Endgame

"What the fuck is this?" Dan Evans asked as he stared at the television screen. On it was a video of Barbara putting a ball gag into my mouth as she prepared to whip me as I knelt naked on her floor. I knew exactly what this was now: it had been filmed on the day that I'd brought Lin to her office without permission.

"My apologies but Mr. Hiromoto would like for you both to see this. I will answer your questions afterwards," Mariko said to them.

We all watched in silence as Barbara methodically whipped both of my feet, then turned her attention to my ass cheeks. I looked up at Barbara and her face was flushed with anger. She didn't know this tape existed, I thought to myself. She hadn't seen this coming!

After the video had finally ended Evans turned to Barbara. "What the fuck, Barbara? You taped yourself whipping Nine?"

"No Dan, I didn't." Barbara replied in a sharp clipped tone. "From that angle it had to have come from the MTU in my office. They must have a camera in it." The MTU's were the units bolted to walls and ceilings throughout the complex used to track the movement of mailgirls. Evans immediately glanced up at the MTU in his own office.

"Jesus, Mariko, you've got cameras in these things to spy on us?" he said angrily.

"Only in a few units," Mariko replied calmly. "Mr. Hiromoto ordered them to insure that the mailgirls are not mistreated. He was very shocked, of course, when he saw this."

"Why? Doesn't he like my whipping technique?" Barbara retorted with angry sarcasm. "I suppose I haven't mastered the art of the riding crop like he has."

Mariko smiled. "Mr. Hiromoto understands you were whipping your mailgirl for presuming she could bring a matter to you that should have been handled by subordinates. He believes you were right to whip such an insolent woman." I suddenly realized why Mariko had shown this to Barbara. It was intended as a message to her about her own insolence in demanding to deal directly with Hiromoto rather than with Mariko.

Barbara also got the message. "Please tell Mr. Hiromoto that if I have offended him in any way that I humbly apologize."

"Thank you, Barbara, but you may tell him yourself when you come to Tokyo to serve as a mailgirl."

Barbara let out a curt laugh. "That's not going to happen, Mariko."

"You're damned right it's not!" Evans said angrily as he took his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'm going to call Pete and tell him to rip up this goddamn contract. Putting cameras in these MTU's without our permission is absolutely unacceptable, Mariko. No wonder you insisted on allowing only your own techs to service these things."

"Please, Mr. Evans, I have one more video to show you," Mariko replied calmly. "You may rip up the contract after that if you choose."

Dan stared at Mariko for a minute as if deciding before placing his phone on the coffee table. "Alright then, let's see it. But after that you and your goddamn Mailgirls program are leaving this property for good." Evans was seething with anger and I'd never seen him like this before. Normally he was a pretty relaxed guy.

Mariko smiled and nodded politely to him, then used her phone to start the next video. It took a few seconds for it to begin but when it did it shocked me to my core. Kelly began squeezing my hand again as the two of us stared dumbfounded at the images on the television.

The video had obviously been filmed in this office and on the screen we saw a very naked Dan Evans, sporting a very firm erection, kneeling on the floor. He leaned forward onto his forearms and placed his head on the carpet. Then a fully clothed Barbara began whipping his ass with her riding crop.

Evans leapt to his feet, grabbed the remote and pointed it at the television. As the screen turned black he turned to Mariko.

"Blackmail? That's what Hiromoto's game is? He's wants to fucking blackmail me?" he shouted furiously. I looked at Barbara and all of the color had drained from her face.

"Mr. Hiromoto insisted I not show this video until our negotiations had been completed," Mariko said to him. "He wanted to assure you that our continued partnership would be bound by a fair contract."

"Fair?" Dan replied, spitting the word out angrily as he began pacing around the room. "What the hell do you people know about fair? I should've known better than to get involved with the likes of you Japanese gangsters. What the hell does Hiromoto want anyway?"

"He only asks that Barbara sign a Mailgirls contract."

Dan stared at Mariko for a moment, then turned to Barbara. "You have to do it then if that's what he wants!"

