Tango

Barbara stood naked in the middle of the office with hands clasped behind her back, legs spread at shoulder width, back arched, and gaze lowered submissively to the floor. She was in the mailgirl standing position waiting for further instructions from a superior. Barbara's beautifully proportioned and fit body would soon go on display to anyone in the building who wanted to see it, and I knew everyone was going to want to see it. Barbara's formidable reputation within the company guaranteed that.

Dan Evans had ordered her to strip almost immediately after signing the contract which was standard procedure for new mailgirls. He seemed to relish it, though, being understandably bitter about the opening created through Barbara's Mailgirls program that had allowed Hiromoto's tentacles to reach into his business to ensnare him.

"You know, Mariko, I'd hate for us to send Mr. Hiromoto a poorly trained mailgirl," he said. "I think we should put Barbara through the full six weeks of training before we ship her to Tokyo." The long knives were out now for Barbara and Evans clearly intended to humiliate her as much as possible.

"Yes, I believe that would be satisfactory to Mr. Hiromoto," Mariko replied. I searched Barbara's face for a reaction but she was now wearing a stoic expression like a mask to hide her true feelings. There would be no weeping, screaming, or gnashing of teeth for her. Whatever emotions she was experiencing right now she was determined to keep hidden.

"Inspection position, tango!" Evans barked and Barbara placed her hands behind her head and rose up onto her toes.

He slowly circled her inspecting every inch of her body. "Good enough, I suppose," he said finally. "Now get down on your knees." Barbara quickly complied. Beside me Kelly's joy over Barbara's downfall remained undiminished.

"That's a good look for you, Barbara," Evans said in a mocking tone as he stared down at her. Then he turned to Mariko. "Okay, we've done what you wanted so now I would like to ask Mr. Hiromoto to destroy those videos and all copies of them."

"Mr. Hiromoto only desires a long and profitable relationship with you, Mr. Evans. He does not wish for these videos to see the light of day so he assures you that he will keep them in a very safe place. He is old fashioned and does not trust computers or the internet so they will be kept in a place where hackers may never reach them." This was obviously meant as both a dig at Barbara and a warning that DDE's own hackers wouldn't be able to get to them.

"Alright," Evans replied resignedly. "I suppose it wouldn't do any good to waste time arguing about it. So are we done here then?"

"I apologize but there are still a few small matters left to resolve."

"What matters?"

"Mr. Hiromoto would like your assurances that Ms. Anderson will be allowed to return to her current position after her Mailgirls contract has expired."

"Not a chance."

"I'm afraid Mr. Hiromoto insists."

Evans glared at Mariko. "So I suppose these 'requests' are going to be a regular thing now that Hiromoto thinks he has me by the balls?"

"No, Mr. Evans. Once these small matters are resolved today you will be free to run your company without interference."

"This is not a small matter, Mariko. I don't ever want Barbara back here as anything other than a mailgirl."

Mariko didn't respond but patiently waited for Evans to speak again. Her silence spoke volumes, though, making it clear that Hiromoto's "requests" were not negotiable. He quickly got the message.

"Oh, Christ," Evans swore under his breath. "Alright, Mariko, once Barbara has finished serving Mr. Hiromoto she can have her old job back. I can't promise you she'll have the same power and influence though."

I glanced over again at Barbara but her expression still hadn't changed. What will happen in Tokyo, I wondered? Will she be just another mailgirl or will she get special attention from Hiromoto? Will he bring her up to the fourteenth floor for regular whippings like he did with Mariko?

At that moment Barbara lifted her gaze from the carpet and her eyes locked onto mine. Normally I would've immediately averted my eyes but this time I didn't. We're considered equals now, I thought, and that seemed strange to me. It was as if the world had shifted off its axis. I continued to hold her gaze seeing no pain or betrayal in those eyes, only resolve. In that moment I knew that Barbara would not return from Tokyo a broken woman. Far from it. It had taken a master in Hiromoto to defeat her and whatever mistakes she had made she would learn from them. If Dan Evans thought he could prevent her from regaining power and influence he was sorely mistaken.

I finally broke eye contact and lowered my eyes to the floor. Even now in this moment of defeat and humiliation she still radiated an aura of confidence. Staring into her eyes for too long was like staring into the sun.

In the background I heard Mariko and Dan discussing Donna Haverly and I turned my attention back to their conversation. "What's wrong with Haverly?" Dan asked.

"Mr. Hiromoto does not believe she is the proper person to be the face of his Mailgirls program in North America," Mariko replied.

"Okay, I suppose he has someone else in mind?"

"Yes, he does."

"Who?"

"Mr. Evans, you have a quite famous mailgirl with a masters degree in business kneeling on your floor."

Evans looked over at me. "What? You mean Nine? You want me to make her my Director of Mailgirls?"

"Yes. Mr. Hiromoto believes she would be ideal for this position." I was shocked by this latest turn. Did I even want the job?

"She's a goddamn corporate spy," Dan muttered, but he knew he had no real choice in the matter. Not as long as Hiromoto had that tape of him naked and being whipped by Barbara. How long had that been going on anyway, I wondered? At least two years, I guessed.

