The Maidenly Maids
Belladonna
[Author's Note: Based on a caption by Commentator]
Rita Lopez hung her head as she looked down at the documents in front of
her. She could not believe that Jack had been so reckless. She had
known him since he was a young boy. She had watched him grow up in front
her eyes.
She had never had a child of her own. Watching her business partner
raise Jack was the closest she ever came.
When Jack got out of college with an accounting degree, Rita never
objected to Mia's desire to bring her son into the business as the in-
house accountant and head of payroll. She thought that it was a natural
choice. She was the only child either of them had. If the company was
going to carry on after they were gone, Jack was going to be the one to
have to take reigns.
With Mia's premature passing, Jack inherited her half of the company.
While Rita feared that they might clash at first, as Jack yielded power
that he never had before, those fears were soon allayed. Jack stayed on
as the accountant and let Rita run the company, acknowledging that she
knew the company better than he did.
Whenever she could, Rita gave him the advice about running the company
that his mother had rarely found time to give him. She loved seeing him
learn from her. She knew that it was only a matter of time before he was
forced into her role; even if she hoped it was decades off in the future.
Rita's family was too distant to bring on. She had no siblings and only
cousins that she rarely saw. A few days prior, she had every intent of
leaving her money to charity and her half of the company to Jack when she
passed. Now, that dream was all but destroyed.
The sinister side of Jack had reared its head. She never would have
thought he was capable of it, but the proof she received from the outside
accountant that had audited his work was undeniable.
Rita scrunched her wrinkled face while she looked at the documents again
and shook her head. Her hands reached behind her head and clasped at the
tight grey bun of her hair.
She wanted to cry as she thought about Jack skimming profits by making
payments to fictitious employees. Their staff was largely immigrants;
however, a few of their richer clients were sometimes willing to pay for
citizen employees. Knowing their staffs' makeup, Jack began making cash
payments to non-existent employees with fake Social Security numbers, in
addition to one-time overpayments that she had no doubt ended up in his
pocket as well.
The hopes she had for him and the future of the company she had helped
build were dashed the minute the accountant gave her the report. In
truth, her hopes for Jack had already dimmed over the two prior years
since his marriage.
She had opposed the marriage to one of their corporate office's former
employees from the start. The girl had started as Rita's assistant. She
had the girl do all sorts of personal work for her from Christmas cards
to party invitations to dry cleaning. Rita could sense that the girl was
upset by it. She was overeducated for her position with a sociology
degree. She never set out to be an assistant, but that was the only
opportunity that had presented itself to her.
After Mia's death, Sofia had begun to seduce the young boss. Rita tried
her best to stop it, feeling that Sofia was simply using him to improve
her position.
Shortly after she suspected that Rita was sleeping with Jack, she tricked
the girl into working her Christmas party as a waitress by saying that
she was having a big party in her mansion and inviting her. Sofia was a
bit surprised to be asked that she wear the white blouse and black skirt
she was wearing that day to the party. Once she got to Rita's apartment,
Sofia was mortified to be introduced to the caterer as the waitress.
Rita watched Sofia's discomfort as she worked the party with Jack in
attendance. She could sense how uncomfortable Jack was as well, as his
secret girlfriend worked the room with the other guests seeing no issue
with the arrangement.
Soon after the party, Jack gave Sofia instant protection from Rita.
Still, the only action he had taken against Rita was insisting on Sofia's
reassignment to working for her until they married.
Rita wondered if Jack's nefarious behavior had been Sofia's doing. The
girl had stopped working after their marriage. She pondered if this was
Sofia's way of getting money without stepping foot into the office.
The sound of Jack entering the office made Rita raise her eyes. She
struggled to find the will to call out, "Jack, can you come in here for a
moment?"
Jack walked into Rita's office and asked with a smile, "What's going on?"
"I need you to close the door."
The smile left Jack's face as he complied with her request before she
asked him to sit. Jack sat down while he inquired, "What's wrong?"
Rita's gaze fixed on him. It felt icier than he ever imagined it could.
The woman had never looked at him that way before.
She shoved the audit in front of him and pointed to the malfeasance.
Jack's stomach sank as he saw the proof of what he had done.
Jack pushed the audit away from him as Rita spoke his name. Jack was
unable to meet her gaze. She repeated his name to his continued dazed
silence.
"JACK, WHY DID YOU DO THIS?" Rita pleaded to know.
Jack was silent before Rita repeated her demand that he explain himself.
Rita stared at him as she saw his mouth open. His lips moved, but he did
not speak a word.
"JACK!"
"I...uh...I..." Jack struggled to find the words to admit to what he had
done.
"Jack, please," Rita begged him.
"I owed some people some money."
"For what?"
"I had to payoff some gambling debts," Jack admitted as he fidgeted in
his chair.
