctors available anytime someone is working, and I provide a catered cafeteria environment with quality ingredients and a menu published at the beginning of the week.
I trust that these additional benefits, as well as my prior points for negotiation will be met with a more positive attitude.
Do not leave me waiting for your acceptance.
-SK
He...Seto Fucking Kaiba. How many of your accounts did he have to search through to find your LoopedIn? You'd searched it yourself and it was not easy to find, even with parameters. You purposefully crafted it so that it was a challenge to find in order to distance yourself from your prior work and life, yet still be available if needed for networking. The ire rose from deep inside and seemed to exit from your face as it became tinged with pink and became warm.
Fingers flew as you typed your response.
You do not deserve a platitude.
I don't understand why you continue to harp on this. Stop having someone watch me too. Creep. Go back to your company until S&S. There is nothing you can say or do or offer me that will make me want to work for you. Frankly, I am getting tired of seeing your name.
You sent it. No opener, no signature, nothing.
The ping came back before you could finish unclenching your body.
Why haven't I heard before that you were a senior service manager for Moxfonn?
You nearly snarled at the screen, knowing that he did more than digging to get that information as it was not listed on any of your accounts.
Go fuck yourself.
The email address was blocked on your personal and work account and you slammed your computer shut. You weren't in the headspace to comb through network codes and files tonight.
Silvia called you into her office when you arrived the next day. You had barely slept, so the thought of getting scolded was just another weight on your shoulders. Maybe you had officially gone too far last night in your response?
“Honey, you look awful.”
You tried to smile, but could only manage the smallest grimace. “I've been better.” You held back a sigh and worked hard to meet her eyes. One perfectly shaped brow rose in response and gestured to the flowers and gift you completely missed on her desk.
“These came for you.”
In a sleep-deprived confusion, you gave your thanks, grabbed the flowers, card, and small box and headed back to your original cube. Upon seeing you, Joniqua went to call out, but Taemin grabbed her arm and gestured no. Though he didn't say as much, he was one of the most perceptive people you'd ever met. You set the things down and sank heavily into your chair.
The flowers were beautifully cut and arranged. They did not scream out for attention, but were also placed in such a way that you wanted to immediately take their picture. You opened the small box and drew in a harsh breath through your teeth. Little cartoon elephants, dressed as astronauts, were the theme of the stationary set. They floated across the surface interspersed with planets and spaceships. It was high quality material, but you felt your hair on your arms start to stand.
You quickly ripped open the letter, skimmed it, and then sent it flying across the room like a shuriken. How dare he...
'Though probably the last person you want to receive these from. I believe I
overstepped a boundary and I wanted to apologize. When I was inte speaking
with past colleagues of yours in my employment, they mentioned you liked...fun
things.
You slammed the flowers in front of Taemin and stated that he could either give them to his fiancé or share with Joniqua and they both nodded at you, still confused by the weaponized cardstock.
The worst part was that it was true. You did adore cute, fun, silly things that just made you happy to see them. Astro-elephants were normally the perfect fit - even as you first saw them, you felt your mood slightly lift until you read the card. Because you were sure that he asked more of your old colleagues than just what you liked.
You were just tired. Tired of the constant stress of working with someone from your old company. Tired of the nightmares, tired of feeling like someone was behind you at any point. And Seto Kaiba was not making it any easier by harassing you by phone, in-person, and email.
Which is why, at this point, you had no shame storming out the front of the office, turning the corner where his limo first was and screaming, “Seto Kaiba! Get your ass out here!” It didn't take long for Buzz Cut to come out of the shadows, only the smallest of hesitation in his gasp.
“You, what is your name?” You said as you approached him.
“Isono.”
“Well, Isono, do I have a task for you! Thank you for so promptly coming out. You can take this,” you shoved the stationary box against his chest and his hands caught it before it fell, “and deliver it to your boss in the exact manner. I gave away the flowers - the trash really appreciated the gift. But I don't need anything from him.”
He nodded, glanced at the side, and then asked calmly, “will there be anything else?”
Your breath hitched, but you held it together. “No, thank you. You're a doll. Don't come back here again or I'll make sure that our complex's security is called and you'll be banned on sight.” You didn't stay to make sure he left, just trusted that someone Kaiba employed wouldn't be incompetent. Though you thought humorlessly, he also had no reason to listen to you either.
