A/N: I promised I'd update quick, so here's the new chapter. I hope I didn't take too long.
It's once again been proven that free-to-air cartoons suck majorly. We finally got through all the Duellist Kingdom episodes and were making our way through the Battle City eps quite nicely. We get to the point where we stopped last time, and THEY CANCEL THE SHOW! At this rate I'll never see what happens… (sob) and they also decided to sack the hosts of the show, who were close to their ten-year anniversary… (Begins muttering angrily about how unfair it is…)
Anyway, big congrats to Nightfall2525, who was my 50th reviewer! Woohoo! (Sets off fire-works)
Review replies:
toboewolf7: Yes, sorry about the waiting time between updates. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you like this one. Thanks for reviewing.
Lucifer's Lair: Don't worry, I'll continue. Thanks for your review.
SilentMonkGirl: Hopefully I didn't keep you waiting long. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for reviewing.
Nightfall2525: I can't tell you what happens, you'll just have to wait and see! Thanks for your review.
Bradybunch4529: I'm glad you're enjoying the story, it means a lot. I hope you like the chapter, and thanks for reviewing.
CWolf2: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too. Thanks for your review.
Gabbi: Your idea is a good one (you weren't out of place ), but I couldn't use it in this chapter; you see, I had pre-written it. I'll think over where to add it in, though, believe me! Thanks for the idea and for reviewing!
glowing-ice: Yeah, Tèa/Seto pairings rule! I'm glad you like the story. Thanks for your review.
peeps: So you know what's happening next? You must be psychic! I don't think I took as long as I did last time, but that was only because I had writer's block. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and thanks for reviewing.
Yami'sMineSoBackOff: Well, she's a good person. But if you're referring to how she woke him up, I'd like to think that most people would be kind enough to do something like that. I'd be kinda worried if I saw someone under a tree, unmoving, a while after the bell went! Anyway, thanks for your review. (Cool pen name, by the way)
sumone: Thanks for your kind words. Here's the update; I hope you like the chapter! Thanks for reviewing.
DragonZHell (for review of Chapter 3): Thanks for the info on what happens. LOL, I'm glad someone agrees with me about the expensive cameras! Thanks for your review.
This chapter is dedicated to my best friend, Jessica. Thanks for putting up with me, thanks for reading every chapter of this fic before I posted it, thanks for everything. Thanks for being just the great person you are; it's a pleasure being your friend.
Win A Date With Seto Kaiba!
Chapter Five: The Problems with Jobs
"Yes, I'm inquiring about the ad you placed in the paper. You see I really, really need this job."
"A lot of people really, really need jobs. Tell me why I should give this one to you and I'll consider employing you."
"Well, er, I'm responsible! And I'm very polite; you won't ever see me being rude to a customer! And I'm willing to work whatever shifts you tell me! Please let me have this job!"
"Well, seeing as how you asked so nicely… Come in tomorrow for an interview."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why not. Come in for the interview and if all goes well, you've got the job. I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Gardner."
Tèa hung up the phone and sighed. She was going to miss out on a whole week of school if she ended up getting the job. If it wasn't paying so well she probably wouldn't have enquired about it.
I wonder how long I'll have to keep it up, switching between school and job. If I get the job that is… What'll everyone think when I don't turn up for school? What'll they say when I tell them I'll have to drop school to get paid so everything doesn't get taken away from me? Tèa held her head in her hands. I shouldn't have let this get so out of control. I should have gotten a job earlier. I shouldn't have kept taking those dance lessons.
Slowly, she headed upstairs, collapsing on her bed. It wasn't a bad job, to tell the truth; she'd be working in one of those bookstore/café places if she was lucky. Where they put her she didn't really care, as long as they respected her need to work.
She looked over to her bedside table and checked the clock. It was six-thirty but still fairly light outside, so Tèa decided to do something she didn't do a lot. She headed downstairs and quickly made two sandwiches before she left the house and began walking towards Domino Park. She would watch the sun set and hope that it would calm any nerves she had about tomorrow.
Seto Kaiba sat in his office, Mokuba sitting in a chair beside him. They were going through all the women who had applied for the maid job, but so far none had made a good impression. Mokuba had the final word, seeing as how the maid would be taking care of him mostly.
They had only gone through three applicants but Seto was already getting annoyed. It was almost routine; they'd come in, talk about their qualifications, flirt with him and then try to get in the good books with Mokuba. It sickened him. Surely they knew they weren't going to be employed if they acted like that?
The fourth applicant came strolling in, placing her resumé on Seto's desk like it was something completely delicate. He had a quick look over it and had to admit that this "Mrs. Lucas" had some decent previous jobs. Then he began asking questions and wondered if the routine would start again.
