The Afternoon Shift

About thirty minutes later I sat nude on the bench in front of the two way mirror, my heart thumping heavily in my chest. Kelly had left awhile ago with Aiko and I knew she was somewhere in the building making nude deliveries and my turn would soon come. Mariko had set our status to "Ready" and had told me I would take the lead this afternoon and make the deliveries while she would be there to help translate and guide me to the correct office. Now I was nervously awaiting my call and wondering how many people were behind the mirror staring at my pussy. It doesn't matter, I told myself. A lot of people will be seeing it soon enough anyway.

I'd been dog tired when I first came in earlier for my lunch break but the food and the shower had reinvigorated me. Nervous energy was pulsating through my body as I waited, and I nearly jumped out of my seat when my watch buzzed and lit up. "Floor 12, B6, Pickup." It was a long hike from the basement up to the 12th floor and I had only six minutes to get to my pickup point. I got up quickly and headed for the door.

In the hallway I passed the four men who'd been spying on me and when I reached the stairs I tried to maintain the same steady pace that Mariko had set earlier. Now that I was nude my breasts jiggled with each step and I knew that Mariko was getting a good look at my ass and pussy as she climbed the steps right behind me.

By the fifth floor my legs were beginning to feel heavy. By the tenth floor I was starting to breathe hard and wasn't sure I could make it without stopping. Mariko must have realized I was struggling because I felt her hand on the small of my back applying gentle pressure, just enough to make it easier to keep moving. When I reached the twelfth floor I opened the door and entered an office area completely nude for the first time. I can't begin to describe how strange that felt.

The offices were coded for the mailgirls and I knew I was supposed to go to B6 but I had no idea where that was and since everything was in Japanese there was no way for me to figure it out. Mariko placed her hand on my elbow and gently guided me down a carpeted hallway and then a right turn that led to a pair of glass doors. Beyond the doors lay a receptionist desk and beyond that was a tiled corridor that led through the middle of a number of very lavishly furnished executive offices. A lovely young female receptionist looked at us contemptuously as we entered but nodded for us to continue on into the office suite area.

"Continue straight down the corridor to the end," Mariko whispered. "The office we seek will be on the left."

We were high in the building now and everyone here was clothed in expensive and well-tailored business suits and dresses. I was careful to keep my eyes lowered and avoid eye contact as I'd been instructed and I felt an unmistakable sense of humiliation and inferiority as I walked past them completely naked. At the end of the corridor I turned left into an executive office reception area and the secretary looked curiously at me and then at Mariko who was now beside me. Mariko exchanged a few words with her and then assumed a kneeling position on the carpeted floor and I did the same. "The executive has a very important correspondence he is preparing that we must rush to a courier in the lobby," she explained. "We must wait for him to complete it."

"The lobby? I thought we weren't allowed to go into the lobby?"

"A senior executive may authorize it on rare occasions," she replied. Jesus, my first nude run and I'll be going down into the building's very public main lobby!

"I will make the delivery if you wish," Mariko said.

"No, I'll do it," I said. In for a penny in for a pound, I figured.

It was about five minutes later when the executive rushed out of his office with a large manilla envelope in his hands and stopped in front of us. Mariko stood up before him with her head bowed and I did the same. She exchanged a few words with him and the man thrust the envelope into my hands. Mariko placed her hand on my shoulder and guided me through the doorway. "We must hurry," she said and for the first time that day we broke into a run past the startled employees working on the floor. As we reached the receptionist's desk at the end, Mariko took me by my free hand and led me to the elevator and pushed the down button. "It has been authorized," she said in response to my curious look.

The elevator was empty when it arrived but it was not an express elevator so it was impossible to prevent it from making stops on our journey down. With each stop I saw the look of surprise on the faces of the people entering to see two naked mailgirls on the elevator. One woman in particular was perturbed by it and had some very sharp words for Mariko and me. I had no idea what she was saying but I knew it wasn't a friendly greeting. Mariko simply remained silent with her eyes lowered to the floor and I did the same.

When the elevator finally reached the lobby we exited quickly and Mariko guided me to the reception desk where she and the security guard were obviously expecting us. In front of the desk was a motorcycle courier dressed in leather and he looked each of us over from head to toe with a leer. I handed him the envelope and he began writing out a receipt. As he wrote I looked around the lobby and saw that everyone was staring at us. Beyond the glass entry doors pedestrians and cars went by and it felt I'd fallen into a crazy, surreal dream.

