Tense Negotiation Tactics

I’m aware I could try calling Ms. Cooper instead of asking in person, but that wouldn’t work. Ignoring the likelihood that she wouldn’t pick up due to being busy, she has an unwritten protocol for employees asking to take time off after the weekly schedule is written. First, inform her as soon as possible, the more warning she has the higher the chance she’ll agree. Three days is usually the minimum, and the day prior is a certain no barring **** circumstance. Second, have a legitimate reason for needing off. For example, you’re sick, your car broke down, your family planned a vacation and are terrible about informing you of dates, etc. Wanting to hang out at a party or something similar you only just heard about doesn’t tend to receive much sympathy. Third, tell the truth. If you spin some tale of woe and she finds out, you can kiss any future schedule adjustments goodbye. So, I’m already at a disadvantage for those three, that’s why I’m running there now, because the final rule is to ask her in person. She believes if it’s important, you will go through the effort of making the request in front of her and not over the phone. Again, barring **** circumstance. I’ve witnessed other employees bungle or disrespect these rules and were met with very unfortunate fates from a cold as ice Ms. Cooper.

It normally takes me about an hour to walk from my apartment to work, the café is a little further in the opposite direction though, so it’d probably take me close to 80 minutes to make the trek were I to walk. I also went on that run with Sam earlier, so I’d normally have to take a breather and/or die a few times before I get there. But I never tire or even get winded. I just keep running like my life depends on it, dodging and weaving through any other pedestrians I come across. Not bothering to wait for any walk signs to change off the stop hand should my timing be off. I do stop to look both ways before crossing though, the traffic is slow and I may be in a hurry but I’m not suicidal.

Not even 25 minutes later, I find myself in front of Ms. Cooper’s store, finally starting to breathe heavily. That blessing Jane gave me is ridiculous, I’ll need to try to find the limits to my new endurance some time. Not today though, I'm busy. I wait outside for a few minutes to get my breathing back down; I don’t want Ms. Cooper thinking I’m ****. Speaking of Ms. Cooper, I pull up her profile while I recover and open “Living Puppet”. With 97 gems currently banked, I can finally unlock more of its features. Thankfully, outside the store is close enough to be in range. Her avatar shows her sitting down with her hands out in front of her, so she’s probably working in her office.

Custom Settings: Living Puppet:

Current range: 200 feet.

Range Upgrade 1: 1000 feet: 5 gems

Range Upgrade 2: Locked

Range upgrade 3: Locked

Range upgrade 4: Locked

Range Upgrade 5: Locked

Tools Unlock: 30 gems

Strength Upgrade: 20 gems

Freeze Upgrade: 15 gems

Accessories: 20 gems

I obviously need to get as many range upgrades as possible first since I can’t mess with my phone while at work outside of break. Also, the chance of getting caught is terrifying. I purchase the first one, barely impacting my gem savings with the comparatively meager price of 5, bringing me to 92 gems, unlocking the next one, and giving me the all too familiar ding of an unlocked achievement. I’ll look at that later though.

Range Upgrade 2: 1 mile: 10 gems

Getting better, but still not far enough. Thankfully it’s still pretty cheap, so I buy that one as well. Down to 82 gems.

Range Upgrade 3: 5 miles: 20 gems.

Better still, I purchase that one too. 62 gems.

Range Upgrade 4: 25 miles: 40 gems.

I hesitate on this one. I’ll only be able to afford one other upgrade should I buy this. I’m fairly certain my apartment is within 5 miles of the store, so I shouldn’t need the 4th upgrade. But what if I want to use it while she’s home? I have no idea where she lives, but she does drive to work. So, either she’s far enough away to warrant it, or she just doesn’t want to during the summer. Which is fair. I probably wouldn’t either if I had a car. Screw it, I’m sure I’ll get more gems soon. I purchase the range upgrade, here’s hoping she lives within 25 miles of me. 22 gems left.

Range Upgrade 5: 125 miles: 80 gems.

Alright, I definitely can’t afford that one yet. Now I need to decide if I’m buying an additional upgrade, and if I am, which one. I can only guess at what they do, I’m honestly the most interested in the “Tools” one but that might be my handyman nature talking. Unfortunately, that one’s off the table for now since I can’t afford it. So that leaves “Strength”, “Freeze”, and “Accessories”. I haven’t even attempted to use “Living Doll” yet, so I have nothing to compare any possible changes too. I do have the range upgrades now though, so I could buy them later after I actually test the punishment out. I hope I can do that, at least. I think I’ll do that and save my remaining gems for now.

