Chapter 20: The New Job and a Celebration

The remainder of our time at the farm was mostly spent in each other’s arms, and in quiet conversation about where we were going with our lives. Dani made sure to remind me that my time as her slave wasn’t over yet, since we had taken a bit of a hiatus while my injuries healed. I almost didn’t care if it continued forever, as long as I could be with Dani and even if it meant that I didn’t get my share of the orgasms we could enjoy with each other.

We didn’t attempt to ride the horses, but I did get to spend some time with them, cleaning out their stalls, washing them and brushing them until their coats gleamed and just nuzzling up to them while I fed them handfuls of oats or the occasional apple. As wonderful as the time was, we both knew that the weekend was ending and we both had to be back in the city, me to start my new job and Dani to go back to the bar.

We decided to spend the last night back at my apartment, mainly because I would need the proper clothes for work. Dani decided to exert a little control over what I wore and she also made sure that I would be fully presentable. To her, that meant a fresh shave of my pussy and my legs as well as my underarms. I knew she was enjoying herself when she paused to check my pussy very closely for missed hairs but wouldn’t let me come in the process.

We did have a bit of a disagreement over my outfit for the day. We both agreed on the suit I picked out, but she felt I should be naked underneath it, while I thought that proper underwear was required. In the end, we compromised. That meant that I got to wear a bra and was allowed to keep my suit jacket buttoned up but I wasn’t allowed any panties. She also pointed out that this was a really big deal for slaves since I should normally not only be naked under them but also wearing clothes that displayed a fair amount of cleavage on top and bare leg on the bottom.

The next morning, we showered together and grabbed a quick cup of coffee. Since I was fairly certain that the senior staff would be getting together for breakfast, I thought that the best way to start would be to join them at their favourite restaurant.

Dani drove me there and decided to wait outside for five minutes, just in case they weren’t at their usual table. As soon as I walked in I saw the gang at their table and headed straight for them. Ken happened to look up and see me and he greeted me with a big smile as he stood up. The rest of them all stood to welcome me. After a round of greetings and handshakes we settled back down at the table and a waitress brought me a menu.

“Well, you are certainly a better looking colour this morning than the last time we saw you. How are the ribs and the other injuries? Do you need any more time off to heal up?”

“My ribs are coming along well, although they are still a little tender. I just have to be careful to not get bumped around in a crowd and I won’t be up to playing rugby for a bit yet.” I smiled at everyone around the table. “By the way, I hope I’m not intruding. I guessed that you’d be here for breakfast and I thought it might make for an easier introduction to my first day.”

Ken laughed and said, “First, I’m glad to hear that you’re healing well. You gave us quite a fright the last time we saw you. And second, you are welcome to join us every day for breakfast if you want. It’s how we get our day started and we use it as a way to be able to meet and talk without any of the office staff mis-interpreting what they might overhear. Since you’re now one of the senior managers then you can consider yourself part of the morning meeting.”

“Thanks for the inclusion and the invitation and I look forward to our daily meetings.” The remainder of breakfast went smoothly as various topics were raised and debated. I even found myself offering up opinions on several of the issues and I was amazed to discover how well and how quickly I seemed to be fitting into this group and the company they represented. In a very short time I felt like I had been part of the company for months or even years.

I travelled to the office with Ken and he pointed out my reserved parking spot in the garage, then led me to the elevator along with the rest of the group. It was all very interesting to me since I had not yet actually been in the office; all of our meetings and my interview had been at the restaurant.

The office lobby was sumptuously decorated with leather chairs and a large reception desk manned by two young women. What caught my eye was a large poster on one of the side walls. It was me! My eyes went wide as I looked at a larger than life-sized picture of me in all of my glorious back, blue and purple bruises over half of my shoulders and face. The picture showed me to the tops of my breasts so even those bruises were partially visible. Under my picture was a large caption that said ‘Abuse doesn’t always look like this‘. In smaller type under that was information about contacting support groups and the police to report actual or suspected cases of abuse. I was amazed at the quality of the work in the poster and at how well my photo had been used.

