We both got out of the car but I wobbled a bit on my feet. Kyra came over and promptly whisked me into the air and back onto her hip. Her hand on my butt caused me to wince in pain.
“Kyra, I can walk myself,” I said softly, though I had to admit it felt very nice.
“No calling me that, Jimmy,” my daughter replied sharply, squeezing my bottom for emphasis.
I yelped a bit and apologized immediately as she walked us into my office building.
“What floor, Jimmy?”
“Four,” I replied sullenly, dreading the prospect of all my coworkers seeing me like this. But I knew I had to; it was better to work like this than to get fired altogether.
As the elevator was about to open, I pleaded, “Mommy, please let me down, it’s embarrassing!”
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about, you’re not too old to be carried around by your mother,” she said, poking my nose playfully. I cringed as the doors opened. As we walked past some desks towards the receptionist, I expected people to cry out in surprise as they saw me. But no one did. Instead, I saw my coworker Bill walk by, checking Kyra out briefly then looking at me with a pleasant smile. We passed several more people I knew, all giving me the same pleasant smile. I slowly began to realize that nobody recognized me anymore. And who could blame them?
We reached Vicky, the receptionist – someone I had known for years! – and Kyra sat me down on the front of her tall desk. “Good afternoon!” Vicky said cheerfully. “And who is this little guy?” she said, flashing me a bright smile. I was too humiliated to answer. But Kyra said simply, “His name is Jimmy.”
Just then I saw the one person whom I didn’t want to see me like this. Her name was Amy Adams, and we had shared a cubicle for 2 years now. I always counted myself lucky, since she was a real beauty – easily the hottest thing in this office. And she was fun and lively too, and quite sharp. We had a nice rapport, and we were always teasing each other back and forth during work. I had always meant to make a move but didn’t want it to make things awkward between us. Or maybe I just didn’t have the balls. But either way I knew things would be completely different now.
She walked up, bent down with her hands on her knees, and looked me straight in the eye but didn’t even recognize her best friend in the office. Instead, she said, “Oooo, Jimmy is it? Well aren’t you a cute little fella? I bet in a few years you’ll be a real heartthrob!”
“Uh…” I started, but no words came out. Kyra interjected, “He sure is, isn’t he? And he’s quite a handful, too.” Kyra was just loving this.
“Oh, I bet he is. These little rascals are always getting into trouble. Aren’t you?” she cooed, reaching forward and mussing my hair. “Well, I have to get going, but it was sure nice meeting you, Jimmy!” She held her hand out so I would give her a high five. I was too humiliated to go along with it. I mean, not only would I never have a chance anymore with her sexually, but she thought I was a little child now on top of it!? That was a lot to stomach. My eyes started to water up. Amy looked disappointed and started to retract her hand.
“Jimmy, give the nice lady a high five,” Kyra commanded gently. I reluctantly reached my hand out and pushed it into her own much larger hand. Amy squealed in delight and skipped away to her desk.
“So, how can I help you two?” the receptionist interjected.
“Ah yes, we would like to see Ms. Johnson,” Kyra said, asking for my boss.
“And who should I say wants to see her?”
“Kyra Roberts.”
“OK, let me – wait a minute, are you related to James Roberts? Have you seen him?” she asked.
I looked up at Kyra, pleading her not to reveal my identity in front of the whole office. She just gave me a smirk and told the receptionist, “Why of course! This is him right here.”
The receptionist’s mouth dropped open. I heard a stapler hit the ground behind me. The entire room quickly went silent as those that heard my identity passed on the news to those further away. “J-James?” the receptionist said, bewildered.
“Hi Vicky,” I said sheepishly, my face turning bright red.
“Oh my God …” she replied, covering her mouth with her hand.
My coworkers started to crowd around me. I saw two dozen huge faces leering down at me, inspecting me. I felt naked before their prying eyes.
I saw Amy push her way through the crowd. “James, is that you!? Oh my God, I didn’t recognize you!” She bent down and gave me a firm hug then pulled back and looked me up and down. I’m sorry for earlier – you just look so … tiny!” Realizing her mistake, she blushed and said, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say that! You just look … different, is all.”