On the other hand… I do wonder if there’s anything that will help me to convince her… I need every advantage I can get… Let’s browse really quick and see what options there are, but which tab should I look through? My first thought is the Misc. tab, it hasn’t let me down so far and most every interesting thing I’ve gotten has been from there. But is interesting the thing I need here? I need something that will either make me more convincing, or her more receptive. Not **** her to play out some specific fetish. The Hotkeys tab has the same issue, they’re all limited, physical actions. I wouldn’t be able to use them anyway, I doubt tapping on my phone to activate them during a conversation will win me any points with her. Worst case scenario, she connects the dots of me tapping my phone and her doing something. I wouldn’t put it past her, Ms. Cooper’s really perceptive. All the body tabs are useless here too, changing her physically will do bugger all for swaying her to my side, especially if she’s unaware of the change. My situation wouldn’t change. And if I made her aware, she’d ignore my pleas and focus on what the hell happened to her. So that just leaves… The Head tab…

I have very mixed feelings about that tab. I hate the idea of messing with anyone’s mind or forcing a change to someone’s personality, I’m aware I’ve allowed a lot of things to happen I never thought I would only a week ago, and I’m oddly ok with that, but this is a line I really do not want to cross. But haven’t I crossed it already? That’s what I did with Amelia after all. That was a completely different circumstance though, I had little to no control over that whole ordeal and it was the best I could do in a bad situation. Here, the only thing at stake is me getting a day off. I’m not on an immediate timetable, and no one is in imminent danger. If I go through with this here, I’d be willingly casting aside my morals as opposed to sacrificing them to save someone as best I can. Even if she did kind of deserve it… Regardless! Point is! I need to make a decision here, do I go in as things are with the odds stacked against me, or do I give in and cheat?

……

………

…………

Sam’s expression from earlier flashes in my mind. Standing close in front of me, her eyes locked to mine, wide and expectant. Her head slightly tilted to one side in subtle beckoning challenge as her beautiful silky red hair sways behind her in its usual ponytail. Her lips in a playful smirk, filled with anticipation of what’s to come. Then her expression from a few moments later overtakes the image. Eye’s shifted down and away, head turned to the side making for escape, lips in a well disguised faux happy grin. Everything radiating…

Disappointment…

………………….

……………………….

I don’t cross the line by just looking, right? Maybe there’s an option that isn’t so bad but will still aid me. I’ll never know unless I look, right?

Right?

Right.

I open the Head tab.

......................................

Wha-… Huh?

What am I looking at? There’s normally a list of the available purchases, but there isn’t here. At least, not one that sticks around. There’s only one option at a time that loads in, but I'm barely able to read past the name of it before it gets erased and replaced by something else.

Closet Tsundere: Subject behaves sim-

Overcompensation: Subject belie-

Who’s the Boss now?: Subject consi-

Best Seat in the House: Subject will no-

It just keeps going. Is this even a glitch? It’s different than all the other glitches where something obviously broke or only kind of worked. This time it doesn’t look like anything is broken, it’s clearly functioning in some manner, it feels more like the app is desperately trying to find a solution to something. I lose count of how many options load in only to be discarded and replaced instantly by something else until one finally sticks.

Audible Learner: Subject will respond to a trigger word spoken by the user: 20 gems

……… That’s it? What does it even mean by “respond”? That can literally mean anything! Maybe it’ll have different options of responses that I can pick from? That would track with previous purchases… God dangit, how many times is my curiosity going to make me fall for their vagueness? Once more, it would seem. It’s not like I have many options here. Plus, it doesn't sound too terrible in changing her mentally. I hope not at least. Fingers crossed I'll be able to control when it's on or off too. I add it to my cart and make the purchase. The customization gear sits right next to it on my list for Ms. Cooper, I tap it, opening it up shortly afterward.

Custom Settings: Audible Learner:

Trigger word: fill in the blank.

Response:

-5 second blank stare. *selected*

-Warmth

-Chill

-Jump

-Butt Pinch

-Nipple Twist

-Moan

-Spank self: 5 gems

-Arousal: 5 gems

-Strip: 10 gems

-Allow*: 20 gems

-Custom: 120 gems

*Results vary.

