The Contract
Belladonna
[Based on an idea suggested by Heather]
Brad Simms screamed at his secretary as he pointed to the typo on the
piece of correspondence that she had typed up for her review. As
Christiana put her head down, Brad retreated to his office. Brad sat down
in his chair and clasped his head as he thought about the days events.
The seemingly never-ending intake of work had gotten the better of him
before. The news that the company had received another large order made
him feel despondent. He wondered how the company could fill it given the
other orders that were still in the process of being completed.
Brad looked up and saw that the room seemed to be shifting around him.
Brad rubbed his eyes as he closed them and tried not to think about his
next move.
The sound of Christiana knocking on his open office door made Brad flinch
as he wondered what else was going to happen that day. Christiana walked
in, staring down at the dejected face of her boss before she asked, "Are
you all right, Brad?"
Brad nodded his head and replied, "Yes, I'm just a bit overwhelmed."
"By what?"
Brad slowly raised his head and stared at her in silence for a few
moments before he replied, "What do you think?"
Christiana smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Brad, I..."
"No, don't worry about it. I'm sorry I laid into you out there, I should
have done it a little more diplomatically."
"Don't think twice about it. I know you're stressed out."
"Yes, it's been relentless around here the last four months. It's great
that we have all this work, but coordinating things to make sure that my
subordinates make sure everyone gets it done is getting to me."
Christiana gave Brad a sympathetic nod as she closed the door to his
office and sat down on the guest chair before his desk. Brad looked her
over as she crossed her black sheer pantyhose covered legs that peeked
out from beneath the pencil skirt she was wearing. Brad loved how
Christiana looked. She was everything he fantasized about being.
Christiana leaned towards Brad, showing off her ample cleavage that was
visible under the crossover v-neckline of her sleeveless black and white
blouse. She smiled at Brad as she said, "Maybe you could use some time
away from your job."
"I know I could, but it's hard to get away."
"I'm sure it is when you're an important man."
Brad nodded again as he rubbed his left cheek as Christiana continued,
"Why don't you do the Seinfeld thing and take a vacation from yourself
then?"
Brad laughed as he leaned back in his chair and replied, "What grow a
mustache?"
"Well, that's one way to do it, I guess, or maybe you could grow a goatee
and become Evil Brad."
Brad smiled at her response and said, "There are plenty of people who
consider me evil already."
"They don't know you like I do."
"You know me?"
"Of course."
"How so?"
"Well, I've been around you for six years now. I've set your schedule.
I've read all the correspondence that comes to you and I draft most of
your responses."
"That's doesn't mean you know me. You just know the part of me that shows
up for this job."
"True, but that's 60 hours a week, 52 weeks a year of your life. Between
sleep and work, I think that's mostly what you are."
"You haven't a clue," Brad replied as he leaned back in his chair.
Christiana smiled as she replied, "Well, perhaps you could show me
another side of you?"
"How so?" Brad asked.
"Well, maybe you'd like to swap places with me for a little bit. You
know, just so you can catch your breath and refocus."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you can be the secretary, and I'll be the boss."
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Brad said with a laugh as he rubbed his
legs to move the silky fabric of black tights he was wearing beneath his
pants against his skin.
"Maybe, but I know you like the idea."
"How would you know that?" Brad replied as he fantasized about being in
Christiana's position. He always wanted to be the one being talked down
to and the one without the power. Brad's many years atop of the company
had made wielding power mundane to him and his fantasies all revolved
around losing it.
"Well, I see how you look at me when I'm working," Christiana answered.
"How I look at you? Well, I think an equally good assumption is....," Brad
began to respond before cutting himself off as he thought about the
potential sexual harassment lawsuit that might follow if he finished his
statement.
"There are other reasons," Christiana retorted with a smirk as she tilted
her head.
Brad was unnerved by the look on her face. He squirmed as he responded,
"Well, whatever they are, I can't do it."
"Oh, you can't do my job," Christiana replied with a smile and brief
laugh.
"Well, I'm sure I could do it. I'm a big boy. I can make copies and
answer calls, Christiana. In fact, I would consider myself to be lucky to
be able to do it."
"Lucky?"
"Yes, you don't know how great you have it. You only have to show up on
time and do what you're told."
"So it's not better to be the one rolling in late and telling everyone
else what to do?"
"Being the boss has its perks, I won't lie, but you don't get the stress
that I do."
"I think you're better at pushing your stress downhill towards the rest
of us than you give yourself credit for."
"Well, I have to keep things moving around here. I can't sit back and let
things go off the rails."
"Like any of us could? I'm rushing around the office trying to get things
done, make sure that things are sent out and making sure that you're able
to...."
"I appreciate that. I see you moving around the office making copies,
faxing things out, FedExing things, and sounding so sweet on the phone
with our clients and suppliers."
"I'm glad to hear that you pay such close attention to me when I'm
working," Christiana replied as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed
her knee.
"You have to be observant in my position," Brad countered.
"I could see that, but I have to say I think you're a little more
observant of me than I think a normal boss would be. I'm familiar with
you to. Maybe we should swap jobs. I'll take on that stress you say I
can't understand, and you can get away from it for a little bit."
Brad laughed as he shook his head and replied, "I can't do it. It won't
work. You don't know what I..."
"Brad, I read everything that reaches your desk, and I draft most of your
correspondence, a lot of the times you don't even change my work. You
just send it out. I deal with our clients every day on the phone."
"That's all true, but knowing that kind of stuff isn't the same as having
to make decisions using that knowledge."
"I guess you're right," Christiana replied before continuing, "and you
probably couldn't do my job anyway."
Brad shook his head and replied, "I know I could."
"Why not prove me wrong then?"
"Don't you think that other people would think it would be just a little
a bit odd if we did?" Brad retorted with a smile.
"Well, the company's whole corporate structure is built around keeping
things secret. I know we only disclose the minimum and our standard
employment contracts severely penalize discussing anything that goes on
here with outsiders."
"Yes, but what if someone speaks anyway?"'
"Who will know? You don't speak to anyone in the building besides the
Vice President and the Board Secretary, me and the other admins. You let
those two do all the real managing, you just set policy. There are
employees who have been here for ten years on the lower flowers that have
never seen you and think that you're some sore of myth when I mention
that I'm your secretary."
Brad leaned back in his chair again and thought about her proposal. He
wanted to do it, but he knew it was simply out of the question.
Brad put his elbows on his desk and leaned towards Christiana as he
replied with a smile, "Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to
decline."
