As if in a dream, James could not remember actually leaving the strange shop. He and Nicola were just walking the four blocks back to their office building.
"Well," said James, more than a bit uneasy, "That was weird."
"What a bitch," Nicola scowled. "And then she punishes us by making us listen to her bullshit."
"I guess it was a little bit fun," said James as he absentmindedly fingered the remote in his pocket and, without even realizing he had done it, activated its voice command function. "Truth be told."
He was hoping to get a smile from Nicola, but she seemed genuinely steamed about the whole encounter and didn't even look at James in response.
"I guess we should hurry up and get back," James continued after a moment. He was desperate to break the silence.
"Why?" Nicola shot back. "They're firing you next week anyway."
As soon as she said it, Nicola's eyes grew enormous and her hand clasped over her mouth.
"What?" said James, a little shocked. "What do you mean?"
"It's a done deal. We had a meeting about it last week... What the fuck, James? How are you doing this?"
"Why wouldn't you say something?" said James, tears welling in his eyes. "I thought we were friends."
"We're not friends," leapt out of Nicola's mouth, her face meanwhile appearing extremely upset by the ejaculation. "I just go to lunch sometimes because it's so easy to manipulate you."
"Maybe," said James, wiping a tear from his cheek, "I'm no longer the one that's so easy to manipulate."