I really need to have a talk with Maddy and whoever does the descriptions for this app. I still have no clue how these responses work. I’m kind of getting a hypnotized vibe from it though. Most of these are simple actions, but does she do them to herself or someone else? The “Spank Self” option is the only one that specifies, so what does it mean that the others don’t? And how would she respond with “Warmth” or “Chill”?? Does she feel a change in temperature? Does her vibe shift? Does it influence how she feels? I have no clue! And what the hell does “Allow” mean?! Why and how do its’ “Results vary”?!?!? There’re too many unknown variables here! How am I supposed to use this to my advantage?

Wait, maybe that in and of itself is an advantage? If I don’t know how it works, Ms. Cooper sure won’t, and if weird things start happening for no apparent reason, it could throw her off her game. giving me a chance. It’s all I got to work with, so might as well try. Now which response to use? I don’t think “blank stare” is enough to throw her off, I’ll have to use something more obvious. I’m skipping “Warmth” and “Chill” for now, I want to experiment with those when the stakes are lower. “Jump” probably wouldn’t work either for the opposite reason of “blank stare”, we’ll probably be sitting in her office after all. “Butt Pinch” or “Nipple twist” could work, depending on how she does them. If she does it to herself, that’d definitely confuse her to no end. If she's **** to instead do it to someone else say, me, however, that’d confuse her even more. Possibly also make her freak out. I only think that is a possibility because "Spank self" specifies while the other two don't. So there has to be a difference between them. “Moan” just sounds like it would make the whole situation nothing but awkward, so I’ll say no to that one as well. I only have 2 gems left, so I can’t afford any of the additional options. Depending on how this works, I’ll definitely have to save up for the “Custom” option. I assume the big price tag means it has the potential to make her response be near anything. But that’s future plans, for right now, I’ll pick “Butt Pinch”. It’s risky, but I feel it’s the safer between the two. Especially if she does it to me…

Now comes the hard part. Deciding on a trigger word. It has to be something common enough for me to easily slip into normal conversation without being obvious or weird, but rare enough that I don’t say it by accident… “Off”? Like time off? That could work. It might be a bit obvious though, and I don’t think I should come out of the gate with this particular card. Maybe… “Help”? I could work that in without too much trouble. Screw it, I’ll try it. I'm feeling brave for some reason. Only one way to find out how this goes. I turn her awareness for "Audible Learner" to on, it won't work otherwise.

My breathing has long since settled down at this point, so I put my phone away, steel my resolve and head in. Before immediately remembering that I got an achievement, instantly derailing all of my resolve and causing me to do an about face so quickly I almost get whiplash. I get my phone out once more and open up the Achievement.

Achievement Unlocked!

Double Trouble: Upgrade a Punishment: 5 gem reward.

It’s not much, but it does open up two more options. I quickly discard them though. “Spank self” has the same problem as “Jump”, and this is definitely not the time for “Arousal” … Maybe later though… But as I was saying, I galvanize my resolve once more, since steeling it didn't last long, and head inside. There are a few customers wandering around, but it’s not too busy. I spot another coworker of mine, Luke, manning the register. Luke’s a good worker, we just don’t get along that well. Not because he’s a jerk or we disagree on things, we just don’t have any similar interests. Similar to Jeff, but Jeff at least tries to be sociable. Luke’s an athlete; plays football for the college and very into most sports, and I am not. He wants to talk about his fantasy football thing, and I want to discuss anime and make old movie references. That’s one example, but it applies to most everything, so we just don’t really talk to each other about not work related stuff. Regardless, I don’t have any real problems with him, and we work together alright. I ask where the boss is, and he motions towards her office. I walk over and knock.

“You may enter.” Ms. Cooper says through the door.

I do so, finding her sitting at her desk just as her avatar showed, typing away at her computer. She looks away from her work towards me, a short moment of surprise crossing her face before she says,

“Mr. Hawkins? I did not expect you in today. To what do I owe this visit?”

“Hi Ms. Cooper, sorry to bother you. I’m afraid I need to ask a favor regarding the schedule.” I respond, trying to be as respectful as I can but still get straight to the point. Moving to sit in the chair opposite her desk as I speak. Most of her employees don't balance those elements very well, hence her usual ice queen responses. I need something from her though, so it never hurts to try and put my best foot forward.

