Confessions of a Mailgirl Ch. 09

"Alright, that's enough," I heard Sanjeev Singh say. I looked up and realized for the first time that he'd been observing everything from the background. "Everyone back to their desks. Stephanie and Nine follow me to my office please."

As I entered Sanjeev's office I wasn't sure what to expect. "You may kneel on the floor, Nine," he said. "Stephanie, take a seat." Sanjeev sat down behind his desk. "Stephanie," he said turning to her, "I have been looking over all the material and I believe you would be a good candidate for the company's Mailgirls program."

"What?" Stephanie laughed. "You've got to be joking."

"Not at all," he replied in that Indian accent of his. "You have a very attractive face and figure and I believe you would be an ideal candidate to become a mailgirl. It pays quite well also. More than you're earning now along with a $50,000 bonus up front for signing a two year contract. I plan on submitting your name for consideration."

"Submit all you want, Sanjeev, but there's no way in hell I would ever do that no matter how much it pays."

Sanjeev leaned back in his chair. "Very well then, let's discuss the alternative, Stephanie. I just witnessed you placing both of your hands on this mailgirl's breasts and slapping her on the rear out in the hallway. And then you called her a slut and a whore, among other things, out on the floor." The color drained from Stephanie's face as he spoke.

"Um, I was just having some fun with her," she replied nervously. "I'm sure she didn't mind it. And I was telling the others to not call her those names."

"Please, do you think I am stupid? Those are clear violations of the company's sexual harassment policies as spelled out for you by Barbara Anderson in today's meeting. I am sure you understand the consequences."

"What the hell is this, Sanjeev?" Stephanie responded angrily. "Are you trying to blackmail me? Is this about getting that $10,000 bonus?"

Sanjeev turned to me now. "Danica," he said calling me by name, "would you like to file a sexual harassment claim against Stephanie? I will back you up if you do."

I suppose I could have taken the high road, turned the other cheek, and felt some sympathy for my ex-friend. Instead I responded almost instantly with "Yes sir, I would." After what had just happened out on the floor I wasn't in a forgiving mood.

"Very well then, I'll start the paperwork. Unfortunately I believe this will end with your termination, Stephanie. I'm also afraid that being fired for cause will make you ineligible for unemployment benefits or severance pay."

"Wait a minute, Sanjeev, please, "Stephanie replied desperately. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I promise."

"I am sorry, but Danica wishes to file a complaint so I must act on it. Perhaps she would allow you the opportunity to talk to Barbara about an alternative career opportunity as a mailgirl in exchange for dropping her claim?"

"Yes sir, I would," I said to him, "provided she signs a two year Mailgirl contract."

Stephanie eyes began desperately moving from me to Sanjeev to the door and back again as if searching for an escape from her trap. Finally she slumped resignedly into her chair. "I'll talk to Barbara Anderson," she said quietly. "I'm not signing anything, though. I just want to explain things to her."

"Alright," Sanjeev said. "I will see if I can arrange a meeting this afternoon with Barbara so you can discuss your future with her, Stephanie."

Knowing Barbara as I did, I had no doubt whatsoever how that meeting would turn out.

SECOND THOUGHTS

After being dismissed from Sanjeev's office I suddenly realized how hungry I was. Between Barbara's presentation, the meeting in her office, and the craziness that just took place in Marketing, I'd missed my lunch break. Normally every second of my day at work had been governed by my smart watch, but the phone now strapped to my arm hadn't issued me any orders and I wasn't even sure if it was active yet. Without something to tell me where to go, what to do, and how much time I was allowed to do it, I was feeling a little unmoored.

I decided to go back to the tower to eat my lunch and began making my way back through the south wing. Without a pickup or delivery deadline to meet I felt like just a naked girl walking through a busy office complex as fully clothed people gawked at me. Of course that's exactly what I was, but when I was performing my mailgirl duties I at least had a sense of purpose and a goal to focus on. With only vague instructions from Barbara to guide me right now I felt an odd longing for the return of an electronic leash that would control my every step throughout the workday.

It was also strange how much more comfortable I felt once I got back into the tower. After three months here the places and faces had grown familiar and I'd learned to navigate these waters without sinking. Even though the tower employees would never accept me as one of them it still felt a little like home. The rest of the DDE complex remained a strange and foreign land for a naked mailgirl.

