General

"I'd rather they said 'slave' than employee, it would be more honest. If we aren't freely cooperating, if it's coercion, then that's the reality. If you want to see the truth of any system imagine money doesn't exist - then you see the movement of labour and goods from poor to rich. That's slavery." Tom turned his face to the window as if inspiration might come, as if some choir of angels might descend with a solution to release him from these long days away from his baby.

General

Benji was my perfect employee but I'd sooner shoot him than leave him in charge of my kids. In the boardroom he was the finest diplomat I've ever seen. He put everyone at ease, drew them into liking him and wanting him to like them, before delivering the critical thing he needed them to sign off on. He got everything we wanted as a company, everything we needed. He got the sweetest deals, taking over our competitors for a song while they grinned and hung on his words. Once the ink was dry and we had the assets, all the promises he made died on the wind. An honest man would feel bad, they'd be terrible at his job, but he loved it. It was a thrill for him to turn them over while they gushed about what a great guy he was. He did the same to his women; no-one was indispensable to him and everyone in his life fulfilled a purpose. In the twenty years he worked for me I never saw a genuine emotion other than greed. I pitied him more than our "victims," other people were simply pawns to him...

By Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari, January 24, 2015*.