You enter the office

"Come in!" you hear Laura Bylines yell.

You enter the office you had just been in moments ago, not that Laura knows that.

From behind her desk, she looks confused to see you.

"Who are you? Did my assistant forget to schedule this meeting?"

She doesn't even remember you. Any goodwill you may have had left for her is gone.

Clutching the envelope in your hands, you calmly close the door behind you and take a seat.

"Ms. Bylines, you interviewed me for a job a couple of months ago," you start, waiting to see if she shows any recollection of that meeting. Still nothing.

"Ok...? I assume I didn't hire you. Are you here to beg for another interview? That's not going to happen."

Eyeing the envelope in your hands, Laura said, "Or are you here to bring me a story that will convince me to give you a job?"

You grinned. "Oh, I've a story alright.... As a matter of fact, it's a picture story," you say as you toss the envelope onto her desk.

Impatiently, she grabs the envelope, muttering, "This better be good."

As she pulls out the contents of the envelope and realizes what they are, her eyes and mouth go wide in horror. In stunted silence, she looks through all the pictures, glancing at the couch in her office intermittently, trying to figure out if the pictures are doctored. She knows her own body and that the pictures weren't just a photoshop of her head onto a naked woman's body.

Still holding onto the pictures, she finally looks at you, breathing heavily.

"What do you want?" she says, almost in a whisper.

This is playing out well, you think. You might not even need to use any of the magic rings with Laura moving forward. In fact, it pleases you to know that you don't need to use the mind control ring to get what you want from her.

"For starters, I want a job. Not that low-level job I interviewed for. Senior reporter, with as much flexibility as I want," you state, holding her gaze.

She blinks. "Okay. Done."

Laura's phone rings. Still looking at you, she hits the speaker button. "Yes?"

"Ms. Bylines, your next appointment is here."

That must be her assistant sitting outside. She hadn't been at her desk when you came into the office.

"Send him away, Amanda. I'm with someone. Actually, cancel the rest of my day. I'm taking off after this."

"Sorry, who's with you? I must have missed that appointment."

"He was a walk-in. Don't worry about it. Just cancel my meetings and then you should take off too," Laura says as she hangs up.

"Well? Is that it?" She has regained some of her confidence.

"No." You chuckle.