Post by UnfairBear on Apr 13, 2011 0:31:54 GMT -5
Part One
Tessa scratched her eyebrow and glanced over the page in front of her, trying with some success to mask her boredom. It was for the benefit of the man sitting in front of her, her client, who sat expectantly, politely waiting for her verdict. He was above average looking, this man, the typical tall dark and handsome type that got him a little bit extra special treatment (whether he liked it or not), and he had a decent skillset. He would have no problem getting a job, she thought.
She looked up at him and gave a short, tight-lipped smile.
"You did a good job on this, Mr. Saville, I'm quite impressed with your achievements," she complimented him.
"Thank you, thank you," he replied, looking humbly pleased. She couldn't stop her smile becoming a little more genuine than it usually was.
"There's just one minor problem though. You havn't included a hobbies section. If you like, you can tell me a few of them now and I can add them in myself before we send your Resume anywhere."
"Oh, of course, sorry about that," he replied looking a little flustered.
He waited for her to prepare a pen and paper and began listing his hobbies. They were mostly mundane things like reading and relaxing with friends; the fillers that you put into your Resume in hopes that you'll be able to trick your potention employers into thinking that you're a normal person. Tessa wrote almost robotically, not really hearing what he said until he got to one word.
"Cycling..."
She glanced involuntarily down at his legs. They were not quite the most normal of limbs. For starters, there were eight of them, four sticking out of each side. As well as that, they didn't look like the average humanoid legs, rather more like an insect's, with their thin, gangly appearance. They protruded from a backside which was slightly more elongated that usual.
And he used these to cycle. She found herself wondering what kind of bizarre bicycle he owned. Maybe a tandem bike for four? Eventually she realised she was staring and snapped herself out of it.
"I'm sorry, legs move on. LETS. LETS move on."
****
Tessa plonked down in her cubicle with an exhasperated sigh. Her many-limbed client's face had turned to a hurt look that made her feel guilty. She didn't need guilt, it only irritated her. She leaned forward in her chair and looked at the skin on her hands. She was black. Not bronze, not chocolate, not moccha, but black. Jet black. Coal black. Dirty miner black. Where she was from, about fourty percent of people were this color. They were commonly called 'brown'. The other sixty percent had snow white skin. They were the pinks.
Tessa also had bright blue hair, but that's neither here nor there. The point is, she was odd looking. When she first came to this planet she felt like a duck in a hardware store. She ran into a couple of people from her home planet here, sure, but she still felt out of place. That said, there were so many different races here that everyone must feel like the odd one out. Even so, she hadn't wanted to make Mr. Saville feel bad about himself, since she was in the same boat, although, admittedly she probably wouldnt've run off in tears in the same situation, like he had.
Her train of thought came to a crashing wreck as the high-pitched voice of Cindy Checker scratched the back of her eyeballs.
"Heeeey hun!" She squealed, far too happily for anybody's liking within a ten meter radius, even if any of them thought her cheer was genuine.
"Hi Cindy," responded Tessa dully, trying to avoid eye contact.
"How are you, chicken?" she trilled, flittering into her cubicle next to Tessa's and sitting down. Tessa shuddered.
"Fine," she replied. "You?" she added, immediately regretting it. Cindy's head appeared suddenly over the wall seperating their offices, nearly making Tessa soil herself.
"You'll never guess," said Cindy dramatically, her tone having changed drastically.
"I bet I won't," she agreed with a lack of enthusiasm that Cindy chose not to pick up on.
"Stacey Hahn has been talking about you behind your back. What a fucking bitch, right?" Her voice was quiet and dark, her eyes waiting excitedly on Tessa's face for a reaction.
"Totally," confirmed Tessa, with barely a glance. Cindy's stare lingered a little longer before she quickly dropped back down from behind the wall and stood up inside her cubicle.
"Must go to the little girl's room and powder my nose!" she piped, her voice returned to its previous sickeningly jolly state.
