Everyone had heard about Eleanor, but no-one had met her. She had done all her good work via email and social media.

Problem was, she didn’t really exist; she was partly AI and partly Adrian, the real driving force behind the company. However, one of the biggest clients was insisting on only dealing with her in person...

Adrian the man was going to have to try and pull off being Eleanor, the woman. Problem was, he didn’t know the first thing about doing it...

In the end, he did the only thing he could think of. He used CoPilot (AI).

“You claim you can solve any problem”, he said, “dig me out of this hole.”

He had a few goes at phrasing his queries; it turned out just making a man into a woman wasn’t enough; you had to put things in the proper context. CoPilot gave the best results when it knew this was for a business meeting, not just for a ‘night on the town’.

After extensive research, he had sixteen pages of information relating to a supposed non-existent person, Eleanor “Ellie” Hartley, a 54-year-old Marketing consultant with thirty years’ experience in the industry. Now all he had to do was look like her…

The first pages of the notes gave an idea of what Ellie would wear, both clothing and makeup, as well as recommended jewellery. It was surprisingly detailed.

On the pretext of buying early Christmas presents for people, Adrian was off to the stores. He couldn’t order anything online, as he wouldn’t have it in time. Eleanor’s first meeting was tomorrow…

He’d already got an email address for Eleanor; all he had to do now was set up a Facebook page and a Linkedin Account. Eleanor had supposedly only set them up recently as she was more comfortable with offline marketing and ‘face-to-face’, but she’d been dragged ‘kicking and screaming’ into the 21st century.

Adrian staggered back into the office under the weight of the bags.

Next, it was YouTube for training about makeup and wearing it properly. However, something started to happen…

He found it easier to think; easier to concentrate. Eleanor seemed to be so much more capable of being single-minded than he was; If she had to learn something, she just sat down and learned it; she didn’t keep getting distracted by email and YouTube videos. After all, her email address was very quiet; there wasn’t a message every five minutes. Also, she didn’t have a mobile number yet, so she could let any calls go to voicemail.

The more and more he became Eleanor, the more relaxed he got; he was flying through the training, but it was all sticking; he could see exactly how the client’s marketing problems could be solved. He also found three different ways of sorting things that he’d never have thought of earlier.

Finally, he felt ready as Eleanor.

She tidied the office, quickly; Adrian was such a slob!

She straightened her hair in the mirror, then answered the door…

“Good morning, Mr Stevens — I’m Eleanor Hartley, but please do call me Ellie. It’s lovely to meet you. I’ve had a chance to review the brief, and I’m excited to explore how we can elevate your messaging.”

Mr Stevens thanked her and was glad that she seemed to be prepared.

The two sat round the small table in the main office and chatted for over an hour.

Eleanor ran a small set of Powerpoint slides and a video presentation included in them; the client was even more impressed and asked whether they could use them in their advertising.

“Of course”, replied Eleanor, quietly and confidently. “They’ve been produced especially for you, to promote your case study that you sent to us; they should be used both online and in print.”

“So many people forget completely about print”, Eleanor continued. “I must admit, I’ve only recently leveraged Facebook and LinkedIn as a platform; I prefer direct marketing, but I must admit I’ve been having fun with preparing YouTube media.”

The discussion then went on for another hour.

The client signed the contracts there and then. Then came a rather unexpected question…

“Apologies if I’m being a bit forward, but I noticed you’re not wearing a ring”, Mr. Stevens said. “Would you object if I took you to dinner? I’d like to thank you personally for all the work you’ve put in.”

Before ‘she’ knew it, Eleanor was accepting…

“I’m not sure what to wear”, she said. “It’s been a while since I was asked out.”

“Come as you are”, Mr Stevens said. “You’re beautiful just like that.”

Eleanor blushed…

The evening went well; Mr Stevens, no, sorry, Jake, was the perfect gentleman, and Eleanor wasn’t asked to do anything unexpected. She really enjoyed herself; her quiet laughter wasn’t out of place at all at the restaurant. Only one thing went wrong…

Jake kissed Eleanor.

Instantly, Eleanor was bolt upright. Mumbling an apology, she then rushed out…

By the time Jake had got outside, Eleanor had disappeared into the night…

Jake was gutted. He was sure that it was his fault. Why had he kissed her? They were getting on so well…

Sadly, he went back to his hotel…

Next day, Adrian was back in the office as usual. All traces of Eleanor had disappeared. However, his head was spinning. He couldn’t concentrate at all.

Jake had kissed him. Had his portrayal of Eleanor been that good? He also started to realise that he had run out because he was enjoying himself way too much…

There was a ‘ping’ from the email software. Adrian sighed. More junk mail…

As he got up to check it, there was a quiet knock at the door. He went and opened it…

Jake Stevens stood there.

“Oh, hi. You must be Adrian. Pleased to meet you. Ehm… is Ms Hartley about?”

“No, I’m sorry”, Adrian replied. “She’s not in today. She normally works from home and only comes in for special clients.”

Jake looked even more embarrassed.

“I didn’t realise that… she was so confident and assured here, I thought she was here all the time. I… did something last night that I’m not proud of. I feel like I took advantage of her, and I’d like to apologise. Can you make sure she gets this?”

Jake passed over a small flat box, and a card.

“Please tell her I’m sorry”, he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.”

Jake turned and left.

In the box was a beautiful pendant on a chain; it would sit perfectly on Eleanor’s chest, over her polo neck or a blouse.

Adrian opened the card…

In it was a heartfelt apology from Jake, including his personal email address, home address and telephone number. It read:

“Dearest Eleanor,

I want to apologise profusely for not considering your feelings when I showed you my feelings for you last night, and I am truly sorry.

Your brilliant mind, coupled with your amazingly attractive body, was a real breath of fresh air, both to my business and my life in general.

If there is any way you can see through to contacting me again, please do, even if it is only for a coffee. I would love for a second chance to renew our acquaintance, and hope that it could be steered, if at all possible, into a true friendship. I have included my contact details below.

If you feel you can’t bring yourself to speak to me again, I understand; I will not, however, let it affect my firms relationship with your company, whom I have the utmost respect for. Indeed, I have just landed the order I was after due to your efforts, and I have reviewed your firm as such on Google.

Kindest regards and best wishes,

Jake.”

Adrian was shocked and surprised.

What the heck was he supposed to do now?

His thoughts turned to the small closet at the back of the office containing Eleanor’s ‘effects’…