“Thanks, doll,” Roman grinned when Abigail handed back his phone. He looked at the new contact she had just added. The number looked real enough—it didn’t start with any bullshit triple digits like 800 or 555—but he had been burned too many times in the past to trust it right away. He tapped the messenger option on the contact and typed out a quick: [i]Hello[/i]. “Here, I’ll send you a text so you have my number too,” he winked at her as he hit ‘send.’ “Just in case you ever need to call your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, y’know?” The offer was innocent enough, and he honestly didn’t mind if she had his phone number so soon. She seemed like a down-to-earth kind of girl who wouldn’t spam him with crazy messages. Plus, he would soon know if she gave him a fake or not. He wouldn’t have to worry about calling the number and having her dad or secret boyfriend answer, both of which had happened to him before. “If you say so,” Roman shrugged when she said he didn’t have to drive her home. Just then, he heard her phone ping from a received text. “Looks like my message went through. Well then, I should ‘get my ass to work,’ as my boss always says. I’ll be seeing you, Abby. Later!” He turned to head back to his bike, giving Jose a quick goodbye as he left the two behind. His first date with Abigail—even though she didn’t know it was a date—was a success. -- [b]October 2, 2015 New York, NY – Precision Horizons Co. 11:19AM[/b] Roman arrived at Precision Horizons exactly sixteen minutes after his boss had called. It was a move that would obviously irritate the man, since he had instructed him to show up within fifteen minutes, but that was the intention. He headed to his office, where his supervisor was waiting with a scowl on his face, “You’ve got some nerve, Sousa.” “Oh?” Roman said nonchalantly. “I can go home if you’d like.” “You know that’s not what I meant,” the man snarled. “You can’t keep doing this. You’re costing this company a lot of money by not showing up for your full shift. I’m starting to wonder if I should make some calls about changing your pay to hourly.” “You do that, and I’ll just find somewhere else to work,” Roman sighed, leaning against the doorframe and examining his nails as if they were more interesting than the current conversation. “I’m sure it won’t take long for another company to take me in as soon as I start shopping my resume around. I’ve built up quite a reputation among the progressive tech companies in this city.” “Damn you,” his boss spat. He clenched and unclenched his fist, and Roman could almost hear the thoughts that must have been going through his mind: [i]Sousa gets whatever he wants just because he’s good at his job; I have so little control over him, I’m more like his servant than his boss; I wish I could fire him without getting a pink slip, myself…[/i] The man’s frustration was so satisfying. Oh, how he loved chaos. “Anyway,” Roman continued, taking a seat at his desk. “Fill me in on the meeting, would you?” His supervisor opened his mouth quickly, as if he had a few choice words to say, but changed his mind. “We met with a representative from a major retail corporation to pitch our new security cameras. As you know, they’re still majorly under tested, which is why…” he swallowed as if the next words were difficult to say. “We needed [i]you[/i] there to sell it to him.” “Ah, the 3060L model, right?” Roman nodded sagely. He knew exactly what camera his boss was talking about. It was a high-tech security device that would be placed in various locations around a building with the capability to capture every corner of it. Each camera had facial-recognition software, and a one-way connection to the local police database. If any customer in the building had a criminal record of any kind, the cameras were programmed to keep the person in view on the security team’s monitors at all times. The target person was also shown in red on the black-and-white footage, making him or her easy to spot. “Don’t worry about it, boss. I’ll call them up later and make the sale over the phone.” “Mhm,” the man grunted. “It would have been easier if you had just shown up to the meeting like you were supposed to.” “Oh well,” Roman shrugged. “I’m here now, and I’m gonna make it happen. You know I’ve never lost a sale.” “So you keep reminding me,” his supervisor scribbled down a phone number on a sticky note and stuck it to Roman’s desk. “Just call the damn number. Also, one of the other department heads emailed you a project for today. Something to do with a fussy client of theirs.” “Sure thing,” Roman gave him a two-fingered salute. He opened his laptop while his boss turned to walk out of the office. He paused as a devilish grin crossed his lips. “Oh, and by the way… I’m sure it wouldn’t be out of order for me to request a raise. You know, for all the trouble I’ve been through today.” “What?” the man spun around, eyes wide with a mixture of anger and disbelief. “You heard me,” Roman held his gaze evenly. “I would like a five percent raise. Nothing much. Put in a good word for me with the higher ups, would you?” “You’re already making more than the other salesmen at your rank.” “I’m outperforming all of them. Your point is moot. Now then, I would like a raise,” Roman smiled pleasantly; kindly; innocently. His boss was visibly squirming under the pressure. They both knew Roman had already won, no matter how much his boss fought back against his puppet strings. If he didn’t do what Sousa wanted, his hire would leave and he would get fired for losing Precision Horizon’s top-performing salesman. If he did do what Sousa wanted, he would continue to be backhandedly turned into his hire’s lackey. Both options were demeaning. The man ground his teeth in bitterness at his own helpless situation. Then, Roman put the sealing nail into the coffin: the one word that made his supervisor’s struggle even more painful. A word that, in its pleasant simplicity, made him feel like he was drowning. “[i]Please.[/i]”