Chapter Text
Seto tossed his briefcase aside hard enough that the framed schematic hanging on his office wall shuddered.
At least it didn’t fall… This time.
After sifting through the files in his hand, Seto dropped them onto the massive stack that was the rest of his unfinished paperwork.
He didn’t have time for this. Why did everyone assume that he had time for all of these…these trivial academic games? He was busy! He had things to do! Why was it that, for the sake of “fairness,” his simple “job” was viewed with the same lack of importance as the after school work of his puny classmates? He wasn’t waiting tables, cleaning aisle three, or taking tickets—he was running a company! He was raising a child for God’s sake!—And not even his own so the responsibility couldn’t be blamed on recklessness.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to set aside time in the morning for the “project”—he just had no time. How much earlier could he rise? Was three thirty in the morning too late? Sacrificing his lunch hour? His lunch hour was spent on his laptop doing whatever he could do away from his office. After school, the teacher had suggested.
When?
After school he went home, changed out of his uniform, made sure nothing was amiss in the house, waited ten minutes for Mokuba to arrive, nodded to him, left for the office, got a stack of papers at the main desk, listened to his assistant prattle off his missed calls, got into his office and worked! If life was merciful he finished with his office work at six, he went home, he had dinner for a half hour, and went back to work until…
Until?
Eleven? Twelve?
This was pathetic. He had a family to take care of—not a big one, but that didn’t matter. Assign him a paper—it’d be done perfectly in fifteen minutes at most. A math worksheet—five minutes. A science project—an hour at most.
Such assignments were all on his time. He could stop and return as he pleased. Group work meant going out of his way to fit another person’s life into his own. If he answered the phone, he was scoffed by his partner, answered an e-mail he was reported to have been “unhelpful” to the group members…
Seto took in a deep breath as he dropped into his seat. All of this inconvenience because “the world can’t accept a CEO without a high school diploma” and “in-home, private lessons for university credit” don’t count for high school. Not to mention how “approachable” it made him look to the public if he went to a school like a “normal kid” with everyone else.
At the end of the day, however, Seto admitted to himself that he probably wouldn’t have allowed himself to become so upset if it weren’t for who he’d been “randomly” paired with…
“Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Wheeler is here for your three O’clock appointment.”
Oh yes, that teacher knew how much he hated that mutt Wheeler. This was intentional. Personal!
Seto regretted correcting the teacher’s last mistake, but what good was it to be “taught” by a man who made mistakes in basic—
“Hey, Kaiba, sorry it took so long for me to get here. There was this long line of traffic—”
“Don’t waste any more of my time with your lame excuses, Wheeler,” Seto growled. “We now only have twenty minutes before I have a meeting, so tell me that you already have something planned in that empty container you call a head—or is that asking too much?” Seto raised a well-kept brow and allowed his eyes to narrow. Joey glared back, but Seto gave the dog credit for biting back his temper more than usual.
Smart move. If the mutt had started an argument, Seto wouldn’t have held back. Waiting around for his unwanted partner for ten minutes (the same amount of time it would take for him to do the project on his own if he’d been allowed) was not his ideal way to start the afternoon. Especially not when he could be at home changing out of his uniform and making sure his little brother made it home safe… To be truly honest, Seto had only been waiting for about four minutes for Joey. (But he wasn’t going let Wheeler know that.)
Joey, gritting his teeth behind forcedly sealed lips, let out a heavy sigh as he attempted to rein in his temper.
“Yeah, actually. I came up with a few ideas.”
“Them just say them already,” Seto commanded, watching Joey’s narrowed eyes.
“It’s not the most creative idea, but—”
“Don’t you know anything?” Seto criticized. “You never start a sales pitch with a negative statement. Why don’t you just drop out since you can’t even master the basics of sales?”
“Gee, I didn’t know I was tryin’ta sell ya somethin’!” Joey spat.
“Get on with it, Wheeler. I don’t have all day.”
“Quit interrupting me every time I try to—”
“Mr. Kaiba, your appointment for three thirty is here. He says it’s urgent that he see you now.”
The secretary was smart, Joey thought. She came in wearing a cute little outfit, said what needed to be said in a professional voice, turned around and walked out, closing the door slowly behind her. She didn’t wait to hear what “Mr. Kaiba” had to say. It was almost like she was the one calling the shots.
“We’ll finish with this tomorrow,” Seto said, eyeing his paperwork before he looked at Joey. “Have my assistant pencil you in for an appointment, and don’t be late this time. You can go.”
“You can’t just make me leave!” Joey spat vehemently. “We’ve only got a week to work on—”
“I’ll get to it tomorrow—bring more ideas next time. Now go.” Leaving the office and making a point to slam the door behind him, Joey fumed.
“Mr. Kaiba has an hour free between five thirty and six thirty tomorrow morning—”
“That’s not gonna work,” Joey hissed, not able to make eye contact with the woman behind the front desk. He at least had the ability to control his anger and not take it out on innocent bystanders. It wasn’t his idea to get paired with Seto Kaiba and he wasn’t any happier about it than the CEO. (Or the girls in the class who practically started crying when Kaiba wasn’t paired with them.) But at least he didn’t try to start a fight right off the bat.
“I’m sorry, but that’s the only available—”
“Six o’clock,” Seto spat, stepping out of his office and past the desk as he traveled from one room towards an office that had blinds drawn over its windows. The woman didn’t fumble or even appear ruffled. She flipped through a legal pad on her desk and then shook her head.
“We could attempt move the appointment with Industrial Illusions, but I don’t know if they’ll—”
“The other six o’clock.” Seto slammed the door to the boardroom and the woman’s shoulders lowered slightly, but only for a moment.
“Six p.m. then,” she stated, her hardening eyes locking with Joey’s. It was a look that left him puzzled long into the night.
What was so bad about six o’clock?
It probably made her stay over, Joey decided. Kaiba was a jerk; he wouldn’t even let the poor woman go home on time. She probably had kids or something… Joey found himself feeling almost guilty for not accepting the five thirty slot.
Almost.
( ) ( ) ( )
Seto made a point to arrive home in time for dinner. He’d left in the morning before Mokuba had even gotten up, didn’t get the chance to see him after his classes had ended, and hadn’t even gotten the chance to call him for a two minute chat to make sure he was still alive and that the world wasn’t going to collapse around them because of extenuating circumstances. He had to make it home for dinner because, tomorrow night, he wouldn’t be there and losing time with Mokuba always felt so wrong.