The entire office was buzzing with a nervous energy. Two weeks ago word had come down that there would be lay offs. The usual excuses about a slow economy and depressed profits had been given but those were a cold comfort to the people who were now dashing back and forth in a desperate attempt to look like they had something constructive to do.

"So who do you think is going to be fired?" Jake casually asked while pouring coffee into his favorite mug. It had been an anniversary gift from his wife, Rena, and had their wedding picture on it along with the words 'til death'.

"I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Didn't they just promote you from the floor to management?" Ken idly replied. "Regardless there isn't a whole lot anybody can do at this point. We know that's gonna be about ten percent of us cut give or take and I can only imagine the bosses have a pretty good idea what ten percent they intend to cut. There's nothing left but the crying my friend." Ken slapped Jake's shoulder a little harder than two acquaintances ought and walked out of the break room.

Ken was right but it didn't make Jake feel any better. This wasn't a time in his life that he could afford to lose his job. His wife was pregnant with their first child; he'd just moved them out of a shabby downtown apartment and into a nice new house in the suburbs. He was still paying off his student debt loans amongst other debts so the prospect of losing his job had his hands shaking slightly. "Get a hold of yourself." Ken took a deep breath.

"Mr. Staple, Mr. Rahn will see you in his office now." Ken Staple nearly leapt out of his own skin and found Angelina standing uncomfortably close to him.

Angelina always sent chills through Ken's entire body. As insane as it sounded in his head he was sure she wasn't human. She was some kind of alien or a machine, possibly a vampire. She didn't really walk anywhere; she marched with military precision and catlike silence. Angelina always stood intimately close but there was nothing intimate about the way she carried herself. Ken always swore that the air around her was several degrees cooler than anywhere else in the building and her ice blue eyes were always analyzing everything. He'd never once seen her let her hair out of the tight bun on the back of her head or seen her remove her rectangular glasses. She didn't even seem to breathe.

"Did you hear me Mr. Staple? I said Mr. Rahn will see you now." Angelina repeated a little louder this time.

"I heard you." Ken replied trying to keep himself from stammering.

"Good, then follow me." Ken almost told her that he knew where he was going already but instead sat down his mug and fell in behind the petite woman. She was just over five feet tall with a build that was more like an adolescent boy than a fully grown woman. The only true hint of her femininity were her broad hips and the way she couldn't disguise their seductive roll when she strode through the halls. When she reached Mr. Rahn's office she opened the door and stepped out of the way.

Mr. Rahn sat behind his enormous mahogany desk with his hands neatly interlaced on its surface. He was sitting in a leather chair that was better described as a throne than anything else. Everything about the office was specifically designed to make emphasis the masculinity of the man behind the desk and imbue him with an almost supernatural virility. It worked so well that despite Mr. Ian Rahn being an average sort of man by most measures and certainly far from intimidating in his grey suit and orange tie normally behind that desk he was something to be worshipped.

"Good afternoon Mr. Staple. Ms. Deimos would you please close the door?" She consented, shut the door and retreated into a corner of the room. "Mr. Staple, please have a seat. Let us discuss your future here at Sharpe Industries." Mr. Rahn waited until Ken sat down before continuing. The chair Ken was sitting in was set a few inches lower than Rahn's own which only left the two men at eye level with each other. Unlike Rahn's plush leather chair that at times threatened to engulf him, Ken's chair was stiff forcing him to squirm slightly to find a comfortable spot that didn't seem to exist.

There was a long silence between the two men. Ken could feel the older silver haired man considering him from behind the desk. "I assume you're aware of the situation here?" Ken told him that he was. "Then you know we are looking to trim some of the fat around here. Become a leaner meaner company going forward and we only have room for the best and brightest around here. So what is it you do, specifically, that makes you someone I want to keep on my team?"

Ken's mind instantly went blank. He knew that he was a good worker and he'd had an entire speech planned with details proving he was a vital piece of the machinery of Sharpe Industries and not just another replaceable cog. "I've been in charge of several important projects." He had been. The fact that he'd never been able to remember the real names of the projects even when he was on them was a sudden problem. "And-"

"He's quite proficient in a number of areas sir. He's the one who negotiated with Tepestech to complete the integration-" Angelina began rattling off the last few years of Ken's professional history with laser precision. Mr. Rahn was nodded several times occasionally chuckling or motioning for her to continue. "Unfortunately he's not particularly involved with any of his co-workers, is often juggled between multiple projects and ultimately we don't seem to have any long term plans for him. My recommendation is to-" Mr. Rahn raised his hand and Angelina simply shut down and backed away in silence.

"Well Mr. Staple." Mr. Rahn rose to his feet and stepped out from behind his desk. "You heard Ms. Deimos' evaluation of your portfolio. What I'm hearing is that you are a brilliant young man with a lot of promise and unfortunately little in the way of social skills. I like to think of you guys as my second family and I'd like to think you all feel the same way." Mr. Rahn hopped up on the table with a wide grin. Somehow he managed to combine the condescending look of a grandfather with the energetic look of a child.

"Please Mr. Rahn. I need this job I have a wife, a pregnant wife!"

"I didn't know that. That is interesting. Of course I would have known this already if you were more involved with your co-workers." Mr. Rahn said tilting his head slightly. "I just don't think you have a future here. Ms. Deimos will you please show Mr. Rahn to the door?"

"Wait." Ken's entire body went rigid. "I need this job. I can take a pay cut or fewer hours but I need this job. I know things are tight for the company right now but there has to be something I can do."

