There was Something Strange Going on at the Office

Chapter 1

Jenna first noticed something was off on Thursday. The IT department had shot out an E-mail overnight informing everybody on level two that there was some kind of big system update being rolled out and it would disrupt the network, yadda yadda. She thought it was a little unusual to do something like that right in the middle of the work week, rather than after hours or on the weekend.

Shortly after lunch, one of the boys from IT kicked her off her machine as part of the updates, so she took the opportunity to grab some water from the break room. As she walked past Mister Grey's office she heard agitated voices coming from inside. Curiosity got the best of her and she leaned closer to try and make out what they were saying. It wasn't hard – they weren't doing a very good job of keeping quiet.

"Mister Brown is coming?" one of the voices said. Jenna recognised that as Nathan, one of the younger staffers. He'd been hired in the most recent staff intake and was already making a name for himself.

"Yes," Mister Grey replied. His tone indicated that he wasn't pleased about the situation either. "Got word last night. He'll be here late next week, possibly Thursday. Friday at the latest. He's flying in to 'check on our progress'. The fucking balls on this guy!"

"Our progress? The delays came from their end," Nathan replied. He paused to let out a long sigh. "Can we actually get it done?"

"Maybe. Josh came in early this morning to deliver the package. He seems to think it's possible. But fuck me, Nathan this is gonna to be tight."

Mister Grey was not one of Jenna's favourite people in the company. He reminded her of her ex-boyfriend's father, both in his appearance and extremely short temper. On her first day here, she'd been on the receiving end of one of his famous tirades when she accidentally knocked his coffee out of his hands. He was right about one thing, she thought. I am pretty useless.

Jenna heard footsteps coming from around the corner and decided to move on before somebody caught her eavesdropping. She was sure she'd get an earful about all this from one of the gossips later anyway.

She was let back onto her computer shortly after. When asked what had changed, the computer guy had muttered something about "enhanced system stability". Regrettably this hadn't extend to her chair, which still wobbled slightly as she sat down. She had trouble focusing that afternoon, and she was pretty sure she dozed off briefly, but she settled back into her routine and the day was soon over.

* * *

On Friday, the office was a hive of activity. The senior staff members were running around like headless chickens, with the communal space connecting IT, R&D and the Admin sector she worked in transformed into a freeway. Jenna hadn't seen so many people looking so stressed since her final University exam. It was absolute chaos. Jenna tried to avoid the crowds wherever possible.

She found herself resting her head throughout the day, zoning out at her desk and taking long breaks to the bathroom, even though she didn't really need to. Mainly, she just wanted some quiet.

She stared into the mirror and looked at herself. She was now officially well past her mid-20s and she didn't have to look very hard to see that in her face. After years of trying every colour under the sun, from blue to pink to jet black, she'd settled on a natural brunette shade for her hair. It wasn't a colour she was completely happy with, but it was more professional this way. That was true for a lot of things these days – if she angled her head just right you could still see a tiny glimmer of light through her nose where the piercing used to be.

Sarah walked into the bathroom suddenly, interrupting her meditations. She quickly turned on the sink and pretended like she was there for a reason. Sarah was one of Jenna's coworkers. One of her much better looking coworkers. Actually, she reflected, all of my coworkers are my better looking coworkers. Sarah scanned the bathroom for other people and made sure the door was shut firmly behind her before turning to Jenna.

"Hey, I heard there's some serious shit going down soon," Sarah opened. She looked slightly concerned, but primarily just excited to have something juicy to talk about. "Maybe even redundancies."

Sarah was everything Jenna wasn't. Outgoing, attractive, blonde, busty, positive, and even had wealthy parents. She couldn't even be mad at her because she was also somehow really nice and supportive, too. What a bitch. She was a lot more dressed up than normal for work, Jenna couldn't help but notice. There's no way that skirt is regulation length, she thought. She was also wearing a particularly bright shade of red on her lips and high heels – the painful kind. She tried to disregard all this and focus on the topic at hand.