Tessa rolled her eyes and watched her stupid blonde hair bob energetically down the hallway. That wasn't the way to the bathrooms. Tessa knew exactly where Cindy was going, and that was straight to Stacey Hahn's desk to tell her that Tessa had called her a bitch. Tessa didn't care. Everyone in the office, Stacey included knew what Cindy was like. Technically everyone had called everyone else a bitch, a hussey, a tramp and worse. There was the occasional one-sided catfight when a new girl joined the office (which the males thoroughly enjoyed), but apart from that, nobody really cared. Tessa couldn't blame Stacey in a way though. This place was so boring that seeing a naiive, fresh faced intern try to claw the eyes out of a sixty year old woman was really the best entertainment they got.
Stacey disappeared from her mind though, as the gangly, reptilian sight of the manager's assistant came plodding down the aisle. He had under his arm a stack of folders one of which he handed to each employee in each cubicle. Tessa already knew what they were. They contained the new companies that they'd be hiring for for the next month. She couldn't help but feel a little excited at the prospect of a new assignment, and then proceeded to feel ashamed of her boring, boring life. The assistant plopped Stacey's folder down on her empty desk before handing one to Tessa. She gave him a slightly unecessary smile which he didn't return, possibly because he had no sense of humor, possible because he had no lips. She wasn't sure. With the excitement of a small child unwrapping a present at Christmas she tore open the folder and glanced over the first page. Then, her face turned to one similar to a small child who opened a bicycle-shaped present and was met with a strategically arranged pair of socks.
'Madame Sierra's Escort Service' read the name under the heading of company. Tessa dropped the folder to her desk and her head to her hands. Cheap hookers. She always got stuck with the cheap hookers. She supposed she should have known better than to get excited about something that was bound to end in tassles and sparkly sopositories. She sat back in her chair in disappointment. Across the room she could see a shock of blonde hair protruding from Stacey Hahn's desk. No doubt she'd soon be listening to the wonderful company that Cindy got the luck and pleasure to get landed with. Woop-dee-fucking-doo.
Then, suddenly a lightbulb went on over Tessa's head. It had gotten dark outside and someone had turn the lights on. Also, appropriately enough, she'd had a bright idea. Making sure Cindy was still busy bitching, Tessa stood and casually sauntered into her cubicle, holding her own folder inconspicuously by her side. She nonchalantly flipped over the front page of Cindy's folder. 'Wesley Firefighters Inc.' she read. Tessa grunted in irritation.
The Wesley Firefighters weren't just fire fighters. No. They were firefighters in space. They were firefighters on space stations, on sattelites, on exotic other planets. And they wouldn't just fight fire, no. They'd fight wild beasts, hostile aliens, deadly diseases. Anybody even considering applying for a job with the Wesley Firefighters would have to have had some extensive, interesting and perilous experience. They would also unvariably be extremely attractive and the whole office would have to listen to Cindy's horrible flirtacious laugh that sounded like a hyena on helium.
A similar sound eminated from across the room where Cindy herself remained. Technically, since the companies weren't officially assigned and since Cindy hadn't seen her folder yet, it wasn't technically hers. Cindy wasn't here. Nobody was looking. Tessa looked down at the two folders, one in each hand and thought hard...
Should Tessa:
a] Switch her folder with Cindy's and be assigned to the Wesley Firefighters
b] Stick with her own folder and work with Madame Sierra's Escort Service
Part 2
In actual fact, Tessa didn’t really have to think that hard at all. Whether or not to switch folders with Cindy was a no-brainer. She placed her own folder down on Cindy’s desk and did a funny twirl that she meant to be inconspicuous but would probably have been very suspicious altogether if anybody had actually been watching. She flitted awkwardly from the cubicle and returned to her own. Once seated she hungrily opened her new assignment and dove in. This would be fun.
********
The next day, Tessa’s step had a tiny bit more of a bounce than it usually did. Nobody would have noticed, mostly because nobody really cared, but it was only a small indication of the excitement she felt. She was fiercely looking forward to interviewing brave and interesting hunks instead of the seedy trench coats that tried to bribe her into hiring them and the elderly men who tried to pinch her backside that she was used to.
Sitting at her interview desk she flicked through the CVs as she waited for her first client. She had already read through all of them with gusto the night before and there wasn’t one candidate she wasn’t looking forward to speaking with. Be that as it was, she had decided not to be naive about the whole affair. She’d built up a wall against potential charmers around her mind and heart, amongst other places. Excited as she was about the exhibition she was about to view, she would not be sweet talked into accepting those who were undeserving.