“What is this favor you wish to ask of me?” She says, unmoved by my statement, probably sensing my obvious request.

“I know this is short notice, but would it be alright if I had Saturday off?” I say, trying to gauge the appropriate level of pensiveness to give off.

“What is the reason for needing that day off?” She responds, still unmoved. This is not going well so far… But I must press on!

“I uh, just heard about the county fair that’s being held and I really want to go… I’ll make it up to you!” Like I said, not the best reason, but it’s better than lying to her. She has a very good lie detector. She lets my statement hang in the air for a few moments, allowing it to settle in the silence and making me feel more nervous by the second.

“The county fair… The same one that’s been advertised for a few months now… You only just heard about it today…” She repeats slowly. Not really asking for clarification, more of restating a point she doesn’t like.

“I uhhh… Don’t normally pay attention to local events… hehe...” I say lamely, unable to come up with a better reason. It’s the truth, I don’t really go out much, but that doesn’t make it not lame.

“I see. What makes this event different?” She asks, turning the rest of her body away from her computer to fully face me, leaning forward slightly to rest her arms on her desk, hands clasped. Her piercing blue eyes lock onto me, the intense gaze meeting mine and making me feel small and uncertain.

Dangit, did she really need to ask that? I already feel bad and awkward about this, now embarrassment is getting added to the mix. Do I tell her the truth this time too? I don’t know how sympathetic she’ll be since I haven’t even asked Sam about it yet. She’s not much of a romantic either, best I can tell at least. Maybe a re-flavoring of the truth will work. I have no doubt she’d sense an outright lie no problem, but maybe I can get away with just stretching the truth a little. She’s in her negotiating from her desk stance too. This is where it becomes a make-or-break scenario. Now might also be a good time to see what Audible Learner does. Here goes nothing.

“A friend of mine really wants to go and asked if I’d go too. They’re how I heard about it to begin with. Figured I’d help them out if I could.” I say as smoothly as possible and wait for anything to happen.

It’s subtle, which I think speaks a lot to Ms. Coopers’ level of composure, but the moment I said “help”, all her muscles flexed slightly, and her face twinged in sudden pain for a split second before returning to normal. She made no movements beyond that though. That’s interesting… So the command doesn’t make her pinch anyone, it makes her feel as though she’s been pinched. That’s real nifty. I can tell she’s confused about the random sensation, but she hasn’t let it affect her composure any and recovers quickly, assessing my statement with her usual level of calculation. In the silence, I start getting nervous that she’s seen through my charade, especially with her gaze locked onto me as it is. A part of me is starting to believe she waits to respond on purpose the see whoever she’s talking to sweat under her glare.

“You realize of course, this puts me in a bit of a bind for manpower on Saturday.” She finally says, phrasing it as a statement instead of a question and leaning back to her usual perfect sitting posture while still resting her clasped hand on the desk. She’s testing me, she’s not fully convinced of my story and wants to see how I’ll react. I need to play my one advantage more aggressively now to knock her off balance.

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ll help you find someone to fill in though! I can also come in early on Sunday and help out if you need me too. You’ve asked me to help fill in sudden no-shows before and I always have. I- are you ok?” I say, responding to her finally reacting in an obvious way to the back-to-back-to-back stimulation. She twinged again after the first and second ones but quickly recovered, the third one however finally broke through and made her divert her attention away from me and down to her seat. One of her hands reaching down to investigate and possibly soothe her bum as well.

“Yes, my apologies. I may need a new chair soon is all. Pay it no mind.” She says, trying to brush it off and reassure herself as much as me.

“Oh? I could help find the problem if you want.”

“No! No, it’s fine. Back to the matter of Saturday. You are not the only employee I have that wishes to attend the fair, but you are the only one that has asked for that day off this late in the game. Why should I grant your request?”

Dangit! She’s not backing down yet, her balance was knocked off kilter, but she recovered quickly. I need to keep the pressure on until she finally breaks, she hasn’t denied my request yet, so I still have a chance. She’s a fan of testing the resolve of her employees when she can, her way of helping them grow I suspect. Others would probably disagree though and just call her some nasty words for not giving them what they want immediately. But I’m pretty sure that’s what’s happening here, she’s forcing me to either confront her and take a stand, or wilt and back off. Time to see how much my spine can hold.

