Last question.” He leaned forward over his plate of nachos and stared me right in the eye. “And this is an important one, Dave. So I need you to be totally honest with me.”
Okay, that put me on my guard but I would be upfront about everything. “Sure. I will.”
“Are you an adventurous man?”
“Excuse me?”
“Do you like new experiences? Even things you might not normally do. Will you try anything and everything just for the sensation, the thrill?”
I had to think about that one. “New experiences? You mean like eating haggis? Or bugs? Like walking on hot coals?” I shrugged, considering the question. “Well, I hadn’t really thought of it. I guess there’s a lot of things I’ve never done.”
“And would you try them? No questions asked?”
I took another drink from my beer. Would I?
“I’m asking you because I go into many places with different cultures. Every culture I meet believes in other gods, eats other foods. They live in different housing and have different ideas of marriage and mating. They have sexual practices that are very different from ones you know. I’m asking you if you have the curiosity and the bravery to go into those cultures and embrace them. I’m asking you if you’re adventurous.”
Was I? Other gods? Other food? Other ideas of marriage? And sex? I had to admit, the idea of other sexual practices was intriguing, but I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to be part of them. I mean, okay, I can handle eating spiders and chicken testicles. Brains. I watched that show with that bald dude. It all looked interesting and I kept thinking that I could do that. Then it hit me; of course, I know what Rick’s talking about. He went to places that had threesomes and open marriages. And some of them practiced orgies and BDSM stuff. That’s what he was talking about. I could handle that. And I told him I could.
His smile was slow to light up his face and I could tell he was just as excited as I was now. Yeah, this was going to be the best job ever. I just knew it in my heart. He clapped me on the shoulder.
"Welcome to Rickman Enterprises, Dave. Can you start right away?”
His man Friday
By Siobhan MacKenzie
Novella 1 - Chapter Excerpt
Holy crap, a job and a place to live?
“Sure, okay. I can do that.”
He sat back, smiling at me. I knew he was checking me out but I wasn’t sure why. Did he think I couldn’t be as urbane as he was? I mean, he was pretty cultured. I knew my education had been mostly community colleges and such, but I did have an advanced degree and that was no slouch.
“Says here you’re...twenty-eight? You’ve been in school all this time?”
“Yes, sir...I mean, Rick. I just finished my MBA about six months ago. Four-point-oh grade average, too.”
“Impressive. Very impressive.” He looked at my resume again, then back up to me. “How’s your dictation? Your typing?”
“I do about a hundred words a minute and I can keep up with dictation very well.”
His face lit up when he smiled. Yeah, I could definitely see why this guy was a chick magnet. He was great looking, had a hot body, was richer than Croesus – women found him irresistible and totally fuckable. Wonder if he could turn me on to some of those women. This was getting better and better.