Laid Time Off

Terra Underwood started working at Tech Co. in January. The call back was the best Christmas and New Year's gift combined she could have ever imagined. Her first day was a whirlwind. She got her desk, quota and supplies within the first twenty minutes and was set to work with little preamble.

Being her first real job out of college, she naturally had a bit of a time adjusting. She was friendly enough with her coworkers and fit in just fine, but her first few months were hell when it came to her workload. She would constantly get reports sent back due to an abundance of errors on top of turning in the reports late. Her only saving grace was that her boss, Janet Johnson, was so lenient with her.

Janet took time out of her busy schedule to mentor Terra. She would check in on Terra's progress whenever she had a chance. She made sure Terra was adjusting properly into the office life with her coworkers and offered a hand with any disputes. The biggest help was the overtime. Terra worked herself to the bone every day to hand in reports that were ultimately full of errors. Then she would spend most of her night taking overtime to fix those mistakes.

Janet joined her on her nights, claiming that she simply had work of her own to get done but Terra knew better. Her boss was staying to help her get better at her job. Despite claiming to have her own work, she was always available to answer any questions Terra had as well as always 'just happening to' finish her work at the same time as Terra so they would leave together.

Those long nights were both the bane of Terra's job, and also her favorite parts. She was there because she was a fuck up, but she spent her nights chatting with Janet. Janet insisted that they be more friendly with each other, being some of the few women in the office. Sometimes she even brought a bottle of wine for them to share as they worked. When Terra refused, she simply stated, "Oh, please. Who's going to get you in trouble? Me? I'm the one who brought the damn thing."

Terra was relieved at the calming atmosphere Janet provided. Janet made her feel so at ease in the office. That she belonged. Even if she made constant mistakes. Months passed and eventually Terra got good enough at her job to no longer warrant the overtime every day. But sure enough, whenever she did stay late, Janet was there to keep her company.

Soon the summer came around and Janet learned of the annual company retreat. Every year, upper management went on a retreat for a week to relax. A few employees were chosen by management based on performance to accompany them on the vacation.

It came to a big surprise to everyone when Janet chose Terra from her branch to accompany her. Her reasoning was that despite her rocky start, Terra showed drive and commitment to the job for her daily overtime and rapid improvement.

Terra almost rejected the offer. Surely there were others in the office more qualified and deserving of the spot. Others who had worked hard to excel, not she, who had worked hard only to reach mediocrity. But at the urging of her co-workers and Janet herself, she agreed to go. As they told her, it would be a great way to get her foot in the door with upper management for potential promotions. And of course, the free trip to the tropics that counted as paid vacation was pretty convincing. And so Terra boarded the flight and chatted with Janet all the way to their destination.

Day 1 of 7

The first day of the trip had proven to Terra that she should have given her ticket to someone else. Janet disappeared to hang out with and discuss business with the other execs while the employees entertained themselves at the resort. Terra admittedly had trouble relaxing in work environments so she thought a vacation mixed with aspects of work, or at least the people from work, would solve her problems. Instead, this only made her more tense.

The first thing she noticed when introduced to the other employees was that she was the only woman amongst them. In fact she and Janet were the only women, period. The other employees also noticed this.

After they went around the circle introducing themselves, Terra could feel the atmosphere but hoped it was just her mind playing tricks on her. Standing around with nothing to do, one of the other workers suggested that they hit the beach. Thankful that someone put forth anything, everyone else agreed.

Terra checked into her room and slipped into a bikini that she thought was absolutely adorable. Her friends had picked it out for her just for the trip. They had jokingly insinuated she should use it to seduce an exec, which she shot down instantly. But she did buy the bikini. They were right about the fact that it flattered her in all the right ways.

On the beach, Terra discovered that her fears were warranted. The majority of the guys suggested they play touch football and that Terra be the ref. An obvious attempt to show off for her. After watching a few plays, Terra wandered off to be alone, figuring that would be better than dealing with that.

