Would you Swallow all your Pride?

Chapter One: Purple.

'Dear Ms. Venable,

It has come to our attention here at Billie Dean Howard & Co. that you might be interested in a position we have open. After getting in touch with some of our sources, we have read your resume and, to be frank, Ms. Howard herself has gotten pretty impressed with it.

Given the reaction from Ms. Howard, we'd like to offer you a position as our Human Resources Executive. This is unusual circumstances for us, as we're a serious company with a high number of offers for every single position that eventually opens up, so do not take it lightly. No interview or test will be needed if you choose to accept our offer, our contract can be flexible and we offer you a number of benefits such as any healthcare plan of your choice, unlimited numbers of sick days, a month of paid vacations per year, paid Holidays and more. Our offer consists of $150/h, with six hours of work per day, Monday-Friday.

If interested, please respond to this e-mail as soon as possible. We'll schedule you a meeting with our staff at a time that works best for you.

Again, do not take this offer lightly. Ms. Howard is not the type of woman who makes business that easily.

Regards, Billie Dean Howard & Co.'

It had been a little less than a month since Wilhemina decided to quit her position at Kineros Robotics. Working for two idiots could only last so long before it started affecting you, and ten years seemed to be Venable's limit. How could two grown men have absolutely no brains, she wondered. Were Jeff and Mutt that stupid ever since day one or did the absurd amount of cocaine they snorted throughout the years melt their neurons? Wilhemina was positive it was the later one. It didn't really matter, now; she was done with Kineros.

Searching for a new job was proving itself to be quite the task. Wilhemina's education and resume were one to intimidate anyone starting a career in Human Resources, and she carried it with pride. Still, no place offered a position good enough for her qualifications, and Venable was definitely not looking for a job worse than the one she had just gotten off of, be it financially or anything else.

The offer from Billie Dean Howard & Co. was a nice surprise. Brown eyes scanned the letters, reading quietly as her fiery eyebrows drew close together. Billie Dean Howard & Co. That name didn't really ring many bells on her head, but it wasn't completely unfamiliar, either. She just couldn't point a face to it. With her purple laptop on the table and sitting comfortably on a chair, Venable hummed to herself. She hadn't reached for said company, and her e-mail address wasn't really public. Wilhemina liked being a private person; she had no social media besides what was needed for work, no selfies published out there and absolutely no tweets or Facebook posts about her life for anyone to see. That made no sense to her. Why the Hell would Wilhemina want to share her life with strangers on the internet? Why the Hell would anyone want to share their life online? Wilhemina didn't get it. Switching tabs, she typed the company's name on Google and searched for it. Even though the offer was good—$50 dollars more per hour than what she had been previously making—Wilhemina wasn't going to make any rushed decisions. Money was not an issue for her, and what truly caught her attention was the healthcare offer. It was no secret to anyone who happened to see Venable that she wasn't in the best shape someone could be; she leaned over a cane most of the time, and even though she was financially stable, being mindful of the future never hurt anyone.

The face that popped on the screen brought light to Wilhemina, as well as the title that accompanied it: Billie Dean Howard, Medium to the Stars. A chuckle left Venable's lips. She had seen Billie Dean's work—if she could even call it that way—a couple of times, mostly when she was mindlessly browsing through the channels in her TV at many of her lazy Sunday afternoons. Wilhemina eyed the naked cat that lay on her lap; its dark eyes looked right up at her. "A medium. Can you believe it, Purpura?" She chuckled again, free hand reaching to caress the cat's furless ears. The sweet buzzing sound of affection filled the quiet living room, bringing a small smile to Wilhemina's lips. Did people really believe that bullshit? Wilhemina thought it was pathetic, how someone desperate and grieving could be so easily manipulated. She looked back at the screen in front of her, scrolling further down the page. More and more articles showed up, from Billie Dean's accomplishments in her career, to her 'scandals' and to pictures of her in various events. Wilhemina wasn't interested in any of that. She wanted to know more about the company, but apparently no gossip website was interested in talking about something actually productive. Pushing her glasses up on her nose, Venable got back to her e-mails. She bit her lower lip, pondering her options: Working for a fraud could be considered foul, but she had been working for two morons for the past ten years, and while they weren't necessarily hurting anyone, they weren't doing any good, either. Besides, it wasn't Venable's fault that people decided to be so damn stupid and believe a random woman could talk to their dead relatives.