I'd just settled in and was sipping on my morning coffee when a shadow crossed my desk. I looked up and saw Tess Henderson, the owner of the advertising agency I worked for, standing over me. "Hi Laurie. I was wondering if you had a couple of minutes for a chat in my office."
"Um, sure Mrs. Henderson." Butterflies were flapping around in my stomach as I left my cubicle and followed her to her office. I'd been working as a bookkeeper at the agency for about six months and it was always office manager Ted Garnett who I'd interacted with before concerning my job and duties. I doubt Tess Henderson had said a dozen words to me since I started working here. I couldn't help but wonder what this was all about.
She closed the office door behind us and motioned for me to sit down in a chair next to her desk. As I walked across the office I saw a picture of her on the wall that must have been taken years ago when she was a younger woman. She was a real beauty in those days, I thought to myself. She was still very attractive but now had the slightly plastic, artificial look that was common of women in their late 40's who relied on the surgeon's knife to keep them looking young.
Tess Henderson had started this agency with her husband about twelve years ago and had reportedly taken him to the cleaners in a nasty divorce. She was the sole owner now and the agency had been thriving under her leadership. According to my co-workers, she'd always been the brains of the marriage anyway so Mr. Henderson's absence was no great loss.
I took a seat next to her desk. "Slide over here where you can see the computer. I have something I want to show you." I complied as she turned the monitor slightly in my direction. What on earth this could be about?
Mrs. Henderson clicked on an icon on the desktop and a media software program opened. She expanded it to cover the whole screen and then clicked the Play button. The image was black for several seconds before the all-too-familiar video began flickering across her computer screen. I think all the blood drained out of my face as I realized what I was seeing: the video of me streaking the Mariners game! I glanced nervously at her and saw that she'd been watching my reaction.
"So that is you, isn't it?" she said. After seeing my reaction I knew there was no point in denying it so I just nodded. She turned back to the screen and watched as I scampered naked across the baseball field. "This is real then? You actually streaked a Mariners game?"
"Yes," I muttered miserably. "Can I ask where you got this?"
"A friend found it on the internet and e-mailed it to me. To say that I was surprised to see my shy, quiet little bookkeeper romping around a ballpark in all her glory is an understatement."
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, not knowing what else to say. I'd been worrying about something like this ever since Megan posted this damn thing on the internet. Now it looked like I was going to have to find another job.
"Why did you do it?" she asked me.
I was about ready to tell her the lost bet story I'd made up, but before I even opened my mouth I realized how phony it would sound. I'm a terrible liar and even that nerdish girl in the high school had easily seen through my story after catching me naked in the hallway. What I really wanted to do was tell my boss that I was under the control of a perverted psycho bitch cop who was blackmailing me into doing this stuff. I didn't dare, though. "I don't know," I finally answered. "I guess I'm just an exhibitionist."
She looked back at the screen just as the camera zoomed in on my orgasm. "Well you definitely look like you enjoyed it alright." I think I turned deep crimson at this. "Have you ever done anything else like this?" she asked.
I was tempted to say no but I figured that if she didn't fire me today she might eventually find out about the high school. Things couldn't get much worse at this point anyway so I decided to be as honest as I could.
"Yes, one other time."
"What did you do?"
"I streaked a school."
"A school? What kind of school?"
"East Park High School."
"You were naked in a high school? When was this? Back when you were a student there?"
I shook my head. "A couple of weeks ago."
Mrs. Henderson's jaw nearly hit the desk. "How many people in the school saw you naked?"
"Pretty much everyone."
My boss leaned back in her chair and stared at me. "Well, you're definitely full of surprises, Laurie. I don't know you well but I never would have guessed this about you. In fact you're probably the last person in the office I would have suspected of doing this. You're always so quiet back there in your little corner."
"I guess you never know."
"I'm a pretty good judge of people and I'm not sure I believe you."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, I believe you did those things. What I don't believe is that you did them on your own. Who else was involved in this?"
"Listen, Mrs. Henderson..."
"Call me Tess."
"Okay, Tess. I know you're going to fire me so why don't I just go and start cleaning out my desk."
"Who said I was going to fire you?"
"You're not?"
"I don't know yet. It depends on whether you tell me the truth or not."
"I have," I said.
"I don't think so. Not all of it anyway. Who's putting you up to this?"
God, how I wanted to tell her - to tell anyone - what Megan was doing to me. But Megan had warned me over and over what the consequences would be if I ever told anyone and I didn't dare. "No one is putting me up to this," I said. "I'm doing it on my own."
"Laurie, I know when someone isn't being completely honest with me and you're not. There's more to the story and I want to know it."
"I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because I'll get in trouble. I just can't."
"So there is someone forcing you to do this. Who is it? A boyfriend?"
I shook my head. "I've said more than I should."
"Listen, I might be able to help. If you don't tell me what's really going on I'm afraid I will be forced to fire you."
"I don't think you can help," I told her.
"Don't underestimate me, Laurie."