Love and Rivalry

Chapter 26

Kaiba froze. His body tensed as he listened to footsteps slowly come closer behind him. Was it Aria? Was it one of the nerds telling him that she wasn't coming? Either way, he was about to find out in a matter of seconds. Forcing his body to relax, Kaiba immediately began schooling his features back into an indifferent gaze, instead of the anxious, insecure grimace that may have been showing before.

A figure finally approached the side of the table. Kaiba looked up, a breath of relief escaping when he saw that it was Aria. Gone was the school uniform and black slacks. Instead she stood before him in jeans and a green blouse that was cropped at the shoulders. He decided he was starting to like her in green very much.

"Is this seat taken?" Aria asked shyly with a slight blush to her cheeks.

Instead of answering, Kaiba stood up and walked over to the other chair, and pulled it out for her.

"Thank you," she murmured, lowering her lashes while taking the offered seat. Her blush deepened.

After sitting back down, Kaiba stared at Aria while she fidgeted in her seat. Say something, anything! He mentally shouted at himself. By some miracle he was sitting across from Aria on a date, a real date. He refused to mess this up. But how was he supposed to talk to her after everything like it had never happened? And then he realized that was exactly what he needed to do.

But before he could put it into action, the doors to the kitchen swung open.

Mokuba approached their table, a tray carrying two cups of water on one hand and a couple of menus in the other. "Welcome to Bartini's," he said brightly, placing the water in front of them. "My name is Mokuba and I will be your waiter this evening." He handed them each a menu. "While you peruse our delicious selection, can I offer you a beverage to start?"

Kaiba almost rolled his eyes at his brother's imitation of a waiter. It was so like Mokuba to put himself in the center where he could watch his only brother be very much out of his element. Glancing over at Aria, he saw that she looked much more relaxed, smiling at Mokuba and trying not to laugh at his charade. Kaiba instantly felt gratitude for his little brother's presence. With him there, it made the atmosphere feel much more lighthearted.

After taking their drink orders, Mokuba gave an exaggerated bow and left with a wide grin on his face.

With Mokuba's go-lucky attitude gone, the tension once again settled around the table. Kaiba took a long drink of water, his throat suddenly feeling dry. If he wanted this to go well, then he was going to need to start talking.

Picking up his menu, he pretended to peruse the options. "I hear the food here is quite good." He gave a sly glance at Aria who blinked agape back at him, as if dumbfounded by his small talk.

She eventually came to her senses and also picked up her menu, hiding behind its folds. "Yes, the food here is quite excellent," she said without looking up.

Kaiba smiled to himself, amused by her shyness. How could the same woman upraid him to his face one moment, and then act totally bashful the next? "Though you think they'd be able to hire better help," he said simply, keeping his eyes down on the menu.

Kaiba held his breath waiting to hear Aria's reaction, when none came he chanced a look up and saw a surprised look on her face. She then pursed her lips as if trying not to smile but soon failed as a bubble of laughter broke forth.

Kaiba let out a small smile with a quirk of his lips, though inside he was brimming with joy at having made her laugh. This was how a date was supposed to go. No having to worry about their work relationship interfering (since there was no longer one!) or if an evil stepfather was going to exploit the relationship. For once Kaiba felt he could simply just enjoy Aria's company.