While Alex was wrapping his head around his mother's infidelities, Debbie remained subject to the job interview from Hell.
Riley sat behind Lincoln Ambrose's massive, ornate desk, keeping notes as he grilled them. Mark remained as cool as a cucumber, choosing when to answer, and when to remain silent. Debbie tried to follow his example, but Mark seemed to have a pattern to how he answered. Riley regularly switched between "interviewing" the two of them randomly. At the moment, he was grilling Mark.
"How long," Riley asked, not looking up from the clipboard, "have you been conspiring to leave the employ of Lincoln Ambrose and Riley Naysmith?" He had his feet up on the desk, and was pointing the pen in Mark's direction.
"I've had my doubts for some time," Mark said. "I never acted on them."
"And why did you become a spy in the first place?" Riley asked, briefly gracing him with a glance.
"I wanted to be valuable to society," said Mark. "Becoming a spy seemed as good a way as any to achieve that goal."
Riley huffed dismissively. "It's always the good guy fantasies that get you caught."
Mark shrugged, then looked over at Debbie. He gave her a reassuring nod. Debbie hoped that they would be okay.
"This is taking too long," Riley declared, slamming the clipboard onto the desk. "I'm calling in some reinforcements." He stood up and marched out of the office, slamming the door behind him and leaving the two of them alone.
*****
"This is hopeless!" Riley declared. He leaned back against the door, facing out into the hallway. A motivational poster of a cat hanging from a tree branch had been hung. Riley glared at the poster. He had never cared much for anything motivational. Still, he felt like the cat. He was barely hanging on. Lincoln had given Riley one task, and one task only, and that was to break Mark and Debbie. He had come close a couple of times with Mark, but the spy remained just as resolute as if he was having a casual chat instead of a kidnapping victim.
Next to the picture, his faithful assistant, Todrick "Todd" Dangles leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and a sly smile on his face. There was also a giant snake plant in a blue planter with the Enrichment logo engraved on it.
"Are the captives giving you a hard time?" Todrick asked, his smile never fading.
"I think they're in cahoots," Riley said, moing away from the door and pacing furiously up and down the length of the hallway. "They're answering the questions I'm asking, but I am getting absolutely nowhere with either of them. This is madness. Madness, I tell you!" He stopped and turned on his heel to face Todrick. "What are you smiling at?"
Todrick's smile had only grown broader. "Your idea of the job interview from hell was amusing to begin with," he said. "But I think that they might need a little bit more encouragement."
"Amusing?" Riley spat, feeling offended. "It was genius! Lincoln told us that we needed to be smarter, more innovative, when it came to extracting information from the people we kidnapped." He paused. "And we've been doing a lot of kidnapping lately."
Todrick nodded thoughtfully, then scratched his cheek under his eyepatch. Riley grimaced, remembering how his cat had been the one to take Todrick's eye.
"The interview from hell was a solid idea," Todrick said , putting his hands in his pockets and stepping away from the wall, "but it does need a little more give." He paused and pursed his lips, then turned to Riley. "Did you play on Mark being single? And Debbie's breakup with Alex?"
"Yes to the first," Riley said, suddenly feeling alert. "But the second? No, that didn't even occur to me! How could I have been so blind?" He smacked himself on the forehead. "Why, Dangles, that is absolutely genius!"
Todrick Dangles smiled and puffed out his chest. "Would you say," he said, inclining his head toward Riley, "that it's my turn to interview our two captives?"
Riley rubbed his hands together and smiled. "Go for it!"
*****
As Riley and Dangles were discussing how best to break their captives, Mark and Debbie were getting to know each other a little bit better.
"Well," Mark said, "this is a nightmare."
"You're telling me," Debbie said, throwing her head back and groaning. "This is, what, my third or fourth time being kidnapped? And this time it's not because I'm with Alex!"
Mark chuckled. Debbie probably should have reprimanded him, but it felt good to hear somebody laugh. She joined in, her entire body shaking with laughter. It felt even better to actually laugh at the absurdity of the situation they found themselves in.
"I really wasn't expecting any of this when I took Lincoln's offer," Debbie said, shaking her head. Tears of laughter streamed down her face. "Job description: be kidnapped and undergo the job interview from Hell."
"Duties include," Mark continued, "screaming, and having to contend with Riley Naysmith."
That sent them into another burst of laughter, which ended abruptly when the office door slammed open. They both went silent, and Debbie felt a chill in the air as a man with an eyepatch rounded on them. He stood in front of the desk, his hands behind his back. He regarded them with his one good eye, then turned around and picked up the clipboard.
