Leveraging Teamwork Synergies

"It is a treat," the older woman beamed and held out her hand. "So my name is Ellen. I'll be your assistant. Anything you need done, you just let me know, okay?"

"My assistant? And this is my office?" Hannah's jaw hung open. Maybe she should have listened to Sam's voice-mail messages after all.

"Yes," the woman nodded. "Although I understand your surprise. Why he wanted all this leather and chrome in here is beyond me. You'll want to redecorate, of course. Everyone does."

"No, I love it," Hannah insisted. She turned around to take it all in once more.

"Well, to each his own. You do have a more," the woman looked a little disapprovingly at Hannah's decidedly short skirt, "modern sense of style."

Hannah shrugged. If this was her office, she might as well enjoy it. She walked around the big, curving desk and sat down. The office chair was made from strips of white leather stretched over a curved chrome frame. It conformed to her shape almost as closely as her skin tight mini dress. She leaned back, closed her eyes, and breathed in the dark aroma of her espresso. "Thanks again for the coffee," she smiled. "It's delicious."

"Glad to be of service," Ellen smiled her motherly smile. "If there's anything else, I'll be just right outside."

"Wait, there is one thing. That guy who was just here -- what's his name?"

"Oh, him? That was Roger Dobson." Ellen answered.

"Oh, yeah!" Hannah smacked her forehead with the ball of her hand. "Roger."

Alone in her new office, Hannah pulled out her phone and dialed for voice-mail. It was time to figure out just why she had a new office at all. Her call was interrupted by a little, mousey girl with dull brown hair slipping quietly into the office. Her face was small and awkward behind a pair of vast, thick framed eyeglasses.

"I love your outfit," the girl enthused.

"Thank you!" Hannah put down her phone. This was definitely someone she wanted to talk to. "It's my absolute favorite."

"Oh, it's fantastic," the visitor gushed. "We've been talking about going after the youth market for, like, years and it's such a thrill to finally have somebody in this office who is going to get serious."

"It is a thrill," Hannah agreed. She didn't know what this girl was talking about, but she enjoyed the enthusiasm.

"I'm Molly, by the way. Molly Bancroft," she pulled a few glossy photographs out of a folder she had been holding. "So I know you just got here, but I'm really excited about these." Molly spread the photos over the desk -- Hannah's desk! -- so she could see them. There were photos of a model wearing a sleek cocktail dress in a bold black and white print. The photos showed the dress from several angles -- front, back, sides.

"Oh, this is cute!" Hannah squealed. "I would totally wear this."

"Isn't it!" Molly squealed back. "So do you think we should add this to the spring collection?"

"Fuck yeah! It's awesome."

"Oh, thank you thank you," Molly swept up the photos and hugged them to her chest. "You don't know how much this means to me. I've been trying to get my ideas noticed since I started here. Thank you so much!"

"Hey, no problem," Hannah shrugged and took a sip from her espresso. This girl was easy to please. She had some great taste in fashion, though. Too bad she didn't put a little more effort into her own appearance.

When Molly had bounded out the door, Hannah went back to her phone. There were six voice-mail messages from Sam and at least twice as many texts. Hannah felt a little guilty -- she had been out partying and Sam had obviously been at home freaking out royally. She'd have to make it up to her sister somehow.

She was interrupted again, however, when a man wearing a gray fedora and a black silk shirt stormed into the office. "I hear that you're revamping the spring collection on your first day!" he blustered in a snobbish English accent.

"I did what?"

"This," he tossed a folder onto Hannah's desk. Photographs spilled out and scattered across the smooth surface. "This is a cohesive collection. This is the culmination of weeks of work. This is not something you go mucking around with on a whim."

"This," Hannah grabbed one of the photos that had caught her eye, "is ass-ugly."

"Well, that's one of Roger's pieces," he sniffed. "It's not the strongest piece in the collection, I suppose."

"Roger's? Really? What else is from him?"

"Well," he leaned over the desk and poked around in the scattered pictures. "This one is his also."

"That's shit, too," Hannah sneered. "Looks like something my Mom would wear."

"Yes. Truth be told, I argued against including that one myself," he agreed. "But if you cut those two pieces, Roger will have nothing in the collection."

"Well," Hannah smiled innocently as she dropped the two photographs into the waste can beside her desk, "then he should have come up with something that didn't suck ass." And he shouldn't have been a complete douche-bag, she added to herself. This was the best job ever.

