Mackenzie calls out of work

"Uh... uh..." the naked woman debated to herself for a moment before finally coming to a decision. "Can I borrow your phone, Sam?"

Sam immediately smiled.

"You got it, Mack!"

Mackenzie appreciatively took the phone from her girlfriend and wasted no time dialing her boss's number. Luckily, she remembered it! After a few rings, a familiar voice picked up.

"Hello?" the woman said, sounding a bit cautious. "Who is this?"

"Hi, Connie? It's Mackenzie."

"Oh, hi Mackenzie! I didn't recognize the number so I wasn't sure who was calling."

"Ah, sorry. I'm calling from my g-" Mackenzie stopped herself, not wanting to tell her boss any more than she absolutely needed to.

Connie was a nice enough person to work for, in most respects. But she also happened to be the biggest gossip in the entire company...

"Calling from a different phone," Mackenzie amended. "Listen, something's come up and I'm not going to be able to make it in today."

"Oh? What happened?" Connie replied, now sounding a bit more interested.

"Well... I..." Mackenzie said as she scrambled for a decent excuse. "I can't... Uh... I mean I don't have..."

What was she supposed to tell her boss (and, soon by extension, most of the company)? That she'd lost her clothes at the spa over the weekend, found herself locked out of her home, and had spent the vast majority of the weekend naked, mostly in the company of her new girlfriend? Not a chance!

"...Mackenzie?" Connie asked, now sounding extremely interested in what her employee was going to say. "What's gotten you so nervous now? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Th-the thing is..." the redhead faltered again, mind coming up blank.

For some reason, all Mackenzie could think about in that moment was her bizarre and embarrassing predicament. Had it really been two full days now that she'd been separated from all her belongings, even her clothes?! Why was she taking so long to resolve it? Hanging out with Samantha was enjoyable and all, but she really needed to get a hold of herself and sort her problems out!

"Go on, spit it out, Mackenzie," Connie said, now on the edge of her seat for whatever her clearly flustered employee was trying to say.

What am I even supposed to say?! Mackenzie thought. That I don't have any clothes?!

The redhead tried desperately to think of something else to say. But, her brain was seemingly unable to let go of her last thought.

I don't have any clothes. No!! Don't say that you idiot! Just tell her that... uh.. I don't have any clothes. NO! STOP!!!

"I-I..." she stammered over the phone.

I don't have any clothes! I don't have any clothes!! I DON'T HAVE ANY CLOTHES!!! the intrusive thought repeated on loop. The more she tried not to think about it, the louder it seemed to blare in her mind.

"I don't ha-"

The naked woman nearly jumped when she felt a gentle hand on her back. She whirled around to find Samantha offering some much needed support. It took Mackenzie a moment, but the shock genuinely helped snap her out of whatever mental spiral she'd been going down.

'Family emergency,' the blonde slowly mouthed a few times.

"There's been a, uh, family emergency," Mackenzie lied a moment later. "And I won't be able to come to work for a while."

"Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that!" Connie said, sounding compassionate and perhaps just a touch disappointed by the lack of a juicy reason for her employee's absence. "I can already hear it in your voice that whatever's going on is some heavy stuff. Well don't you worry about work one bit! You just take as much time as you need. Just give me a call tomorrow morning and we can figure out timing and everything. I'm wishing your family all the best, Mackenzie, okay?"

"Y-yes, um, thanks Connie. Goodbye..."

Mackenzie hung up the phone and handed it back to Samantha, feeling like she'd just dodged an enormous bullet.

"No offense, Mack, but you're an awful liar," Samantha giggled. "You looked halfway to a nervous breakdown!"

"Shut up!" the redhead laughed back, giving her girlfriend a playful punch on the arm. "I-I just didn't have an excuse ready to go ahead of time, that's all!"

In truth, Mackenzie felt quite a bit more shaken by the call than she'd admit. She'd been a moment away from uttering a humiliating secret to her gossiping boss! Why had she nearly done that?! She felt as if all the humiliation from the weekend had come crashing back over her at once. Not only that, it felt like a potent reminder of just how dire her current dilemma was! Living off of Samantha's generosity was certainly nice, but Mackenzie felt a newfound sense of determination to return some semblance of control to her life. And she planned to start by getting access to her home, her car, and of course, her clothes! She was done playing around. Mackenzie was getting to work solving her problems RIGHT NOW.

"So..." Samantha playfully drawled as she laid back down on the couch. "Now that you've officially got the day off... where were we?~"

"Uh..." Mackenzie trailed off as she stared down at her girlfriend.

Her gorgeous, nearly naked girlfriend who was laying there, reaching for her with open arms. Her determination from a few seconds prior faltered. After all, they did have all day to try to fix her situation. (And maybe even longer if she kept lying to her boss?) And it wasn't even 9AM yet! What was the worst that could happen if they spent a bit more of the morning... enjoying each other's company?