(fictional story about fictional characters)
*
It was early on Wednesday morning, Hump Day, and Penny was glued to her computer screen planning her next sales calls when Bernadette rushed into her office, nearly breathless. "What's up boss lady," Penny inquired, "you look like you just ran a marathon."
Plopping down in one of Penny's comfy chairs, Bernadette took time to catch her breath and then told her: "you'll never believe it...never."
After waiting for clarification, Penny asked: "you're not really expecting me to guess, are you."
"Henry Kimball wants to see us in his office," Bernadette blurted out, "you know who he is, right."
"Of course," Penny told her, "he's the VP in charge of Product Development. Are you sure he wants to see me, too?"
"His receptionist just called me and he specified both of us," Bernadette exclaimed, nearly shouting. "On the way down the hall, I ran into Shelly; you know that gossipy bitch from accounting; and she said she heard they're developing some new organic drug. I bet that's what it's about. Wow...Henry Kimball...he's got that corner office on the top floor." Penny grabbed her jacket and they nearly ran to the elevator.
When they were shown into his office, he greeted them with a hearty handshake and gestured for them to sit down. The chairs were over-stuffed and Penny felt like she was sitting on a cloud. Glancing out the window, she realized he had an unobstructed view of the Rose Parade route. He was middle-aged and rapidly balding, but looked to be in fairly good shape. He sat on the edge of his huge desk and began: "I suppose you're wondering why I asked for this meeting. Well everyone on the Board was so pleased with the effort you put forth on the new anti-inflammatory product that we would like you to spearhead our newest endeavor." Penny nearly giggled while thinking that, for his sake, she hoped it was a new hair-growth treatment.
"As I'm sure you're aware, the new trend is for everything to be "all natural" or "organic" in composition. It's a virtual gold mine if you can claim those two things in your advertising. In this new age of sustainable wind and solar energy, and organic farming; it's all the tree-huggers will purchase. Well, we have the inside track on an all-natural erectile dysfunction treatment. As I'm sure you know, we have representatives all over the world tracking down rumors of new drugs or treatments; and one of them heard rumors of an indigenous tribe in the Amazon rain forest that sported constant erections; with no apparent side-effects. This tribe, the Mamua, lives right on the border of Brazil and Peru, and has had almost no contact with civilization."
"Our agent trekked there and saw first hand that the rumors were true. There is a plant that seemingly grows only in this region and when the roots are ground into a salve it produces the ED cure. Just a small dab on the penis stimulates the blood vessels to engorge and produces an erection that lasts for hours. He tried to bring back a sample, but the Mamua are very protective of their plants and he was only able to conceal a single leaf. Our Botanists had never seen this plant before and named it Boniferous Maximus. What we would like you two to do is travel to the Mamua village; develop a rapport with the natives and secure their permission to export some of their plants."
"You are both excellent "people-persons" and communicators and we think you would be perfect for the job," he told them. What he didn't tell them was that their agent had long blond hair and the natives seemed to be totally fascinated and enthralled by it; so the Board agreed that two blond females would have an edge.
"But we know nothing about negotiations or treaties or anything like that," Bernadette told him.
Penny thought: "yeah and you probably won't be able to bully them."
"We understand that," Kimball said, "that's why we're sending a whole team of negotiators and language experts with you." "If they are reluctant," he whispered, "try to sneak some seeds out." This is all legitimate business practice. We've been in touch with the Funai; which is the Brazilian government agency for indigenous Indian Affairs and they are in full cooperation; of course we may not have been completely honest about our mission. We would fly you as close as possible and then you proceed about eighty miles by boat to their village. It's very remote; almost one of those lost tribes you read about once in a while. I don't think I have to tell you the financial ramifications of a discovery like this...it could be worth countless millions. Your bonuses would make you set for life. What do you say?"
They looked at each other, both knowing their futures at Zangen would be dim if they declined the offer and disappointed the Board. Penny was first to speak up: "sounds like a fun adventure."
"I'm not very outdoorsy," Bernadette began, "but I guess if it will help the company...."
Not waiting for them to change their minds, Kimball exclaimed: "great...I'll tell the Board. You understand the urgency of this mission; the pharmaceutical business is cutthroat and there are spies everywhere. If we heard about this, there are bound to be others right on our heels. We would need you to leave right away. Do you both have passports?"
"A passport is good for like ten years, right," Penny asked. When Kimball nodded in the affirmative, she assured him, "good, then I have one." She still had the passport she had gotten for the ill-fated Valentine's Day trip to Switzerland with Leonard which never happened because she had contracted the flu.
"Start preparing right away while we finalize the travel arrangements," Kimball told them. "Anything you need, just put on your company expense account card. Get ready for an adventure. Make sure you stop by the company heath nurse and she will give you your Malaria inoculations. And remember; you do whatever you need to do to close this billion dollar deal."
As they were leaving his office, all Penny could think of was that movie "Up," where the moto was "adventure is out there." In the elevator, they both exhaled loudly and Bernadette exclaimed: "wow, I didn't see that coming. Brazil! A little out of my element...but think of the money."
"Yeah, the money would be nice," Penny agreed, "but did you notice nothing was said about spouses coming along. Purely a business trip. How do we break it to the guys?"
Always blinded by the dollar sign, Bernadette replied: "oh yeah...the guys. They'll just have to suck it up. Somehow I just can't see Howie in the rain forest...they probably have mosquitos bigger than him."
"I guess you're right," Penny agreed, "I'm sure Leonard will understand. He isn't even that fond of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland."
By the end of the day, Kimball had called Bernadette and Penny and confirmed that their flight would be departing LAX on Saturday morning. When Penny had expressed surprise that they were able to clear all the logistics so soon, he had replied simply, "money talks."