"Indeed," the snobbish visitor pushed back his fedora and cocked a half smile. "Carry on then."

After he left the room, Hannah poked her head outside and flagged down Ellen. "Who the hell was that?"

"That was Fitzgerald Partridge," Ellen explained. "Would you like another coffee, Ms. Winston?"

"Ooo, yes please."

Hannah was finally left alone long enough to get through her voice mail and text messages. There were a lot of messages, but they mainly described how Sam was looking all over trying to find Hannah and it was urgently important for her them to talk. Occasionally, Sam mentioned that Hannah was an irresponsible pain in the ass.

Hannah was about to call her sister back, when anther visitor appeared in her doorway. It was a distinguished older lady. "Oh, Hannah, I'm sorry I didn't get down here sooner. This morning has been a madhouse," she approached with her arms held wide as though she meant to draw Hannah into a hug.

"It's been busy here too," Hannah set down her phone and stood. Much to her surprise, the older woman walked around the desk and really did embrace Hannah to her chest. More surprising still, she planted a kiss on Hannah's cheek, her lips lingering warm and soft.

"Oh, I know," she exclaimed. "You have been the talk of the office, honey!"

"Really?" Hannah replied nervously. They weren't talking about her blowjob in the storage closet, she hoped.

"Truly," the older woman insisted. "That has told me more than anything that I made the right decision with you. We need to shake things up around here and you have done just that."

"Ms. Tennyson, can I get you something to drink," Ellen appeared with a cup of espresso for Hannah.

"No thank you, dear. I can't stay long," she looked significantly at Hannah. "Unfortunately."

"Of course. I'll be outside if you need anything."

"Come, sit with me for a moment," the older woman led Hannah to the white leather sofa. "You know, last night I ... laughed harder than I have in a long time. Thanks to you, sister."

"Well, I do have a great sense of humor," Hannah shrugged.

"Oh, Hannah!" she giggled. "Well said, dear. You most certainly have at that. But I want you to know this: I have every faith you can do this job. That's why you're here."

"Thanks," Hannah had never been told anything like that before. It felt good, even though she knew full well that Ms. Tennyson was actually talking about Sam.

"It's true! Take this dress, for example."

"You don't like it?"

"No, it's perfect!" Ms. Tennyson insisted. "Absolutely perfect. It sends just the right message. We are going to be about fashion again. We will be cutting-edge. We will be ... sexy."

"I'd like to do that," Hannah nodded.

"And you will. You're a natural. I heard you dealt with Fitz already."

"Oh, the hat guy? He was pretty pissed," Hannah shrugged.

"He can be difficult," Ms. Tennyson agreed. "He thinks he should have your job, you see. His talent is undeniable, but he does not work well with others."

"He seems like a prick."

"That's one way to say it," Ms. Tennyson chuckled. "I'm afraid I have to run for now. I hope we can spend a lot more time together, Hannah. Welcome to the team." The two women embraced and Ms. Tennyson hurried on to her next meeting.

No sooner had Ms. Tennyson left, than a suspicious looking young woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat and huge, round sunglasses slipped into the office. The girl closed the door and then began lowering the blinds over the windows. Hannah stood and tried to get a look at her face.

"Sam? Is that you?"

"Of course it's me," Sam grumbled. She pulled off her floppy hat and took off the glasses. "Where on earth have you been?!"

"I'm sorry! My phone died. Then the club was closed so I went to this other place. Then there was this guy... Tony I think, so I went to his place. Then ..."

"Okay, okay," Sam interrupted. "What have you done today? Have you met Dora?"

"Dora? No. I met Ellen. And Molly. And this guy named Fitz." Hannah offered

"Oh, thank god."

"And also Ms. Tennyson," Hannah added.

"Oh, no! What did you say? What did she say?"

"You know," Hannah said vaguely. "the usual stuff. I'm going to be sexy. This guy Fitz is a dick. She seems nice."

"She is nice," Sam agreed.

"Ms. Winston?" a voice called out.

"What the hell is that," Hannah jumped.

"Your intercom," Sam suggested. When Hannah just looked at her blankly she added, "On your desk."

Hannah leaned over the desk and punched the blinking button on her telephone. "Hello?" she asked tentatively.

