(This story is posted on the Literotica website. Do not repost anywhere else without the author's consent. For fans of my stories, they know what kinds of things to expect. This story deals with similar themes as the stories by wannabeboytoy, seducedHylas, and Dark Betrayal, namely cheating, betrayal, and heartbreak. If stuff like that isn't your cup of tea, then you probably shouldn't bother reading it. I do not condone any of these actions in real life. This is just a story. Enjoy.)
(Additional note for this series: EACH CHAPTER IN THIS SERIES CAN BE READ ON ITS OWN. Each chapter is self-contained, but if you do read the whole thing, some of the specific details will become clearer and more fleshed-out. Enjoy)
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(Chapter 1)
Liam Morris was both excited and nervous for the interview he was about to do this morning. Fresh out of journalism school, he had just secured a job at a pretty prominent website. But up to this point, all of his pieces had been pretty low-stakes. He was looking for something with a bit of meat. Something he could point to and be proud of.
Now he had his opportunity.
As someone who had a strong sense of right and wrong, he longed for the day where he could do some real journalism and expose some great injustice. Whenever he watched a movie about reporters bravely exposing some massive crime, he would always imagine himself in their place. So, he was forever on the lookout for that one big story. And as he paid attention to the news back home and heard about this huge new plant being built, all his journalistic alarms were raised.
North Pole LLC had become a pretty big story worldwide as it grew from a small, humble little company to a multi-billion dollar company within a few years. Before all this, it had just been this cute little Christmas themed company that distributed holiday related supplies. And seemingly overnight, they were this international conglomerate, with their hands in seemingly everything, from decorations and toys, to food and drink, to clothing and appliances, to chemicals and medicine and fossil fuels. People were so amazed at their meteoric rise and unprecedented success that not enough of them were asking questions about how they got there.
Liam had questions.
Doing his research leading up to this, there were a lot of holes in this supposedly wholesome company's story. How did their reach become so wide so fast? Where did they get their financial backing? How did they feel about practically becoming a monopoly and wiping out smaller businesses? And why weren't people in high places asking these questions? Did they have political connections, or something even deeper? And finally, who was this mysterious CEO who led this meteoric rise, who hid behind the cutesy name 'Mrs. Claus'?"
When Liam mentioned to his bosses that he was heading back home, to the same place where this massive plant had just opened, they secured him an interview easily. He expected that North Pole thought this would be a simple puff piece, but Liam planned to ask some tougher questions. Now, he didn't plan on going on the attack and turning this into some 'gotcha' thing. He knew his limits, and he planned to work within them. But he wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't inquire about some tougher subjects.
He wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of doing this on Christmas Eve, but the plant had been crazy busy with the holidays, understandably, and he was only in town for a few days, so this was the only time that worked. His girlfriend Jess wasn't exactly thrilled to be spending the morning alone with his mom Sylvia, his older sister Deb, and Deb's husband Jonathan, people she hadn't met until a few days prior, but she understood that this was a big opportunity for him.
The 24-year-old wasn't used to dressing up for his work, but he knew he had to put his best foot forward. Clad in nice, dark slacks and a dark blue button-up, he looked pretty sharp. He did his best to stay in shape, as a lot of his work was pretty sedentary, and he did a pretty good job at keeping fit. He filled out his clothing well, while not going overboard. He came from a Mediterranean background, so everyone in his family had a natural, olive complexion, which worked on him. He was a handsome young man, and his stylish glasses belied his intelligence and natural curiosity.
He showed up at an early hour to take a tour of the plant with an HR rep before his meeting with the woman who was the head of the plant, Hannah Steinberg. The HR rep, an Asian woman about five years older than him named Chelle, really knew her stuff, taking him around the plant, detailing almost everything he saw. She did it with a friendly, professional, perfectly practiced tone, softening his skepticism somewhat. Because despite his reservations about this place, he had to admit this plant was mighty impressive.
First of all, the place was absolutely huge. It looked large from the outside, and being inside of it only made it feel more massive. It had to be a few hundred feet up to the ceiling, making him feel like a small part of something much bigger than him. Chelle took him past some of the assembly lines, where people were putting together some of the products. There were people all over, assembling or inspecting all sorts of different items. She led him through a different part of the plant that was more like a lab, where people seemed to be doing some testing. She didn't take him beyond the glass, but it seemed impressive nonetheless. Another part of the plant handled food, and Chelle smoothly took a cookie off the production line and let Liam try it.
The area where they put together the clothing was also impressive, with some people doing some work by hand, and the machines taking care of the rest. Another area handled assembling and packaging the Christmas decorations, and the whole area was especially Christmas-y. The whole plant was generally decorated in Christmas themes, but this part especially. And, by the way, all the workers in the plant were wearing little Christmas hats, and if they had to wear hard-hats, they were designed to look like Santa hats. It was probably annoying to deal with that for the workers, but it was a cute touch. When he walked by an area where people were wrapping little gifts, he did for a moment feel like he was in the toy plant at the North Pole.
The shipping area seemed to run smoothly. Chelle explained that they aren't able to produce all their items in-house, and that they either own other, smaller, more specialized plants, or are affiliated with them, allowing them to fill all their customer's needs. There was also one area in shipping where they were getting truckloads of coal dropped off into massive containers, which seemed odd to him, as this didn't seem like the type of place that ran on coal.
The distribution area was probably half the plant, and it was massive. Looking down from the scaffolding, at the lines and lines of products sitting on shelves, with all these robots going around, grabbing and carrying items to conveyor belts. Even the robots had Christmas hats on top, so committed to the theme this company was. The people that worked on this floor almost looked like ants from where he was standing, that's how massive it was.
There was one area of the plant that they didn't let him go, but watching someone open a door and enter it as they were on the plant floor, it was clear in the split-second glance he got inside that it was the most interesting spot in the place. What he saw was hard to parse. First, he noticed massive piles of wrapped gifts, stacked roughly in the shape of a pyramid. It was the pile of gifts every kid dreamed of getting. There were multiple piles of these gifts, which were spread apart all over the floor. Secondly, he noticed that this area was full of people, but these people, mostly women, were dressed up in what appeared to be the outfits you'd see the people who helped out Santa at the mall wearing. Like, Christmas elf outfits, Santa's helpers. And these outfits, from his quick glimpse, seemed to be surprisingly, uh... skimpy. Tall, green or red boots. Tight, skimpy skirts, showing a lot of leg. And tight, revealing tops, showing off their bare midriffs. Liam only got a quick glimpse, so he figured he must have been mistaken. And lastly, he noticed something strange on the ceiling. There was what looked to be a retractable door of some kind. But why? Did they get deliveries by helicopter or something? It didn't make sense...