I didn’t have much time to wallow in humiliation as another body came pushing through the crowd. “What’s going on here, people? Why aren’t you working?” Seeing me sitting there, she asked, “And who is this?”
Amy turned to her with a pained expression and said, “Ms. Johnson, can you believe it? This is James.”
Ms. Johnson turned to me and squinted. “James … Roberts?” Amy nodded. “My God, you can’t be serious!”
Kyra interjected, “I’m afraid so, Ms. Johnson. He’s shrunk to 4’4”.” To illustrate, she picked me up off the desk and put me on the ground. I heard gasps all around. I found myself surrounded by a sea of long legs and tall midsections. I only came up to the shoulders of the shortest of them, and of course I came to far below chest level to the tallest, including Kyra.
Kyra continued, “I believe you wanted to speak with him today, Ms. Johnson?”
Snapping out of her trance, Ms. Johnson replied, “… Yes, yes, that’s right. Follow me.” My coworkers stepped aside and stared down at me as the three of us walked to my boss’s office. “Back to work, people,” she told them.
Once inside, she said to Kyra, “I didn’t catch your name.”
“Kyra. Kyra Roberts,” she said, shaking my boss’s hand firmly.
“Now that’s a firm grip, Kyra!” she said playfully. “And you must be his … daughter?” she ventured.
“Yes. Well, officially I am his daughter, yes. But you see,” she said, putting both hands down on my shoulders and turning me to face Ms. Johnson, “I’ve had to take on much more responsibilities ever since Jimmy started shrinking. There’s just so much that he can’t do on his own now, and I’ve really had to step up and take charge, for his sake.”
Ms. Johnson paused and glanced down at me – I could see, behind her surprise, there was already some mirth in her eyes. The two of us hadn’t exactly gotten along in the past – and lately she had probably been hating me more than ever for my weeklong absence. And so it seemed a little bit fitting that she showed so little sympathy for my plight now, almost seeming to take it right in stride as she looked back up at Kyra and smiled.
“Oh, I know exactly what you mean! I raised two children all by myself, and it’s just incredible how much work they are!” I looked up in dismay as even my boss was now associating me with young children. I definitely felt like a little child as these two towering women talked above me, having a ‘grown-up’ conversation and leaving me out of it!
“Oh, I know, tell me about it! Now I have to drive him everywhere, cook for him, keep an eye on him at all times – in fact, I made the mistake of leaving him alone this morning, and do you know what he did?”
“What did he do?” my boss asked, greatly intrigued.
“Little Jimmy here proceeded to break the dining room chair and then tried to cover it up. I almost broke my back when I sat down!” Ms. Johnson looked down at me, shaking her head as if to say, ‘Shame on you.’ “And that’s not all! When I got home I found out he had left home all by himself!”
“He didn’t!” Ms. Johnson replied, putting her hand over her mouth in shock. “What if someone wanted to just snatch him up? There are bad people in this world.”
“That’s exactly what I said! And, in fact, when I finally hunted him down on a busy street corner he told me there was someone following him who wanted to do just that.”
“Oh my God, I can’t imagine how worried you must have been!” She put her hand on Kyra’s shoulder to console her. Then she lowered her gaze to me and wagged her finger, scolding me as she would a child, “That was very naughty, Jimmy. You ought to know better. If I was your mother I’d give you a whoopin’ you’d never forget.”
I couldn’t believe how readily Ms. Johnson went along with treating me like a child. She most certainly knew exactly what she was doing, too. I wanted to shrivel up in a corner and die, but Kyra held me fast.
“As a matter of fact, I did have to give him a spanking, right in the middle of his doctor’s appointment, no less!”
“Really! He was acting up that much?”
“Oh yes, Ms. Johnson,—“
“Please, Kyra, call me Becky,” she interjected. I had never known her to allow anyone to call her that. Apparently treating me the way Kyra had been treating me was a fast ticket to my boss’s friendship. I also wondered if Ms. Johnson realized that Kyra was only in high school – I knew my daughter could be easily confused for an adult sometimes, based on her appearance.