"To who?"
Jack shook his head in response to her question. Rita clenched her eyes.
She knew immediately that Jack had gotten himself involved with people
with whom it was dangerous to even know.
Thoughts of the blowback from the scandal and the bad press the company
she had devoted her life to building would receive began to play out in
her mind. The daughter of a chief competitor's CEO was an assistance
district attorney in the local prosecutor's office. Rita was certain
that the girl would likely see to it that the nature of Jack's misdeeds
were leaked.
She knew that she could not let that happen. She needed a way to make
the issue go away, but not raise suspicion.
"So, what's going to happen?" Jack asked, fearing the worst.
"You're going to pay us back," Rita said.
"Yes! Of course. I'll fix this. I promise I'll do it," Jack hurried to
respond.
"Yes, but not here."
"What?"
"I can't have you involved with money our anymore. You can't be
trusted."
"I know. I completely understand. I can't. I'm sorry," Jack
acknowledged.
"You'll still have your ownership interest, so you'll have plenty of
money to live on."
Jack felt a sense of relief from her words. He felt as if a weight had
been lifted off his shoulders.
Any sense of receiving a reprieve was drained from him as Rita added,
"But I need to keep an eye on you."
Jack gave her an inquisitive and nervous look. Rita reached for a pad
and jotted down an agreement. Jack watched in silence as he tried to
make out the words upside down that the woman was writing.
Once she finished, Rita signed the agreement and pushed it towards him.
Jack's eyes focused on the words.
"You can't be serious?"
"I am," Rita replied with a nod.
"You want me to work as a maid..."
"For free until you've paid us back for every dollar you paid out," Rita
replied in a stern tone with a steely gaze that made Jack flinch.
"I can't do that..." Jack replied in a meek tone.
"You'll make a good living from your share..."
"I mean I can't be a maid."
"Why not?"
"I'm a man. I'd be a male cleaner."
"We're the Maidenly Maids, Jack."
"We have to have some clients that would be fine with a male cleaner."
"No. People aren't comfortable with male cleaners in their homes. Men
are aggressive and short tempered and many more women are at home than
men during the day."
"But we have businesses, they can..."
"Jack, this is not up for discussion either you agree to this or I'm
turning you in."
Jack's stomach turned while he reached for the pen. He hesitated as he
put his pen to the paper. Signing his name was signing away his dignity.
He was giving away control of his life for a period of time, the duration
of which was unknown to him. He wondered what his wife would say. All
he was certain of was, was that she would know soon enough either way.
Thoughts of prison returned. He knew that he could never make it in
prison. He was too slight and short. Every prison movie and television
show made that clear too him.
The thought of being someone's "bitch" made him shudder. One or the
other, he would be a girl or a girlfriend. Resigned to his fate, Jack
concluded that it was better to be a maid on the outside, than a prison
wife on the inside.
Rita let out a sigh of relief while she watched Jack sign his name to the
document. Jack hung his head as he reached the last letter of his last
name. With a trembling hand, he placed his pen down to wait for what was
next.
Rita nodded at his resignation and said, "Come on, Jack. I have someone
for you to meet."
Jack's eyes rose to meet Rita's. His sense of despair grew as he watched
her walk out of the room. Jack got to his feet to follow behind her as
she made her way into the kitchenette.
"Hello," a young woman greeted Jack with a smile before she patted a
chair situated before her.
"What's going on?"
"I was hired to give you a makeover," the girl explained.
"For what?"
"You can't work as maid looking like that. You'd look like an awful
mess," the stylist replied with a laugh.
Jack was mortified that the cute girl knew his fate. If it was not for
circumstances of his marriage and new occupation, she was the type of
girl that he would have asked on a date. Despite his situation, he still
hated being humiliated in front of an attractive girl.
Jack froze before Rita ordered, "Take a seat, Jacqui."
Jack complied with the order. Once he sat, he looked at the stylist to
ask, "What are you going to do?"
"We can't do much with this hair," the stylist answered with
disappointment while she ran her hands through Jack's slicked back hair.
"I think she should grow it out," Rita added.
"Well, over the years, it'll get to a nice long length," the stylist
replied.
Jack's mind started to swim as he thought about her statement. 'Years,'
Jack kept repeating the word to himself as he processed the fact that he
would be spending years as a maid in the service of his own company.
The woman started to trim his hair before Jack said, "I thought you said
I had to grow it out."
"We have to get it to the right staring point first," Rita replied for
the stylist.
Jack sucked his lips into his mouth in response. The stylist noticed
Jack's discomfort as she added, "Don't worry I've given a lot of girls
starting their transition their first hair cut."
Jack was mortified by the insinuation. He wanted to yell that he was not
a transsexual, but the smirk on Rita' face told him to keep his lips
shut.
