by Flynn, Mac
Sam quickly slid in and softly shut the door behind herself. She crept up the stairs and was greeted with the next locked door, which she easily passed through with further aid from the key chain. Now this was the fun part. She was relying on everyone being out to lunch.
Sam stooped down as far as she could and slowly began nearly crawling toward the door at the end of the hall. She was relieved to see that everyone was indeed gone out to lunch, and she grew bold enough to straighten up and nearly run down the hall. She reached the door in record time and now had her biggest dilemma.
She didn’t think she had a key to Davies’ door.
Sam figured it wouldn’t hurt to try, so she jiggled the knob to see if it was unlocked. To her surprise the door proved to be open, and she peeked her head inside. As far as she could tell, the coast was clear. Knowing time was not on her side, she strode over to the cabinet and opened the drawers.
As she’d guessed, they were filled with the personal files of every supervisor in the building. She herself still held the majority of the files for those lower in the food chain. She breezed through the alphabet until she got to the letter T, and then she had another problem. She had no idea what Miss Taylor’s first name was, so she’d need to go through the files individually to confirm the identity.
Her time was whittling away as she counted the files and found she only had about a dozen people who’d had that last name and had recently worked at the company, and of those only half were female. She now had to look for keywords to find the right file, and so she glanced over each person’s position and whether or not they were still an active employee. Halfway through she hit upon gold and pulled the file.
Sam paused and listened as she thought she heard something. It wasn’t repeated, however, and she decided to take one last risk. She dug through the W files and pulled out Winkle’s folder. With both of them tucked safely under her arm, she closed the drawer and turned to leave.
Mr. Davies stood between her and the door.
Her breath stopped and she nearly dropped the files. His expression was impassive as he glanced at the vanilla folders in her possession. There was hurt in his eyes as he glanced into her face and tried to read her thoughts.
“You still don’t believe me, do you?” he asked. She could only guess he was referring to his outlandish tale of demons and such. He sighed and shocked her by stepping aside. “Perhaps the contents of those files will show you that I’m telling the truth.”
“You’re…you’re letting me go?”
“Without any repercussions,” he promised. “It seems I must earn your trust through extreme measures.” Sam winced at his parting shot, but she clutched the folders and brushed passed him. “Wait a moment.” Her face paled as she turned around. He was scribbling something on a piece of paper. “Since you made an interesting use of your lunch hour, you may need this to allow you and your friend to have a proper meal.”
He handed her the slip and she read the contents. It was permission to leave the building for one hour and in the company of only Slinky.
“Thank you.” She was as hungry as a wolf and Slinky would enjoy getting out again for food.
He nodded his head, but said nothing. Sam left the office and blushed when she noticed Mr. Smith at his desk. He smiled and wished her a good day, which she mumbled something in return. She hurried down the hall and back to her cubicle on the lower floor.
Sam felt safe there as she sat down in her chair. Her covert operation hadn’t gone as well as planned, but she had retrieved the files she needed, or so she hoped. First, though, Sam put the keys back in the pocket she’d found them in. She didn’t want Slinky to find they’d be taken, because there would be no other suspects than herself when the disappearance came to light.
Confident that her friend wouldn’t suspect a thing, Sam was about to read them when she heard footsteps padding down the hall in front of her space and she quickly hid the folders in her desk drawer. It was a good thing, too, because one of the personnel files belonged to the woman who slowly marched by.
Mrs. Winkle scowled at Sam, who nervously smiled back. Their eyes only met for a moment, but it was long enough to give Sam the shivers. The woman hated her with a passion deeper than she could understand, and she hoped never to meet her outside the office. There was something cruel hidden in her eyes, and she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of what Winkle desperately wanted to do to her. Perhaps her file would shed light on what caused such intense hatred.
As quick as those thoughts came out Winkle was gone, but the feeling remained. Her trembling didn’t stop until Slinky came back from her lunch and peeked over the wall. She was really glad to see her friend’s chipper face.
“How you feeling?” she cheerfully asked. She could see her friend was a little pale, but not sickly green. “You look a little better. At least, I think you do…” She hadn’t actually seen what Sam had looked like before the attack except when she’d briefly passed her cubicle on the way to the bathroom.
“I feel a lot better,” Sam nodded as she remembered the slip of paper to get out of jail free for an hour. “I was actually kind of hungry. You want to come with me for some late lunch? You know, just to talk?”
“That’d be awesome, but how are we gonna get out of the trouble Winkle will cause if we do?”
“I’ve got that covered.” She handed her the slip of paper and Slinky’s mouth dropped open, then her eyes narrowed.
“Is this forged?”
“Nope, one hundred percent authentic. He heard I was sick so he thought I might need to leave early with a friend.” The lie was easy enough, and the smile on Slinky’s face made the guilt melt away.
“Great! I got just the place to show you!”
The girls headed out, but not without being spotted. Winkle exited the elevator they were taking down to the lobby, and Slinky waved at her just before the door closed.
“Boy, did she look mad, didn’t she?” she snickered.
