Ugh - Traffic Jam

Shortly after leaving the company, Lily found herself facing another obstacle in her way. 

Her eyebrow elevated, creating fine lines on her forehead. She stuck her head out to make sure it wasn't just her eyes from all the document reading. After confirming that she was not hallucinating or high on caffeine, she took out her phone and snapped a picture of the heavy traffic ahead.

Ginny's call came through almost immediately after she had seen Lily's message. "Damn, girl! Isn't this route usually flowing fine? It looks like New York's rush hour time. Actually, wait, I don't drive normally, so I wouldn't know. Hahahahhaa, have you gone on the highway yet? If not, just turn around. We don't have to eat at your place."

Lily grunted in dismay. "I haven't gotten anyway near the highway. This kind of traffic is not normal. This route is my regular way home and it has never been like this. Speaking of my luck, this is how I feel when I am at work recently."

"Feeling like what? Constipation or gassy with no way of release?" Ginny chuckled as she continued doing her own thing. Another voice could be heard from the other end of the call.

"That's a much better description than me saying stuck. Anyway, at this rate, we should probably change our dinner location. Let's eat.. at our regular hotpot restaurant. How does that sound?" Lily suggested as she took a look at the time. 

"Alrighty! I will meet you... Actually, you know what? I will meet you at your company and then we can head over for dinner. I'm actually not too sure when I will finish on my end here. You can also take some time to work on other stuff at your office while waiting for me. How's that sound?" Ginny sounded uncertain as another voice could be heard faintly speaking to her in the background.

Lily could tell that Ginny was encountering some difficulty for whatever she was doing. She quickly responded in agreement. "Sounds great! Let me know when you get to my office. Actually, it doesn't matter because you already know my passcode. After all, we don't have any secrets between us. See you later! Let me know if you need anything."

After the call ended, Lily made a few turns back to her company. However, due to the traffic earlier, some vehicles had switched their routes to reach their destination. This caused some delay for Lily.

The original 15 minute route became 40 minutes for Lily to get back to her office. By the time she finished parking, it had been already almost an hour from when she had last spoken to Ginny. 

As Lily scrolled her phone for the emails she had marked as urgent, she failed to notice a figure following closely behind her. Suddenly, the person fastened their pace, wrapped their arm around Lily's neck and pressed a cold object on her neck. Lily instantly paused in shock.

A voice changer echoed in Lily's ears. "Hands up or watch my blade. Don't you dare scream." 

"Who are you?" Lily obeyed the person's words. With her hands raised to where the person could see them, she tried to get as much information out of the person as she could. 

"No need to know. Now..listen to my words carefully.." The voice somehow sounded more distanced compared to before.

"Okay.." Lily muttered, her heat beating so quick she thought it would explode like fireworks. With a pop, she swore her heart could burst any minute.

"You will..treat me to hotpot tonight...Hehe.." All of a sudden, a sweet voice chuckled in Lily's ears. It was an all too familiar voice!

Lily quickly turned around after noticing that the arm around her had loosened up and laughter filled the vacant space. "Ginny!! You scared the cr*p out of me! I almost pissed my pants!!!" 

Ginny held her stomach as she shook the voice changer in her hand. 

"Bahahahahhaha!!! Sorry, Lily. Sorry! Hahahaha! See, this is to test you on how well you can protect yourself. I told you many times to watch your surroundings and not focus on your phone. Even if you have work, it's a dangerous world now. You can't always look down. You do know that you only look up to people and never down on people. Same with your devices." Ginny spun the batch of keys that was pressed against Lily's neck on her index finger.

"Then how many times would I have to break my neck and smash my nose flat? Those devices will surely drop on my face and strain my neck before I can get something done. That hurts a lot, you know." Lily could imagine the pain in her neck after a five hour long meeting. 

"Break a neck! That's for good luck, ya know." Ginny tried to elbow Lily, but failed. As she came close to Lily's body, she changed her gesture and wrapped her arm around Lily's arm. Acting coquettishly was Ginny's forte around Lily.

Lily pushed Ginny's forehead back with the tip of her index finger. "It's break a leg, not neck. Don't do that next time. If I actually beat you, you'll be in so much pain and I will have to explain to your fiancé how you got hurt. I can't afford a lawyer with your salary and can't win in court against your future husband. He has too much of a sharp tongue in court."

As soon as Alan was dragged into their conversation, the expression on Ginny's face stiffened. "Of course he has a sharp tongue.."

"What did you say?" Because of her lowered volume, it sounded like a whisper and Lily couldn't hear what she said. 

"Nothing. I said let's go up to your office. It's been a while. You can deal with some work while I do some wedding planning."