Chapter 2

“You may as well tell her, mom. She’s in now and you’re as much at fault as us. It’s not like last time,” Savannah said cryptically.

My sisters and I were sitting around mom’s coffee table having our weekly get together on Saturday morning like we did almost every Saturday. It had been Savannah’s turn to bring the coffee and donuts.

Celeste had brought up a meeting they’d all had together at work Friday, apparently not for the first time. Mom must have promised Celeste she’d discuss it off work property but she didn’t look like she wanted to talk about it now, either.

I just sat back and listened as they talked, picking up that someone all three of them knew had been accused of doing something that resulted in most of the female employees being gathered together for a mysterious meeting.

“We could all get in trouble for discussing this, Testy,” mom insisted, calling my sister by the nickname she’d had since forever.

“We’re not at work now. Do you think the house is bugged or something?” Celeste joked.

Mom just looked hard at Celeste for a few moments before glancing at me. That’s when Savannah had jumped to the defense of Celeste and me although I’d had no part of the conversation to that point.

“Okay, I’m lost here,” I admitted to all of them. “I get that something happened at work that none of you are supposed to talk about. I also get that Celeste wants to talk about it anyway. Tell me this, mom. Is it something the new employees aren’t supposed to know?”

“No one’s supposed to know, Tatiana,” mom explained while glaring at Celeste.

“That’s bullshit, mom. It’s a business. Just because they don’t want us to talk about it doesn’t mean they can stop us and like Savannah said, Tatiana’s an employee now too, anyway.”

“Your sister doesn’t know how things work there, yet. If it was after her orientation it’d be different,” mom insisted.

“So just give her the orientation cliff notes, mom,” Savannah suggested. “She’s hired. She’s going to breeze through the first 30-days. You know that. We know that. She’s not going to screw up so she has a right to know,” Celeste urged mom.

“I am NOT going to tell my daughter the company rules!” mom hissed.

“Fine. Then I will,” Celeste said with a shrug then continued before mom could argue.

“The one mom’s embarrassed about is that you’re not allowed to have sex on company property unless it’s sanctioned,” Celeste told me bluntly.

“Okay ... you can’t have sex at ANY workplace unless you happen to be a sex worker. Are you saying NSI is a front for sex work?” I asked with a smile to cover my confusion about the sanctioned part.

“Sheesh, Tat. Don’t you pay any attention to social media? What they’ve been saying about Nu Skin is true,” Savannah rolled her eyes at me.

“Humor me, sis,” I suggested, wondering what she meant specifically.

I already knew Nu Skin is an expensive lotion and that it is basically scientific magic. It makes imperfections disappear and gives women skin softer than a baby’s butt. It also does amazing things for wrinkles and although it can’t make a 60 year old woman look 20, it can make her look 35.

“The Spanish Fly side effect?” Celeste prompted, as if helping me join the dots. It didn’t.

“That’s not even a real thing,” I scoffed, remembering a seminar I’d been to in college that introduced us to the dangers of date rape drugs and stuff.

“Spanish Fly isn’t real, but Nu Skin messes with a woman’s estrogen or something. I don’t know the science but I do know one thing. It makes us constantly horny. What woman doesn’t want to be horny, right?”

“TMI, Celeste,” I replied. I did not need to know that my sister gets horny. It’s almost the same as imagining my mom that way. “So what’s that got to do with anything?” I asked to distract myself from thinking of that stuff.

“I’m just telling you one of the rules and you need to know about being crazy horny 24/7 to help put things in perspective. Like I said. No sex on company property unless it’s sanctioned, right? So you’ve got a bunch of hot women all hanging out in the nude, looking and feeling their best, horny as all getup and then well groomed guys that look sharp in their business suits. It’s a recipe for hookups all day. That’s why there are controlled exceptions. The gist of it is you could get in trouble for fucking at work,” Celeste summarized.

“I won’t have to worry about that. I have Jackson,” I declared.

