Boris opens his eyes and finds himself in a cramped waiting room surrounded by translucent glass walls with a grey carpet, a large round table in the middle, and 6 swivel chairs facing the table.
He's not alone in the room.
A little girl with a red bow sits in the corner with her knees pulled toward her chest and a large balding man wearing an expensive suit sat reclined in a chair at the head of the table staring him down. He had a smug, self-satisfied expression just like the manager at Boris's company.
A gust of wind hit the back of Boris's neck and he turned just in time to see a woman that looked like either a librarian or a secretary.
Her blonde hair was tied securely behind her head in a ponytail. She was wearing large, rimmed glasses and an off-white suit and white shirt while carrying a clipboard.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting," she said. "I'm Fate and I'll be taking you to where you need to go."
The little girl came closer, but the balding man remained seated.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," he said. "I have some questions for you and the first one is where the hell am I?"
Fate looked unperturbed and simply adjusted her glasses while taking a glance at her clipboard.
"Ah!" she said. "You're the one they told me about."
"What have you heard about me?" the balding man asked.
"Enough," Fate replied smugly.
She adjusted her glasses again, snapped her fingers and all four of them were standing in an elevator.
"We will drop you off first, Mr. Bernard," she said before tapping a button with the number '-4' written on it.
The elevator began to descend and the air inside the cabin got hot and humid.
Boris had to slacken his tie and the little girl fanned herself with her hand.
The indicator above the elevator doors went from G to -1 to -2 to -3 and then -4.
When the doors opened a gust of hot air hit them in the face. There was a bad smell as well as distant screams. The hallway beyond them was dimply lit and the few fluorescent tubes that still worked stuttered on and off. The walls were filthy, and the floor was stained with a dried red liquid.
"This is your stop, Mr. Bernard," Fate said.
Boris turned to look at the balding man, but he almost didn't recognize him. The smug smile and self-satisfied expression on his face were replaced by fear. His eyes were bulging, his mouth was open, and he clung to the back of the cabin so tight that his knuckle turned white.
"I'm sorry for being rude to you," he pleaded. "Please just take me back up, I'll do anything."
Fate said nothing and simply stared.
"Is it money that you want? I have a lot of it," he pleaded again. "Just get me away from here."
Fate snapped her fingers again and two men in dark suits and sunglasses had Mr. Bernard by both his arms outside the elevator doors as they began to close.
"Your turn, Lizzy," said Fate.
The little girl's head snapped toward Fate, recognizing that her name had been called.
Fate tapped the button with the number '4' on it and the elevator began to climb. The indicator went from -4 to -3 to -2 to -1 to G to 1 to 2 to 3 and then 4.
As it rose, the temperature of the cabin fell to a more comfortable level.
A small ding alerted the passengers that they had arrived, and the doors slid open revealing a brightly lit hall.
"Go ahead," Fate said.
The little girl refused to move and instead ran behind Boris using him as a shield.
"Your grandmother will be waiting for you," Fate said.
The little girl with the red bow cautiously walked out from behind Boris before rushing out of the elevator but when Boris tried to follow her, Fate grabbed his shoulder.
"Not yet," she said.
"It was worth a shot," Boris replied.
Again, the doors slid shut and Fate pressed the button with the number '7' on it.
The indicator went from 5 to 6 and then 7.
Boris peaked over Fate's shoulder and tried to read what was on her clipboard, but he couldn't recognize the characters that the words were written in. It didn't look like any language he had ever seen.
"Do you want some free advice?" Fate asked without turning to face Boris.
"I'll take whatever you can give me," he replied.
Fate turned around to face him and she looked stern.
"Whatever he offers you first, turn it down," she said. "He'll try again, turn down that offer too. Only after his third offer can you accept."
"What're you talking about?" Boris asked. "What offer?"
"Just trust me," Fate replied before turning back around. "He's a bad negotiator."
On the 6th floor, Boris walked up to a door at the end of the hall. On the door was written 'Joshua, VP Sales'.
Boris tried to knock on the door, but it opened with a loud creak before his knuckles even touched it.
"I should get that fixed," said a smiling older man from inside. "Come in and make yourself comfortable."
Boris cautiously entered and the door slammed shut behind him. The man stood up and towered over Boris, but his white hair, smile, and balding head disarmed him. Joshua went around the table and sat on the edge next to him.
"Are you Joshua?" Boris asked cautiously.
"Guilty as charged," the man said holding his arms up in the air. "I have a job for you."
"Where am I?" Boris asked.
Joshua smiled while leaning forward.
"You already know," Joshua said.
"Heaven?" Boris asked.
"Technically, no," Joshua said. "Heaven isn't just one place. Each person that makes it creates their own heaven based on their fantasies."
"What about me?" Boris asked.
"Good question," Joshua said. "You're what we in this business call a lukewarm."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that you haven't done anything that warrants damnation, but you also haven't really done anything to tip the scales to the holy side."
"So do I go to Hell or Heaven?"
"That's left to me to decide," Joshua said pointing at himself.
"You said something about a job."
"I did. You see, in certain cases, we send people to alternate worlds to achieve specific goals for us," Joshua said. "The problem we currently have is that once they get there, they turn very evil, and it is becoming a real pickle."
"Ok."
"This brings me to my offer," Joshua said. "I want you to consult with the team responsible for creating this world. Maybe what we've been missing is someone who understands human nature."
"Never send an Angel to do a Human's job," Joshua said with a smile.
"What's in it for me?"
"An all-paid ticket to Heaven," Joshua said. "So, are you interested?"
"No, not really,"
Joshua frowned.
"I'm offering you a chance to go to heaven here," he said. "Alright, what if I give you a permanent job as a Saint and assign you to a supervising Angel."
"I refuse."
"You're not an easy one to please. You drive a real hard bargain but that's alright," Joshua said. "I didn't want to offer this but it seems like I don't have a choice."
"If you're successful, I'll give you your own set of wings," he said. "I'll make you an angel."
"Can I ask you a question?" Boris said.
"Shoot."
"Why me?" Boris asked. "You could've picked someone better than me that does charity for starving children in Africa. Why did you choose me?"
"We have a bit of a creativity problem here," Joshua explained. "Most of the really creative people from your version of Earth take tons of cocaine and do all sorts of weird stuff that I couldn't even describe if I wanted to. That all lands them deep in the basement levels. 99% of writers, composers, or even movie directors will never make it up here."
"99% seems too high, what about- "
"Him too."
"I always wondered about him," Boris said. "What makes you so sure that I can pull it off?"
"We're angels, we have access to everything," Joshua said. "We know about the novel you write in your spare time. I showed it to God himself, and he loved it so much that he approved this plan. You have some real talent. It's a shame that you never did anything with it."
After a few moments, Boris finally said, "We have a deal then."
"Good!" Joshua said excitedly while leaping up from the table to clasp Boris's hands between his.
"This is a momentous occasion," Joshua said. "From this day forth, you will help us create new worlds in exchange for becoming one of us and if you fail, you earn damnation for all eternity."
"Hold on a minute, I never agreed to that," Boris said.
"This is what we in the business like to call a carrot and a stick situation," Joshua said. "The better the carrot, the bigger we must make the stick. Those are the rules."
Before he could protest even more, Joshua snapped his fingers, and he was in the elevator with Fate once again.
"What did he offer you?" she asked.
"I have to help them create a good enough world or I go to Hell forever," he said.
"It must be starting then."
"What must be starting?" Boris asked.
"We can't speak here, anyone could be listening," Fate replied. "Just do the best you can and try not to get sent to hell."
"That was my plan all along."