I turned back to the group as I heard Ken making introductions to the two receptionists. He was explaining that I was the new director of marketing analysis and that I would also be heading up the company’s personnel support operation. I walked over to shake hands with the two women and to get their names. One of them looked at me and said, “You look very familiar. Have we met before?”

Instead of answering, I moved over to stand by the poster and looked back at her. I could see her eyes move from me to the poster and back again just before her mouth dropped open. She gasped loudly and said, “That. That was you?”

I grinned broadly and heard Ken start laughing loudly. “I forgot to tell you about that at breakfast. When those photos you did arrived here we all agreed that we needed to use them right away. We got together with a marketing company to come up with the concept and we all agreed that that particular layout was the most effective. We have a few variations on the same theme using different images and layouts but that one is so popular that we’ve been selling them like crazy to all kinds of businesses. We’ve actually made enough money from them that we’ve already paid for the entire production run and we’re having trouble keeping up with the demand.”

I grinned and asked, “Should I ask for royalties?” I laughed to let them know I wasn’t serious and then said, “I have to say, I’m impressed. I had something like that in mind when I had the photos done, but you’ve really run with the idea.”

The young receptionist had been following the discussion and finally blurted out, “Did you really get beaten like that? And did whoever did it go to jail?”

I walked over and took her hands in mine and looked her in the eye. “It’s okay. No one actually beat me. I got thrown from a horse and gravity took over. I really did look like that and since we had been talking about a campaign to deal with domestic and workplace abuse I decided that photos of me would look a lot more realistic than a bunch of makeup or Photoshop effects. I’d say from your reaction that we succeeded.”

“I’ve looked at that poster every day for a week and I shuddered every time I saw it. You’re right that it’s effective but I’m glad I know the truth behind it.”

I grinned. “Don’t tell anyone or you’ll ruin the effect.”

She shook her head quickly. “No, no! I wouldn’t do that. It’s our secret. I promise.”

I laughed and said, “It’s not a big deal. The word will probably get out in the company, but we should keep it quiet from anyone who’s buying those posters so we keep up the mystique.”

“You got it. Oh, and it was very nice to meet you.”

“And you as well. Please feel free to come and see me if there’s anything you want to talk about.”

“I will. And welcome to the company.”

I joined Ken and the others for a tour of the offices, ending with my new office. It was large, had a great view over the city and was opulently furnished. The desk itself looked big enough to seat a dozen people around it. I turned to Ken and said, “This is too much. It’s absolutely gorgeous but it’s way more than I need.”

John piped up and said, “This is actually my office, or was. I’ve moved my stuff into one of the spare offices since I won’t be here much longer, and you need a space to settle into. It’s not that much. It’s what we all feel you’re worth. And by the way, feel free to redecorate it to suit your tastes.”

I took another look around at what was, to me, a palatial space. “I can’t think of anything I’d change. If you did the original decorating, you have very good taste.” I looked a little crookedly at him and raised one eyebrow. “Or your wife does.”

Ken laughed loudly at my comment and said, “You hit it right on the head. All his taste is in his mouth. His wife was in here for a week setting it up.”

John rolled his eyes at the two of us. “Somehow I think you really will fit in here very well. You and this clown seem to have the same sense of humour.”

After the banter had ended, I dropped my briefcase on the desk and took another look around the office, this time from the perspective of being behind the desk. I looked at John and asked, “When would you like to start going over what my duties will be, and how you’ve organized the department?”

“We can get down to that pretty much right away, and I’ve also scheduled a meeting with the staff at 10:00 so you can all meet each other and you can start to see who you’ve got reporting to you. We can start sitting down after that, if you’d like.”

“That sounds perfect. That will give me just enough time to find the coffee pot and the bathroom. Obviously, those are the two most important things in any office.”

