Editor's note: this submission contains scenes of non-consensual or reluctant sexual situations.
Editor's note: this submission contains scenes of non-consensual or reluctant sexual situations.
*
Ms Stapleton glared at her young employee, Sabrina, who now fidgeted in her seat on the other side of Ms Stapleton's desk. Sabrina seemed to be avoiding eye contact, but looked up anxiously when her boss spoke.
"Sabrina," Ms Stapleton said, shaking her head. "This is a horrible situation! I had high hopes for you," she sighed and trailed off. "Like you, I started as a med tech at 18 -- God, 20 years ago now -- and now I run my own facility. I worked hard, working my way up step by step, going to college at night, getting my degrees. I honestly saw a lot of myself in you."
Outside, the rain picked up and the muffled sound of voices talking in the reception area floated in. Ms Stapleton's university themed clock ticked on. The fluorescent lights buzzed softly overhead. She folded her arms and sighed as her employee squirmed.
"Ms Stapleton, I'm..." Sabrina began, as her eyes welled up and her chin began to tremble. She put her hands to her face. "I owe so much money because of my jerk boyfriend. He runs up my credit cards at the bar, he gets cash advances to buy weed, he goes shopping... I have to pay the bills and I saw the money on Ms Brock's dresser and..."
"You couldn't resist?" Finished Ms Stapleton. "For the life of me, I can't see how Ms Brock's daughter just accidentally left a $100 bill on her dresser like that, but oh well. Sabrina, I try to run this elder care facility like a family operation. I see my employees as my children and our residents as our houseguests. I would hope by now you could come to me with money problems."
"I'm too ashamed!" Sabrina exclaimed. "My family is poor and I've tried so hard to take care of myself now that I'm on my own. I hate asking for handouts." She hid her face in her hands and shook her head side to side. "Why did I do this?"
There was another pause in their talk and Ms Stapleton considered Sabrina. She was so young, probably not even 19 yet. She certainly was nowhere near a bad employee. Here she sat in her clean scrubs, her auburn hair pulled back in a neat bun, her fingernails well-kept and freshly painted a cool mint green. She was pretty, with a bright face, excellent complexion, angular features; she was athletically built and certainly one of Ms Stapleton's smarter employees. Really, she was bright, period. And she was a reliable and hard worker. It was her habit for exercise, girly-girl affect, and work ethic that attracted Ms Stapleton to begin with. Why would she do this?
Ms Stapleton sighed again, then leaned forward to rest her elbows on her desk and tapped her pen lightly.
"I understand your situation, Sabrina. I know you come from modest means, like I did," Ms Stapleton said, softening. "And I want to help you. But, the truth is you were caught red-handed by Jessica putting the $100 bill in your pocket. The last time one of my employees stole, it was a real shit-show, pardon my French. She wouldn't come clean, I turned her into the police, there were charges, a trial. I think a lot of people here felt that I came down too hard on her. But she stole a lot of money and I couldn't abide this place having a bad reputation. I have to run a stern ship to stay above the competition. Senior care facilities have gotten a very bad rap over the years; sometimes very well deserved, I believe."
Ms Stapleton's clock gently chirped to announce it was now 9 AM. The third shift was ending and first shift workers would be starting the rounds. Ms Stapleton needed to bring this situation to a conclusion and get on with her day.
"Sabrina, do you like your job here?"
"Yes, very much!" She responded.
"And do you want to keep your job, keep things as they are?"
"God, more than anything!" Sabrina exclaimed. "Please!"
"Okay, here's what I think. We have two options and I need your help in deciding which way to go," she said. "I could call the police, which I was certainly inclined to do when I found out about this," Ms Stapleton said, holding her phone in her hand. "Or, we can figure out a way to handle this internally and we can give you your one and only second chance. Which will it be?"
"Oh, definitely internally!" She gushed. "I can't have another criminal charge. I just got off probation for that bullshit marijuana charge..." Sabrina put her hand to her mouth and cut herself off, eyes wide.
Ms Stapleton chuckled quietly and shook her head. "Don't worry about that," she told Sabrina. "This is an uncomfortable situation for both of us, so a little cussing is going to happen."
She got up and walked to the front of her desk, stopping in front of Sabrina and leaning back on the desk. She folded her arms and looked at the wall behind Sabrina's head. Sabrina stared into space, seemingly lost in thought over how she had gotten into this mess.
Ms Stapleton caught her own reflection in the glass of her office door. For the briefest of moments, she felt a sense of self-absorbed satisfaction with what she saw, and then a twinge of guilt for sensing it. She was an attractive professional woman in her late 30s, svelte and stylish, the CEO of her own small business with a good reputation. She certainly did not want to risk another criminal situation, but if she didn't handle this just right, Jessica would not be happy and word could spread that Sabrina was let off with a mere slap on the wrist. This would be bad for morale.
Also, Jessica had been close friends with Kat, the employee who'd previously stolen and gotten so severely punished. In fact, it was Jessica who uncovered the theft and reported it to Ms Stapleton. Jessica was an honest and fair person and knew Kat deserved some punishment, but Ms Stapleton always sensed there was some hurt there over what befell Kat. And Jessica and Sabrina had not really gotten along (largely, Ms Stapleton thought, because Jessica was attracted to Sabrina and the feeling apparently wasn't mutual). Really, this situation could be toxic for morale. But she just couldn't bring herself to call the police and see her young protΓ©gΓ© on her way to falling through the cracks.
Ms Stapleton thought of what she might have done differently had she been in Sabrina's shoes. She recalled her days as a teenage hellion and the trouble she got into. How did they handle me back then? Suddenly she had an idea. And just as suddenly, she felt a flutter of excitement in her chest. Would that be a totally crazy idea? Could she really bring up?
"Okay, Sabrina," Ms Stapleton said, not believing what she was about to suggest. Sabrina looked up, her large green eyes searching Ms Stapleton's face for clues as to where this was going. "We'll keep this in-house, if we can. But I'm sure we can agree that you need to be punished for this. I can't let you walk away scot-free, can I?"
Sabrina nodded. "No, I understand, I agree." Sabrina wiped her drying eyes and exhaled, seemingly resigned to the situation and whatever was to come.
There was another moment of silence. Ms Stapleton sensed movement off to her left. She looked up and saw Jessica peeking in through the glass in her door. She motioned Jessica in.
After she closed the door behind her, Jessica asked: "Are the cops on the way?"
Jessica was Ms Stapleton's third-shift supervisor and generally her right-hand woman. She was big, handsome, and butchy, and certainly could be brusque with staff and residents alike, but she acted as something of a big sister to the other employees and could usually be relied on to keep her counsel and help manage delicate personnel issues like this.