SLEEPLESS IN WILDWOOD
I awoke in the early morning hours long before the alarm. After a rare weekend where I had both Saturday and Sunday off it was Monday, the beginning of a new work week. This wasn't just any work week, though, it was the final week of my Mailgirls contract and my mind was racing with all of the possible outcomes of it. I knew there'd be no more sleep tonight as I stared at the ceiling fan spinning slowly above the bed.
Anna lay next to me in the bed sleeping soundly, untroubled by any thoughts of the future. She still had a few months left on her contract but she already knew what was going to happen at the end of it. Anna was leaving - leaving the company, leaving the condo, leaving me - as soon as she was able. There was nothing acrimonious about her leaving, it was simply time for her to move on with her life. She'd come to me as an abused, naive, sheltered eighteen-year-old girl and had become a strong, independent twenty-year-old woman. What had been exciting to her at first about being a mailgirl had eventually begun to feel like shackles. All the restrictions imposed on her within the Mailgirls universe had begun to chafe and Anna yearned to taste true freedom for the first time in her life. When her contract ended she was determined to make that happened.
I knew Anna's leaving was best for her - best for both of us really - but I still felt the familiar ache of a dying relationship nearing its end. She was still a sweet girl who cared deeply for me but was also restless to get onto the next phase of her life, one that didn't have much room for me in it. In many ways Anna had already checked out of our relationship. The dominant/submissive roleplaying that had once been so exciting to her had become boring and she went through the motions of it only because Barbara had ordered it. It had been weeks since we'd made love. What Anna really wanted to do was have sex with a man, something she'd yet to experience. And there was one man in particular she wanted to have sex with: Brad Hostler, a graphic artist on the Demon Slayer game.
I don't know exactly how Anna and Brad had connected but they had despite the strict rules against fraternization between mailgirls and regular employees. It wasn't allowed even away from work and if Barbara found out about it there was no doubt in my mind she would fire Brad in a heartbeat. She could even fire Anna and force her to pay the exorbitant financial penalties for failing to complete her contract. Anna was so paranoid about cameras and bugs planted in the condo or Barbara intercepting her texts and emails that she had set up a system where the two of them left hand written notes for each other in secret spots around town like a couple of spies in a Cold War movie. Anna confided in me about Brad one day on our walk home from work when she was certain that Barbara couldn't somehow listen in.
For my part I'd always been honest with Anna about the things that took place at Barbara's house and if she was bothered by it she never showed it. Anna always knew that our relationship was a way station for her, not a final destination. I think she also sensed that the intensity of my relationship with Barbara could never be matched in ours.
It had been well over a year since that first visit to Barbara's house and there had been many more since. Although she still treated me like her personal slave, there had also been many moments of passion, tenderness, and kindness between us. Barbara remained an enigma though. Fire and ice. In between those sessions at her home she often went long stretches where she treated me as just another lowly little mailgirl or ignored me altogether. I often wondered if this was calculated or was just part of her defense mechanism to keep herself from falling too hard for a mailgirl.
There'd been no more whippings since the day I'd bypassed the chain of command to bring Lin to her office but I'd given her no reason to whip me either. I'd become the obedient mailgirl she'd demanded from the beginning. Obedient in all ways but one: every couple of weeks or so I'd be summoned to that little room in the east wing where the Hiromoto tech would hand me a cellphone and I'd tell Mariko everything I had seen or heard about DDE's projects along with any rumors floating around about its top executives. I worried after each time that Barbara would find out but there was never a hint that she had. Mariko assured me that she had taken steps to insure that I'd be summoned only during times that Barbara was out of the building or in meetings and that my visits to that room would remain invisible on the computer log of my daily activities. That made me wonder just how Mariko was able to keep such close tabs on Barbara's schedule and movements. I was pretty sure I wasn't the only DDE spy in Hiromoto's network.
I even told Mariko about my trysts with Barbara at her home and this seemed like a bigger betrayal than any of that other stuff. I felt like Mariko was my only lifeline though if Barbara tried to force me into another oppressive contract. And now that all new Mailgirls contracts included language that allowed the contracts to be bought and sold on the open market I wanted more than ever to avoid signing another one. There were now six licensed North American companies signed onto the Mailgirls program - four in the U.S. and two in Canada - not to mention all of the foreign companies licensed by Hiromoto Industries also eligible to buy and sell Mailgirls contracts. I had no desire to be sold to the highest bidder if Barbara ever grew tired of me. As the famous "Mailgirl 9" I knew there'd be no shortage of bidders for my services.
Whatever my future held would in large part be determined over the next few days. Not only was my contract expiring but I knew that representatives from Hiromoto Industries would be in town this week to sign a long-term extension of the agreement with DDE as their North American partners in the Mailgirls program. There were even rumors that Mr. Hiromoto himself might come and I very much hoped that Mariko would, too.
Kelly's contract was also expiring at the end of the week and although I hadn't had a chance to talk to her about it lately it seemed like a foregone conclusion that she'd be leaving DDE. Barbara and Kelly hated each other and Kelly couldn't stand being treated like a dumb bimbo by people who lacked her intelligence and education. Although I'd become friendly with some of the other mailgirls I knew it would be a lonely feeling continuing on without Kelly or Anna. Maybe it's because good memories often remain while bad memories tend to fade over time but I thought back now to the days when it was only the three of us working the tower together as my favorite time as a mailgirl. I'd miss the two of them terribly when they were gone.
But I'd already decided that I would continue working as a mailgirl if I could even without Anna and Kelly. The last two years had been the most bizarre, intense, and exciting of my life and I wasn't ready yet to jump off of this crazy train. On the other hand I was also determined not to sign another contract that made me a virtual slave of DDE. Barbara hadn't said a word about a new contract in months though which made me nervous. Was she so certain she had a way to make me sign one that would bind me to her that she didn't mind waiting until the last minute? Would she even allow me to continue working as a mailgirl without one? As I lay awake staring at the ceiling I was filled with apprehension over what this week might hold for me.
The jarring sound of the alarm going off jolted Anna from her sleep. She reached over and shut it off, then turned to me with a sleepy smile. "Have you been awake for awhile?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am," I replied to her, still roleplaying the obedient servant.
"Big week, huh?"
"Yes ma'am, it is."
Anna sat up in the bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes as the blanket fell revealing her beautiful bare breasts. As I looked at this sweet, lovely young woman the ache of loss returned. I knew moments like this were coming to an end, maybe as soon as the next few days.
MONDAY MORNING