"Really, why?"
"Why do you think? Look around? You noted it yourself; there'd be a
number of people here who'd know that I demoted myself to a secretary.
Don't you think that might be embarrassing for me, especially if it got
to anyone who doesn't work on this floor?"
Christiana waved her hand and said, "It wouldn't get out and, anyway,
it'll be good for you. It'll give you that mental health break you need.
I think you'd do well to be dictated to for a while instead of making
decisions. You're life can be just as easy as you seem to think mine is."
"Thanks, but I can't be a male secretary, it'd be weird."
"Well, what about a female one then?"
"Are you crazy?"
"No, you seemed to know my position really well. You seem to enjoy how I
dress, and your own words tell me that you seem to like the thought of
being in my pumps," Christiana replied with a smirk.
"Now, I know you're nuts. Men can't put on a skirt and carry on like
that, Christiana."
Christiana smirked at Brad's response. She leaned towards and peered
around his desk towards his legs. Brad squirmed as he pulled at his
pants.
Christiana's eyes darted up to Brad as she replied, "Well, if men can't
carry on in a skirt, apparently they can carry on in tights."
Brad blushed as he replied, "What are you talking about?"
"You're wearing tights."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are and you've done it before. Hell, you do it almost
everyday."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Brad said as he rubbed his neck
while his face grew flush.
"Well, Brad, its like when you lean back and your pant leg rides up on
you and I get a good glimpse of the black tights you like to wear, or
every once in a while, brown, white or grey or those nude pantyhose you
wear in the winter when you shave your legs."
Brad stared at Christiana in silence as she accurately described the
hosiery he so often wore underneath his pants. He had never known that
she had noticed that he wore tights, pantyhose or stockings beneath his
suits almost everyday. She had never mentioned it before, but from her
accurate descriptions of his hosiery collection, he knew that she was
there was no doubt that she was aware of his secret.
Brad sighed before he asked, "Does anyone else know?"
"Of course."
"Who?" Brad inquired as he began to sweat.
"Well, there's Jordan and Melanie and the secretaries. Melanie was the
one who pointed out the bra straps beneath your shirt right after I
started here."
"Everyone on this floor knows?" Brad exclaimed.
Christiana nodded as Brad clutched his head and stared down at his desk.
He had always fantasized about being caught en femme even though he
thought that he had gone to great lengths to make sure that no one would
ever find out. He could not believe that his cross-dressing was as
obvious as Christiana was intimating.
"Why didn't anyone ever mention it to me?" Brad asked.
"How was it going to come up?" Christiana countered.
Brad shrugged his shoulders before Christiana continued, "It's also not
the sort of thing you want to inquire to your boss about. It'd be a bit
uncomfortable to do. I was a bit uncomfortable bringing it up and you
practically led me to talking about it."
Brad nodded and understood his subordinates' reluctance to ask him about
why he was wearing women's undergarments. Brad realized that it was not
the kind of thing that an employee would ask their boss if they wanted to
keep their job.
Brad got up and walked out of his office and walked towards Melanie
Hubble and Jordan Gavalas' offices. He looked at their two secretaries
and asked, "Girls, is there anything you find odd about my choices in
clothing."
The girls looked uneasily at each other and shook their heads before
Jordan's secretary, Allison Mariano replied, "No."
"Really, there's nothing you find odd?"
The girls looked at each other once again before Christiana nodded to
them and said, "I told him that you know."
The girls went white as they looked at Brad. The expressions on their
face told Brad that Christiana was telling the truth. Melanie stepped out
of her office as she heard Brad speak. He looked over to her and asked,
"And you know too?"
"Well, yes, but I didn't want to bring it up."
"Why not? You just talked about it behind my back."
"What was I going to say? It's not something that comes up in everyday
conversation."
Brad threw up his hands and walked back to his office with Christiana
following closely behind. Brad looked at her as he thought about what she
was offering to him. Brad realized that the very people he feared would
discover his cross-dressing were already aware of it. Brad knew that they
had not spoken a word of it and likely would not given the oppressive
terms of their employment contracts. If any of them spoke about Brad's
cross-dressing to outsiders, Brad knew that they were well aware that
they would be civilly liable for several years of their pay.
The contractual penalties made the idea of swapping roles with Christiana
slightly more palatable for him. Brad did not engage in much face to face
interaction with clients. He had sales people who were gaining big orders
for him in recent years, and he had largely pulled back from the social
aspects of running the company. Brad was much more focused on making sure
the company ran smoothly as he delegated the company's marketing and
client development to others.
Brad had occasional telephone conversations with major clients, but most
of his communications with them were by email or letter. The more Brad
thought about it, the more he felt that Christiana's idea was not nearly
as precarious as he first assumed.
Brad reached for his phone and called Jordan and Melanie and asked them
to come into his office. The two came in and Melanie took a seat next to
Christiana as Brad explained Christiana's proposal to them.
Jordan scratched the back of his neck as he asked, "Are you seriously
considering this?"
Brad nodded at his company's vice president as he replied, "I could use a
little break from the stress of the job."
Jordan and Melanie acknowledged his stress before Melanie pointed out
that they were both more experienced and qualified to take over the
company than Christiana. Brad agreed with their assessment, but he
explained that he did not want them ordering him around since he would be
returning to his position eventually and they would be expected to carry
out his orders as his key lieutenants.
Jordan and Melanie both knew that there was no use trying to reason with
Brad once he made a decision. Brad was decisive and almost never backed
away from a decision once he made it. They exited the room and left Brad
to negotiate the terms of his job swap with Christiana.
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Three days after Christiana's made her proposal, Brad and Christiana
signed the contract to make it happen. The contract provided that they
would swap jobs for three months, but Christiana insisted on a provision
extending the life of the contract in the event that she brought in a
certain amount of money from new clients and the expanding of existing
clients accounts.
Brad was happy enough to give it to her. He was sure she would fail, and
if she did not, then Brad figured that he would eventually inherit a
company that was doing better after he got some time away from having the
crushing responsibilities that his position in the company forced upon
him.
The contract was structured so that the swap would continue for another
month for every set interval of profit that Christiana added to the
existing bottom line of the company. Brad was not worried about the
provision and liked the excitement of the idea of being perpetually
trapped in his new position even though he was certain that it would
never happen.
The contract's additional provisions provided that Christiana was
prohibited from firing Brad and had a strong liquidated damages clause
that would provide Christiana with 51 percent ownership of the company if
Brad breached the contract. The contract further provided that they would
swap pay for the life of the contract. Brad was independently wealthy
from his many years of owning the company so the loss of a few months of
much higher income through less taxed dividends did not pose much of a
concern for him.
