Christina turned up for her first day of work a full ten minutes early to make a good first impression on her new boss. It wasn't like this was a major career move for her or anything, it was a temporary job that an agency had offered her and which she had accepted without really asking any questions. Working in a pet shop seemed a fairly self explanatory role, the pay was surprisingly good and, even if she didn't enjoy it, she had only signed the contract for a couple of months.
The only requirements listed for the job was that the suitable candidate should be energetic, friendly, adaptable and good around both people and animals - all characteristics she was confident she posessed. Christina was in her mid twenties but looked more youthful than that, and was naturally pretty with medium length brown hair and blue eyes . She had a petite build which could also give the impression that she was younger than her years and was generally an easy going, sociable person.
As Christina reached her destination she initially had to double check she was in the right place. It was a part of a small block of offices that didn't give the appearance of a shop and, stranger still, on entering there was very little sign of any animals being sold.
She buzzed on the intercom and was met with the voice of the proprietor.
"Hello Pets 4 You, bespoke pet rental services!" He announced cheerily.
"Hi, it's Christina. I'm starting work here today"
"Oh, wonderful. I'm with a customer at the moment. Just pop upstairs and wait outside my office"
Christina did as she was instructed and sat patiently outside the only door that could be the correct one. This was getting weirder by the minute - who ran a pet shop out of a small, second floor office? And was pet rental really a thing? Well, whatever. She was here now and she had already signed the contract.
After a few minutes the door opened and a wealthy looking woman left the room with a fine looking Dalmation in tow. She was followed by a large, smartly dressed old fashioned looking gentleman.
"Please have Gemma back here by midday tomorrow Ms Greenwood, and enjoy your time with her. Goodbye!"
As the woman and her temporary pet left, the store owner eyed Christina up and down before breaking into a smile.
"Ah yes, you should do nicely. Come in please!"
Christina entered the small room - still no sign of animals - and took a seat opposite her new boss who had already seated himself at his desk.
"My name is Mr Jenkins and I understand you will be working for me for the next two months.." the portly gentleman began as Christina nodded obligingly "as one of my pets"
"Your pets?" Christina repeated , not quite sure she could have heard him correctly.
"That's right, that's the position you have signed up for" Jenkins nodded as he pulled out the paperwork Christina had signed but not bothered to read "And I'm a stickler for holding my staff to their contracts! Now, as you will be aware I rent out bespoke pets"
"But I'm a human?" Christina explained to her employer as if he were a lunatic.
"Well, that's partly where bespoke comes in" Jenkins smiled a little smugly "You won't be when you are rented out"
"What? You mean you want me to dress up or something?" Christina pulled a face, not liking the thought of that at all.
"No, I wouldn't ask you to do that" Jenkins reassured her "You'll be physically transformed into the requested animal for as long as you are hired. Now, usually we ask for our pets to be returned by no later than 6pm the same day, but I may occasionally require you to work evenings. Some of my staff, like Gemma who you saw on the way in, like to work overnight. That is entirely voluntary of course, but the money is excellent"
"So how are you going to turn me into an animal?" Christina folded her arms as she asked her question to humour this apparent time waster.
"Trade secret I'm afraid" Jenkins tapped his nose with more than a hint of self satisfaction "But I can assure you the process is quick, perfectly safe and works flawlessly. I've been in this business for more than twenty years after all"
"But why not just use real animals?"
"An excellent question for which there are two paricularly good answers. Firstly, a transformed human will always retain their intelligence even in animal form. This means our pets are smarter and able to be more obedient than regular pets. As with any job there is of course an element of performance in your role, and for the most part I would ask you to comply with your owners instructions of you. The one exception would be anything involving breeding, that is strictly forbidden. If any of our more unscrupulous customers attempts you to put you in such a position you must do all you can to prevent it, and report the customer to me as soon as you are back in human form"
"And what's the second reason?" Christina asked, mostly for her own amusement at this point.
"Because our employees can be transformed into any pet we require, no matter how exotic, at a moments notice. We can provide extinct or even mythical creatures, on occasion for our most elite customers" Jenkins twiddled his moustache proudly.
Christina sat open mouthed, still not quite able to believe what she was hearing.
"I realise this is a niche and unorthodox role, but most of my employees have grown to love it and worked here long beyond their initial contracts" Jenkins continued "The role is dehumanising by definition I suppose, but I treat my staff extremely well. And I shall insist all of your owners refer to you as Christina on every assignment whatever form you take - no silly pet names for you. All of your owners will have been carefully vetted, they will understand you are a human performing a job for them and will treat you with the appropriate level of respect. If not, don't hesitate to let me know and they won't be one of my customers any longer. I can also assure you it is virtually impossible for you to be harmed whilst you are in animal form. In fact, you will probably be even safer than you are as a human . Now, do you have any questions?"
"I'm sorry, this is crazy" Christina stood up and walked to the door "I'm leaving"
But she soon became aware the door was firmly locked. How had Jenkins managed that without touching it?
"I'm sorry Christina, but I'm afraid I really must insist you fulfill your contract" the proprietor told her a little sternly "Besides, someone has already hired you for rest of the day and I need to prepare you for your first assignment here"