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wishfulstargazer · 11 months

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Main Character Customer Support Ep 2

Thanks again to my collaborator: @f0xywrites

“Customer Service, this is Luna, how may I help you?”

“I’m sorry, did you say Luna? What kind of a name is that?” Luna rolled her eyes. This was clearly going to be one of those calls.

“Well, it happens to be my name, ma’am,” she replied, striving to keep her tone friendly and polite. “But if you prefer, you can refer to me as Ms. Appleton, which is also my name.”

“Why would I do that? Call some girl with a stupid hippy name Ms. Appleton? I am Pamela Turner and my character Jacqueline is completely useless. What am I supposed to do with this girl?”

“I’m so sorry to hear that ma’am. What is the issue with Jacqueline, Ms. Turner?”

“She doesn’t speak with a French accent!”

“Ah, I see. Let me pull up Jacqueline’s profile. Do you have your order number or barcode handy?”

“The last time I had a problem, you people found it under my phone number. No, I don’t have a barcode!”

Luna muted the call and took a deep breath. No time to count slowly to ten, just had to leash her temper before she spoke again. She forced her mouth into a smile (apparently that was supposed to release endorphins and actually make you happier?) and resumed.

“I can certainly locate your order with your phone number, Ms. Turner. It may take just a moment longer to pull the specific character data, though. May I please get the phone number on the order?

“It’s 573-555-1186. Or possibly 573-555-8934. Or, hmm, if we were at our winter home it could have ben 713-555-0510. Anyway, it’s one of those.”

Eventually, Luna was able to locate the character (with very little, begrudgingly delivered, assistance from the client.) “Ma’am, it appears that in Jacqueline’s requested biography, you indicated that she be an American?”

“Well, of course, my readers don’t want to read about some Frenchy, like her mother.”

I need this job, swallow it down, don’t react to the racism. Or ethnophobia. Or whatever crap this is. “Well, since the character was born and attended school in the U.S., she wouldn’t have a French accent when she speaks English ma’am. I’m afraid there’s not much that we here at Plots can do about that.”

“Her name is Jacqueline, for crying out loud!” Ms. Turner shouted. “If I didn’t want her to have an accent, I would have named her Beth.”

“I’m going to ask you not to shout at me,” Luna said. “But if you’d care to request a ‘whisper’ of an accent, I imagine our department of–”

“Not good enough. I demand a manager!”

Thank God. “Absolutely, ma’am. Please hold the line.” Placing the client on hold, Luna scanned the available open phone lines. With a satisfied smile, she chose one. “Thank you for waiting, Ms. Turner. I’m now connecting you over to François, my supervisor. Bonne journée!”

Sometimes, not very often, but sometimes, a CSR could get the last laugh.

*****

“You know I’m not supposed to tell you that,” Marguerite whispered to Paul. “Come on, if anyone finds out we’ll both be fired.” The petite programmer fixed a stern expression on her face. “I told you before, no more–last time I did this WAS the last time.”

“I just want to make sure Benji is with someone that’s going to be nice to him,” Paul begged. “He’s so little and alone. His mother died when he was four. His father remarried and works all the time, and his stepmother is totally consumed with the new baby. He’s going to be neglected for years. He needs an author that’s going to, you know, give him a Happily Ever After.”

Marguerite sighed. It was always worse when the character was a child. “Okay, fine, I’ll check the database records and see who ordered him. But even if it was V.C. Andrews herself, you’re going to release Benji on schedule. No going on strike or threatening to unionize the characters this time!”

“I promise,” Paul said meekly. Not that there was any chance of him keeping that promise. Paul was really too tenderhearted to be in Character Development. He bled for every single persona with a sad back story. Marguerite had no idea why he insisted upon working at Plots. Fluff Corp would have loved him.

“Okay,” she whispered, feeling absurd, “I’ll meet you in the parking lot at lunch with the info.”

*****

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Keiko said. “Justin’s ‘personal volition’ stat is off the charts. The same drive that led to him founding a billion dollar company is what’s giving you problems now. I can’t fix that without irreparably changing his backstory.”

“But he won’t do what I need him to do!” Francesca Alders, a best-selling romance novelist, wailed to Keiko. Since getting promoted to Tier One authors, Keiko had to deal with a lot fewer nitpicky complaints. Unfortunately, when a Tier One DID have a problem that they couldn’t personally resolve through plot, it tended to be a large one.

