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."
Maybe she could help me, I thought. She's a rich woman with connections in this town so maybe she really could get me out of this mess. The conflicted feelings I'd been having about all this surfaced once again. I remembered the conversation I'd had with Megan in the park where she offered me a chance to get out. I still didn't know if she'd really been serious but the fact that I'd hesitated and didn't jump at the offer made me realize just how intense these newly discovered exhibitionist tendencies really were. Part of me wanted to keep doing these things while another part of me dreaded the thought of it.
As I sat in Tess Henderson's office I knew that this might be an opportunity to escape from Megan's grip that might not come around again. I couldn't deny my strong exhibitionist tendencies anymore but maybe, just maybe, if I got away from Megan I could find a way to satisfy them under a more controlled setting.
Before I knew it I was spilling out the whole story to Tess. I told her about my birthday party and how I'd been pulled over afterwards for drunk driving. I told her about Megan's offer to let me off the hook and how that turned out to be a whole lot more than I'd bargained for. I told her about being forced to streak the Mariners game and then the high school. I told her about all the confusing feelings I'd been having about all this. I even told her about being caught masturbating by the old woman. I told her everything.
After I finished talking Tess sat quietly for a few moments thinking about everything that I'd told her. Then, without speaking, she got up and walked across the office and clicked the lock shut on the door and pulled the shades closed on the window overlooking the outer office.
Tess returned to her chair and leaned in close. "So how does it feel being controlled by someone like that. Being forced to do those kinds of humiliating things?"
"I hate it," I said.
"But don't you get turned on by it, too? I mean you had an orgasm at the game and another one on the walk to the school."
"I know. I can't help that. My body just reacts that way."
"But isn't it kind of exciting, too?"
"Yeah. That's what's so weird about this. I hate being put into those situations but I also get very excited about it. I can't get it out of my mind for days afterwards and it gets me aroused whenever I think about it. Megan says I'm a submissive...someone who gets off on being dominated."
"Do you think she's right?"
"I don't know. I guess so. I know a part of me hates this and a part of me can't wait to be forced into doing it again."
Tess sat quietly for a few moments as if thinking something over. She finally spoke again. "I have a confession to make, Laurie. A friend didn't e-mail that video to me; I found it myself on a voyeur website that I belong to. You see, I tend to have exhibitionist tendencies myself, although they're mostly unsatisfied I'm afraid." As she revealed this I suddenly had a bad feeling about having just told her everything.
"I've often fantasized about what you're experiencing now - being forced to be naked in public places where no one else is nude," she continued. "Oh, I've been topless on beaches before but that's not the same thing. I even hinted to my ex-husband a few times that I wouldn't be offended if he forced me to play games involving public nudity, but that man was always as thick as a brick and never responded."
I couldn't believe what she was telling me. Instead of wanting to help me it sounded like she was getting off on my situation. My unease about telling her about Megan began to grow.
"So anyway I've channeled my exhibitionist feelings into voyeurism these days," she said. "I'm fascinated by young, beautiful girls being exhibited nude in public. I can't believe that I've found one in my own office doing just that."
She leaned in closer. "Tell me, Laurie, what would you do right now to save your job? Would you be willing to strip for me right here in this office?"
Oh my God, how do I manage to attract these perverted women who want to dominate and humiliate me? Do I put out some kind of scent or something? Do I have a "Please Get Me Naked" tattoo on my forehead? A few months ago I didn't even know women with this type of fetish existed and now they're coming out of the woodwork to exploit my vulnerability and weakness!
I got up and started walking toward the door determined to clean out my desk and get the hell out of here. The next words I heard stopped me in my tracks.
"Laurie, if you leave this office now I'll tell Officer Megan everything. What do you think she'll do to you for revealing her secret? Find some ultimate humiliation to put you through? Throw you in jail? Maybe both?" I took my hand off the doorknob.
"You don't know her last name," I responded lamely as I turned back to face her.
Tess laughed. "How many cops named Megan can there be in the Seattle area? If there's only one it'll take me five minutes to find her. If there's more than one it may take ten minutes."
"What do you want?"