$10,000 was more than enough to pay for the monthly rent. In fact, it would enable her to move into a decent home and allow her to go back to college. It seemed like a dream come true, to just stay at home for a week, with a random stranger to earn ten thousand dollars. Eagerly, calling the number allotted on the ad, Juliet was instructed to pack her things and catch a flight that was paid for the company. On the way there, she was thinking about all the ways she was going to spend the money.
We can move into a better apartment, Abuela could probably move in with us, I can quit my job and I can go to college. It seemed like life was finally starting to look up for her. When arriving, she saw many other people signing up for the opportunity as well. Juliet wondered who would be her roommate.
A man and woman both wearing matching grey suits stepped up to the group that was participating in the job offer. "Welcome to the Research Center," the woman said, "I assume all of you are participating in the offer." Everyone in the crowd nodded in agreement as they all looked at her. The man stepped forward and said "please choose a partner of the same gender that you never met before. If there is anyone without a partner then come to us." Every man and woman started to pair up and the only ones that didn't have one are PD and Juliet. PD walked up to the man and woman since he needed a partner.
Juliet looked around. Everyone seemed to have a partner of their own gender except for Juliet and one other man, confused on what she should do next, she walked up to the couple.
The two looked at PD and Juliet and then at each other. They debated for a bit on what they should do to them and came to the agreement that Juliet and PD will be partners in the experiment. Everyone who was participating had their phone and other electronics confiscated so the experiment can work properly. As every partner got their own small living spaces with everything they need to survive, bathrooms, separate rooms, a kitchen, food, water, blankets, and pillows. But the rooms were windowless and when both of the partners entered inside the doors were locked shut.
"Well, Um, I guess we're here now." She mumbled as she looked around the room. It seemed so empty and yet never-ending. "So anyway, I'm Juliet." She decided to introduce herself to the stranger that she was going to be stuck with for a week.
PD looked at Juliet and stuck out his hand for a handshake "I-I'm PD… I hope we don't lose our minds in here for the week." While he waited for his eyes to adjust because it was too bright for him to handle. He was never alone with someone before in his life since he prefers to be alone by himself or in a crowded place. 'I can't believe I'm in here with a woman but both of us are here for the money…. so it doesn't count' he thought to himself.
Juliet looked at PD. He looked like a normal person, but he talked like he hasn't even interacted with a person. He could just be shy. Something about him didn't seem right to her. Not all the people who signed up for this could've been mentally sane…right?
"Well I'm Juliet." She introduced herself while not sticking her hand out for the handshake.
A few seconds later a voice came from the intercom. It was difficult to tell if it was the man or woman that they talked to earlier or some AI that is speaking. "On the table, you will see two vitamines. One for each of you," the intercom said. PD looked at the vitamin on the table just took it. "The vitamin's effect will last for a week and the effect of the vitamin is increasing your sexual desire" the intercom added. He was shocked as he took it and immediately ran to his own room.
They want me to have possibly a one-night stand with someone I didn't even know. Her friend had done it many times before, but she herself hadn't. It felt wrong and just wasn't something she liked. Juliet looked at the pill on the table and decided not to take it, there weren't any cameras in here, so they couldn't possibly know. She saw how PD immediately ran into his room, so she decided to explore the place since she was now all by herself.
"Oh, we almost forgot, if anyone does not take the pill," the intercom said. ", they will inject with a drug similar to the one on the table but it will be permanent and you will be locked in an enclosed space for a month. We hope you enjoy your stay and please don't mess with our data." PD was breathing heavily trying to focus on something else besides his roommate. There were separate showers for both of them and he decides to take a cold shower to help calm his activeness.
Juliet rolled her eyes, once again there were no cameras in said room. They wouldn't know if she had taken the drug or not. What were they going to do, barge into the room and forcibly inject her with the drug? She decided to go into her room and make herself at home.
PD got out of the shower but he still didn't feel the difference. He put on some clothes and went out to distract himself using the living space. He found a painting of a beautiful landscape and just stared at it for a bit while eating an apple from the fruit bowl. 'Don't let the girl distract you….' he thought 'It's only for a week… what can possibly happen between now and then?'