“Sure, Becky,” Kyra smiled. “As I was saying, you wouldn’t believe the words that have been coming out of his mouth lately. Like the other day, when I had to suspend his computer and TV privileges when he wouldn’t turn it off …“
“Good for you,” Ms. Johnson interjected approvingly.
“And all the mischief he’s gotten himself into…” Kyra continued, shaking her head disparagingly. At least I was grateful that she didn’t mention me spying on her or coming on her bra. “This certainly wasn’t the first time I’ve had to punish him.”
My neck was really starting to hurt from craning my neck as they continued to chat far above me. “Well, you did the right thing, Kyra,” Ms. Johnson counseled. “Trust me, I know. You have to be strict, or else they’ll never learn.” She peered down at me condescendingly as she said this. Jesus, my boss had always been a hard-ass and had said less-than-friendly things to me before, but this was insane!
Then her stare darkened even more as she continued, “Speaking of misbehaving …” She looked back up at Kyra. “You should have heard him this morning. He used the H-word when he answered the phone, and when I asked where he has been these last few days he even lied to me about being sick!”
“What!?” Kyra responded. I felt myself being whirled around as she leaned down, gripping my arms painfully. “Jimmy! That’s no way to talk to a grown-up.” She whirled me back around to face my boss. “Now apologize to Ms. Johnson.”
I had no choice. I looked up at my boss waiting expectantly with hands on her hips. The shame was too great; I quickly lowered my eyes to the ground. “I’m sorry,” I grumbled.
I felt a hand grab my chin and raise my head up. But, to my surprise, it was Ms. Johnson, not Kyra, who did it. “Look into my eyes when apologizing. And speak up.”
I withered under her gaze. I had been reprimanded plenty of times by her in the past, but it was never nearly so terrifying, or humiliating, as right now. “I’m sorry, Ms. Johnson!” I said loudly.
She released my jaw and said, “Good enough.”
Kyra chimed in, “I can promise you it won’t happen again after tonight, Becky. He’s got another spanking coming when we get home. In fact, if you’d like to do the honors now, please, be my guest!” She pushed me towards my boss. I looked back in dismay at Kyra’s smug expression, then I turned my head in fear towards my potential new captor.
My boss had an absolutely devilish grin on her face as she looked down at me and considered Kyra’s offer. I was terrified, knowing how domineering she could be even back when I was 6’6”, and then extrapolating that to what she could do to me at 4’4” …
“My, my, that sure is tempting, Kyra. But I think I’ll pass, at least for now,” she said, emphasizing the last two words. I shuddered at the thought of my boss putting me over her knee like a naughty child, but still I was relieved at her response.
“Haha, another time then, Becky,” Kyra replied with a knowing smile. “But speaking of missed work,” she continued, getting down to business, “I feel I owe you an apology. A couple of those days Jimmy missed because he was acting up and I had to ground him inside the house“ –Ms. Johnson nodded that she understood—“but the other days, I’m afraid I just couldn’t fit it into my schedule to give him a ride to work; I hope you understand. I’m terribly sorry for any disruption it caused around here.”
Ms. Johnson held up her hand and said, “Please, Kyra, no need to apologize. I understand completely. I can’t expect you to have to take time off your own job to bring him here.”
Kyra laughed. “Oh, actually I’m still in school!”
“Oh, really!?” my boss replied, genuinely surprised. As I had noted before, with her new outfits Kyra could easily pass for a mature career woman in her mid-20s. “So you’re attending State?” she asked, referring to the university in town.
Kyra laughed again. “Oh, goodness no! I’m still at Westside High School.”
Ms. Johnson’s mouth dropped open in amazement. “You’re kidding! Oh my goodness, I assumed you were much older!” Still shaking her head, she looked down at me and said, “You’re the luckiest little guy in the world, Jimmy, having such an impressive young woman to take care of you! To think, she’s still a student in high school and yet she’s willing to be strong for you and give you all the care and attention you need, and without any parents to help her!” Wasn’t I her parent? Clearly my boss no longer thought so.