“You got that right. Okay, I’ll leave you to settle in and I’ll see you in the boardroom at 10:00. We can play everything else by ear.”

“Perfect.” I looked at Ken and asked, “Was there anything else that you and I needed to go over?”

“Nothing that can’t wait, I don’t think. Obviously, you’ll need to sign your official employment contract and get keys to the office, but I can send my secretary over with those.” He paused for a second, then added, “Oh, and we also need to get you an account on the company network and get you a cell phone. You can keep your current phone and just flip it onto our provider contract, or we can get you a new phone, whatever model you’d like. We’re pretty open about stuff like that, since it’s kind of a personal preference.”

“Great. My current phone is a few years old, so I may take you upon the offer of a new one.”

“No problem. We also need to set you up with a laptop for those times when you’re out and about. We have a really nice lightweight model that we’ve been using, so you won’t need to cart around a boat anchor. You’ll have full access to the company network from either the desktop machine in your office, or the laptop from anywhere you can get ‘net access.”

I couldn’t believe the kind of largesse I was being shown. It was so unlike the way I was treated at my last job. I gave Ken a crooked smile and said, “You know Ken, you keep throwing around gifts like that and you could turn a girl’s head.”

I could hear John laughing from the hallway. “Oh, I think you’re in trouble. I think she’s got your number.”

Ken shook his head and said, “Somehow, I think having you around is going to be about the same as having John with his usual smartass remarks.”

“Yeah, but I think I’m at least a little prettier.”

“I’m not going there. Dealing with remarks like that is why we’ve hired you, and I’m at least smart enough to not go for that bait.”

“Sorry, mouth got ahead of brain. I shouldn’t have said it and I apologize.”

“Hey, if we can’t joke with each other, knowing full well that is meant as a joke, then this would be an unpleasant place to work. There’s no need to apologize.”

“Thank you. I really am looking forward to working here. I think you’ve all given me a remarkable opportunity. I just hope I don’t disappoint you.”

“Not to worry. I have no concerns. I think you will be amazing at this job, and like I told you the first time we met, I think your previous employer is going to really regret the day they terminated you.”

During the course of the next hour I was visited by various resource people and soon found myself with access to the corporate network, a new laptop to carry around, complete with all the usual accessories and a beautiful leather bag for it. I also got hooked into the office phone system and was given a brochure of the latest cell phones from their service provider, with instructions to pick any model I wanted. Everyone I dealt with was polite and friendly, and they each welcomed me to the company. They were a diverse group of people, and I could see that Ken and his senior staff had already done a lot to make sure that the company looked like the general populace in terms of racial makeup and gender balance.

Just before 10:00, Ken appeared at my door to escort me to the boardroom for the staff meeting. As we walked down the hall, he said, “We kind of kept your appointment to just the senior staff, so this may be the first time that some of these folks find out that they’ve got a new boss. I don’t think any of them expected that they might be getting promoted into John’s position, but you might want to be prepared for some surprised expressions around the table.”

“Thanks for the warning. I’ve been thrown into the fire before, so I know what to expect.”

There were about a dozen people in the room, most seated around the large conference table, and a few in chairs along one wall. There were a few quiet conversations going on which ended as Ken guided us to one end of the table. As I looked over the group, I saw that it was almost exclusively male, and I wondered if this was another area in which Ken and his partner had been having trouble recruiting women into the company. I followed his lead and remained standing behind the two empty chairs that were positioned there. “If I could have everyone’s attention, please.” As he spoke, all the heads turned in his direction.

“I’d like to introduce Kelli Wilson to all of you. Kelli has been brought into the firm to take over for John, who will be leaving us at the end of the month, as you all know. As such, Kelli will be our new director of analytics, a position for which she is eminently qualified. In addition, we are also starting up a new programme to deal with workplace equality and personnel selection, mainly targeted toward increasing the number of female members of the senior management team. Kelli will be in charge of running that new organization, which will also mean some staff changes in the coming months as she finds suitable candidates both from within our current staff and from outside the company.”

