Every cell
in his body felt alive. His blood felt
like liquid rubies and his mind of molten gold, racing with crazy, lucrative
ideas and inventive corporate strategies.
He could not seem to focus on his predicament though. Nothing practical or clever, unless it was
fiscally strategic.
The bosslady
continued, “You’ll receive your supply of Bonus with every paycheck. Today’s unscheduled payday was unique. Think of it as inaugural, an initiation if
you will. It won’t happen again unless
you exceed expectations and create new financially advantageous opportunities
for the company. As your monetary
bonuses increase, so does your supply.”
“I won’t do
this.”
“Sure you
will. It’s got a hold on you now. It’s in your blood. And you’ll get another taste of what it’s like
to be without it. You might be able to
portion that syringe into two, maybe three doses, and the cash has enough
powder on it that you could triple-count the bills and get another one that
way. I assure you though, that by the
time payday rolls around again, you will be in terrible need of a fix.”
Corporate
Man stood up. The room jittered and
slight tracers blurred the lines of everything.
He closed his eyes. That proved
to be a big mistake. Dollar signs and
graphs and P&L reports swam at him through the dark and he staggered. When he opened his eyes it took a moment for
the room to stop moving. He shook his
head. This did nothing to clear his
mind. Everything went rubbery for a
moment and the sound of commerce rang in his ears.
“I won’t
let you get away with this?”
“Oh
no? And who are you? Donald Jackson, guardian angel of business
ethics and fiscal morality? No, I’ve
seen your resume. I know what you’ve
done. You might be angry at being
tricked, but that won’t last. There are
other benefits to Bonus that you have yet to discover. Think of it as a business super serum.”
“I’ll barricade
myself in a hotel room somewhere and kick this junk and then report you to the
Better Business Bureau,” Corporate Man said.
The thought of another two days of chills and body aches and fever and
vomiting and diarrhea was not encouraging.
The bosslady
laughed. “Oh! That’s rich.
The BBB. Impotent weaklings!”
“Maybe,”
Corporate Man said. “But it would be
enough to cause in depth inquiries.
Disrupt your Bonus supply, maybe.”
The smile slipped
from her face like a stock market crash.
Her cheeks reddened and her brow pinched in a severe scowl. A slight
tremor shook her upper lip. And then she
took a breath and her demeanor relaxed.
“I have
contingencies,” she said and pressed a button on her phone. A blinking, rose colored light, throbbed from
beneath it.
The door at
the back of the office, the one Corporate Man thought was a private bathroom,
creaked open. A pink light poured out
and filled the bosslady’s office. A
woman, dressed in skin-tight hot-pink vinyl, matching gloves and stiletto
heels, and a domino mask stepped over the threshold. In one had she held a black clipboard and in
the other, a leather whip.
Corporate
Man recognized her and almost said her name.
Pink Slip.