Gossip proven true

Nick couldn't believe what he was seeing. Erica, his gorgeous boss, was standing in front of him completely nude, drinking water from her cup like nothing was wrong. No shoes, no underwear, not even that necklace she wore as a gift from the previous boss.

Erica regarded him with a cold look. He had been used to it by now; it was just the face she wore. In fact, he was certain all bosses wore them in the business world. But something felt off about it this time. She seemed to actually be annoyed.

"Nick," Erica said. "Didn't you get the email about our new dress code?"

"I-I-I mean..." Nick was at a loss for words. "I thought it was a joke."

"Nick, you've worked here for two years now," Erica said. "Have I ever been known to joke about our work?"

"No."

She raised the cup to her lips, giving him an expectant stare. Nick looked around for an exit. It was bad enough to stand in front of his boss naked, but he couldn't let on how hard she was making him.

"Okay," he said. "I'll get back to my cubicle and I'll..."

"No," Erica chastised. "I will be confiscating them until the end of the day. Your clothes will be treated like all contraband."

Nick didn't know what was worse. The fact he had to strip down in front of Erica, or how disappointed she seemed to be in him. He had always wanted to impress her, both because she was his boss and due to an enormous crush he had on her. If it wasn't for the fact she was ordering him to strip alongside her, this would have been a dream come true.

"I-I didn't see anyone else like this when I came in," Nick said. "I'm sorry, but we all thought..."

"I'm afraid you thought wrong." Erica seemed to notice how embarrassed he was. She put her cup down and put her hand on his shoulder. "I will make sure that they are aware of the changes. You will not be the only one."

She withdrew her hand and regrew her "work face." "Now, please hurry up and remove your clothes. We need to get some work done before lunch."

Nick nodded and slowly slipped off his jacket, handing it to Erica to take. He avoided eye contact as he removed each article of clothing, from his shirt and tie down to his pants, socks, and shoes. He couldn't bear seeing her reaction to his stripping.

He made sure to pull down his underwear slowly, hoping his erection would go down with time, but to no avail. Quickly, he grabbed his underwear and held them out, but Erica didn't take them. He risked looking up to see her staring at his naked waist. The folded clothes in her arms slipped out of her grasp and tumbled to the floor.

"Um...Erica?"

Erica shook herself out of her daze and grabbed the underwear, along with the rest of his clothes. "Ahem! Thank you, Nick! I always appreciate a worker who can take orders."

She stood straight up with Nick's clothes in one arm. The two workers found themselves face to face in front of the water cooler withou a stitch of clothing.