Not long later, her first interviewee arrived, bronze and chiselled like a fallen god, and her day began.
**********
Three clients and two hours later, Tessa felt like she needed a cold shower. The first herculean man she’d interviewed had been charming, but polite enough that her defences proved mostly unnecessary, although his intense crystal-blue stare had caused her to cross her legs very tightly more than once. He’d told her about a group of orphans he’d saved from the jaws of a dinosaur-like creature by paragliding from a cliff, attaching a thick vine to its snout for reins and leading it away from their home. He’d subsequently tamed the beast who he now kept as a loyal pet. He named it Freddy.
The second man, surprisingly, was hideous. His facial features were arranged in a manner that might be seen in a Picasso. Disconcerting as his appearance was, Tessa thought, at least he didn’t smell. As well as that he was probably one of the nicest men she’d met. He was polite, humble, and while his feats had not been quite as spectacular as the last man’s, she had no doubt that he had the potential to be a true hero. After he left she mulled over this unorthodox client and tried to discern what policy Wesley Firefighters inc had on appearance. There had to be a reason they all looked as if they’d come out of a fairytale or, more appropriately, a male strip club. Unsure, she put his Resume on the maybe pile.
The third man made her feel uneasy, but in a way that she liked intensely. Though he was young, his hair was snowy white and long. He had skin the color of the sea, or the sky, or some other large body she couldn’t quite order her brain to think of. His eyes were a pale, pale green. Despite his bright appearance, he had a dark, mysterious manner that would have made her blush had any color been able to seep through. She wasn’t entirely sure how orthodox or noble his methods were, but when he spoke, his low, gravelly voice made her ears very happy.
Once the last man had gone Tessa fanned herself with his Resume. Across the room she spied a disgusted Cindy sitting very far back on her chair as a woman in her eighties, with hair apparently made from tentacles was giving her a very detailed and enthusiastic account of something that Cindy obviously didn’t want to hear about. Tessa just about covered up a malign snigger and dropped her head to write some notes in the last candidate’s file.
“Hey, baby,” said a voice above her. Surprised, she looked up to see the most beautiful man she’d ever laid eyes on. He was almost huge, but not gargantuan. The outlines of carefully tended muscles creased the material on his skin-tight shirt. He had dark amber hair that flowed in such a strange way that it gave the impression of dark, brooding fire. His eyes were such a bright blue that she was sure someone had replaced them with precious jewels. He was impeccable. And then he smiled and she nearly had a stroke. In any other situation she’d probably have fainted by now, but fortunately, she was prepared.
She raised one blue eyebrow as he turned the chair in front of her desk around and sat down on it backwards, leaning in towards her in a very forward manner.
“Can I help you?” she asked uncertainly. He scoffed.
“Haven’t you been awaiting my arrival with bated breath?” he asked, only partially joking, it seemed. She narrowed her eyes and ruffled through her papers to find her schedule.
“Mr ah.. Hardwicke?” she asked. He raised his hands above his head in some sort of glorious pose.
“The one and only, sweet cheeks!” he announced enthusiastically, apparently very proud that there hadn’t been a clone of him made. He dropped his arms and winked at her incredulous expression.
“Right... Well, you’re fifteen minutes early,” she told him, finding it a little hard to keep her voice strong but determined not to show a single sign of weakness to someone who called her ‘sweet cheeks’.
“Oh, that’s okay, I’ll just sit here and wait,” he told her. She stared at him, hoping that he’d see the obvious problems she might have with that, but ended up sighing in regisnation as he began to shine his nails on his pecs.
“Well,” she started, with an irritated feeling of defeat, “I suppose we can begin our int-”
“Have a drink with me,” he interrupted suddenly, staring into her face with an excited intensity that took her aback,
“What, right now?” she asked in disbelief.
“Right now,” he confirmed with a mischievous smile. She faltered. Part of her – mostly parts of her lower half – were telling her to go with him, run off, have an adventure, have a good time. The rest of her was telling her that this man was an arrogant jerk and she shouldn’t disrespect herself by adhering to his request.
But god, he was so hot...