Jack watched the hair fall down upon his cape while his short hair was
trimmed even shorter until it rested flat on his head. Rita smiled as
the stylist then began to apply the dye to his hair.
The smell turned Jack's nose while she applied it. Given the short
length, it took her little time before she finished and waited for the
hair to take on the desired color.
As the timer ticked by, Rita inquired, "So, what were you thinking for
her face?"
"Do you have the glasses you told me about?" The girl inquired.
Rita nodded before she walked away with quick steps and returned with a
pair of glasses and color contacts.
"I don't need glasses," Jack said as he saw the eyewear they had gotten
for him.
"It's all cosmetic," Rita replied before she told him to keep his eyes
open.
Jack stared forward as Rita situated a dark brown contact over his hazel
colored right eye before she did the same with his left. Jack blinked,
not used to the feeling of contacts on his eyes.
"This feels weird."
"Give it some time. I'm sure in a few years, it'll feel totally
natural," the stylist said with a grin.
'A few years,' Jack repeated the stylist's words in his mind. He hated
to think that she might be right. He was certain that she was as he
continued to do preliminary calculations in his head.
"Do you think we should get her in uniform? I love seeing a girl in her
first uniform," the stylist noted with unmasked eagerness that was
grating on Jack.
'Don't you know how humiliating this is?' Jack wanted to scream, but
kept inside for fear of making his situation even worse.
"Not until that color is out of his hair," Rita answered.
"Well, it's just about time. Get on up," the stylist said while she gave
Jack a playful smack on the shoulder
Jack got to his feet and walked over to the sink with the girl. The girl
put his head under the water. She washed the dye out of his hair before
she toweled off his head and sat him back down.
After blowing drying his short hair for a few seconds, the stylist put
down the hairdryer and took out her makeup. She smiled at his face and
said, "So, what are we going for here?"
"Unskilled," Rita answered before she stepped out of the room to retrieve
her makeup mirror from her desk.
Jack waited, crossing his legs and arms as one foot nervously tapped on
the tile floor beneath him. Rita put the mirror down in front of Jack
and told him to watch and listen to everything the stylist did.
Jack's eyes fixated on his flat, dark hairstyle and newly dark eyes
before he acknowledged her. Jack did as he was told while he watched his
tanned cheeks be painted a bright pink before they were poorly brushed
along his cheeks. His eyes soon looked similarly over done with a blue
eyeshadow and caked on cheap mascara.
His lips were then coated with a bright red color. Jack shook his head
at the look they had painted upon his face as he thought, "I look like a
five-dollar whore!"
The glasses were put on him next. Jack was relieved that they appeared
to tone down his appearance, even as he sensed that they only made his
makeup look more desperate and pathetic.
Rita retrieved his uniforms next before she handed him a padded bodysuit.
Jack's eyes widened as he looked over the flesh colored garment that
reminded him of a one-piece bathing suit before he was handed a uniform.
"We'll leave you to get changed," Rita said while she walked out with the
stylist and closed the door behind her.
Jack gazed at the bodysuit and cringed. He hated the prospect of putting
it on.
A knock on the door broke his despair. Jack cleared his throat as he
answered the knock, "Yes."
"Are you still decent?" The stylist inquired.
Jack responded he was before she opened the door and said, "When you put
on the bodysuit, tuck your...um...penis between your legs."
"Why?"
"It's an old cross-dresser's trick."
"How do you know that?"
"I told you. You're not the first guy I've helped transition," the
stylist explained.
Jack stomach sank once her meaning set in again. His mind raced as he
thought about the attractive girl thinking that he was a transsexual. He
wanted to scream he was a man, but he knew that it would not get him
anywhere. He was happily married, although he doubted that his marriage
would get past what he was going to have to reveal to his wife soon
enough. He could not hide it forever. He doubted he could even hide it
for a day.
Jack pulled off his shoes, dress pants, dress shirt and undershirt. His
boxers followed before he stepped into the bodysuit, only clad in his
black socks.
Jack brought the bodysuit up his body, working his arms through the
shoulder straps before he pulled it tight against his body. He felt it
hugging his back before he remembered the stylist's words and reached
between his legs.
He felt a little discomfort as he forced his manhood between his legs
before he zipped the fastener that ran from his padded out rear to his
smoothened front. He was sure it was made so that a woman could relieve
herself without taking it off.
The thought made Jack cringe as he began to fasten the hook-eye closures
that ran from the bust down to his navel. He felt the bodysuit pulling
at his body more with each closure. Jack could see that the suit was
smoothing out his abdomen and waistline.
As Jack looked at the cups of the breasts, he noticed that there appeared
to be after market modifications to the pieces filling the cups of the
bra. His hands clasped the cups and felt the gel like pads inside in
them before he reached behind him and felt the rear padding in the suit.