"I don't think it's that," Jenna said. "Or at least that's not all there is to it. There's some bigwig from central coming down to check on some of the projects I think. I overheard Mr Grey talking about it yesterday." Sarah pulled in closer when she said that.

"Did you hear who it was?"

"Kind of," she said. She furrowed her brow in thought. "I'm pretty sure they said it was Mister Brown." Jenna felt a little jolt go through her as she said that name. "Mister Brown is very important," she continued. Sarah nodded, knowingly.

"Mister Brown deserves our respect," Sarah added. They both sat there in silent agreement for a few moments. She'd never met the man, but that much was true. He was important and she respected him.

Sarah broke the silence.

"Oh hey, I was meant to ask you as well, were you coming out on the town tonight? I know some guys who'd love to meet you," she said, grinning widely. It was a kind offer theoretically, but absolutely not Jenna's scene.

"Sorry," she answered. "You know it's not really my kind of a thing... You remember what happened last time don't you?"

"Oh come on, Jen, it'll be great fun! I won't even try to stop you leaving before midnight this time, scout's honour," she said, raising one hand to the side.

"I'll come out next time," she said, "I just really need a quiet weekend," she deflected.

* * *

On Saturday, Jenna had decided to finish off all of her housework in a single herculean effort in the morning. She went out in the early afternoon to cross off the groceries and, ideally, she could then lock the front door and spend the rest of the weekend in a semi-vegetative state. En route to the store, she noticed Cathy, another coworker, chatting to a few people outside a boutique store. As she got closer, she realised that she actually knew all of the people there. Cathy was in an animated discussion with Sarah and Rachel, one of the new interns.

"Jenna!" Rachel shrieked. The others turned and beckoned her over. Rachel and Sarah both had substantial bags with the store logo in their hands. "Sarah was just helping me shop for some new work outfits."

Based on the two weeks that she'd known her, Rachel was, if anything, more conservative in her dress sense than Jenna. The contents of the bag that Jenna was at that moment being shown told a different story, however. She was particularly unclear on how the garter and fishnets were going to fit into the picture. Jenna thought back to what Sarah had been wearing on Friday and frowned.

"Oh don't be like that," Sarah said, laughing. She didn't seem fazed by whatever had happened last night. Perhaps she hadn't stayed out too late? "I could help you out too. Showing a bit more skin couldn't hurt, you know." She raised her eyebrow seductively. "I'm sure Mister Grey wouldn't mind. Maybe you'll catch his eye." She sounded deadly serious.

"Sarah, I..." she wasn't sure what to say. That was way over the line, even for Sarah. And Mister Grey? Having tripped over her words, she showed no signs of immediate recovery.

"Oh come on Jenna," Cathy piped up. "Pretty girls should always try to look their best."

"Pretty girls should always try to look their best," Jenna repeated instantly. She felt the same jolt from Friday run across her whole body. It felt right. It was completely, indisputably correct. Even so... there was something slightly odd about the whole situation.

"Look, I um, I have to go," Jenna said all of a sudden. She was short on breath all of a sudden. She darted out of their sight and into the supermarket as quickly as she could, and hoped that nobody would follow her. To her relief, the day passed without incident.

On Sunday, Jenna kept finding herself thinking back to her coworkers. There was something strange about the way her coworkers were behaving, but what was it? Shopping for clothes wasn't a crime. What Cathy said was just so profound – they were pretty girls, so they obviously wanted to look their best. It was a change, but that part at least made sense. Maybe it was Sarah's comment about Mister Grey. She knew Sarah pretty well, and she hadn't seemed like she was joking about catching his eye. The thought was repulsive. Sarah had dated older guys but not that much older. He could be her father.

So she's into the old sleazebag, so what? She sighed to herself. She could already tell this would gnaw at the back of her mind.

Chapter 2

Jenna's suspicions were aroused again not long after she arrived on Monday. She'd been caught napping at her desk by Nathan – Handsome Nathan – who gave her a wry smile as she tried to compose herself. She frantically untangled her headphones, which she'd apparently dozed off wearing.

"I'm so sorry, I don't normally do that," she said, voice wavering slightly.