Should Tessa:
a] Go for a drink with the hunky Firefighter
b] Reject him
Poll: pogotribe.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=gfxsection&thread=6579
Tessa scratched her eyebrow and glanced over the page in front of her, trying with some success to mask her boredom. It was for the benefit of the man sitting in front of her, her client, who sat expectantly, politely waiting for her verdict. He was above average looking, this man, the typical tall dark and handsome type that got him a little bit extra special treatment (whether he liked it or not), and he had a decent skillset. He would have no problem getting a job, she thought.
She looked up at him and gave a short, tight-lipped smile.
"You did a good job on this, Mr. Saville, I'm quite impressed with your achievements," she complimented him.
"Thank you, thank you," he replied, looking humbly pleased. She couldn't stop her smile becoming a little more genuine than it usually was.
"There's just one minor problem though. You havn't included a hobbies section. If you like, you can tell me a few of them now and I can add them in myself before we send your Resume anywhere."
"Oh, of course, sorry about that," he replied looking a little flustered.
He waited for her to prepare a pen and paper and began listing his hobbies. They were mostly mundane things like reading and relaxing with friends; the fillers that you put into your Resume in hopes that you'll be able to trick your potention employers into thinking that you're a normal person. Tessa wrote almost robotically, not really hearing what he said until he got to one word.
"Cycling..."
She glanced involuntarily down at his legs. They were not quite the most normal of limbs. For starters, there were eight of them, four sticking out of each side. As well as that, they didn't look like the average humanoid legs, rather more like an insect's, with their thin, gangly appearance. They protruded from a backside which was slightly more elongated that usual.
And he used these to cycle. She found herself wondering what kind of bizarre bicycle he owned. Maybe a tandem bike for four? Eventually she realised she was staring and snapped herself out of it.
"I'm sorry, legs move on. LETS. LETS move on."
****
Tessa plonked down in her cubicle with an exhasperated sigh. Her many-limbed client's face had turned to a hurt look that made her feel guilty. She didn't need guilt, it only irritated her. She leaned forward in her chair and looked at the skin on her hands. She was black. Not bronze, not chocolate, not moccha, but black. Jet black. Coal black. Dirty miner black. Where she was from, about fourty percent of people were this color. They were commonly called 'brown'. The other sixty percent had snow white skin. They were the pinks.
Tessa also had bright blue hair, but that's neither here nor there. The point is, she was odd looking. When she first came to this planet she felt like a duck in a hardware store. She ran into a couple of people from her home planet here, sure, but she still felt out of place. That said, there were so many different races here that everyone must feel like the odd one out. Even so, she hadn't wanted to make Mr. Saville feel bad about himself, since she was in the same boat, although, admittedly she probably wouldnt've run off in tears in the same situation, like he had.
Her train of thought came to a crashing wreck as the high-pitched voice of Cindy Checker scratched the back of her eyeballs.
"Heeeey hun!" She squealed, far too happily for anybody's liking within a ten meter radius, even if any of them thought her cheer was genuine.
"Hi Cindy," responded Tessa dully, trying to avoid eye contact.
"How are you, chicken?" she trilled, flittering into her cubicle next to Tessa's and sitting down. Tessa shuddered.
"Fine," she replied. "You?" she added, immediately regretting it. Cindy's head appeared suddenly over the wall seperating their offices, nearly making Tessa soil herself.
"You'll never guess," said Cindy dramatically, her tone having changed drastically.
"I bet I won't," she agreed with a lack of enthusiasm that Cindy chose not to pick up on.
"Stacey Hahn has been talking about you behind your back. What a fucking bitch, right?" Her voice was quiet and dark, her eyes waiting excitedly on Tessa's face for a reaction.
"Totally," confirmed Tessa, with barely a glance. Cindy's stare lingered a little longer before she quickly dropped back down from behind the wall and stood up inside her cubicle.
"Must go to the little girl's room and powder my nose!" she piped, her voice returned to its previous sickeningly jolly state.