The courier finished writing out the receipt and tore it from his book and handed it to me. Then he took one last look at my breasts and turned and strode toward the exit.

Mariko smiled at me. "You did well."

"Now what?" I asked.

"We must now return to the the 12th floor to deliver the receipt," she said. "I am afraid we must use the stairs this time."

"Oh my god," I said thinking about the long trudge back up twelve stories.

After delivering the receipt to the receptionist we thankfully had no immediate orders so we were able to go to the floor's Mailgirls pad to get some rest. Unlike the other floors, the pad here consisted of thick carpet rather a yoga pad and I assumed the kneeling position with my knees at shoulder width, my hands on my thighs, my back slightly arched, and my gaze lowered. I knew this left me exposed from all angles and I could feel eyes on me from throughout the room.

After several minutes Mariko spoke to me in a quiet voice. "If it is okay I wish to ask you a personal question."

"Sure," I responded.

"I would like to know if you have any Japanese ancestry?"

"I do," I replied. "My grandmother was Japanese. My grandfather met her when he was stationed in Okinawa."

"Ah, I thought so."

"Is it obvious?" I asked.

"No, but I can see it in your hair, your skin tone, and a little around the eyes. However your green eyes are very much not Japanese."

"Yes, they come from my Scottish heritage." I knew my green eyes were my most striking feature and the thing that most people noticed first.

"Ah, that is a most interesting blend. It has provided you with an exotic beauty. But you have never been to Japan before and speak no Japanese?"

"No," I said. "My grandmother died when I was very young and I have no memory of her. I have seen pictures, though, and she was very beautiful."

"I am very sorry," Mariko said and we both remained silent for several minutes before my watch sprung to life.

"Floor 8, D6, Pickup, 3:00." Back to work.

After the unusual nature of my first nude assignment the rest of the afternoon consisted of mostly routine pickups and deliveries. After awhile I began to settle into a rhythm and found a pace that allowed me to meet my deadlines without burning myself out. I also felt so much more comfortable in the nude than I had in the restrictive workout outfit I'd worn in the morning. After our second fifteen minute break I even started getting a second wind and became confident that I'd make it through the rest of the shift.

The more time I spent with Mariko the more I came to admire her. She moved with the grace of a dancer and never lost her poise, no matter the situation or how she was treated. She had an innate inner calm and strength that had somehow allowed her to do this job for years without ever losing her dignity or belief in herself.

The two us were kneeling on a Mailgirls pad on the sixth floor near the end of our shift when our watches lit up and buzzed. "14th floor, A1." This one was unusual because it didn't specify it as a pickup or delivery and there was no deadline. I also realized it was on the top floor of the building. A darkness came over Mariko's face as she read the new command.

"I must respond to this," she said. "You should go down to the locker room and shower and dress. You have done very well today."

I was disappointed to hear this and wanted to finish up my shift with her. "Why?" I asked. "What is this?"

"I have been summoned by Mr. Hiromoto. It is best if you don't go."

"Oh, I'd like to meet Mr. Hiromoto if I can. I've read so much about him!"

Mariko began to respond but stopped herself and spent a moment thinking about it. "Yes, perhaps you should meet him," she said, "but I cannot promise he will meet with you. You may follow me but you must promise to do exactly as I say."

"I promise," I said.

As we climbed the stairs toward the top of the building I began to grow nervous and wondered if I was making a mistake. After hearing Mariko talk yesterday about how Hiromoto had been born burakumin - the lowest caste in Japanese society - and risen to power from there, I'd spent the previous evening researching him on the internet. By most accounts he was a brilliant but difficult man and there were frequent allegations over the years that he had built his empire through bribery and intimidation. There were also persistent rumors that he was yakuza - a member of a Japanese crime organization known as the boryokudan that had a large number of burakumin in its ranks. There were some who believed that Hiromoto was able to get the Mailgirls program going without interference from the government only because he had a large number of politicians in his pocket.

My anxiety increased as we climbed higher in the building and several times I almost asked Mariko if I could turn around. Somehow I kept moving, though, emboldened by my belief in Mariko and my curiosity to meet Hiromoto.

We finally reached the entrance to the 14th floor but unlike the other floors this one required a security code to enter. Mariko entered the code into her watch and then held it up to the electronic security pad. The pad flashed green, the door unbolted and I nervously followed her onto the 14th floor.