The terms of the contract further provided for their living quarters.
Since they were both making what the other had previously made, they
agreed to swap homes for the life of the contract as well. Christiana was
going to make all tax, mortgage and utility payments for Brad's spacious
suburban home while Brad was going to make all the payments required for
Christiana's apartment. Christiana was also going to take Brad's company
provided limousine. Brad figured that he did not need it anyway since
Christiana apartment was close to a city subway stop.
Brad wasted little in signing the contract that required him to work en
femme as Christiana's secretary under the assumed name of Bailey Field.
Brad smirked at the fact that he would have to abide by all the rules
that the other secretaries and other women in the company were required
to follow. Brad had crafted those rules to correspond with his fantasies
to the greatest extent possible under the law. The thought of being
restricted by his own rules excited Brad.
With the contract in place, Brad began to plan the transition. He had his
female wardrobe brought over to Christiana's apartment and had her
clothing taken to his home. They decided to leave each other's home
furnished as they were so little had to be done prior to their job swap
that was scheduled to occur two weeks after the contract signing.
The day before the swap was supposed to occur, Brad and Christiana
swapped keys and went to each other's home. They let themselves in and
looked around at the new surroundings that they would call home for the
life of the contract.
Christiana marveled at the three acres of well-manicured grass and
landscaping that surrounded Brad's home, while Brad walked into the 450
square feet of apartment space that Christiana had previously called her
own. While his home had a deck that overlooked the water, his new
apartment had a fire escape that overlooked Chinese and Pakistani
restaurants. The sounds of geese and motorboats that were always present
at his home were replaced by the sounds of backing up trucks, bickering
neighbors and car horns.
Brad smiled for a moment as he thought about how small and unimpressive
the apartment was while he walked around it. Christiana, conversely, was
amazed by the size of Brad's house as she walked around the home with the
windows open. The relaxing scent of the salty sea air coming through the
windows seemed so much different to her from the diesel fumes she was
used to smelling coming through the windows of her apartment.
Christiana had never been in Brad's home although she had heard about it
before. There were seven bedrooms, including a master bedroom that was
larger than her entire apartment. The apartment's small kitchenette and
eating area could easily fit within a quarter of Brad's kitchen. The home
had an eat-in-kitchen and a formal dinning room. The living room and den
were both larger than her apartment as well.
Brad walked through the small apartment and felt almost claustrophobic as
he sensed that the walls were right on top of him. Brad had never lived
in an apartment as small as Christiana's. Brad smiled at its size as he
heard the footsteps of the apartment dwellers above him through the
ceiling. Brad could not help but feel excited by his meager surroundings.
They all served to remind him of his new temporary place at the bottom of
the corporate world that he had ruled only the day before.
Brad opened the bedroom's closet door and looked at the feminine wardrobe
he had been accumulating for ten years. There were several skirt suits
and dresses for him to wear to work the next day. He had been dressing
for years at home and could not wait to wear each outfit to work for the
first time even though he wondered what people would say about him. Brad
figured that no one would pay him any notice or given him any real
trouble if they thought that he was a man since he would be out in public
and, thus, surrounded by witnesses.
Brad selected a black pencil skirt, a sleeveless cable knit crew neck
sweater and a pair of light grey, rounded toe, patent leather pumps with
a four inch heel and a one inch platform for his first day in his new
position before he went back out to the living room area of the apartment
to get further acquainted with his new surroundings. After settling in,
Brad walked into Christiana's bedroom and removed his clothing. He
dressed in slip and got under the covers and fell asleep.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh, my God! Look at that little faggot. I can't believe he actually did
it," Melanie said as Brad squirmed and clutched at the hem of his dress
that seemed to keep creeping ever higher up as he leg as he listened to
his former staff berate him.
"I told you he was a total fairy just pretending to be a man," Jordan
added as Brad tried to defend himself.
His tearful words moved no one and only cemented their opinions of him.
"Look at him. Crying like a baby. He's definitely not a man," Jordan
said.
"Well, we don't want him," Melanie replied.
"We're not taking him either. He's not a woman, and he's not a man. He's
a sissy," Christiana added.
"A big whimpering sissy who probably likes to take it up the ass,"
Melanie said.
Brad buried his face in his hands as he began to sob uncontrollably. He
opened his eyes and looked around his bedroom ad felt his heart racing.
The nightmare of exposure played out in his head as he thought to
himself, 'Oh, God what have I gotten myself into?'
He wondered if his subordinates could really be trusted to keep his
secret. They already knew what was coming, but he was going to be
providing them with visual proof of it, which was another matter all
together. Brad rolled onto his side and tried to fall asleep again.
Brad wiped the sweat off of his brow as he tried to put all the potential
dangers of the day ahead out of his mind. He watched the hours tick away
on his alarm clock as he tried desperately to fall asleep. Brad had never
had trouble sleeping and could not help but fear that he would be sleep
deprived for his first day in heels.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
An hour after he was finally able to fall asleep, Brad's alarm clock went
off. He stumbled out of his bed and hit the alarm button. He thought
about climbing back into his bed for a few more minutes of sleep, but he
knew that it would not be of any real help to him.
Brad walked into his bathroom and turned on the shower. He washed himself
thoroughly with a strawberry scented body wash that he usually reserved
for his weekends en femme. Brad smiled as he began to get excited as he
remembered the strange looks girls would give him when they noticed the
lingering traces of the strong fruity scent on his body when he shopped
on the weekends.
Brad inspected his body as he washed himself to make sure that there was
not a trace of body hair on it. Satisfied with the bliss inducing
smoothness of his body, Brad began to wash his hair with the pineapple
scented shampoo and conditioner.
Brad ran his fingers through his brown hair as he rubbed the shampoo into
his hair. His hair was long for a man, but not for a woman. The ends of
his hair rested an inch above his shoulders so he was not concerned about
his hair giving away his gender.
After he finished washing his hair, Brad stepped out of the shower and
patted dry his body. He wrapped the towel around his chest to try to feel
more like the woman he was going to try to pass himself off as even
though he had nothing to cover up on his chest at the moment.
Brad reached into one of the vanity's drawers and removed Christiana's
hairdryer and a brush. Brad dried and brushed out his naturally straight
hair. He always wore it to work in a low pony tail, but he preferred to
let his hair hang down and frame his heart shaped face when he was en
femme.
