Michael always loved to joke that his only real skill was being likable. He wasn't the smartest, best-looking, strongest, most organized, or even hardest-working, but he always seemed to climb anywhere he worked. He attributed this to just being likable. In the modern day, who you know is everything.
It was a warm afternoon in the early fall and Michael was heading over to Sasha's to talk about his next step in his career. Sasha was an executive he met at his current job at Pynotech LP INC. She was the daughter of some billionaire power couple, and she started the company to, in her words, "at least make them think I'm working."
Michael had run into Sasha on a break once and they hit it off pretty well. Soon after, they would chat and gossip about the office together most days. After a few months of this, Sasha asked the questions that he was waiting for, "Are you happy in your current job?"
This is how Michael had climbed as far as he did. "I'm always looking to grow and learn new skills."
That was a partial lie, he did want to increase his salary, but at the time, his end game was a cushy executive position where you can get by barely working and wasting his days away on vacations disguised as business trips.
She told him to come by her place after his shift on Friday so she could pitch him an opportunity. He drove down the woven streets of the upscale neighborhoods until he found himself at the address Sasha had given him. He was a little surprised by its modesty. It was still a very large beautiful house, but he was expecting a mansion.
He walked up and knocked on the door, before long it opened and Sasha welcomed him in with a hug. She was still wearing her professional business attire, a button-up blouse and a black skirt.
Sasha had blond hair that, as usual, was in a perfectly imperfect messy bun, she also had a curvy figure that made the buttons on her blouse fight for their lives. She tended to have one button too many undone for a workplace, but being the owner has its perks. She was, like Michael, in her mid-20s, and her face had an almost predatory beauty.
She directed him to the living room and offered him a drink, a glass of white wine, which he gladly took. She sat on the other side of her coffee table and started to explain what she was thinking.
"So I know about this job opening that I think you would be a good fit for, but it's a little... unconventional." She almost seemed a little nervous broaching the topic.
She thought about how to word it before she nodded, satisfied with her idea. "Think about it, tons of people are so rich that they never need to work again, so what do they do to pass their days away? no, not resorts and yachts, they can be fun for a while, but they get boring."
Michael nodded like this was very obvious, even though he thought he would be happy on a yacht for a very long time before he got bored.
"And all these rich people have access to mostly the same media as normal people; they watch most of the same movies, read the same books, and most importantly, watch the same porn" Michael almost choked on his wine but managed to keep calm and listen to where this was going.
"All day long, these people live most people's dreams, not caring about if lunch will be too expensive, ordering people around, having a whole list of people who are willing to go to bed with you for a taste of the luxury of life. So, for them, that's not the dream; that's life. They dream about the opposite. " Michael kept slowly nodding, it all makes sense.
"Now they don't want it so badly that they are willing to throw it all away for some shitty position, but they want to live out these fantasies. So they... cosplay being working class", she thought for a moment.
"More like they cosplay being working class in a porn parody of real life" Michael stopped nodding, not because he wasn't listening or that he didn't understand, on the contrary, he was starting to understand what she was getting at and he was listening Much more intently.
"That's where you would come in. There is a fake company that staffs a few of these faux workers and they need a manager. You would go to work in character as a corrupt CEO of some massive company, act like an asshole, sexually harass your employees on the daily, give them fake tasks to busy their time. That kind of stuff" Michael was stunned and, after a moment of silence, Sasha blurted out, "But if your not interested pretend this all never happened, in fact, this was all just a joke"
"And... I will be paid for this," Michael interrupted Sasha's attempt to retract the offer.
"Yes," she said," twice your current salary, I would say you would be paid very well." She calmed down and pulled out a paper.
"This is the contract. For obvious reasons, it doesn't have all the... less legal parts in it, but it's otherwise a real job with a very solid salary and bonus package." she handed the paper to Michael, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"I'm in"
She smiled, "that's so good to hear. If you could start next Monday, that would be ideal."
"No problem"
"Great, I'll put you in touch with Oliva Rhose. She will be your assistant; she will be one of the few people who actually work there. She will be helping you figure out how to run the place best. Just a heads-up, she will also be the closest to breaking character, but everyone else is looking for an immersive experience, so as long as you're on the clock pretend it's all real." Michael nodded aggressively, unable to hide his joy.
Sasha sent a text, and before long, Michael felt his phone buzz. "There that should be her now. I'm sure you two have a lot to discuss, so I'll let you head home and start preparations."
"Oh also, the last manager left a few weeks ago, so your first day might be a little... Busy."
Michael snapped back to reality for a moment, "Sasha, thank you so much, it was fun working with you, I'll miss it."
"It was fun, but this isn't the last of us; I don't work in places like that often, but with you as the manager, I might have to stop by once in a while." She said with a wink.
Michael jumped in his car and raced home, parked a little crooked, and raced upstairs. Then, finally, he opened the message on his phone. "Hello, Mr. Smith. This is Oliva, but you can call me Liv. Ms. Lofton told me about your new position here at Corpodyne Solutions LTD. I will be your new personal assistant and I wanted to go over some things before your first day."
With thumbs trembling, he typed, "Glad to hear from you, what's first?" trying to affect a confidence he didn't feel.
She first texted a block of info, the address of the office, when people start and finish shifts, how to log in to the new work email, what restaurants are nearby, and all the important things.
