Chloe Barnaby, 34, Senior Recruiter

It was Chloe; wearing an over-sized sweater, again, and dark pants. Chloe was a buxom lady with a big round… cheery disposition. Her smile up top was as big as her smile on bottom. She leaned in to my cubicle. That sweater hanging down so no outline was visible of what should be something quite glorious underneath.

“Chloe. Uh… Just give me a moment.”

She gasped a bit, then paused as I walked past her. I heard a ping notification from my phone as I stepped out of the booth, and grabbed some water from the fountain. I turned back around and walked back over. Chloe certainly wasn’t the worst person I could have been assigned. She had the right figure for it; anyway. Not that I would ever say that out loud.

“Sorry. Thank you for waiting. Really… very sorry, Chloe. I shouldn’t have interrupted you. Are you here to supervise my prep interviews?”

“Keith! Ha! You apologize too much. We’ll get you sorted in no time. Don’t worry! I’ve got just the plan for you!”

I proceeded to nod along politely as she laid out how to do a standard interview that I’ve done dozens of times before. Don’t look down. Don’t look down. Eyes! Focus! Wait… I got a ping on my phone earlier. What was that for?

“Keith. Chloe. Your first arrival is in conference room 2.” Kayla butted in then sauntered off.

“Good. Let’s go.” I pressed forward past her just wanting Chloe to stop her yammering. Ping! Normally I’d be more polite, but this basic training nonsense was infuriating. I just wanted the day to be over.

“Keith, I’m going to take care of this first interview while you just be a good little watcher.” *wink* “And then we’ll go over everything before the second one. I want to be thorough with you so you don’t miss anything. I want you to ace it the first time so I can give a glowing report to Nina about what a great job I did training you.”

“Sure. Here. Allow me to get the door for you, Chloe. Go right on in. I’m right behind you.” ping Again; my phone. Ugh! I politely shook hands, then quietly sat in the corner while the interview was ongoing. This gave me a chance to check my phone under the table while they chatted. What is this? Chloe Barnaby was now at the top of the list, and there were 3 notifications for her.

(CHLOE: +1SP) (-71SP)

(CHLOE: +1SP) (-70SP)

(CHLOE: +1SP) (-69SP)

So that means Chloe was a -72 when she came up to me, and now she was down to a -69? She still felt she was very much my boss (she wasn’t), but somehow I’d knocked her down a few points. How could a phone app know about my interactions with her? So because I had been upset and a little pushy with her, the app was slowly making her more submissive. Hm… I wonder…

“Just remember to remind her about our monthly check-ins for new temps.” I smiled.

Chloe glared at me for my outburst. Of course she knew that, but she promptly said…

“Yes, we want to make sure you’re not having any trouble in a new job. We want to be supportive of…”

Ping! (CHLOE: +1SP) (-68SP) Perfect! So Chloe was mad at me because she felt I was overstepping, but she still had to do what I told her because it was part of her job. She needed to save face in front of the candidate, so was still being polite, and wouldn’t back talk. These interviews would be a perfect chance to test some things.

I waited through the long slog of the first interview while Chloe yammered way too long. By the time she was finished two more interview preps had already arrived, and I had to catch us up. I used those interviews to test out my theory.

“Chloe, grab a pen. Thanks!” (CHLOE: +1SP) (-67SP)

“Chloe, she’d like some water.” (CHLOE: +1SP) (-66SP)

“Chloe, that’s great! You’re so helpful. Just wait a moment right there.” (CHLOE: +1SP) (-65SP)

Each time Chloe got a little more pissed off at me, but there was little she could do about it. By the end of the second interview I’d already gotten her to -61SP. I tried not to be too obvious, but even still as interview 3 left Chloe closed the door to the conference room and gave me an earful.