"Ms. Winston, Ms. Tennyson is asking you to come to her office. She wants to go over some financial numbers."

"Okay, I'll be right there," Hannah punched the button a second time. "Numbers? I don't' know anything about numbers," she turned to her twin sister in a panic. "What do I do?"

"I'll just go over a few concepts quick before you go."

"No, there's no time," Hannah insisted. "You go in my place! Please!"

"She's already seen how you're dressed," Sam pointed out.

"Okay, put this on," Hannah grabbed the hem of her mini-dress and pulled it up over her head. Reacting to Sam's odd expression, she looked down at herself. She had forgotten that she wasn't wearing panties. "What? It was a wild night."

"I'll help you this time," Sam sighed. "But you need to start learning this stuff. I have my own work, too, you know. Give me the slutty dress."

"Why, oh why, in hell did I get myself into this?" Sam asked herself as she made her way through the tangle of office cubicles to Dora's corner. The woman's secretary waved her past with an expression that spoke volumes of... something. It was probably her opinion of this ridiculous piece of cotton and Lycra disguised as clothing. Samantha self consciously smoothed out the sides down her hips, wished she could push up her breasts to hide some of this cleavage. When she took a deep breath and walked into Dora's office she was greeted with a way too serious case of Deja vu.

Dora had her hand on the phone in her ear and smiled up at Sam with a hand held up. She nodded to a person that couldn't see her.

"Alright, I'll make it work. Yes, I'll call you with he answers in about an hour. Alright, good bye." Dora took the Bluetooth from her ear with a sigh. "Wow, did you rattle the cages! I've had no less than five calls since I saw you."

Samantha had to hide her sigh of rage at her sister as she took the seat Dora gestured her too. Dora slid a cost report folder across her desk.

"So how do we make the numbers match?" asked Dora sitting back with a frown. "I love what you've done so far this morning but unfortunately that doesn't make that page any less of a problem. How are we going to get back that lost yardage cost?"

Flipping open the cost action report, it was all she could do to keep the expression on her face neutral.. After all "Hannah" should have already, not only seen this report when she changed the world around, but figured out this answer before giving it the okay.

Sam watched Dora picked up her pen and began to nervously twiddle it.

"I always loved Ms. Bancroft's ideas," Dora brought the pen to her bottom lip and gentle rolled it as she looked at her. "but they have never been cost sustainable. When I heard that you gave her the nod for the spring collection I figured you saw something I hadn't. Yes?"

Sustainable? Yes!

Sam sat back and smiled. She closed the cost report and placed it on her lap. The cold folder on her skin reminded her of just how short this dress was. She crossed her legs as that thought brought back the fact that she didn't have underwear on. It didn't help because now she felt her lower lips pressed into the edge of the fabric, just beginning to touch the chair. That cold touch, in such an intimate place, startled her but she tried to remain confident looking.

"I saw the cost difference at once, but then I got to thinking. I have a contact at a company out west. Rethink Fabrics in Seattle? They use recycled water bottles, bamboo fibers and re-purposed cotton cloth to make a polyester fleece cloth. It's twice as strong as standard cotton, stronger even than the standard T-shirt blend but..." Samantha leaned forward and tapped the cost report. "We can get it at about a dollar twenty per yard! That makes it about three quarters cheaper than what was in the other designs I replaced. We'll actually make a profit, not a loss by the change."

Dora had to pull her eyes up from the incredibly arousing valley of creamy white breasts that was suddenly on display before her. The fact that she had not taken the time to even taste one of those yesterday hit her then. Looking at this smart, beautiful, young woman she felt her heart soar, her pulse raced at the future they were going to have She also felt herself growing wet as the woman's skin tight dress rode up those sexy thighs another inch when she sat back.

"The government is even giving tax breaks to companies that use recycled product, so we might even make more. I will have to look into that when I get back to my office." Sam smoothed down the dress again then realized how silly it was to be worried about that in front of this woman. They were far past that point with each other.

Dora just looked at her, then after a moment got to her feet. The older woman walked around and when Sam stood up embraced her tightly. A bit startled Samantha held still for a second then returned the hug. After a moment when Dora started to laugh she realized that they were both breast to breast again.

"Thank you." said Dora softly.

"For what?"

"Being the answer to my prayers for the last year." With a tear running down her face, Dora kissed Samantha, then pulled her tight while sensuously rubbing her breast into the other woman's "And for being here. Sister."

