A quick update, the Aussie mailgirls in Harada Industry's Melbourne office had the run of the place until the local manager was replaced by a new boss from America who has different, stricter views on how mailgirls should be treated. June Lockhart from HR discovered this when she went to Lindsay's office to find out from her about becoming a mailgirl.
Betty Cuthbert, the PA to the office boss Lindsay Davenport was not happy. She sat at her desk outside Lindsay's office too distracted to do her work. What she saw earlier kept replaying in her mind, pissing her off more each time. The neat, personable woman from HR had smiled at her and gone into Lindsay's office as normal as could be. After a time, she had stumbled back out, and slunk past Betty avoiding any contact. She was now completely naked and clearly not comfortable with her change. For some reason that Betty could not specify, that crossed a line for her. She made up her mind and got up and without knocking she went into Lindsay's office.
Lindsay sat working at her PC apparently unaffected by whatever had just happened in her office. At Betty's loud intrusion, she looked up, with a bland expression. But Lindsay sensed an issue about to be raised, this intrusion was rare. "Is something up Betty?" she asked.
The PA crossed her arms. "What did you do to her?" she asked, trying to be casual but with an unmissable quiver in her voice.
Lindsay stayed completely calm. Signs of angst in others did that to her, a control thing. "I did nothing to her. She did it all to herself."
Betty stared back at Lindsay, not sure now what to say. But at the moment two mailgirls, the tall Pam Burridge and the buxom Fanny Durack strode into the office together. Fanny smiled at Betty as she continued to Lindsay's desk. She did not smile at Lindsay though.
Pam sensed that something was not quite right. The athletic blonde looked worried, noticing Betty's grimace. "Have we picked a bad time?" she asked. "Should we wait outside?" But it was a bit late for that.
Fanny put one hand on Lindsay's desk and looked over to Pam to see what her problem was. Fanny could not see any issues, so she looked to Lindsay. "You wanted us?" She stood there, naked and close to the boss waiting, knowing it was pointless to joke or flirt with Lindsay.
And Lindsay was businesslike with Fanny. "I have this message for Stuart. Can you ask him for a reply and then come back with it?" She gave Fanny a distant managerial smile then handed over a folded slip of paper. Fanny stood there for a moment. Lindsay darkened a little. "The timer's running," she snapped at the mailgirl who glanced over at the other two then made her way out.
Betty and Pam both stood where they were.
Lindsay looked over at them. "Ah yes mailgirl..." she started.
"Pam," the mailgirl informed her.
"Yes, um, Pam," Lindsay retorted like she had just eaten something bitter. "I need you to go to Belinda Clarke with this message. It's quite involved..."
"Is it about that naked girl I saw on the stairs?" Pam asked, with a hint of concern about the woman who was not a mailgirl walking naked on the stairs.
"There are some matters..." Lindsay started to dissemble.
"What was she doing naked if she is not a mailgirl?" Pam asked. Betty silently watched her, curious to see where things would go. And partially pleased that someone else was picking up her issue.
"Do you have to get involved in everything in this office?" Lindsay snapped back.
Pam was not fazed. "Well, when it involves us and what we are doing here, yes." She held her ground and continued. "Was she delivering a message that should have been delivered by a mailgirl? Wouldn't that be breaking the rules? I think you will find that only mailgirls are allowed to be naked in the office unless we give our consent. You just can't make someone a mailgirl." Pam stood strong, expecting an answer. Betty suspected that she may not need to say anything more, Pam had it all covered.
"Do you know who runs this office?" Lindsay retaliated.
Pam held her ground. "I know that there are rules and contracts about who can do what here, especially in regards to us." She stared at Lindsay who stared vehemently back. Still she did not waver. Rather, she strode up to Lindsay's desk, her firm breasts swaying angrily with the momentum of her approach. "If you weren't concerned about the rules, you wouldn't have me going to HR with this message," she concluded. There was icy silence because she was right.
Lindsay privately cursed. She had selected Pam thinking the newer and blonder mailgirl would be less of a bother than the obviously bolshie ones. Pam overegged a genial smile as Lindsay handed over the message to her. Expecting that Lindsay would still be watching her, she strode out exaggerating the sway of her hips and the roll of her curvaceous bottom. As if she could also be the naked office bimbo if she chose.
Betty remained where she had stood during the exchanges. Lindsay looked hard at her. "Are you happy with that?" Lindsay accused as if Pam's attitude was somehow the PA's fault.
"I don't know that you can enjoy running this office like that," Betty bit back, holding Lindsay's gaze.
Lindsay was not going to let that go. "You have no idea what it's like," she slung back at her PA who decided that there would be no point retaliating and retreated back to her desk outside Lindsay's office without another word.
