Mailgirls on the Run Pt. 10

Chapter Sixteen

/* These chapters do not stand alone. In order to make sense of the following it helps to at least dimly remember the goings-on of the previous nine parts. Six weeks until race day and then I'll have to tie up some loose ends with an epilogue. */

Mailgirl Twenty-two woke early Tuesday morning. Even without checking the time on her MMU she knew it was early because the grille across her sleeping niche hadn't retracted yet. She watched Mailgirl Seventeen exit the dormitory through the door into the lounge -- either Seventeen or her partner on the breakfast run must have made enough noise to bring her to consciousness.

Twenty-two stretched out as much as she could in the cramped space -- the sleeping niches were fine for the shorter women, but at 5' 10" she couldn't completely straighten out even on the diagonal. It had been a hard week. She was in the best shape of her life following just over a year of racing about the five floors of the SG&T headquarters building, but the last week had been over the top. A week ago Saturday she had seriously overachieved in the training session, then a severe cropping on Monday, running on the treadmill on Thursday followed by six of the best with the paddle for exceeding twenty-five demerits, and then another training session two days ago. She hadn't been as stupid as the previous Saturday, but dashing from office to office didn't fully prepare you for running repeat 3k loops. That was Megan's thing, not hers.

And thinking of her sister, she had given off some strange vibes Saturday morning. There had only been three men joining Megan and the mailgirls in their second session: Ken Jensen who had been chatting up Megan the previous week, Mr Stevens from Auditing, and Brendan who had come with Sara (the ex-Mailgirl Five) and her fiance the first time. Megan had been rather obviously not running with Ken or Brendan and was doing her 'not into boyfriends' manner which Twenty-two remembered from Megan's high school days. It wasn't her totally freaked 'they all saw me on my knees eating dog food in the nude' that she sported for months after returning to work as a financial analyst; no, it was definitely the 'attracted to boys, but what do I do' mode. Maybe she'd just ask Megan if she had sex the next time she saw her.

Richard from Chicago had not been at Sunday's training session. She'd enjoyed flirting with him the week before, but that had led to her Monday punishment. Mistress V said that he had been counseled about his behavior so mayhaps his absence wasn't surprising. She wondered how long his resolve to avoid her would last. It looked at though Megan had moved on from him and she was the other Brooks sister on offer.

Her MMU buzzed and the grille slid open so it was time for another soul-baring, well skin-baring, performance as Mailgirl Twenty-two.

Megan strode into the SG&T building, her head still whirling from the events of the past few days. She'd politely send Brendan home after brunch on Saturday, then spent much of the day responding to texts from Lin Chang. Not only had Dr Rodriguez surprised her daughter with her visit, but first contact was made in the company of the college president. Maria seemed to handle the reunion well as far as Megan could tell from Lin's texts, but after nearly two years as a mailgirl what would faze her. Sunday morning had been another relaxing, long run with Ken Jensen and they'd met other runners in the park where they'd met before heading out on the Rock Creek Trail. Sunday evening had been a reassuring virtual therapy session on the phone with Sarah where Megan rambled on about Mistress V's revelations, Maria's mom, and Brendan. After serving as Sarah's confidant / shoulder to cry on for the year after she met Sam it was the taller brunette's turn to provide some emotional stability. Monday she ran a holiday 5k put on by the Montgomery Road Runners, finishing third woman despite treating it as a training run and a chance to meet other runners.

Following the long weekend, it was time to face down Ms Barnes. She had been absent again on Friday which Megan appreciated as that had given her more time to process the introduction of Dr Rodriguez into the frame. And Mrs Soames.

Once at her desk the first thing she brought up on her screen was the Mailgirl App which was a clear sign of a screwed sense of priorities. She knew that it was at the top of the startup list for many of her male colleagues, and yes, a few of the women as well, but still she wanted, needed to focus on finance, not naked women. The only punishments listed for today were the traditional six of the best for exceeding twenty-five demerits and those were Mailgirls Eight and Nineteen. She brought up the statuses of the runners: Twenty-three was "off duty", Fourteen was "off-campus" and the others all "on-duty." Twelve was at Auditing, the others were en-route, none to Human Capital. Megan knew of employees who held onto outgoing deliveries until they judged their favorite mailgirl was most likely to do the pick-up. Rank and file didn't have the ability to specify mailgirls, that was generally reserved for executives.