Drawing his fingers away from his rear, Jack grabbed the maid's dress.
He stepped into the black, polyester dress with a white collar and
buttoned the front closures before he drew the door open.
Rita and the stylist's attention were drawn away from each other as they
looked Jack over with grins. Jack squirmed as his cheeks turned flush
under their gazes at the feminized remnants of his surrendered
masculinity.
"He looks embarrassed to be maid," the stylist noted.
"There's no shame in being a maid," Rita countered before she continued,
"Me and his mother worked as maids for years. When we started this
company, we were the only two Maidenly Maids."
Jack nodded in silence, knowing the truth of her words. While the
company had long ago grown to the point that Rita and his mother could no
longer work in the field, his mother never let another woman clean her
home. He knew that Rita was the same way. They were each fiercely proud
of where the came from and what they had made of themselves. While they
held themselves above their employees, they never looked down on them.
It was something to which Jack could not relate. He had been born into a
position as the heir to a valuable company. Even if he had no interest
in running it himself, he was going to be in a position to sell it and
move on with his life once Rita was out of the picture.
Now, he had put all that in jeopardy. His destiny was erased by his
weaknesses. He was going to be reduced to one of the maids for the
foreseeable future as he continued to try to calculate just how long in
his mind. He had trouble focusing on it. He thought about the maids he
had rarely inspected in the field and at the company's depot where they
gathered.
The maids were nothing more than employees to him who were beneath his
concern. Rita criticized him for it in the past. He wondered if that
was a driving factor in the course of punishment that she had chosen. He
was certain that it had to be.
Jack shook his head at their judgments before he whined, "This thing is
really tight."
"The dress looks loose to me," Sofia countered.
"I meant the underwear," Jack explained himself.
"Bodysuits are meant to tighten everything up," the stylist noted before
she added, "That one was made girls who just had tummy tucks. So, it's
supposed to hold everything together."
Jack winced at the thought that he was wearing something designed as a
post-cosmetic surgery garment. He was sure that the girl was also
hinting at his future, as she saw it. She was probably told by Rita that
he was preparing to transition. It seemed like a convenient lie that
would explain away a lot of what she was doing to him.
The girl then began preparing to wax his legs. Jack watched her and
listened as she told him what she was going to do and to stay still while
she did it.
Jack did not see any reason to wax his legs. He did not have much body
hair to begin with.
Rita explained that any hair visible beneath his legs had to go given
their uniforms. While he knew she was right, Jack was unhappy when he
lifted his legs and watched the stylist spreading wax across them.
Once the time had come to remove it, she told him to turn his head and
cough. Jack gave her a curious look before she explained it would
distract him from the pain of the hairs being ripped out of his legs.
Jack took her advice and coughed while he sensed the pain coming from his
legs. Jack winced before he breathed hard as she stopped to move onto
another strip. Jack's breathing grew less labored before the repeated
the same process on the other strip.
Jack struggled to keep from yelping while every body trace of body hair
was removed from his legs and feet.
The stylist finished and smiled at her handiwork. She said with a nod of
her head, "You're lucky you don't have to do you arms too."
Jack glanced down at his largely hairless arms before she added, "Most
transitioning boys need to shave or wax those too."
Jack hated the girls continued belief that he was transgender. Still, he
felt it was pointless to fight against her assumption.
He tried to focus on something else and found that his eyes were drawn to
his legs. Jack gazed at the way the fluorescent lighting caused his
hairless legs to shine. Rita broke his gaze while she put a pair of
suntan pantyhose on the table in front of him. Jack gave her a glance as
he said, "What do I do with these?"
"That's what we're here for," the stylist replied before she gave him
instructions about how to put them on.
Jack opened the package and looked at the garment that looked too tight
to put on. He gave the women a nervous look before he said with a shake
of his head, "Is there any woman alive who really wears these anymore?"
"They're not the most fashionable choice," the stylist admitted.
Rita nodded before the stylist continued, "Most women go with bare legs.
Some still go with nude sheer pantyhose or black sheer pantyhose, but
more and more its tights. They're far more common with fashionable girls
your age these days."
"So, why I'm wearing these?" Jack asked he held the thick pantyhose.
"It's a Maidenly Maid tradition," Rita replied with pride, knowing how
little the uniforms of her staff had changed since she first put one
nearly forty years prior.
"They look like something a Hooter's waitress would wear," Jack
countered.
The stylist nodded with a laugh as she said, "They are basically the same
color and style. They're probably a little less thick."
"Maybe that could be your second career," Rita retorted to Jack with a
smile.
Jack shook his head at their response before the stylist told him how to
put them on once more. Jack realized that he was not getting out of it.
He rolled the pantyhose down as she instructed before she stopped him.
She made him roll them again to make the roll tighter before he was
allowed to slip his feet into the nylon.
