Mailgirls on the Run Pt. 09

"Everyone showers and does their make up in the locker room, just four showers and sinks for all of them. Mistress V makes any announcements and then the MMUs start buzzing with assignments. The early morning is heavy with deliveries of newspapers and office supplies. The rest of the day is infra-office communications, actual mail from the mail room, and whatever other errands the staff chooses to call for. Any public punishments, usually paddlings, are carried out in the courtyard during lunch. For lunch they all eat mailgirl chow while on their knees in the dining rooms. About half also pull dinner duty, the rest eat in the dormitory. Generally the work day goes until 7:30 or so though mailgirls can be dismissed earlier and serving at evening functions can extend the work day very late. Visitors typically dine on site rather than being taken out to lunch at local restaurants. Those not working super late are into their sleeping niches by 10 p.m.

"Mailgirls work full days Monday through Friday, half days on Saturday, and half of the mailgirls work half days on Sunday. Salaried mailgirls work whatever hours are demanded with no extra compensation; mailgirls paid by the hour make minimum wage, time and a half for longer than eight hours per day or forty hours per week -- their base wage is usually doubled or more with overtime."

"What do mailgirls do with their money?"

"Mailgirls have no access to their funds. As part of the mailgirl contract they sign a comprehensive power of attorney over to the bank and SG&T makes all the financial decisions. At tax time they get called into Payroll to sign their 1040s. At the end of my contract I spent several days reviewing my accounts and concluded that SG&T had been scrupulously honest with the accounting -- as a bank should be. Mr Fforde told me that Maria was quite well off, do you know who is handling her assets?"

"Colin had her declared incompetent -- which she was -- and her assets are all in trust with Colin and me as joint trustees and an accounting firm under contract to the family business auits the books and pays her taxes."

"When I took Maria to the train station I gave her clothing and a messenger bag that Mr Fforde provided. It included a wallet with her Texas driver's license, credit cards, an ATM card, and cash for her use while on campus.

"Shall we visit the lounge and dormitory now?"

"Yes."

"We'll just stop by the Security Desk and let them know -- the lounge and dormitory are monitored 24/7 and they ask to be alerted to any unscheduled visits."

As the two women walked down the stairs towards the mailgirl lounge Megan asked, "Are you a medical doctor?"

"No, that's my younger sister, the psychiatrist. I have a Ph. D in electrical engineering and am now the Director of Research Emeritus of Precision Tools, my late husband's firm. My two step-sons have been making noises for me to take a less active role in the company and we didn't want to lose our principal researcher who was looking for more authority. So, I'm taking a gap year as it were while I decide where to take my life next. I've rented a townhouse in Columbia and will be teaching graduate courses at the Whiting School of Engineering -- the younger boy especially wanted some distance between me and the company -- his suggestion was Cal Tech or Stanford." Dr Rodriguez was closely observing the naked women on the other side of the glass wall.

Megan swiped her id card at the entrance and ushered her into the Mailgirls Lounge. Mailgirls Three and Fifteen were applying their makeup at the sinks against the back wall, Two was toweling off after her shower and looked up to look at the new arrivals.

"Good morning, ladies. This is Dr Rodriguez, a new member of SG&T's executive board. I'm giving her the tour of all things mailgirl."

She turned to the older woman, "Interaction with mailgirls is strictly controlled. Human Capital would file a reprimand in my personnel folder for the way I just addressed them -- actually, Nurse Allen and I as former mailgirls are granted some leeway, but our supervisors have heard from Ms Barnes about our undue familiarity with mailgirls.

"Mailgirl Fifteen, the blonde on the right, is nearly at the end of her contract. She will be moving on to Chicago as a financial analyst, but my understanding is that she be taking continuing education courses and will remain assigned here until after the race.

"Two and Fifteen both have another year on their contracts: Two will leave for New York; Three has a business degree and was recruited from the Marketing Department.

"Don't let us keep you any longer, you should make it to the dining hall in good time."

The two mailgirls headed for the exit door while Megan opened the door to the dormitory and ushered Dr Rodriguez through.