Kyra rubbed the top of my head tenderly. “It has been hard at times, but also rewarding.” Sighing deeply, she continued, “I just wish he would stop fighting me at every turn. I do the best I can to protect him and nurture him, but he doesn’t seem to appreciate me. He still thinks he should be in control.” I bent my head way back and saw her looking down at me affectionately, even lovingly.
Ms. Johnson stepped forward, looming inches in front of me, and put a hand on her shoulder. The she said encouragingly, “Just give him time; he’ll come around. You certainly have strong maternal instincts. I’m sure you’ll make a great mother someday.”
“But I feel so much like a mother already!” Kyra exclaimed, and the two of them laughed heartily. I was extremely uncomfortable sandwiched between these two behemoths as they treated me like a child right to my face! Well, more like 2 feet above my face, actually.
Thankfully, my boss stepped back and walked behind her desk. “So, why don’t we sit down and discuss our path forward. Unfortunately, I only have one chair for guests, so Jimmy, why don’t you sit on your mommy’s lap?” she said with an evil grin, emphasizing the word ‘mommy.’
I was horrified by how eagerly my boss had taken up the game. “I think I’ll stand,” I said, puffing out my chest and trying to bring back some of the confidence I had brought to this office in years past.
“See what I mean?” Kyra said as Ms. Johnson shook her head disapprovingly. Kyra turned to me and said, “Young man, you are embarrassing me in front of my new friend. Now come sit on your mother’s lap this instant.” I would have resisted longer, but I knew from the look in Kyra’s eyes that there would be serious consequences if I hesitated. I came over immediately and she effortlessly pulled me onto her lap and wrapped her arms around me.
“Well, at least you’ve trained him well enough to obey the second time,” my boss complimented Kyra, who nodded graciously. “Now, regarding his job: to be honest with you, Kyra, I’m not confident that he’ll be able to perform his duties adequately in his current state, and especially not if he continues to diminish.”
I started to speak up for once, arguing, “That’s not true! I can still –“ but Kyra’s arm squeezed my chest, dispelling the air from my lungs and literally depriving me of my ability to speak.
“Now, Jimmy, don’t interrupt us adults while we’re speaking. Please continue, Becky.”
My boss nodded approvingly at Kyra and continued. “From what you tell me about his naughty behavior, Kyra, there’s no telling what mischief he could get into around here if left unsupervised.”
I was about to try and defend myself by saying I only left the house this morning to come here and save my job, but as I inhaled I felt Kyra’s hand constrict my chest again as a warning. I was so pathetic now, I couldn’t even say a word to defend my own career.
My boss continued, “And it would just be unfair to me and to his coworkers to have to keep an eye on him at all times. Plus it would put an unnecessary burden on you, Kyra, to have to take him back and forth from here every day. You’re under enough stress.”
“Thank you for understanding, Becky,” Kyra told her gratefully. “So, clearly he can’t come in to work anymore. Where does that leave us?”
“Well, I believe most of his work could be done from home. Perhaps we could work out a part-time arrangement.”
That sounded good to me; I wouldn’t have to face my coworkers, and it would eliminate the problem of Kyra taking me to work, which she seldom seemed willing to do. I took a breath in preparation of speaking.
But again, Kyra’s strong arm deliberately squeezed again and prevented me from voicing my opinion. “Actually, I don’t think even that would end up working out well for either side,” Kyra stated. “In my opinion, Jimmy here seems to be acting more and more like a child every day. He can’t even seem to handle simple house chores anymore without breaking something or getting sidetracked. I’m afraid he’s much too immature now to handle a grown-up job.”
Ms. Johnson nodded. “That’s the feeling I was getting, too, but I didn’t want to say anything.” She paused to consider her options. “Now, earlier today I would have had no problem firing Jimmy on the spot, based on the way he’s been acting towards me –“
“—And I wouldn’t blame you for that,” Kyra interjected. Both women were staring down at me condescendingly.