“So, I guess having a Y chromosome means you may as well kiss your chances of a promotion goodbye.” The speaker was a rather beefy man of about forty-five sitting about halfway down the table. His arms were crossed over his chest and both his posture and his expression seemed to indicate that he was spoiling for a fight. I could feel Ken tensing up beside me, and I put a hand on his arm to indicate that I should handle the situation. I knew that if I allowed Ken to deal with it then none of the staff would likely respect my authority in future. I needed to exert control, and show that I was capable of handling one loudmouth.

I looked the speaker straight in the eye, and making sure that was no quaver in my voice, I asked, “And you are?”

“I’m Luke Robichaud.”

“Well, Luke, in answer to your question, no, it actually doesn’t mean that. While we do need to increase the number of women in the company, any promotions or new hiring will be based on merit, not gender. Having said that, for at least the initial increases in staff, if two candidates are equal in skills and knowledge, then we will give preference to the female candidate. In the long run, it will all balance out.”

“Yeah, that’s what a skirt would always say.” He gave a derisive snort, then refocused a glaring stare on me. “For that matter, who did you sleep with to get this job? Were you trying to flip Ken over to the other side?”

I heard a few gasps from around the room and decided it was time to put this guy down before someone got punched. “Regardless of what you might think, Luke, I have a post-graduate degree in market analysis, and I have done this kind of work for years at other firms. I did not know Ken or other members of the senior staff until a few weeks ago, and I got this job based on my background and my skills. I will be looking for the same mix in anyone I hire, and for one other thing, something you seem to lack.”

I waited for the penny to drop, and he finally reacted. “What’s that?”

“Respect. Plain, simple respect for other people. Everyone deserves to be treated in a civil manner, but you don’t seem capable of doing that.”

“Respect has to be earned.”

“Quite often, yes that’s true. However, since you’re talking to the person who has just become your boss, then some initial respect and deference kind of goes with the territory.”

“That may be, but I didn’t ask to be working for a skirt.”

“Ah, you expected to be working for a man? Would you be showing him the same lack of respect the first time he was introduced as your new boss? Or did you think you were going to be the new head of the unit?”

“Since we’re on the subject, yeah, I thought the job should have been mine.”

“Does that mean you won’t be able to work for me? Are you and I going to spend all of our time arguing or am I going to be spending all my time putting up with your piss-poor attitude and bullshit?”

He didn’t say anything for the next moment, but continued to glare at me. After a pause of several seconds, I let out a sigh and finally said, “Well Luke, I’d say we’re at somewhat of an impasse. I think it comes down to a simple choice: you either agree to work for me without all of the baggage and attitude, or you clear out your desk, turn in all of your company property, and we’ll mail you your final cheque. And you likely won’t get much of a reference from us.”

I heard another few gasps from various places in the room, but kept my gaze fixed on him. His mouth dropped open, but then he quickly recovered and jumped to his feet. “You can’t fire me! You don’t control me!”

I was a little concerned that he might come across the table at me, but I stood my ground and answered, “Since I’m your boss, then yes, I can fire you. I don’t want to fire you, but you’re leaving me little choice in the matter.” I paused for a second or two, then asked, “What’s it going to be?”

He leaned over the table, resting his clenched fists on its polished surface. His whole body was tense as he spat out, “You fucking bitch! I hope you rot in hell!” He straightened and stomped out, nearly knocking over one of the other people in the room.

I felt Ken put a hand on my shoulder and he quietly spoke into my ear. “I’ll handle that situation. You stay here.” He turned away and left, and I decided to sit down, doing my best to not collapse into the chair. As I got myself situated, I was surprised when everyone in the room started applauding. I could feel myself blushing and looked around the table at a number of smiling faces.

When the applause had died down, I smiled and said, “I don’t know that I deserve that. I don’t think I did anything worth being applauded.”

