Trapped! I Was Played In A Ruined Romance

Ada Williams The bus braked so abruptly that my body was thrown forward along with the rest of the lost souls on the late-night public transit. No one complained. Everyone there seemed to have given up on life at least five years ago. Including me. I let out a weary sigh, pressing my forehead against the cold glass as I watched the city lights flash by outside. My head was pounding. It didn’t help that I’d spent the last eight hours listening to people lie through their teeth on the phone. “Ma’am, I swear my car caught fire on its own!” Sure it did. Just like the guy who ‘accidentally’ dropped his phone in the toilet for the third time in four months. Or the woman who clearly gave her card PIN to her junkie boyfriend and then tried to claim it was identity theft. Working at an insurance company destroyed your faith in humanity at an alarming rate. The worst part was, I was actually really good at it. And I'm not exaggerating. I could catch the slightest hesitation in a voice. The shift in tone, the patterns. Even a hitch in their breath. People were terrible liars. And of course, my manager loved it. ‘Ada Williams, you have a gift. You should be working for the police.’ ‘You're going to win Employee of the Month at this rate.’ Great. Maybe I could use the Employee of the Month certificate to pay my rent. Still, I couldn't deny that the prospect of a promotion excited me a little. Especially since the company's CEO was visiting our headquarters in a few days. Apparently, he lived abroad and was visiting the branches in person. Ever since that news broke, the entire office had turned into a hormonal zoo. The girls in customer service were practically losing their minds in the breakroom. ‘He is gorgeous.’ ‘Ridiculously rich.’ ‘Did you see his picture? He's so hot!’ ‘Oh my god, he looks like an actor.’ I heard that one of them literally blew up his LinkedIn profile picture to show everyone else. Not to sound mean, but that… was kind of ridiculous. I listened to them gossiping from a distance, trying not to laugh, and I had to admit it was making me incredibly curious. Not enough to actually go over there and join those crazy girls, of course. No way. I just stayed at my desk, listening to the comments, trying to picture him. Maybe a man who looked like the lead in a Korean corporate drama? Expensive suit. Cold eyes. Perfectksy styled hair. The funniest part was listening to them talk as if any of them actually stood a chance; it made me want to bang my head against my desk. Most of them could barely reply to an email without a typo. But sure. The billionaire CEO from abroad would definitely drop everything after meeting Martha from department three. Well… anyway, I was curious. I closed my eyes for a moment, coming back to reality, and settled more comfortably into my seat on the bus. Tomorrow would finally be my day off. Just thinking about it almost brought tears to my eyes. I had no idea what to do with my rare and precious free time, especially since the last attempt at entertainment I’d tried had been a total failure. *The Saint and the Dragon.* Just thinking about that game made me want to roll my eyes. The cover was actually really pretty. The premise sounded interesting. An orphan saint with healing powers. A cursed Dragon King. Warring kingdoms. Forbidden romance. And of course… plenty of steamy scenes. At least, that's what the game promised. It sounded more than promising. But then, the protagonist spent half the game sniffing white flowers and crying while thousands of people died because of her. Not a single kiss. No breathtaking, sizzling scenes or… anything to make me want to rip something else off. It was depressing. Honestly? I tried. As it reached a point where I couldn't take the story seriously anymore. ‘Oh, yeah, sure. Let's start a continental war and kill a bunch of commoners because the hot dragon became emotionally dependent on a girl with a savior complex, and he can barely touch the beauty for fear of hurting her.’ How romantic. For the corpses, I guess. Anyway, the bus stopped at the station near my building, and I practically dragged myself out along with the crowd. All I could think about was how that game had been a complete waste of time. To make matters worse, the night air on the sidewalk was freezing, damp, and smelled of gasoline, coming from the gas station on the corner. *Wonderful, as always*, I thought ironically. I stopped at a convenience store that was still open and bought some beers, instant noodles, and an energy drink that would probably shave a few months off my life expectancy. The moment I stepped out of the store, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I frowned when I saw my manager’s name on the screen. *James the Leech* ‘Oh, no…’ I answered, already feeling a headache coming on. "Ada? Sorry to bother you this late." Automatically, I went on high alert. Did I forget something? A document? An inspection? Did some crazy client call again? "Did something happen?" I asked immediately. "No, no, nothing serious! Relax. Actually, I just wanted to say you were incredible today." My eyes rolled automatically as I crossed the street. Right, compliments... They always came right before the bomb dropped.