Mr. Rahn slid down off the desk. "Do you work out Mr. Staple? I've been admiring you for sometime and you look like a man who takes pride in his appearance."

"Yeah. I've been taking advantage of the company gym before I go home." Ken sheepishly answered. "I'm almost down to my high school weight."

"Really?" Mr. Rahn said quirking a brow. "Remove your coat; let's get a look at you." Ken glanced at his boss for a moment certain the older man was joking. When he didn't find even a hint of mirth in Mr. Rahn's expression he removed his jacket, folded it and carefully draped it over the back of the chair. "That is rather impressive. Would you care to remove your shirt?" Ken didn't glance over at his boss this time. He just closed his eyes.

He started by loosening his tie enough to slip it over head and then carefully unbuttoned his shirt hanging it over his coat. Ken had to resist the urge to cross his arms over his chest in an attempt to cover up. He still had on his undershirt and trousers and yet he felt completely naked. It was the first time since he'd graduated from high school that he'd been even this close to undressed in the presence of another man. "Se-e?" He was stammering.

Mr. Rahn walked up behind him pushing the chair out of the way in the process. "Yes I do see. Is there any particular work out you can recommend? The results here seem to be quite impressive." Mr. Rahn commented as he slowly circled around Ken. Ken shook his head unable to come up with complete thoughts while his boss was sizing him up like he was a woman. "He is quite impressive, don't you think Ms. Deimos?"

Ken felt her before he heard her. "Yes, though I'm curious if he is toned all over or just has these impressive arms." He could feel her speaking against his back, not just the warmth of her breath but the vibrations of her voice directly against his spine.

"Would you like me to have him remove the rest of his clothing for a closer inspection?" Mr. Rahn asked.

"Hey, I'm right here and I'm not just some piece of meat for you to inspect!" Ken meant to shout but his voice came out just louder than a whisper. Certainly nothing that would be heard outside the office like he'd intended.

"Is that so? And here I thought you were a desperate man trying to keep his job. I must have made a mistake. You can go." Mr. Rahn stepped away from Ken and started back around his desk. "Mr. Deimos you can show Ken to the door can't you?"

"Yes." She almost sounded disappointed. It was certainly the closest he'd ever sensed to a genuine emotion from the woman.

"Wait. I'll do it." Ken whispered.

"I couldn't hear you. What was that?" Mr. Rahn asked.

"I said I'll do it. I'll strip." Ken croaked just slightly louder. Then he pulled his undershirt up overhead and sat it on the chair. He'd only been frequenting the gym for the last year or so. He wasn't chiseled, just smooth and firm like he'd been in high school. He was actually a little thicker than he'd been then as a member of the track team he'd been incredibly slender but the weights had bulked him up just a bit. Ken had to close his eyes when he unfastened his belt and stepped out of his trousers. Not counting gym class where everybody had been equally terrified of even accidently catching a glimpse of each other's nakedness only a handful of people had ever seen him nude and he'd certainly never been watched with this kind of intentness by a man.

When he finished undressing completely he blushed. It was even harder to resist the urge to cover up now. If it had been just Ms. Deimos he wouldn't have minded, and not just because she was a woman. It was because he'd nearly forgotten she was in the room again until she walked around in front of him. That same feeling that she was an alien or a robot washed over him again as she casually scanned over him. Her analytical gaze was off putting and comforting at once. Ken knew she didn't think of him as piece of meat. She thought of him as some kind of specimen. "He is quite visually pleasing."

Mr. Rahn clapped his hands several times. "Yes he is. He seems eager to keep his job as well. Perhaps we can work something out. It would be a shame to let a man of his caliber go to waste don't you think?"

"It would be a shame." She'd moved even closer than she was last time. Close enough that when she inhaled her crisp jacket brushed against his back.

"Yes, it would be a shame." Ken chimed in focusing his attention on a motivational poster on the wall. Normally he found those posters to be more than a little stupid. Right the quote about what perseverance really was seemed to be truly motivating.

"You're in luck Mr. Staple. It seems there might be a place for you in the company after all and all you have to do is prove that you actually want to be a part of this family." Mr. Rahn sat back down on the desk while he spoke.

"I do want to be a part of this family. More than anything." Ken eagerly said.

Mr. Rahn smiled. "Good. That's the kind of enthusiasm that I like to hear. Well consider this your interview. If I'm impressed by your efforts to be a part of my company then you can stay and if I'm not you'll be shown the door. Have I made myself clear?"

Ken's mind was working a mile a minute. There was no denying that he needed this job but was he really willing to do whatever Mr. Rahn was about to ask of him. Mr. Rahn seemed to be serious and he knew just from the difference in how Mr. Rahn was hungrily staring at him and Ms. Deimos was observing him what he was being offered here. He'd never been with a man in his life. No experimenting in high school or college. He'd never even checked out another man. Was he really willing to do this to keep his job?

His mind darted away from the idea of Mr. Rahn and whatever he had in mind and switched over his wife, Rena. He could already see the look on her face when he had to explain to them that he didn't have a job anymore. They'd be forced to sell the house and probably move in with her parents. His father-in-law would never let him hear the end of what an irresponsible boy it took to bring a child into the world without the means to properly care for it. His mother-in-law would be conspicuously silently about the entire affair even though she was never quiet about anything. Rena would be the same way. She wouldn't be able to bring herself to say how disappointed she was in him or how ashamed she was to be depending on her parents for anything but she wouldn't say anything about it. She'd keep it to herself just like she did everything else that bothered her.

Of course he was willing to do this for his family. There wasn't anything that he wasn't willing to do to keep his family and keep his family happy and together.