When you walked in, you were fully expecting to be kicked out on sight, horns and a pointy tail tend not to get the best response. You’ve heard a LOT about this CEO, and the fact that he wanted to interview you personally was terrifying. You actually get asked to interview for a job you like and now this?

suffice to say, you were shocked when he simply shook your hand and had a very normal interview, one you’ve had a thousand times in your career. It was surprising, not only because you expected a “going to hell” rant but because even normal people look at my horns and let pity color their face. This guy, the “So-religious-he’s-hitler” ceo that once fired someone because they were a satanist, treated you like a normal person, like there was nothing remarkable about you outside of your experience in the field of marketing.

At the end it hit you, he’s not going to ask. “Are there any questions you have?” Just a million, but I ask the one that’s bothering you the most? “Why are you being so nice to me?” The man just smiles at you, “Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked. you tap your horns with the spike on your tail. He shrugged, “so?” You just looked at him, dumbfounded, “it doesn’t bother you?” He just shrugged again, “but you’re- you’re” “A catholic nut-job?” He offered, you blush and nod. “This about the satanist, isn’t it?” you nod again. He just sighed.

”People will say what they say, but the truth is because we have policies in place to make people feel welcome, and her desk statue of a goat headed Jesus nailed to an upside-down star she bought in ’protest of our company’s actions, made enough people uncomfortable that I ended up with 3 HR reps coming to me separately asking me to do something as they kept getting flooded with complaints.” He explained, “this was told to everyone but it seemed the news conveniently forgot to add that part to their articles.” He shrugged again.

you motions to your horns, “but still…” he looks you dead in the eyes, “are you a satanist?” You shrug, “atheist.” He nodded, “then we shouldn’t have an issue,” you open your mouth but the CEO holds up a hand, “look, I get that this is an unpopular opinion but I do not make decisions based on looks, I base them on actions. If you take responsibility for yourself and put forth the work than I have no issue with you and will happily recommend you for promotion after promotion. That’s how my grandfather ran this place, how my dad ran it and how I run it.”

You nod, thoroughly cowed. You had not expected this. He sighed and smiled, the look in his eyes catching me off guard. “You’ve had a tough life, but remember that it’s part of a plan.” You sigh, ok so at least some of your expectations are met. Then he reaches over and offers his hand. You hesitantly take it, “I watched those videos, the ones of the crazies screaming at you when you went to those protests.” you stiffen at the mention of that era, you had been fired because people wouldn’t stop harassing your coworkers. It was frustrating beyond belief and had turned you off from religion completely.

“You know what I saw?” You look at his eyes, and see the eyes of a father, gleaming with pride. “I saw Jesus as he carried the cross, the apostles as they were hunted, the martyrs when they were killed for what they believed.” He released my head, “I saw divine bravery and courage as you held your head high, and atheist or not, God will always be with those who suffer injustice they way you did, the way you still do.” He nodded and stood, you stood as well, unable to speak. “With pride. With dignity.”

He held out his hand to shake, “if your still interested, I would be honored to have someone like you aboard.” You just nod, your view of the man radically changed. “Good, I hope to see good work from you, make us proud.” After that you were led to filling out the onboarding paperwork, and went home. You wondered how two very different people claim to worship the same god. You shake your head, maybe the difference between a true believer and a false one is which side works on their hypocrisy and which side denies the existence of hypocrisy. You turn over to sleep, you’ll leave philosophy to people who care. You’re just glad you have a job.

You see the question coming from a mile away. It's a wonder the interviewer had held out so long; his gaze had been flicking toward and away from your horns the entire time. There's a thin chain around his neck, and you'd bet a dollar to a dime that there's a crucifix hanging from it. One tends to notice such things when they get spritzed with holy water as often as you do.

"Just one last question." The interviewer gestures vaguely. "Your, ah..."

"Horns?" you say, making him wince slightly. "What about them?"

The man swallows, gathers his courage. "Any relation to Lucifer?"

"None whatsoever."

"I see. Would you terribly mind..." He ducks behind his desk and pulls out a Bible. "Would you mind touching this for me? I don't mean to insinuate you're not honest with me, it's just..."

You lean forward and lay your palm atop the faux-leather cover, then lift it. No burns. The interviewer exhales and slumps back in his seat.

"I am sorry about this," he says in a tone much warmer than before. "It's just that our company deals with Celestials sometimes, and employing someone related to the other place might cause all sorts of awkwardness."

You fake a smile. "No worries. I understand completely."

"Good. Excellent." He eyes your horns again. "But if it's not Luciferian heritage, may I ask..."

You suppress a sigh. "Dragon."

"Good lord! How did that happen?"

You fake a smile. "My grandfather was an adventurous man."