As he put away the brush and hair dryer, Brad could not stop sneaking
peeks at himself in the mirror. All the worries he had felt about what he
was doing left his mind as he looked at his feminine hair styling. He
stared into the mirror and began twirling his hair between his fingers
and wondering if he should get a permanent wave put it in like some of
the girls at his job had.
The sound of a cars blasting horn ended Brad's self-admiration. Brad
stepped out of the bathroom and checked the time. He hurried back to his
bedroom and dressed in the clothing he had selected for himself the night
before.
Brad put on a pair of padded extended leg panties to help keep his member
tucked away before he pulled up a pair of control top pantyhose to
further help keep secure his member between his legs. Brad smiled as he
looked at his rear in the mirror. The panties were cushioned with two
inch foam pads that made his rear look much bigger than it was. Brad
loved the way it made him look and knew he had to wear it anyway since
all of his skirts and dresses had been tailored to fit around his false
rear. Brad then reached for his breast forms and glue. Brad had owned
the breast forms for years. They were b-cups that were intended to give
him unmistakably feminine curves, but also to not draw as much attention
as larger breasts were prone to garnering.
With the breasts forms secured to his chest, Brad put on a black bra that
matched his panties. Brad then put on his white sweater and pencil skirt.
Brad carried his heels into the living room and placed them down before
he walked into the kitchen to make himself a bowl of instant oatmeal.
While Brad was not a particular fan of the bland taste, he had not eaten
anything but plain oatmeal for breakfast in over ten years. It was all
part of his carefully crafted diet that he strictly adhered to so that he
could maintain his svelte figure.
Brad ate his breakfast with a cup of tea. While he always drank coffee
during the week, Brad drank tea whenever he was en femme. Brad always
thought that there was something effeminate about drinking tea and it
helped him feel more like Bailey.
With his breakfast finished and his departure time fast approaching, Brad
scurried into the bathroom to put on his makeup. Brad put his years of
training to good use as he deftly put on his mascara, lipstick,
foundation and eyeliner. Satisfied with his understated makeup, Brad
smiled at the face he believed was both feminine and plain enough that no
one would notice it.
Brad rushed over to his shoes and his black wool jacket. He put the
jacket on and then slipped his feet into the shoes. Brad clasped his
purse and headed out the door. As he walked towards the stairs, he
slipped the strap of the purse around his shoulder.
Brad grabbed hold of the railing as he carefully descended the steps,
careful to land his feet on angle to ensure that both the heel and toe of
his shoe landed fully on the step below as he had practiced so many times
at his secluded estate. He breathed a sigh of relief as he took his last
step down the steep staircase. He walked out the door of the building
after taking a deep breath. He looked around as he walked down the street
en femme for the first time. He searched for anyone giving him an
inquisitive look, but one noticed him. Brad felt a surge of arousal as he
realized that no one was paying any attention to him. Brad realized that
he could pass himself off as a woman amongst strangers, at least when
they did not have a reason much attention to him.
Brad tried not to smile as he walked towards the subway entrance. He
descended the stairs behind a woman wearing heels who was moving the same
speed as him while men rushed past them down the middle of the staircase.
Brad walked through the subway station and swiped his card before he went
through the turnstile. Brad then waited at the platform for the subway
train to come.
The air in the subway was very warm, which made Brad start to sweat. He
rarely road on the subway given the privacy provided by his limousine.
Brad smiled when he thought of Christiana riding to work that day from
the stately manor he had purchased in his limousine while he was
surrounded by a mass of people speaking various languages as he traveled
to work from her small apartment.
After the subway car pulled up, Brad got inside. He scrambled for a seat
and got one before the subway train jerked forward onto its next stop. As
Brad watched people get on and off at the next stop, he wondered what
those that knew him would say if they could see him at that moment. While
the strangers around him left him alone in silence, not speaking any
doubts that they might have about his true gender, Brad knew that there
were a few people at work were well aware of whom he really was.
Brad felt more nervous than he could ever remember feeling as he thought
about their reactions. The alluring nature of his situation drifted from
his mind as the reality of his situation made him feel scared and
unusually vulnerable.
As the car came to a stop and another group of people entered, Brad
became distracted by a girl that had entered the subway car. Brad did not
find her attractive, but he knew that there was something unusual about
her. He looked at her vaguely mannish face as she stood holding a railing
in the cramped car. Brad's eyes veered down at the purple sweater
covering her thick upper body and the ill fitting black skirt that rested
over her well muscled legs that were encased in black, opaque tights.
Brad's eyes finally fixated on the slightly large feet that were
partially covered by a pair of black ballet flats decorated with a bow at
the vamp. Brad looked up at the transvestite's face and saw the person
start to squirm. Brad wanted to tell her it was all right, but his own
situation made him feel uncomfortable doing so. The transvestite turned
away from him and stared out the window at the dark subway walls while
Brad's attention turned elsewhere.
Not long after, the subway train came to a stop and Brad exited the
subway car and headed for the exit. He ascended the staircase leading to
the city surface streets and walked down the crowded midtown sidewalks
without anyone paying much attention to him.
Brad felt excited as he made the two block walk en femme for the first
time. There was no other experience in his life he could remember giving
such a thrill as he felt surrounded by thousands of people passing by as
he walked among them in a skirt and heels.
As his office building came into view though, Brad's excitement dimmed. A
sense of foreboding overtook him once more. The feeling of dread became
more intense with each step he took towards the door. He paused a few
hundred feet from the door and stood against the stone wall at the base
of the building. He took a few deep breaths and thought about what could
happen when he walked through the front door.
Brad knew that there was a risk that his cross-dressing would get out
beyond those that he wanted to know in the company. The company was
important enough that several of the local papers might be interested in
the story if they were able to get pictures of him en femme. Brad was
protected by the fact that very few people in any industry he dealt with
had ever met him or seen a picture of him. Brad had gone to great lengths
to never post a picture of himself and had limited close contact to only
a few select underlings and important clients over the years.
While he knew that his secret was already out, Brad realized that the
minute he walked through that door the employees he worked closely with
would see what they had only speculated about before. Brad knew that mere
speculation about what he looked like en femme was much different than
people actually being to confirm his feminized appearance with their own
eyes. Whatever they thought of him was going to be cemented by his
appearance in a skirt and heels that morning. Brad wondered if any of his
underlings would ever view him as an authority figure again after he went
through with being Christiana's skirted secretary for a few months.
The minute he walked through that door, Brad knew that things in his
workplace would be changed forever. His mere appearance that morning
would see to that.