I went down to the makeshift locker room in the basement and decided to take a shower. As I was soaping myself it struck me that this might be the last time I'd be able to do this with some semblance of privacy. Tomorrow I'd be "inaugurating" the new Mailgirls locker room and would be showering in front of an audience. I desperately wished that things could continue on as they were with just Kelly, Anna, and me working the tower. If I could only do that I thought I might be willing to keep working as a mailgirl indefinitely. In many ways the job was perfectly suited for my exhibitionist and submissive impulses. Barbara had more ambitious plans for me, though, and I knew that every time I reached some level of comfort she'd devise a new way to test and expand my boundaries.

After my shower I gathered my lunch and took it to the second floor Mailgirls mat. For once I could eat without worrying about the clock and my mind wandered back to the events in Sanjeev's office. As I thought about it I began having nagging doubts about whether I'd done the right thing. Yeah, Stephanie had been a complete bitch to me today, but I also knew that Sanjeev was cynically using me to blackmail her into becoming a mailgirl so he could get the $10,000 bonus.

Sanjeev had written out the formal sexual harassment complaint against Stephanie while she sat there withdrawn into a morose funk, refusing to speak. After he'd finished it I'd signed it without hesitation, still angry about the way I'd been treated. After that Sanjeev had called Barbara and arranged an immediate meeting with her. I'd been surprised that she excluded me from it telling Sanjeev that my signature on the complaint was enough. Now that I thought about it I realized that she knew I'd probably start waffling on it, just as I was starting to do now. Barbara knew me too well. She didn't want me anywhere near her office during the meeting with Stephanie.

Now that some time had passed and my anger had subsided I was feeling pangs of guilt about subjecting Stephanie to Barbara's tender mercies. Did she really deserve to lose her job or be forced into Mailgirl servitude just because she'd been mean to me today? And if I was really a humiliation junkie hadn't she given me exactly what I craved? I guess it was because it had happened in front of so many people I knew that it felt like she'd crossed the line.

I was still shocked about how nasty Steph had been to me but I guess in retrospect I should have seen it coming. Things had started going south almost immediately after she'd found out that I'd become a mailgirl. The party that I went to after that had been uncomfortable all the way around, but Stephanie in particular had been cold and condescending toward me. Something Gary said that night gave me the impression that she'd been trashing me to all of my friends and turning them against me. When I confronted her about it she went into a rant about how I was taking part in something that was setting women's rights back by decades. Steph had never struck me as an ardent feminist before that but I couldn't really argue with it either.

And then today when Barbara put me up on stage and thoroughly humiliated me in front of several hundred DDE managers, Steph seemed to enjoy every second of it. Somewhere along the line I'd obviously pissed in her Cheerios without realizing it.

The more I thought about it the worse I felt about signing that sexual harassment complaint. No matter what Steph had done today she didn't deserve to be swept into the black hole of Barbara's gravitational pull for it. I knew Steph was up in Barbara's office right now and I was tempted to go up there and attempt to withdraw my complaint, but I was certain it wouldn't do any good. Her fate was in Barbara's hands now and for me to try to change that would be like spitting into a hurricane.

I finished my lunch and began wondering what I should do next. Barbara had told me to go to every department in the rest of the complex outside of the tower, let myself be seen, and answer any questions about Mailgirls and the app. That seemed simple enough but how exactly was I supposed to do that? Did I wander around to random departments and search for the manager? Should I establish some kind of plan for the order that I did this to make sure I didn't miss anyone? Should I just blow it off knowing that Barbara's sole purpose for it was to further humiliate me? Good Christ, I thought, I'm totally lost now without a fucking watch to tell me what to do. How pathetic is that? Three months as a mailgirl had erased any initiative I'd learned in earning an MBA degree or spending a year in DDE's management training program.

I decided I'd start with the south wing and work my way through it floor by floor, department by department. The prospect of it sounded absolutely horrible, but what choice did I have?

I was nearly to the entrance to the south wing when the MMU strapped to my arm began vibrating. I had to twist my arm to read it and was almost grateful to see I was being summoned to Barbara's office. I turned and made the familiar trip up the stairs to the ninth floor.

