The King of Manipulation

They call him the King of Manipulation. Deception was his degree earned at the university of good looks. Girls who mistake these skills for dominance look at him with lustful gazes; the ones who know the truth turn their heads. His life is full of a constant mission of getting in the pants of as many girls as possible. He takes thrill from watching hearts break.

They call her the Queen of Compassion. Compassion was her degree earned at the university of a good heart. Guys who mistake these skills for an easy one-night-stand look at her with lustful gazes; those who know the truth look at her with loving eyes. Her life is full of a constant mission to help fix as many people as possible. She takes thrill from mending broken hearts.

Maestros of two drastically different arts such as these should never associate with one another; it's like putting a lion and sheep in the same room and expecting them not to eat each other. However, this exact thing happened a month from this day.

It's not like it was the end of the world. There wasn’t a zombie apocalypse. No meteor fell from the sky to wipe out mankind. No spur-of-the-moment nuclear warfare. Just a coffee spilt on a shirt and books spewed everywhere. He was rushing to get to his wrestling match; she was trying to get to her study group. Neither of them were looking where they were going when they ran into each other. She felt terrible. He saw his next victim.

He helped pick up her books while she apologized for the, now stained, coffee on his shirt a million times in the matter of seconds. With a charming, yet secretly devious, smile he informed her that it would all be okay, it’s just a shirt anyway. A short conversation later and they had plans to get coffee together the next day.

The coffee date was a success. She found the next person she was going to help; he found his next goal for a one-night-stand. They both began to talk frequently, but the more they talked the more she fell for him and his manipulative ways. In her eyes, he wasn’t a manipulative person. He was simply just a man who was hurting deeply and was in need of some form of comfort.

A few months later, the King of Manipulation finally succeeded at his goal to get in the pants of the Queen of Compassion. It took him a lot of work. He told her that he loved her. He bought her fancy things. He told her that he needed her. He convinced her that he was broken and she was the only one that could help. He made her feel beautiful, cared for, loved.

The morning after, the Queen of Compassion woke up to an empty bed, a stingingly cold hotel room, and no note. She tried calling him. Showing up to where they first met. Talking to his friends. Then she realized: he made her feel like he was the only one for her only to get to have another notch on his belt. The King of Manipulation had yet another victim of whom he ruined forever.