It all seemed too much to him. Brad started to back away from the door
and turned to walk away. He stopped himself and cursed himself for a
moment for the weakness he was feeling. He did not want to turn his back
on the deal and knew that he could not because of the contract he had
signed. He looked back down the street as he saw a limousine pulling up
in front of the building. Brad watched as Christiana swung her legs
together as she excited the limousine.
The driver closed the door behind her as she walked towards the door
clutching her pocketbook. She looked down the street and saw Brad
standing still and watching her. Christiana motioned for Brad to come
towards her.
Brad took a deep breath and forced a smile onto his face as he walked
towards her. Christiana stared at Brad, sizing him up with her eyes as he
started to walk towards her. Christiana inspected Brad from head to toe
with each step Brad took.
Christiana smiled at Brad as he came to a stop in front of her as she
said, "Bailey, I didn't think you could look so presentable."
Brad blushed and lied, "I surprised myself too."
Christiana smiled at Brad's unease and said, "It's getting near 9, you
don't want to be late now do you, dear?"
Brad shook his head and walked into the building followed closely behind
by Christiana. Brad headed for the elevator and pushed the button. He
waited beside Christiana and two male workers he did not recognize.
Christiana engaged Brad in conversation, which made him uneasy as the two
male workers listened to them talk. Brad strived to make his voice as
girlish sounding as possible without coming off as a male trying to speak
in a comically feminine voice.
The two men paid them no attention and got on the elevator with them. The
two men got off on their floors while Brad and Christiana continued up on
their trip to the top floor where the executives' offices were.
As the elevator continued its ascent, Brad thought back to the hundreds
of times he had been in that elevator with Christiana. Christiana would
be wearing a skirted outfit, not unlike the one he was wearing while he
was dressed in a tailored suit. Now, instead of giving her instructions,
he was listening to her tell him about the day she had planned and what
she expected of him.
Brad felt his member growing between his legs as Christiana told him that
she expected him to be as good of a secretary for her as she had been for
him. Brad nodded and agreed that she should expect nothing less.
Of course, Brad was certain that he could do a better job than she had.
He figured that he was smarter than her and, accordingly, he assumed he
would be able to more efficiently manage his time as a secretary than she
could.
The elevator doors opened, and Brad followed closely behind Christiana as
she led the way to the Chief Executive's Officer's corner office suite.
It had been a walk they had taken hundreds of times before. It felt
different this time for both of them since Christiana was now the one
walking in front while Brad followed in toe.
The reversal of the situation excited Brad as he watched his beautiful
assistant turned boss walk in front of him in a pantsuit. She rarely wore
pantsuits as she was very proud of her slender legs, and Brad figured she
wore it that day to reinforce their new positions to both of them.
Christiana walked through the open office suite door and turned to face
Brad as he reached the secretary's desk that was cattycornered in front
of the office suite's door. Christiana smiled at Brad as she closed the
door behind her.
Brad felt another twitch between his legs as he realized that Christiana
was momentarily excluding him from the office he had designed to his own
specifications. Brad placed his pocketbook down on the secretary's desk
that he was going to be calling his own for the following three months.
Brad sat down on the black fabric covered chair that seemed so different
from the high backed, leather executive's chair he had in his office. His
utilitarian chair was stiffer and less comfortable and was more fitting
for his new position.
Brad looked around the office and saw the other secretaries looking at
him. They stayed away from him, as they were unsure how they should greet
him. Brad put his head down and tried to ignore them as he logged onto
his computer.
As he opened up Microsoft Outlook, he looked down at his desk and saw the
memorandum sitting on the corner of his desk. Brad reached over and
looked it over. As he read the memorandum prepared by Christiana, Brad
thought about the order he would do the tasks that she had given him for
the day.
Brad got started by adding some contacts into Christiana's email address
book that had been his the week before. Brad looked over the various
business cards that had been provided for prospective and current clients
as he typed in their contact information.
When he finished, he heard Christiana stirring behind him. He turned
towards the office door as he heard it opening, Christiana looked down at
him as she asked, "Bailey, please get me a cup of coffee."
Brad nodded to her and took the cup from her hand before she moved back
into her office. Brad looked down the corridor that led to the
kitchenette and saw the various people who had been avoiding him all
morning. He knew that he could no longer hide in plain sight from them
or vice versa. They were going to have to confront the elephant in the
room that they and he had been trying to avoid discussing.
Brad took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before he walked in small
steps down the corridor that required him to walk past the area where a
group of secretaries and other support staff workers were seated.
As Brad got closer to them, he saw each of them notice him one by one.
Their eyes would invariably look at him for a moment before they would
quickly dart away. Brad looked at the four girls who were trying to
pretend that they had not noticed him walking towards them.
Brad could see the unease on their faces. He understood that they were in
a difficult position since he was still technically the owner of the
company, and they knew that he would almost certainly become the Chief
Executive Officer again. Brad knew that they had to tread on delicate
ground around him en femme.
Brad came to a stop and decided to confront them. He looked at the four
girls. Two of them were Melanie and Jordan's personal secretaries,
Allison and Becky James, another was an office girl named Sasha Rygalski,
while the last was the office manger, Emily Dean.
"Hi girls," Brad said before he watched three of the girls cringe before
looking at him. Only Allison looked at him without showing any noticeable
displeasure that she had to acknowledge him.
Becky responded with a quick "Hello" before Sasha and Emily repeated her
one word greeting. Allison smirked at them as they squirmed in Brad's
presence before she replied, "Hi, I'm Allison. It's Bailey, right?"
"Yes it is," Brad replied as he shook Allison's hand and smiled at her
grinning face. He enjoyed how she divorced his male self from the
feminine alter ego that he was presenting himself as in the office for
the first time.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Allison continued.
"Same here," Brad replied.
"So where are you from?" Allison asked.
Brad told her what neighborhood his apartment was in prompting Allison to
smile as she realized that it was where Christiana had lived. Brad
noticed grins come across the other girls faces as they realized the
extent of the swap that Brad had made with Christiana.
"How is it working for Christiana?" Allison inquired.
"Miss Stone is?," Brad began to respond before Allison interjected.
"Wait, Miss Stone? She makes you call her by her last name?"
"Well, no. I just think it's the proper thing to do."
"Now, that's old school," Allison replied with a smile.
"I'm a traditionalist," Brad replied prompting giggles from the girls as
they contrasted his claim against his feminized appearance. 'A man in a
dress, yes, real traditional', Emily thought to herself as she shook her
head.