As I entered Barbara's office I found Stephanie kneeling naked on Barbara's floor, tears streaming down her cheeks. I wish I could say I was shocked by this, but I wasn't. This is exactly what I'd expected to see.

"Nine, I think you've met our newest mailgirl," Barbara said to me.

I was immediately overcome by intense guilt. What the hell had I done?

DONE DEAL

"I'd like to withdraw my sexual harassment claim against Stephanie, ma'am," I said to Barbara who laughed in response as if she'd known this was coming.

"You already have, Nine," she said. "That was was part of the agreement, remember? You drop the sexual harassment claim in exchange for Stephanie signing a two year Mailgirls contract. The contract is signed and on its way to Human Resources. It's a done deal."

"By law she should have three days to cancel the contract, ma'am," I said, repeating something I'd once read about contracts.

"In this state that only applies to contracts for consumer purchases," she replied. "If she had signed a contract to join a health club or buy a house or a car that would apply. It doesn't apply to employment contracts. And withdrawing your claim wouldn't help her keep her job since her manager also witnessed the harassment. I'll tell you what, though, in the spirit of fairness I'll give Stephanie one final chance to get out of the contract without financial penalty."

Barbara turned her attention now to the naked girl kneeling on the carpet. "Stephanie, I'll rip up the contract in favor of your immediate termination. Do you want me to do that? Last chance."

"N-no ma'am," Stephanie blubbered, her eyes still wet with tears.

Barbara handed Stephanie a tissue and allowed her a minute to compose herself, then she turned to me. "Take her down to get showered and shaved, then to the security office to be photographed for her new ID badge," she ordered. "She'll be assigned the number three as her Mailgirl identification. There are some black pens down in the locker room now so I want you to apply the number to her body before she gets photographed. After that I want you to escort her to Donna Haverly's office on the seventh floor and drop her off. When you're done there return here to my office, Nine."

"Yes ma'am." My attempt to help Stephanie had gone Barbara's way just like everything always did. Stephanie rose to her feet and turned to me, her eyes downcast to the floor. This was the first time I'd ever seen her naked.

Stephanie had short blonde hair with noticeable dark roots, brown eyes, and a very pretty face. Her breasts were a full C cup I guessed, firm but with a slight sag because of their weight. They were complimented by a firm, round "bubble butt." Down below she was shaved except for a dark brown strip that would soon be coming off, and on her ankle was a small butterfly tattoo. I knew Barbara wasn't a fan of tattoos on mailgirls but this one must have been unobtrusive enough to let it go. Stephanie had always spent more time clubbing than working out so I thought she could stand to lose five pounds or so off of her waist, but a few weeks as a mailgirl would take care of that. Running naked around the DDE complex would soon give her a wonderfully toned mailgirl's body.

I felt a little embarrassed as I caught myself analyzing her body like that. "Follow me, Three," I said as I turned toward the door.

As we made our way through the ninth floor toward the stairs I kept an eye on her to make sure she didn't try to cover herself but Stephanie managed keep her hands at her sides. Her face was a mask of embarrassment, though, and her eyes darted wildly about the room as we walked. The appearance of a new naked girl on the floor was drawing a lot of attention.

We entered the stairwell and began our descent to the basement but Stephanie only made it to halfway between the eighth and seventh floor before stopping and grasping the handrail. "Oh my god, I can't believe I'm doing this," she said as she clung to the rail and for a minute I was afraid she might get sick.

"Are you okay, Steph?" I asked.

"No I'm not, Danica," she said angrily as she turned to face me. "I'm a very long way from being okay. Thanks for ruining my life you fucking bitch!"

Whatever sympathy I'd been feeling for her quickly evaporated. "Don't blame me for this, Steph. Your the one who grabbed my tits and slapped my ass right in front of Sanjeev's office, not to mention calling me a whore and a slut and a skank in front of all my friends. You heard Barbara, you were screwed even without me filing a complaint against you."

"Okay, I shouldn't have done that, but you sure as hell made it easier for Sanjeev by agreeing to sign that damn complaint. Did you really feel like I was sexually harassing you? After you'd just spent the morning on stage being treated like a mindless piece of meat by Barbara Anderson? That was a hundred times worse than anything I did to you!"

"No it wasn't. You were humiliating me in front of all my old friends and co-workers. Wait until you have to go back to Marketing as a mailgirl and you'll know what I'm talking about."