One of the two women in the room spoke up. “Yes, you did. Luke was never an easy person to work with, and he’s been completely insufferable since we heard that somebody new was being hired to take over from John. It obviously wasn’t the greatest way to start your first day, but there was going to be a confrontation regardless of how well things started out. In the long run, it’s probably just as well that it happened right away rather than festering for a while.”

“Well, I certainly hope that the rest of our time together goes much better.” I spent the next hour going around the room getting everyone to introduce themselves, explain what their job entailed, how they saw things shaping up for the future, and laying out some of the goals that Ken and I had discussed for both the analytics division and the new personnel initiative. We also discussed the anti-abuse campaign that had been started with the use of my photographs, and so I used the opportunity to welcome open discussion on the matter and to extend an open invitation to anyone who thought they might be in an abusive relationship. “As well, make sure you extend the invitation to friends and relatives. We want to make this programme available to anyone who might be in need.”

The meeting ended on what I thought was a high note, and all of my new staff congratulated me as they left the boardroom. I dropped into Ken’s office to both update him on how the meeting had gone, and to get a quick brief about what had happened with Luke. When he saw me at his door he waved me in and offered a seat in front of his desk.

“So, how do you think things will go?”

“Well, at first blush it seems like quite a capable group. They all seem to be smart and knowledgeable about their fields of expertise, and they seem to like each other and to work well together. John deserves a lot of credit for how well he has staffed the group, and how well they seem to mesh. The only issue I would comment on is that we could probably use more female members of the group, but that’s likely because of the recruitment problems you’ve been having.”

“And, since that was one of the reasons why we brought you in, then it obviously falls to you to solve the issue.”

“Ah, yes, the First Law of Circular Bureaucracy.” His quizzical look made me giggle a little. “The First Law of Circular Bureaucracy states, ‘He or she who first identifies a problem ultimately gets it handed back for resolution‘. I learned that from one of my past bosses and it still remains true. Since I’m the one who just said that we need more women in the department, I’m the one who just had that problem dumped in her lap.”

He was laughing as he said, “Very astute on your part, I’d say.”

I rolled my eyes a little at him, then asked him about how things had ended with Luke.

“I’m not completely surprised he blew up like that. He had been hinting at John that he expected to be promoted into the job, but truthfully, John and I had talked about getting rid of him before now. He has always been somewhat of a prickly character to work with, and we both felt that if we had put him in charge then most of the other staff would have quit.”

“Are you telling me that you basically set me up to walk into a minefield?” There was an edge to my voice, letting me know that I didn’t appreciate what had happened.

He held up a hand, and quickly said, “It wasn’t planned that way, and I’m sorry that you had to bear the brunt of it. We had intended to take Luke aside yesterday to deal with it, but something came up and we got sidetracked.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that. Shit happens, as they say.” I waved a hand in a ‘brushing it off‘ motion. “Is there anything else I should be aware of?”

“No, nothing comes to mind. I’ll leave it up to you and John to get together and go over anything he thinks you should know, and to answer any questions you might have. I have every confidence that it will all go smoothly.”

“Well, with Luke gone it does seem to have a better chance of doing that.” We spent a few minutes going over a few other items, then I went down the hall in search of John. When I found him he also apologized for what had happened with Luke, but by now I had calmed down and just brushed it off. We spent the next few hours going over his original plans for the group, and how he saw the future going. He also filled me in on some of the finer points about the rest of my staff. “Of course, I fully expect that you’ll find different strengths and weaknesses in the group, since you’re looking at things from your perspective and not mine.”

“I’m not going to rush to make changes. It seems to me like you’ve built a really good team based on my initial assessment and the things you’ve just gone over. The new HR initiative will likely mean bringing a few new hires into the mix, but I would also expect that one or two of your current people may want to take on a different challenge.”

“I think you may be right about that, but I think I’d wait for them to approach you. They’ll have to feel comfortable about it before they do anything.”

I laughed a little and said, “I’d be willing to bet that it won’t take more than week or so before one of them comes to me.”