Allison shook her head with a grin before she replied, "Well, given that
outfit, I'd say you are a bit of traditionalist."
"I'm not a fan of office casual," Brad replied before Allison
complimented his outfit. While Brad continued to talk with Allison,
Christiana came out of her office, wondering where her coffee was. She
looked down the corridor and saw Brad speaking with Allison. Christiana
shook her head as she shouted, "Bailey, I'm not paying you to socialize.
I need that coffee, now."
"Yes, Miss Stone," Brad replied with a feigned concern before he winked
at Allison. Brad smiled as he walked away from the girls.
Brad walked into the kitchenette and headed for the coffee maker. He made
a cup of coffee for Christiana and put in milk and a little sugar. Brad
knew how Christiana liked her coffee because she had informed him about
it from time to time as she commented on his preference to drink his
coffee black to avoid taking in excess calories.
With the cup in hand, Brad walked down the corridor slowly, careful not
to spill any of the coffee. He walked towards Christiana's office door
and gently knocked on it as he peeked his head through the open doorway.
Christiana looked up at him briefly before he walked in and placed the
cup down.
As he did so, Christiana asked, "Bailey, can you please bring me the
Bennett Brothers' file?"
"Will do," Brad replied.
Brad walked out of Christiana's office and scurried towards the file
cabinet where the physical records of several big accounts were kept.
Brad located the file and carried it back to Christiana.
Christiana took the file from him and asked, "Do you know where the
proposed contract that came in last week is?"
Brad nodded and pulled the contract from the file. He had reviewed the
contract the week before, but he had not rendered a decision regarding it
as he wanted to wait until the company's lawyers finished their review of
the contract.
As Christiana began to look over the terms of the contract, Brad said,
"Christiana, I think?"
"Hush, now, Bailey. I don't pay to think! I pay you to make copies and
get me a good cup of coffee. Now, run along, dear."
Brad stared at Christiana in stunned silence. He could not believe that
she had completely rejected his advice without even bothering to hear it.
Brad could not remember the last time he had been treated so
dismissively. A gnawing feeling in his stomach accompanied his
displeasure, even as the reality of being treated in such a manner also
excited him.
While Christiana continued to read the contract, Brad turned away from
her and walked back out of her office and sat down at his desk. Brad
propped his head up with his arm as he rested his elbow against the
cherry wood desktop. He kept replaying Christiana's dismissive words in
his head. He felt slightly bothered by the tone and the words. Christiana
made it seem as if his opinion was meaningless while he was used to
having the final say in everything in his life.
Brad rubbed his pantyhose covered left leg with his hand and began to
feel better about what had happened. Brad realized that Christiana's was
right to disregard his opinion. He had been as dismissive of her in the
past. Brad smiled as he concluded that it was a part of his temporary
life that he was going to have to get used to. 'It might do me some good
to not be the one with all the power for once', Brad thought.
A smile came across his face as he realized that Christiana was treating
just the way he fantasized about being treated as a secretary. He was a
low level employee and not the boss, and he loved being treated
accordingly.
The smile faded as he felt some pain in the balls of his feet. Brad
slipped his feet out of his heels and began to rub them before he
slipped his feet back into them and continued doing the work that
Christiana had ordered him to do.
Brad's typing of draft email responses to underlings asking for direction
from Christiana was broken up periodically by phone calls from employees
and the company's outside accountants and attorneys. Brad would advise
them about Christiana's temporary promotion, which elicited more than a
little confusion before he transferred them to her.
After transferring a call from the head of the accounting firm used by
the company, Brad got to his feet to get a cup of tea for himself. He
walked past the group of office workers and grinned at Allison as he
pretended to speed up as he walked past her. Allison let out a slight
laugh as Brad entered the kitchenette and made himself a cup of tea.
After he went back to his desk, Brad set up a few meetings for Christiana
with the companies outside advisors. Brad saw nothing odd about it as he
frequently had the company officers meet with them as he had no desire
for face to face communication with them. He figured that Christiana
wanted to take a more hands on approach to it, and he saw nothing wrong
with that.
As Brad began to feel a bit hungry around 1 P.M., he got back to his feet
and headed towards the kitchenette. He reached into the refrigerator and
took hold of the Greek Yogurt he had left in it over the weekend. He
placed it down on the counter and took out a plastic spoon from a box in
the kitchen. He then poured himself a cup of water from the water cooler,
picked up the yogurt and headed back towards his desk.
As he walked past the office girls again, Allison asked, "Is that your
lunch?"
Brad nodded as he turned towards her.
"That's it?" Becky asked to clarify.
Brad responded slowly, "Yes."
Becky shook her head before she responded, "I could never eat that little
for lunch."
Brad smiled at the heavyset woman and decided it was best to not respond
directly to her remark before he said, "Well, I've been eating yogurt for
ten years. The Greek Yogurt is a little change of pace for me. I like the
texture of it better than the regular stuff."
Emily nodded and said, "It's definitely better. I hate yogurt, but I like
Greek Yogurt."
Sasha nodded before she asked Brad, "So is that you keep your figure?"
The other three girls looked at her before they nervously looked at Brad
to see how he would respond. Brad noticed that the other girls' unease
had made Sasha's face turn white. Brad smiled as he responded, "That's
part of it."
Sasha let out a sigh of relief before Allison asked, "What's the rest of
it then? Do you have any secrets you might want to share?"
Brad looked over Allison. Allison was a thick woman, but not overweight.
Her body was well toned and she carried the weight well. She had an
hourglass curved body that made more than a few men in the company fall
over themselves to please her. She was the only one of the four of them
to ever get hit on by an officer or an employee in the company. Men who
ordinarily knew better than to engage in office relationships lost their
sensibilities around her.
The other girls occasionally showed their jealousy of her, but they were
friendly with her as well. Brad knew that Allison did not actually want
any tips from him, but he could tell that Sasha and Becky did.
Brad responded, "I have a strict diet that I've adhered to for year. I
only eat one bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, eat a container of yogurt for
lunch and then I vary my dinner a little bit here and there."
"And you don't pass out," Becky asked before laughing.
"No, my body's used to it."
"Well, what do you do if you get hungry?" Becky asked before she took a
handful of the M&Ms she kept in a bowl on her desk and put them in her
mouth.
"Well, I usually try to deal with it by drinking a cup of coffee or tea.
That usually tides me over, but when I need a snack, I'll eat a piece of
fruit," Brad replied before he cringed a little as he felt a shooting
pain in his ankles.
