Part 1 -- Prologue -- The office competition
My name is Linda. I graduated from University a year ago and started working in an office in a big city in California. I really liked my job and the people I worked with. My team consisted of 12 people and all of us were in our twenties, so it was a great working environment with lots of banter and joking around.
It was the final day of June, and the day when the results of a little competition we'd had in the office that month were announced. We'd been basically competing in who can get the most business for the company and the winner was to get an extra week of vacation.
This was quite a great reward since everyone in the office loved travelling. We even had a special wall, where people put photos from their travels. There was a great photo of John sitting on the edge of the Great Wall of China, a photo of Olivia at Oktoberfest in Germany, dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing, a funny photo of Macy feeding small monkeys in Indonesia while they climbed all over her, a pretentious photo of Tom at the Eiffel Tower with a bottle of wine and a baguette in his hands, and a bunch more.
I didn't get much vacation since I had only worked there for a year, so I had been trying really hard to win, pulling extra long hours (unpaid of course!) that month.
I knew that the winner was either going to be me or Katy, a competitive girl the same age as me. She was fun and had some great banter, but could also be pretty mean. I had once ripped my pants in the office, and of course she had to tell the whole office when she noticed it, instead of being discreet. Another time she had tricked me into doing a bunch of her work, and then just laughed about it. Even on my birthday, she hadn't spared me -- she had pushed my face into the cake when I had leaned over to blow the candle!
She is not a bad person, but likes to joke around and can be a bit insensitive. But it's also partly my fault for sometimes being so submissive and not standing up for myself. I guess I am a bit of a pushover.
People at the office often tease me or joke at my expense, but I always take it like a good sport. I know it's nothing personal, everyone in the office gets made fun of when they do something stupid or embarrassing.
I was doing some work on my computer when Sophie, another of my coworkers, approached me. She was a good friend of mine, a very nice girl, and had also been my gym partner for the last year. "Hey, Linda, we are gathering in the main area," she made the gesture for me to follow her.
Tom, our boss, who was the oldest in the office at 28, was standing in the middle of the main office area and waiting for people to gather before he started speaking enthusiastically.
"We've had a great month! 75% more business than last June. I guess having our little competition has paid off! Master manager brain right here," he tapped his head with a smile.
"Isn't that the brain that thought Australia was in Europe?" Steve, one of our sales guys yelled out. Yeah, we were pretty informal in the office and weren't afraid to joke even at our boss's expense. Not me of course, I was way too much of a little goody-two-shoes and never wanted to offend anyone.
"Shut up, Steve," Tom blushed a bit, but grinned, seemingly unoffended, "You were the second worst performer! The worst was, of course, Zoe," he looked at Zoe with a disappointed but unsurprised look.
"This was just a plot to extract more free labor from us," Zoe, who was a bit of an anti-capitalist activist, rolled her eyes.
"I don't think anyone could extract any labor from you Zoe!" David yelled out and the whole office laughed. People always made fun of Zoe for being lazy.
Tom continued, unfazed, "Well the best performers by far were Linda and Katy. Together they accounted for 84% of the increase in revenue! But there can only be one winner," he paused for dramatic effect.
I looked to my left at Katy. She looked very confident. She really wanted that extra week of vacation. She also didn't get much vacation since she had also been here only for a year. She had been looking at hotels in Spain for the last few days.
"And the winner is..." Tom was smiling as he paused again, "Linda!"
I jumped up and down in excitement, thrilled that I had won, while the office gave me a small applause. Katy was not looking happy and had a sour look on her face, but also clapped.
"What, you didn't win Katy? All those hours for nothing, huh? I thought hard work paid off," Zoe was now mocking Katy.
I felt really bad for Katy. She had put in a bunch of unpaid hours this month and got nothing for it. I knew it was a competition, but I couldn't help myself, I am a very empathetic person. I mouthed "Sorry!" as I walked past her.
"Congratulations, Linda, you get a week of vacation! Just tell me at least a week in advance before you want to go," Tom shook my hand.
"Thank you so much!" I tried to show my gratitude.
"Remember to bring a few photos for the wall," Tom pointed at the wall of photos from our travels.
"And this time don't use a potato to take photos!" Steve yelled out, evoking more laughter. They kept making fun of me since the last photos I brought were taken with a pretty bad phone camera.
The office went back to work. I got back to my computer, sat down and started to work. I secretly looked at flights and hotel bookings when Tom was not around. Not something I would normally do, but I was just too excited!
Part 2 -- The vacation plan
I have a secret. A secret that I keep from my friends and coworkers, and would die if any of them ever knew. The secret is that I have always fantasized about being exposed naked in public places. However, being the little goody-two-shoes that I am, I never had the guts to actually do it.
In the past I had been able to get my fix by reading stories about girls doing dares, streaking, accidental nudity. But the stories just weren't enough for me anymore. I needed to at least once in my life experience a situation like many of the characters in these stories have enjoyed.