I wonder how much food they gave us. Juliet was feeling a bit hungry, she was also quite disappointed by the fact that they didn't allow them to watch some TV. She wondered over to the kitchen, ignoring her new neighbor PD and began rummaging through the cabinets, successfully finding some fruit loops.
'This is going to be a long week' PD thought, 'this woman is probably going to kill me if I ever step one inch too close to her.' He turned around and looked at Juliet so he can have a small talk to her. "Hey, Juliana, how has your day been before we came in here?" he knew he got her name wrong since he had trouble remembering names "actually, what did you do before you came here?"
"My name is Juliet and no I'm not interested in having sex with you." She replied with a monotone voice, making sure that she kept her distance from him. She wasn't…scared, she was just cautious. She had no doubt that he could be a good person with good intentions… but to be fair he just took a drug that increased sexual activity. Juliet was not for that.
"Why should I be interested in having sex with you?" PD said as he kept a straight face "you're not even my type." He glares at her because he didn't get a clear answer from her "I asked you what did you do before you came here not do you want to have sex." He would get a bit frustrated if he didn't get a clear answer from someone and he thinks this girl is going to be frusteating.
Juliet rolled her eyes. Off the bat, she didn't really like the man, something about him gave her bad vibes. "Mierda, you literally, took a fucking ecstasy pill like a few minutes ago, what the fuck don't you understand?" Why the hell, was this man so hellbent on knowing what she did before this?
"I'm trying to make small talk to a total fucking stranger! I never did this before in my life! Do you think I want to be here?" he yelled at her. "I only did this because I want the money to buy food for myself! I have little to no money to do that because of the damn high taxes!" he finished venting and just looked at her with frustration and stormed off into his room
Juliet scoffed and rolled her eyes before continuing on her task to make some cereal. She kind of felt bad after hearing what he had said, but at the same time, it was also the same reason she was here. Money. PD didn't seem..stable, maybe it was best that she avoid him for the whole week.
After a few hours, PD came out of his room and apologized to Juliet about what happened earlier. "Sorry if I treated you harshly. I have just been stressed before I came here so I just needed some time to calm down" PD explained as he sits down on the couch in the 'living room.'
Not responding, she nodded. Juliet was still wary of him, not one to easily trust. I suppose the only option right now, is to wait it out. She thought to herself as she munched on her fruit loops.
Then the intercom came back on with the voice of the man. "At this point, the drug has worn off and hopefully, nothing bad happened during that time," he said, "because of some delays on our end, your time being here has gained another week." PD was shocked by what the intercom said and then looked at Juliet and mouthed the words 'we're fucked.'
"Oh my god, fuck you!" She yelled at the intercom in frustration. She felt a bit homesick and she hadn't even been here for that long. After she would receive the money, you better bet, that Juliet was getting the hell out of here.
"But because of this inconvenience, we will double the money that we offered from $10,000 to $20,000" the intercom added, "If anything changes, then we will immediately let you know." PD curled up on the couch and started to regret coming here to get the money "we are going to die in here alone together… I want to at least see the outside world before I die."
Juliet snorted, "We're not going to die." She exaggerated the last word to get her point across.
"They're going to supply us with food and water, don't over-react here."
"But what if they stretch our time here to another week?" he asks "what will we do?" He was slowly uncurling himself and sat down normally with some anxiety on the couch. "I can see that you and I can't live on without others around us… we will lose our minds in here."
"Well we're not going to die are we? It's not like we're stranded in the middle of a fucking jungle." Was this an extra waste of her time? Yes. however, the extra cash was definitely worth it. She was starting to think like Mr. Scrouge and she was ok with that in this situation.
PD smiles a little thinking more about the situation they are in right now and laughs a little. "I guess you're right…" He was about to add something else but he was cut off by the intercom. "It is 9:00 pm. It's time to sleep." He sighs as he looks at the clock and it said 8:00.
"I wonder if they have Tv in here, I'd love to watch some Netflix." She replied. If she was going to be stuck in here for 2 weeks, she better make the most out of it. Maybe she was a little bit to harsh on PD. Should I give him a chance?
"I think they do," PD said as he searches the walls for an opening or a button of some sort. He presses a button and a TV starts to lower from the ceiling. "Found it!" he yelled as he tries to turn it on, "Blasted futuristic science shit… why are these kinds of things complicated?"