Keiko scanned the heroine sheet. “I admit, at first look I don’t see the problem, either, Ms. Alders. Julia should be perfect for him–”

“Call me Fran, dear, after all, you and me, we’ve been through it together! I think of us more as collaborators than anything else,” Francesca said. “I know that between us we can come up with the fix–I just hope I haven’t ripped out all my hair first!”

Keiko was touched. “I’ll try to justify your faith in me, Fran. I mean, it all looks good so far–the meet-cute, the sizzling chemistry, the impulsive hookup by the girl who doesn’t do impulsive hookups…”

“I KNOW. But he simply won’t take it to the next level! He won’t let her in, won’t communicate, is happy to give her nice presents, but he won’t give her anything of himself! And the worst part of it is, I think Julia is falling for him. Rat bastard. I won’t write a book about a man using a woman and breaking her heart. There’s enough of that in reality, if you know what I mean.”

Keiko didn’t know what to say to that, especially given her own personal history. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just rewrite real life until we get an ending that suits us?”

“From your very lips, dear,” Fran said. Keiko could hear the clink of the oversized earrings Fran always wore as they rattled against the phone. “But what AM I to do about Justin?”

Keiko had nothing and was a bit frantic about it. Failure with a major client like Fran could get a rep fired or even a division closed down. It wouldn’t be the first time. Before she could stop herself, the words spilled out. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Keiko wanted to take the words back as soon as she said them. Encouraging the author to personally engage with the character to resolve problems was directly counter to company policy and the industry standards of professionalism. The theory was that authors who spoke to their characters like they were “real” would lose their objectivity and not be able to create works that put them through hardships. Or if conflict arose, the character might end up unjustly punished by an author, too. Or a well-meaning writer might think they were doing something good by taking the character’s advice, but would overlook something in their backstory that made the problem worse instead of better. Knowing thyself might be the beginning of wisdom, but most newly created characters weren’t actually very wise.

The other side was, of course, that if authors started resolving things directly with their characters, huge clients with pricey unlimited support packages like Fran might not need them any longer. Nobody in the industry wanted to see that happen.

“Hmm,” Fran, however, was clearly mulling it over. Keiko tried not to panic as visions of unemployment danced in her head. She could lose her job–maybe even her license?--if this went badly.

“I think that’s an interesting idea, dear, but I’d feel more comfortable with an intermediary, such as yourself. Dustin can be a bit hotheaded when he feels as if I’m asking him to do something he doesn’t want to do. A third party might help him feel more comfortable.”

Phew. Keiko could work with this. Still, best to check: “As long as you don’t think he will feel that we’re ganging up on him?”

“I don’t imagine he will,” Fran said. “But I’ll want video conferencing for this. Can you reserve a private conference room for three pm today?”

“Absolutely,” Keiko assured her. “We will always prioritize your comfort and timetable, Fran.”

“You’re such a lovely person, Keiko,” the older woman said gently. “Please let me know if I start taking advantage of your good nature. We authors can be gluttons for assistance!”

*****

“So the order was placed by an author nobody’s heard of,” Marguerite said to Paul in a low tone. “They’ve never published or uploaded anything as far as I can tell.”

Paul’s face fell. “So then there’s no way of knowing what they’re going to do with him?”

“Well,” Marguerite felt her face redden. “I might have hacked her hard drive to see if she had any story outlines on it.”

Paul broke out into a big beaming grin. “Awesome, Rita, I knew I could count on you! So–” and he glanced at the ground as if bracing himself for bad news–”What does it look like?”

Marguerite bit her lower lip and shook her head sadly. Paul winced. “Oh NO. H-how bad is it?” The hands at his sides formed fists, as if he was already getting ready for a fight.”

“Paul! I’m kidding!” Marguerite laughed. “He’s going to be a very lonely kid until he’s about seven, then he’ll meet a fairy in the garden who feels sorry for him and offers him a wish. He wishes for a magical bunny friend, the fairy grants it, and they go on all kinds of magical adventures together!”

“Oh—ohhhh!” Barely able to contain his delight, Paul started doing a little dance behind Marguerite’s blue Honda minivan. “Lots of adventures?”

“Lots. This little nobody author put together a few sample chapters and an outline and pitched the story to a children’s publisher–and got a four book contract! Benji’s going to have a blast.”

“This is perfect, thank you Rita!” Paul hugged her tightly, and Marguerite felt herself blushing again.

“Anytime,” she said after the embrace ended, straightening her shirt.