After Jack pointed his right toe and put it into the pantyhose, Jack slid
his whole foot into his pantyhose before he began adjusting it under the
stylist's instructions. Once he finished, he followed the girl's
instructions to bring them up his leg to his thigh. Jack was surprised
by how soft and silky they felt as they pulled against his smooth leg
while he brought them up his leg. He grimaced as he felt a growing
erection that was chaffing from the zipper it was growing against.
Jack tried to put the confusing physical response out of his mind as he
glanced down at his legs. The way the pantyhose gave his legs a glossy
shine as they emerged beneath the nylon fabric struck Jack as appealing
before he repeated the process with his left leg. As Jack reached his
thighs with the left side, he asked if they were going to step out of the
room.
"Didn't you zip up your crotch?" The stylist responded.
Jack nodded before Rita added, "So, you're not showing us anything, but a
smooth female front we've all seen before. Keep going."
Jack blushed as he lifted the skirt of his dress and continued to work
the pantyhose up to his hips. Jack brought the pantyhose up the rest of
his legs before he moved his hips from side to side as directed while he
worked the top of the pantyhose to meet them.
After adjusting the areas that were bunched and pinched on his legs under
the stylist's continued instructions, Jack let his dress down and stared
at the creases of the pantyhose around his ankles. Jack bent down to
work on them, but the stylist stopped him.
"What?" Jack asked.
"That's by design."
"I've never seen pantyhose with wrinkles like this," Jack countered.
"We choose a size that's too big for you."
"Why?"
"Because it shows that you don't have the money to buy good pantyhose.
It's all part of the illusion. We don't want the other girls to think
that you're any different from them, do we?" Rita answered before she
handed him a pair of slip, resistant, black shoes.
"No," Jack replied in a low voice as he took the shoes from Rita.
Jack was struck by the appearance of the one-inch heeled shoes. He could
not recall seeing anything so ugly on the feet of any girl. He slipped
his feet into them and stood up.
Rita paid the stylist before she saw her out of the office, while Jack
watched from beyond the reception desk. Rita gave him a steely look as
she walked past him and collected the additional uniforms and makeup she
was giving him to start out as a maid.
Jack looked for makeup remover, but he saw none. As vocalized his
finding to Rita, she retorted, "That's something for you to buy. I
frankly don't care if you ever take off your makeup, but, a word to the
wise, it'll damage your skin, A LOT, if you sleep in it."
Jack shook his head as he said, "How am I going to explain this to
Sofia?"
"That sounds like something you should have thought about before you
embezzled the money," Rita responded with a flippant disregard for the
position he was in.
Jack clutched his elbows, feeling sick to his stomach. He had known that
he was going to have to tell his wife that he agreed to the punishment
before he ever consented to it. He even figured that he would have to
tell her that day. The thought of doing it in makeup, however, never
crossed his mind.
Thoughts about changing back into his male clothing crossed his mind. He
knew, however, that the makeup would look incongruous with his look from
the neck down if he did so. Any contemplation of stopping at the store
in the maid's uniform was quickly dismissed too. Jack decided that his
best chance was to get home and use his wife's makeup remover before she
saw him.
Jack left the office with his new uniforms, makeup and male clothing in
separate bags, hoping that Sofia would not be home. He tried to hide his
face by burying his chin into his chest while he stooped on his way
through the lobby and out the door.
After a quick walk through the parking lot, he reached his car. The
luxury vehicle seemed incongruous with the utilitarian uniform that he
was going to be wearing while driving it.
With that thought in mind, Jack sunk down in the driver's seat and took
out his phone. He divided the amount of money he stole by the wages he
was going to earn as a maid and pressed a button to run the calculation.
Jack's jaw went slack as he saw the astronomical number that came up. He
divided the number by 365 before he cringed, realizing that he was not
going to work everyday to earn his way towards the end of his sentence.
He subtracted weekends and holidays from 365 and reran the equation.
The number struck him hard. It was 14.023. Slightly over 14 years in
maid's uniforms cleaning other peoples home. It was a long time to toil
as a lowly woman. He was certain it was far longer than the jail
sentence he would have received for his crime.
The calculation made Jack despondent. He started to cry before he caught
sight of his appearance in the rear view mirror. He wiped away the tears
quickly as they were already smearing his overdone makeup, feeling that
he was a pathetic figure.
There was no escaping just how bad his situation was. He could not
believe he had gotten so deep into the hole or that he would never be
caught. As he thought about the amount he embezzled, it was clear to him
why it was discovered. It had reached a scale that any objective
reviewer would notice with little effort.
As he calmed himself down, Jack started the car. He drove back to his
home, never breaking the speed limit, for fear of being pulled over en
femme. That was a possibility he wanted no part of.
After pulling into his driveway, Jack opened the garage door and saw his
wife's car was parked in the second spot.
