------------
Chapter 2
------------
The interview the next day was a disaster. The three person panel had been arrogant and condescending. Cassie felt like she was back in college trying to defend herself about a badly written essay.
The panel acted as though every answer she gave was wrong and their follow up questions made her feel even worse.
When the goodbye handshakes came, she knew she wouldn't get an offer.
She practically ran out of the building. She started walking back to the hotel and saw a quiet bar and went inside, texting Val to see if she could join her.
----------
Cassie sat in the dimly lit, dingy bar drinking a double gin & tonic with almost no gin. She felt so stupid. She'd really let herself down in the interview and now the whole trip was for nothing.
She was still crying a bit, fighting to stop. She didn't want Val to see her like this. On top of everything else, she felt like she'd let her friend down after Val had gone to all the effort to get her this opportunity.
"Hey, hey...don't cry Cass...just breathe." Val had sat down next to her and was patting her gently on the back.
"I really fucked up the interview...I'm so sorry Val."
Val gave her a weak smile. "It's ok. Those guys can be assholes."
Val ordered a drink for herself and Cassie recounted the interview, saying what she should have told the panel as she gave every question a detailed post mortem.
Val let her vent and talk through all the details over three rounds of drinks. Cassie got to the end and the two of them sat quietly for several minutes.
Val finally spoke. Her voice seemed very flat and almost monotonous.
"So, the interview wasn't a complete disaster."
"Huh?"
"Bradshaw liked you."
"What? He wasn't even there?!"
"He was watching. The conference rooms we use for interviews all have cameras and mics for legal reasons. Bradshaw often watches interviews just to see what kind of people we're talking to."
"And?" Cassie felt cold, her skin seemed to go clammy.
"I told you about his side projects. Some of them are a bit...um...unorthodox...he likes to challenge people, asking them to do things for money."
"Like prostitution?"
Val chuckled humorlesy.
"He's worth billions. He could fly 10 girls here on his jet who'd do pretty much whatever he wanted them to. That kind of thing doesn't interest him. To him, it's more about the challenge of pushing people to do things they wouldn't normally do."
Cassie's brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of what Val was telling her.
"Like Squid Game or something?"
Val laughed. "Like that...but no one gets killed. Or injured or anything. He pays for everything and his people make sure nothing permanent happens."
"Is that...is that even legal?"
"Borderline. There's contacts and NDAs...but some of them would probably fall apart in court.
"And he pays people to do that? To do his challenges?"
"Yeah."
"How much?"
"For a year of challenges, if you do everything. You get $1 million. He'll figure out the taxes so you actually get more and end up with $1 million in the bank."
"A YEAR? Fuck..."
"It's not all day every day. You'd be off one week each month and not every day has a challenge."
"What if someone fails? Like you get to week 51 and fail, do you just get nothing?"
"He pays for everything during the challenge so it doesn't cost you anything to participate. You get $10,000 into your bank account up front and after each week. So, if you bail after 3 weeks, you still walk away with $40,000."
"Whoa. That's unreal. Has anyone done this?"
"Not the exact challenge he has in mind. He had this elite athlete who did a series of physical challenges and a criminal who did something like this but with crime."
"Oh. So the challenges are all...around a theme?"
"Yeah."
"What...uh...what them does he have in mind for me?"
"Sex. Basically like a crazy sex odyssey. Anything you can imagine plus plus plus." She took a sip of her drink, punctuating her last statement.
Cassie's stomach sank. She wasn't a slut or a super kinky person...could she even do this?
"I don't think I'm the right person for this...I mean...you know me..." her voice trailed off as her brain seesawed between the money and what she might be made to do to get it.
"You're exactly the right person. The person who could do this easily wouldn't be interesting. The fact you didn't just say yes means you're the kind of person he wants."
"But like...what are the boundaries?"
"Nothing illegal or permanent. At the end of the year, you'll be returned to how you are now. You'll never be at risk--his people will watch over you."
"So...people will be like spying on me?" She was blushing at the thought of strangers watching her have sex. But, she also was surprisingly a little excited as well.
"Anything that's a challenge will be filmed so Bradshaw can verify you held up your end of the deal--"
"Whoa--I can't--"
Val held up her hand. "He's rich. Nothing will end up in the internet. You'll have a contact automatically giving you another million if it did. So, you're protected. He also keeps his security team in line with some...unconventional methods. They're 100% reliable."
There was a couple minutes of silence as Cassie thought through things.
"Why didn't you do it?"
Now Val blushed. "I kind of did. I did an earlier version of his challenge...it...paid for my penthouse and he promoted me to this team after as a reward."
"What kind of things did you have to do?"
Val looked like she was going to answer, then stopped herself.
"I...uh...don't want to get into it. I'm not going to lie--I enjoyed most of it. There were only a few times I felt I had to just power through. It does change you though. I found myself...craving some thing afterwards. It...opened doors that had never been opened before. You learn a lot about yourself on some really new and different levels."
Val's voice trailed off and the two friends sat silently again.
