Let me start by telling you a little about Mandy, my wife. She is 45 years old and works really hard at a local grocery store. With all the lifting and carrying she does I think she is in great shape. I enjoy thinking about her getting seen naked by just about anyone really. This is one of my fantasies.
It was the height of summer and Mandy's convenience store had been busy. The bank holiday weekend had just finished, but there were still hundreds of visitors about.
It hadn't helped that the shop had also been having CCTV fitted in an effort to fight the shoplifters that were out in force. The workmen had been working right through the night after closing time to try to minimise disruption.
Tuesday morning and Mandy arrived at work at 6am as usual, only to find the Manager (Adam) and area manager (Kevin) were already there, so was the delivery lorry. Cage followed cage from the back of it into the shop, as the other staff arrived for their shift they were thrown straight to work. No cup of tea this morning for anyone, especially with the area manager there.
When the delivery was complete the shutters were pulled down on the door again, they now had a bit of time to prepare the shop for another busy day. At 8am a rattle came from the front door as Helen the post office manager arrived. "I hope today is a little quieter than it has been lately" she said.
"We want more customers not less." Kevin said, laughing.
"Can I get some money out of the safe Mandy." Helen asked.
Mandy turned around, "how long have you been working here, you know the safe is time locked until 8:45".
Kevin was laughing and told Mandy and Helen to stop the chatter and make his tea, and to look busy as he was on the phone to security, they were being watched by all the big regional managers and company directors. The new CCTV system was up and running as a trial. They had been the first shop in the country to have it fitted. The security company had access to 20 cameras situated right throughout the shop, the warehouse, the post office and the cash office. All there for the safety of the staff and the contents of the shop. He told them that while the shop was open the cameras would be monitored and recorded constantly, and evenings after closure they would be recording only. He told them that he had seen it working and the picture quality was fantastic, no more pixelled faces of shoplifters to try and identify, the pictures they received and recorded for playback were DVD quality, this was top of the range stuff. It made everyone feel much safer, but also more aware of what they were doing. There would be no more sneaky smoke breaks, or cups of tea while there was work to be done. Two more members of staff arrived and they all got to work preparing for the day ahead. Suddenly the shutter by the door rattled again. It wasn't unusual for people to try the door, hoping they could get their daily paper before the crowds arrived, but usually they just gave a rattle or a knock, but this time the shutter was lifted and 2 men walked into the shop. One was brandishing what looked like a shotgun, the other had a pistol.
They shouted "all of you over to the wall now, who is in charge of the post office."
Adam stepped forward, "this is my shop. I am the manager. Stay calm and we will do what you ask."
Kevin was still on the phone talking to security, they told him they could see exactly what was happening and that the police had been alerted.
One of the robbers saw him, and grabbed the phone, smashing him in the face with the butt of his rifle as he did so. Mandy screamed and ran over to where Kevin had fallen.
The robber grabbed her shirt and pulled her away "leave him alone." he ordered.
"That was uncalled for," Mandy shouted "you are just a thug."
The robber just glared at her, "I said who is in charge of the post office."
Helen stepped forward.
"Open the safe." the robber demanded.
Mandy laughed, "You two really are amateurs aren't you," she said "if you had researched properly you would know the safe is time locked, it won't open for another 30 minutes."
The robbers looked at each other, then back at Helen. The one with the pistol grabbed her collar and started to drag her out to the safe. Helen screamed as Mandy stood up. "Are you not listening," she shouted, "you can't do anything yet."
"You are starting to annoy me, I can see I'm going to have to shut you up." the robber with the rifle said.
Adam grabbed Mandy by the arm, "be quiet and sit down," he told her "they will hurt you if you don't."
"They don't scare me, they don't have the nerve to shoot anyone, and anyway the police are on their way, the cameras are already monitoring and recording them, they are so stupid they haven't even put masks on," Mandy shouted "what's the next plan Einstein, tie everyone up? Tell the police you want a million pounds and a helicopter? Maybe you are going to get a can of cream and spray it on the cameras as a distraction to stop them filming you."
"How many others are due in here this morning." one of the robbers asked Adam, ignoring what Mandy was saying.
"This is it," he replied, trying to keep everyone calm, "I'm Adam, the manager, the man you hit is Kevin, he is our area manager, the two over there are Matt and Sue they are general assistants, Helen runs the post office, and that leaves Mandy, my assistant manager."
"You come here." the robber was pointing at Helen.
"Leave her alone," Mandy said, "She can't do anything until the safe opens."
The robber smiled "You certainly have a lot to say don't you, you wanted to know how we are going to distract the cameras away from us? Well you have just given me an idea. Take off your tie," Adam was ordered "and hand it to me."
"OK you with all the mouth, Stand up, face away from me and put your hands behind your back."
"Oh look, everyone is getting tied up." Mandy said sarcastically "only one tie between us all though, how do you propose making that stretch far enough, or is that something else you haven't thought through, Maybe you are going to use a toilet roll; they are on special offer this week."
"Oh I have thought about that," the robber answered "You. Go into the office and get me your scissors" he told Adam.
He tied Mandy's hands behind her back and pushed her towards the wall. A police siren was heard outside. "Looks like your fun is ove.r" Mandy said.
"Far from it, It's only just starting." the robber replied laughing.
He reached forward and grabbed Mandy's shirt, ripping it open and exposing her bra. Mandy looked shocked, and moved back towards the wall.
"Oh what's this, gone a bit quiet now." the robber said.
He took the scissors from Adam and started to cut away at her shirt, up the sleeves, over the collar and the shirt slid away from her body. He cut the back of the shirt in two pieces and ordered his partner to tie up Adam and Kevin's hands.
"What about the others." the man with the pistol said.
The police could be heard moving around outside, shouting to each other and telling people to move away.