"Fuck," Jack muttered, upset that he would likely have to face his wife
in uniform.
It took Jack a few minutes to find the will to open the car door. He
thought about leaving the car and suffocating himself, but his devout
Catholic mother had instilled a great of fear of the unknown in him.
Even though he was a lapsed member of her faith, he still harbored fears
that she might be right.
Jack shut off the car and stared at the door into his home as he closed
the garage door behind him. He trembled at the thought of what his wife
would say. He was sure that he was going to be on his way to a quick
divorce by the end of the day. He feared that she could find a way
around their prenuptial agreement based on his transgressions.
Jack closed his car door and slowly walked towards the steps leading up
to the door. Jack drew it open and peered inside his home. He walked
through the house and did not see his wife as he looked around, hoping
that she had gone out with a friend.
"Can I help you?" Sofia called out from behind Jack, figuring that the
company had sent another new cleaning lady into her home.
Jack froze. He did not want to face her, but he knew that he could not
run and hide.
Jack slowly turned and faced his wife. He saw her impatience on her face
at his silence before her eyes widened as she recognized him.
Sofia brought her hands over her mouth while she gazed at him in silent
shock. She shook her head as Jack started to explain, "Sofia, I have to
tell you something."
Sofia was dead silent as she looked him over from his head to feet. She
continued to shake her head before he said, "Rita caught me embezzling
from the company."
Sofia did not think it was possible for her to feel sicker to her
stomach, but the words her husband spoke broke through her daze and made
her stomach sink further. Sofia braced herself up against a counter
while she continued to look at her squirming husband.
"It was a lot of money," Jack explained before he said, "Instead of
turning me in, she offered me a chance to pay it back by working for the
company as...uh...well, you can see that..."
Sofia shook her head before she looked down at the floor. She gazed back
up at her husband and his horrid makeup and asked, "Why did you do this?"
"I had to payoff some gambling debts. They were real bad people. I had
to..."
"Oh, God," she muttered while her knees buckled.
Jack rushed towards her before she shrieked, "DON'T TOUCH ME!"
"I'm so sorry," Jack said.
"Why can't you work as a guy?" Sofia demanded to know.
"She said our clients wouldn't accept one in their homes."
"Then, have her send you to one of the office buildings you do."
"She only sends the girls that have been with us the longest there. It's
sort of a promotion."
"So, you're going to be a maid?"
Jack nodded before Sofia inquired, "For how long?"
Jack squirmed before Sofia repeated her demand. Jack swallowed hard
before he said, "14 years."
"Fucking, what?" Sofia screamed.
"I'm sorry."
"That fucking bitch. I know what this is," Sofia said as she wagged her
finger in front of her husband's face.
"What?"
"This is all a ploy on her part. She wants me to see you like this so
that I'll leave you. That's her plan. She wants to emasculate you to
get rid of me."
"I don't think..."
"I know it is. That's always been her game. The minute she realized we
were dating, she did everything to humiliate me and drive us apart."
"I know, but..."
"This is just another excuse for her to do it. She wants to turn you
into something that I don't want to be with so that I'll be out of the
picture, and it'll be just be her and her preciously little Jack."
Jack was silent in the face of his wife's rage. As she stewed, Jack
exclaimed, "I don't want to lose you."
"You won't. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction! No. I didn't marry
you to let that bitch come between us."
"Sofia..."
"Is she still at the office?"
"I think so. She should be there for another couple of hours."
Sofia nodded before she said, "Then, I'm going to pay the bitch a visit."
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Jack said with pleading eyes.
"Honey, go wash your face and, then, we can talk. I can't talk you like
this. I can't look at you," Sofia barked with a disgusted look.
Jack felt that she was repulsed by him at the moment. He squirmed as he
watched her storming towards her pocketbook.
Sofia took hold of her keys and made her way out of the home. She
slammed the door behind her. Jack winced as the sound and feared the
anger he would face when she got home. While she was normally docile
around him, he knew how she got when she was enraged about the slights
that Rita handed out to her.
As Sofia got into her car, Jack went up the stairs of his home to grab
his wife's makeup remover. He removed every bit of it he could before he
stripped and stepped into the shower. The thing he wanted most was to
forget the day as he toweled off.
While Jack harbored no hopes that Sofia could convince Rita to rip up his
contract, he hoped that she could. He wished that, at a minimum, she
would let him work as a man.
Driving to the office, Sofia could only feel fury. She parked in Jack's
customary spot and rushed inside the building. She walked towards the
security desk and told them whom she was there to see.
Rita allowed her up, not wanting to put off the inevitable confrontation.
Sofia stormed into the elevator and stared intently at the numbers of the
floors as they clicked away before the elevator came to a stop.