He spent several long minutes reading it before returning his attention to the two captives.
"I see your interrogation is going well," he said in a silky-smooth voice. "My name is Todd Dangles, and I will be conducting the rest of your interrogation. Buckle up, it's going to get rather bumpy."
Beside her, Mark stiffened as Todd Dangles turned to him. Todd tossed the clipboard to one side, an evil smirk pulling at his lips. He spent a few minutes watching them. Debbie felt like she was being assessed, like a farm animal going up for sale. She felt uncomfortable under the weight of Todd's stare.
"I like to go off-book," said Todd, bending at the waist so he came to eye level with Mark. "Improvise. Have a little fun. That sort of thing. Do you understand?"
"I'm not sure I do." Mark grimaced.
"Let's go for a few test rounds," Todd said, standing up and cracking his knuckles. "Play a little game to warm up. I'll start. Mark, are you happy?"
Debbie's head snapped up. What sort of an interrogation question was that? She turned to Mark, watching him to see how he would respond.
"I guess I am," Mark said with an uncertain voice. "Right now? I'm very stressed and would like to go home."
Todd Dangles smirked. "I thought you wanted to be valuable to society."
Mark's face paled as his own words came back to haunt him. It was then that Debbie knew that this was no ordinary interrogation. Riley and Lincoln had opted for full-on psychological warfare against the two of them, and she was watching Mark be beaten at his own game.
"It's a shame, really," Todd continued. "People who are truly happy don't need to find value. They simply provide value to the people in their lives. They might know a lot about a particular subject and contribute through their knowledge. Others might have broad circles and provide value through their participation in society." It was then that Todd chose to make eye contact with Mark, who was trying his hardest to look away.
Debbie's heart went out to Mark. He was shaking in his seat as the interrogation took a turn for the worst.
"Oh, but it's rather sad, isn't it?" Todd continued, pacing around Mark. "Spying is a rather lonely profession. It must be so lonely knowing so much about other people, but nobody knows anything about you. But it's okay, Mark, I know you're lonely."
With that, Mark broke. He went limp in his chair and stared at the floor.
Todd then turned his attention to Debbie. He took his time getting around to her, sauntering over to sit on the desk that faced her chair. She looked up at him. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she was ready for whatever he chose to throw at her.
"Riley says that getting information from you," he said, "is like getting blood from a stone. Well, I'm happy to make you bleed." He lashed a toothy grin at her. "I wonder, where can I poke that will cause the most amount of damage?"
His prying eyes swept over her as he took his time.
"I know," he said suddenly. "Just like our friend Mark, you want to be valued. Not by society, no, you're too good for that. A man. Oh honey, there's always a man. A man who took advantage of your kindness."
Oh no, Debbie thought. She knew where this was going, and the wound of the breakup was too fresh to be poked at.
"You're a smart woman, yes," Todd said, making eye contact with her. "But not smart enough to realize when you're being played for the fool. You're good, too, so blazingly good that you didn't realize your best friend was also in love with your boyfriend."
Debbie wanted to scream, but her throat closed up and her eyes welled with tears. It felt like someone was stabbing her in the chest. It was going to be so much harder to stay strong than she realized.
Just as Todd was about to speak, the door to the office opened. Debbie couldn't turn around to see who it was, but from the look on Todd's face, it was someone important.
"What are you doing in my office?" said Lincoln. He walked around them, coming to stand behind his desk. He was holding a manila envelope in one hand.
"Mr. Ambrose!" Todd said, breaking his interrogation persona. "I didn't realize.
Lincoln glared, and Todd stopped talking.
Lincoln found and picked up the clipboard. He glanced over it briefly, then looked at Todd with disbelief. "What is this?"
"A clipboard," Todd said, stuttering. "We thought-"
"It's stupid," Lincoln said, dumping the clipboard in the trash. "Get out of my office. You and Riley are both idiots. No idea how to run a proper interrogation."
"Yes, sir!" Todd said, scampering out of the office. As the door closed behind him, the room went quiet.
"That takes care of that," Lincoln said dismissively. He looked between Mark and Debbie, as if trying to figure out why they were there.
"Is now a good time to submit my resignation?" Mark asked in a weak voice.
That brought a smile to Lincoln's face. He held up the manila envelope.
"Resignation accepted," he said. "Your services are no longer required."