“Honestly, because I think I deserve it. If I could have given you more warning, I would have, but that doesn’t change where we are. I’m your best and most reliable employee. I don’t ask for certain days off very often, and as I said before, I’ve come in to help fill in for no shows, I go above and beyond to help in any way I can while I work, and-“

She jumped again after I said the trigger word, not literally of course, but noticeable to me since I’m looking for it. The difference this time, however, is her only reaction is to look down at her chair for a moment, then glare directly back to me…

Crap… She’s on to me…

“Did uhhh, your chair get you again?” I ask, suddenly much less confident than a moment prior. She continues to glare daggers at me for a few moments, gears in her head churning at rapid pace.

“Yes… I may ask for your… assistance, with this on your next shift.” She responds, in her most cold and calculated manner I’ve seen her use to date. This is bad! This is really really bad! She’s not only on to me, she’s figured me out! Why did I think I could get away with this?! This whole plan was stupid! Of course you can’t out smart Ms. Cooper! She’s Ms. Cooper! You’re an idiot for even trying! Enjoy your reward of being spit roasted over a bubbling cauldron full of frog warts, napalm, and Excel spreadsheets! I don’t care that’s not how you spit roast something! Ms. Cooper will make it work!

No! Stop it! Dear god Tyler get a hold of yourself! Quite being a conspiracy theorist dear caught in the line of fire for Marvin the Martians’ Devonian pew 36 explosive space modulator and say something! You’ve already been had! You can’t make it any worse! Your silence only further proves your guilt! Just fall into her trap and get it over with! Deal with the consequences later! Just say something!!!

“Alwa-ehem. Always happy to lend a helping hand.” I finally get out, shriveling up and dying on the inside afterwards though. Bracing myself for the inevitable.

Ms. Cooper tilts her head, confusion evident on her stone-cold face. Another few moments pass by of her just staring at me in puzzlement, trying to make sense of something she doesn’t understand.

What? What’s going on? Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth shattering kaboom! Dangit Tyler! Stop quoting old Looney Tunes cartoons and think! I don’t believe it worked that time, why didn’t it work that time?

“Uhhh, Ms. Cooper? Is something wrong?” I say, my mouth apparently acting without consulting my brain at all. Not that my brain is making much sense in its’ panicking state anyway.

“Hmm? Oh! Yes, of course. My apologies. We were discussing the Saturday schedule.” She says, more to herself I think, whatever logic train she was on got derailed hard and she’s still trying to make sense of it. I need to strike while the iron is hot!

“You were about to give me that day off in exchange for fixing your chair.” I say, pulling out as much mock confidence I can while wearing the cheekiest of grins imaginable. When in doubt, play the lovable idiot and make light of the situation. Guaranteed to possibly work some of the time. She chuckles softly and says,

“Is that what you have concluded of this conversation so far?

“Does saying yes mean I’m correct?”

“Sigh… I suppose it would.”

“Really?” I say, genuinely surprised my plan worked, “Thank you Ms. Cooper! I promise I’ll-“

“Make it up to me? Of course you will. I accept your offer to help open on Sunday in addition to the closing shift you were already scheduled for. Do have fun at the fair.” She says after completing my sentence for me, turning back to type away at her computer to nonverbally dismiss me.

Crap, I forgot about that. Oh well. She may be forcing me to back up my ****, poorly thought-out ramblings only designed to throw in the word “help” as many times as I could, but I still succeeded… Somehow… Sunday is going to be rough, but I’ll take the pyrrhic victory and quit while I’m ahead. I say an only somewhat awkward goodbye, thanking her again before making my great egress.

That went better than expected. I do feel bad for manipulating her like that though. Even if I only succeeded by the skin of my teeth, and even then, it was by accident. Gonna have to figure out why it didn't work that last time. I barely managed to get out of there without my head getting chopped off. I’ll have to be more mindful of how I use the app on her from here on, she was convinced I was doing something to her despite not knowing how. I need to make it up to her later and be more careful with how I use “Audible Learner” in the future. Quell any lingering suspicion she may have of me. But regardless, putting future plans aside, I need to focus on current plans. I managed to succeed in phase one. Now comes the next part.

Asking Sam out to the fair……

No pressure…