This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise showed, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this story are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Isabella
Penny rested for the rest of the weekend. Julie tended to her and ensured Penny had everything she needed. I monitored how she was doing, along with Beth and Nicole. Susan came by at least 5 more times to check on her. I lost count from being so tired, as I hadn't slept well since Thursday night. Penny slowly grew stronger until she could walk around herself. By Monday she was looking much better, but still slow. It would take another week before she returned to school.
Penny had to drop out of sports. Her injuries, while not stopping her from attending school, still didn't allow her to put a strain on herself. What was worse was her emotional trauma. She was afraid to be anywhere by herself. Penny was always a brave, self-assured woman, and to see her like this was difficult. She would eventually return to normal, but that would take time and support from all of us, but mostly from Julie, who hardly left her side.
I talked to Beth and Nicole together to tell them I would take more of an interest in their lives, including work. I wanted to attend work with them to get a basic understanding of what they did. Beth was understanding of it, but Nicole was unsure what my motives were. Both women liked the fact I was taking an interest and welcomed the attention.
I also talked with Julie and Penny, explaining to them my plan to get more involved. I brought up to Julie the idea of teaching everyone some basic self-defense. She liked that idea, and Penny was all for it. Julie even suggested getting Susan involved, since she had more experience. I told her that was a great idea, and I would investigate it. When Susan came by one night, I asked her about the classes. She told me she could spare one night a week, and since we had a gym in our basement, she could do it in our house.
For the next two weeks, I made it a priority to visit Beth and Nicole at work. Penny was still in school, nothing much I could do there, and Julie had her school and training. I attended training with her twice to observe. Julie was becoming very proficient, and I didn't think was long before she would graduate to other disciplines. She was becoming extremely dangerous, and I was sorry for anyone that crossed her the wrong way.
I visited Beth a few times two weeks at Santana. I wanted to wear my club vest to work with her, but she told me that was a bad idea. The president and CEO didn't know who was calling the shots, and if I walked in with my vest, it would put a huge target right on her. She explained anonymity protected her in case the president turned on the club if he was arrested. I told her we pay him to get arrested. A sizeable amount of money, in fact, but she told me she never trusted the man. I went along with her recommendation, and I became an intern working with her for a few days.
She worked in a large office area comprising around thirty employees on the second floor. I was less than impressed when she took me to her cubicle where she worked; she didn't even have the big office in their division. She explained again about the importance of anonymity, and I realized how little I knew about how everything operated. The only people who understood who Beth was were all associated, and they ran the distinct divisions within Santana.
At least she had a nice cubicle. She had the usual chair and computer and had pictures of her, my father, and me. She had a bunch of pictures of us during the two years I lived with them before he died. She missed him and that time a lot, judging by the number of pictures. She had little figurines of animals around her desk, with some fake plants hung from the top of the dividers. It was cozy and almost exactly what I expected. She even had a diffuser spraying tea tree oil; it smelled nice.
She would send a daily e-mail to the president telling him of any business decisions that he would then announce. They routed these emails to look like it came from the Assassins directly. Once the president sent out the directions to the distinct divisions, the women who were division leaders would answer to Beth, also routed to look like emails went to the Assassins. It all seemed way too complicated, but I would come to see the wisdom of anonymity in the future.
While I was there, I noticed some men hitting on her, no doubt a reaction to the sexier clothes I told her to wear. She was always abrupt with them when I was with her. A few times when she wasn't aware, I noticed Beth act differently. They would touch her ass or her legs, and she would laugh it off. When I asked her about it, she seemed embarrassed but told me that's the price of doing business and staying anonymous. I didn't buy that, but I let it go.
The big event that stood out to me was when she was called into the supervisor's office, the guy who occupied the big office I thought Beth should have. I could position myself to see into his office, but blend into the rest of the employees in the outer area. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but Beth's demeanor told me all I needed to hear.
As he was berating her for something, she just put her head down and put her hands behind her back. That was an odd reaction for Beth. He continued to talk to her, obviously upset about something, and she just stood there taking it, looking meek. When she came out, I thought I saw a smile on her face. I asked her about what he wanted, and she told me he was mad about some missing report. She could pull it up and give it to him within ten minutes.
I thought nothing else about it. But later that night when we're having sex Beth was more animated than usual, really getting into it, but it looked like she was a million miles away. She was imagining something that didn't have to do with me, but it was working for her. She had a rocking orgasm from whatever it was. Only much later would I piece together what had made her that excited, humiliation. She played coy about what excited her so much, telling me she was imagining me taking her at work, but I knew she was lying. This was the beginning of her quest chasing humiliation, and when it ended, it almost destroyed her.
I also visited Nicole a few times over those two weeks, and this was my first time at Pillar. The building was rather large, occupying multiple floors. The labs were on the first floor and in the basement. The upper floors housed the administrative, sales, and executive offices. Nicole's office was on the second floor, as she was the head of the research division. However, she spent a considerable amount of time in the ten labs that occupied the building. She told me that was the only way she knew to monitor how each project was going.
She was way too busy, and that fact stood out immediately. She was being pulled between her supervisory duties and those of a chemist and researcher. I sat down with her at lunch one day and asked her about her hectic pace. She looked like she was about to break down crying, and said, "Rich, this is becoming too much. I must approve projects, supervise them, and monitor them. I'm pulled in too many directions."
