It had been the joke around the office about how Amanda had never been able to keep her New Years Resolutions. She had laughed along with everyone until her editor had laughed last by assigning her the assignment of writing about ways to keep them. It took Amanda a couple hours of research to stumble upon the corporation New Years Resolution Resolutions Inc. She had to admit it was pretty clever marketing and she found herself already taking the hour drive out to their facility.
She parked her Prius outside the large metal building, she noticed how rural and isolated the area was and immediately felt a pit in her stomach. It had been months since a similar remote location had led to some perilous and erotic adventures. Part of her secretly hoped this assignment might be similar another part of her wanted to turn tail and run.
She made her way through the entry doors and was quickly ushered by a brightly smiling secretary into a private meeting room with one of the company's agents.
"Ms. James. We are so excited and glad to see you here at NYRR." Said the smiling dark headed woman. "My name is Amy, and I'm a NYRR Agent. My job is to assess your Resolutions and see how we can provide you with the results you desire."
Amanda relaxed in the comfortable leather chair and smiled back "Well, I've always had a problem keeping my Resolutions and after browsing your website I wanted to see if you can help me. "
The woman smiled "Of course. It's what we do. Let's start with some background. I see you work for the City Chronicle as writer. It also looks like you ran track in college. Perhaps you desire to get back into shape or lose a few pounds from the holidays?"
"Exactly!" Amanda said. She was a little puzzled how Amy already had a lot of her background. She had barely been here 5 minutes but she decided to roll with it. "Visiting family over the holidays I always pack on a light 5 or 10 lbs. I've also added a little weight this year up here." She said sitting back and motioning to her chest.
"Hmmm. So you'd like to tone up, lose some pounds, maybe tighten some 'problem' areas?" The agent said jotting down notes on her tablet.
Amanda nodded approval and then asked a question that had puzzled her on the company's website. "Your website says all your services are free to customers. How can that be true?"
Amy stopped typing and Amanda could tell this was a hidden agenda of the operations of the company. Amy's smiled returned "Our company uses our customers Resolutions as a way to make profit. In other words we put you straight to work for us accomplishing the goal of meeting both your resolutions and keeping our lights turned on."
"So I will be working for you?" Amanda said.
"Exactly. We are a goal oriented service so you will work and live with us until your resolution is met." The agent replied.
"Doing what?" Amanda said puzzled.
"Depends on your goals. Each client sets goals and once they are reached you are free to go home with the knowledge you've accomplished something you've struggled with for years." She replied.
Amanda was smart enough to realize she didn't answer the question and the phrase "free to go home" suddenly had that pit in her stomach stirring. "So let's say my goal is to get back into college track shape and lose a pesky 10 pounds. What would I be doing working for you?"
Amy smiled across table at her knowing this client might be a slight bit brighter than the usual customer. "Hmmm. Well with those goals I would say we would schedule you for some daily manual labor, some intense training along with personal one on one overseer time. Our methods are very unique, have you heard of Boot Camp style fitness? We provide more of a work camp environment."
"Work camp?" Amanda said puzzled. "Like from those old prison work camps in the movies?"
The woman smile back. "Sort of. That's probably the closest thing you could compare it to. A little hard work never killed anyone and in fact we believe it's vital in healthy living. Here, I've drawn up the contract." She said flipping the tablet around to face Amanda.
She read the contract. "I, Amanda James, being of sound mind absolve my rights of privilege until the fulfillment of my Resolutions which are as follows:
Lose 15 lbs returning to my weight as college sophomore of 110. Return to College level fitness of running the 1500m in 5 minutes"
Amanda remembered the day she came in under 5 minutes in the 1500m. It was a personal goal 5 years ago that required a lot of sweat and hard work. She almost signed the tablet right there just to get that feeling back but she paused. "So I will work here 24/7 until I reach these two goals?" She said looking up.
"Absolutely. After signing I will have you processed and shown around. We can't divulge our methods until a client signs the dotted line. Privacy concerns." She said. "But I can tell you, all of us at NYRR are excited to have you and willing to work alongside you to meet these goals."
Amanda took a deep breath and traced out her signature on the tablet with her finger. "Alright. Let's do this!" She said excitedly.
She looked up to see an evil smirk cross the face of the agent sitting across the table from her. Amy shouted loudly "Processing! Fresh meat in here!"