"I... see." The interviewer shakes his head. "Sorry, I bet you get questions like that a lot. We'll call you back tomorrow, all right? Thanks for your time." He rises and extends his hand over the desk.

You get up to shake it, and that's when it hits you. A wondrous smell-that's-not-a-smell, reaching out to some primal hunger slumbering deep inside you. Your fingers come short of touching his hand and instead close upon his fancy cufflinks. Your breathing quickens as you roll the decorated metal between your fingers. The man stares at you, then tugs at his sleeve, but you don't let go. Can't.

"What are you doing? Hey. Hey!" He yanks his sleeve free and glowers. "What's come over you, man?"

"I..." You shake your head as reality crashes back on you. "I'm so sorry. It's just—I couldn't help it, they're so nice, gold, genuine gold—"

"Whatever." The man motions roughly at the door. "I think we're done here."

You mutter an apology and flee, clenching your fists. Damn it, blew it again.

I walk into yet another interview, expecting the worst as always. In the lobby, people were heckling me as I walked across the hall to the interviewer's room. Room 208, she told me. Someone told me to "go back to hell" and someone even threw holy water on me... again. Ninth time this week, and it's only Tuesday. Twelve more's a record.

Oh boy. Can already tell this interview isn't gonna go well, just based on that necklace she's wearing. People hate me in general, thinkin' i'm a bad omen and such... but religious folk are the worst. Like sure, trolls are gonna troll, but only twice has someone actually tried to attack me. Both times, some religious leader or another. But... she's tiny, and honestly completely unthreatening. And in all honesty? She looks more scared than I was.

"So... I was re...ading over your resum...e and..."

She's trembling? Yeah. Wasn't expecting that response, but I suppose it's better than the alternative.

"Wait... Can i get a closer look at those horns?"

Oh no. this is bad. she wants to... she's gonna pull them out, right? try to break them? Or worse, kick me out of the one interview I've gotten in over a year. This is... huh? she's smiling?

"Oh my! Sorry for passing judgement on you so fast! You're no demon at all! I haven't seen a new dragonfolk like you in centuries!"

Wh... is this why the holy water never worked? Is this why... alright. Let's get this straight. So people have been attacking me for being a demon for at least a decade now... and not only is that completely uncalled for, i'm NOT EVEN A DEMON. WOW.

"Sorry, where are my manners! I never introduced myself! My name's Astariel!" she says, excitedly, spreading out the most beautiful pair of almost pearlescent wings i've ever seen. "Nice to meet you! I think you'd be a perfect fit as an assistant treasurer. You'll be working under another dragonfolk quite like yourself! I could show them to you now, if you'd like."

I think I'd fit right in here.

The secretary sent you to the CEO's office, because he wanted to talk with you personally. The old lady smiles at you, and says "You got the job, you are already hired, he just wants to talk" and she winks at you as she buzzes the elevator doors to open and take you up.

Taking the moment to thank you, to enter into the small elevator, and stop at what you can only imagine is the top floor.

It was the kind of office you would expect from someone who claims to be deeply religious, like, insanely religious, there was a Statue of Buddha, there was the Jewish Star of David, the Holy Cross, even the Crescent Moon of Islam, all 8 feet tall, adorned in gold, and anchored to the walls of the room, which was painted pristine white, with a sky view over the city.

Right smack dab in the center of the window wall was a spartan desk made of glass, no drawers, no phone, nothing on the desk itself, just a simple unmarked ore mussed up glass desk table, and a white office chair. You would have thought you entered the office of God himself, at this point.

"Hello" you ask as you see the man staring at the Statue of Buddha.

"Ah yes, come in, lets talk" he says, his smile brimming wide, all his white, like, beyond white teeth can be seen, and you swear that looked a little too clean for human teeth.

"Alright, well the lady downstairs said I was"

"Her name is Abagail, and yes, HR has already approved your Hiring for the company, you have the skills we need here, and willing to work for what we are willing to pay"

"Umm to be fair that was twice what I was making in my old job, I am sure anyone would have wanted that kind of pay"

"Now see! that is admirable, Humility! That's a good virtue to have, to be humble, yet know your worth, and the worth of others, also, you had a 2 year wait between jobs, that must have been hard"

"yes, well, once the horns started to grow, it was hard to get people to see me, as... well Me"

"And that kind of life experience no doubt has given you a hefty portion of Compassion for the plight of others, hasn't it?"

"Well yes, but, if I am going to be honest, it's also made me quite bitter and angry at the world too"

The man smiled again, this time his whole area seemed to suck the light out the room "Good, righteous anger, not wrath, but anger at injustice, I love it!, tell me more"

"What do you mean more?"