I certainly didn’t need Nu Skin to make me constantly horny.

“But why is this all so hush hush?” I asked, still feeling confused by the need for secrecy and mom not wanting to talk about it with Celeste.

I was beginning to get the impression that there were a bunch of secrets at Nu Skin. The incident with Sonya and Sandra as I was leaving the previous day popped into my head as an example.

“Someone we all know got caught. But it was what she told them that made it more than it had to be and why they had the big meeting yesterday,” Celeste explained.

“So you’re upset they fired her for that?” I asked, hoping to jump to the heart of the matter.

Savannah chuckled. “They don’t fire you for something like that at NSI, Tat,” she interjected. “That’d be like getting fired for using the restroom too often. You might quit, but then you’d lose the company benefits.”

“See? This is why I didn’t want to have this discussion right now,” mom said, sounding exasperated. “She hasn’t done the orientation so she can’t understand and it will turn her against NSI.”

“You’re being overly dramatic, mom. Tat’s a big girl and she can handle it,” Celeste disagreed with mom.

“Testy’s right, mom. Tat’s smarter than you’re giving her credit for,” Savannah backed up her sister.

“Look, Tat. NSI doesn’t do things like other companies do. When you screw up, you don’t just get a lecture, a threat of a note on your permanent record, or an actual note. They don’t even, heaven forbid, jump straight to escorting you off the premises for something like that. Hell no. They do stuff that might encourage some girls to quit but no one I know would choose to lose their benefits over the punishments the company imposes,” Savannah explained.

Now I was really confused. Someone had broken company rules, then wasn’t fired, but NSI held a big employee meeting instead. Then it was a big deal talking about it afterwards? To the point where mom and Testy couldn’t discuss it on company property. Why? What was the taboo about discussing a company meeting?

“Did they tell you guys you couldn’t discuss the meeting? That is weird! How are people supposed to understand things if they can’t ask questions? Discuss what they thought they heard? That’s how wrong conclusions are drawn!”

“It’s not that simple, Tatiana,” mom calmly said. “One of the things they stress in orientation is that if you have questions or want to share your thoughts, there are specific people at work to talk to. In Japan, workers don’t hang around the water cooler and gossip like they do here. NSI limits the amount of disinformation and conjecture by having a rule against it with a penalty if you’re caught violating said rule. Remember what I told you before you met with HR yesterday? That’s a good rule of thumb for working hours, period.”

I understood mom’s explanation but I didn’t know if I agreed with it. It felt like NSI wanted to control people’s thoughts.

“Alright, now that I understand the rules, mom, Celeste still wants to talk to you about your meeting,” I summarized. “I won’t say anything so you don’t have to worry about that. Just let Testy be your daughter and talk to her already! Family comes first. You raised us all that way.”

“You don’t know all the rules, Tatiana. That’s what I was saying and it’s embarrassing,” mom admitted.

“Mom’s trying to tell you that the company penalized all of us because of what Yvonne did. NSI has decided none of us told on Yvonne when we should have, so we’re all guilty of that. I think what they decided is unfair because I personally didn’t have any idea what Yvonne was doing. None of us did. And we’ve all only just been penalized the same way for other reasons already.”

“What’s the penalty? Is it so bad?” I asked, wondering if they were having their lunch break cut short or something.

Savannah took that question. “Some women would say it’s not a penalty at all. In fact, Teresa who works with me says it’s great. But Teresa always sees the bright side. I agree with Celeste, it’s downright embarrassing what they did but it’s not really a big deal.”

“What?” The question just popped out. Celeste was hanging onto something that was already done?

“They issued each of us a razor, a hand towel and a travel-sized can of shaving cream. Then we each had to get one of the male employees to shave us bald down there right in the office before the end of the day and sign our paperwork testifying they’d done it.”

“Oh wow. They can do that?” I asked, unable to imagine it.

