March 4 2086, Chicago
Julie Anne browsed the list of work she had left to finish. The Brinkley account needed to be reviewed, then a report would need to be written, which wasn't such a large task, but it would be a hassle. She also needed to call maintenance about the radiator. The thing was on the fritz and had been flooding her workspace with hot air all week. She'd spoken to her supervisor, but Casey had done nothing about it.
"Bitch," she let out, dropping her head to the desk. The matted mess the humidity had made of her hair settled around her arm, and she felt the sweat rubbing between her forehead and forearm. She felt gross. Her shorts were the cutoff jeans she hadn't thought to wear since college. It made her feel unprofessional, and her paper thin cami didn't help. She was pretty sure anyone with eyes could see right through it.
What else was she supposed to do though? "It's too fucking hot!" she groaned. She decided, then and there, to get the damn radiator fixed. She dialed maintenance.
"Hello, uh, maintenance," came a rough, but feminine voice through the phone.
"Yes this is Julie Anne, on the second floor, my radiator is acting up. Could you send someone up?"
"Sure Julie," the voice replied, "I'll send up Denny." A click signaled the end of the conversation.
"That wasn't so hard" she told herself. She tried to return to work, but found the heat too much of a distraction. She tried to remember what Denny looked like. She knew the names of the maintenance men were all D's and there were four of them. Denny, Dave, Dale, and Dorian? Denis, or Drew? She wasn't sure. She knew they were all white, all but one were about thirty. She thought Denis was the young one. They were all, of course, simpletons.
All modern men got the operation, usually when they were still newborns. It was a simple procedure that could be carried out at any hospital. She didn't know the specifics, but had heard it made them more relaxed. She'd never met one who hadn't had the operation, but some stories told her they were dangerous and bizarre. She sometimes wondered how they managed to understand all the machinery when their behavior was so limited.
A man came lumbering toward her. Denny looked about thirty, and had a large, bushy beard. His arms were wrapped in muscles like twisting snakes. He towered over her five foot ten inch frame at nearly six and a half feet. "Fixing radiator?" Denny asked in his baritone voice.
"It's over there," Julie Anne pointed to the corner where the metal apparatus burned the air. The man waddled over to it, tapped it with his hand and cried out in pain. She flinched at the sound, but he seemed to care less. Within moments he was working at the base of the thing with a wrench.
There was another problem with having men in the office, they often humped things. As far as she knew, it was just a quirk of the sex. It happened once every hour or so, but they were usually far enough away not to bother anyone.
Denny had been at his work for about thirty minutes before he decided to hump her tree. He crouched down by the clay pot and thrusted his pelvis at it. Julie Anne was tempted to push him off, but she'd seen it happen before. It usually lasted a few minutes, and then the man would go back to work. He seemed pretty happy about it all too. She worked hard not to laugh as his overall clad body bounded up and down with the plant.
He calmed down soon, and went back to work, which she was grateful for. Unfortunately, Casey called her for a meeting. She packed up some reports and bid Denny goodbye.
"I have to go Denny. I'm going to a meeting. Come see me if you need something, ok?"
The man nodded, and went back to work. Julie Anne left for the meeting.
The meeting was little more than a complaining session. Casey dragged on about dropping sales, and how they needed to band together. Julie Anne was just happy no one was upset by her dress.
"Julie Anne, can you tell us about the progress on the Brinkley account?" Casey asked.
Julie Anne broke out of her stupor. She stood up, painfully aware of the amount of naked, dark skin poking out of her jeans and her cami. Her heart beat fast as she tried to piece together something to say.