"We are a law firm, we represent people who feel the world has failed them, we fight for their dignity as people here, we are often all that stands between them, and getting abused and punished by a system designed to work against them, with laws and rules built against them in such a way, they could never win on their own, and that.. That my friend.. is where we come in, are you ready for that kind of battle?"

I choked a bit, the passion in this mans words seemed to fill the room, I swear it felt like I was in some vibrant church, all I needed was for someone behind me to shout Amen. "I'll do my best" I stammered out thinking that I was getting myself in way too deep, sure I was good lawyer, before the horns and tail, I was a very good lawyer, but this guy seemed like he was looking for Rockstar's, which, I was not sure if I was up to that level.

"We can only do our best, Angels can do no better" he said "welcome to the team, I sure you will be a great fit, any questions?"

"Yes, when I looked up this company, there is no info about you, you have no linked in account, no social media, just a name, J J, and now that I have met you, I want to know who you are, who am I working for?"

The man smiled "Good to see you doing your research, that is the kind of go-to personally we need here, you looked me up before you met me, no doubt, also must have ready some rumors about me, but I assure you, you will be treated fairly here, with that cleared up, My name is Joshua, but all the people call me JJ for short, as my last name is Josephson, and JJ sounds more down to earth, more human, then either of those names"

"Thank you Mr JJ" I say realizing how stupid that sounds.

JJ smiled back at me" Just JJ, if you must use Mr, then it's Mr Josephson, which I really find to be too stuffy and formal, we are here to save the world one client at a time, but, lets make here, a safe place for us to relax, and be among friends"

I could not take it anymore, "You see the Horns and Trail right ?"

JJ turned to the window and covered his mouth as he laughed, like really, hard belly laugh, all the while trying not be rude, it was almost painful to watch a man be civil and just bust out laughing at the same time.

Finally, letting out a deep sigh and walking over to me "I see you Michel, I see you, as the person you are before me and the person you can become here, free from the unjust judgments of others, but here is the real question, are you ready to make a difference or just looking for a job?"

"I want to make a difference" I finally said, almost defeated

"Good! Welcome to the Team!" JJ said as he extended his hand for a shake, and I noticed there were holes in his palms. I stepped back a second and looked up him. Winking at me "I am also known as Jesus"

I shook that hand, holes and all, I didn't care if this man was insane, or not, but, somehow, I felt like I was home, I felt like I belonged, and I was going to save some souls.

"Thank you for coming, Ms. Nikolaus. Now, before we start, and I'm sure you're quite tired of hearing this, but are those--"

I sighed. "Yes, these are horns, and no, I'm not a demon, and yes, I can prove it." I took a small cross out of my pocket and held it in my hand, keeping my palm open so Mrs. Wilder could see that my flesh wasn't smoking or anything like that. I put the cross back in my pocket as a now satisfied Mrs. Wilder said, "So if you're not a demon, then what are you?"

"Does the name Pasiphae mean anything to you?" Mrs. Wilder shook her head. "Well, maybe this'll ring a bell: Queen Pasiphae is enchanted to fall in love with a bull and sire a child with him that is both human and bull. Said child is thrown into a sprawling maze of a prison called the Labyrinth by the furious King Minos. This sounding familiar yet?"

Mrs. Wilder went wide eyed. "Oh my word, you're the minotaur?"

"Yup. And let me tell you, that story has been fudged like you would not believe."

Mrs. Wilder settled back in her chair. "Well, now I'm intrigued. Keep going."

"Really? Uh, okay. Well, first of all, my mom wasn't affected by any spell, my dad was--he's the giant shaggy monster you see in all those depictions. And that's another thing: my dad kept the temperament of a properly treated cow, so he's nothing like how all the art made him look. He and my mom have actually had a very happy marriage."

Mrs. Wilder smiled. "Oh, well that's just lovely. Sounds a lot like me and my wife."

I did a double take at what she said. "Your wife? I thought you were--"

"Whatever your answer's going to be, let me tell you upfront that I've heard it a lot. But yes, I'm bisexual and married to a woman. It was love at first sight when I met her on my trip to India. Took us a while to find a Hindu priest that would marry us, but we got there eventually."

"You're wife's a Hinduist?"

Mrs. Wilder pulled a necklace from behind the cover of her shirt, revealing an image of a six-armed woman. "We both are. I converted before I met her."

I settled back into my chair. "Huh. Did not expect that."

Mrs. Wilder let out a chuckle. "Nobody ever does. Now, we're wildly off-topic, so let's get back to the interview, shall we?"

"Right, right, of course!"

Thirty minutes later, I walked out of Mrs. Wilder's office, looking forward to my first shift the following Monday.

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

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