He made a noise that was a cross between a chuckle and a grunt. “Since that would be before I officially leave, I’ll take that bet. Loser buys lunch at the winner’s choice of restaurant?”

I reached out to shake his hand and replied, “You’re on. And I know just the place you can take me.”

“Oh? Wait ‘till you see how much that steak you’ll be buying me is going to cost.”

We laughingly agreed on a maximum time of ten days for the bet, and then decided to wrap it up for the day. As I packed up my briefcase with my new laptop, I called Dani on my new cellphone to come and pick me up, since my car was still at my apartment. I met her out front a few minutes later. When she asked me how my first day had been, I impulsively leaned across the centre console and kissed her soundly.

“That good, eh?”

“Better than good. Absolutely fantastic, other than the guy I had to fire.”

“You had to fire someone? On your first day? Wow! What the hell happened?”

“It turned out to be the end of a situation that had been brewing for a few weeks, so the others had kind of expected it. It just happened to land on me, so I had to deal with it.”

“Are you okay? Is there going to be any kind of problem from it?”

“I don’t think so. It’s crazy, but I feel really energized. I feel like doing something tonight.”

“Oh? Like waiting tables at the bar again? Or getting strung up and whipped for everyone’s pleasure?”

“Been there, done that. Got any better ideas?”

Dani paused for a moment, then smirked. I wasn’t sure if I should like the look on her face, since it seemed a little evil. “I think I know what we should do. I’ve been thinking about it as part of your training, but we couldn’t do it until your ribs healed up. I think you’re fine now, so we can have a little celebration tonight.” We were almost at my apartment by this time, but she wouldn’t tell me any more about what she had planned.

All that Dani would tell me was that we were going to a club, and that there would be entertainment there. I had a sneaking suspicion that the ‘entertainment‘ would be me, but she hadn’t said anything to me specifically. I did start to wonder when she picked out my clothes. I was to wear a micro-mini skirt that barely covered my ass, and a thin blouse whose tails were tied under my breasts. Completing the outfit was a pair of four-inch heels that strapped around my ankles. I was fairly certain that if I walked too fast my ass would be on display from the rear, and my pussy in the front. Climbing any kind of stairs would give anyone behind me quite a good view.

In the car I didn’t even need to worry about flipping my skirt out of the way when I sat down—it wasn’t long enough to reach under my rear. Dani just smirked at me, and made sure to play with my bare pussy while she drove us to wherever we were going. At every red light, she shoved one or two fingers into me, and in between she played with my clit, which was soon rigid and sensitive with the blood flow to my pussy. I was turned on in a big way, but knew there was no point in asking to come.

Our destination seemed to be in the middle of an industrial park, as it certainly wasn’t in a high-class part of downtown. As we got out of the car I could see a neon sign that said ‘Bare Fax‘, and I could hear loud music coming from a doorway to the right. The sign was giving me more suspicions, but I still wasn’t really sure what was happening.

Dani guided me through a door, and then paid a cover charge to one of the biggest and ugliest men I had ever seen, let alone stand that close to. He stared at both of us, and I had the strangest feeling that he was about to grab one of us, but he simply waved us in after taking Dani’s money.

Inside it was smoky, and noisy, and the music was very loud, but the shouts of the people were even louder. As soon as we passed from the entryway I knew where we were—it was a strip joint. I locked my eyes on Dani, fear showing all over my face. She had told me about having to perform in strip clubs when she was being trained, and I was sure that I would soon be naked on a stage, or giving lap dances to, and getting felt up by, some of these men.

My fear made me stumble into Dani, and she grabbed my arm to steady me. She saw the look on my face, and leaned her head in so that she could speak into my ear. “Just trust me. This is part of your training.”

As much as I did trust her, I couldn’t just accept the fear that was gripping me. I put my mouth to her ear and asked, “Am I going to have to take on a bunch of men in here? Please Mistress, I’m scared.”