"No Dan, I don't," she replied, appearing to have regained her composure.

"Yes you do, Barbara!" Evans said, a mix of anger and desperation in his voice. "My wife and I got married when we were both young and broke. I don't have a pre-nuptial agreement with her so if she divorces me she'll take me for millions. Hundreds of millions! I can't allow this video to get out!"

"That's not going to happen, Dan. Sit your ass down and we'll work this out." The commanding tone had returned to Barbara's voice now. Dan stared at her for a few seconds then did as he was told. She thinks she knows how to get out of this, I thought to myself.

"Dan, I have audio recordings implicating Mariko and Hiromoto in corporate espionage," Barbara said. "They don't dare release that video."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Evans asked.

Barbara looked over at me and Kelly. "They were using these two mailgirls as spies. Number Two there is the one who stole the VR headset," she said referring to Kelly.

"Damn it Barbara, what kind of vipers nest did you invite into our company? How long have you known about this?"

"Quite awhile, Dan. I wanted to handle it quietly so it wouldn't affect the future of our Mailgirls program."

"You and your goddamn Mailgirls program! I never should have let you talk me into this, Barbara."

"If you have evidence of this corporate espionage I would very much like to hear it, Barbara," Mariko said. Her calm demeanor hadn't changed during any of this.

"You know I have it, Mariko."

"Then perhaps you would allow Mr. Evans to hear it."

Barbara pulled out her phone and as she scrolled through it a confused look came over her face. She placed the phone down, then pulled her laptop out of her bag. After several minutes on it she angrily closed it. "You hacked me," she said to Mariko.

"What are you talking about?" Dan asked her. "What's going on?"

Barbara turned to him. "I had hours of phone conversations of these two revealing company secrets to Mariko. I had copies of the files on my phone, my laptop, and uploaded to the company cloud. They're all gone now. We've been hacked."

"Oh my god!" Evans said as he ran his fingers through his hair. "This is all your damn fault, Barbara, so you've got to fix this! You've got to become a mailgirl if that's what they want. We can't let that video get out!"

"No!" she replied firmly. "They still can't release that video. That's evidence in itself that they've been spying on their own clients with hidden cameras. If that gets out it will destroy their program. They'd never sign another licensee and the ones they have now would pull out."

"We don't know that for sure, Barbara!" Evans responded with a tone of pure desperation in his voice.

"Yes we do, Dan. Grow a pair, will you? Hiromoto's not foolish enough to sabotage his own Mailgirls program. This is all just a bluff." Then she turned Mariko. "Please tell Mr. Hiromoto that I humbly apologize if I have offended him but I must respectfully decline his invitation to become a mailgirl."

Mariko nodded. "I will do as you wish, Barbara."

Oh my god, I thought to myself, that's it then? Barbara's going to weasel her way out of this? She'd taken everything that Hiromoto had thrown at her and had fought him to a stalemate! My prospects of getting out suddenly felt like they were crashing to the ground. Then Mariko spoke again.

"There is just one more matter that Mr. Hiromoto would like some information on, please."

"What is it?" Barbara asked coldly.

"He would like to know how the $500,000 he gave you has been spent." Barbara blinked a couple of times but didn't respond.

"What the hell is she talking about now?" Evans asked. "What $500,000?"

"Mr. Hiromoto gave Barbara $500,000 which was intended to help promote his Mailgirls program in North America," Mariko explained to him. "He transferred this money into a Cayman Islands account as she requested. He would now like some documentation that shows how this money was spent."

"I don't know anything about that money," Dan said. "It's the first I've heard of it."

"That money was given to me under the table," Barbara said in a calm, defiant voice. "It was a gratuity for my help in arranging this partnership. That's how business is done over there."

"A gratuity? You mean a bribe don't you?"

"Call it whatever you want, Dan, but once again Hiromoto can't make this public without also implicating himself in it."