"That's OK, I'm sure you needed it. As long as you get all your work done, what does it matter if you take a quick break now and then, really?" She agreed with the sentiment, but the embarrassment was going to take a good long while to fade. She noticed his eyes scanning over her and lingering for a little too long. She shifted in her seat and made a little cough. It was inappropriate, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything about it. She still felt like she was on the back foot.

"Did.. did you need anything?" she said.

"Oh no, just saying hi," he said, smiling broadly. He turned wandered off, looking supremely confident. She sank, and her chair squeaked.

She'd never seen Nathan ogling anybody before, and especially not so openly, but at this point in her life she shouldn't have been surprised to discover another arsehole guy in an office environment. Nathan had just kept up the act for longer than most. No, the genuinely odd stuff that happened that day started when she then got up to fetch some coffee.

As she walked past one of the private meeting rooms, she could have sworn she heard moaning. She froze in place. Yeah, that's definitely moaning, she though. She pressed her ear closer.

"Oh yeah, right there Sir! Please don't stop!" the voice said. Is that... a loud slap interrupted her train of thought.

"Don't presume to... tell me... what to do..." a man's voice said, punctuated by what Jenna assumed was thrusting. That was definitely Mister Grey, she thought, and shuddered.

"I'm so sorry Sir, it won't happen again," the other voice said. It sounded familiar to Jenna but she couldn't quite place it. One of the women from the first floor, maybe?

She took a mental step back. There was fucking going on. In one of the meeting rooms. In the middle of the morning, where people would be walking past constantly. And not just regular fucking, some kind of kinky power exchange thing. The concept of an office romance was obviously not foreign to her, but that right there was exceptionally brazen. Anybody could walk in and see them, and there was no way she was the only person who noticed this. Mister Grey was pushing sixty, he'd been bald for a decade or more, he was overweight and he smelled on occasion. There was no doubt in her mind – he must have been abusing his authority. Possibly an offer to fast track this woman's career, possibly threats or blackmail, possibly just the unspoken implication that if you reject a pass your boss' boss makes at you, it could completely ruin you. It made her feel sick. Then, it happened.

"Oh that's right, that's right, yeah, that's a good girl," he said through the door. Another jolt surged through her, more powerful than the ones she'd felt before. Her eyes unfocused and she felt a wave of contentment wash over her. Everything was fine. More than fine. She felt a pleasure that she hadn't felt in years. She almost didn't hear it through the fog in her mind, but could she could make out that the woman inside the room was having an even bigger reaction. She almost let out a scream before being muffled by Mister Grey's hands. The whimpers could still just faintly be heard, but Jenna was a little far gone.

After a few moments passed, Jenna realised the absurdity of what was going on. Did I just have a fucking orgasm? The last of the feeling started to pass and she became extremely self conscious that maybe somebody had seen her there blissed out in front of a meeting room, but nobody was in the corridor right at that moment. Even more humiliated than earlier, she skipped straight past the coffee and almost ran to the bathroom.

She grabbed an unoccupied stall and sat down, bowl closed. She needed to think. She needed to collect herself. The words ran through her head again. That's a good girl, they echoed. Even just thinking about it now felt so damn nice. She pulled down her panties slightly and gently reached down with one finger. She couldn't believe how wet she was. She ran the finger up and down gently, teasing herself silently and replaying the scene once more. After a minute or less she suddenly pulled her hand out. Jesus Christ, Jenna, get a grip! There are people around!

She was breathing heavily, but forced herself to calm down. She ran through the mental exercises she knew so well. She refocused and reflected on her own thoughts and behaviours. What just happened? Think. Don't panic. I just... I just got a little carried away. Maybe I just have a fetish I didn't know about. After a few minutes, she felt composed enough to return to her desk and get on with her work. Who could she possibly even talk to about something like that?

After lunch, when she was deep into spreadsheets and arranging accommodation for people, she noticed a young man approaching her. She hadn't seen him around, or at least she hadn't noticed him before. Judging from the bundle of cables he was carrying, she guessed he was from IT.

"Uh, Jenna Greene is it?" he said nervously.