After a few minutes of standing in the shade, Brian, one of the employees who didn't join in on the game, approached her holding two bottles of soda. Ah, he was the one who suggested we go to the beach. She looked him over. He clearly wasn't as athletic as the other men, though she wouldn't call him fat. He had more of a dad bod, clearly meant for power over speed. And he wasn't bad to look at.

Brain wandered over and offered her a bottle. Terra took it. "Thank you." She internally sighed. Here we go.

Brain joined her in the shade, standing a few feet away. "No problem." He took a deep breath and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I suggested we come out here."

"Why? The weather's nice and it's a beautiful day."

"I think we both know why. I wasn't thinking and didn't realize those other guys would hound you and all that."

"Well, I thank you for the apology Brain but I don't exactly think you're in the wrong here. If you hadn't suggested this we would probably all still be standing in the lobby." They shared a quick laugh.

"That's true." A minute passed with some awkward tension in the air before Brain shuffled his feet. "Welp. That's all I wanted to say. Sorry for disturbing your obvious alone time. Just didn't want you to think we are all like that. I'll leave you to it." He took a few steps and stopped. "Oh! I'll also try to steer them away from this area when they inevitably come looking for you, so, feel free to take all the time you need." And then we were off. He's not so bad after all.

Terra spent her first afternoon of the retreat alone. After a few more attempts, the guys gave up hitting on her, seeing she wasn't interested. Brian then suggested they go try some of the other women at the resort. As the pack wandered off to go hit on other resort-goers, Terra almost choked on her drink giggling at Brian, who gave her a huge smile and two thumbs up behind the group's back. She gave him a thumbs up and mouthed 'thank you' to him.

Her faith in other humans restored, Terra genuinely enjoyed the rest of her day. She once even saw Janet and was flashed a smile from under her big sun hat while she talked with obviously important people.

As the day wound down, most of the resort-goers gathered in the hall for the buffet/dinner. Having revealed their true colors, most of the other employees sat separate from Terra. Most of them sat at their own little 'boys club' table, though one or two seemed to have struck gold and were sitting with women she had seen around. Janet sat at a big, important table with all the male execs, and thus Terra sat alone, picking at her plate until a familiar shape wandered over to her.

"How's it going Terra?" At the sound of his voice Terra perked up. Maybe I won't be ostracized for the entire week. She looked up and smiled at the man standing next to her chair.

"Oh, Hi Brian."

He flashed her a smile and over exaggerated his next line, playing up the cheesiness of it. "Forgive me miss, but is this seat taken?" he gestured at the seat next to her.

She played along. "It has a few reservations but I can move some around for you."

"Thank you." Brian sat down next to her. "So... how was your day after the dogs lost your scent?"

Terra looked at Brian. She took a risk and told him the truth. She sighed. "Lonely"

"What? Do you actually miss the attention?"

"No! No. I don't. I just also don't want to be alone; you know?"

Brian surprised her by taking her hand. Well, less taking her hand and more placing one of his over hers. Terra thought long and hard in the second after. She tried to see any hint of ulterior motive in his face, his eyes. She couldn't. In fact she could tell he was nervous that he had made a mistake in the action. She didn't move her hand away. Maybe he actually isn't like them. Then "I do actually. I'm sure you noticed the other guys didn't exactly take to my... magnetizing charisma. After we walked off I spent the rest of the day alone, walking the seashore, gazing at the ocean, all that jazz."

"That sounds really nice, actually"

He released a dry chuckle. "Yeah, a real RnB music video, alright. And just like in those songs, I was lonely. So we have something in common."

They had a nice dinner. They laughed, they joked, Brian shared some inside info on the other guys. It was a fun time. Terra thought she had made a nice friend. When the night truly settled around them, Terra noticed the changes. Those who had met other resort-goers were leaving the hall, probably to go 'consummate' their new friendships. Everyone else stayed in groups and started ordering drinks.

She didn't particularly want to do any of those things and so she went to excuse herself to her room. She and Brian stood from the table and made to say their farewells.

"Thank you so much Brian." She gave him a hug. She felt him tense as he didn't expect the contact. After a second he returned. She kept talking as she squeezed. "I'm sorry if I was a bit prickly. Thanks for making me finally feel welcome."

