An overly chipper telemarketer discovers, to her surprise and dismay, that she’s clucking up a storm.
You got it @hypnotransform !
Nell Olsen sat in her cubicle and felt the warmth of her ramen cup conduct itself into her right palm. The chair she sat in squeaked when it was moved in just the right direction but for the life of her she could never figure out which one it was, somehow it actually made talking to these people more enjoyable. She thought of it as a kind of game, this was truly brainless work and she just read a script trying to sell gullible people junk but whenever she produced a squeak she gave herself an internal high five. The clock in her little work universe read 11:56 AM and she had timed it just so that her cup of savory noddles would be ready when lunch finally happened. Most people around her had been beaten down the monotony of the work but Nell actually found it fairly agreeable, most of the people either hung up right away or let her go through the script. There were the angry ones though but that was a rare occurrence and it actually kinda made her laugh, she would often make up stories in her head about why the people were so angry. They got more elaborate the angrier the client was, she should be a writer or something.
The clock turned to twelve just as she finished up with another sale, timed perfectly. This job really went like clockwork if you were as good as she was. She plucked the headset from her scalp and ran her fingers over the shallow indentations the cheap plastic left behind. She brought the delicious cup of savory goodness up to her face and drank down a mouthful of the warm soup, still hot enough for the mist to travel up and warm her face. Half the noddles were in her mouth when her workplace nemesis strolled by and rested her arm on her cubicle wall. Karla Nash might’ve been her ‘nemesis’ at work but that was only because this place gave out a weekly bonus for the top salesperson, it was only a hundred bucks but money is great motivation. Other than that they were fairly close, for workmates at least. A few weeks ago even Karla had lent Nell a really great relaxation CD. It was great to listen to during her yoga and even while she was just lazing about reading and such. It was kinda like one of those white noise things but it was just doing wonders for her.
“Hey Nelly, made any good sales today?” Karla asked, her bright red lips were drawn in an uncharacteristic grin. Her crimped red hair fell to just above her neckline and tickled her throat. She wore an outfit that seemed more suited for a scandal than a closed office, her skirt just a little too short and her blouse just a little too tight. Nell was not lagging behind either and her own blouse had perhaps one button more than was appropriate undone, letting her sizable breasts breath and entertain any that looked her way. Her blonde locks were tightly secured in a bun that perched atop her head. She still had a noodle in her mouth but she swallowed the rest and felt them slide down her throat, her tongue glided across her pink lips hoping to catch any remnants of flavor. “I’ve had a few, how about you?” Nell said.
“I hate when you rhyme,” Karla said in a playful tone, “Not yet, they just don’t seem to be biting right now. Course if they could see me I think I’d be raking in the cash, don’t you?” Nell couldn’t deny the truth of those words, Karla was damn sexy and it was a shame she was stuck in a cubicle all day.
“Well if you did that there wouldn’t be anything for the rest of us. So you think you’ll manage to take this weeks bonus from me? It has to happen at some point right?”
“I don’t know, I think I might just start having some luck come my way. How has the relaxation CD been going? You’re listening to it every night right?”
“Oh yeah! It’s awesome, I have been sleeping like a baby. I’m even listening in the car.”
“I’m happy to hear that. Well I better get back over to my little corner,” Karla turns her copious can to Nell but stops halfway out of the cubicle, “would you get a load of those three,” Nell looked to where she pointed and saw the lazy trio by the water cooler, three older women in the office that nobody really had an interest talking with anymore served as the office rumor mill. “Yup,” Nell said, “clucking like hens already.”
Karla reacted to Nell’s comment with a raised eyebrow, it wasn’t a common saying and it was the only thing Nell had as a remnant of her growing up in Arkansas. Ordinarily, Karla would jump on her for such a folksy saying but today she just smiled and sauntered away. She didn’t even let Nell say goodbye, but Karla was always a bit on the abrupt side. Nell didn’t hold it against her and pushed her chair back in front of her monitor and the never-ending list of names they had to call. As she moved she was rewarded with a nice long squeak from the chair, she giggled but instead of the light tones that she usually produced she heard a low almost growling sound. Her brow knitted in confusion, why did that happen? She shook her head and cleared her throat, placing the plastic headset on and readied herself for another round of commissions to pad her check this week.The list she was given could be divided up based on whether they had bought before or their age, economic class, etc., it was kinda weird that they knew all that stuff but Nell liked having her calls be a surprise. She typed in the first one, a woman named Charlotte, and waited. For a moment it seemed like the phone rang too many times but just before Nell disconnected she heard a weak “Hello?” come from the other end, it sounded like an old woman, she was probably still using a landline. They actually had different scripts for the elderly and she knew it by heart, she straightened her back and spoke confidently into the receiver, “Brrrk, bwok bwok bwaak!”
Nell was frozen in her chair, her absentminded game of make the chair squeak forgotten as her eyes widened and her cheeks turned crimson at the realization of what she had said to a client. “Pardon me? What did you say?” the old woman said sounding as confused as Nell was. Nell gave herself a little smack to her cheek, hoping to wake her from whatever daydream had addled her. ‘I’m sorry ma’am, I meant to ask if your current insurance was meeting your needs?’ Nell thought, but what came out instead was “Bwaock! Bwok bwok bwok bwaaack?” Nell’s face was way past crimson as she tried to communicate her apology to the woman only for it to come out of her in the form of clucks and bwoks. The co-workers that surrounded her couldn’t help but overhear the cacophony of clucking coming from the foremost sales person in the office. Finally, Nell could come up with no better solution than to clamp her hands around her mouth, her forehead was dotted with beads of nervous sweat and her eyes trembled in their sockets looking for a reason for this lunacy.
She had been stressed lately, she moved into a new apartment and she was single so it must be some kind of stress response, that had to be it. He hands still held her mouth closed as she shut her eyes and did her best to calm her rilled nerves. Her workmates stopped staring and went to their own call lists, thinking the strange occurrence nothing more than a prank. Nell spent nearly an hour in her space, silent and focusing her mind on a single point, letting calm feelings overtake her. Her hands returned to her side and her jaw relaxed into a smile. She was centered again, she tapped her headset and bought up the next caller. A man answered the phone in a gravelly voice “Who is this?” and Nell took a calm breath and said “Bock bock, bwak bwaaak!” Even before the man could respond she grabbed the headset and tore it off throwing down onto her desk. She held her head in her hands and interlaced her fingers through her hair, a low grumbled sound was coming from her that she didn’t bother to stop.
She didn’t know what was going on, she must be going crazy, she thought. She had to leave, if her boss found out she was clucking at callers he would fire her on the spot. As discreetly as she could she grabbed her small purse and hung her head low as she walked hoping to avoid more conversations. She managed to make it to reception without drawing attention but she had to tell someone she was leaving. “Hey, Nelly, where ya going?” Rick asked. He was a stout man with balding salt and pepper hair that served as the nerve center of the office. Nell needed to think of her feet and her fingers nervously taped on her wrist. She saw a notepad on his desk and rejoiced, she quickly scribbled down a note, claiming she lost her voice and needed to go home, and handed it to Rick. “Well that blows, I hope you feel better. I’ll let the boss know so just head on home,” Rick said and Nell breathed in relief, she was halfway out the door when he called out “Hope to see you tomorrow!” to which she unconsciously replied “Bwok bwok!” (You too!). Karla watched the whole event with barely restrained glee, she just hung up after a fourth successful sale and leaned back in her chair stretching her arms above her head, testing the strength of the buttons on her blouse. She chuckled to herself, “I love hypnosis, I can’t wait till she finds out what else it can do.”
The end. I’m back! Hope Y'all like it!