Once the doors opened, Sofia hurried towards the office suite she once
worked in. She pushed her way through the front door and yelled out to
Rita.
"Come on in," Rita said as she held her office door open.
Sofia felt like slugging the imperious older woman while she walked into
her office and slammed the door behind her.
"You have no right," Sofia screamed.
"I have every right," Rita countered in a calm voice that concealed the
nervousness running through her body.
"Let him work as a fucking guy, you sick bitch!"
"That's not our business model, and you know it better than most."
"It's not right. You can't make a man put on a fucking dress and call
him a maid!"
"Yes, I can. That's what I did and it worked quite well," Rita rejoined
in a calm, steady tone.
"How can you be so fucking cruel?"
"How can you be so dense?"
"You fucking bitch!"
"Why don't you payoff his debt? Rita countered.
Sofia bit her lip before Rita added, "You still don't have a job do you?
How long have you been looking? Was that job that was better than the
one I gave you just a mirage?"
"You're a cunt!"
"I did something with my life, dear! What have you done with yours,
other than insult people with that filthy, spoiled little mouth?" Rita
calmly countered as she seethed.
"You're so condescending!"
Rita sneered as she said, "But you like it."
"I fucking hate it."
"No. You don't. I saw it in you when you worked here. You were
humiliated by the things I made you do, but you seemed to like it."
"What?" Sofia replied, horrified that Rita may have noticed her
submissive tendencies.
"You can join your husband. You'd cut his time in half actually, but
that's up to you," Rita responded, hoping that the second half of her
plan would come to quick fruition.
"I couldn't do that..."
"What else have you brought to the marriage?"
"How can you say that?"
"You've given him no children; you don't work. That makes you a leech.
You should be happy that Jack's mother went when she did because Mia
would never have let you get away with your act with Jack."
"I love him."
"I know you say that. That's why I made him get you to sign the pre-nup.
I convinced him that it was to protect the business, but it was really to
protect him. I knew that you would eventually prove that you were not
really in love with him."
"That's why I am here. I love him, and I'm not letting you do this to
him."
"What? Keep the boy out of prison? Keep him from being raped? Preserve
the value of his interest in the business? Making sure that he has a
comfortable income coming in? Oh, I'm such a monstrous bitch, aren't I?"
Sofia's jaw dropped as she realized that Rita was not doing her worst to
her husband. Rita glared at her before she added, "But you...YOU...can't
handle the idea that it's YOUR husband working as a lowly cleaner and not
you."
"That's crazy," Sofia replied with blushing cheeks.
"What was that thesis you did? It was something about abused women and
it had an almost masochistic tone, almost like you envied the poor dears.
That's what you really hate the most about this. He's going to live the
fantasies that make you blush, and you're going to have to settle for
living them out through your husband."
Sofia shook her head at the truthful words that her former boss spoke.
Sensing her advantage, Rita pressed, "You should join your husband, if
you love him. We both know that you'll, at least, like it."
Rita's words made Sofia's cheeks grow flush.
"Did I touch a nerve?"
Sofia shook her head. Rita sensed she was right as she pressed, "Don't
think of it as giving into your urges. Think of it as helping out your
husband, if you need to justify it to yourself."
"I can't. I need a real job on my resume."
"Oh, I'll give you a professional title. I'll make it sound real nice."
"Why?"
"A reward for your loyalty to your husband. I never thought you had it
in you."
"I don't know."
"My offer stands, but it won't for long."
"So, I'd be cutting Jack's time in half."
"Yup. That's right," Rita replied.
"I guess I have to do it," Sofia replied with her eyes on the floor
before she hurried to add, "for him."
'How noble,' Rita thought while she struggled not to roll her eyes before
she responded with a cold tone, "You can come by tomorrow evening to
pickup your uniforms."
Sofia nodded, prompting Rita to add, "Don't worry I'll make sure that you
get the same treatment as your husband."
Rita's words brought a shiver up Sofia's spine. That she almost wanted
it, made it hard for Sofia to ward off her self-disgust.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following evening, Jack went back to the office with Sofia. He had
been incensed that she had agreed to Rita's terms. While he was happy to
half his informal sentence, he felt that the weight of it was his alone
to bear. He did not want his loving wife to pay for his sins.
Sofia's statements about them being a partnership warmed his heart. She
was far more accepting of the situation than he was. While his was a
feeling of resignation, she seemed to almost have a hint of interest in
seeing what it would be like. He could not understand it, but he knew
she had a strong submissive streak.
She frequently bent to his will and used her feminine charms to get him
to go her way. It was one of the things that attracted him to her.
As Jack pulled up in front of the office, he turned to his wife and
asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"I already agreed."
"But you didn't sign anything," Jack reminded her. He wanted her to know
that she still had the out that he did not have the luxury of possessing.
"We're in this together. For richer or poorer, for better or worse..."