"Not all mailgirl implementations are 24/7 operations. Both Dumpster Dawg Enterprises and US Financial started with mailgirls reporting to work every day, stripping down on arrival -- hence, the Mailgirl Locker Room. In many ways SG&T's model is easier to bear, but the added price for mailgirls is boredom. During a normal Monday through Friday workday, mailgirls have little downtime, but there are weekends and holidays and their world is limited to this." Megan gestured to the space before them.

"Because of Mr Fforde, Maria had a somewhat richer experience. She could enroll in on-line college courses and the necessary time and space was carved out for her. There is a dedicated computer in the law library where she does her course work with a web cam that we're all sure Mr Fforde uses to watch her."

"Oh, I'm sure he does." Dr Rodriguez murmured.

"But for the others, this is their world when not working. There are a half dozen computers that are turned on evenings and weekends with restricted Internet access and they can Skype to approved numbers on weekends. The Mailgirl Management Units that they wear strapped to their arms are essentially smartphones, without SIM cards, solitaire, and Candy Crush. The treadmill was added just recently for Mailgirl Twenty-three's rehab. There is a lot of girl-on-girl sex which is as much about boredom as the undoubted sexual haze that many of them live in -- the whole experience is sexually stimulating for most of us."

"What is Mailgirl Twenty-three recovering from?"

"Felicia Cooper was a Division III All-American runner in college. We shipped the previous Mailgirl Twenty-three off to a law firm in New Orleans and acquired Felicia from an investment group in California. She arrived in a crate, dehydrated and emaciated, fresh from a gang rape at her previous employers. Nurse Allen thoroughly documented her physical condition, Mr Fforde engaged an outside lawyer to take a deposition from her, and he says they'll turn all that evidence over to the authorities in San Francisco after SF&G recovers her financial assets from Mohr Brothers. Meanwhile, Ms Barnes hasn't put her out on the floor yet because she doesn't look the part of a mailgirl. I think she's napping in her niche at the moment."

"I'll have Colin brief Peggy on her case. Or is she the outside lawyer that he used?"

"No, he brought Sarah Stevens in; Sarah was Mailgirl Five and resigned from SG&T at the end of her contract. She's now working for the Department of Defense."

Dr Rodriguez walked over to the wall of sleeping niches and looked into one.

"Mailgirls have nothing. No photos on the wall, no stuffed animals. There is nothing in any of the niches except for institutional bedding and a charging point for the MMU. All we have is each other and a trust that two years will end. None of us really believed that we would escape until Mailgirl Three left and reappeared in Mr Soames' office and even then we weren't sure since we all knew about their relationship."

"Does Maria have any special friends?"

"She didn't during my time as a mailgirl. She was different from the rest of us: older, divorced and it took months for her to really come alive. The relationship with Mr Fforde further set her apart even as we could see that it was very one-sided."

Dr Rodriguez turned to face Megan. "I'd like to invite you out tomorrow evening. Dinner and then the symphony if you're interested. Bring a date, I'll press Colin into service. If I don't have concrete plans I'm liable to drive straight to Frederick and I promised myself that I would give Maria some time to find her footing before I descend on her."

* * * *

An annoying buzz was sounding at the edge of Megan's consciousness. And there was a weight pressing down on her side, a warm presence against her back, and a rod poking into the crack of her ass. She reflexively reached for her phone to shut off the alarm and then rolled over and looked at Brendan who was in turn regarding her.

"You know, it's been three years since I woke up like this and then I had a plane to catch. Now it's a workout to lead. Are you coming or do you want to stay abed?"

Brendan reached over towards her, "We've got nearly an hour and I believe we don't have far to go."

"We weren't that quick last night and I need to eat something before I head out. I can't run on an empty stomach. I'm toasting a bagel and making tea; can I get you anything?"

"I don't believe that you don't have coffee. How do you get moving in the morning?"

"I just never developed a taste for it and you're only the second person to visit me since I bought this place a year ago."

"Then let's get moving and I'll patronize your coffee shop while you round up your mailgirls. And after we run -- brunch."