"Why did you apply for this job?"
"Well, I just love children, and I haven't had a job this serious for ages!" Seto almost laughed out loud; he knew for sure brother that his little brother wouldn't want someone like this looking after him.
"What would you say is your best area in either childcare or housework?"
"Well I'm a good cook, and I'm very capable in looking after the house and garden. And of course," she gave Mokuba a sickly sweet smile here, "I'm great with children."
Seto looked at Mokuba and felt sorry for the poor kid. He had a look of absolute horror on his face and looked up at his big brother with pleading in his eyes. Seto decided that perhaps it was time to put an end to all of this, so he shook Mrs. Lucas's hand, told her he'd get back to her and let her leave. Then he went to his intercom and told his assistant that if any more applicants were sent in then she'd be fired.
"I think that last one would've strangled me if I did something wrong." Mokuba said, watching as Seto put all four resumés into the paper shredder.
Seto sighed and sat down in his chair again. "She did look a little threatening, didn't she?" He looked at his schedule for a moment before looking at Mokuba. "I think I owe you something after putting you through that session of torture. Let's go out to eat right now; we'll have whatever you want and eat it where ever you want."
Mokuba's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? You really mean it Seto?"
He nodded his head. "I don't think I could work after going through that. All those horrible images of applicants would be far too distracting."
Mokuba grinned as Seto picked up his briefcase. The older Kaiba brother laid a hand on the shoulder of his brother and led him out of the office. Almost all the employees gave him an odd look as they walked past, but Seto simply glared at them and they instantly got back to work.
After they left KaibaCorp, Mokuba took his brother to his favourite fast food restaurant, but they ordered take-away instead of eat-in. Mokuba knew how people reacted around Seto, and how his brother hated it, so he decided on another place to eat. He led Seto away from the restaurant and towards Domino Park, which had been his favourite place to eat.
"You know this park is filled with lunatics at night, Mokuba. Don't ever come here without somebody's supervision first." Seto murmured, and Mokuba looked up at his brother.
"Well it's not night yet, and anyway, you're here! No one would even try to get me!" He kept walking, still looking around the park. "And not all the people who come here are lunatics, Seto. Tèa's not a lunatic!"
Seto stopped and looked in the direction his brother was looking in. And sure enough, there she was; standing on the bridge over the river, leaning over the railing and looking into the water, eating a sandwich.
Tèa stared gloomily into the water below her. She'd already gone through one sandwich and was slowly picking through the other. Inside her head she was visualising all the things her friends would do and say when she told them about the job, and her financial mess. She knew they wouldn't do the extreme and leave her, but they'd probably be angry that she hadn't told them earlier. They'd surely want to help her.
She sighed deeply and chewed on a piece of the sandwich. But the next thing that happened brightened her up quite a bit; she heard the pounding of feet and she turned to see Mokuba rushing towards her. He was managing to run and not drop any of the take-away meal he was holding, and he looked particularly happy to see her.
"Tèa!" he shouted, embracing her as soon as he got close enough.
"Hey Mokuba! What are you doing here?" she hugged him back before he pulled away with a giant grin on his face.
"Well Seto was tired of working so he took me out for tea and we decided to come here! Then I saw you standing alone and I thought I'd come over and say hello!"
"Well that was very sweet of you." She said, rubbing him on the head affectionately. She looked over her shoulder and saw Seto standing by a park bench, his arms crossed over his chest, standing as still as a statue. "Why is Mr. Grumpy over there so angry?"
Mokuba looked over and saw she was looking at his brother. "He didn't want me to say hello." He said with another grin.
"Well that's just rude!" Mokuba nodded. "I think he didn't want you coming over here because then he'd have to come and say hello as well."
"Why wouldn't he want to say hello to you?"
Tèa grinned and remembered that day's events. "I think your brother's scared of me." She whispered to him.
Mokuba laughed. "You're too nice to be scary, Tèa!"
"Everyone knows that I can get loud when I get angry, Mokuba. Maybe your brother's scared of getting yelled at!"
"Yeah right. Seto's not scared of anything! I know that for a fact!"
She looked over her shoulder at him again, before turning to look in the river. "I'm sure he's scared of something." She sighed softly and continued watching the water.
"Tèa, is something wrong?" Mokuba asked softly, concerned.
If only you knew how much was wrong, Mokuba, she thought. She looked up over at him and forced a smile. "Nah, it's all good. Don't worry."
Seto chose that moment to come over to drag his brother away. "Come on Mokuba; let's find another place to eat." He looked at Tèa for a moment, noting how tired she looked, before trying to move his brother away.
Mokuba smiled at Tèa. "I'll see ya later Tèa. Don't stay out here too long; this place is filled with lunatics at night!"
