Thomas Peterson, a young assistant in a marketing firm

Thomas was late for work again. Running as fast as he could, he barely avoided tripping over some pedestrians as he checked his watch to see if he at least could get to his morning meeting on time. If he kept his current pace, it was doable.

He struggled through the crowd and finally got his sight on the main entrance of the company building, with just a couple minutes to spare. He was sweating profusely and could barely breathe but at least he was confident that he would make it.

As he was about to reach the door, a strange old lady in a colorful dress moved quickly right in front of him with an angry look on her face.

"You!" she shouted angrily.

Thomas stopped dead in his tracks, confused. "Excuse me?"

"You and all your evil colleagues!" She was almost screaming. "Bunch of thieves! Stealing from hardworking people like me!"

Thomas was taken aback, trying to understand what she was talking about and glancing nervously at his watch. Time was ticking, and he was out of it.

"I'm sorry, I don't really…." He mumbled.

"Don't you dare lie to me! You monsters stole my idea! A brilliant new marketing strategy! And now your whole company is using it and taking credit for it!" She started yelling at him.

"I don't even know what you're talking about..." He tried to explain but she wasn't listening.

"And now I get to see it on billboards all over town! My own idea! It's all over the city! And what am I getting out of it? Absolutely nothing! Nothing!" She was screaming now.

"Look, I don't know what Ysight did to you but…." He tried to calm her down, raising his hands as she was about to interrupt him. "...I've been here for less than a month so I have nothing to do with it. Alright?"

The old lady was shaking her head. "You are all alike! A young devil is evil just the same!"

He sighed and tried to move past her but she wouldn't let go. "Look, I'm already late so if you could just..."

"You are going to pay!" She threatened him. "For everything you took from me!"

She lifted her arms and her eyes rolled back in her head. A strange glow began emanating from her hands.

"What are you doing?" Thomas panicked. "Hey, stop!"

"Ideas, they come and go, but yours never will be yours. They will belong to others, who will make them shine so bright. They will take them and claim them, as their very own. And you will be doomed to watch as they slip away from you." She recited in a hypnotic tone.

Thomas felt something odd happening, like a tingling sensation, and he had to struggle to keep himself from passing out. His head was starting to spin.

"What..." He whispered.

She lowered her arms and smiled at him. It was a wicked smile of satisfaction.

"You...are done..." She said with a sneer before turning around and leaving.

He stood there in shock for a moment, trying to process what happened, and then gasped when he realized that the meeting had probably already started.

"Oh shit, oh shit," He mumbled, pushing the door open and running to the elevator.

***

Everyone looked up when the door opened and a panicked and sweaty Thomas came rushing in. He was breathing heavily, his hair was disheveled, and he looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Sorry, I'm late!" He said, looking around for a free seat.

His boss, Mrs. Mays, sighed, irritated. "It's the second time this week, Thomas. I hope it will be the last."

He nodded, sitting down and straightening his tie. He noticed that his hands were shaking slightly.

The small conference room was mostly empty. Morning meetings usually only brought a few people from his department for a quick update about their current projects.

He looked around the table at his coworkers as his boss cleared her throat and loaded a PowerPoint presentation.

Mrs. Mays was well-dressed and in her mid-forties. She was a tall and lean figure, her height accentuated by the high heels she was wearing. She was a stern looking woman, with a sharp gaze. She wore her black hair short, and she kept her makeup to a minimum, except for her lips, which were always painted red. Thomas would have been lying if he said he had never fantasized about her. Authority sells, he thought to himself.

However, she wasn't the most attractive person in the room. That honor belonged to Ms. Bannister, the marketing director. She was a curvaceous brunette in her thirties with large, dark brown eyes, and a warm smile. She was dressed in a tight pencil skirt , revealing her long, toned legs.

Next to her sat Mr. Kline, the executive producer, an older man in his early fifties. He was bald and had a prominent gut, which made his shirt strain to contain it. He was the kind of guy who liked to throw around words like "folksonomy", "skillage" and "uplevel", which gave him the air of a pompous ass.

Then there was Mr. Wattson, an older gentleman who had been with the company since it was founded. He was an intimidating figure, especially for a young guy like Thomas. He was also the vice president of the company, and was the final decision maker in most cases.

Finally, there was Mr. Poe, a young man in his mid-twenties. He was the art director. He was tall and thin, with dark brown hair and a slim mustache. He was wearing a black blazer with a white shirt and a skinny black tie. He was staring at the laptop in front of him and seemed to be paying little attention to anything else.

The mood was tense, as usual, with no one wanting to break the ice.

"Okay, thank you for coming on such short notice," Mrs. Mays said with a **** smile. "Today we are here to discuss the issues of our latest Ysight project, 'Wear Me'. I think you all know the concept."

There were a few nods from around the table.

"We have had some good feedback from our beta testing group, but it seems there is still a lot of confusion among potential customers."

