Many thanks to Lily Eve Martin for first editing and improving this story.
Special thanks to SlaveGirl70 for fixing problems and offering suggestions to make it much better.
Something was up in accounts receivable.
Eight of the ladies in that department seemed preoccupied. The ninth was on the edge of hysteria.
The rest of the two hundred odd employees were oblivious. They were competing in the games, relaxing in the shade and enjoying the barbecue in the large tents -- all the while flapping the fans with the company logo for relief from the heat.
The only two men in the department, James, the manager, and his assistant, Granger, didn't notice anything amiss. Their subordinates had kept their plastic cups full of beer and punch, and they were feeling happy and sappy.
Mr. James and Mr. Granger, as the women addressed them, were known for being jolly, even when they weren't drunk. Almost a joke in the company, they seemed to be joined at the hip. Both in their forties, like most of the women they supervised, they were always smiling, joking and strutting like roosters in a henhouse.
The superiors they reported to knew that behind their easygoing exteriors, both were efficient and ruthless administrators. They got bonuses every year for how well they kept their costs down.
The women they supervised felt they should be getting paid more for how hard James and Granger worked them. But they also knew that their jobs were secure as long as they produced, so they put up with the way their bosses condescended to them, their annoying jokes and their fake good-natured banter.
When one of the older women retired, everyone moved up a notch, and the newest employee always became the executive assistant to both men. They talked to her as if she were important and dictated letters and messages to her. In reality, she was little more than a file clerk and errand girl for everyone in the department and worked harder than any of the other women.
The newest woman in that position was a cute young thing in her mid-twenties. She was viewed with suspicion by the veterans at first, just like each new hire. But Viveca was so eager to please, friendly and trusting that by her second month, she had become the department pet.
Abby and Kathleen were shocked to find her sobbing with her head in her hands late one Thursday afternoon. They had been working late to finish a project and thought everyone else had left when they heard a noise in the break room.
"What's wrong, Viveca?" Abby asked.
Viveca looked up startled.
"I didn't think anyone was here," she said, standing up and wiping her face with her hand. "It's really nothing."
"It sure didn't sound like nothing," Kathleen said, pulling her back down to the table and sitting next to her. She put her arm around her shoulders, and was startled when Viveca turned, buried her face in her shoulder and began sobbing again.
Viveca wasn't a hard nut to crack. It took less than an hour of soothing, sympathizing and grilling before she spilled everything to her colleagues.
She told them how James and Granger had been joking with her since she began working for them, and since she saw them joking with the other women, too, she figured that was just part of working there.
The joking began getting graphic, making her increasingly uncomfortable. Sometimes individually and sometimes together, they would make sexual innuendoes. Although it upset her, she didn't say anything because at first it happened only occasionally and not for long.
Then the touching began, and it kept escalating. Finally, she resisted and told them to back off. That's when they laughed and joked that she must have misunderstood their intentions.
In subsequent conversations, they both mentioned how bad they felt about her mother's health and how glad they were that she could earn enough money to make sure her mother would be able to get the care she needed.
She was shocked because it sounded like a veiled threat. They told her how much they were looking forward to working together and valued her commitment and loyalty. While they spoke, they both gave her looks that told her she was interpreting them the right way. If she wasn't prepared to put out, she would be out of a job.
For the last two weeks, she told Abby and Kathleen, she had been having sex with each one alone in their offices in the middle of the day. It started with oral and went on to full sessions on top of their desks and couches. And they both told her today that they were expecting anal next week.
Viveca said she was afraid to tell her boyfriend because she was sure he would go after Mr. James and Mr. Granger and end up in prison. She didn't know which way to turn, and she felt like she was going out of her mind.
Abby and Kathleen listened in shock. This was way beyond any of the conniving James and Granger had done to keep salaries low. They looked at each other and at Viveca. Abby cleared her throat and spoke.
"Viveca, you can stop crying. We've known Mr. James and Mr. Granger well for many years, and we'll have a chat with them. They are going to stop this nonsense. Call in sick tomorrow, and we'll see you at the company picnic on Sunday. I promise you by the time you come to work on Monday, all this will be behind you. Now get yourself together and go home."
When she had left, Kathleen turned to Abby and said, "Why did you tell her that? What can we do?"
"I don't know," said Abby. "We have to think of something. I'm going to spend some time tonight thinking about this, and I want you to do the same. First, let's think of which ladies here hate them the most. All of them will be glad to help Viveca. Mr. James and Mr. Granger have screwed us over through the years, but this time they've gone too far."
On Friday, Kathleen, Abby and six other ladies in the department had lunch at Denny's. When Kathleen and Abby told Viveca's story, collective outrage was followed by frustration. Everyone felt powerless to help.
Abby and Kathleen read from the list of ideas they had come up with, each one more extreme and outrageous than the one before. They all had two things in common: humiliation and blackmail.
The faces of the others turned from frowns into smiles as they listened. Soon a wild brainstorming session was in full swing. Finally, Abby called a halt.
"We have half an hour left, ladies. We've got some great ideas. Now we need to figure out which ones will work on Sunday at the picnic."
They enjoyed conspiring so much that they didn't notice the time. When they got back to the office ten minutes late. Granger and James didn't reprimand anyone because the ladies who were late were among their most efficient and reliable employees. They made a joke about it, and the ladies all laughed -- louder than usual.
**************
At the picnic, James and Granger buzzed around Viveca as the eight conspirators plied them with drink. Whenever one of them managed to get near her out of earshot of the others, he would whisper something into her ear that made her upset.
After one of the episodes, she ran to Kathleen and, in tears, told her, "They keep telling me jokes about asses and anal sex."