“Even if we already regularly shave! Do you know how freaking embarrassing it is to ask a guy you work with to shave your muffin for you right in the middle of the office? No you don’t! And we’re all already turned on because of the lotion we use. I was so close to asking Barry to give me a little extra rub when he was using the towel but that itself would have broken the no sex rule. It’s just cruel and unfair when none of us knew what Yvonne had done!”

I didn’t know what to do with Testy’s admission. I hadn’t really paid any attention to the women I’d seen yesterday so I couldn’t say how many of them had pubes but I know I couldn’t have asked a man who isn’t Jackson to shave me down there. I don’t think I could even ask Jackson to do it. I was going to work for a company that could make a woman do that? Suddenly I wasn’t so sure I wanted to work for NSI after all.

“I ... I think I would have resigned on the spot,” I admitted.

“See! I told you, girls! Tatiana hasn’t done the orientation so she doesn’t understand what’s at stake. As far as she’s concerned, she’d just be protecting her pride and a job isn’t worth it.”

“Mom. Losing the respect of Jackson means more to me than any job! How would I ever explain to him that I let a man get between my legs and shave me?”

“Tat has a point, mom,” Celeste admitted. “Unfortunately, that’s by far not the wildest form of punishment NSI can impose,” she said the last part to me. “You were warned that you’d have to be naked around others, men included. You probably didn’t realize how close others could get to you, though. It’s not too late to call HR and withdraw your acceptance.”

“Of course it is, Testy! Would you have kissed goodbye to the sign up bonus a day after it showed up in your bank account? Savannah challenged my other sister.

When Celeste didn’t immediately reply, Savannah continued, “How about the thousands and thousands in college loans NSI is going to cover for her over the next two years? I know of people that still have student loans ten years after they got out of college.”

Savannah turned to me. “You do what you need to do, Tat, but this isn’t the end of the world. You just don’t tell Jackson,” Savannah played devil’s advocate, suggesting I keep secrets from my fiance.

I didn’t like that idea at all but her points were valid. I did have to consider both. Jackson had earmarked the sign-on bonus for an upgrade to our car and saddling him with paying half my student loans once we were married had not been a consideration before since I’d always known NSI would be handling that burden.

I put the decision to the back of my mind, already knowing I’d let it lay unanswered.

I’d figure out how to deal with a punishment like Celeste had described if it ever happened to me. I can follow rules and I simply decided it never would.

Celeste had said the three of them had recently broken other rules with the same punishment. Maybe I’d never have to figure it out by not breaking any rules. I certainly didn’t want to imagine my mom with a guy between her legs shaving her bits as a justified punishment even if she was naked all day at work anyway.

“I’m not going to make waves but you can certainly just go to HR Monday and complain to them. Just remember two things, Testy. First, we weren’t punished for not telling on Yvonne. We were punished for not putting a stop to what was going on in our office. The office WE’RE responsible for but weren’t paying enough attention to. Secondly, they were not showing favorites. They had everyone pay the price for the few who can’t follow rules. I know if I see something in the future, I’m certainly going to say something!”

“I bet the girls in HR didn’t have to submit to the same punishment,” Celeste grumbled but I could see that Savannah had given her a lot to think about and she was just not wanting to let it go.

Even I could see the wisdom in HR’s actions when presented the way Savannah had. Otherwise there would be all kinds of hanky panky going on like a cheap soap opera while everyone ignored it. I did wonder if Sandra knew about it while I’d been with her.

Conversation moved on to a guy at the local deli that Celeste was interested in. Savannah stayed out of that discussion and we all knew it was because Savannah likes girls but none of us ever wanted to talk with her about that. We were just happy that she seemed happy with being single.

We also avoided conversations about mom dating again. While we all wanted her to find a nice guy for companionship, none of us were willing to play matchmaker and be that girl who helped replace our beloved dad who passed away while I was still in highschool.

Sunday night I was close to telling Jackson about what I’d learned from my family.

He was next to me brushing his teeth in the bathroom. I’d just climbed out of the shower and had one foot on the toilet, lotioning my skin. He was in his pajama pants and he paused, just watching me in the mirror.

