A Step Away from the Ordinary Ch. 03

His thoughts were interrupted as Judith stuck her head into his cubicle, saying "I'm glad to see that you are in early today."

Eddie responded, "thank you, Miss Judith. I wanted to be prepared this morning."

"Oh, such a polite boy," Judith said, "'Miss Judith' ... think I like that." She paused, and then continued, "I had a note from Miss Degrasse this morning. She said that she would like to see you after the meeting this morning. Any idea what she wants?"

"No Ma'am," Eddie said. Maybe a question on the report from yesterday?"

"No, I don't think so," she replied. "I followed up with her at the end of the day yesterday and she was satisfied. Oh well, guess we will find out. Better let you get started on that report." She started to step out, then turned back, saying "oh, your shoes are untied Eddie."

Eddie's embarrassment grew as he thought for an explanation, then saying, "Oh, I seemed to have pulled something in my back. I'll just be careful."

"Nonsense, Eddie," Judith replied, saying "can you lift your leg," as she pulled the guest chair over. Eddie lifted his leg up, feeling an ache in his thighs, and then laid his foot on the chair. As Judith leaned down and tied his shoe, he couldn't help but glance down her blouse, and was rewarded by a view of her lacy white bra. As she tied the other shoe, he felt more embarrassed, as he was certain she was staring between his legs, and that she would be able to discern the outline of the cock cage.

"There you go. Hope that back feels better," she said. "Let's get that tie too! Early mornings must throw you completely off your routine!"

Eddie felt embarrassed as he stood and Judith tied his tie. As she finished she said, "Now there you go! All set for work!" Eddie's embarrassment grew, as it brought back memories of his older sister inspecting and correcting his dress before he left for school each day.

"See you at the morning meeting. And hey, that shirt looks cute too. Glad to see you wearing it more than just Wednesdays" she said as she departed.

He sat back down and then struggled to bring up the morning report, just typing with one hand. Fortunately it was a clean "all green" report. He printed the report, and returned to his desk, noting that he still had 20 minutes before the meeting. He got up and headed to the repurposed utility/rest room, backed to the stool in the corner, reached to unzip, and then realized that he couldn't. Fortunately, the belt was not fastened, so he was able to pull the pants down his legs. He then sat and tried to relax. Knowing he could not shake his penis or wipe the tip off when he was done, he tried bouncing, which seemed to do the trick. He pulled up the panties and then pulled and wiggled his pants up. He then did his best to tuck in the shirt. As he washed his hands in the mop sink, rinsing one hand, and then the other, he hoped that Miss Degrasse would relent and turn the GoodBoy off. "She's had her fun," he thought to himself.

He did feel still a bit disheveled, and wasn't sure what to do about the unfastened belt and careless tucking of his shirt tail. Fortunately Judith had not tended to that, he thought. When he got back to his cubicle, he slipped on his jacket, buttoned it, and hoped all would be hidden. As the meeting time neared, he got up, taking his report in hand, and headed into the empty conference room, taking his place on the back row.

As the women began arriving, he glanced carefully at each one, fearing that one of them might have been at Donna's workshop. He was relieved than none of them seemed to jog his memory of the previous evening. The meeting was remarkably short, with nothing out of kilter. As Miss Degrasse walked past him, she paused, turned to Eddie, and said in a low but firm voice, "Come," which Eddie took to mean "Follow me." As he stood and turned to follow, Judith stepped between him and Miss Degrasse, and once in the hall, the two women walked toward Miss Degrasse's office, with Eddie trailing behind.

The small group passed by Miss Degrasse's assistant, opened the large wooden door, and entered the beautifully decorated office, the door closing behind Eddie as the two ladies took seats at the small conference table, with Eddie stopping and standing a few feet away. He was reluctant to sit down, unsure of his place. He felt ill at ease and nervous, particularly as he noticed the GoodBoy remote laying on the table. The women rehashed a few topics from the meeting, ignoring Eddie, as he shuffled and waited. His attention perked as the topic changed!

"Well Judith, you certainly missed an interesting workshop last night," Miss Degrasse said to Judith, as Miss Degrasse toyed with the remote.

"Oh," Judith said with a curiosity in her voice, "tell me more!"

