It was a showdown that had been coming for weeks. The deadline for meeting the government's gender equality target for contractors with more than one hundred employees was today. It was Melanie's responsibility and she had failed. Penalties began immediately and D-Flowco's contract payments would be reduced. That meant a fifteen percent across the board pay cut for all managers. The Board of Directors was not happy and voted to have her sanctioned.
The all-staff meeting in the large auditorium gave everyone the bad news and the opportunity to watch, as she chose her punishment. Out-of-town employees watched online. She stood alone on stage to make her choice by selecting one of three doors. She knew one door was demotion, one door was termination and another door was two years as a mailgirl. She did not know which door was which. Nervous as she had ever been on stage, she chose door number one. To her dismay, it was opened by Mistress M who stepped out holding a mailgirl contract. She held it up for Melanie to see and then to her right and left so the people in the auditorium could see it, too.
Melanie knew what that meant. She was going to have to strip right there in the spotlight. She froze for five seconds, took a deep breath, then snapped out of it. She knew she could do this. Her mailgirl program had relegated many women to a similar fate and, if they could survive it, so could she.
She stepped out of her heels and unbuttoned her jacket, slid it off her shoulders, folded it and realized there was nowhere to put it except on the floor. She bent her knees to lay the jacket beside her then stood to unzip her skirt. She stepped out of it and folded it on top of her jacket. Her low-cut, ivory blouse buttoned down the front and she opened it to reveal a lacy bra that was almost transparent. She dropped her blouse on top of the pile and reached behind her back to unfasten her 36C bra. The crowded room was almost silent as she revealed her breasts with nipples erect.
She was standing in front of all those people wearing just a lacy thong, transparent like her bra. She was terrified and turned on and realized the front of her panties was wet. Maybe she secretly wanted to become a mailgirl? She slipped the fingers of both her hands under the narrow waistband, and that's when her alarm beeped. "Oh! What a crazy dream!"
She had made good, early progress on hiring more women, but the rate of change had slowed and she knew she had to do more.
****
Giving to charity is important at D-Flowco. The company matches employee donations to the community fund, and there is friendly competition between offices to donate the most. During the year, there are several events to raise donations including the chance to hit a target with a baseball and drop a senior manager into the chilly water in a dunk tank.
Ross, Bashir, Scott, and David are forty-something managers who frequently play tennis, golf, and poker together. They are competitive and evenly matched in all three. At one monthly poker night, Bashir said he had an idea that would be a sure bet to win the community fundraising contest this year. They could collect donations for the four of them to compete in a skill-testing event, with the loser becoming a mailboy for a day.
None of the four of them wanted to work naked for a day, but they all believed they were good enough that one of the others would lose. During the next few hands at the poker table, and after more alcohol had been consumed, they agreed on a putting competition and shook hands on it.
Bashir took the lead and proposed the idea to Naomi Oyama, manager of the mailgirl/mailboy program. Naomi agreed it could be a good way to support the community fund. She also thought it could be used as a mailboy recruiting tool. She took the idea to John Gilmour, the human resources director, who arranged a meeting with CEO Melanie Jenssen because of her hands-on involvement in mailgirl/mailboy decisions.
"We're promoting equality at D-Flowco so let's expand it to be mailboy or mailgirl for a day," Melanie said. "There may be more people with a secret fascination about what it's like to be naked at work. Whether it's exhibitionism, submissive thoughts, or just curiosity; they're potential recruits for the program. They don't have to admit their kinky leanings because they can say they're just doing it to support charity.
"This expands our reach beyond the people who are vulnerable because they have taken advantage of our low-interest loan program. To help more people get comfortable with the idea, all cameras will be banned that day."
Personal cell phones could be left at home or at security in case of emergency. Company phones would be reprogrammed for the day to disable the camera function. In case anyone was tempted to break the rule by smuggling a camera into the office, the penalty for being caught was working naked for a week.
A date was chosen and announced to all D-Flowco employees. Mailboy or mailgirl for a day allowed employees to agree to work naked and collect pledges from co-workers and friends who would pay to support them. Half a dozen people signed up and lots of employees made pledges.
Melanie invited the four managers to her office for coffee one morning to thank them for the idea which was looking like it would be the most successful fundraiser the company had ever seen. She discreetly looked over all four of them wondering which one would be the mailboy.
****
When the day arrived, the four men with their favourite putters met at 6:00am with a handful of spectators for a contest using a putting cup on the thick carpet in the executive boardroom. First one to miss two putts would be the mailboy. They all were successful at two feet. Bashir was the first to miss at three feet. Everyone sunk four feet and five feet but Ross missed once at six feet. Perhaps it was nerves affecting his stroke. He missed again at seven feet and was declared the loser.
Ross swallowed the anti-erection pill that had been provided to Bashir by Ms. Oyama, and sat down to finish his coffee. He was much more nervous now than he'd been while putting. Ten minutes later, Bashir said, "That's enough time for the pill to take effect, Ross. It's time to strip."