Careful, Careful

“I need your help,” he said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

He smiled, showing both rows of teeth.

“I need your assistance.”

She frowned.

“Well, that can mean one of two things. The first,” she said, raising a finger in the air,” is that you want my lifelong servitude. Oh wait! There’s actually three things. The second,” adding another finger, “is that you want my loyalty which is only little less mean than the first. The third is that you want me to allow my particular skills to be of use to you for a temporary period of time. This statement itself, however, is kind of funny because all time is temporary, but I, like you did at the beginning, will assume you know what I mean.

If you meant the first, the answer is heck no, if the second, I'll consider it, and if the third, of course."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Are you on drugs?” he asked. She leaned forward slightly, her eyes widening a little.

“Not that I’m aware of, but you can never can tell with the corporations these days.”