“Yeah, I just hope she doesn’t get us into trouble.” Sam noted the time, since she had seen their supervisor look at her own watch. They needed to be back precisely, or at least no later, or they would definitely get into trouble.
“Well, how about we just enjoy ourselves and use that note you got to get us out of her bitching?” she suggested. Slinky treated her friend to one of the nicest uptown restaurants money could buy. She was really happy when Sam dug into every plate as if she’d been starving herself for a week. “You eating all right lately?” she scolded as Sam finished off her second steak.
“Yeah, it’s just that this stuff is so great.” Everything seemed to have a wonderful flavor and she just couldn’t get enough of her fill. “I could eat here every day.”
“I don’t think they’d let us back in,” Slinky teased. “You’d pretty much eat them out of all their supplies in less than a week.”
“Hardy-har-har,” Sam replied, but she couldn’t deny that she was eating a lot of plates. She felt guilty for letting Slinky pick up the entire tab, but then she realized they wee still playing on her father’s credit card.
After twenty minutes of non-stop eating Sam finally pushed back the last empty plate of ribs and patted her stomach. She felt full and content, now all she needed was a nap.
“You think so much time’s passed in the real world they’ve forgotten we exist?” Slinky wondered.
“We’ve only been gone thirty minutes,” Sam scolded. She accidentally let out a burp and blushed as a few of the other patrons stared in their direction. “But maybe we should get back, just in case.”
“Oh no, I’m gonna use your get-out-of-jail-free card for all it’s worth,” her friend protested.
Slinky paid their bill, which well exceeded two hundred dollars for food alone, and took Sam on a tour of the more fashionable part of the city. They traveled through expensive lingerie stores with vixen mannequins and through sporting goods stores which stocked shoes more expensive than an entire month’s ren
t for Sam’s apartment. People dressed in stylish clothing brushed passed them and so much money exchanged hands at cash registers that Sam felt she was in an entirely different world. She felt some pains of jealousy at their ability to be so extravagant, but then she also felt like a fish out of water.
Slinky, accustomed as she was to this lifestyle, dragged them into a women’s clothing store. She flitted to and fro the shelves selecting a few bits of evening wear clothing. She frowned at some of the more buxom customers who were able to fit into dressed which had a more severe neckline. They glanced back, it was a mother and daughter duo, and grinned as they looked over her slim figure. The daughter leaned over and whispered something into her mother’s ear, and the two of them laughed.
“Something funny?” Slinky asked.
She’d dealt with types like these before and particularly these two. They were actually the spouse and child of one of the board members, out to spend his paycheck. They were those who looked down on others because of what they saw as monetary or physical deficiencies. Sam, however, was in the dark about this information and just didn’t want to start any trouble.
“They probably didn’t mean anything,” Sam insisted as she took her friend’s shoulder and tried to move them away. She wasn’t budging, however, until she got an answer. “Come on, let’s just go.”
“We were just commenting on your, um, nice suit,” the mother tried to save face, but the daughter wasn’t so tactful.
“I’m sure you were, Mrs. Elliston,” Slinky sarcastically replied. Sam recognized the name as belong to one of the board members, and now she knew they were in deep trouble.
“We don’t have much time left,” she pointed out to her friend. They actually had a good ten minutes, and the walk was only a brisk five.
“Out on your lunch break?” the daughter, Priscilla, sniffed. By her well-manicured nails, she’d never worked an hour in her life.
“Actually, we were allowed to leave by special permission from Mr. Davies,” Slinky shot back. She was glad when both their faces showed surprise. Very few of the family of the board had the pleasure of any acquaintance with the vice president, much less one intimate enough for favors. “He said we could enjoy ourselves for an hour.”
That changed their tunes so fast Sam wondered if they’d been struck by divine inspiration.
“Miss Slink, you haven’t introduce us to your friend here,” Mrs. Elliston mentioned as she graciously smiled at Sam. She returned her own shaky grin, but she’d rather have been ignored.
“Samantha Olsen, Mrs. Elliston and her daughter, Priscilla.” She said the last name so venomously Sam could easily tell there was a lot of bad blood between them. No doubt some harsh words had been exchanged at board member parties and the like.
“A pleasure,” she honestly greeted.
“Likewise,” Mrs. Elliston warmly returned. She had at least enough manners to keep up a decent conversation. “I don’t believe we’ve ever seen you at one of the company gatherings. Are you a relation to Miss Slink?”
“Nope, she’s just one of the office workers,” Slinky chimed in. Mrs. Elliston politely nodded her head, but Priscilla turned up her nose. Sam wasn’t even sure if she liked Slinky bluntly noting her low stature in the company.
“Oh.” Priscilla looked her over with a sneer. “So you push papers around all day?” This riled Sam’s dormant temper. She hadn’t done anything more wrong than to have an honest job working at a company her father happened to be a boss in.
“Not really, the papers don’t like to be pushed around,” she warned. Slinky tried to hide her smile at the good comeback.
“Dear, weren’t you looking at a dress to buy?” Mrs. Elliston interrupted. Even she could see the conversation was quickly going to devolve into insults. She wanted to stay on the better side of those who were well connected with the vice-president.
