Old Friends, New Masters

I stood inside the doors of DDE's Marketing department momentarily paralyzed, unable to take another step. To be standing nude in such a familiar area had a greater effect on me than I could have imagined and for the first time in ages I had to fight an overwhelming urge to cover myself. I was in a corridor that led past several offices on each side, then opened up into a large floor filled with desks and cubicles which is where I'd once worked. The view of that area was limited from here so no one had seen me yet, but even a glimpse of it had left me frozen in place, unable to move. The idea of walking in there like this, totally naked with a phone strapped to my arm and the number 9 inked on various spots on my body, suddenly seemed completely insane.

On my immediate left was Sanjeev Singh's office, the man who'd once been my immediate boss. I could see him through the glass working at his desk, totally oblivious to my presence. Since Sanjeev had been at Barbara's presentation today, along with Stephanie, I decided I'd start there since he'd already seen me like this anyway. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then walked to the door and entered his office.

Sanjeev looked up at me with a stunned look on his face and it was clear he had no idea I'd be coming here. I assumed my required stance with my hands behind my back and my feet spread.

"Danica?" he said in a puzzled tone. "I did not order a Mailgirl delivery."

"No sir, Barbara Anderson sent me here. And please refer to me as Nine, sir."

"Yes, of course. Nine. That will take some getting used to I think." Sanjeev was clearly flustered by my sudden appearance.

Sanjeev was in his late 30's with flecks of gray in his thick dark hair. He had a thin runner's build and had actually competed in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney in the 10,000 meters. Born and raised in Jaipur, India he'd attended college in the U.S. and had been with DDE for about eight years. Despite his years in the U.S. he still spoke English with a pronounced Indian accent. Sanjeev had been a pretty good boss, although he was quiet and somewhat remote. It was always hard to get a read him so I had no idea what his true feelings were about me or the Mailgirls program. He wasn't one to rock the boat, though, so he'd go along with whatever he was instructed to do by the tower.

"And why did Barbara send you here?" he asked.

"I'm supposed to go to every department this week and answer questions and assist them with learning to use the Mailgirls app, sir."

"Ah, I see. I believe I understand how everything works and have been reading the literature," he said, holding up the Mailgirls Service Guide that had been handed out at the presentation earlier.

"Yes sir," I said, and for a moment I thought I might be able to get out of here without having to face any of the others. That hope was quickly crushed.

"There are some people out on the floor who have authorization to use the service so perhaps you could go talk to them to see if they need any help."

My heart sank. "Yes sir, I'll do that. Is there anything else you require?"

"No, Nine. You can go."

"Yes sir," I said as I turned and exited the office. Back in the corridor I looked toward the main floor area with dread and had to fight an overwhelming desire to run out of here back to my comfort zone in the tower. As I struggled to find the courage to face my old colleagues the door in the office opposite Sanjeev's opened and I was shocked to see Stephanie emerge from it with a bright smile on her face. I glanced at the name on the door and realized that she'd been promoted to an assistant manager position since I'd left. That's why she'd been at the presentation today.

"Well, look who's here," Stephanie said with a laugh. "It's Mailgirl Nine!"

I fought to compose myself, terribly embarrassed to be standing in front of my former friend like this. "Y-yes ma'am," I stammered. "I was ordered to report here and answer any questions you may have about the Mailgirls program."

"Oh I don't have any questions about it," she said with a smirk. "I understand your role perfectly. I think we should present you to the rest of the gang, though. I'm sure they'd love to see you in your new uniform." Stephanie then reached up and placed each of my already hard nipples between the thumb and forefinger of each hand and began teasing them out to even greater prominence. "I just want to make sure these are nice and perky," she said as I stood there in shock. "I think it adds a nice touch to your uniform." When she was done she slapped me hard on the ass. "Follow me, Nine," she commanded as she walked down the corridor toward the open floor of the department.

If I hadn't felt debased and degraded before I definitely did now as I followed behind her. As we walked onto the Marketing department's main floor I began seeing familiar faces reacting to my appearance. There's definitely something different about being nude in front of people you know and it heightened my embarrassment far beyond what I normally felt in the tower. Stephanie continued to lead me until we reached an open area in the middle of the floor. "Everyone to me," she said loudly, and people from throughout the office began gathering around us. The employees here were relatively young, mostly in their twenties and early thirties, and the atmosphere tended to be more casual than in the tower.

"Get into your standing position, Nine," Stephanie ordered and I quickly obeyed. I lowered my eyes to the floor unable to meet the gaze of my co-workers. My nipples remained prominently extended and I felt myself becoming moist which only added to my shame. If the presentation on stage today had been my ultimate humiliation up to now, this was even worse.

"I'm sure you guys know that Sanjeev and I went to a Mailgirls meeting today," she said to the gathered group. "I'm also sure you recognize Mailgirl Nine here. She was on the fast track to success but decided she preferred a career as a mailgirl instead." There was some snickering and laughter, but I kept my eyes glued to the floor trying vainly to imagine I was somewhere else. "Since we're going to start using mailgirls next Monday I thought I'd pass on a few things I learned today. The first thing you need to know is that mailgirls don't have names they have numbers. You have to call them by their number even if you know their name."

"That seems pretty fucked up," I heard a familiar voice say. It was Gary, the only one of my friends who'd been nice to me at a party I'd attended after becoming a mailgirl.