"Yeah that's me," she said, putting on her best smile. She didn't really feel like smiling, but it was the expected thing.

"Ah great, look I um, I need you to come with me so I can test you out," he said.

"What do you mean? You want me to test something?"

"Um," he muttered. "I need you to come with me and we're going to have sex, um, and you'll do what you're told." he continued. Jenna's internal state slipped straight out of confusion and into a mixture of incredulity and outrage.

"What the fuck did you just say?" She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. The man looked visibly shaken by her reaction. For reasons she couldn't fathom, this complete stranger had just come up to her, propositioned her in some kind of bizarre technical way, and was now confused that this hadn't worked. In the middle of a workplace. In broad daylight. The man stammered, and was obviously panicking.

"I um, I'm sorry, I just..." he started, before breaking into a sprint out of the room and up the corridor. He dropped his network cables somewhere near the door.

* * *

Jenna was still reeling from what had just happened twenty minutes later. She had secured one of the other private rooms – deliberately avoiding the one she'd heard sex noises coming from only a few hours prior.

"Alright, what's wrong Jenna, you're freaking me out," said Rachel. Jenna didn't know who to talk to, but Rachel was around when she went looking, so she was as good as anybody at this point. God knows where Sarah and Cathy are. She'd called Rachel into this room and made clear that something awful had happened.

She felt increasingly sick at the thought of it. She'd certainly experienced low level harassment before – subtle comments, a lingering gaze. She had never experienced such direct, bold harassment in the workplace. Rachel just kept looking at her, waiting for her to speak.

"I um..." she started. "I was sitting at my desk and this, this guy from IT, you know, he um," she trailed off again. She took a deep breath in. "He just comes up to me and he starts, you know, he um,"

"It's ok," Rachel said. "Take your time." She grabbed Jenna's hand. Jenna squeezed it tight. Rachel really was a good sort. She took a deep breath.

"He just comes up to me and says that he needs to take me away to... 'test me out'."

"Test you? Like some kind of assessment?"

"I asked him the same thing," she replied. "Then he clarifies – he wanted me to follow him into a room and have sex with him." That hung in the air for a while. Rachel looked extremely concerned.

"Well... did you?"

"Of course I didn't Rachel! What kind of a question is that?"

"Why didn't you Jen?" said Rachel, shaking her head disapprovingly.

Am I going fucking insane? Jenna thought.

"Are you really making a god-damn joke? Right now?" she exploded in response. She could feel tears trying to worm their way out of her eyes.

"Pretty girls do as they're told, Jen."

There was a sudden thunk in her head.

"Pretty girls do as they're told," she replied, her train of thought completely derailed.

"You should have done what you were told, Jen. You should have had sex with him if that's what he told you to do"

Her thoughts resumed where they'd left off. She was suddenly pissed off again.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing, Rachel. I don't know what fucked up process is running through your head but I am not just some passive bimbo who'll do whatever a man tells her to!" She was shouting at this point. Rachel looked as though she couldn't even understand what Jenna was saying to her. It was like she was speaking another language. Jenna stormed out of the room, trying her hardest not to cry.

* * *

On Tuesday morning when she woke up, Jenna was absolutely, positively determined that she wasn't going to step foot on work grounds. She had no idea if she was losing her own grip on reality, whether she was the victim of some elaborate "The Game" style gaslighting on a mass scale, or whether she'd stepped into The Twilight Zone. But whatever it was, there was no way she was dealing with that shit today.

She opened her eyes and looked at the clock, which read Seven-Twenty AM. She jerked up suddenly. It's imperative that I come in to work on time every day, she thought to herself. I must not leave work during work hours without permission. That was true. It was absolutely imperative that she come in to work every day and there was nothing more to be said on that matter. She stood up and started making preparations for the day. She had almost left it too late, but was confident that if she really pushed herself now she could make it. She'd have to skip breakfast, but that was a small price to pay. She quickly assembled an outfit – underwear, a pencil skirt, a blouse, a jacket and some comfortable shoes. She made it out of the shower in record time.