Her calendar app popped a notice up onto her screen that she had an appointment in Human Capital in ten minutes. Might as well get all the mailgirl crap out of the way first thing so that I can get to work.

Megan walked up to the third floor and made her way back to Human Capital. Miss Bradley announced her arrival and said, "You can go right in."

Ms Barnes rose to her feet as Megan entered, "I've had more than enough of you, Ms Brooks. You have access to the Mailgirls Lounge and Dormitory for the sole purpose of training mailgirls for the Corporate Challenge Race. That does not entitle you to lead tours for any curious individual or to question the bank's treatment of mailgirls. You leave personnel matters to Human Capital and Human Resources and stick to your desk. As you have been officially assigned to work with these mailgirls Human Capital will have input into your next performance review and it will not be positive.

"Your qualifications to train these mailgirls to race are that you ran track in college and that you continue to run. But, as you have pointed out many times this takes you away from the job that the bank pays you for. I will propose to Mr Soames that Mailgirl Twenty-three take over training the others. She also ran collegiately and did quite well. It's the obvious answer. Do yourself a favor and tell your friend Mr Starnes that you want this to happen."

Megan considered the proposal for half a beat before the image of Maria's bottom came to her mind. "Ms Barnes, I did not seek out this project, but I am going to carry it through to completion. Mailgirl Twenty-three needs to be focusing on her own recovery and learning to be the best SG&T mailgirl that she can be."

"Then I have no choice but to lay your misbehavior before Mr Soames and have you removed."

"Did Security tell you who I escorted into the Mailgirls Lounge?"

"A Dr Rodriguez. I supposed you

e going to say you took him to examine Mailgirl Twenty-three. The Medical Center has kept a careful eye on her, you needn't have interfered."

"Well, actually Dr Rodriguez said that her sister was the psychiatrist and perhaps she could help Twenty-three. No, Dr Rodriguez has a doctorate in Electrical Engineering, but more importantly is a newly appointed member of SG&T's Board of Directors. She is also a sorority sister of Mrs Soames and when she wanted to speak privately to me she shooed Mr Soames out of his own office."

"It doesn't matter; you exceeded your authority when you took a visitor, especially a distinguished visitor into those spaces."

"Oh, and I should also mention that Dr Rodriguez is the name she goes by professionally. She is also the elder Mrs. Maria Hyland. She invited Mr Fforde, me and my date to dinner and the symphony Friday night and was then planning to attend Convocation at Hood on Saturday. Professor Chang sent me multiple texts on Saturday alerting me that Maria's mother was on campus in the company of the college president. While I didn't bring up the stripes across Maria's ass and I doubt that she bared her buttocks to her mother, I suspect that Professor Chang was less reticent.

"If there is nothing more, I need to post the training schedule for this week and then get back to work. There will be no exceptionally harsh treatment of the women in training and Mailgirl Fourteen will return to work without incident Friday morning." Megan turned and walked out.

Once back at her desk Megan called Bob Starnes and alerted him to Ms Barnes' proposal and the potential influence of Dr Rodriguez. She then drew up the schedule for treadmill training. Due to the short week -- even most of the mailgirls had gotten the holiday off, a stay-cation for them -- Megan decided on Twenty-two and Twelve on Wednesday, then Four and Fifteen Thursday morning, and that left just Three since Fourteen wouldn't be back until Friday morning. She decided that Three could pair with Twenty-three Thursday afternoon; Felicity would know enough not to overdo it. And now, time to do real work.

After an uneventful (and mailgirl free) rest of the day Megan was about to shut down and head home when she received a request for a meeting with Mr Fforde in ten minutes. She resolutely logged out and walked up to the Legal Department. The middle-aged (not a mailgirl candidate) secretary waved her on to an office back in the corner. Mr Fforde sat behind his desk watching Mailgirl Twenty-three on her knees in front of him scanning a sheaf of papers.

"Nothing obvious appears to be missing, though if they absconded with some t-shirts I wouldn't necessarily pick that out from a listing."

