At this moment, Roland couldn’t help but feel that his life had become a cosmic joke and that somewhere out in the vastness of a higher dimension, someone or something was laughing at him. It has to be because if it weren’t happening to him, he would be laughing too, but since it was in fact happening to him, he could not find it in himself to feel mirthful.

And what is this situation that has him in such a state?

Well, let’s set the scene.

Over a month ago, he and his friends decided to kick off their post-university graduation celebration by going to a nightclub. Said nightclub happens to also cater to the interdimensional monster girl crowd, and all things considered, things went pretty well. Roland would even go so far as to say that things went absolutely spectacular because he met the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen and the two hit it off. The night ended with the two of them going to a hotel and doing the horizontal tango.

Halfway through, some stuff happened. She turned out to be a vampire, bit him, and they proceeded to fuck more vigorously all night. Initially, this freaked him out, but after some time and thorough research on the effects of mamono vampire bites on humans, he eventually got over it.

Roland didn’t expect anything from that encounter, despite the reputation Mamono have cultivated for their, let’s say, quirkiness when it comes to relationships and how they choose (and keep) partners. He knew that not every Mamono encounter ends with a guy getting hitched. Mamono are capable of having casual sexual encounters. He didn’t think it was a casual encounter considering she gave him money, her number, and the panties she wore that night as rewards for his performance.

For the first time in a long time, Roland felt true indecisiveness because he had no idea what he should do with that number. As great as the sex was, Roland wasn’t exactly looking for a relationship, and even worse, he felt a little, well, a lot of apprehension about entering a relationship with a vampire. Not to be that guy, but he imagined his girlfriend to be on the ‘normal’ spectrum. So in the end, he ended up storing the number (but not on his phone) and kind of leaving it to eventually be forgotten.

It helped that he had an interview for a job for which he ended up not getting along with literally all of his prospects and then some, mostly in part due to the influx of Mamono entering the workforce. Roland ended up forgetting all about Maddie as he threw himself into finding a job.

At some point, Roland pretty much accepted that they would never meet again and that the encounter (and subsequent romp) with the beautiful and enigmatic ‘Maddie’ would forever be preserved in his mind as one of the highlights of his young adult life.

Except that wasn’t to be, because he did end up meeting the woman again; in fact, she’s literally sitting in front of him behind a desk. As if he wasn’t already apprehensive about another possible encounter with her, she had to show up in the absolute worst circumstance.

It turns out that his latest job interview he had today, the interview for the position of assistant to the CEO of a tech startup company called Valentina Inc., was being handled by none other than Maddie herself.

‘Not Maddie,’ he reminded himself.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, ‘Maddie’ wasn’t her real name; it’s actually Madelyn... Madelyn Valentina, the CEO of Valentina Inc., and his potential future boss. He used potential here because Roland really wasn’t sure if he was going to get the job now. Well, he wasn’t sure before he found out he had a one-night stand with his would-be boss and essentially ghosted her afterwards.

Was she angry?

Did he do the right thing?

Should he get the fuck out of there?

‘What the hell am I thinking?’ He internally berated himself.

He’s thinking because he had a one-night stand with his potential new boss and ghosted her, so there might be some hard feelings. She hasn’t said a word or even acknowledged his presence aside from her initial greeting and subsequent command for him to have a seat.

The question Roland found himself asking was, ‘how desperate am I?’

The answer is very desperate at this point. He could make rent for another month, but with his friends goodwill drying up, he might have to move back in with his parents if things kept spiraling the way they are, and that cannot be allowed to happen. At the same time, was he willing to go through the drama and awkwardness brought on by his decisions?

‘If I even get the damn job at this point’ he grumbled internally, ‘maybe I should just call this thing off and leave.’

Before he could talk himself into taking this course of action however, Madelyn finally finished whatever she was doing and began the interview in earnest. If not for their previous encounter, he wouldn’t think there was anything wrong or untoward about this whole setup. During the interviewing process, Madelyn was the perfect visage of calm professionalism, while he was frankly a mess. It’s not as if they teach students how best to approach a situation where your interviewer is someone you had a one-night stand with. Truly, Roland found it hard to even concentrate as Madelyn’s very presence seemed to rouse the memories of their affair.