Feeling like an absolute shit heal Samantha held tight. Her head knew, if her heart didn't, that this impossible deception was only just getting started.

"I'm going to take you out to dinner tonight. To celebrate. All on me." Dora stepped back and touched her intercom. "Susan, would you get me reservations for two at the Fogo de Chao? Make it eight thirty please."

"Yes, Ms. Tennyson."

Samantha looked at the beaming eyes of her sister's boss. Her guilt of what she was doing was settling in her stomach in layers. Like butterfly upon butterfly. Even if this woman had been a total stranger it would have been bad, but to be doing this to one of her sorority sisters? Samantha felt sick. She had to hide it from her face.

"Hannah... I hate to ask this, given that I'm now your boss, but after dinner would you be of a mind to maybe come to my apartment for the night. ... maybe, make each other laugh?" Dora reached up and ran her hand though the straight blond hair framing the young woman's face.

Samantha's stomach tightened at that but then after a moment she began to relax. This was at least something that she could do to pay back some of the guilt she was feeling to her "Sister." In more ways than one in fact since this job was not one that Hannah could take care of.

"I would love too."

The door to Hannah's office opened just as Samantha was about to open it. She had noticed that the assistant's desk was empty as she walked past it, which made the two men that stepped out a big surprise to her.

"Off hand Rodger I would try looking up the Golden Rule a few times. To me it looks like she has simply done to you what you did to her. Karma in... Oh! Hello Ms. Winston. Sorry, I left some papers in your office earlier I needed."

"No problem at all. In the future though if you would please don't enter my office unless I'm in it." Sam looked at the man's hat. "I have a rather large collection of cute kitten pictures I store on my computer and if you should erase them by accident I would have to kill you. Now if you will, excuse me gentlemen I have several things I still need to do today. First day breaking in and all that." Sam looked at the scowling face of the younger man behind the fedora hat wearer. She figured he was the one who received Hannah's axe cut this morning. She took an instant dislike to the man."Having a nice day?"

Rodger stood speechless, then pushed past the other man without a word. Samantha watched him storm off without an expression showing on her face. Out the corner of her eye she could see the man next to her watching her.. She cut her eyes to meet his gaze, then smiled sweetly up at him, she saw a chill ride up his spine. Samantha could all but read his thought

"This woman looked like fire, but was just cold as ice."

When she turned fully to him and gestured politely, towards her door, he stammer over his words as he tried to move out her way..

"Remind me not to get on your bad side," he said softly.

Samantha nodded, all sweetness and sunshine to hide the thoughts in her head,and quickly opened her door as he walked away.

The empty office shocked her but shouldn't have. Where was Hannah? What had those two guys really been doing in my... in Hannah's office? Damn it! Where the hell was Hannah? True, if her twin had been sitting at her desk, Samantha's walking up as they opened the door would have probably caused the two men to have strokes.

Her mind racing in frantic worry over her sister, Sam just about turned to go look in the rest room, when she heard a sound behind her.

"Hannah?" she said when she heard a second sniffle from behind the chrome desk. Walking around she found her sister under the shiny metal and leather monstrosity. She was huddled up with her arms around her knees. She was wearing one of the dresses from the rack, the discarded hanger laying by her feet. "Hannah? What's the matter?"

When her sister looked up at Samantha she felt her heart break at the look on her twin's face. The super dark eyeliner she wore to accentuate her eyes was now a set of twin black tears down her cheeks. She was softly rocking in place holding her legs.

Sam somehow managed to get down there and wrap her arms around Hannah.

"What is it?"

"I don't want to work here." Hannah clung to her sister. "They... came in just after you left. I had just grabbed this dress when I heard the door start to open. I dove under here. I... I want to go home. Please take me home."

"What happened? Talk to me Hannah. What happened?" Samantha brushed her twin sister's hair back the long straight waves falling like curtains of gold back from that tear streaked face. "Come on sis, tell."

"Greg... I mean Rodger told the other guy what I did to get the job interview." Hannah clung to her twin not caring that her makeup was ruining her own dress. "He said I was just a dumb whore. He told the other guy... Fitz, that I had sucked him off, then let him fuck me bareback. He bragged that he got to cum in me. Then he said I must have eaten out the boss to get this office. That I must be some kind of lezzy slut that the boss took a liking too."