AS YOU MELT THIS HEART OF STONE

THE GAME IS ON

"It's time to play the game...

It's all about the game and how you play it.

All about control, and if you can take it....

I'm the game, you don't wanna play me.

I'm control, no way you can change me...

It's time to play the game.."

- Motorhead

--------------------------

"Are you sure, Rickard? "

I didn't have to say anything. Just an arrogant glare from me was enough to convey the message - have I ever done anything that I wasn't sure of?

"I know, I know! No need to send such death glares." said the fidgeting vice-president, "I was just thinking.... You know, it has been just weeks that she almost managed to burn herself alive. Don't you think it would be too much for her to face those sharks in business suits?"

"You are forgetting one vital point here, Leonard. The 'she' you're talking about can't sleep well at night, if she doesn't get caught in a huge trouble for at least thrice a month."

"Huh!" He blinked.

"She has enough ability to go there by herself and wreck havoc." I stated coolly, "So I plan to take her with us so that we can control the situation."

"We? "

"Why Leonard? Isn't the vice president supposed to aid the president in all business endeavors?"

"Yeah... But..."

"We have reached her place. Be prepared for a very very long night."

***************

I knew it would be a long night. But I found how utterly understated that was, the moment I spotted my missing secretary on the stage.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. My usual calm composure was hit by thousands of tons of bricks.

What the f*** !!!! What the hell was she doing up there, wearing such a distasteful, revealing dress, exposing herself in front of a room full of perverts and gamblers!

Although I knew the answer too well, I was having a real hard time to actually believe this or hell, come to terms with the situation.

The situation.

Yes, the hellish situation she managed to get into.

Why was she so stubborn! I told her, I explicitly ordered her not come. I tried to reason with her to not get herself tangled in this gambling game! What did she want to prove by coming here, huh?

As my eyes caught hers, for the first time in my life, I felt utterly helpless. She looked at me with so much fear and plea that I wanted to whisk her off and run away somewhere very very far from this drama.

But I couldn't. The moment we entered this damned event, we became bounded by those rules, rules specially crafted by Tavolacci.

But then, the host announced something that caught my attention. What was it again? Oh! this year, they are giving the secretaries a chance to back out at the beginning.

But..... But that meant they have to reveal their employers.

And more than half of the selected secret secretaries did.

They revealed their boss's identity and saved themselves from the disgraceful and disgusting game afterward, leaving the employer to take the real fall. In a way, it was just. In many cases, the employer forces the secretary to take part in this event and gamble on them. So it only served them right.