Juliette lands a well paying, highly sought after job that many could only dream off. However, that job, comes with additional responsibilities. If you can stomach it, you’re well on your way to financial freedom and early retirement. If not, enjoy your time in the rat race. Would you care what your boss wants you to wear or to do if the money is right?
This title comes with an audio book version. (*Audio book is only available to subscribers with Archive access privileges *)
There is this special scent of ambition and cheap perfume in the meeting room where i was sitting that day.
All around me, a sea of freshly pressed blazers and determined, polished faces. The men looked like they were ready to be bankers and the girls, those were split among executives and sugar babes wannabes depending on what they were wearing. One looked like she was ready to head straight to the KTV across the road after the interview and start work.
We were the new graduates, the hopefuls, the ones let loose into the wild only to find the jungle was overpopulated and the prey was scarce.
I was among them. And so was everyone I knew.
I spotted Jessica from my Business Strategy module, her fingers flying across her phone screen, probably sending a status update to her 300 tik tok followers.
A row over, Mark, who’d aced our financial accounting finals, was methodically reviewing a set of cue cards, his lips moving silently.
Then I saw her. Sarah. My partner-in-crime through three years of late-night study sessions, questionable cafeteria food, and shared dreams over too-strong coffee. She caught my eye from across the room and offered a weak, strained smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
It was a look that said, ‘Can you believe this? and I hope it’s you, but I really hope it’s me.’
The job at J Global was the mythical unicorn we’d all been taught to hunt. A prestigious multinational, a towering glass monolith in the heart of the financial district, and a salary that the government would love to use to shift the median wage mark for the news.
The role was Executive Personal Assistant to the Asia-Pacific CEO.
The job listing had reportedly garnered over four hundred applications. Looking around the waiting area, I believed it. We were the chosen fifty, the ones who had made it past the digital cull.
And we were all about to be put through the wringer. I feel like the sugarcane about to be inserted in between the metal rollers at the hawker centre.
A stern-faced woman from HR clapped her hands softly, a sound that cut through the murmur like a knife.
“Welcome, candidates. You will undergo three rounds of assessment today. The first is a written examination. Please follow me.”
A collective, silent groan seemed to ripple through the room.
A written exam? What the fuck? We’d just spent the better part of our lives taking exams. We’d graduated. We were supposed to be done with this.
PSLE, O levels, A levels, final papers. Now job interview also need written paper?
But the tight labor market was a brutal, unspoken truth that hung over our generation like a pall. No one complained. No one even sighed too loudly. We just stood, a well-dressed herd, and followed her into a sterile, silent conference room.
The paper was a special kind of evil, i heard the guy beside me curse out loud.
‘Chao Chee Bye…’
He then tore up the paper and left the room. No one stopped him.
It was a mix of logic puzzles, advanced grammatical corrections, and complex scheduling scenarios designed to make your brain melt.
I pressed the tip of my pen to the paper, my hand trembling slightly. This was it. The first gatekeeper.
After the paper, we broke for lunch, a tense, awkward affair where no one really ate. We just pushed limp salad leaves around plastic containers, avoiding each other’s eyes. I ate with Sarah, we hardly chat, i bet we both have the same thing on our mind.
There’s only one opening in the company.
The HR woman returned precisely at one o’clock. She held a clipboard and her expression gave nothing away.
“When I call your name, please remain seated. If your name is not called, thank you for your time today. Your participation is concluded.”
She began to read. Name after name. Each one was a tiny death sentence. I saw Jessica’s shoulders slump as her name was omitted.
Mark’s wasn’t called either. He gathered his things with a quiet, stunned dignity. Half the room emptied. Sarah’s name was called. So was mine. We didn’t dare look at each other.
Ok, so far so good.
The second round was a panel of steely-eyed head of finance, the stern HR woman, and a ah beng looking department head whose name I immediately forgot.
They fired questions like snipers, probing for weakness, for ego, for resilience.
“Describe a time you failed and what you learned.”
“How would you handle a directive you knew to be morally questionable?”
“Your CEO tells you to hold all calls, but the call is from his wife, who never calls the office. What do you do?”
By the time i was done with that panel, i was tempted to curse as well.