On your way back to the security team, Jesse ran up behind and caught your arm. A fight response triggered and you nearly punched xim in the throat before you realized and fell backwards onto your butt. You yelped and xe immediately started parental fussing. Although most of the employees at QSOX were around the same age, Jesse was an older sibling who helped raise xir younger siblings and had already adopted 3 children with xir partner. Parenting was just in xir blood - parenting and being ruthless in tech.
“All right, all right, let's get you up and then you're coming with me,” Jesse cooed. Xe made sure to look you over as you walked to make sure nothing seemed wrong. You brushed xim off, but that didn't do much.
“Why don't you bother Fisher? They just had a family emergency recently. I promise, I'm fine,” you tried to explain and wiggle away.
Jesse hummed, “they already got an earful at the end of last week for not taking time off. I think we need to talk.” Xe opened the door to xir office and you stepped in, close to dragging your feet. All you wanted to do was be done with Kaiba, done with this project, and the longer you were here the less time you had to finish. As you sat across from xim, you put your face in your hands.
“You're off the project.”
“What?” you nearly shrieked, your head snapped up and no longer felt tired.
“You're off the project and you are taking the rest of the week off,” Jesse continued and held up a hand to stop your further complaints, “in return, you'll be going with me and Loraine to Seals and Surf. I'm making the request seriously this time.”
“Jesse, no, you know how much I hate these charity events. I have to dress up in my finest,” you purposefully ignored xim mocking your words as xe had heard them before, “which means going to the dry cleaner. And then I have to make sure my hair is perfect. I have to arrange for travel to and from because there is no way that I'm getting through it without strong drinks or eating myself into a food coma. So there's just no possible way.”
“Are you finished?”
“Depends on if you say I am free from going to the event or not.”
“Hey,” xe called your name softly, “I've seen you. This is not healthy for you. Something about this project has you on edge and I need you, we need you here. You said you weren't leaving us a while ago when Mr. Kaiba was bothering you, but that doesn't mean you need to drive yourself into a grave to prove your loyalty.”
Xe was right. You hated that xe was right. “There's someone on their team who I worked closely with at Moxfonn. He...um...never spoke up when seeing things and hasn't stopped bringing up the good times.”
Jesse shook xir head, “why not just end the chat?”
You shrugged one shoulder, looking out the window, “they only gave access to one person here for their inter-office chat and since I already had a connection...” Your voice trailed off.
“Absolutely not,” xe growled out and called down to the security team. Xe gave instructions to reach out to their contact by email and allow the whole team access or they would pull their support and ask for payment for work done immediately. You heard an affirmative response from the speaker and saw Jesse's vein pulse lightly on xir neck.
“You should take it easy or else you'll go into an early grave.”
“Don't change the subject. You get home. Do you need even more time to get some sessions in?” xe asked. You bit your lip, but decided against it. They wouldn't tell you anything that they hadn't before, you just hadn't put the relaxation methods into practice. Maybe a hard reset at home was needed for the week.
“Good,” xe started, “I'm glad we seem to be on the same page now. I'll have Joniqua move your stuff back to your team. They've been doing good without you, but Joniqua has been whining in the breakroom about how boring it is without you there. Apparently Taemin isn't as entertaining.”
You snorted, “she just never stops to take a breath and listen to his response. He has some pretty good retorts to her wild dating stories. Makes me glad I'm not actively in the market.”
“I'm sure.”
You both sat in silence for a moment before xe started to reach over. “Do you mind if I touch you?” You motioned that it was okay and xir hands covered yours on xir desk. “Don't worry about anything. I'll arrange for the car, the dry cleaner, everything. I still have the sizing from when you had to be my stand-in for a prior event. Just take care of yourself first and foremost. I'd rather not resort to violence.”
You blinked and tilted your head. “You? You and violence? In what universe?” you asked, voiced laced with as much disbelief as you could muster.
“You'd be surprised. I've slashed a tire or two in my time.” Before you could ask xim any more questions, xe ushered you out the door and sent you packing for a well-deserved staycation.