"It's company policy, Gary. We have to be able to identify them so we can give them demerits if they're being bad mailgirls," Stephanie replied sarcastically. "And Nine here has been a very bad mailgirl so she's been permanently banned from ever wearing clothes again on DDE property."

"Really?" a woman named Tamara said with a laugh. "That's pretty crazy!"

"Crazy but true," Stephanie said. "She's going to be a permanent mailgirl, isn't that right, Nine?"

"Yes ma'am," I responded. Whatever friendship had been between us was obviously over as Stephanie spoke of me in the most demeaning and spiteful way possible.

"So she has to call you ma'am?" Tamara asked. "And why is she standing like that?"

"She's a little servant girl so she has to call everyone sir or ma'am," Stephanie said. "And that's how she's supposed to stand when she's waiting for orders." I was reduced to being a naked prop again as Stephanie and others talked about me like I wasn't there.

"You can also make her kneel," Stephanie continued. "Show them, Nine." I got down on the floor in my kneeling position.

"Wow, that's freaking hot," I heard Tom say, another of my former friends.

"You haven't seen anything yet, Tom," Stephanie laughed. "Nine, get into your inspection position."

I groaned inwardly as I rose to my feet, spread my legs, lifted up on my toes, and placed my hands behind my head. I was surrounded on every side by my former co-workers with every inch of my body exposed.

Earlier I'd had to fight off arousal while in this position but now I was on the verge of sobbing. What had I ever done to Stephanie that she would turn on me like this and treat me in such a demeaning manner? I'm sure she'd been badmouthing me to everyone here ever since I'd become a mailgirl and I wondered now if we'd ever really been friends.

"We have the right to inspect a mailgirl's uniform," Stephanie continued, "and you can send her to the shower to get cleaned up if she's too smelly or sweaty. Nine here loves being inspected so much that she had an orgasm on stage today while it was being demonstrated." This brought a reaction from the crowd and she gleefully went into great detail describing everything surrounding that humiliating moment. I felt like I was trapped in a nightmare as almost everyone, at Stephanie's urging, took out their phones and began taking pictures and videos of me from every angle hoping for a repeat performance. When it didn't happen Stephanie finally moved on.

"One thing I have to warn you about, though, is you can't sexually harass the mailgirls," she said. "No inappropriate touching even if she's begging for it. And no matter what you think of Nine you can't call her a whore, or a slut, or a twat, or a skank."

"Alright, that's enough," I heard Sanjeev Singh say. I looked up and realized for the first time that he'd been observing everything from the background. "Everyone back to their desks. Stephanie and Nine follow me to my office please."

As I entered Sanjeev's office I wasn't sure what to expect. "You may kneel on the floor, Nine," he said. "Stephanie, take a seat." Sanjeev sat down behind his desk. "Stephanie," he said turning to her, "I have been looking over all the material and I believe you would be a good candidate for the company's Mailgirls program."

"What?" Stephanie laughed. "You've got to be joking."

"Not at all," he replied in that Indian accent of his. "You have a very attractive face and figure and I believe you would be an ideal candidate to become a mailgirl. It pays quite well also. More than you're earning now along with a $50,000 bonus up front for signing a two year contract. I plan on submitting your name for consideration."

"Submit all you want, Sanjeev, but there's no way in hell I would ever do that no matter how much it pays."

Sanjeev leaned back in his chair. "Very well then, let's discuss the alternative, Stephanie. I just witnessed you placing both of your hands on this mailgirl's breasts and slapping her on the rear out in the hallway. And then you called her a slut and a whore, among other things, out on the floor." The color drained from Stephanie's face as he spoke.

"Um, I was just having some fun with her," she replied nervously. "I'm sure she didn't mind it. And I was telling the others to not call her those names."

"Please, do you think I am stupid? Those are clear violations of the company's sexual harassment policies as spelled out for you by Barbara Anderson in today's meeting. I am sure you understand the consequences."

"What the hell is this, Sanjeev?" Stephanie responded angrily. "Are you trying to blackmail me? Is this about getting that $10,000 bonus?"

Sanjeev turned to me now. "Danica," he said calling me by name, "would you like to file a sexual harassment claim against Stephanie? I will back you up if you do."

I suppose I could have taken the high road, turned the other cheek, and felt some sympathy for my ex-friend. Instead I responded almost instantly with "Yes sir, I would." After what had just happened out on the floor I wasn't in a forgiving mood.

"Very well then, I'll start the paperwork. Unfortunately I believe this will end with your termination, Stephanie. I'm also afraid that being fired for cause will make you ineligible for unemployment benefits or severance pay."

"Wait a minute, Sanjeev, please, "Stephanie replied desperately. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I promise."

"I am sorry, but Danica wishes to file a complaint so I must act on it. Perhaps she would allow you the opportunity to talk to Barbara about an alternative career opportunity as a mailgirl in exchange for dropping her claim?"

"Yes sir, I would," I said to him, "provided she signs a two year Mailgirl contract."

Stephanie eyes began desperately moving from me to Sanjeev to the door and back again as if searching for an escape from her trap. Finally she slumped resignedly into her chair. "I'll talk to Barbara Anderson," she said quietly. "I'm not signing anything, though. I just want to explain things to her."

"Alright," Sanjeev said. "I will see if I can arrange a meeting this afternoon with Barbara so you can discuss your future with her, Stephanie."

Knowing Barbara as I did, I had no doubt whatsoever how that meeting would turn out.