Somehow, I made it through.
The group whittled down again. Now, we were six. Sarah was still there. We exchanged a quick, terrified glance in the hallway, a silent acknowledgment of the bizarre gladiatorial arena we found ourselves in. The odds were now one in six.
My stomach was a tight knot of nausea and a terrifying, flickering hope. I could feel my mensural cramp coming. My period was not due but i felt as if i will start painting the carpet red if i don’t control my breathing.
The final interview was with the man himself. The boss. The apex predator. James Tualanpar.
He was not what I expected from the captain of this corporate starship. He was a large man, not just tall but wide. He’s balding, his belly is pushing against his white shirt and his blazer seemed a size too small.
His smile was wide, his handshake firm.
“Juliette! Come in, come in! Take a seat,” he boomed, his voice a surprisingly cheerful instrument for such a high-stakes moment.
I sat, perching on the edge of the plush leather chair.
“Please, i would like you to stand up.” James said.
I did what i was told, standing up. He gestured for me to walk to the side of his table.
“turn around…”
“oh…erm…ok.”
James was nodding as he looked at me, his eyes… his eyes were unsettling. They weren’t on my face. They were… traveling.
Down to my neck, to the curve of my body in my simple black dress, lingering on my legs. Then he stared at my heels, his gaze lingered long on my toe cleavage.
A hot flush of disgust and anger mixed with my nerves. Fuck, I thought, he’s one of those fucking perverts.
The lecherous, pervert boss from every cautionary story.
I wanted to walk away, to give him the finger but then he started talking about remunerations.
Starting pay of $5500, during probation.
I almost had an orgasm when he said working hours was 10 to 5pm
Aside from pay, there is also a whole list of allowances ranging from transport to meals.
By then, i didn’t care if he was looking at my body.
Fuck i’ll even let him lick my feet if he offered me the job.
The interview concluded.
I was ushered out. Sarah went in after me. The wait was agony.
Finally, the HR woman appeared. Her gaze swept over the six of us. “Michael, Priya, David, Sarah… thank you all so much for your time today. You are free to go.”
My heart plummeted. She’d called Sarah’s name. My friend was out. Sarah gave me a tiny, heartbroken shake of her head before turning away. That left me.
And one other girl, a sharp-faced, impeccably dressed candidate who hadn’t said a word to anyone all day.
The two of us stood there, the last two gladiators standing in the empty hallway. The HR woman approached us, holding a single, crisp, white envelope.
“Mr James has made his decision,” she said, her voice devoid of any inflection. “The final test is this.”
She held out the envelope. My eyes locked with the other girl’s. For a second, I saw the same terrified hope in her eyes that I felt burning in my own.
The HR woman placed the envelope in my hand. It was lighter than I expected.
“Inside is a single question. The candidate who provides the correct answer will be offered the position. You have five minutes. You may open it now.”
My fingers trembled as I tore open the flap. Inside was a single, small slip of high-quality paper. I pulled it out.
On it, typed in simple black ink, was one line. One incomprehensible, bizarre line that made my mind go completely and utterly blank.
It read:
‘Take off your underwear and put it in the envelope, drop the envelope off on my table’
James
I froze.
What the fuck?
It’s a test.
The girl beside me stood up, her chin straight, and with a high and mighty smirk, tore up the paper and envelope. She confidently added that integrity and professionalism is not something she will compromise like she is giving some fucking pep talk.
After she’s done, she was promptly escorted off the premise by security.
The HR woman then looked at me.
My heart was racing.
“We could always redo the interview if you don’t know the answer” She said.
I stood up, my hands were shaking, and i almost lost the balance on my heels. Reaching under my dress, i pulled down my black lacy panty, folded it and put it into the envelope.
Then i walked right up to James’ office and put it on the table.
James leaned back on his chair and grinned.
“Welcome to the company Juliette”
10700 words
Title includes Audio book (61mb)
*Only Subscribers with Archive access privileges will have access to the audio book. *
PDF ebook includes link to password protected page with more than 20 AI generated videos in office setting. No nudes
is there a discount to buy this if I don’t want to receive any of the AI stuff?
I don’t need the AI videos or AI audio.