Tèa laughed and said her goodbyes. She watched as the pair left, before she stood up straight and headed for home.
The interview went very well. There had only been a few applicants and it seemed that all the others were bad, because when she went in the boss of everything seemed annoyed. After only a few minutes of talk he shook her hand and told her to start tomorrow, working from nine-thirty till three-thirty. That's was her shift for the whole week, except for Sunday.
Tèa's first day didn't start out that bad. She put new batteries in her alarm clock so it would work and she made it to work on time, but her new boss didn't look too impressed with her age.
"You look like you're just out of school!" he said, and she smiled nervously. "It's no big deal if you're still in school, but I'll just have to cut down your hours so you can still go."
"No, no, it's fine." She assured him, and so with a shrug of his shoulders he led her around the place. He gave her a quick tour of the bookstore so she'd know where everything was, just in case he put her to work there, before he led her to the café and got her working as a waitress. She wasn't exactly happy about this arrangement, but it was better than being behind the counter; she hated maths and anything to do with it.
She spent the rest of the day getting used to everything. She managed to not stuff up (she was very proud of herself), and it seemed like the hours just sped by. Eventually, though, her shift ended, and the other group of employees came in to work. Tèa realised just how popular this place was and was amazed that she managed to get the job.
As soon as she got home she checked her mobile for any missed calls. She had left it home because she knew one of her friends would call, wondering about her whereabouts. And sure enough, when she checked it there was one missed call; from Yugi, of course.
She quickly called him back and grinned when she heard his nervous voice answer the phone. "Hey Yugi, what's up?"
"Tèa! Hey, are you alright? You didn't show up for school today and I thought something might've happened…" Yugi said, trying to hide his concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine. When I woke up this morning I was feeling a little sick, you know? Lucky I stayed home, because I kinda threw up…"
"Oh, right… Well, it's good to know you're okay."
"So did I miss out on anything today?"
And with that Yugi was off explaining how Joey had instantly assumed that her absence had been Kaiba's fault. He told her how Joey had gone seeking out Kaiba and demanded to know what he had done to her before he was ultimately dragged away from the scene. He also told her that she'd missed out on quite a lot of work, and that she'd have to do quite a lot of catching up tomorrow.
Tèa smiled sadly when he said that and she almost told him that she wouldn't be going tomorrow either, but she decided not to. He'd end up calling her tomorrow again anyway, and she'd just explain that some of the bug had stayed. She didn't know if he would believe her though, but she hoped he would.
Eventually she said goodbye, and spent the rest of the afternoon lying on her bed listening to the radio. When dinnertime came she went downstairs and made herself another simple sandwich, before heading back upstairs to go to sleep. She lay awake for a few hours, trying to keep everything sorted in her mind, but then she'd end up remembering what a giant mess she was in. And with those less than comforting thoughts, she finally fell asleep.
It was the end of the week, a Friday, and the gang had hardly failed to notice that Tèa had been away almost every day. Sure, she had given Yugi reasons when he called to ask if she was okay, but when he told everyone else the reasons they didn't believe them. So, they decided they had to take action, and they went to Mai on Thursday night for a plan.
"Here's an idea; ask her what she's been doing to skip school!" she had said when they asked for her help.
"But what if it's something so bad that she can't even talk about it?" Tristan said, sounding overly dramatic about it all.
Mai sighed deeply and looked at the group standing before her. "Maybe…you guys could hide outside her house and then follow her when she leaves?"
Joey stared at her for a moment before almost loosing it. "Dat's it?! Dat's tha best ya got?!"
"Well at least I've come up with something, Joey!" she shouted back at him.
Joey looked like he was going to fight back before Tristan casually stamped on his foot. Yugi ignored Joey and turned to Mai. "Thanks for the plan; I reckon we'll give it a shot, seeing as how it's the only plan we have. Thanks for the help."
So on Friday morning they were all positioned around Tèa's house, hiding in various bushes. Mai had decided that she'd tag along as well. They watched, as at half past eight Tèa left, carrying a small bag, walking at a fair pace to where ever she had been going these past few days. Slowly the group came out of their hiding places and followed her, making sure they were a fair distance away so she wouldn't recognise them if she turned around.
They followed her into the heart of Domino City, where she walked past a few larger buildings before heading into one. Joey, who had been too far back to see her enter, abruptly shouted, "She disappeared!". To which Tristan replied, "She went inside a building, you idiot!".
Slowly and cautiously, the group edged towards the building. They peeked inside and saw Tèa walking into the café section of the shop. They watched as she started setting things up and walked around, helping the other employees already inside.
"Tèa's working here?" Yugi said in disbelief, looking through the window at the rest of the shop.
