Shipping Clerk Ch. 03

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Lunch, Seafood Sampler

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"Private table for two, please."

"Right this way, Ma'am."

"It is really fancy in here," thought Andy as he was being guided to his table by Ms. Stotts. Everywhere he looked was polished stone, tropical wood, and thick, leafy plants. The restaurant's interior was clearly designed to provide its customers with plenty of privacy. Andy had no doubt that this was a favored location to take one's admins or interns during the day. There could easily be a dozen sex acts in progress around them, and passersby would never know.

Just as he was thinking that, he heard a masculine grunt from behind a leafy trellis, followed by "That's right, swallow it, girl!"

Although the corporate halls of power were primarily feminine spaces, there were still plenty of men around. They had to rise quickly through the ranks to get there before the inevitable onset of "terminal decline", the premature aging brought about by the X-virus. Apparently, this one thought it would be fun to shame his lunch companion by speaking much louder than absolutely necessary. Either that, or the girl doing the swallowing enjoyed being exposed that way. It was none of Andy's business as long as it was consensual.

The host led them to a secluded nook containing a table and bench seat. If Andy hadn't been told it was there, he would have missed it entirely. Which was of course an intentional design feature. This particular nook was surrounded by rough-cut stone walls topped with indoor ivy. It included a small, burbling water feature - ambient white noise to cover the sounds of diners conversing... or having intimate encounters. The bench seat was clearly designed to facilitate that. Instead of sitting in chairs across from one another, they would be sitting side by side.

Ms. Stotts subtly guided Andy into his seat, using the same combination of gentle touches and commanding presence as she had before. Although Andy lacked any experience in submitting to this type of treatment, he tried hard to go along with it. Surely that was the best thing to do?

Once they were seated, the server took their drink orders and left. Andy had never been to a seafood restaurant before. Well, obviously, Andy had eaten seafood many times, and some of those times were in restaurants. So, he knew what to expect! He started flipping through the menu, looking for his favorite kind of fish sticks.

They weren't there. There were no fish sticks at all! He started flipping his menu back and forth. He had no idea what many of these dishes were. No, that wasn't true. He had heard of most of these things, he just hadn't experienced them himself. He was out of his league, he was in water over his depth, Ms. Stotts would notice his confusion and become angry with him for not being decisive and knowing what the hell he was looking at and wasting her time and...

"See anything you like, dear?"

"Oh, umm, I was just looking for the fish sticks?"

Andy saw her frown at him and tried to fix it, "I mean, this is a seafood restaurant, so they must have a wide variety, and such and, and so, umm, is there a separate fish stick menu that...?"

"Andy, just... stop. I will order you the seafood sampler. It has a variety of things. You will pick and choose which ones you like. The things that you do not like, you will send back. Am I being understood?"

Taken aback, and having had his panicking, downward spiral broken so decisively, Andy returned to his menu. At least he didn't have to make a decision now. He flipped back to the front, looking for the "Seafood Sampler", found it, and checked the price... which wasn't there. He frowned, focusing on the writing, but couldn't see it anywhere. Perhaps...

"Is something the matter, sweetie?"

"I was just looking for the price, I thought that..."

"Andy," Ms. Stotts cut him off. "The price is none of your concern. It is my concern, which is why it is on my menu and not yours. Your only concern is to enjoy yourself, have fun, and please me with your company. You are no longer a struggler. You are no longer a striver. You are no longer fighting for a place on the margins of society, pursuing crumbs that may never come your way. This was never you. This was never for you. This was never what you deserved."

"Think of it this way, see it as I see it. This restaurant is commonly used for daytime trysts. I think you have figured that out by now. That's why we came here. You know what astonishes me about this situation? You know what truly astonishes me? It's the fact that you have never been here, or someplace like it. That's what I can't wrap my head around. This is a very, very normal and common place for execs to bring their admins, interns, and spouses. I'll bet you $100, AND give you 100-1 odds, that the churl we heard on the way in here was busy having fun with his spouse - who was loving every second of it."

