Aiden Hughson, a small town boy new to the big city [wilparu]

Author's Note: Welcome to my story! It is a bit different than the world described by PrinceCai in the intro, but not very much. Gender norms are stricter than in our world, but not hugely so, and while attitudes and traditional roles are reversed many things like physical appearance and clothing styles are mostly the same (women wear makeup but men spend a lot more time and effort on their appearance, women are stronger but the sexes are built more or less the same as our reality). You'll see what I mean, I'm sure, but basically it's a more subtle version of some of the other alternate realities in this collection. Enjoy, and thanks to PrinceCai for making this!

Hands trembling, Aiden gulped nervously one last time in front of the tinted glass doors. Could he really do this?

The building was three stories tall, a fairly typical size for this area of the city - not quite downtown but close to the river in the historic Mill District. Surface parking lots and a mix of commercial and light industrial buildings… honestly more than a little intimidating for a boy from a small town like Aiden.

‘I can do it. I got the job and I even found my own place to live and moved here on my own even though Dad said I’d never even make it out of the house. I’m sure the people will be nice and I’ll be able to do the work, I just have to try!’

Biting his lip, the young man is about to take the last few steps to the door when it swings open. A woman stands there and frowns at him, curtly saying, “You looking for the temp agency? It’s on the other side of the building, off Smith Street. This is Mill District Accounting.”

She’s not mean, not quite, but her brusque tone and indifference have Aiden instantly blushing furiously. “Uh, n-no, I’m here! I mean, this is where I’m going!” His squeaky nervous voice fills him with shame and for a mad second he wants to just mutter an apology and turn away and run back to his crappy new apartment. Maybe he can find an easier job as a waiter or something? Getting hit on by an endless series of crude truck drivers suddenly seems like a plan!

The woman pauses and looks him up and down, slowly. Aiden knows what she’s seeing, a young man - a boy really - of 20 years old, fresh out of clerical school, moved from his hick small town to the big city. Aiden shuffles nervously as she openly checks out his body, unhurriedly glancing at his crotch. He’s wearing loose, unfashionable slacks and an oversized long sleeve shirt, and his hair is so shaggy his bangs threaten to hide his eyes.

“Ahh, I assume you’re not here as a customer, are ya sweetie?” She doesn’t get out of the way or ask him to enter, but just slouches against the door frame and cocks her head to the side. “Oh shit, you’re the new office boy, aren’t ya!”

“Uh, yes? I mean, I guess? My name is Aiden, Aiden H-”

“Yeah yeah,” she interjects casually, “I forgot Derrick said his replacement was starting this week. Come on in, hun.”

She is at least 10 years older than Aiden, fit, very pretty and with long blond hair and the casual makeup of a woman who knows she’s hot shit. Probably gets all the dick she wants, and with her large breasts pushing against her silk shirt - at least 3 buttons open - she smirks at Aiden and gestures inside. She doesn’t move however, and Aiden is to shuffle awkwardly past her, so close he can’t help but brush against her large chest as she certainly intended, and her smirk only gets wider as she looks at him blushing again.

Hurrying past, Aiden enters the office space and sees a large desk for the reception area. A Black man is smiling encouragingly at Aiden from behind the desk, and even before he sees the nameplate Aiden correctly guesses the man is Derrick Roy.

• The Main Floor, full-sized image -

“Hi, Aiden, right?” Derrick stands and thrusts his hand out happily. He’s a good looking guy who appears to be in his mid-20’s, with a stylish, tight shirt of some kind of thin material stretching across his broad chest. Aiden would normally intimidated by any boy so hot and confidently sexy but his gentle eyes and kind smile seem genuine.

“Uh, yep, I’m Aiden!” They shake hands and the new guy turns his head. With a groan of absolute horror, he realizes the entire wall and doorway is tinted glass and that Derrick and everyone else in the front part of the office was looking at him standing on the sidewalk staring like an idiot who didn’t know how doors worked. Fudge!

Before Aiden can worry more about how he’s managed to embarrass himself at work before he even started, the blonde woman struts up beside him, standing a little too close. She’s an inch or two shorter than Aiden is, like most women, but with heels on she’s eye level. Aiden knows that while her arms and shoulders are smaller than his she could probably pick him up and throw him over her shoulder, what with that estrogen fueled muscular strength that made women almost inevitably stronger and faster than men.