“Hey, so, I owe you for all your help, and, um,” Paul blushed hard. “I think you’re amazing. Would you let me buy you dinner tonight?”

Startled, Marguerite stared at her feet for a second, then looked up. “I’d love to, Paul,” she said.

#fluff and humor #writing is so fucking hard #writing issues #character design #originalcharacter #collab story #customer service #workplace humor

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wishfulstargazer · 10 months

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Main Character Customer Support Ep 3

as always, thank you @f0xywrites for helping with the concept, and thank you @miss-mouse for being first reader

For those new to the series, this is a set of stories about a universe where authors are the biggest celebrities on the planet--but they don't design their own main characters. MCs are purchased from one of two mega corporations: Plots, Inc. and FluffCorp.

Here are the two previous stories:

“Fran, it’s so lovely to meet you in person,” Keiko greeted the older woman warmly. She was surprised and touched when she was enfolded in warm, spontaneous hug.

“Keiko!” The woman took a step back. “You’re just as lovely and professional looking in the flesh as over vid chat. Watch out or I’ll ask you to model for my next main character prototype.” She winked. “I won’t give you a Justin, though, he’s far too much trouble.” She tilted her head speculatively. “Maybe make you a veteran with ptsd who is convinced love isn’t for her and pair you with a sweet guy who just wants to make your life easy and adore you. A pilot, maybe? No, he might be away too much. Oh, I have it, a ski instructor! Perhaps a retired Olympic athlete. Or would you rather a veterinarian! That would be perfect! A small town vet for a Gulf War vet!”

Keiko was overwhelmed. “I’d be very honored,” she said. “But my dad was a veterinarian and that might be a little weird. I do like the idea of a small town for my doppelganger, though. It would let me escape from the big grungy city once–if only virtually.” Keiko had read every single one of Francesca Alders’s books, and some more than once. She had already been a fan before she received the assignment to work as the author’s personal Tier one rep, and she had made it a point to reread her entire oeuvre. Fran could tell an amazing story. The thought of being the model for a character made her blush. “I won’t hold you to that, though!”

“My dear, just try to dissuade me! Of course, I’d make sure that you received the typical fee and royalties for character appearance work, I’m not expecting anything for free. But it would also only be right for you to earn your regular commission on yourself.” She winked. “May as well double dip against the corporate overlords, right?”

Keiko couldn’t think of an answer to that which wouldn’t get her fired, so she settled for clearing her throat. “Today, though, we’re here to talk about Justin, right? She pulled out her lit up pad and checked her notes. I actually had a thought after we chatted. I’d still like to conference him in, though. Just to confirm my suspicion.” She indicated a couple of armchairs, and both of them seated themselves, Fran crossing her legs under her long magenta peasant skirt.

“Absolutely, dear,” Fran said, pulling out the luminous pearlescent 2D character disc. It wouldn’t turn into a full bubble until the work Justin appeared in was published or otherwise made available to the public. She handed it to Keiko.

Well, here goes–please don’t let me screw this up, Keiko thought, careful to keep her expression neutral. Never let the client see you sweat. She tapped the upper right quadrant to open the menu for the factory defaults, then reached into her pocket for the round .exe key that Gennie in tech had reluctantly given her; the one that would allow her to override the system safeguards. She then very carefully adjusted only the settings that Gennie had indicated. She didn’t want to accidentally reformat the panel and undo any work that Fran had already put into the character’s plotline or erase his custom backstory.

Technically authors could consult directly with their characters themselves, but the process had been designed to make it as difficult for them to do so as possible, so that they would continue to purchase the company’s aftermarket support packages. Also because many, many otherwise upstanding characters turned into unreliable narrators when the topic was themselves. “Don’t ask the cocaine addict what he needs more of–his answer will always be coke,” was the conventional wisdom on interviewing characters about their own issues. Somewhere Keiko even had it printed on a mug–every consultant had received one with their last quarterly bonus check.

But nothing else had worked, and Tier One consultants had almost unlimited leeway to resolve their highest profile client’s character performance issues. Anything a consultant did for an author like Fran was forgivable–as long as it worked.

If it didn’t, well, Keiko might very well end up back in school learning to be a plumber or a gardener or an accountant, because she certainly wouldn’t be employed by FluffCorp after this meeting. She swallowed nervously and hoped Fran was serious about wanting her to receive a modeling fee.

She spoke awkwardly to the panel, never having done this before. “Justin, do you hear me?”

