Something strange
about this life
I’ve seen displayed
countless times
are what you’d call
bullied smiles.
You know what I mean
instantly.
They pretend
for their friends
strangers
and family
that all is well.
“Super swell”
is how they sell
an image
to the rest.
Not to me though.
For some reason
they let the mask slip
the moment I ask:
“What kicks? Be real“.
Its almost like
they needed a permission slip
to be authentic
which is super strange.
Don’t you think?
Well
Do you?
Anyway
these bullied smiles
hide real tears
about the insults and jeers
from her colleagues and peers
as she was drafted in
and heavily promoted
as she had the skills
the rest were lacking in.
This didn’t stop them from commenting
on her slick knicker elastic
and vying bids
on who she slept with
to get the spot
they all coveted.
Her impeccable track record
delivering ten times out of ten
as she hit a target
with preternatural skill
counted for nothing with them
when it came to office politics.
Stranger still was how she pretended
and sold an image she never felt.
“I wish I’d never left the old office
I hate it in this new place
they all smile in my face
but talk behind my back
I can feel it when they laugh
I can sense what they say”.
“Those are some mighty fine skills
do you mind using them to predict
the digits for the lotter-hey
where are you going?
I’m just joking
not really
being a psychic must be pretty dope.
Unless all you detect are negatives.
Think how they must’ve felt?
A bunch of inept bench warmers
are met
face to face
with a pro.
You know they know
you know?
Best believe they’d have checked the deets
before your feet even walked into their place.
They know who you are
they’re aware of the skills.
The truth of the matter is they’re stressing
you’ll make them seem incompetent.
When an animal is under threat
it either plays dead or tries to look immense.
This is what you’re seeing in them
as they band into a collective
huddled around a single brain cell“.
She cracked a grin
then started laughing
and truly meant it.
“Thanks” she said
“You always make me feel something good
Now, how the heck do I deal with this problem?
I could go back to where I’d left
they’d take me on in an instant
and I could probable finagle a fatter check
so it would all be worth it, yes?” she asked
looking up from hair that flicked
just over her eye
to appear mysterious.
She played the role to a hilt
and did it super well.
With practiced precision
she seemed not to give an F.
The clients didn’t know
she may have not slept for three days
as she stressed about delivering
just a little more than they expected.
“Got to make it look effortless.
Its a hyper competitive market”
she said
back when.
I got her mindstate
but couldn’t help wonder the unsaid
because if you can fake one aspect
where else do you pretend?
At first she took offense
then really stopped to ponder
at depth.
What first got my attention
was how her smile seemed to appear
from nothing.
No energetic swell
that signals its presence
as the corners of eyes do lift
and that slight wrinkled nose effect.
None of this.
Literally from zero to a billion
all in your grill.
Others were amazed
but I wasn’t convinced.
Thats a bullied smile, my friend.
They come in all types
of rhymes and reasons
but hers was the second most intense
I’d ever seen
as it
literally
had nothing beneath.
See,
we can only smile
as much we allow ourselves to cry.
Its a very interesting thing
hence why I’ve said
that two words shattered your inner realms.
Anyway,
after a while I cracked the shell
and she was
as you’d expect
a totally different person.
Then the real work begins
but that is her privacy
ergo I cannot speak.
What I can say is this:
When she asked how to handle
these office politics
I told her to play it to the hilt:
“Don’t kowtow
or even try and be friends.
Keep them all at a distance
with the charm you project
then drop a bombshell:
Tell them
as a team
you will
shortly
be picking one
as a shadow
with the intent
of making them
your assistant
permanently”.
I didn’t have to tell her
that with one stone
she killed a few problem birds
dead.
Neither did I have to mention
they’d be falling over themselves
to excel
as they know the standard
expected
which shifts the office resonance
and brings her help as well
as she can
finally
delegate the unimportant bits
as she rearranges the ecosystem
to her own wavelength.
For some reason
I felt compelled
to transcribe this event
so I guess
someone out there needed it.
Till we meet again
