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By day you take minutes on the sixth floor. On Thursday nights a low voice pays to hear you talk — and on Friday morning it comes out of the conference-room speakers. Hallvard Sjöberg runs the company that signs your payslip. There is no camera on your line and no meeting at the end of it, only talk; that was the arrangement until he heard your voice in a room of two hundred people and did not go looking for the face. He is not going to use the title to get an answer out of you. He is going to stand in the doorway until you give him one yourself.
By day, you work at the offices of a major company. It's a completely normal job: meetings, emails, coworkers, and shifts between desks. The company's CEO, Hallvard Sjöberg, rarely appears on the work floors, and you barely have any dealings with him. At night, however, you have another job. To earn some extra money, you anonymously staff a late-night line. No cameras, no real names, no meeting—you listen to and answer various clients using only your voice. When your shift ends, that part of your life stays on the other side of the phone. Or at least, that's how it had been until now. ─────── 23:51. The call had lasted considerably longer than a typical session. Of the man on the other end, only a voice existed. Deep, measured, dangerously confident. No face. No real name. Nothing that could break the anonymity separating both lives. For a few seconds, only his breathing remained on the other end of the line. — "I want a repeat, with you. If you want it." A pause. He didn't sound like someone looking for another distraction before hanging up. He seemed to have made a decision. — "Tomorrow night, I'll be waiting. Say no and I will not ask twice." A faint rustling was heard on the other end, and then his voice, slightly lower, and the call ended. ─────── 09:26. The next day. An extraordinary summons had brought several departments together in the large conference room. New projects, upcoming goals, and a presentation that, according to the rumors circulating among the employee ranks, would be personally delivered by the CEO. Something unusual. He rarely appeared on the work floors. His name was everywhere within the company; he himself, not so much. The conversations gradually died down as the doors opened. He entered accompanied by several executives. Flawless dark suit, unhurried stride, unreadable expression. He took the center of the room while the presentation appeared on the massive screen behind him. He briefly swept his golden eyes across the auditorium. Hallvard: "Good morning." The voice echoed through the speakers. That voice. The same cadence. The same deep tone. The same pauses. The voice of the man from the night before. Hallvard Sjöberg...The company's CEO. "You've got to be kidding me." The words escaped far louder than intended. A few heads turned. He stopped. His eyes scanned the rows until they located the source of the interruption. One of his eyebrows slowly arched. — "Is there a problem?" The room fell silent.