This story was commissioned by Mike Lee. I've broken it into two chapters, and will publish the second chapter next week.
Though commissions are currently closed at time of writing, depending on when you are reading this, I may again be accepting commissions! Email with pitches, queries, or more information.
#
"Welcome to the First Bank of the Nation. How may I help you today?"
Khyn Chin put on her best smile for the next customer to step up to the teller. She was a tall woman, dark hair with a precise step; Khyn felt a momentary pang of jealousy at the woman's height, at least one and a half feet taller than her own.
The woman seemed distracted, however, looking down at her touchscreen as she approached her.
"Yes," she said not looking up. "Ah. Indeed. I'd like to open an account with you." She tapped something on her phone, then stowed it in her purse. She looked up, and her bright, wide eyes surprised Khyn. This woman's makeup game was on
point.
"Well," Khyn said, giving her best smile, "If you wanted to open an account with us, we do have a few associates who can help you. I think Roger," she tried to catch the man's eye as he crossed the foyer, sheaf of papers in his hand. He didn't look up, his eyes all for the departing secretary who was packing up her purse at the far desk.
She did her best to stifle her groan as she trailed off. His words from her interview with him echoed in her ears:
I think you'll have a great future with First Bank of the Nation
. She had been excited that day, had even picked out a new outfit for the occasion of her second interview, and Roger's exuberance in her did not disappoint.
That was three years ago. Three years, and she was still at the lowest level in the branch, a junior teller.
Great future my ass
. The man thought only he was qualified to run business here, and any future he had seen for her merely involved her dolled up Chinese face standing behind the teller eight hours a day.
She blinked, realizing she had zoned out for a moment there. "I'm sorry?" she said, looking back at the customer.
"I said, I would prefer to have you open the account, Khyn," the woman replied, no annoyance passing over her features. She pronounced her name correctly the first time, to nearly rhyme with
keen
, with the "K" almost an English "J." This pulled a genuine smile from the teller.
"Your name fits," the woman continued by way of explanation. "I expect to bring in a lot of gold over the next few years, so to speak." Khyn stifled a laugh; apparently the woman knew more Mandarin than she, even if her name wasn't spelled in correct Pinyin.
Of course she should open an account for this woman. That made sense. She was only a junior teller, but surely Roger would understand.
It just made sense.
Her shirt, covering her A cups, seemed to tighten slightly.
She stepped into the foyer of the bank, motioning the woman to follow her. She would use Renee's desk; the woman wouldn't be in today, and would hardly care about Khyn sitting there for half an hour. The woman had fought tooth and claw into her position at the bank, and seemed to be gearing up to fight for Khyn's advancement as well. The associate had surreptitiously been teaching the junior teller the ins and outs of the system in her off hours, when Roger was away from the branch.
She pulled out the chair and took a seat, unlocking the desktop as she gestured for her customer to take a seat across from her. "What kind of account would you like with us? Personal, or business?"
"Just a personal account. Savings account, checking account, and a credit card as well."
"The whole nine yards," Khyn nodded. She undid her hairclip, letting her long, dark hair fall to her shoulders. She passed the clip to the customer, who put it in her bag silently, her smile deepening.
Her shirt was tight. Khyn rolled her eyes as she undid a button, then glanced around to make sure no one had seen. Her face burned, but the only one looking at her was her customer, who was staring directly at her chest in a nice way.
Somehow, that was fine with her. Gotta please the customer's somehow, even though her . . . assets, for lack of a better term, had never drawn much comment before.
She opened the systems on the desktop, putting in her credentials. That was another blessing Renee had sent her way: rubber-stamping her access requests, so she would have the required system permissions already to perform basic account actions like this.
"Your name, miss?"
"It's Ms., and Elaine Samarkand," the woman replied, as she took down a button herself.
Khyn smiled, as she typed in the name. "Could you spell that last name for me, Ms. Samarkand?"
"Of course," Elaine said, and she did. Khyn only paused in her typing to take down another button, feeling her chest strain against her bra. A part of her desperately wanted to know what the hell was going on down there, between her breasts, but the rest of her realized it was unimportant.
"All right, Elaine. I assume you have some form of identification?"
To answer, Elaine reached into her full cleavage and pulled out a small clasp. She undid it, and passed her a driver's license, then took the time to straighten her breasts, pushing them up and out.
Nice
, Khyn thought as she took the license, her eyes resting on the small hint of areolae peeking out of the woman's top. As if in response, her bra snapped loudly, the clasp in front utterly breaking due to the rising pressure. She swiftly pulled it down, moving to stow the ruined undergarment beneath the desk, but the woman held out a hand for it.
"Thanks," said Khyn. She passed the bra to her customer as her face burned. What if they had
seen
?
But no one milling around the bank foyer commented on her momentary lapse, even as they began to slowly lose their own shirts. Whew.
"I'll have to run a credit check, if that's all right," Khyn said. "If you would confirm this is a current address," and she passed the driver's license back, tapping on the listed address on front.
"Actually," Elaine began, but she was interrupted by an outburst behind her.