"To be honest..." Ms. Bannister chimed in. "When I first heard about the project, I didn't even understand what it was supposed to be. I think we should focus more on explaining what it is and why people would want to wear it, rather than describing all the different ways it can be used."

"Amen!" Mr. Wattson agreed. "It's all so vague. We need a way to make it clear from the start. Find a catchphrase that says it all!"

Everyone nodded in agreement and Mrs. Mays went on. "Any idea?"

No one said anything.

"How about 'The Clothes Wearing You'" Mr. Kline suggested. "Or maybe 'Wear Me To Be You'."

Ms. Bannister frowned. "I'm not sure I like those. They're too close to the original catchphrase."

Thomas raised his hand. "I have an idea. It's simple, but it might work. How about, 'It Wears You'?

His colleagues remained perfectly silent. As seconds passed, Thomas started to feel a bit awkward. Everyone looked lost in their thoughts and no one seemed intent on acknowledging him.

Suddenly, all his colleagues looked like they just had a revelation. Mouths opened and everyone started talking at once.

"How about 'It Wears You'?!" "Oh, I love it!" "Let's do that!" "Yeah! That's great!"

Thomas frowned, trying to understand what was going on.

"That's what I just said..." He pointed out.

Mr. Kline turned to him and laughed. "Listen. It's perfectly fine if you're not inspired today. No need to try and take credit for other people's ideas. We're all part of a team here."

"But..." Thomas protested.

Mrs. Mays sighed and held up her hand to stop him from arguing further. "Let's be productive today, shall we? We all have a lot to do. Let's move on to the next topic."

As everyone started debating about another project, Thomas pondered what just happened. Any other day and he would have dismissed it as just another example of shitty corporate culture. But after his supernatural interaction with the old crazy woman, he found himself feeling strangely unsettled.

'They will take them and claim them as their very own' she had said. But surely it couldn't be real, could it?

"I have another idea." He exclaimed suddenly, feeling extremely nervous about what he was about to attempt.

Everyone fell silent. Their gaze lost focus. They looked like they were trying to focus on something...internal. Like they were listening to their own inner voices.

He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Everyone in the company should wear... hats... every Friday..."

For a moment nothing happened. They all remained motionless and expressionless, like zombies. But soon, they started shifting in their chairs and once again looked like they suddenly just had the best idea ever.

"I was thinking..." Mr. Kline said, leaning forward. "A lot of companies like to organize fun events for their employees. Why not have a weekly hat-wearing party?"

Mrs. Mays was nodding vigorously. "Oh my god! How improbable! I was thinking exactly the same thing!"

"That's a brilliant idea!" Ms. Bannister exclaimed. "Just the kind of harmless fun a company needs to keep things lively."

"You know, this is perfect," Mr. Wattson added. "This will help us build team spirit, and we can have a contest each week to see who wears the nicest hat!"

Thomas watched them argue excitedly about how to set up the game of dress-up, trying to process what was happening. After a few minutes, everyone finally finished brainstorming hat-related ideas and moved on to the next topic like everything was perfectly normal.

'Did she really curse me?' Thomas wondered to himself. 'How is that even possible?'

If this was real, he realized, then it meant that people would always steal his ideas and believe, or at least act like they came up with them. And because of that, he would seemingly lose any chance of being recognized as a talented designer. Everyone would forever see him as an uninspired copycat.

He spent the rest of the meeting in a state of shock, barely paying attention to the discussions and debates and left without a word as soon as it ended.

Back in his cubicle, Thomas sat behind his desk and stared out the window. A storm was brewing outside. He could hear the thunder getting closer. He tried to get back into his work, but found he couldn't concentrate. His mind was spinning.

I'm cursed... He thought to himself. This whole situation is fucking absurd.

"Thomas?" Ms. Bannister asked from across the room.

He turned and saw her standing there, arms crossed.

"Yes?" He replied nervously.

"Could you go grab me some tacos from that place on the corner?" She said with a grin. "Same place as last week."

Thomas frowned. Since he started working at the company, she had regularly tasked him with running errands and doing odd tasks for her. Sure, he was her assistant, but there was nothing in the job description that stated he needed to perform these kinds of duties and he was getting pretty annoyed with it.

Why can't she do it herself? he wondered with annoyance.

Suddenly, an idea popped in his head.

"Here's an idea, Ms. Bannister." He said, his hands shaking. "You should go there yourself and buy ME lunch."

After a moment of silence she opened her eyes wide and exclaimed "You know what? How about I go there myself and bring you some lunch?"

"That sounds great..." He replied, trying to hide his excitement.

"I know!" She added with a bright smile. "I don't know why I haven't done this before! You've been so nice and helpful! It's only fair!"

"Well then..." Thomas mumbled. "Could you get me two orders of tacos with extra guacamole? Oh, and a coke."

She clapped her hands together in delight. "Of course!"

And with that, she was gone and Thomas suddenly realized that this curse was maybe just a blessing in disguise.