*
Jackson climbed the stairs to the ninth floor, finding herself thinking about Mitch, wondering if she had been imagining some change in him or whether he had been purposely cold to her recently. Had she done or said something wrong? After all, it was odd that he did not want to get her off. Well, she considered, maybe it's a phase. Like everyone, he's allowed to be occasionally moody. Hopefully, it was just a bad one-off occasion. She strode out of the stairwell, through into HR and headed straight to Belinda Clarke's office. She sat down at Belinda's meeting table and looked over to the Head of HR.
"We haven't had a chance to chat for a while," Belinda started.
"I know," the mailgirl agreed. "And there's a few things going on."
"You don't say," Belinda replied. "Pam was just here delivering Lindsay's latest demands. I expect she will tell you."
"I was in a meeting earlier with Lindsay," Jackson told Belinda. "It was unplanned otherwise I would have made sure that you were there." Belinda nodded as the mailgirl continued. "I raised the changes that she has been making. And I think that she has more plans for us. She's a good operator. All the changes that she's made are all stuff that she can get away with by bending the agreement."
"And what's the attitude among the mailgirls?"
"Of course we'd be happier if she told us in advance. We're all waiting to see if she attacks something that's really important to us. Like I said, she's chipped around the edges so far. Stuff that we're not happy about but which we can live with."
Belinda nodded. "We'll do what we can here, but she knows the rules and so far she's playing within them. But then you know that." Jackson nodded back her assent. She considered for a moment how normal she found sitting there naked with a fabric discussing office regulations and such. Despite her friends' reactions when she told them she was a mailgirl, well it was her normal now. Belinda continued. "And we have a situation if you didn't see it on the way in." Jackson looked at her, confused. Clearly she had not seen. Jackson wondered what else there was so soon after what she thought was a detente with Lindsay. Belinda explained. "Go down the back and say hello to the pair who look after the temp staff before you go."
Jackson did and found June concentrating on her screen. She sensed that Martin was trying to concentrate on his work and not succeeding. And now he had a second naked women near him. Jackson greeted him and he looked up at her like she was all he needed at the moment. That caused June to look up albeit shyly.
"What are you doing?" Jackson asked her automatically, a little sharper than she intended.
June looked down at her desk. "The monthly reconciliation," she muttered.
"That wasn't what I meant," Jackson replied although this time with a smile, expecting that June and Martin would not laugh at that. "Not just anyone is allowed to do that," she added. You're quite cute, Jackson thought but kept that to herself.
June looked dejectedly at the mailgirl. "I would put my clothes back on if I had them."
"Okay," Jackson relented, "what happened?" June explained. Jackson stared at the HR clerk thinking that she could fit in as a mailgirl if that was the way that she wanted to go. But still, rules are rules. "Lindsay should know that she cannot do this to you," Jackson told her.
"It happened so quickly," June complained. "Really there was nothing I could do. She was persuasive, and I just kind of agreed. Since I thought it was an interview. I didn't expect..." Neither of the naked women paid attention to Martin who was trying to look nonchalant but not succeeding.
Jackson was wrestling with the problem that with June Lindsay had again stretched the rules. Lindsay would no doubt argue that you could not hire someone to be a mailgirl without making sure that they were comfortable without clothes in the office. And Jackson recalled that was part of how the Melbourne mailgirls were in fact recruited. But it was a question of what was reasonable. June apparently had to work all afternoon at her usual job naked. Which just seemed, well, cruel.
Jackson thought back to her hiring. She now knew that she was the exception. All the other mailgirls had to strip off during their interview. For some reason, Mitch -- and she -- just assumed that she would be fine taking her clothes off when the crunch came. Well, they were right. But why was Mitch so sure? She straightened up. Her thoughts were getting her off the track.
"So do you want to be a mailgirl?" Jackson asked June who, Jackson noticed, made no attempt to in any way cover her exposed body.
June scratched at her nipple. "You all seem so confident about it."
Jackson smiled. "We get that all the time. But don't forget, we had to start somewhere. You should have seen us after the first day. I assume that you haven't signed anything yet?" June shook her head. "Good, think about it for as long as you need. You don't need to be rushed into signing. And do come and see me -- or get me to come up here -- if you decide to go and do it. And I'll fill you in on your rights." She looked at June for a moment, remembering that this was HR. "That is, assuming that you don't already know them."
June looked back at the mailgirl blankly. Jackson smiled warmly back. This situation was, at least, one issue that Lindsay had created that could be solved easily.
*
The four people, the total audience watching in the Union Theatre, all lounged in the front row waiting for the promised start. Emily Johnson strode from the wings to the centre of the stage. She stared at her audience and cleared her throat to make sure that group, all of whom were previously involved in the one night only production of Mailgirls In The Office, were paying her heed.
"Thanks for coming," Emily started. "Cara and I are workshopping a few ideas to see if we can run another production with you, that's why we invited you..."
"Did you invite Rod?" Bill asked her.