“Just think, Cheeks,” he said, using his private pet name for me, “In a few hours I’m not going to be the only one seeing you naked anymore. Guys are going to be seeing the milk without buying the cow,” he joked, twisting a saying I knew had come from his momma. “I kind of feel like a cuckold,” he admitted.

“Jackson, you know I’m yours. Just because I’ll be naked, doesn’t mean I’m going to let guys take any liberties,” I replied soothingly. “Anyway, your little man is disagreeing with you,” I giggled, seeing his pj pants beginning to bulge.

My own words made me think of what Celeste had said about nearly letting a guy get her off at work.

“That’s because you’re rubbing that lotion all over you in such a sexy way. Jesus himself would pop wood seeing that,” he said quietly, his gaze watching my hands.

I’d finished with both legs and had used the remaining lotion from my hands, higher up on my chest.

That’s when I considered sharing what had happened to Celeste, Savannah and mom on Friday. But I didn’t want to put visions of any of them naked in his head, much less describe how they’d had to ask men to shave them between their legs. I trust Jackson, but why play with fire?

Savannah was right. That was one thing that should stay at work and it’d probably never happen to me anyway. I hoped.

Monday morning there were only a couple of people in line to go through security in front of me when I got to NSI. I’d chosen to get there very early.

I had to walk through a metal detector then show them my ID. They consulted a list before leading me to the door I’d used when I’d left Friday. The door was marked employees only and the security guard had to use their badge to open it for me from the outside.

While there were maybe a half dozen women already in the locker room, they were sitting on benches in various states of undress, just chatting. I walked straight to my locker and entered my code.

I took a deep breath before starting to undress. This was it. I’d already noticed 2 guys walking by and looking my way but now I had to doff my bra and panties right out in the open where anyone could pause and watch. Sandra had been right.

Then a very large-figured woman with a hair lip walked in, peeled off her tee shirt and leggings, before turning and facing me, for all intents and purposes, naked. She may have been wearing panties but I couldn’t tell because her belly was so big.

“You’re new,” she stated. “I’m Emma and I’ve worked here for just 6 weeks, myself. NSI wants to see what they can do about my hair lip,” she said, bluntly identifying the most obvious flaw in her appearance after her size.

Still, even with her size, her skin looked perfect. I guess she’d long ago learned to address her disfigurement right from the start so that others would know they didn’t need to tiptoe around it.

“Hi, Emma. I’m Tatiana and this is my first day. I’m still wrapping my head around the idea of stripping down to my skin with guys just walking by,” I admitted, more to justify the fact that I was standing in my underwear looking around.

“You’ll be fine. You’ve already got the body of a goddess even without the Nu Skin. Imagine how I felt, a walking whale with a hair lip. I thought people would start throwing up when I got naked but it’s not been half as bad as I’d imagined. My mentor, Jeremy, actually thinks I’m sexy. His smile lights up when I get to the office and he always has a pastry for me,” she shared.

I don’t know what prompted Emma to share that with me, but it showed me that she was a friendly type, compared with Sophie who I’d met on Friday and who’d practically ignored me.

“What department are you in?” I asked, starting to feel silly still in my underwear while chatting to a naked woman, so I reached behind myself as casually as possible and freed the girls.

My nips instantly reacted to the temperature change. I know Emma noticed but she didn’t say anything about them, instead answering my question.

“I was supposed to work for supply. That’s what I interviewed for but along the way, I got moved to R&D so they could experiment with my hair lip. They seem to believe they can fix it without surgery. What about you? Sales, I bet.”

“No, I can’t sell heaters to Eskimos,” I laughed. “Accounting will be my stomping ground after orientation.”

“Oh. So you’re a brain, then? The guys in that department aren’t going to know what hit them. They’re all a bunch of nerds, poor guys,” she giggled, making her boobs jiggle.

I slipped off my panties while asking, “Are there more men than women in that department?”