Myra was as cheerful as usual when she arrived at the offices of Hartley's Discount Stores. There she did the part time office cleaning job that was making it possible for her pay her way through college.
The offices were closed now and she would be on her own, but she was used to that, especially because it allowed her to do her job in her own way without anyone leaning over her shoulder, and that's the way she liked it. She would always do her work properly anyway, if only because the job was essential to her student finances. She never skimped or rushed, and even, on the odd occasions when she wanted to finish early, discreetly recruited Carla, her friend and part time lover, to help her.
She thrust her key home, frowning slightly to herself when she found the door unlocked but then shrugging her shoulders and making her way inside. Someone must be working late but that didn't matter, no doubt she would come across them as she worked her way through the various rooms. Thinking no more of it, she went to her closet, and changed into her work clothes, settling her mass of gorgeous wavy black hair over the collar of her overall before beginning her round.
Soon she was lost in her work and all thoughts of someone else being in the building faded - until she reached the executive office. She pushed into the room, her arms full of polish and dusters and with her vacuum trundling behind her, and stopped dead. There, in his big leather chair, sat Jacob Hartley, the big boss himself, the founder and owner of the company, his hands resting motionless on the desk in front of him as if in quiet contemplation.
'Oh, sorry Mr Hartley, I'll come back in a bit.'
'No Myra. Come in. It's you I wanted to see.'
She stood for a moment in surprised confusion, wondering what why he would want to see her. This had never happened before. Normally her duties and performance were handled by the office manager, not by the big chief himself. He rose from his chair and indicated another across the desk in front of him.
'Sit down, Myra. We need to have a little talk.'
She sat down obediently, her heart beginning to hammer with anxiety. Jacob Hartley resumed his seat and leaned on his forearms on the desk a stern expression on his usually amiable brown face.
'We trust you, Myra. That's why we let you hold a key to the building. You know that there are some things here that have large monetary value, and other things that possess significant commercial worth, and we trust you not to steal or copy them.'
Myra wasn't sure where this was headed. She had clearly done something wrong, although theft certainly wasn't it. He continued.
'So we are rather concerned to discover that you have been allowing a stranger into the premises when you're supposed to be here alone. How can we be sure that our competitors aren't gaining confidential information if you bring other people in without our permission?'
So that was it. She had been found out. Somehow Carla must have been seen either entering or leaving and now she was in trouble. She hoped and prayed she wouldn't lose her job. She needed the money, really needed the money, to survive, and in a college town any part time work was at a premium.
'I'm sorry Mr Hartley, really I am.'
'I imagine you are.' Jacob Hartley nodded at Myra's forlorn expression. 'But it really is a very serious matter, and it's certainly not something we can just ignore.'
'But she was with me all the time she was here, I promise you.'
'Yes, I know that.' He smiled at the look of surprise and bewilderment that flitted across Myra's face. 'And if you're wondering how I know, then I'll show you.'
He stood and reached a laptop from the book shelves behind him, placing it carefully on the desk and booting it into life. Satisfied that he had found what he wanted he spun it to face Myra, and then walked around the desk to stand behind her, sharing her view. On the screen was a picture of the office they were in, empty and silent. He reached over her and clicked the laptop, bringing the picture to life.
Myra gasped as she suddenly realised that she was seeing footage from a security camera hidden somewhere in this very office. She glanced up to her right to where she estimated the camera must be, but she could see nothing besides the files and folders that were stacked on the shelves. She closed her eyes briefly and groaned inwardly at what she knew was to come.
On screen both she and Carla entered the office, flitting around jerkily as the picture ran on fast forward, Carla vacuum cleaning the carpets and emptying the bins while Myra dusted and polished, both moving as if in an old silent movie.
'So, exactly who is that white girl you have with you, the one to whom you give access to my private office without a second thought?'
'Her name's Carla, she's a friend of mine. But she was never on her own here, honestly Mr Hartley.'
Soon the two figures were finished and they could be seen collecting their gear together. Jacob Hartley leaned forward again and changed it to normal speed, his hands moving to rest on Myra's shoulders as if to hold her in her seat.
'You know what happens now, don't you?'
Myra nodded mutely, her dark skin darkening further with embarrassment.
She watched herself move around to the end of the desk, facing the unseen camera, and rest her bottom on the desk, parting her legs to compensate for her height. Carla came to her and stood between her knees as they embraced, kissing long and passionately.
Myra felt sick, understanding that she was watching what Mr Hartley must already have watched and knowing exactly what he had seen. It wasn't having their behaviour captured that bothered her so much, she was by nature a bit of an exhibitionist and would sometimes get a kick from being seen, but it was the fact that they had thought themselves in private and had behaved accordingly. But then, she had to admit, they only had themselves to blame, because a security camera in their main office was a precaution many firms took and she should have realised.
The computer showed them kissing again, longer and more deeply, Carla's hands disappearing between them. Myra remembered that moment, that was when Carla took the lead for once, unbuttoning her overall and pushing a hand down inside the front, seeking and finding her cleft while her tongue explored Myra's mouth. That wasn't visible from the camera's viewpoint, but Myra could remember how quickly she had moistened, how she had opened her legs just a little further to allow the probing fingers in. And she also knew that what followed would be visible to the camera, very, very visible.
She turned her face away, not wanting to see herself in such a compromising position, but the hands on her shoulders moved to nudge her face back towards the front. There was, it seemed, to be no escaping her shame.
Carla's hands were now pushing her overall from her shoulders, quickly and expertly undressing her, unhooking her bra to let it fall into at her feet, dipping briefly to remove her thong. A quick kiss and then Carla's clothes followed Myra's, so that the two girls stood together naked and kissed again, white against brown, white hands urgently exploring a brown body while brown hands clutched fiercely around white shoulders.
'So you like girls?'
Her employer's voice broke into Myra's humiliation. She nodded silently, staring dejectedly at the screen.
'I didn't hear you.'
'Yes.' She whispered.
'Just girls? Or do you like men as well.'
