Anna

It had been a busy morning and I was finally getting a break between runs. I was kneeling on a fifth floor mat when she walked up and knelt down in front of me. I looked up and found myself staring into the face of a pretty teenage girl. I'd seen her around the building but I didn't know who she was or what she did here.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" I asked.

"Oh, you don't need to call me ma'am," she said. "I'm just an intern."

"Yes ma'am, but that still makes you my superior."

"Oh...," she said, her voice trailing off as she thought about that. "I guess I'd still rather you not call me ma'am. I won't tell anyone. My name is Anna."

"Okay Anna," I said. "My name is Danica. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute. If you have time that is."

"Sure. As long as I'm not called out on a delivery."

Anna smiled. "Thanks." She paused for a moment as if trying to compose her thoughts. "Um, I've seen you around and watched you deliver things and, um....well I think you're very pretty!"

"Thank you," I smiled.

Anna looked around nervously before continuing. "So anyway I was wondering if I could, um..." Her voice trailed off again and she took a deep breath. "I was hoping maybe I could get a job doing what you're doing if they're hiring. Could you help me?"

I admit that I was a little stunned when I heard this. "You mean as a mailgirl?"

Anna nodded her head. "Yes!"

The girl was definitely pretty enough and looked like she had a very nice figure, but she was so young looking. "How old are you anyway?" I asked.

"I'm eighteen. I just graduated from high school."

"And you say you're an intern? Is it just for the summer?"

Anna nodded. "Yes. My mom knows a woman who works here and she helped get me a summer internship."

"And then what? Are you planning on going to college in the fall?"

"I was," she said, "but when I saw what you and the other girl were doing I thought that looked really fun and exciting and that maybe I could do that for awhile instead and make some money."

This girl was super cute but had a quiet and shy demeanor about her. She didn't seem like the Girls Gone Wild type. "You know you have to do this job naked, right?"

"Yes," she giggled.

"Anna, have you ever done anything like this before? Getting naked in front of other people, I mean?"

She shook her head. "Oh no, I've never done anything like that. I've never really done anything weird or crazy before."

"It's very difficult and nerve-wracking, especially at first. How do you know you can do it?"

"I don't really," she said. "Did you ever do anything like this before you started?"

"No," I admitted. "Let's just say I had a lot of motivation to do it though. I still don't understand why you want to do this."

"I don't know. It just seems like it would be exciting. Is it? Is it exciting?"

"It is for me," I admitted, "but it would be humiliating for a lot of people." I thought about what she'd said about her mother helping her get this internship. "Do you still live at home, Anna?"

"Yes, I live with my mom. My parents are divorced."

"And what would she think about it if you became a mailgirl?"

Anna looked down at the floor. "She'd hate it."

I thought about my mom and the first conversation we had over the phone after she'd found out that I'd become a naked delivery girl. Let's just say that it hadn't gone well. We'd had many conversations since then and we both avoided talking about my job, but I could still hear the disappointment in her voice whenever I talked to her. As I looked at Anna she seemed so sweet and innocent that I just felt a strong urge to protect her.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Anna, and I don't think they're hiring mailgirls right now anyway. Go to college and get your degree." Just then an alert came over my watch. It was a pickup on the seventh floor. I rose to my feet and Anna did as well. "I have to go," I said.

Anna grasped me by the hand. "Can you at least give me the name of someone to talk to, Danica? Please?"

I thought about it for a moment. She's old enough to make her own decisions, I told myself. "Talk to Barbara Anderson on the ninth floor," I said, then left her as I headed for the stairwell.

It continued to be a busy workday but my mind kept returning to Anna. I kept second guessing myself about whether or not I should have given her Barbara's name. She would've found it out on her own sooner or later I reasoned, but it was still bothering me. I also wondered if I should have done more to discourage her, but I really hadn't had much time with her. I should've at least told her not to sign anything without talking to me first. I resolved to talk with Anna some more the next time I saw her even if it meant missing a delivery deadline. I continued my runs through the building without seeing her though.

Not long after my lunch break a pickup order popped up on my smart watch. It came from Barbara's office. I made the now familiar hike up to the ninth floor and when I entered her office I was shocked to see Anna kneeling on the floor completely nude. Anna looked up at me briefly with a terrified look on her face and then back down to the floor.

Oh my God, I thought, I should've kept my mouth shut. I should never have let Anna come here.

"I understand that you and Anna have met already," Barbara said to me.

"Yes, ma'am."

"She's interested in becoming a mailgirl and I thought I'd ask your opinion since I understand you sent her to me."

"I tried to talk her out of it, ma'am. I told her I didn't think we were hiring right now."

"We're not, but she already works here as an intern and has asked to continue her internship as a mailgirl. After that, if she does well, she'd be in line to be offered the job full time."

"She's too young, ma'am," I protested.

"She's eighteen," Barbara said. "She's of legal age."

"Oh, c'mon Barbara," I replied sharply, dropping my subservient demeanor. "Look at her. She looks scared to ****!" I expected an immediate rebuke from Barbara but she just looked at me intently, carefully studying my face.

"Why don't we ask Anna?" she said finally as she turned her attention to the girl on the floor. "Do you really want to do this, Anna?

"Oh yes, please!" she replied anxiously. Then she turned to me with pleading eyes. "Please let me do this Danica!"

"Why?" I asked. "Why is it so important to you?"

"It just is."

"I'll tell you what, Danica," Barbara said, "we'll have her follow you around for the rest of the afternoon and then let her decide after that if she really wants to do this."

"Can't we at least let her wear clothes?"

"What would be the point of that? Delivering packages isn't the difficult part of the job. Her clothes will be here if at any point she wants to come back and put them on."

I sighed and shrugged my shoulders resignedly. "Yes, ma'am,"

"Great!" Barbara said. "I even have a delivery for you two." She picked up a manilla envelope that was lying on her desk and handed it to me, then punched the delivery address into her phone. My watch came to life. It was a delivery to the fifth floor.

"Come with me, Anna," I said.

Anna leapt to her feet and followed me out the door.