"No problem, Terra..." There was a lingering in his sentence, like it hadn't ended yet. Oh no. He made up his mind. "We both felt a little left out today. It would be a shame to make that the new normal." She felt a hand slide from her shoulder blade down to her lower back. "I think we can solve our problems of loneliness together. How about it? I'm certain I can make you feel even more welcome." Why does it always turn out this way?

Terra pushed herself from the hug. She felt the tears well up in her eyes. "I should have known."

"What? Wait? Why are you crying? I thought things were going well."

"They were! Until you started thinking with your dick like the rest of them. I thought you were better than them, but you're worse. At least they were upfront about it. You made me think you cared about me."

"Terra I do ca-"

"Do you!? Who shows that they care about someone they just met by propositioning them for sex!?" She saw him about to respond and decided she didn't want to hear it. She gathered up her things and stormed out of the hall, ignoring the eyes on her back.

She went up to her room and shut the door, then laid on her bed. She tried to hold back her tears. They aren't worth it. They came anyway.

An hour or so later, she heard a knock on her door. How does he even know where my room is? "Go away Brian!"

The voice that answered back was a feminine one. "Terra it's me."

She wiped her face. "Janet?"

"Terra, open up. It's hard to talk through a door."

Terra got up from her bed and opened the door. As the voice suggested, her boss was standing there. When the door opened wide enough, Janet pushed her way in and wrapped Terra in a tight hug, squeezing her tightly. "Janet!?"

"Oh thank god you're OK." Janet released the hug but still held Terra by the shoulders, looking her up and down. Isn't this a bit too close? "You are OK right?"

The surprise as to how personal her boss was getting shook her out of her sadness. "Yeah... um. Yeah, no, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You left in a hurry. And... Oh no, look at your eyes. You've been crying haven't you?" She wrapped her back in the hug. "You poor thing."

Terra tensed. Her arms started to rise to return it, but she stopped. I shouldn't do this. She pried herself from the hug. "Mrs. Johnson, you - we shouldn't do this. Behave so casually, I mean." Hopefully she got the meaning of my rambling.

Janet seemed to ignore her poorly put together statement. "But are you really OK, Terra?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Just some guys being dicks. Nothing new. Not worth worrying over."

Janet once again surprised her by taking her hand in both of hers. Even though she felt it was wrong, she couldn't bring herself to pull away. "That's not true Terra. Just because that's 'the way things are' doesn't make it any less wrong. I'm here for you if you need anything."

"Thanks, but I don't think-"

"Terra I know we have the whole boss-employee thing, but there's so much more to us than that. First and foremost we are human beings, with feelings. I can't and won't just stand by when someone I care about is in pain. Second, even though we are working together, we are women in a field dominated by men. We have to stick together. And lastly, I should shoulder some of the blame for this."

"You? Why?"

"I should have warned you or told the others to leave you alone or something. I'm used to being the only woman here, but like you said, I'm essentially their boss. They would never try something like that with me. It slipped my mind that you wouldn't have that same safety net." Her voice began to waver near the end.

Seeing Janet so distraught at her predicament filled Terra with sadness. "No. No it's not your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself for assholes. I don't blame you at all."

"Really?"

"Absolutely not." This time Terra initiated the hug. She felt Janet squeeze her back and they spent a second comforting each other.

"You are too kind Terra." They let each other go. "Tell you what. I'm going to make it up to you tomorrow, Terra. After I get rid of the execs it's just you and me. Just like old times in the office. A couple of gals having fun. How's that?"

Terra felt a wave of relief and happiness run over her. I won't be alone all week. "I'd like that Mrs. Johnson."

"Oh, please Terra. Save that for the office. This week, we are just co-workers on vacation. Call me Janet." She reached into her bag and pulled out a notepad and handed it to Terra with a pen. "Here, write down your number and we can set up a meeting time." Terra did as she was told and they said their goodbyes. When the door closed, Terra sat on her bed and turned on a movie, having forgotten about her sadness in excitement for the next day.