A miniature person appeared in head to toe profile. He turned toward her. Keiko saw that he was wearing slate gray power suit with a sapphire blue tie. His dark blond hair was neatly tied back but probably fell to around his shoulders when down, and piercing eyes the same color as the suit peered intelligently out at her.

“I do,” he answered. “Are you Fran? You’re not at all what I pictured.”

Keiko laughed. “No, I’m not. I’m Keiko. Fran is here though!” and she passed the panel over to the novelist, pulling her chair closer so that they could both view the miniature screen.

Justin’s gray eyes coolly assessed Fran with her salt-and-pepper hair, wide cat’s eye glasses, and colorful clothes. Then he bowed, formally but not at all subserviently. This was a character who knew his own worth. Not surprising given his background. “A pleasure, Fran, forgive me, I didn’t expect for us to meet like this.” He straightened his tie before slipping his long-fingered hands into his suit pockets.

Fran chuckled delightedly. “I’m sure you didn’t, Justin. I’m sorry for just barging in. I would certainly have called ahead, except–I wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to do that.”

He smiled. “Nor would I, I’m afraid. Well, this is certainly an unusual conversation, and I must admit to being fascinated. What brings you here? Or am I there?” he shrugged. “I don’t really understand how this is happening. I see you and Keiko, but nothing else, and I don’t see my own surroundings any more either–it’s like I’m locked in a multi-colored cloud with just the three of us.”

“Interesting,” Keiko murmured. “It seems that you are coming to us, then, at least sort of.” She gestured around her. “Our environment is still very much present.”

His expression turned wry. “Probably a perk of being real.” He gave a resigned shrug. “Well, I have quite a lot of business to conduct today–how can I be of service?”

Fran’s expression turned thoughtful. Keiko hoped that Fran was remembering not to reveal too much of her intended story to the character. A character with the strength of mind of a Justin could only be invited to his destiny, not forced. And sometimes they would have a contrary streak in them. “You can tell me about you and Julia,” she said. “You two seem to enjoy each other’s company, and I know you had an incredible time in bed together. What do you think of her?”

“Think of her?” Justin seemed baffled. “I think she’s great. We always have a good time together. I enjoy her.”

“Well, that’s nice to hear,” Fran beamed. “Would you enjoy getting to know her better?”

“Better?” If anything Justin seemed even more puzzled. “What else is there to know?”

Fran’s smile disappeared. “Well, surely you don’t think you know everything there is to know about her already?”

“Well, no, but…” Justin’s voice trailed off. “We’ve been on six dates now. I know her favorite restaurant–she loves Korean food but isn’t above eating a hot dog, and her birthday is May 12. Her hot dog condiments are just mustard, relish, and onions–only if the onions are fresh enough to still have a little crunch to them. She claims to be into astrology and is a Taurus, but she’s too sensible to take it all that seriously. She just talks about it to tease me. Says I’m a Capricorn with a Virgo moon or something. She prefers movies to live theater, doesn’t mind subtitles, has a ridiculous affection for that toxic chemical cinemas call butter on her popcorn, and loves my boat and being near the water in general. Her favorite flower is daisies. She looks incredible in and out of her clothes. She has a great sense of style and, more than that, she’s funny and kind. She always overtips her cabbie. Shockingly so. I’ve been thinking of getting her a car service because I’m concerned she’ll blow her grocery money for the month on meeting me when it’s too far for her to walk.”

Fran seemed appeased. “Well, that’s certainly a fair amount. You seem to like her.”

“I do, very much.”

Keiko intervened. “I think Fran’s concern was that perhaps you two might want to spend more time together.” She checked her notes. “It looks as though you had two very rapid dates at the beginning of your time together and now have fallen into a ‘Saturday date night’ routine–maybe even a bit of a rut?”

Justin looked offended. “A rut? Has she said something? Complained? We do different things every week. This week I found a foreign film festival out of town. We’re leaving Saturday morning, watching movies all day, eating at a great taco cart and staying over at a charming bed and breakfast. They make a great mushroom omelet that I know she’ll love.”

“Yes, dear, and that sounds like a great date,” Fran tried to calm him down. “In fact, it sounds a lot like the date you took,” she pulled out a notepad and flipped through a few pages. (Not an electronic one with a stylus, an old-school paper one with an actual pen, Keiko observed with interest.) “--Elaine on in the prequel, your sister’s story.”

