The Staff

“Remember, sweetie, first impressions are critical if you’re going to be respected as a professional. This is the start of your career, and you want to build up your portfolio of references. Don’t squander this opportunity.” That’s the last think Katie’s mom had said to her before her flight.

Her father had said something similar, though critically different and out of earshot of his wife. “This is an adventure of a lifetime. Don’t spend so much time building your career that you forget to enjoy it. Like your mom said, don’t squander the opportunity.” He gave the advice with a smile and a wink.

She’d boarded the flight with confidence and excitement, but a dozen time zones later, she was starting to unravel.

Katie was a young woman, travelling alone to distant lands. She’d been hired to work at an incredible new resort as a guest liaison. It was just a fancy name for someone who makes sure guests are having a good time: organizing games, fetching towels, minding children and such. But it was a real, full-time job, and a great opportunity.

She was lucky to be starting at a high-end resort like this. A two-year hospitality diploma at a community college, and part time work at a café hardly made her a top-tier choice, but she’d been available on short notice. She was a late hire, someone else backed out at the last minute, apparently. Given that chance, she had to make the most of it. Especially since she was starting late. The other staff was already trained up, and probably way more experienced than her.

“I can do this,” she said to herself, clutching the folder full of documents as though her life depended on it. Passport, contract, visa, work permit, health insurance, all of it was scrutinized by a fairy pretending to be a border agent, as if any of it mattered. As if she were still on earth.

He played his part expertly. A weaker fairy would have faltered. She was too young to drink in her home country, with big brown eyes, wavy brown bangs which had escaped from her high ponytail, and a pretty face with a button nose. She wore a smile like sunshine despite the being exhausted from the travel and shaking from nerves. It took every ounce of restraint for the fairy not to boop her on the nose and give her a big hug.

“All appears to be in order,” he said sternly in an accent she assumed must be local. “Welcome to Tahiti.”

As she walked toward the shuttle bus waiting to take her and the recently arrived guests to the hotel, the camera caught the fake border agents, and a good portion of the other airport staff, stopping to ogle the perfectly proportioned, impossibly pert, and outstandingly round bottom of the final contestant.