“Nah, all these are too cheap.” Sam had noticed some of the price tags exceeded one thousand dollars. “Let’s go farther uptown, where the company is more refined.”
Slinky was about to jump to their defense when Sam pulled her back. Mrs. Elliston did likewise with her unruly daughter and dragged her away to another store.
“She pisses me off so god damn much!” Slinky snarled after they’d left. “What the hell is her problem?”
“I don’t know, but we really do need to get back now,” Sam pointed out. They only had five minutes left until their hour was up. “Or Winkle’s going to show us the door.”
“Oh shit!”
With Slinky leading the way they weaved their way through alleys and back streets. The shortcuts gave them another minute of extra time as the elevator doors opened. Winkle stood nearby directing one of their coworkers, but they both could tell she’d been watching the elevator doors for their coming. Their supervisor glanced at her watch and scowled.
“Where have you two been?” she harshly questioned. “You’ve been gone nearly an hour.”
“We were taking a long lunch,” Slinky dared to comment in a flippant manner. She was being purposefully vague to irk her enemy. Sam only wanted to show the pass and go sit down in her chair. She was still drowsy from so much food.
“Without express permission from one of your supervisors? That’s grounds for punishment in this office.” She looked almost gleeful at the thought of doling out whatever consequences that were within her power. She would no doubt exercise them to their limits. The older woman turned her narrowed, venomous eyes on Sam. “Perhaps even firing.”
“Oh, I forgot to mention we had permission from Mr. Davies<” Slinky chimed in. “Show her the paper, Sam.”
“What?” Winkle couldn’t believe her victory was going to be snatched from her.
At her cue Sam quickly pulled out the paper and held it out for Winkle to take. She grabbed it from her fingers and quickly read over the contents. Her face grew redder as she reread it, and again for a third time.
“We’d better get back to work now,” Slinky commented as she glanced at the clock. “Like you said, we’ve been gone about an hour, so time’s up.”
Slinky dragged her friend passed their furious supervisor, who tore up the document into the smallest shreds possible. The other workers in the office were staring at her with a mixture of amusement and fear, and she noticed their prying eyes.
“Get back to work!” she growled, and they all quickly looked back at their screens.
“I really don’t think you should’ve done that,” Sam whispered to her friend when they reached the safety of their cubicles.
“Nah, it’s all good.” Slinky covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. “Did you see the look on her face? Priceless.”
“I think it might be too steep a price.” She was genuinely worried about the repercussions. Now they had to be on their guard even further to avoid slipping up, or Winkle would use that as an excuse to punish them for poor work.
“You worry too much.” Her companion gave her a gentle nudge with her elbow. Her bone came into contact with her friend’s buxom chest, and she gave her a glance over for the first time that day. “You get a different bra or something?”
“What?” Sam was wholly unprepared for that question.
“Well, you’ve just seemed to change a lot over this last week,” she slowly commented. She didn’t want to anger her friend any more than she was. “You know, physically. You’re just more, um, well-endowed.” She poked at the vest which covered her breasts. “Really well-endowed.” She glanced up at her with a smirk on her face. “You get a boob job?”
“Do you think I could afford one on this salary?” she quipped. The pay wasn’t that bad, but it would take a few years to save up for that procedure.
“I don’t know, you might have some extra cash stashed around.” She slid up to her and there was a twinkle in her eyes. “Or you might’ve got a sugar daddy to help you.” Sam blushed because Slinky was so close to the truth. “Oh ho! So there is someone in your life!”
&n
bsp; “Quiet!” Sam hissed. Her friend’s voice was getting a little bit too loud.
“After work I am so drilling you for this,” Slinky quipped.
“Not if we get fired,” she shot back.
“Like I said before, you worry too much.”
“I think you worry too little.” Sam sat down in her chair and sighed. This day wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped. First the botched spying and now even more trouble with Winkle.
“Don’t let it get to you,” Slinky consoled. “You’re getting pretty good at the job already, so I don’t think you’re gonna get fired for that.”
“You think so?” Sam wasn’t so sure. Some parts of the position were a little tricky, especially when it came to making appointments. The board member would give them a list of workable times and they would need to call up the other party and work out a schedule. It was nerve-wracking trying to get both sides to agree on a day and time.
“Positive, and speaking of work, we’d better get some done before ol’ sour-puss comes around.” Slinky slunk out of sight into her cubicle and soon Sam could hear the clickety-clack of a keyboard.
She turned to her own work, and the trouble she still had with all those folders on her desk. She’d need to ask Winkle where to put them, as she didn’t want the trouble or responsibility of handling the personnel files. There was probably enough trouble in the two hidden in her desk to last her a lifetime, or at least her career at the company.
Suddenly Sam felt a twinge in her stomach. She reached down and rubbed the bulging skin, still full from her feast at the restaurant. It wasn’t that the food wasn’t settling like it should have been, but that the food was reacting differently. She wasn’t feeling bad, but there was definitely a strange change there.
Sam leaned back and shifted uneasily in her chair. Her already tight skirt was stretched nearly beyond its capacity with all the food. She also felt a little bloated, like she was full of gas, but not quite like that.