"I could never do that," Becky replied laughing and shaking her head.
Emily followed a similar diet to Brad's and was very slender in a boyish
way. Brad always felt that she could stand to gain a little weight to
make herself more attractive to men, but she felt that her emaciated
frame was all she had going for her and always saw Becky as a cautionary
tale of putting on weight.
Becky had been thin in her youth before having two children. She had
never slimmed back down after the pregnancies and her husband had run off
with a younger slender woman. The justifiable bitterness she saw in
Becky, made Emily determined to never let that happen to her.
Emily asked "And what do you drink?"
"I only drink water, coffee, tea, milk, some juice, usually orange or
tomato, and wine."
Emily nodded as she replied, "I only drink water, juice and wine. That's
it. I won't even touch anything else."
Emily's reply prompted Sasha, Becky and Allison to shake their heads. All
three enjoyed drinking and eating far too much to ever follow the diets
that Emily and Brad maintained to keep their figures.
Brad then walked back to his desk and ate his lunch there as he logged
onto the internet and looked at clothing and shoes he wanted online while
Christiana was out of the office at a lunch meeting.
Shortly after he finished his lunch, Brad saw Christiana walking down the
corridor towards her office door. Brad slipped his feet back into the
heels he had taken off as he sat down to eat lunch.
Christiana asked if she had any calls while she was gone, and Brad
replied that he sent her email messages regarding each person that called
for her. Christiana nodded before she handed him a stack of papers and
asked him to make three copies of them and send them out by Federal
Express.
Brad nodded and got to his feet. He fought the urge to cringe as he
walked towards the copier feeling an increasing pain in his feet and
calves that was starting to cause his lower back to hurt as well. Brad
made the copies and periodically bent down to rub his thighs while the
machine hummed beside him.
Brad collected the copies and assembled them. He carried them back to his
desk and prepared a Federal Express label and envelope before he carried
the package towards Sasha and told her that Christiana wanted the package
sent that afternoon.
Sasha got to her feet and headed for the elevator while Brad walked back
towards his desk. Brad slipped off his heels again and began to massage
his feet as he printed out Christiana's schedule for the next day. He
then put his shoes back on and carried the print out to Christiana and
asked her if she needed anything on the schedule changed.
Christiana shook her head and let Brad walk out of her office. Brad sat
down on his chair and immediately removed his shoes. He had completed
everything on the list Christiana had provided for him and he spent the
rest of the day answering phone calls and tending to the requests that
Christiana had as the day went on.
Brad spent the last few hours of his workday thinking about his new
position. Brad was enjoying himself and wanted it to never end. The only
displeasure the day had brought him came from his shoes, but even that
pain excited him. Brad knew that he was experiencing the kind of pain
that every woman in his position felt at one time or another. The pain
was a reminder of his reduced his position. As the workday ended, Brad
could not wait for the next day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brad awoke the next day to the sound of his alarm clock. He stumbled out
of bed and hit the alarm before he limped towards the bathroom holding
his lower back. The residual pain in his back from wearing heels the day
before made him realize why all the girls in his office carried a pair of
flats with them.
Brad went through the same morning routine he had gone through the day
before. He was slowed slightly by the aches in his body before he left
the home dressed in a beige, tie waist, sleeveless wrap dress with
diagonal draping, a wide neck and a concealed side zip closure and black
suede flats.
Brad made his way to the subway station and got on his train and headed
for the office without issue. Brad entered the building and got off on
his floor and walked to his desk.
Brad sat down and took off his flats and put them in his purse before he
took out the beige three inch heeled pumps with crisscross straps at the
peep toe and placed them on his feet. Brad then turned his attention to
the memorandum that Christiana had left for him on her way out the door
the night before. Brad looked over his tasks for the day and began to
start working on reorganizing some of the office's files.
Brad reorganization of the files was broken up periodically by
Christiana, who asked him to do little tasks for her throughout the day.
Brad was happy to do them at first, pausing his work to make her copies,
fax documents, compose correspondence and get her coffee, but the little
tasks she was adding kept making his reorganization of the files take
longer. Every time he returned to organizing the files, he had to take a
few minutes to remember where he was before he could get started again.
Christiana noticed that this was flustering Brad, so she made sure to
make more requests of him than she needed to. Brad began to feel stressed
as Christiana's tasks were making it impossible for him to complete the
more important tasks she had provided for him to do in writing.
As Brad carried in a bundle of copies that Christiana would not need for
another week, Christiana asked, "How are you coming along with the file
reorganization."
"I'm working on it," Brad replied.
"Still? This shouldn't take you that long!"
"But you keep pulling me away from it!" Brad countered as he threw his
hands up in the air.
"Excuses, excuses. Get it done," Christiana replied as she waved her hand
at him dismissively.
Brad bit his lip and stomped out of her office towards the filing
cabinets. Brad wanted to scream in frustration as he began to think about
his task at hand again. His concentration was broken as he kept thinking
about Christiana's attitude. She was very demanding and dismissive of
him. While he had always daydreamed about being treated like that while
he was spending his workdays as the boss, his reactions in his fantasies
no longer matched reality. While he was aroused by it the day before, he
found that he was growing aggravated with it.
Brad remembered a Seinfeld episode and kept mumbling to himself,
"Serenity now, Serenity now," before he began working on the file
reorganization again. After getting ten minutes into the task, Christiana
walked over to him and said, "Bailey, I have a very important meeting
this afternoon. I need you to call in an order for the deli up the
block."
Brad wanted to scream in frustration as Christiana smirked at him. Brad
took a deep breath and asked, "Okay. What am I calling in?"
Brad listened to her order and walked towards his desk as Christiana
followed behind him. He took hold of a pen and wrote down what Christiana
wanted him to order for the meeting. Christiana then turned and walked
back into her office while Brad sat down at his and instinctively removed
his heels almost the second he situated himself in the chair.
Brad called in the order for delivery and then got back to his feet and
went back to work. Brad muttered to himself about Christiana as he
continued reorganizing the files.
Brad felt that he was little more than her servant and wanted his old job
back. Still, Brad knew that he had put himself in the situation he was
beginning to hate. Brad did not dislike it entirely though. He still
enjoyed the feeling of his clothing and his brief conversations with
Emily, Allison, Becky and Sasha.
The only other people on the floor were Christiana, Melanie and Jordan.
They were the only three other people in the company who knew who Brad
really was as he scurried around doing tasks for Christiana.