All that preparation and experience, yet it felt like he was bombing harder than a Brendan Schaub comedy standup. That’s an exaggeration, and it’s not as if he’s a stuttering mess breaking out into a cold sweat or anything. Thankfully as the interview went on things became better as he allocated more brain power towards answering the questions. Eventually, the questions stopped a few minutes ago, plunging the room into silence as Madelyn ruminated.

After a long moment, Madelyn spoke: "I will be honest with you, Mr. Wayne; I think you are more than qualified for the job."

“Oh-ahem” he cleared his throat "I mean, thank you?"

Madelyn raised a delicate eyebrow and said, "You don’t sound very enthused."

"I… I apologize, ma’am; I have a lot on my mind," he answered out, only to freeze at the smirk tugging at her lips.

"I can imagine," Madelyn began, setting some papers aside to interlace her fingers together on her desk, "would it have anything to do with our shared night together?"

Roland’s eyes widened as his mouth dropped at the audacity.

"…"

In the interim, Madelyn kept her expectant look, meaning that she wasn’t about to let it go. So what choice did he have but to answer, and he chose to do so truthfully?

"A little," he muttered.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, Roland?"

This time he didn’t hesitate to say "yes."

“Unfortunately, this is something you will have to get used to, being my assistant and all."

Basically, she’s telling him to get over himself.

"Right, I understand."

Madelyn hummed for a moment as she regarded him. "Starting today, you will be the first human employee of Valentina Inc."

“Oh," he said, not knowing how to feel about that.

“Originally, I intended for this company to be owned and operated by Mamono for Mamono” she continued.

"Really?" he stated, feeling his suspicion grow just a little as he recalled Loraine’s reaction to his appearance. "Then why reach out and hire me?"

"Honestly?" Madelyn began, “part of it is PR, diversity quotas, and the usual corporate drivel." She waved a dismissive hand and said, "I’m sure you know how it is."

As a matter of fact, he did, but he didn’t believe that was all there was to it.

“Mostly, however, I found myself in need of a more skilled hand to handle the more technical aspects of this company," Madelyn continued, "for as much as I and other mamono are lucky enough to partake in learning programs, we are still a bit set in our ways when it comes to modern earth technology and business practices."

‘Okay, that makes sense,’ and it also lends credence to why she would specifically need a human assistant in the first place.

Not to toot his own horn, but his resume was impressive because he excelled and the outline demands of the job were very much worth the salary.

"Okay, I understand."

"I am glad; now are there any other questions?"

"Is that why there isn’t much information online about the company?"

"Obfuscating information is a deliberate choice on my part," she informed. "I’d rather not dissuade qualified individuals, but I don't want to attract ne'er-do-wells. I am running a business, not a fetish brothel, as some would have you believe."

Roland couldn’t help but cringe. Yeah, with Mamono having the kind of reputation they did, he could imagine some people signing on just to have an opportunity for sexual harassment in the workplace. As for dissuading qualified people, there are definitely those out there who wouldn’t be interested in working for a company created by Mamono for Mamono, for various reasons.

"Now onto other matters." Suddenly, Madelyn got up out of her chair, walked around to the other side of the desk, and sat herself on top of it.

‘What is she doing?’ Roland thought, as the woman was now sitting two feet in front of him in an elevated position.

Madelyn then crossed one leg over the other, causing her pencil skirt, which was already on the shorter side, to ride up, revealing the garters holding up her stocking and her creamy thighs. Madelyn said nothing as she pinned him with a neutral expression. Eventually the silence stretched on to the point where he became uncomfortable, leading him to attempt to break it.

"Um…"

Like a switch, the vampire’s eyes turned a bloody red, and the atmosphere became heavier. "When a woman gives you her number, she expects you to call Roland."

"…oh…"

‘Shit.’