When she was winding down to go to sleep, her phone buzzed. Looking at it, it was a number she didn't know. She read the message.

'Hey, Terra. It's Janet. I just wanted to make sure you were really OK after everything that happened.'

She typed back. 'I'm fine now.' She started typing something then stopped. That's too far.

Janet didn't miss her hesitation. 'Are you sure you're OK? What were you going to type?' There was a pause. 'Terra, talk to me. Please. I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong...'

I'm making her worry again. 'Everything's fine. I just... I wanted to say thank you for checking up on me earlier.'

'Think nothing of it. After I take care of this last bit of business tomorrow we can spend the week truly having fun. Hopefully we can do more together than have me check up on you. See you tomorrow afternoon. ;)'

Terra reread the message a few times. She's really nice. She shot back 'I can't wait! Good night.' She hesitated a second before sending a second message. ':)' She went to sleep that night with a smile on her face, excited for whatever Janet had in store for them.

Day 2 of 7

Terra spent her morning in her room, not wanting to deal with seeing everyone after the scene she made the previous night. She was content to do that until she had an epiphany. You know what? Fuck them. They are assholes and will be assholes whether I'm in here or not. Might as well enjoy my vacation. At noon she left her room in her bikini and hit the sand again, this time with her head held high.

After the first hour of turning away guys, she finally got the alone time she desired. That was until another shadow blocked her sun.

Terra was laying on her stomach, trying to tan her back when the new suitor cast his shadow. "Look, asshole, as I told every guy before you, and will tell everyone after, I'm not interested."

"So you aren't interested in guys. Would you perhaps be interested in a woman?"

Terra sat up. Lo and behold, Janet was standing over her. She had her large sun hat on and a pair of dark shades. She carried a tote bag as she stared down at Terra. Her smile was almost warm enough to almost replace the sun she was blocking. And if the smile wasn't enough, her body was definitely hot enough. Platonically, of course.

She wore a simple bikini. Its simplicity only highlighted her beauty. Terra never noticed through all the business suits, but Janet clearly kept herself in shape. Terra was surprised that those blouses could hide her breasts and overall figure so well. She was practically bursting out of her bikini top, and the bottoms dug just enough into her to show off ample flesh on her hips. She wore a beautiful pareo with a pattern of orchids. Hung low on her hips. Terra was speechless.

Janet laughed. "I was just teasing Terra. But maybe you are interested in the fairer sex?" She lowered her shades and offered a raised eyebrow.

Terra picked her jaw off the sand and shook her head. "No, no I'm straight. I just never noticed how pretty you are."

Janet placed her beach towel next to Terra's and joined her in lounging in the sun. "Good. That means the clothes work. It's easier to get by day to day when you don't show the men any more femininity than you have to."

"That makes sense."

"So Terra. How are you enjoying your vacation, you know after yesterday?" Janet offered a sympathetic look and placed a hand on Terra's shoulder. Terra placed her own hand over Janet's.

"I'm doing better, thanks." Janet pulled her into a hug that Terra returned.

"Oh, no. Terra you are burning up!"

Terra only laughed. "Well, I was tanning before you got here."

"Not without oil you aren't. You'll just damage your skin."

"Oh. Well I don't have any oil."

"I do. Lay down, I'll apply it for you."

"Oh no. I couldn't ask you to do that." As she was talking, Janet simply pushed her back down onto her stomach.

"Well it's a good thing you didn't ask me, then."

"But Mrs. Johns-"

"Ah ah ah. That's for the office. Remember, we are just two friends on vacation. And friends don't let other friends get sunburnt." Some part of Terra wanted to resist but she couldn't get through that reasoning. It's not like we're doing anything technically wrong. "Let me throw in a bonus. I studied a few years ago under a masseuse. Had some free time and I was bored. I'll throw in a two for one. You get oiled up and a massage, free of charge."

"Well... it's hard to turn down such a generous offer."

"Then don't. Now lay flat." Terra did as she was told and tried not to tense too much when she felt Janet swing her body over her legs, resting herself on Terra's thighs. She did jump when she felt Janet pull the string to her bikini top and she felt the slack.