Tessa rolled her eyes and watched her stupid blonde hair bob energetically down the hallway. That wasn't the way to the bathrooms. Tessa knew exactly where Cindy was going, and that was straight to Stacey Hahn's desk to tell her that Tessa had called her a bitch. Tessa didn't care. Everyone in the office, Stacey included knew what Cindy was like. Technically everyone had called everyone else a bitch, a hussey, a tramp and worse. There was the occasional one-sided catfight when a new girl joined the office (which the males thoroughly enjoyed), but apart from that, nobody really cared. Tessa couldn't blame Stacey in a way though. This place was so boring that seeing a naiive, fresh faced intern try to claw the eyes out of a sixty year old woman was really the best entertainment they got.
Stacey disappeared from her mind though, as the gangly, reptilian sight of the manager's assistant came plodding down the aisle. He had under his arm a stack of folders one of which he handed to each employee in each cubicle. Tessa already knew what they were. They contained the new companies that they'd be hiring for for the next month. She couldn't help but feel a little excited at the prospect of a new assignment, and then proceeded to feel ashamed of her boring, boring life. The assistant plopped Stacey's folder down on her empty desk before handing one to Tessa. She gave him a slightly unecessary smile which he didn't return, possibly because he had no sense of humor, possible because he had no lips. She wasn't sure. With the excitement of a small child unwrapping a present at Christmas she tore open the folder and glanced over the first page. Then, her face turned to one similar to a small child who opened a bicycle-shaped present and was met with a strategically arranged pair of socks.
'Madame Sierra's Escort Service' read the name under the heading of company. Tessa dropped the folder to her desk and her head to her hands. Cheap hookers. She always got stuck with the cheap hookers. She supposed she should have known better than to get excited about something that was bound to end in tassles and sparkly sopositories. She sat back in her chair in disappointment. Across the room she could see a shock of blonde hair protruding from Stacey Hahn's desk. No doubt she'd soon be listening to the wonderful company that Cindy got the luck and pleasure to get landed with. Woop-dee-fucking-doo.
Then, suddenly a lightbulb went on over Tessa's head. It had gotten dark outside and someone had turn the lights on. Also, appropriately enough, she'd had a bright idea. Making sure Cindy was still busy bitching, Tessa stood and casually sauntered into her cubicle, holding her own folder inconspicuously by her side. She nonchalantly flipped over the front page of Cindy's folder. 'Wesley Firefighters Inc.' she read. Tessa grunted in irritation.
The Wesley Firefighters weren't just fire fighters. No. They were firefighters in space. They were firefighters on space stations, on sattelites, on exotic other planets. And they wouldn't just fight fire, no. They'd fight wild beasts, hostile aliens, deadly diseases. Anybody even considering applying for a job with the Wesley Firefighters would have to have had some extensive, interesting and perilous experience. They would also unvariably be extremely attractive and the whole office would have to listen to Cindy's horrible flirtacious laugh that sounded like a hyena on helium.
A similar sound eminated from across the room where Cindy herself remained. Technically, since the companies weren't officially assigned and since Cindy hadn't seen her folder yet, it wasn't technically hers. Cindy wasn't here. Nobody was looking. Tessa looked down at the two folders, one in each hand and thought hard...
Should Tessa:
a] Switch her folder with Cindy's and be assigned to the Wesley Firefighters
Part 2
In actual fact, Tessa didn’t really have to think that hard at all. Whether or not to switch folders with Cindy was a no-brainer. She placed her own folder down on Cindy’s desk and did a funny twirl that she meant to be inconspicuous but would probably have been very suspicious altogether if anybody had actually been watching. She flitted awkwardly from the cubicle and returned to her own. Once seated she hungrily opened her new assignment and dove in. This would be fun.
********
The next day, Tessa’s step had a tiny bit more of a bounce than it usually did. Nobody would have noticed, mostly because nobody really cared, but it was only a small indication of the excitement she felt. She was fiercely looking forward to interviewing brave and interesting hunks instead of the seedy trench coats that tried to bribe her into hiring them and the elderly men who tried to pinch her backside that she was used to.
Sitting at her interview desk she flicked through the CVs as she waited for her first client. She had already read through all of them with gusto the night before and there wasn’t one candidate she wasn’t looking forward to speaking with. Be that as it was, she had decided not to be naive about the whole affair. She’d built up a wall against potential charmers around her mind and heart, amongst other places. Excited as she was about the exhibition she was about to view, she would not be sweet talked into accepting those who were undeserving.