“Well, that was superhero movies, but I suppose so,” Justin admitted. “Is there a problem with two similar dates?”

“Well, don’t you want something a bit more special for Julia? Or to see her during the week? Don’t you miss her?”

“Miss her?” Justin shook his head. “No. I’m a busy person.”

Fran sighed deeply. She looked over at Keiko. “This isn’t going to work, is it?”

“What isn’t going to work?” Justin asked, looking concerned.

Keiko closed her eyes and recited every single rule she knew about character/client interaction and her role as a consultant. Then, biting her lower lip and sending a quiet prayer toward any gods that might be sympathetic to character consultants, she opened her eyes–and broke every rule.

“Fran was thinking that you and Julie might be destined for each other,” she explained. “But if you don’t miss her when she’s not around, it’s not a fit. In reviewing Fran’s notes, though, I did have another idea.” She picked up her stylus and circled a name on her electronic notepad. “Tell me what you think of Chloe.”

*****

“Hello this is FluffCorp where your teeth may rot but your stories never will? This is Jaime, how may I help you today?”

“Hi, Jaime, I want to file a complaint about my character.”

Jaime sighed internally. Of course you do, he thought. “I’m listening and ready to assist in anyway I can.”

“This character is for a romantic lead–and you all gave him a stutter! There must be some mistake!”

“I’m very sorry that you’re dissatisfied, sir or ma’am, may I please get your name and character barcode?”

“It’s sir! One second…” a dog barked in the background. “Down, girl! Hey, put that down, now. NOW. Good dog….um, okay I have it: FLF64729-M38.”

Original FluffCorp manufacturing number, thirty-eight year old male, Jaime thought. Okay, that will make this easier… “Sir, I show that you stated you wanted your character to have something that he had overcome to be successful. The stutter was suggested and approved by you–”

“What?”

“Sir, may I please get your name?”

“No, you may not!” And the caller hung up.

Jaime shrugged and hit a button on his phone. “Hi, this Jaime in CS–I need to report a case of fraud and perhaps even theft? Character barcode FLF64729-M38. Originally ordered by a Dolores Benson who authorized a stutter for her MC in her new series with RomantInk? I just received a call from someone requesting to be called “sir” complaining about the stutter and refusing to give his name.”

“Got it,” Kim in Fraud typed furiously. “Am deactivating the character until we hear from the author herself. Confirmation number Zed, Alpha, Foxtrot, Six, Echo, Seven, Three.”

“Thanks, Kim,” Jaime said. “I’ll reach out to Ms. Benson myself.”

“That’s why you’re still my favorite, Jaime,” Kim replied. “Drinks on me next time.”

*****

“Chloe?” Justin looked, if anything, even more baffled. “She’s an excellent business partner, as Fran would be able to tell you. Hardworking, dedicated, more creative than I am. If it weren’t for her, JustClo Industries wouldn’t be where we are today. It was her coming to me with her new business plan that took us from a million dollar outfit to a billion dollar outfit. She knew green tech was the future. She’s got an incredible mind and ability to multi-task–she’s not only retained her 25% ownership in our venture, she’s got her thumb in dozens more.”

The expresion on his face could only be described as proud, but Keiko had a feeling that he didn't even notice it himself. A quick glance at Fran showed her that the other women definitely had though, and Keiko smiled privately, as they listened to Justin listing all of Chloe's characteristics just as if Fran didn't know them already.

“She seems to have an instinctive feel for when to intervene because an entrepreneur with a new business is out of their depth or when to sit back and let them lead. Again, something that I personally struggle with as I prefer to be in control. On the other hand, she’s chronically late, can never find her keys, and her desk looks like an office supply store had an avalanche. We balance each other’s weaknesses with strengths.”

Keiko nodded. This was enlightening. “Go on,” she encouraged.

“Even if she insists upon doing the newspaper word puzzles every morning over her coffee and pushing our morning meetings back to 9 am, I’m willing to wait for her. She gets the cutest little wrinkle in her nose when she’s stuck on a solution. I put up with her weekly meetings with her psychic and her ridiculously long fingernails. I finally got her some word recognition software when I couldn’t stand any more typos in her emails.”

Fran twinkled at him. “Anything else you dislike?”

“Oh, her taste in food is abominable! She eats like a six year old on holiday. If I never sit through another meal where she eats chicken nuggets and ketchup I can die a happy man, but I know I won’t get that lucky. Half the reason I started dating again was so that I could get a decent meal on the days that I don’t see Chloe…”

He trailed off. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see how any of this is helping my relationship with Julia.”

