My Co-Worker is an Elf Girl?! (#thewattys2024)

Chapter 13 - Who Are All These People Anyway?

HOKIEN MEDIA AUDITORIUM - MORNING

Sam turns around.  She sees an attractive yuppie woman you can pull off the street from any large metropolitan area. Said yuppie has two others with her.

CLAIRE: "We've got a full Ivy University party of four now!"

IVY STUDENT #1: "You know her, Claire?"

CLAIRE: "She was in our 7:30 AM Branding lecture, don't you remember?"

Samara's gloom leaves her for a good second.

SAMARA: "Woah! It's been so long! I didn't know you guys were into fantasy games."

Claire and the others get defensive.

CLAIRE: "Ugh no! I maybe played a few during middle school, but I completely outgrew them."

IVY STUDENT #1: "I play on and off... I prefer shooters!"

IVY STUDENT #2: "I'm just here to get this company on my resume for a year, and then I'll be bouncing!"

Samara's good second without gloom ends.

CLAIRE: "Listen, I think we have a solid group of overachievers to win this competition."

Claire gestures at Ivy Student #2.

CLAIRE: "Mark here has an older brother who won last year's competition. Keep it on the down low, but we're gonna get some insider advice."

Claire points at Ivy Student #1.

CLAIRE: "Jeff here has been on 8 student film sets the past year and is owed enough favors to assemble a crew."

JEFF: "Yeah, we've got the Creative section of the competition in the bag!"

CLAIRE: "...and with you, the job offers are as good as ours!"

MARK: "I can pretty much taste the mimosas at Hokien's manor already!"

Samara perks up at the mention of the legendary author.

SAMARA: "Oh heck yeah! I'm in!"

Claire pulls out her phone.

CLAIRE: "Awesome! We can email HR our team roster, and then we can start demoing the game we're supposed to market!"

SAMARA: "Oh, before we do, what are your thoughts on bringing one more person?"

Sam points at the lonesome Remy, whose mood has not improved since the start of their conversation.

MARK: "I dunno, we might get penalized for having a fifth member...."

CLAIRE: "Don't tell me you feel sorry for her, Sam."

JEFF: "She asked if she could actually be in our group earlier."

CLAIRE: "When she first strolled into the HR office in that get-up, I was genuinely worried that she was so determined to get this job that she decided to put on a whole bit."