"Dis is one o' tha most expensive stores in all o' Domino! What's Tèa doin' workin' here?" Joey said, looking up at the title of the store.
"Well she must have a good reason if she's skipping school to come here…" Mai said, wondering what the reason was.
"She's not gonna be working all day," Tristan said, stretching out. "We could probably wait until she gets off her shift and ask her what's goin' on. I don't care about missing school for one day."
So the group waited around until three-thirty, when Tèa's shift ended. She came out of the store and saw them all there, and instantly knew she was in trouble. "Oh, hi guys! What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"We were about to ask you the same question, Tèa." Yugi said, looking up at her with eyes full of questioning. "Why didn't you tell us that you got a job?"
"Yugi, I couldn't tell you 'cause I knew you'd want to try and help me. This is my problem and I wanted to sort it out by myself." Tèa said, looking at the ground.
"If you didn't want our help we would've understood. It just hurts that you didn't consider telling us the truth. We were really worried about you Tèa." Yugi said, and he knew how bad Tèa felt, so he stopped. "I'm going to head back. I'll see you later."
Slowly everyone left and Tèa thought she was alone until she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Mai was still standing there.
"Don't worry about it, Tèa. I'm sure everything will work out just fine. But don't forget, if you ever need help, we'll always be here for you." She offered a comforting smile, making Tèa feel a bit better, before she too left.
Slowly the brunette began walking home, feeling that the events that had just occurred had put a serious damper on her day.
It was a Saturday, the last day of Tèa's working week. Apparently the boss had witnessed the whole scene with her friends and offered a change of shifts. Tèa decided she needed a change, so she took him up on his offer and got a much better deal than the last one.
Instead of working in the café again, she had been moved in to the book section. All she had to do for that day was go through the newly arrived books and help put them on the shelves. She had thought it could get no worse, but of course, somehow it always managed to.
Tèa had just begun her shift when Elise came into the store. She was looking fairly nervous, and when Tèa said hello to her it looked like she had to keep herself from running right out of there.
"What's up Elise?"
"I have to tell you something Tèa. Before I chicken out." She took a deep breath, and then made her confession. "Iwastheonewhoenteredyouintothecompetition!" And after saying that she bolted out before she could see Tèa's reaction.
It took her a moment to figure out what she had actually said, but when she realised it, she was glad Elise had ran out of there. If she was still in front of her, Tèa couldn't be held responsible for her actions. But the next time she saw her, she would be in for it. For sure.
The next "pleasant" surprise came just after lunch. She had been restocking the shelves in the electrical section of the store when she heard a familiar voice ask a question behind her.
"Excuse me miss, my brother's laptop has been stuffing up lately and I was wondering if – TÈA?!"
"Mokuba?!"
"Gardner?!"
Tèa turned around and saw both the Kaiba brothers standing right in front of her. Mokuba looked surprised while Seto had a mixed expression – shock mixed with amusement mixed with a look that suggested he had a bad taste in his mouth. Tèa glared at him and turned away, taking her box of books and walking off to another section. Mokuba followed her out of extreme curiosity and Seto followed for the entertainment.
"Tèa, why are you working here?" Mokuba asked, standing right next to his friend.
"I had no choice in the matter, Mokuba." She muttered, still placing books on the shelves, trying not to pay them any attention.
"So this is where you've been all week?" Seto asked, still looking amused. "At least the mutt will be happy to know I didn't run away with you, as he obviously thought." She glared at him and angrily brushed past him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop. "Why did you take this job?"
She looked at him with pure malice in her eyes. "Not all of us have money to fall back on, Kaiba. I have a financial problem and I have to be able to sort it all out." Suddenly she stopped and pulled herself free of his grip, and shook her head. "Why am I even telling you?" With that she walked away, angry that she had told him.
Mokuba watched her retreating form for a moment, before turning to his brother, a glint in his eyes. Seto realised what he was getting at and quickly began shaking his head.
"There's no way, Mokuba, no way!"
"Aw, come on Seto! Don't you see what she has to do? Can't you at least give her a chance?" The younger Kaiba pleaded, looking up at his brother with puppy-dog eyes.
"It's absolutely out of the question, Mokuba! There's no way I'd even think about hiring her!"
A/N: Hmm, now does he really mean that? Sorry if I sort of left you hanging there, but that's all I planned on writing. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Just in case people got confused, the person Tèa had the interview was the Big Boss, and the one in the store who wasn't impressed with her age was…well, the boss of the store. Sorry, I'm not too good with proper terms.
Please forgive any mistakes. I don't mean it, it's just I've been very tired lately. Tell me of my mistakes and I'll fix them.
Please review, but remember, no flames! See you at chapter six.