2 1.1 The CEO

(A/N: All the Croatian in this chapter is from Google Translate. I don't expect it to be 100% accurate, and it doesn't contribute too much to the story anyway. I just think it's cool :P)

Opening her eyes, Gaia founded herself blinded by sunlight. She sat up, blinking as she did so, and saw a small room filled with moving boxes half unpacked. Gaia realized she was in her first world, so she quickly asked the system where she was and who she was.

"Okay, Host! You are in the body of Sonja Moreno, the childhood friend of the female lead, Rebekka Jóhannsson. Sonja and her family just moved here from Croatia a few days ago, and so she speaks Croatian, but she also speaks English because her family planned to move to Los Angeles.

"Your missions are to give your family a good life in America, separate the female lead and the male lead, and finally marry someone you wholeheartedly love."

One of these things is not like the others.

"What's the storyline looking like?" As Gaia, no, Sonja, asked this, she felt a movie play through her mind. Realizing that this was the plot, she quickly paid attention.

The plot opens in Los Angeles, where the female lead, Rebekka Jóhannsson and her best friend from boarding school, Sonja Moreno, had moved to, along with their families. Rebekka had luckily gotten a job as an assistant for a semi-large company. Being from Europe and raised in an Icelandic household, she had a hard time adjusting to life in America, as it was so different from the life she had known previously. Her boss had seen her struggle, especially with the accents and culture of the Americans and her new position, and had "graciously" invited her to a charity ball, where many powerful businessmen and women would attend in a few days. As she goes to the ball, she meets the male lead, Sebastian Iliescu, one of the most influential men in America, and, dare I say, the world.

Everything was pretty cliché from then on. They both fall in love very quickly, though it was a cat-and-mouse game at first. The defeat of love and business rivals heightened their love for each other, and they lived happily ever after soon after.

What wasn't told was how they got there. Sifting through the original soul's memories, Sonja found out that assistant position was originally supposed to be hers, but because the female lead heard of this and had an arrogant and spoiled mindset due to overindulgences from her parents, she had slept with the CEO of the company, yes the CEO himself, for the position, all because she didn't want anyone to be above her. Due to almost being "stepped on" by Sonja, Rebekka proceeded to make her life a living hell. Firstly, she used her connection to get rid of Sonja's parents, so she would have no choice but to lean on Rebekka and do her bidding to "pay her back" for relying on her friend. Using her networking skills and pillow talk, Sonja secured Rebekka deals and opportunities to be closer to the male lead and boost her up into the upper echelons of society but got nothing for herself. Once Sonja had outlived her usefulness, the female lead withheld Sonja's heart medication, causing Sonja to pass away due to her heart disease so she (SM) wouldn't expose her (RJ) deeds, such as seduction, blackmail, and hired rape and assassinations. Those things were how Rebekka dealt with her love and business rivals. However, Rebekka withheld her medication for another reason: Sonja was getting very close to the male lead, as in she talked with him very often and even went on "business lunches". Once Sonja and Sebastian had shared a kiss, however, Rebekka went berserk, killing off her friend by triggering her heart disease with strenuous running, and withholding Sonja's medication when she begged for it.

Surprisingly, though, the male lead mourned Sonja's death, though briefly. This may be due to the limited contacted they had with each other, and the seduction of the female lead.

Sonja sighed with pity at the original soul's stupidity. No wonder she wanted to separate the female and male leads, Rebekka's love for Sebastian, or rather, Sebastian's power and money, had caused her to die, and pitifully as well.

Suddenly, Sonja hears a woman's voice calling her. "Sonja, jesi li budan? Doručak je spreman." (Sonja are you awake? Breakfast is ready.)

"Coming!" Sonja leapt out of bed and make her way to the kitchen/dining room and sat down at the table. Taking a look around, Sonja noticed several more boxes littering the ground in the kitchen and living room, which were opened up to each other. The boxes held an array of things still, an obvious indication that they had moved in not too long ago. Sonja looked back at the person in the kitchen. She was a woman in her mid-forties, but she looked great for her age. When she stopped cooking and turned around to see Sonja, Sonja could see the warmth and love on her face. Searching through her memories, Sonja confirmed this was the original soul's mother. Not knowing what to do while the lady plated the food, Sonja sat there awkwardly, trying to seem casual.

"Zašto ne govoriš hrvatski? Ovo je vaš materinji jezik." (Why are you not speaking Croatian? This is your mother tongue). Mother Moreno furrowed her brows as she at down and handed over Sonja's plate of pašteta on bread, a standard Croatian breakfast.

Sonja smiled at her mother and said with an accented voice, "It's because we live in America now, and I want to be understood by the locals. If they can understand me, then I'll have an easier time being successful. As they say, practice makes perfect."

"That's my girl, taking it the extra mile!" A heavily accented voice said. A man walked into the kitchen/dining area. Sonja scrutinized him and realized this was her father. Smiling at his wife and daughter, he made his way the table and sat down to eat. Picking up the bread, he started to talk.

"Sonja's right dear. We all are working in America now, and it will benefit us to speak it more." Looking at his wife's pouting face, his features softened. "Ne brini. I dalje možete govoriti hrvatski kod kuće. Nitko vas ne zaustavlja." (Don't worry. You can still speak Croatian at home. No one's stopping you.)

Mother Moreno smiled, happy she won't have to completely abandon her language. Not wanting to interrupt the couple's time together in what must have been a while since they moved, Sonja stood up to leave the apartment.

"Where are you going? You just woke up and just had breakfast. Stay and rest a while." Father Moreno turned around and called out to Sonja.

Sonja smiled and turned around to her father. "I'm headed to my interview. I had forgotten to tell you, but I didn't want to give any false hope just in case I didn't get it."

Father and Mother Moreno both wished Sonja good luck, making it clear that they support her no matter what happens. Smiling at this optimistic couple, Sonja walked out of the small apartment and on to the busy street.

"Host, are you really going to the interview? I hate to break it to ya, but the female lead already slept with the CEO." The almost forgotten system suddenly spoke, startling Sonja into stopping, but she quickly brushed it off and continued walking.

Smirking, she replied to her clueless system. "Of course not. Why would I go to that meaningless interview? That was just an excuse for my parents to not worry about what I'm doing. There's another way to go to that charity ball than being an assistant."

"Host, what do you mean? The only job to get there with your skills is being the assistant. I can't think of anything else the plot said about Sonja."

This system... truly narrow-minded.

"System, that's because you only rely on the plot and not the original soul." Sonja suddenly smiled brilliantly, nearly blinding the people on the street, as she truly was a beautiful person, in a sexy way. "Drinks during a charity ball are always popular since you need something to dull the pain of annoying and bootlicking businessmen. Bartenders are always in demand."

That's right, the original soul had been trained as a bartender for a nightly job a few years ago to help pay her expenses for her last year at her boarding school. Ever since then, Sonja had taken an almost permanent job at a popular bar in Croatia, elevating her skill set even more. Since she had started when she was eighteen, at twenty-three, her five years of constant experience made her more than qualified to bartend for one night.

"Let's do this."