"The fact that you - honest, sweet, hard-working, a great father - have never entered these doors shocks me. If you were my spouse, I would probably be molesting you, right here, twice a week. You have two very successful lawyers as your senior spouses. I just find it incomprehensible that they haven't been pampering the fuck out of you, pardon my French. It makes no sense to me. Nevertheless, their loss, my gain. If and when you sign my executive assistant offer, you will find your life far better than before. I meant it when I told you to toss that decrepit sandwich in the trash. You will never have to make these choices again, Andy. I will make them for you, and you will be pleased."

Andy listened, nodding, as he absorbed her impassioned speech. It was, as before, yet another manip. Andy was so finely-tuned by years of bitter experience that he didn't even need to try any more. Manipulations were so easy to spot. And yet, this felt entirely different. Andy was a true connoisseur of guilt trips, mind games, and exploitation by dominant women. Just as an expert oenophile can tell you precisely which vineyard produced a certain wine, Andy could tell you precisely which motivation had bottled a particular vintage of mind game.

Ms. Stotts was desperately trying to control Andy. It was clear by now that she had every intention of dominating him and using him sexually. In fact, she had just proven that decisively in the car mere moments ago. And as a result, Andy was sitting next to her with no underpants. He might be allowed to wear underpants again some day, "if he was good". But... she really did want the best for him. She really was concerned about his wellbeing. And that was new for Andy. He hadn't had that since his mother died nine years before.

Andy needed to break all the rules. He needed to learn how to trust again. It was for the best. Andy needed a reset. He, boy-Andy, was broken. That much had been made clear to him last night when Mrs. Markowitz cured his anxiety attack by convincing him to shift into his female form. That's why he felt that lightness of spirit when he shifted back to his male self this morning. Girl-Andi didn't have the years of emotional trauma burned into her brain like boy-Andy did. He understood that now. Boy-Andy was wrong. Boy-Andy was broken. Boy-Andy needed to go away, and... THEY shifted.

It wasn't like before when Andy shifted by searching for his inner girl. It wasn't like it was before when Andi went into herself to seek out boy-Andy. No, this time, it was a coming together of his two disparate selves, merging unexpectedly into one.

Boy-Andy went away and girl-Andi toppled from her seat as her body rippled and shifted...

...Disconnect...

"Hwuh?" she asked... somebody, who wanted something? Maybe?

She was... lying somewhere on something. A couch? Someone was holding her, someone very important. She tried to remember who it was. Painful electric tremors seemed to be running through her twitching limbs, as though she had fallen asleep in the wrong position and her arms and legs had fallen... more asleeper? Is that a word? Should it be?

"Shh, shh, shh, it's okay, honey, it's okay now. Momma's got you, momma's holding you, everything is fine, everything will be all right," the important person was saying, calming and soothing her. She liked it, but she needed to get up. She had an important meeting to attend to discuss... important stuff.

Her limbs seemed to be connected to her body again. Perhaps the important person had reattached them? She struggled to move, but was told not to.

"No, no, honey, you stay right there. Momma's got you, I've got you, you're safe now, everything will be all right. It was just an involuntary shift. It's a little disorienting. It happens. You'll be fine, just rest a minute, okay, sweetie? You'll be fine."

As awareness seeped back in, she realized that the woman holding Andi to bosom of her silk blouse was her boss. It was the terribly important and powerful Ms. Katheryn Stotts, the very woman who had called this lunch meeting.

Ms. Stotts was also the source of the comforting voice bringing Andi back to awareness.

"It's all right, you're fine. You're safe now, it was just a hard shift, you'll be all right," the soft voice continued speaking into her hair. Ms. Stotts had been a commanding presence in Andi's life for years now. She had never heard her speak like this way to anyone. It made her feel... cherished and valuable. Precious, even.

"Umm..." Andi tried to move her arms again. This time she succeeded, rattling some fallen cutlery. She made a mess. She was glad that boy-Andy wasn't here anymore. He would have gotten very upset, worried that Ms. Stotts would be angry with him. A lifetime of inherited trauma had conditioned him to be fearful and untrusting. But girl-Andi - or just "Andi" now - was different. Boy-Andy had gone away and he wasn't coming back. Andi understood that Ms. Stotts' wrath wasn't to be feared. At least not by her. Ms. Stotts was worried about her and wanted to comfort her. She certainly wasn't going to start shouting at Andi over some spilled ice water and scattered cutlery.

"Can you sit up now?"