“—But I can’t say enough how impressed I am with your attitude, Kyra, and with your efforts in taking care of him. I would just hate to put you in that situation financially. So I’m prepared to offer disability compensation indefinitely. It will mean a significant pay decrease, but it would mean he wouldn’t have to perform any work for us.”
Kyra’s eyes brightened. “Thank you so much, Becky! That will be a huge help!” Kyra stood up, basically dumping me off her lap and onto the floor, as she extended her hand to Ms. Johnson.
“Aw, you can do better than that,” Ms. Johnson said merrily as she walked around the desk and the two women embraced in a warm hug. “You deserve it.” I picked myself up and, not knowing what else to do, climbed into Kyra’s chair.
They withdrew from the hug and my boss, or perhaps more accurately, my former boss, walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a liquor bottle. “Now, in return though, I hope you might consider doing something in return … I have an offer I’d like to discuss with you, Kyra.” She walked over to Kyra with two drinks in her hands. “Care for a drink?”
“Becky, you devil!” Kyra responded, playfully hitting Ms. Johnson’s arm. “I’m only in high school, remember?”
“Well, Kyra, I like you – I think you have a lot of promise, regardless of your actual age. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re at least as mature as anybody sitting out there,” she said, referring to my former coworkers. She extended the drink and Kyra gladly accepted. I didn’t suppose Kyra would appreciate me reminding her of the drinking age, so of course I kept quiet. “Have a seat,” Ms. Johnson suggested to Kyra.
Kyra hadn’t seen me sit down in the chair. The next thing I knew, my vision was filled with Kyra’s huge yet shapely ass descending toward me. Surprised and a little terrified of finding out what her weight would do to my frail body, I cried out just as her butt was pressing into my thighs and midsection. Fortunately, she noticed my presence and stood back up. This chair was very firm, and I wondered how many bones I might have broken if she had sat down too quickly.
“Silly Jimmy, how did you get there?” They both laughed, oblivious to the anguish I had just been put through. Kyra turned and bent over, hands on her knees. God, didn’t she realize how much cleavage she was showing? “Jimmy, honey, would you mind waiting quietly on the floor over there while we grown-ups talk business?” she asked sweetly, ruffling my hair.
I grudgingly pulled myself off the seat and landed on the floor, my legs being far too short to touch the ground while sitting in that chair. “Come on, then,” Kyra urged, nudging me away and taking a seat. “And no touching anything, mister.”
Gloomy, I took a seat where she told me near the door and listened to the big folks’ conversation. The two of them had sprouted quite a friendship in this short visit. “So, Kyra dear,” Ms. Johnson started, “As I was saying, I’ve been extremely impressed with you, and honestly I was intending to try to lure you away from whatever job you had so you could work here. That is, of course, until I found out you were still in high school!” They gave each other cute little smiles, and Ms. Johnson continued, “So, obviously I can’t give you a full-time job until you’re done with school, but after you graduate in, what, two years’ time, I’d love for you to come work with me.”
“Really!?” Kyra said ecstatically, “I’m honored! But isn’t this an engineering firm? Won’t I need at least a Bachelor’s degree, or even a Master’s or Ph.D.?”
“Typically, yes, but there’s no actual rule that requires it. And with the job I have in mind for you, you really won’t need all that much technical background. As long as you’re bright enough and quick to learn—“
“I am pretty much at the top of my class right now,” Kyra interjected, not without a sense of pride.
“Perfect. I thought so. Now, as I said, I’m not intending you to take one of the low-level positions, doing all the grunt work,” Ms. Johnson said, waving her hand dismissively in my direction. I realized that she counted my job as one of these ‘low-level’ positions. Bullshit, I thought, I needed a Ph.D. to get it, and it’s far more than grunt work! I glowered at her, and she just smiled back, knowing exactly what I was thinking and also that I had absolutely no power to so much as raise a finger at all of this.