You picked at the fabric near your hip. The fit had been perfect and you wouldn't have expected anything else from Jesse. You knew that xe would never set you up to look anything less than your best - especially if it was going to an event where you would already be uncomfortable with everything going on. Still, the thought of having to mingle with people who you previously worked beside and also the possibility of running into him made you want to turn around and hide under your covers.
The compact limo pulled up neatly in front and Jesse immediately jumped out when it stopped. Xir partner, Loraine, peeked forward from the back to grin at you. “See Jesse, I told you I have better taste,” she giggled, patting the seat beside her. You slid in quickly and Jesse was across from you. Confused, you met xir eyes.
“Loraine picked out the fit for tonight. I may have gotten it done, but she insisted that she knew what she was doing. Something with how your eyes always look at these events,” xe explained, trying not to act like it was a big deal.
“You see, what xe doesn't understand is that you should always make your outfit match your eyes,” Loraine started, adjusting in her seat and looking at her partner intently, “wouldn't you agree, Jesse? That my outfit draws you further into me.” Jesse's face bloomed with a pink blush and xe looked away.
“You would look like the most stunning person in the room if you were only wearing a box,” xe grumbled, loud enough for us both to hear. Loraine pursed her lips and dropped her stare, her own face coloring.
It was almost sickening to be around them.
“Get a room or get me my own car next time, damn,” you commented and they reddened further. You couldn't help the Cheshire grin that pulled at your lips and you felt more yourself than you had in a while. The conversation flowed easily from there and by the time you arrived at Seals and Surf, your stomach hurt from laughing at ridiculous children stories and shared vacation disasters.
Jesse placed xir fist out toward you and you bumped it firmly. “If you feel uneasy, stick by me or Loraine and we'll make sure you are left alone.” Seeing you nod, xe left the car and held out a hand to help you both out. Your heart caught stepping out and being surrounded by, who you knew, were powerful people, their partners (or escorts), and security. You took a deep breath though, a steady mantra was on repeat in your mind - you were safe. You were okay. You were here with two friends just to have a good time and raise money.
That mantra lasted you a good fifteen minutes before you bumped into old acquaintances. Thankfully, for the most part, these interactions didn't send you into panic mode. You caught up, superficial questions tossed around by all, before you rejoined your boss. With a little good food (because that was one thing about the events, the caterers were always amazing) and some delicious drinks, you would almost say you were having an enjoyable evening. You found yourself humming under your breath as you meandered around the rented space. The auction items were tastefully lined up from least to most expensive starting bids - not that your salary was close to touching the starting bid of any of them.
There was a landscape portrait, though, that caught your eye and you felt a hint of desire. Perhaps one day you could be in a position to buy something like this 'or take the picture yourself'.
“If you accept my offer tonight, I will make sure that this is part of your welcome package,” you didn't have to turn around to confirm it was him and you immediately turned on the ball of your foot and left in the opposite direction. If you hadn't already been on-edge around him, you may have heard the slight teasing tone of his voice.
You grumbled, “I thought I had made myself perfectly clear in my last interaction.” Whether Seto Kaiba heard you or not was barely your concern and you continued to curse him under your breath. The night was going fine and he had done well to avoid you so far surely. Surely, he saw you from a distance and made the conscious effort to seek you out. But why was he goddamn stuck on this one-
“Oof,” you exhaled as you stumbled backward. In your frustration, you hadn't watched where you were going and close to stomped into a taller man.
“Hmmm,” the snide voice started, “well, well, I wasn't expecting to find you here. Have you crawled out of your little hole?” A cold sweat spread over your skin and you felt the first tentative drops gather between your shoulder blades. You took another step back and cautiously met the dark blue eyes of the worst of your tormentors.
“Dimitri,” you said, voice catching as your heart thudded loudly against your chest, pounding in your heart, and every nerve screamed run run runrunRUN.
He smirked and crossed the distance to you easily. With as many people around, he wouldn't dare do anything, but you saw his hand raise and you flinched before you could brace yourself. He laughed, “oh, bug, I've missed having you underfoot. It was easier to swat you when you got in my way.”
