Mending Fences

The room fell quiet for several minutes. Dana was staring at Hannah with a look that equal parts fear and curiosity. Hannah had always been a sincerely nice person, and a good boss to all her employees. It didn't seem like her to be overly punitive to Dana. That being said, if there was one person in the firm who was fully aware of just how much of a bitch my coworker had been, it was Dana. I could all but see the worst case scenarios running through her mind. We didn't have to wait too long.

"First of all, I want you to know that you are an important part of what we do here. Your designs have consistently been some of our biggest selling items." Dana seemed to relax before Hannah's praise. That reprieve was short lived. "But frankly, as good as you are your job, you're just barely a net positive asset here. I'm constantly having to smooth over your disputes like a Zamboni machine at a hockey rink. We've lost at least four people, four great people, who opted to quit rather than deal with your particular brand of bullshit." Dana looked like she would have been quite happy if a giant hole had opened in the floor and swallowed her.

"And it's not even just our staff who you're causing problems for. I know you noticed when we stopped ordering lunch from Tito's. You berated the administrative staff for weeks. They refuse to deliver to us anymore because of you. Did you the owner of the coffee shop we all love, the one you went to today," Hannah pointed at the tray of cups still in Dana's hand, "was threatening to stop selling not just to you, but to any of us. You've antagonized her staff so much that she was willing to cut us all off just to preclude the possibility of anyone else buying a coffee for you. 'Quad Grande, Non Fat, Extra Hot Caramel Macchiato Upside Down.' Every single person who works here knows your order, because every time you didn't get _exactly _that you'd lose your world and they were tired of having you come storming in to make a scene because you didn't think you got enough of some component, or too much of another."

Dana's eyes were firmly fixed on the floor, her body shaking with trepidation. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I'd been that bad to...to everyone." She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"Look, I know things are going to be different going forward. Right?" Dana's headed shot up, and she nodded like a bobble head doll in an earthquake. "I thought so. You're going to have to make things better with your coworkers, but my task for you is you're going to have make things right with the coffee shop."

"That's what you want me to do? For your part of my atonement?"

Interjecting here, I spoke up. "Like I said, Dana, I'm going to leave it up to the women assigning the tasks, for the most part. I like it. Besides, do you want to push her to come up with something different? You've heard the same rumors I did about how Hannah got **** on her husband for cheating on her. Do you want to give her an opportunity to devise something more...personal?

"No! I mean, no master. So once I make peace with..."

"Alice." Hannah offered. "The owner of the coffee shop is named Alice."

"Thank you. Once I make things right with Alice, the next woman will give me something else to do?"

"You got it. I haven't set any sort of order, so we'll just play it by ear. But most of them already know about this so you won't have to wait."

"Okay. I'll do it. And once I get through your list of my harem cohorts I'll be off probation, right? You'll fuck me once..." Dana was cut off by a knock on the door.

"Hannah? You in here? I got your e-mail and I had some questions...oh, sorry. I didn't realize there was a meeting going on in here." At the store stood Hannah's personal assistant Lindsay.

"Don't worry about it Lindsay, we're wrapping up. Welcome back, how was your vacation?" Hannah shifted right back into boss mode.

"Too short, as always. I don't mean to interrupt, but I didn't understand your e-mail, and it seemed like it could be time sensitive."

"Ah, yes. I was hoping you could set up an all hands meeting for around noon. Keep it under your hat until then, but I've promoted Mike to be my VP, and we'll be announcing that then."

"Congratulations Mike! I think almost everyone is in today, so it should be pretty easy to arrange."

"Thanks Linds. Oh, and if your friend Natalie is still looking for a job, I was thinking she'd be a great fit as Mike's assistant. Could you see if she's interested?

"I think she's still been looking so I'll definitely line that up! Thanks Hannah, thanks Mike!"

"Okay, let's get to work. Dana, if you've got nothing else at the moment, you can start working on that project we just discussed."

"YES!" Dana shot out of her chair and was all but sprinting towards the door, with Lindsay following her looking extremely confused.

Turning her attention to me, Hannah waited until the door closed. "Master, I was hoping to ask you if I could have a couple of those coins. I know it's a lot to ask, but if we're going to keep this business running, I think we're going to have to bring a couple more people into our inner circle."

"Like...?" I asked, tilting my head towards Lindsay's desk on the other side of the wall.

"For one. Let's just say that whoever built these offices saved money on sound proofing. If you're going to fuck me into my desk again, we don't want to worry about her overhearing us. I've got a couple ideas for others."

"Ehhh...okay. But only because it's you. I'm trying to exercise a bit more control about giving these out, but I know I can trust you. How many do you think you need?"

"That's a good point. I was going to ask for five, but..."

"I can trust you with five. Just make sure only the women you intend get their hands on them. From what I can tell, only the first woman to touch a coin gets affected. Speaking of, do you mind if I go run some errands before the meeting?" I ask, pulling the coins out, causing Hannah's eyes to go wide at the sight of the bag. "I need to go to the bank to get a safety deposit box for the rest of these."

"Yeah, go. You and I both know your poker face is horrible. No way you keep your promotion a secret until the meeting if you're hanging around everyone else. Master."

"Gee, thanks, boss." I laughed as I headed out of Hannah's office, winking at Lindsay. Sneaking out the back door, I decided to walk to the bank.