"You would never guess who our main presenter was ... never in a million years!" Miss Degrasse said, pausing, then picking up the remote, and continuing, "And they demonstrated this most amazing technology!" Eddie watched mesmerized as Miss Degrasse handed the remote to Judith. "I thought Eddie would be very interested, considering he is our technical expert!" Miss Degrasse made an air quote as she said "technology expert," as a grin came to her lips.

Judith carefully examined the remote, turning it over to see if there was a label or clue to what it did. She looked at the small labels under the buttons, trying to figure out what it did. Eddie watched nervously as her finger paused over each button as she slowly read the label aloud, "Protect, Release, Collar, Wrist, Record, On/Off Net, Command ... Now here is an interesting one, 'Puppy!' You have my curiosity. What does this do?" she said, with the interest clearly in her voice.

"What do you think, Eddie," Miss Degrasse said, with a devilish tone in her voice. The embarrassment flowed throughout as it was clear that Judith, his boss, would soon know all of details of the preceding evening. His upper lip trembled, his throat was dry, and words would not come to his lips.

"Awe, so shy Eddie. Let's give Judith a little demonstration of what you showed all of us last night, shall we?" Miss Degrasse said playfully.

Eddie felt even more vulnerable and exposed in the office setting with two familiar women than in the room the previous evening with over 25 strangers. His face was beet red and he looked down, avoiding Judith's smile.

"So Eddie was there last night!" Judith said with amazement in her voice. "I can't believe our Eddie was at the workshop! What on earth happened?" she said.

"Let us show you," Miss Degrasse said, taking the remote back, and then tapping the command button. Judith noticed the change in Eddie's stance, as he bent over slightly as the ache in his tender balls deepened, and he fought to keep his arms at his side. As the pulses stopped, Eddie returned to a fully upright position.

"Wow, what on earth?" Judith said, still puzzled.

"Sit," Miss Degrasse said. With no hesitation, having just re-experienced the GoodBoy's motivational pulse, he dropped to his knees, sitting up straight, his head straight forward, and more embarrassingly, his eyes now looking directly at Judith's midriff.

"Down," she said firmly. Eddie moved to all fours, his head down.

"Leash," she said playfully. Eddie raised his head, now looking directly at Judith's crossed knees.

"Oh my gosh," said Judith. "That's impressive. But what does the remote have to do with it?"

"Let me show you," she said, as she pressed the puppy button, and said "Sit" firmly.

Eddie hesitated, but did not dare attempt to not comply. As he started to raise his back, the pulses started, soon becoming almost unbearable as his head and shoulders lifted up.

"Down," Miss Degrasse said. "Good boy," she said to Eddie, leaning down and holding a treat in her hand. "Eat," she said, as Eddie's tongue appeared and took the treat back into his mouth. The wonderfully warm feeling returned, flowing though Eddie like a gentle current, relieving the aches in his balls, and soon flowing to his trapped penis, and stiffening it. He became more and more aware of his penis as it struggled unsuccessfully to push itself from the cage.

As Miss Degrasse sat back up, she turned back to Judith. "It's really very simple, Judith. The remote triggers Eddie's little motivator, a clever little device much like that Dreamlover we saw last month. This one is called GoodBoy and it seems a little more advanced. It has a cute ring around his privates and it provides the motivation when he disobeys, or, when it is in puppy mode like it is now, when he tries to stand or he lifts his arms too high from the floor. It comes with the two wrist bands you may have noticed, which make sure his hands stay apart and stay away from the his privates, and it even has a collar which works much the same way."

"Wow," Judith said. "I noticed a refreshing politeness in Eddie this morning. I was wondering what was going on! I guess that is why you couldn't tie your shoes, Eddie!" she said with a grin. "And that explains your unbuckled belt and tie! Guess all that would be pretty hard to do with one hand!" she said, as they both giggled.

"Well, I thought you would enjoy hearing about the workshop, but we do need to get to work!" Miss Degrasse said.

They both stood, Miss Degrasse turned off the puppy mode, and said, "Stand." Eddie stood, his shirttail becoming more disheveled, and his embarrassment increasing as he felt his stiffened cock continuing to unsuccessfully struggle and fight for freedom from the cage. She then clicked the wrist button, and said, "Eddie, show Judith you little motivator."