All the therapy sessions and pep talks from Jesse were knocked out of you, shaken away the moment you ran into Dimitri. You hated that your legs quivered, that you couldn't find your voice. You were screaming in your head and you wanted to say it aloud, to spit vitriolic poison at him, to pop his knees with a kick and make him feel all the pain he had subjected you to over your years at Moxfonn. The shaking worsened, both with your anger and your panic, and you just, you wanted, you tried, you willed your body to stop. To stand strong.
Before you could open your mouth, you felt an arm wrap around your shoulder and you startled for a moment. Kaiba was facing Dimitri, staring him down with narrowed eyes, “honey, you disappeared for a moment and didn't return. Are you going to introduce me?” You glanced at his arm, and then looked up at his face. Even though it looked like his arm was tight, you barely felt the pressure against your back and neck.
Dimitri sneered, “so the bug has found some connections in high places. No longer worth it.” He turned and you watched some other old coworkers walk off with him. The moment they were away, you threw off his arm.
“What the hell is your problem?”
“It seemed like you needed help and it was the easiest thing I could think of,” Kaiba shrugged. Already flustered, you shifted from foot to foot, and felt the nervous anxiety flowing through you.
“Jokes on you, I was perfectly fine.”
“Bug though? Did I interrupt an old lover's meeting?” He was matching your meanness with his own.
“What part of fuck you or fuck off don't you understand, Kaiba?”
Before he was able to continue, you saw Jesse and Loraine sidle up on either side of you. “Is he bothering you?” Jesse whispered, but you shook your head slightly. Because it wasn't really Kaiba. Sure, he had been a persistent thorn, an annoying splinter that was avoiding the forceps you used to try to pry him away. But your recent stress, your panic and headaches, those Kaiba had nothing to do with.
Loraine didn't wait to hear the reassurances from her partner or you and before either of you could stop her, she was as much in his face as someone who barely came up to his chest could be. While you chuckled from behind her, Jesse rushed to get xir partner to calm down. Xe tried to explain who Kaiba was, but she was hardly impressed.
“You have wasted talent at your company,” Kaiba said, pointedly looking in your direction. Xe saw as well and you noticed xir jaw clench.
“No, you are poaching from the wrong business,” xe replied. They weren't much different in height, xe was only a tiny bit shorter, but xe held Kaiba's gaze as they rapid-fire insulted each other and their respective companies, but in the best passive aggressive business tones you had heard. Many if you had noticed, while you may have missed, and I believe your information is outdated volleyed between the two CEOs. Loraine rolled her eyes and grabbed your arm.
“Xe could go at this the entire time and I don't think we want to miss the auction. Even though we certainly don't make enough yet, we can still donate a bit,” she said, but you stopped her from taking you further.
You pat her arm, “thanks Loraine. I'll get Jesse. There's something I actually need to talk to Kaiba about.” She nodded, a small smile on her lips.
“Give him hell. He deserves it.” The chuckles escaped your chest before you could help it. Hell would be one of the things he needed. A restraining order may be a better one. You pulled Jesse away and xe got the hint quickly as xe jogged over to join Loraine. Kaiba stared at you, half-bored, half-confused at your actions.
“Walk with me.” He scoffed and you weren't sure if that was a sound that suited him perfectly or if it made this grown man seem younger.
At some point, he decided that you were both going to a more secluded area and led the way. As he held open the door, he murmured, “I feel like we've done this before.”
You only just managed to hold your tongue long enough for the door to close before you lashed out, “we probably have. I don't know if you have coins, or bills, or whatever else you rich bastards put in your ears, but you can't seem to get the idea that I don't want to work for you.”
“Your boss is smart. He-”
“XE!” you snapped. A hint of annoyance, whether at the interruption or the fact that he forgot that detail, tightened his expression.
“Xe is talented. I can see why you don't want to leave.”
Your eyes narrowed, “I can tell there is a but there.”
Kaiba partially shrugged, tilting his head to the side, “I am still better and can offer more.” The adrenaline surged back and you hated that he was going to take the brunt of all that should have been released at Dimitri. In the same breath though, he also seemed to be asking for it. You had meant to thank him for earlier, but that was completely forgotten.