She is again staring openly at Aiden, her mouth quirked in a sly grin, “So… Aiden is it? You’re replacing Derrick here while he’s on paternal leave with his new baby? I guess we’ll be working closely together then. Hmm, when you were hired the email mentioned you’re moving to the big city from somewhere, right? Do you have a place of your own? Live all alone I bet, right? Must be new for a boy your age, not having your daddy around to take care of you, is it your first time being all by your lonesome?”

Before Aiden can even begin to process a reply Derrick breaks in smoothly, “Thank you Sam, but it’s almost 9AM and I have to get Aiden to his orientation. Can’t keep Kathleen waiting!” Stepping around the reception desk, Derrick gestures at Aiden to follow. “Just come on, I have to get one of the guys from clerical to man reception while we’re meeting. Like we discussed during your phone interview, there is a lot to go over for this position but I’m sure you’ll learn fast, and I’m here for a week until my pat leave so I’m sure we’ll do great!” With a cheerful wave at the woman, Sam, he swipes a keycard on a scanner beside a doorway and hustles his replacement through the unlocked door and into a generic hallway.

As soon as they are through Derrick leans in and quietly says, “That’s Sam Johnson, one of the accountants with the firm. She can be… aggressive, but just be polite and firm and she’ll leave you alone. Mostly.” Walking into an open area with a couple of men doing filing and typing on older computers, Derrick gets one of them to replace him at reception and hustles Aiden into a meeting room.

“Ok, you can put your messenger bag - so cute! - down here. I’ll show you your space for your stuff at the front desk when we go back up there, this morning you’ll meet Kathleen, she’s the manager who hired you, for a quick orientation about the business and your responsibilities. Then I’ll take you around and introduce you to the ladies - all the accountants are women as you’d expect, we used to have a guy accountant but he got a less stressful job in HR for some other company last year - but there are a few boys here as you saw so it’s not just you getting your bum pinched all day, ha ha!”

“Oh, ok, ha ha,” Aiden can’t tell if Derrick is joking. Surely the women here don’t really pinch your bum, right? That’s only something you see on TV!

Aiden only has enough time for Derrick to hand him some printouts about his orientation schedule and how to log into his computer and so on before the door opens and a woman strides in. She’s older, probably in her late 40’s, and she has the very feminine long, loose hair, halfway down her back and streaked with grey, common to her generation.

“Hello, Aiden, I am Kathleen Hawkins, pleased to meet you in person,” she shakes his hand firmly and then sits down. “Glad to see you, with Derrick leaving us to take care of his baby in a week or so we’ll need you trained up fast to take over. We’re a good firm and we do good work, and you got great grades from your clerical school out in your old hometown.”

Without even pausing for Aiden to say a single word, she launched into a long, clearly familiar, spiel about the accouting firm and how it worked, indicating they had 7 full time accountants including her and also did some financial consulting work. Aiden had intended to take notes, as he had learned in school, but her lengthy monologue was so brisky given he never remembered to pick up the pen.

When she was done, Kathleen asked if he had any questions in a rapid fire tone that strongly hinted she was too busy to answer questions from a secretary, so Aiden thanked her and said no he’d ask Derrick later. This had the other man nodding approval as Kathleen stood and started to leave the meeting room.

“Work hard and you’ll do great here Aiden. Derrick has a one year pat leave but who knows, maybe like most boys once he gets home with his baby he’ll want his wife to have more so he can just be a househubby instead.” She pauses and glances at Derrick, who gives a vague smile at the arguably sexist remark. “Or not, whatever, more and more men are choosing to stay in the workforce these days, society is changing of course. Regardless, we look forward to having you here for a year and who knows, maybe beyond that. Sound good?”

Nodding rapidly, Aiden chirped, “Yes ma’am, it sounds great! I’m really looking forward to it and thanks for the opportunity!” She looks at him again and nods, clearly pleased with his energetic response, then leaves the room.

When she is gone, Derrick smiles. “That was well done. Kathleen appreciates a keen attitude, and she’s a fair boss. Always tell her if you need help and don’t be afraid to make mistakes, she doesn’t mind explaining what she needs but she doesn’t like it when the clerical staff make the same error more than once. Now, let’s show you around to the ladies you’ll be helping directly.”

Taking a deep breath, Aiden stands and wipes his sweaty palms on his cheap pants. So far, so good! Now he just has to meet a half dozen potentially scary women who may or may not really pinch his bum. Ha ha. Derrick was definitely joking about that!