Timidly Eddie reached up to his pants, relieved that there was no shock. "Just drop them to the floor Eddie," Miss Degrasse said.

Eddie unhooked the clasp, unzipped, dropping the slacks to the floor, revealing the pink lacey panties. "Panties too," Miss Degrasse said. Eddie slipped his panties down to his knees and stood back up, praying no one else would enter the room. "And lift your shirt tail, and spread your stance." She paused, and then said mockingly, "I wouldn't think I would have to explain every detail to you, Eddie!"

Eddie felt totally exposed as Miss Degrasse pointed Judith's attention to the metal ring, the small ring for connecting a leash or other cords, and the Asylum cock cage. Judith was overflowing with interest. As the tour ended, she said, "Dress," and Eddie meekly reached down, pulled up the panties and slacks, tucked in his shirt, and fastened and zipped the pants. He then buckled his belt, relieved that he finally had his clothing in order. She said, "Now Eddie, I am going to put this in protect mode only. You will be able to type, as long as the motivator is at least 6 inches or so away from your wrists and your wrists are separated. I read last night that in protect, your wrists can be a little closer to each other, but I think you will find the pulses are quite strong if you try to remove the wrist bands. I think you'll figure it out."

She then handed the remote to Judith, saying "Enjoy the day. I can use my phone to do everything that the remote does, so I'll just let you keep it for a couple of days." Reaching into her jacket pocket, Miss Degrasse retrieved several of the GoodBoy treats, and said, "and, Judith, be sure to reward him when he is a good boy—but no more that 4 an hour."

Judith took the treats, studied them for a moment and then dropped them in her pocket. She then turned to leave the office, with Eddie following in her steps. As they door closed behind them, she turned as said playfully, "I think this should be a fun day, don't you Eddie?"

"Yes Miss Judith," he replied, feeling very anxious, as he felt the circle of his fantasy turned reality uncomfortably widen.

-o-

Eddie followed Judith as far as her office, and then continued on to his cubicle. He settled down in his chair, and started to work on his daily routine. But as he scooted his chair up to the desk, and his hands moved towards the keyboard, the now familiar pulsing began. He paused, moving his chair back until just his knees were under the desk, and cautiously leaned to the keyboard, being careful to keep his wrists spread. He felt awkward and he looked awkward, like an arthritic old man crouched over the keyboard.

After a few tries, he finally found a position that worked, and he opened his email and began dealing with the issues—printers low on ink, users needing help to reset passwords, reviewing the security logs. In all, it was an uneventful morning. Nearing lunch, his cell phone signaled receiving a text, and he checked it out—it was from Judith, asking if he was interested in joining her for lunch. Lunch with Judith was usually all about work, and most often, her opportunity to go over his monthly performance ratings. While the performance process called the mandatory review meeting a dialogue, with Judith, it was always a one way conversation. He tapped out an okay, asking about time. She responded that she would buzz him when she was ready.

He returned to his work. Later he felt a strong pulse from the GoodBoy, which reinforced his awareness of the returning pain. He was confused, finally concluding that he had carelessly let his wrists get too close. But after another minute, he felt another strong pulse. Then his cell phone pinged that a text had arrived. Checking the text, he saw it was from Judith. It was all caps, "AREN'T YOU COMING!!! I TOLD YOU I WOULD BUZZ YOU!"

Eddie stood up, grabbed his jacket, and quickly headed to Judith's office, just as she walked out of her office door. He followed her quick steps out of the office suite and to the elevators. As they waited, she said firmly, "Learn to pay attention, Eddie. Miss Degrasse told me you had been well trained last night, but it does seem we need to work on a few things."

Just then the doors opened, as she turned her head back saying, "Come." A couple of others had arrived to wait for the elevator. He wasn't sure how much had been overheard, as he moved to the back of the elevator, with a few of the women crowding between Eddie and Judith, who remained near the elevator door. He avoided eye contact on the way down to the lobby.

As the doors opened to the lobby, Judith resumed her fast pace, her heels clicking on the hard lobby floor, as Eddie struggled to politely move through past the other passengers, and then speeding to catch up with Judith. She walked past the café that they usually would go do, and then entered a nicer restaurant a few doors down. She introduced herself to the maître d, and apologized for being a little late. They were soon shown to their table.

