Mike was about to leave the office, the end of yet another interview with prospective employers who had no need for his special skills. A glimpse of that pretty receptionist across the empty corridor distracted him though.
Nina's shoulder length pigtails made her delicate face look even cuter. Dressed appropriately for the office in a black knee-length skirt and a blue blouse, but not behaving as professionally at her desk, being completely besotted with the game on her mobile phone. She saw Mike approaching her, but ignored him since he wasn't her boss.
"Hey girl, busy day?" Mike started.
"No, who are you?" Nina replied curtly without looking up from her phone.
"Just finished my interview, then I saw you."
"So?"
"Just checking, what time you are knocking off?"
She knew what he was getting at, and sneered at the whole awkwardness.
"Nope. Not in a million years."
"Playing hard to get eh?" Mike insisted.
"No, playing impossible to get," and with that Nina dismissed him.
Mike shrugged. He tried.
His hand reached out and grabbed Nina's hand.
Shocked at his audacity, Nina's first instinct was to look up, and with that she made eye contact with him as well. Right before she could yell in surprise, her limbs froze and she couldn't break her gaze from Mike, who continued to stare deep into her eyes while he held her hand tight.
Fear gripped Nina's heart. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. Something in her was telling her she had to break free. But her body had stopped listening to her.
After a minute passed in what almost seemed like an eternity to Nina, Mike released his hand. Nina remained frozen at her seat, staring blankly into the space, her hand still holding her phone. Nina was still conscious and panicking, but this time her body was no longer under her control.
Mike smiled. That was his special skill he attempted to sell himself as a prospective employee here. Might as well have fun with her right now.
"When is the next meeting you have to prepare for?"
The command reverberated into Nina's head. She understood every subtlety and detail in that simple question, it was as if he was in her head. What was more shocking was that she started talking.
"Mr. Wang will be holding a meeting with his stakeholders in Room 2B at 5pm, 70 minutes from now. The room is now empty."
"Well then, let's not waste a minute playing your games, let's enter the room now."
Nina found her own body moving and following his instructions as he intended. She put her phone back into her pocket and got up, escorting Mike along the empty corridor and into the room. She could not turn her head back and scream for help. For the time being, she resigned to having her own body as her prison where she could only watch what was happening to her.
Upon entering the room, Mike locked the door and faced Nina again.
"Girl, you are a really bad receptionist, you know that right?" Mike sternly looked at her.
As much as she wanted to mouth off back at him, she felt him moulding her mind while still leaving her conscious of what was going on. Namely, she suddenly felt sorry for her rudeness.
"Yes, I am in need of punishment."
"What's your name?"
"Nina."