She continued, “You’ll be absolutely perfect for a management position. There, you wouldn’t even need to know much of the science. And I’m sure I can find a way to pay for you to go to college and get your degree while you’re here. I would probably start you as a project manager, handling a few employees at a time, but I’m sure in no time you’ll be handling whole teams, even running the office when I’m away.”
I was absolutely floored by the offer she had just given. Ms. Johnson had always been extremely miserly whenever I asked for the slightest raise. But here she was, offering a high-schooler, whom she had just met, a job that was above even my own (former) paygrade, and I had a Ph.D. and had worked there for years!
Kyra was also shocked. “My goodness, Becky, I don’t know what to say! What did I do to deserve this?”
Ms. Johnson smiled warmly and replied, “Oh, I know a rising star when I see one. You have all the confidence and people skills to be a great leader. I mean, heck, you’re only 18. No one asked you to take care of this little rascal,” she said, pointing at me. “But you took the initiative and provided the strong guidance and support he needed. Honestly, if you’re this good now, I can’t wait to see you in two years.”
I suspected the other factor swaying her decision was mostly just out of spite for me, knowing what I would think about this. I swear she had been trying to find an excuse to push me out of a job this last year or so and find someone to replace me – and apparently in her mind there was no one better to replace me (and then some) than my own domineering daughter. Just another blow to little old Jimmy …
Kyra was deeply moved. “Becky, I’m touched. Thank you so much.” They got up and hugged again.
Then Ms. Johnson added, “Actually, now that I think of it, what are your plans for the summer? I can’t hire you as a full-time employee, but every summer we take on one or two part-time helpers. It would be far below your abilities though; I’m embarrassed to say you’d mostly be restocking paper and other busy work. But if you could use some extra cash this summer I’d love to have you.”
“Sounds great!” Kyra responded with delight. “Actually, this is my last week of classes, so I could even start next week, if that’s possible.” That was news to me; I had completely forgotten Kyra’s school schedule. “Although I do have basketball practices and games most days so I won’t be able to work regular hours,” she added.
“Not a problem; I’ll take whatever time you can spare!” Ms. Johnson responded.
They exchanged contact information, then Kyra told her, “Speaking of basketball, I actually have to be leaving now; I’ve missed the whole school day by now but I still need to be getting to basketball practice.”
“Oh dear, I’m sorry to make you late!” They started heading for the door.
“No, no, don’t worry about it, Becky. But, if I could ask one small favor…?”
Ms. Johnson nodded understandingly. “You need me to watch Jimmy for you.”
“Yes, would you mind?”
By then they had reached the door and I stood up between them. “No problem. I think I can handle the little guy,” she said, patting my hair.
“You’re a life saver, thank you,” Kyra told her. She hurriedly bent over and told me sternly, “Now, Jimmy, I expect you to be on your best behavior for Ms. Johnson, OK?” I nodded. She then stood up and said, “And as far as spanking goes … the offer still stands, Becky. Feel free to punish him at your discretion.” She then passed me on to Ms. Johnson’s waiting hands.
She smiled at Kyra. “Trust me, dear, I know how to keep little boys in line, and I’m sure little Jimmy here is no exception.”
Kyra laughed, “Oh, I have no doubt. I’ll be back around 5:00 to pick him up.” With that, she gave a short wave and headed out, leaving me helpless in the clutches of my former boss.
As Kyra left, Ms. Johnson crossed in front of me and shut the door, then turned to me with a predatory look in her eye. “Well, well. Looks like I’ve got you all to myself now.” She slowly advanced toward me. Terrified and intimidated out of my mind, I backed away from her, almost tripping over a book on the floor. “Little Jimmy Roberts … You know, I never really liked you.” That seemed like a huge understatement at this point. She went on cleverly, “You were always a little too big for your britches. But,” she continued, still moving ever-so-slowly towards me, “I think I’m gonna love your new size. You’ll be much easier to handle now,” she breathed with pleasure.
