Chapter 1: The Unexpected Visitor

"Here I am baby,
Oh, you've got the future in your hand
Signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours
I've done a lot of foolish things
That I really didn't mean"

- Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours (Stevie Wonder)

I was really in a bad mood. Things have not been going well at the office. Not only was the software project I'd worked day and night on for the last year suddenly cancelled, but my boss announced that there would be budget cuts and some employees would have to be laid off in the near future. Since my boss, Jessica Lundstrom a.k.a. Lady Jessica Sans Pitié, always disliked me, there was no doubt that I would be at the top of the list. As if that still was not bad enough, right before the end of the day, Lady Jessica Sans Pitié called me into her office. When I got in, she said that I had to come in to work this weekend to get acquainted with the project I had been reassigned to. I tried telling her that I had other plans for the weekend, but she simply snapped at me and said that a second-rate loser like me would come in for the weekend or not bother coming back at all. Except for my boss, I really liked my job so I kept my mouth shut and left the office. In secrecy, I really wished that Milton from my favourite movie would turn up with his red Swingline stapler and burn the office down.

I was so upset that I did not notice that it was really cold and snowing quite fiercely as I was walking home. I took the longer and more scenic route in an attempt to calm myself down. When I finally felt calm, I realised that all I wanted to do right then was to get back to my apartment and listen to some music while I moped on the bed. I really liked doing that, not moping, but lying on the bed and just listening to some music. It really helped me relax and calm down.

I picked up my mail and saw that it was mostly bills, but just as I was entering my apartment, I noticed that there was a small white envelope among the rest of my mail. It was a generic envelope and the only thing written on it was my name, Martin. My name was written in large friendly letters and I did not recognise the handwriting. This letter really caught my attention since I never got any personal mail and it was not stamped. Someone had delivered this letter personally and slipped it in among the rest of my mail.

I locked my door behind me, took off my coat, and neatly opened the letter with a kitchen knife. At first I thought it was empty, but then I saw a Post-It note on the inside of the envelope. There was a message written on the note with a beautiful handwriting.

I felt really sorry for you at the office today.
You deserve better than to be treated like that.
As comfort I will bring you a present in the morning.
- A friend

I had no idea who had written the note, but I really felt better after reading it. One of my colleagues must have overheard my conversation with Jessica and set this note to comfort me. Whoever it was, he or she was a real friend and comforted me when I needed it. Tomorrow, I would try to figure out who had written it and thank him or her. I really did not care about the present my secretive friend had written about, and I quickly forgot about it.

I walked over to my stereo and ejected the Prodigy CD that was inside. I really liked Prodigy, but I was not in the mood for that kind of music. Instead, I decided to listen to something that matched my mood better. I first considered something by Johnny Cash or Forseti, but in the end, I settled on one of my favourite albums, Nick Cave's Murder Ballads, and put it on. I threw myself on the bed and listened to the music. After a while, I closed my eyes and started to come up with a way to tell my little sister that I could not make it to the opening of her art exhibition this weekend.

I must have dozed off, because when I woke up, I was still dressed in my work clothes and the record had ended. I looked at my cheap Rolex replica and noticed that it was shortly after 4AM. I had been out for quite a while and I could not figure out what had woken me up. I heard the doorbell ring and I realised that's what must have woken me up. I stood up and walked towards the door with sleepy steps. The doorbell rang again and I was wondering who the hell that would wake me up at 4AM. If this was some kind of prank, I would never forgive those kids. The doorbell rang yet again and I called out, "All right, all right! I'm coming, hold on."

I opened the door and what I saw made me believe that I was dreaming. Out there in the cold snow was my boss, Jessica Lundstrom, without as much as a thread on her body. I just stood there for what seemed like an eternity and stared at her. The cold wind that blew into my face made me realise that I was, in fact, awake. Everything was so surrealistic. A thousand thoughts came running to my mind and I could not even begin to guess what was up. Each thought was more absurd than the previous ones, and quite soon, I deducted that I must have gone insane.

"Wh-what are you doing here? Has something happened to you?"

"M-Martin, could you p-please let me in? I'm f-freezing to d-death."

Startled by the fact that it actually was Jessica's voice and not somebody else's made me take a few nanoseconds to calm myself. I moved myself out of the way and let the naked woman enter my apartment. As she quickly entered the apartment, I noticed that her skin was slightly blue which indicated that she had been naked in the cold for some time. I closed the door behind her and just stood for a moment to collect my thoughts. She seated herself on my couch, huddled up, trying to warm herself. I went to the wardrobe and fetched one of the thick blankets my sister had given me last year for Christmas and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she answered and started to wrap herself with the blanket. I had been too shocked to notice it earlier, but I saw that her naked body was really beautiful. Usually, Jessica wore an unrevealing business suit to work and I had always imagined that she had a plain body, but I was wrong. Jessica was around 5'10'' and had shoulder-length, red hair which usually was coiled up as a bun on her head, but right now, she had it hanging freely. Her breasts were voluptuous, with pink areolas around the nipples which seemed to have turned as hard as rocks because of the cold. I looked further down her body and discovered that she seemed to have had all her pubic hair shaved off.