One, two steps toward him and he focused on you again, just for you to shove a finger in his face. “You! You think you can offer better!” You went to grab for your hair in frustration before you remembered the amount of time it took to look decent for the event. “Oh yes,” you started, voice low, “you really set yourself on a great foot there. Harassing me at work, at home, digging into my personal files.”
“LoopedIn is hardly personal.”
“It is 6 pages deep into Moogle to find my information if you had just been 'searching' me. I know. I looked.”
He tried to respond, but you cut him off, “and then you reference employees at your company about me instead of, I don't know, acting like a decent human being and realizing that I don't want to fucking join your ridiculous company.”
His cool vanished and his eyes narrowed, “ridiculous? Says the person who left an incredibly lucrative position because a few people were mean to them. here I was thinking you were better than that because of how you talked to me. Grow a backbone.”
“A...a backbone!” you could feel yourself heating up and your words were nearly screeched. “Did your employees tell you anything that ever happened? The...” the words caught in your throat and you couldn't get them out.
“No, they just said that you were upset that you weren't getting coddled. That you were having a hard time with the pressure, but no one was around to baby you. I admit, I had my doubts as to whether I'd want to hire you after hearing that, but you seem to have matured since-” He cut himself off and only barely managed to catch your wrist when you tried to slap him.
It didn't matter that he was just repeating the information he heard, the phantom bruises still stung. The trapped fear bounced in your head and you reacted in the only way you could to make him stop. His gaze was calculated as he searched your face for something, a confirmation or a confrontation, you weren't sure. “Seeing this though,” his thumb rubbed against your skin gently before lowering your hand, “makes me believe that someone isn't telling the whole truth here.”
“You think?” you snapped, stepping back.
“I wouldn't have had to ask anyone if you had just talked to me instead of being coy and hanging up or blocking me.”
You could hardly believe your ears. “Talked to you, Seto Kaiba, I don't even know you.” And it actually seemed like, for the first time, he was taking that into account. “If what you're saying is right, I would have just had to stay on the phone with you and we would have become the best gal pals. Told each other our deepest secrets, gone over our biggest hurts.” Your old pain retreated into sarcasm and you wore its dented armor with pride. This felt more familiar. Less angry and more...
“Don't be ridiculous,” Kaiba said.
“Oh, now it's me? Because I would really like to have seen how your brain functions that after a first no, you would just continue to push and it would-”
“Seto,” a softer voice spoke up, a much warmer demeanor radiating from his smaller figure. You recognized him as Seto Kaiba's kid brother, Mokuba, and in your fight, neither of you heard him come in. You both turned to look at him now though, you with scathing eyes he didn't deserve and Kaiba with annoyance at being interrupted in the height of the argument. The voice in the back of your head told you to calm down, and you wanted to ignore it, but settled for acceptance in the inevitable.
Mokuba's eyebrow lifted before he spoke, “can we hire your company?” You pointed at yourself and he nodded. “If Seto wants you that badly, why don't we just contract your company for whatever project he has in mind?”
For all the blustering and arguments and ridiculous scenarios, for the solution to be as easily found as that made you both look away. Through your entire acquaintance, you had both gotten under each other's skin and you related him with a past that he had nothing to do with and nothing to gain by it. You weren't sure about Kaiba, but your knew your ears were bright red. It was true though, why didn't he just hire your company and ask you to be the head project manager? It made so much sense, why hadn't you thought of it before?
“So...pride, huh?” Seto finally spoke, voice laced with a touch of sarcastic humor. It seemed that, now you were both properly humiliated at how childish you were, both of your walls were a little lower.
“Uh huh, it's the worst thing a project can have.” You imagined reaching an arm over the invisible wall, shaking his hand and making peace. After all, you may be under a contract with him soon.
“Well then...before anything happens and it goes against work decorum. Dinner?”
For the first time since you'd met him, you purposefully turned your brain off and didn't overanalyze yourself or the situation. You didn't think about your past experiences or the people involved. You didn't picture Dimitri or the others in his place. You thought back to the initial meeting, your mutual banter and conversation. Maybe nothing would come of this and that was fine, but you also had to know. Despite his awful boundaries for stealing employees from other companies, his terrible attitude at times, he was offering an actual hand here.
“Okay.”