"It is traditional to confiscate mailgirls' lingerie, some firms have been known to repackage panties and sell them. Aside from that, the San Francisco office agrees. They did a physical inventory and checked that against the listing you signed off on two years ago. The paralegal who went through your boxes did note that the violin was badly out of tune, but otherwise playable. He wasn't impressed by the climate control in their storage facility.

"We now have your W4, your W2 and tax returns from last year, and your pay summary. Based on that we're overpaying our mailgirls. Your signing bonus went onto your student loans and regular payments were made through the rest of your employment there. They did not pay a completion bonus, presumably since your Mohr Brothers contract was terminated prematurely. We still have no information on any retirement account and your current bank balance is just over $11,000, now in an account at SG&T.

"We will now turn your case over to the San Francisco district attorney. I'll arrange for Ms Stevens to take a deposition from you."

"Twenty-three looked down at the floor, "Thank you."

"San Francisco will ship your possessions here. You'll at least want clothing at the end of your contract here. Would you like your violin delivered to the Mailgirl Dormitory?"

Megan broke in, "Mailgirls aren't permitted anything not supplied by the bank."

"If Community Relations can sell the fifth floor on a Mailgirls Running Team, I can pitch a string quartet. According to her profile Mailgirl Five plays the cello. Put her on stage with the instrument between her legs and the neck nestled in her cleavage and the entire fifth floor will be panting. I'll talk to Human Capital about targeting musicians in their recruiting. I'll have the violin sent to a local music store to put it back into playing condition."

"Yes, thank you."

"Now we have to put you back to work; student loan payments wait for no mailgirl.

"And Ms Brooks, I'm going to expect you to alert me to any undue attention paid to either Mailgirl Twenty-three or Fourteen by Ms Barnes or Mistress V. I will defer to your expertise in assessing whether Human Capital is going off the rails."

* * * *

After a brisk 45 minutes on the treadmill in her condo's fitness center Megan settled down to make a risotto leavened with a glass of vino verde. Maryland in the summer was hotter and more humid than Chicago or Iowa and she confined her outdoor training to the early morning. Now, running in what the locals laughably called winter... She cleaned up from dinner and poured another glass of wine before calling Brendan.

Checking in with Sarah was easier. "You heard from Fforde about Mailgirl Twenty-three? Her stuff is being shipped here and he told her that he would have his violin tuned and delivered to her in the dormitory. He said he has a vision: if Mailgirls can run, why not a string quartet? Apparently Five is a cellist."

"Vision or wet-dream?"

Megan giggled, "He was behind his desk when he said it. Maybe that will give Ms Barnes something else to train her ire on. I'm hoping the threat of Dr Rodriguez's wrath will get her to back off some. Pointing out that Fourteen's mother is now on the Board of Directors did seem to give her pause. And yes, I finally opened your housewarming gift Friday night -- there are still plenty of condoms left, it is a big box. I'm not sure when I'll have the courage for a repeat performance.

"Mailgirls on treadmills the next two days including Twenty-three and then outside Sunday morning. Fourteen is due back from college Friday morning. I'll check in with her and Lin Chang on Thursday to see how the week went. She had her first class today."

"I freaked out when we were delivered back to SG&T after our vacation week. I know you complained about being shipped in a pet crate, but I don't know that I could have hopped on a plane and then taken an Uber back to the Mailgirl Locker Room. Fourteen's had a week of freedom with money in her pocket and you really expect her to just deliver herself back there?"

"Not to mention that she has the financial resources to tell Human Capital where to shove it. I still expect to meet her at the MARC station Friday morning. I wonder if I can put in for mileage and parking?"

* * * *

Megan looked up from her desk to find two mailgirls standing in front of her. Mailgirl Twenty-three had just placed the Grinnell alumni magazine in her in box. Felicia looked especially thin and pale compared to the statuesque brunette by her side.

"How is your first day working as a Mailgirl going?"

"This mailgirl regrets her poor performance and will work hard to improve..."

Mailgirl Eighteen broke in, "She's getting lots of shit about her about her looks. We've heard multiple promises to complain to Human Capital about their recruiting and not a few comments that I need to renew my contract so that SG&T can continue to employ mailgirls that meet the standard."