I was being backed down towards the corner behind her desk, but I was able to maneuver myself around the desk and started circling it, only a couple feet away from her. “What’s the matter, Jimmy? Scared of your big, mean boss? You know, in the past the worst I could have done was yell at you for all the times you acted up, but I always wanted to do SO much more…” She had started advancing faster, and I managed to keep ahead of her, rounding the desk and heading towards the door. She continued, “I always used to wish I could just bend you over my knee and punish you for all your insolence.” Getting frantic, I decided to make a run for it. I turned and dashed towards the door.
But just as I had reached the door handle, I felt two powerful hands reach around my midsection and yank me backwards into the air. She pulled me into her chest, my arms and legs flailing uselessly in the air. My boss laughed aloud at how utterly helpless I was. She bent her head down to my ear and whispered, “Well, it looks like I get my wish after all.” She carried me over to the corner of her desk and sat down, roughly spinning me around and bending me over. She clamped her thighs together, securely holding my legs between them, and immediately started pelting my ass with blows. She clearly knew what she was doing, probably from years of child-rearing. Thankfully I still had my pants on, but she was hitting hard and my ass still stung from the earlier spanking from Kyra. I cried out in pain with each blow until she brought her free hand to my mouth to muffle it so no one would hear.
Although it hurt like hell, it was still not nearly as bad as the one I received in the doctor’s office. But still I was in tears by the time she finished. She yanked me up to stand in front of her. Even sitting on the edge of the desk she still towered over me. “That was for your little outburst on the phone this morning,” she informed me sternly. “I haven’t even begun to punish you for all your years of misbehaving.” I gulped. “Perhaps someday soon I’ll have more time to give you a more thorough lesson. But fortunately for you I have much work to do this afternoon, so I’ll let you off the hook for the time being.” My ass sure didn’t feel like she had taken it easy, but still I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing she was capable of much more. “That is, of course, unless you give me reason to punish you again today.” I nodded vigorously to show that I understood.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Ms. Johnson replied.
Vicky, the receptionist, opened the door. She started, “Is everything OK? I heard some odd noises.” She took a few steps but stopped in her tracks, seeing the tears on my cheeks and the stern manner in which Ms. Johnson was holding me. “Oh my! I’m sorry to interrupt,” Vicky said, feeling awkward and backing away towards the door.
“No, not at all, Vicky, please come in. Jimmy here was being terribly misbehaved, that’s all. Weren’t you, Jimmy?”
My eyes darted to Vicky, seeing her shocked expression. But my boss slowly strengthened her grip on my arms by way of a threat, and I had no choice but to nod and reply, “Yes, ma’am.” Satisfied, Ms. Johnson turned to Vicky expectantly.
Vicky blushed and looked extremely uncomfortable, but she tried to talk normal anyway. “Oh, I see … Well, uh, anyway, Ms. Johnson, you have a meeting starting in 5 minutes, and then two more before the end of the day.”
“Ah, that’s right,” Ms. Johnson said casually. She didn’t seem to notice her receptionist’s discomfort, instead acting like reprimanding me like a child was the most natural thing in the world. “Thank you, Vicky.” Vicky quickly left the room, her face still red from embarrassment.
Ms. Johnson then devoted her attention back to me. “I have to leave you for a while, OK Jimmy?”
I nodded eagerly. “I won’t touch any of your things, I promise,” I told her. This was a fortunate turn of events – I would get to be alone in here for a while, away from her and the rest of my coworkers.
But she just laughed and told me, “What, you think I would leave you in my room all by yourself?” She stood up quickly and I would have been knocked down except for her grip on my arms. She let go briefly while she gathered up her notebook and a few papers. Then she walked to the door and opened it. “Come on,” she said brusquely. As I reluctantly went to her, she commanded, “Take my hand.” I refused at first, realizing how humiliating it would be to have the entire office see my ex-boss walk me out like a kid. But she responded with a vicious glare, so I quickly complied and reached my hand up to hers. She squeezed it strongly and headed out.
As we cut through the office I noticed that every single person in sight was staring at us – at me. Many of them, even friends of mine whom I knew well, couldn’t contain their giggles as we marched to the far end of the room.