Not long later, her first interviewee arrived, bronze and chiselled like a fallen god, and her day began.
**********
Three clients and two hours later, Tessa felt like she needed a cold shower. The first herculean man she’d interviewed had been charming, but polite enough that her defences proved mostly unnecessary, although his intense crystal-blue stare had caused her to cross her legs very tightly more than once. He’d told her about a group of orphans he’d saved from the jaws of a dinosaur-like creature by paragliding from a cliff, attaching a thick vine to its snout for reins and leading it away from their home. He’d subsequently tamed the beast who he now kept as a loyal pet. He named it Freddy.
The second man, surprisingly, was hideous. His facial features were arranged in a manner that might be seen in a Picasso. Disconcerting as his appearance was, Tessa thought, at least he didn’t smell. As well as that he was probably one of the nicest men she’d met. He was polite, humble, and while his feats had not been quite as spectacular as the last man’s, she had no doubt that he had the potential to be a true hero. After he left she mulled over this unorthodox client and tried to discern what policy Wesley Firefighters inc had on appearance. There had to be a reason they all looked as if they’d come out of a fairytale or, more appropriately, a male strip club. Unsure, she put his Resume on the maybe pile.
The third man made her feel uneasy, but in a way that she liked intensely. Though he was young, his hair was snowy white and long. He had skin the color of the sea, or the sky, or some other large body she couldn’t quite order her brain to think of. His eyes were a pale, pale green. Despite his bright appearance, he had a dark, mysterious manner that would have made her blush had any color been able to seep through. She wasn’t entirely sure how orthodox or noble his methods were, but when he spoke, his low, gravelly voice made her ears very happy.
Once the last man had gone Tessa fanned herself with his Resume. Across the room she spied a disgusted Cindy sitting very far back on her chair as a woman in her eighties, with hair apparently made from tentacles was giving her a very detailed and enthusiastic account of something that Cindy obviously didn’t want to hear about. Tessa just about covered up a malign snigger and dropped her head to write some notes in the last candidate’s file.
“Hey, baby,” said a voice above her. Surprised, she looked up to see the most beautiful man she’d ever laid eyes on. He was almost huge, but not gargantuan. The outlines of carefully tended muscles creased the material on his skin-tight shirt. He had dark amber hair that flowed in such a strange way that it gave the impression of dark, brooding fire. His eyes were such a bright blue that she was sure someone had replaced them with precious jewels. He was impeccable. And then he smiled and she nearly had a stroke. In any other situation she’d probably have fainted by now, but fortunately, she was prepared.
She raised one blue eyebrow as he turned the chair in front of her desk around and sat down on it backwards, leaning in towards her in a very forward manner.
“Can I help you?” she asked uncertainly. He scoffed.
“Haven’t you been awaiting my arrival with bated breath?” he asked, only partially joking, it seemed. She narrowed her eyes and ruffled through her papers to find her schedule.
“Mr ah.. Hardwicke?” she asked. He raised his hands above his head in some sort of glorious pose.
“The one and only, sweet cheeks!” he announced enthusiastically, apparently very proud that there hadn’t been a clone of him made. He dropped his arms and winked at her incredulous expression.
“Right... Well, you’re fifteen minutes early,” she told him, finding it a little hard to keep her voice strong but determined not to show a single sign of weakness to someone who called her ‘sweet cheeks’.
“Oh, that’s okay, I’ll just sit here and wait,” he told her. She stared at him, hoping that he’d see the obvious problems she might have with that, but ended up sighing in regisnation as he began to shine his nails on his pecs.
“Well,” she started, with an irritated feeling of defeat, “I suppose we can begin our int-”
“Have a drink with me,” he interrupted suddenly, staring into her face with an excited intensity that took her aback,
“What, right now?” she asked in disbelief.
“Right now,” he confirmed with a mischievous smile. She faltered. Part of her – mostly parts of her lower half – were telling her to go with him, run off, have an adventure, have a good time. The rest of her was telling her that this man was an arrogant jerk and she shouldn’t disrespect herself by adhering to his request.
But god, he was so hot...
Should Tessa:
a] Go for a drink with the hunky Firefighter
b] Reject him
Poll: pogotribe.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=gfxsection&thread=6579