"Ah, but this transaction was not under the table," Mariko responded. "It was recorded in our books as a business expense. I have a copy of the relevant page to show you." Mariko pulled a folded sheet of paper out of her bag and handed it to Barbara. Her face turned pale as she read it. "As you can see it was properly recorded and included in our tax returns. So may I assume this payment did not make it into DDE's books?"

"No it did not," Dan said. He was starting to pull himself together now as he directed his anger toward Barbara. "What did you do with the money, Barbara?"

"I used it to pay off my condo, Dan," she replied brusquely. Once again I could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she searched for a way out of this new trap.

"What is the correct legal term for improperly taking company funds for one's own personal use, Mr. Evans?" Mariko asked. "Embezzlement?"

"Yeah, I believe so," he replied. "What would you call it, Barbara?"

"This is a setup, Dan," she replied anxiously, looking more and more like a wounded animal backed into a corner. "They're trying to entrap me."

"Yeah, and they're doing a damn good job of it, too." Evans was starting to reassert control now. He sees a way out of this mess by offering Barbara's head to Hiromoto on a platter, I thought to myself.

"Perhaps there is a way this can be resolved, Mr. Evans," Mariko said. "It is my understanding that Barbara has had two mailgirls living in this condo. I am certain Mr. Hiromoto will see this as an acceptable use of his money to support the Mailgirls program. If Barbara signs over the title to Hiromoto Industries then I believe we can correct this issue."

"You want me to sign over my condo to Hiromoto?" Barbara asked bitterly. "That's your price?"

"Yes," Mariko replied. "I believe $500,000 is fair market value for this condo. Of course your accountants will need to amend your company books to add this transaction which was inadvertently overlooked two years ago. And perhaps there will be a small penalty that DDE must pay to your IRS. This would be a minor matter though."

Barbara glared at Mariko. "Fine. I'll do it if that's what Mr. Hiromoto wants." My heart began sinking again. Was Mariko about to sell me out for the price of a condo?

"Ah, excellent!" Mariko replied brightly. "We will take care of this matter right after your Mailgirls contract has been signed."

"No!" Barbara replied shaking her head violently. "I will not!"

"Yes you will!" Dan said to her angrily. "Barbara, you got me and my company into this fucking mess so now you're going to get us out of it! If you don't do whatever the hell Hiromoto wants you to do I'll have you arrested and charged with embezzlement!"

"No!" Barbara replied stubbornly, then turned to Mariko. "I earned that money for everything I've done to sell Hiromoto's program here in this country when no one else was willing to touch it. You know that, Mariko. If he wants my condo to punish me for my so-called insolence then he can have it. But that's all. After that we're even as far as I'm concerned."

"Mr. Hiromoto is willing to pay fair market value for your condo to keep you out of jail," Mariko said to her. "He is doing this as a favor to you because of the work you have done promoting his program, but he does not consider your debt paid. I must tell you that he has ordered me not to return to Tokyo without your signed Mailgirls contract in hand. If you will not do this for him then he will withdraw this favor and insist that your theft of his money be dealt with."

Kelly was squeezing my hand so hard now I was afraid she might break it. I was scarcely able to breathe myself still not certain of the outcome of this epic match. Then I saw a look of resignation come across Barbara's face as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I knew then that it was over. Checkmate!

Mariko took a stack of papers from her bag and placed it in front of Barbara along with a pen. "It is a standard two year Mailgirls contract," she said. "You are familiar with the language but you may look it over, of course."

Barbara opened her eyes and stared at it for awhile, then picked up the pen. I glanced over and saw a look of transcendent joy on Kelly's face as I wrested my hand from her iron grip. For my part I felt no joy, only sadness that it had come to this. I knew Barbara had this coming, but as her world was crashing down on her I felt only compassion for this woman who had been such a big part of my life these past two years.

Barbara flicked through the pages then, without hesitation, signed her name on the last page. Then she looked up at Mariko and spoke. "There's something I'd like you to tell Mr. Hiromoto for me."

"Yes, of course," Mariko replied.

"Tell him, 'Well played.'"