“It’s not,” Fran said. “But it’s certainly suggestive.”

Justin frowned. “Suggestive of what?”

Keiko decided to intervene again. She wasn’t willing to risk blowing up a second relationship in a single session–particularly not one that sounded like it might actually work. “Suggests that if Julia’s attraction for you is based primarily around the fact you can take her to more sophisticated restaurants, she’s not going to be the one.”

“The one WHAT?”

“Why, the one you marry, dear,” Fran said, her eyes dancing mischievously behind her glasses. “Don’t you think it’s time you settled down?”

Justin looked, if anything, appalled. “I don’t, no. I’m at the office five or six days a week until almost midnight, and I frequently dial in remotely when I’m not there. I worked for twelve days straight to carve out this Saturday and Sunday morning for a date. The only person I want to see every day is Chloe, talking about cost-effective ways to make the office more environmentally friendly and the long term direction of our stock!”

Fran looked, if anything, even more satisfied. “Noted, dear. Julia, though, wants to settle down. I think this weekend may be your last date with her. I’ll see what I can do.”

“It’s not that I don’t like Julia–”

The author nodded. “I know. No explanations needed. I’ll let you get back to work now. Thank you for your time, Justin.”

He snorted. “Not that I had an option, but–it’s been interesting, anyway.” He glanced up at her hopefully. “I don’t suppose you could write in for that empty space on our top floor to be taken by a French restaurant, could you? French food is literally the only adult cuisine Chloe will eat and it would save me from a lot of fast food dinners with her.”

Fran giggled delightedly. “Absolutely! It would be my pleasure.”

“Thank you,” he nodded at each of them, and then Keiko brought up the menu and returned him to his own fictional space.

“Well!” Fran said, grinning from ear to ear. “THAT was certainly revealing. And inspired on your behalf. How did you happen to think of it?”

“Well, I’ve read all of your books of course,” Keiko said, blushing a little. “And I was thinking that in the prequel to this, the one with Justin’s sister, Ronnie?”

“Yes, Veronica and Preston,” Fran sighed nostalgically. “They didn’t give me half as much trouble as Justin.”

“Well, neither of them had his volition stats, either,” Keiko reminded her. “He was never going to be an easy character to wrangle, which is why I didn’t want to directly suggest he pursue Chloe. But he was taking her to all the family events during Roses For Ronnie, and so I reread it this weekend. Their banter was so affectionate and effective…it made me think that there might be something more there…”

“Well, you were clearly correct there, Keiko. So now the only question is, how much will it be for a rush job on a new male Main Character? I need to get Julia out of this tangle before she falls further for Justin, who is clearly unavailable. I’d prefer that the MC still be related somehow as this book has been touted as a sequel. Then I can upgrade Chloe to MC status and pair her with Justin as the grand finale.” She sighed happily. “Nothing makes a publisher excited like a duology suddenly morphing into a trilogy!”

“Oh, wow, sure,” Keiko murmured, reaching for her electronic notepad. “When would you need the character by?”

“End of this week at the very, very latest, dear.”

“What if we make him an old college friend of Ronnie’s? Justin can cancel their weekend away due to work and Julia can decide she’s done with him and Ronnie can offer to set her up with someone to go with her?” Keiko suggested.

“Perfect! Please get me the profile ASAP. Someone very different from Justin. Julia is stubborn as well and I expect she’ll feel sour on high powered executives right now.”

Keiko queried Character Development about a rush job for a Tier One client. The prompt response astonished her at the turnaround time…and the price. She whistled under her breath.

“Looks like we can actually get you a professional surfer by tomorrow, if that’s acceptable to you,” she said. “He’d have a bit of an unfortunate childhood and a few commitment issues, though.”

“Lovely,” Fran enthused. “I can work with that, and he will certainly appeal to Julia’s tender heart. The fee?”

Keiko just passed her the pad, trying not to visibly swallow. The commission this could bring her–

“Done!” Fran agreed instantly. “And please have your senior associate call me. I want to make sure that you are my rep for any and all future appointments. Thank you, Keiko, it’s been a great pleasure.”

“Thank you, Fran,” Keiko tried to smile but her face felt frozen–in stunned disbelief. “The pleasure was definitely all mine.”

#writing is so fucking hard #writing issues #fluff and humor #original fiction #customer service #workplace humor #alternate universe

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