"Oh God, I can't believe I'll have to do that," Stephanie said burying her head in her hands. "This is a fucking nightmare!"

"Then why the hell are you doing it? Is the job here so damned important that you couldn't go find another one somewhere else instead of doing this?"

"No, I can't," she said angrily. "Don't you understand, Danica, I just bought a house. Every dime I've ever saved went into the down payment for it. I can't afford to go somewhere else and start at the bottom. I'll lose it!"

"What about Rob?" I asked. "Can't he help you?" Rob worked in DDE's Film and Media department and was Stephanie's live-in boyfriend.

Stephanie laughed bitterly. "God you are so out of touch with everything going on. Rob's gone. He moved out a month ago."

This surprised me. While I was still working in Marketing the two of them had been talking marriage. "Well you guys are the ones who froze me out after I became a mailgirl," I said. "How the hell should I know what's going on? And why have you been such a little bitch to me anyway? Don't give me that feminist bullshit either about how I'm setting back women's rights and all that."

"Why not?" Stephanie replied. "I worked my ass off for five years in that department trying to earn respect. Even after I finally got promoted you know what happened? The guys in the department would say to me 'Hey Steph, when are you going to become a mailgirl? You'd make a great mailgirl.' Crap like that. And now that there's a bounty on us, every pretty girl in the company is going to be pressured to become a mailgirl."

"And you blame that on me? I don't have any control over any of that."

"You helped them start this, Danica. You're a goddamn supermodel with an MBA, with every advantage in the world, and you decide to piss it away to become a mailgirl?"

"It's much more complicated than that," I said to her. "You don't know the whole story. And is that why you've been backstabbing me with everyone? Because you're jealous of my looks and education? Are you jealous because you were the hot girl in the department until I showed up?"

"There we go," Stephanie laughed bitterly. "That's the Danica we all know. 'I'm so freaking hot and I've got an MBA. This shitty little department is only a way station for me. It's only a matter of time before I'm an executive working at the top of the tower.'"

"That's not true!" I protested, but I couldn't help but wonder if there was some truth in it. Had I actually come off that way to people?

"You weren't that blatant about it, but it is true. That air of superiority was always there. Your act was wearing thin even before you left and became a mailgirl."

"So then why did you act like you were my friend if you thought I was such an arrogant bitch?"

"It wasn't an act, Danica. I liked you. I defended you."

"Then what happened, Steph? It couldn't just be about me becoming a mailgirl."

Stephanie remained silent for a minute before speaking again. "It's because of Rob. You're the reason we broke up."

"Me? What did I do?"

"For starters you flirted with him every time you were with us, even when I was right there."

"That's why you broke up with him? It was just innocent fun. He's a great looking guy. Nothing ever happened between us."

"Maybe not," Stephanie said, "but he was infatuated with you. I found a stash of nude photos of you as a mailgirl taken by people in the tower on his laptop. For all I know he was jacking off to your pictures every time he was alone. So I kicked his ass out."

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "I'm sorry, Steph, but that still isn't really my fault," I said finally.

"Okay, whatever. I'm done with this conversation. Let's go downstairs and get this shit over with." Stephanie began walking down the stairs and as I followed behind her I couldn't help but try to get in the last word.

"Since you think I'm such an arrogant, stuck up bitch, Steph, I guess you'll be interested to know that I've discovered I'm actually a submissive."

"I don't think you know what you are, Danica," she replied. "I think you're whatever the hell Barbara Anderson tells you that you are."

Stephanie and I barely spoke to each other again after that argument on the stairs. The whole process of showering, shaving, having numbers scrawled on her body, then being photographed by a leering security guard must have been a humiliating experience for her but she refused to speak of it.

When I took her up to the new Mailgirls office on the seventh floor I got my first look at Donna Haverly. I'd been expecting an attractive young woman who'd been roped into doing this by Barbara as a way to eventually turn her into a mailgirl, so I had to stifle a laugh when I saw her. Donna was a heavy set middle aged woman with a no-nonsense demeanor. There'd be no demands by Barbara that she get first-hand experience as a mailgirl in her future. Anna was on the floor helping Donna with paperwork when I entered and she looked up and smiled at me. It never failed to strike me just how innocent and adorable Anna looked even when she was kneeling naked on the floor.