I remembered meeting Dan for the first time as I served as a naked cocktail waitress in the executive lounge. That had been my very first day as a mailgirl and he'd told me the story about how DumpsterDawg Enterprises had gotten its name. It had struck me as strange that Barbara seemed to be very much in control when the two of them were together even though he was her boss. Now I knew why.

I looked up to see him staring at me. "Alright," he said. "The job is hers if she wants it."

I did want it, I suddenly realized. I wanted it very much. The thought of running the most controversial business program in history excited me. But would I really be in control? Wouldn't I just go from being Barbara's puppet to being Hiromoto's? Perhaps, but at least he would be half a world away and I had Mariko between us as a buffer.

"I'll take the job but only if there's no more spying," I said to Mariko. "Not here or at any of our licensees. I won't be a part of that anymore."

Mariko smiled at me. "I have already convinced Mr. Hiromoto that Mailgirls has grown to the point where it will become profitable on its own and further spying or technology theft would only put the program at risk. He has agreed with me on this. There will be no more spying."

"What about the new contract I just signed with Barbara?" I asked.

"I am sure Mr. Evans would be happy to release you from it."

"Of course I'd be 'happy' to do that," Dan replied sarcastically.

"And Kelly's new contract?"

"Yes, her contract, too," he said.

"Can I say something, sir?" Kelly spoke up. Dan nodded. "I want a new Mailgirls contract with full pay and bonuses and no penalties for leaving. I want to be able to keep working as a mailgirl for as long as I want and be able to quit whenever I want."

Dan sighed. "You'll have to ask our new Director of Mailgirls about that," he said pointing at me.

"Why Kelly?" I asked. "I thought you wanted out of here?"

"That was when Barbara was in charge. I'm thinking now that my new boss will be a whole lot less psycho," she said casting shade at Barbara. "Besides, who's going to hire me now as a managerial candidate after being a mailgirl? My MBA is barely worth the paper it's printed on anymore and I don't want to get stuck running a Cinnabon at the mall. Where else am I going to make this kind of money?"

This was classic Kelly. It was always about the money with her. "Okay Kell, we'll talk about a new contract presuming I really do have the job."

"If Hiromoto wants you it's yours," Dan said. "He obviously calls the shots around here now. You can have Donna Haverly's office on the seventh floor."

"I want Barbara's office, sir," I said, the words surprising even me as they left my mouth.

It felt weird making demands of the company CEO as I knelt naked on his carpet. It was as if I'd fallen into an alternative universe where the meek really had inherited the earth.

"Barbara was the Executive VP of Public Relations and you're just going to be a director of naked delivery girls," he responded. "Your office will be on the seventh floor, not the ninth."

"With all due respect sir, I plan on growing our North American operations significantly and I'll need that seventh floor office for an assistant." If there's one thing I'd learned from Barbara it was to boldly go after what you want, and I wanted her office. I didn't really know if it was intended as a "fuck you" to her or as simply a way to stake out my turf, but I wanted it.

Dan laughed bitterly. "Alright, I can see now how this is going to go. You think you can hold my balls to the fire too, right? If you want Barbara's office and an assistant I'll give them to you. But if you or your friend Kelly here ever utters a single word to anyone about what you saw on that video I'll destroy both of you and that's a promise. The same goes for you, Mariko. If I so much as hear a rumor floating around about that video's existence then all holy hell will break loose. Fair warning."

"No one here will ever speak of it," Mariko replied politely but I sensed the undercurrent in it. It was meant as a warning to Kelly and me to keep our mouths shut.

"So are we done here?" Dan asked.

"Yes," Mariko said. "I would like to speak to Danica privately for a few moments though if I may."

"Sure. You can use my office since you apparently own it now." Dan lifted up his half full glass of champagne. "To our Mailgirls partners in crime," he said bitterly, then drained the glass in one swig. He put the glass down on the coffee table then walked over to where Barbara had left her clothing after stripping. He picked up her clothes and shoes and stuffed them into a leather Mailgirls pouch used for deliveries. "Hey Two, I've got a job for you," he said referring to Kelly. She climbed to her feet and walked over to him.

"Take Barbara's clothes down to security to be locked up. I'm going to call HR and have them stay open late to make sure she gets processed tonight. Hell, I'll even take her contract down there myself. I don't want to give her any opportunity to try and scheme her way out of this."

"Yes sir," Kelly said, barely able to contain her glee. She took the pouch and exited the room.

Evans walked over now to Barbara. "On your feet, tango!" Barbara immediately rose up and assumed the standing position. "After we're done in HR I want you to go to security and get your collar and MMU. I know it's Friday afternoon and most people have already gone home by now, but there are always people working late in the gaming departments who might need a mailgirl. I want you working until at least midnight tonight. Then I expect you back here first thing Monday morning for your 'walk of shame.' I'm really looking forward to seeing that."

"Yes sir." Barbara replied with her gaze lowered to the floor, still refusing to give Evans the satisfaction of seeing her true feelings.

"So get moving, tango. Chop chop!"

Barbara glanced at me one last time as she turned toward the door and her new life as a mailgirl.