Andi nodded into her chest. She liked it here. It was safe and warm. But Ms. Stotts wanted her up and about, so she allowed herself to be raised back to a sitting position. Ms. Stotts was very, very strong. Although the X-virus had made fully 60% of the female population infertile, it had also caused many of those to grow taller and stronger. That was the reason why nearly all female professional athletes were X-virus affected women.

Now that Andi was a mere 5'2" tall, Ms. Stotts was more than a foot taller than she, and far more robust. Andi felt tiny next to her boss, but she was also able to sense that Ms. Stotts meant her no harm and was trying to help her. Rather than becoming fearful, as boy-Andy would have, she felt comforted. She was glad that boy-Andy had gone away for good. He wasn't being helpful, she thought spitefully and paradoxically.

Ms. Stotts summoned a waiter and set about clearing the mess. Andi offered to help, but she was told to sit right there, so she did. Obedience was helpful, and Andi liked helping. The food arrived just as Ms. Stotts and the waiter finished resetting the table. Andi was glad that boy-Andy's sudden departure hadn't ruined lunch, although she was bit put out by the fact that she was still wearing his clothes. But Ms. Stotts didn't seem to mind, and that made it all right. So she sat quietly with her hands in her lap, calmly watching other people take care of her. Ms. Stotts told her that before they left for lunch. Andi needed to learn how to let other people care for her and that's what she was doing now.

She finally understood. Boy-Andy, conditioned by a lifetime of trauma and disappointment, wasn't able to change his perspective. He wasn't able to understand that he was valuable. He was valued as a person before he became a shifter, Ms. Stotts told him that in the car ride here. Ms. Stotts never lied about important things. Boy-Andy believed her, but his heart wasn't able to accept it. He couldn't overcome a lifetime of negative conditioning. So, he had to go away. Maybe not permanently, but the new Andi, the girl-Andi, the Andi she was now, SHE was willing to accept that she was precious and desirable and that people would want to do nice things for her. Things like setting the table and buying her food. Even powerful and important people like Ms. Katheryn Stotts.

But... now Andi looked disheveled. She couldn't have that. Her hair was in disarray and it was making Ms. Stotts look bad. Executives needed to be seen in public with attractive and well turned-out young companions, and that was the role that Andi was meant to fulfill. It was her new place in life and she intended to be good at it. She couldn't do anything about these unsuitable clothes, but she could fix her hair.

Andi took her hairbrush out of her bag, the hairbrush that was the only thing she owned that used to be her mother's, and fixed her hair while Ms. Stotts and the waiter reset the table. She brushed her shimmering hair out so that it wasn't such a mess, hoping that Ms. Stotts would notice and compliment her on it. Andi needed to look good for her, and that required proper grooming. She couldn't do anything about the clothes, though, that would have to wait. She did slip her feet out of boy-Andy's ill-fitting shoes and slid them under the seat. She intended to leave them here, they were ugly and her feet were cute. They deserved cute shoes. Maybe Ms. Stotts would buy her some? Andi's perspective had just undergone a monumental shift. Rather than worrying about what game Ms. Stotts was playing, she decided to put her faith in her. She knew Ms. Stotts was worthy of her trust all along, she just needed to ditch boy-Andy in order to accept it emotionally.

Finally, the table was set, and the waiter left. The food smelled absolutely delicious. No peanut butter sandwich had ever assaulted her nose with this riotous cacophony of delicious smells, and her stomach made a tiny purring sound in response. "Now, before we eat, I just want to make sure you're all right now. That looked like an extremely painful experience and I'm worried about you," Ms. Stotts told her as she gently tucked Andi's freshly brushed hair behind her ear, "also, thank you for brushing your hair, it looks nice. We need to get you some sexier clothes, though, don't you think?"

"Umm, yes Ma'am, I'm fine." Andi told her softly. "I just needed to re-set myself. Mrs. Markowitz showed me how to do it last night. After Lina left, I called Mrs. Markowitz and told her that I couldn't do the measuring because I was close to having an anxiety episode and needed to rest. She talked me into shifting instead. It worked great. All the stress and anxiety went away and I felt better. Umm, is it weird that I feel like I just killed boy-Andy off and I also feel like it was the right thing to do? I think I read somewhere that some shifters who shift permanently don't do it because they dislike their original gender, they do it because they like their new gender better. I think that's how it's going to be for me. I, umm, I think I really like being a girl, I just don't know for sure yet?"