Twenty-three looked at Eighteen in horror.

The other woman grinned "You can only say that sort of thing in the dormitory or to Ms Brooks and then only when you're out of earshot of everyone else."

"Has Ms Barnes said when she will start you on full service?"

Twenty-three went even paler.

"This is not your old firm. I mean working twelve hour days racing the clock to deliver documents and electronic messages throughout SG&T."

"This mailgirl has just been given her instructions for today."

"Typical. Well, they're going to have to go into full training mode soon. Eighteen, when does your contract end."

"My last day is October 26th."

"Any thoughts about staying on?"

Eighteen looked down and breathed out, "I hope not."

Megan flashed back to her meeting with Dr Rodriguez and smiled, "I understand Marcy. Maria's mother can look after her now. She just moved into the area and met up with Maria on Saturday at college. Just train Felicia so that she can help the new crop of mailgirls."

Eighteen said, "Thank you." Twenty-three looked confused.

"Felicia, I've scheduled you on the treadmill in the Fitness Center tomorrow afternoon. Don't overdo it. Now, off to deliver the rest of your vital mail."

Beyond bringing up a window to keep half an eye on Mailgirls Twelve and Twenty-two as they ran in the Fitness Center Megan spent the rest of the day on bank business.

Thursday was mailgirl free -- well, again she kept an eye on the two sessions in the Fitness Center, but saw no reason to make an appearance there. Spending less time on mailgirl issues was definitely good for her peace of mind. She was finishing up for the day when she heard a rap on the open door to her office and an unknown,slender red-headed woman stepped in.

"How can you train in this weather?"

Megan looked up "Can I help you?"

"Oh, I know the Olympics are usually held in someplace much too warm for distance runners: Tokyo, Rio, Beijing, Atlanta -- but, why?"

"During the summer I run early in the morning to avoid the heat, but fall lasts through Christmas and the winters are mild and who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm Charlotte Johnston, newly assigned to the Washington office. I've been happily working remotely for the last two years, but now that I've landed in Northern Virginia Ben insists that I have to make occasional appearances here. So, here I am.

"And I run and I'm told you're heading up SG&T's women's team in some sort of upcoming race."

"The Corporate Challenge 10k is a competition between teams from companies and government agencies throughout Central Maryland. Community Relations thinks our participation helps us fit into the local business community. They even went so far as to volunteer to host this year's race which is in just five weeks."

"So what genius decided that fielding a team of naked women would help the bank fit in?"

"Well, the fifth floor wants to win as well and our women's team last year was pretty pathetic. They arranged for a couple of men to transfer from Chicago and San Francisco to bolster the men's team, but there seems to be a problem persuading fit young women to transfer here. Most are not interested in being impressed as mailgirls."

"I spent three years working in San Francisco so I understand about mailgirls, but what makes them think a bunch of Hooters' girls can run?"

Megan blushed. "Last year I finished fourth in the race, several minutes ahead of the next SG&T woman, less than a month after I completed my mailgirl contract. I pointed out that I ran in college unlike the rest of the mailgirls, but I was told to select and train a team. We ran a series of time trials and in the last we had five women inside 40:30, which is not world-beating, but impressive for rookies with no training and no real incentive to do well. Spending all day rushing from office to office across five floors does get a girl into shape. So now, the six mailgirls selected for the team are running on the treadmill one day during the week and training on the course one weekend morning."

"Are the weekend runs mailgirls only?"

"Some of the men run with them and I've had some friends also help out."

"I bet I could get my husband to come. Running's not his thing, but naked women..."

"Please, we get enough oglers already without importing them."

"No, I'll let him know he can only come if he runs. He's Air Force so he's in pretty good shape, just not a fan of running."

"How quick are you?"

"My last race was a 1:18 half marathon in Scotland, but I haven't raced since we moved to Virginia in July and I will tell you that I'm not a fan of running in this weather. I grew up in Chicago, ran D3 track in Minnesota, then the Bay Area, and after we got married spent two years in the North of England. This could give me a reason to get myself back onto the roads and I can tell Ben I'm doing it for the bank."

"Ben's your husband?"

"No, he's my cousin and my boss. I work directly for him; I don't report to anyone here at all.