Melanie and Jordan both watched Brad from afar. They had not spoken to
him since he had come back to the company en femme the day before. They
were both uncomfortable with treating him like a secretary given how
closely they worked with him in the past. Unlike the support staff, with
the exclusion of Christiana, they had a working relationship with him as
a man.
Melanie and Jordan both knew that they were going to have to address him
that afternoon when they met with Christiana and the Bennett' brothers at
the lunch meeting. They loathed the scenario they were going to find
themselves in as they felt that they were going to be in an untenable
position. They knew that they would have to treat Brad like a secretary,
regardless of the consequences, so as to not give away to the Bennett'
brothers that there was more to the feminized Brad than met the eye.
Sasha called Brad's phone and told him that Richard and Lane Bennett had
arrived. Brad got to his feet and announced their arrival to Christiana.
Christiana nodded at Brad and told him to bring them into the conference
room.
Brad nodded and went out to meet them. Brad had spoken to them on the
phone before when he was the boss, so he made sure to disguise his voice.
He addressed them in a higher than usual tone that made the men cringe a
little before he led them to the conference room.
Brad sat them down and said, "Miss Stone will be with you shortly."
"Thank you, Miss," Richard said as Lane nodded while Brad walked out of
the room. Brad saw Melanie and Jordan heading towards the conference room
while Christiana was walking towards it as well. Christiana looked at
Brad and asked, "Did you offer them anything?"
"No," Brad replied, realizing his mistake.
"You're really absent minded today. You know that? Come on follow me,"
Christiana replied in a terse tone.
Brad put his head down and exhaled heavily through his nose. He walked in
behind her before Christiana asked, "Can I offer either of you gentleman
a drink?"
Richard and Lane looked at each other for a moment before they asked,
"What do you mean by a drink?"
"It could be an adult beverage, it could be a non adult beverage,"
Christiana replied with a smirk as she shrugged her shoulders.
Richard clapped his hands together and asked, "What do you got?"
Christiana looked over at Jordan who kept a cabinet full of liquor in his
office for when he met with clients and important guests. Jordan told
them what he had.
Richard nodded and asked for a gin on the rocks, while Lane asked for one
as well. Christiana told Brad to get herself, Melanie and Jordan one as
well. Brad hurried out of the room and went into Jordan's office. He took
hold of the glasses and carried them into the kitchenette. He put ice
cubes in each of the glasses and carried three of them back into Jordan's
office where he poured the gin.
Brad carried three full glasses to the conference room. He placed one
down in front of Melanie, Christiana and Lane as Christiana glared at
him. Brad asked her, "Is there something else you need, Miss Stone?"
"Where's Richard and Jordan's drinks?" Christiana asked.
"Oh, I couldn't carry them all. I go finish up and bring them in."
"Well, hurry up, girl," Christiana said.
"Yes, Miss Stone," Brad replied as he walked towards the door.
"You'll have to excuse her, she's new," Christiana said as Brad walked
out of the room to get Richard and Jordan's drinks. Brad bit his lip and
wanted to scream at her for the tone she used when she said those words.
From Christiana's smile, Brad deduced that it was a form of payback for
the time he had asked Jordan to "excuse Christiana's incompetence" in
front of her, shortly after Christiana had been hired.
Brad scuttled towards Jordan's office in the mincing steps his heels and
the skirt of his dress forced him to take. He clasped the last two
glasses of gin and hurried back to the conference room.
He felt out of breath as he placed them down on the table with a forced
smile on his face before he stepped out of the conference room. As he did
so, he saw Sasha waiving towards him. She told him that the delivery boy
was there with the food.
Brad rushed towards the front of the office and gave the man a tip before
he took hold of the food and carried it towards the conference room with
Sasha's assistance. Brad and Sasha setup the trays of food while
Christiana continued her meeting with the clients and the company's two
other Corporate Directors.
As Sasha left the room, Christiana told Brad to make up plates for
everyone at the table. Brad complied without saying a word, knowing that
a secretary had to keep her mouth closed around clients. Brad served each
person at the table before he went to leave the room. Melanie and Jordan
thanked Brad as he placed the plates down in front of him, but otherwise
tried their best to pay little attention to him. Brad could not help but
contrast to the way they usually hung on his every word since he was the
one who placed them in the positions of power they found themselves in.
As Brad went to exit the conference room, Christiana stopped him and
asked him to take down some notes. Brad got a pen and a pad of paper and
took down the new proposed deal from the Bennett' Brother's company. Brad
shuddered as he realized that Christiana had made a deal that brought him
closer to spending more time as her secretary.
Brad had thought that there was not a chance that she would increase the
company's profits at all. Brad felt nauseous as he wrote down the terms
of the deal that was fairly midsized for the company.
After the meeting, Brad had lunch at his desk before he finished
reorganizing the files. As Brad sat down at his desk he wondered about
one of the files he had seen in the cabinet and had not thought about in
some time.
Brad wondered about the current status of the Tilton account as
Christiana walked by him and into her office. Brad sat down at his
computer to type up his notes as Christiana requested, but he was more
concerned with answering his own question regarding the Tilton account.
Brad clicked the drive where the client's records were taken. He located
the Tilton account and clicked on the file he needed to view.
Brad blinked twice as he saw the message on his monitor. He stared at it
in silence as he kept rereading the same words, "Denied Entry. You don't
have permission to ask this file. Please contact your system's
administrator."
Brad shook his head and thought it was a mistake. He tried to access
another client file and got the same message. Brad slapped the desk as he
stood up and walked towards Christiana's opened office door. He knocked
on it and entered.
Christiana put up her left pointer finger as she read the document in
front of her. Brad stood there in an uncomfortable silence for two
minutes before Christiana said, "What can I do for you, Bailey?"
"I tried to access the Tilton account file and the system wouldn't let
me."
"So?"
"So, I need to access it."
"Why?" Christiana said as she put down her pen.
"Why?"
"It's a fair question, dear. I didn't ask you to look up anything on it."
Brad went to respond, but paused as he looked at the impatient look on
Christiana's before he said, "Okay, fine, but why don't I have access."
"None of the secretaries do. We can't be sharing that information with
everyone."
"But, I'm not like them. I need to know."
"No, you're just like them. Bailey, you need to understand that you're
not special here. You're just another secretary. Don't look for special
treatment. This company only discloses to you what we want you to know.
That's how this company has always operated, as I'm sure you are well
aware."
Brad wanted to scream at her, but he knew that his desired access was an
unreasonable request for a secretary given the rules he