"Hmm," Ms. Stotts murmured thoughtfully as she tucked the much smaller girl under her arm comfortingly. "Listen, honey, you haven't given anything up, you're just exploring something new. So don't think of it as having 'killed off' your old self. You're just learning and growing. And that's okay. Either decision would have been fine with me. Really, I would have enjoyed having you as my assistant even if you decided to stay in your male form. And I think you would have, too. Don't think for a minute that I haven't noticed how excited you've been getting when you were in the car with me. I liked it. I told you before, I don't want to feel like our relationship is exploitative. I really don't. That's important to me. That being said, I invited you here today because I was planning on doing what your wives should have been doing all along, I wanted to have a little sexy fun time with you in the middle of the day."

"Oh, I kind of figured that," Andi replied. "Hehheh, and we already did already. That was fun."

Her hands were in her lap, she was snuggled up to Ms. Stotts, thigh to thigh. Those intoxicating stockinged legs were right in front of her. She did something that boy-Andy had fantasized about for years, but would never do. She placed her small hand on Ms. Stotts' thigh and started drawing small circles on her satiny stocking-clad knee. It was just as amazing as she, well HE at the time, had fantasized that it would be.

She looked up at her boss in what she hoped was a coquettish manner and said, "So, umm, theoretically, if boy-Andy's wives should have been 'molesting' him here all along, how do you think they should have gone about it? Theoretically speaking, of course."

Katheryn placed her larger, but still feminine, hand over Andi's much smaller one, holding it in place. "Well, I don't know what their preferences are, but I really enjoy stimulating a boy with my fingers until he's about to cum, then I lean over and take his seed with my mouth."

Andi stared up into her eyes. "Really? Wow, that sounds really hot! It almost makes me want to change back. But I can't do that for a few hours now. Is it all right if I take a rain check on that? Maybe I'll turn back into boy-Andy some day and you can do that to me again?"

Instead of answering, Ms. Stotts gently took control of the girl's upturned face and kissed her tentatively on the lips.

"Mmmf," moaned Andi as she melted into the kiss. Her boss, the great and powerful, glamorous, and gorgeous Ms. Stotts was kissing her!

Mindful of her role as the subordinate one, Andi let her take the lead, controlling the length and depth of the kiss. It was wonderful, better than she had ever dreamed.

"You really do have gorgeous eyes," Ms. Stotts told her after she broke the kiss. "I wasn't kidding about the 'laser beams of mass destruction'. I'm so looking forward to seeing you dressed in satin, with your makeup on and your hair up. With you on my arm, everyone will be jealous, they'll see how beautiful you are, they'll see how happy you are, how well cared-for you are, and they will try to steal you from me. I won't let them. I plan to pamper you so much that you will never look at another man or woman unless I ask you to. I guarantee it."

Andi looked up at her with her heart beating madly. If that wasn't a declaration of love and possession, that such a thing did not exist.

"Umm, Ms. Stotts," she started in a very tiny, plaintive voice, "can I ask you a tiny, personal question?"

"Yes, sweetie, you can ask me anything at all and I will answer to the best of my ability," Ms. Stotts replied.

"So, umm, theoretically..." Andi continued, "did you really mean that about supporting me if and when I get pregnant? Because that scares the bejabbers out of me."

Ms. Katheryn Stotts took Andi by the chin and stared deeply into her eyes. "Sweetie," she declared, "I can and will destroy anyone or anything who harms you in any way while you are mine. Understand? That's how it is, that that's how it will be."

"Now," she continued, shifting gears, "let's eat some of this delicious food before it gets cold. These are crab cakes here, I suggest you start with those. These are scallops. Also, I've chosen this wine for you to try. As my assistant, I expect you to know which wines go best with each meal. You're going to get plenty of practice, because you will be eating like this every day from now on. Over here..."

After the meal, which they didn't come close to finishing, Andi was stuffed. She was also sleepy and a little bit tipsy. She wasn't used to drinking wine, and it had gone right to her head. Involuntary shifts, known as "hard shifts", are extremely draining and that was catching up to her, as well. She leaned against her queen's bosom and sighed sleepily. "Are you going to molest me now?"