Judith quietly looked over the menu. When the waiter arrived to offer beverages, she said, "We are unfortunately a little late. I will take a glass of white wine, and my friend will have water with lemon. We will both have the chef's salad, bleu cheese on mine, his plain, no dressing." The waiter politely took the order, leaving them in silence.

After a few minutes, Judith said, "Thought that since your review date was so close, we could get that out of the way. In summary, you need to be much more attentive to responding to my needs, the needs of the staff, and, of course, and the needs of our CEO. I can't be embarrassed like I was yesterday with those fucking backups! That can't happen again.

"Also, I was talking with Cynthia in procurement this morning, and she was frustrated that her printer seemed to always be running out of toner or paper. Cynthia is a very important part of this company, and I can't have her displeased. And if this is something I just found out casually, I can't help but think that others have the same experience. Understand?"

Eddie was caught off guard with the barrage of negative comments. There were usually a couple of issues for improvement, but the tone and harshness in Judith's voice was clearly different. He meekly responded, "Yes, Miss Judith."

"And you will have a corrective action plan on my desk by the end of the day, right?" she said.

The corrective action plans were always a pain. They had to be worded to give her confidence that all of the issues were understood and being addressed with "measureable steps," as she would say. But should he error on putting too much in the plan, it would become a true thorn in his side by increasing his efforts to write the weekly recaps that detailed which steps were completed for each issue area. Fighting to hold back how upset he felt, he choose to simply reply, "Yes, Miss Judith."

"Good," she said, pausing to think, and then saying, "or perhaps I should say 'Good boy.' But then, you really haven't been a good boy, have you, little one?"

He was confused, wondering where the conversation was going, as the waiter served the salads. He paused to wait for the waiter to leave, but Judith prodded him again, "Right?"

"Yes Miss Judith," he said, feeling like he was a ten year old being reprimanded by his mother.

Judith turned her attention to her salad. She was a quick eater, and she had made very clear in the past that she did not enjoy being interrupted. Eddie began eating the undressed salad, finding it rather tasteless, but knowing that Judith would be ready to leave as soon as she finished eating. When the waiter stopped to ask if there would be anything else, Judith said, "I think I will have a coffee with cream. Water will be fine with him."

Eddie was surprised that she was having coffee, again not a usual habit for the review lunches. And he did not mind not having any, as he had began feeling an urge to pee, and felt too embarrassed to ask to be excused. As the waiter returned with the coffee, and Judith asked for the check, Eddie decided to seize the opportunity and ask to be excused, saying, "Miss Judith, may I excuse myself for just a moment?" Eddie felt the warmth grow in his face, and waited to push back his chair.

After turning back to her salad, she said, "If you must. But be quick. I would think you would have taken care of that before I was ready for lunch. Just another example of not fully focusing on others, I would say."

"Yes Miss Judith," Eddie said, "I apologize. Won't happen again."

As she responded, "It best not," Eddie pushed back his chair and headed to find the restroom. He ended up having to ask a waitress for directions, trying not to show the desperation in his voice. She smiled, and pointed the way, and he thanked her and headed directly to the men's room door. He was quick about it, becoming more comfortable in handing his clothing with the activated wrist bands. He was soon back at the table.

As he sat down at the table, he noticed that the folio holding the bill was next to his partly finished salad, and more troubling, he noticed that Judith was holding the remote. He dug out his billfold, discovering that he still had to work it with just one hand, slipped out his credit card, and then placed the card on the folio, surprised that he had been expected to pick up the total tab. Judith smiled, and then said, "So Eddie, Miss Degrasse told me some interesting details from last night. I was curious what you thought of our little women's group?"

Eddie paused, unsure what to say, and then proceeded cautiously, "It was interesting. I met some interesting women."

"Umm," Judith said smiling, "and what did you think about Donna's training techniques?"

Eddie paused again, unsure of how much Judith knew, but not wanting to reveal more. "Miss Donna was an effective teacher. She was always clear and made sure I understood what she was explaining."

"So I understand, Eddie," Judith said, still fingering the remote's buttons. "So, if I said one of the commands, right here at this table, you would immediately know what was expected?"

Eddie looked up, trying to plead with his eyes, but knowing all he could say was "Yes Miss Judith."