"For cleaning up somebody else's mess," Jack said with a shake of his
head.
Sofia reached over and kissed him before she said, "I still love you."
"I know," Jack said with while he hung his head, disappointed in himself
and what he was forcing on his wife.
"If I didn't want this, I would let you do this alone," Sofia reminded
him.
'There's also the prenup,' Jack thought, knowing how little Sofia would
get if she left him so early into their marriage. He wondered if that
was what driving Sofia to accept her degradation and his feminization.
She may have realized that she could never do better than him, even if he
was stuck in a maid's uniform for years.
Sofia sensed the doubt on Jack's face. She cupped his chin and turned
his face towards hers as she asked, "Do you still love me?"
Jack looked into her eyes. He sensed a sincerity to her question. There
was a pained look in her face. Jack fought back the urge to cry over
what he had done to her. His doubts receded while he began to think they
were nothing more than hopes to make him feel less bad.
Jack nodded his head before Sofia said, "I need you to say it."
"I love you," Jack replied.
Sofia could sense the emotions behind his words. She kissed him and
said, "I'm ready, now."
Jack watched as Sofia got out of the car. As her silver, ballet flats
hit the ground, Jack forced open his door. Jack walked behind her for a
few steps before he caught up to her.
Jack opened the door for her before he followed her inside the building.
They walked to the office. After Jack opened the door for her once
again, they walked into the office suite and Jack rang the bell to get
Rita's attention.
Rita smiled as she came out of her office and saw Jack beside his wife.
She greeted him before the smile left her face as she stared at her
onetime employee. She could not wait to see the girl's face once she was
done with her.
Rita gave Sofia a cold glare before she inquired, "You haven't had any
seconds thought?"
Sofia clasped her husband's hand. She shook her head, not wanting to
give the domineering woman the satisfaction of thinking that she fazed
her.
Rita nodded her head before she walked away from them and into her
office. Sofia turned to Jack to ask, "What is she doing?"
Jack shrugged, unsure of the woman's angle. Rita returned with a piece
of paper in her hand. She put it on the ledge at the reception area and
pushed the contract towards Sofia to sign.
Sofia's eyes glossed over the contract. She shook her head as she said,
"I'm not an attorney."
"I know that," Rita replied coldly.
Jack looked it over and said, "It's basically the same contract I
signed."
Rita nodded before she added, "The terms mirror your husband's."
Sofia clasped her pen and looked at Jack. Jack gave her a nervous look.
He was not sure if she could bring herself to sign a paper requiring her
to work under Rita's thumb again.
Sofia turned away from her husband as she thought, 'I'm doing this.'
Jack watched in shock as Sofia signed the document with far less
hesitation than he had. As her hand moved from the paper, Rita said,
"Welcome to the company."
"It's more of a welcome back," Sofia replied.
Rita glared at Sofia as she reminded her new employee, "The first rule
for every Maidenly Maid is to never talk back to your boss or customer."
Sofia gritted her teeth before she offered a nod. Rita grinned in
response before she opened the door and said, "The stylist is ready for
you."
"What for?" Sofia inquired.
"Have you taken a good look at yourself lately?"
Sofia gave her boss a dumbstruck look before Rita added, "Do you think
you fit the image of one of our maid's?"
"Well, I didn't think..."
"You have to look the part or this won't work," Rita responded, cutting
her new employee off.
"Is she ready?" A stylist interjected from the next room.
Rita looked at Sofia, waiting for her to reply. Sofia turned to the
woman and said, "I'm ready."
The stylist sat her down in the kitchenette in the same spot she had put
Jack in the day before. The small kitchenette felt even more crowded to
Jack with a fourth person in it.
"Jacqui, dear, why don't you wait in the doorway," Rita ordered.
Jack nodded as he moved into the doorway and watched the stylist put a
smock around his wife before she began to apply color to her hair. He
shook his head while he watched the dark mixture being pulled down his
wife's hair.
From the color of the hair on the box, Sofia realized that it was close
to the natural hair color that she had inherited from her Greek parents.
It was a color that she had not let her hair have since she was 14. She
always felt that the near black color made her look plain. Now, she was
letting it back onto her head without a fight. She knew that plain was
the look she was going for.
The stylist worked the dye into Sofia's hair as she said, "You've got
such thick hair."
"My husband likes it that way," Sofia replied.
"It's natural right?"
"Except the color," Sofia admitted.
"It's suitable for a maid," Rita added.
Sofia blushed as the stylist nodded before she began to apply highlights
to her hair. Sofia was intrigued by them. They looked to be a much
different color than any she had ever had put in her hair before.
"What color are those?" Sofia asked.
"All things will be revealed in due time," Rita chided.
Sofia nodded before she shot Jack a nervous look. Jack could not tell
what effect the color was having on her hair, but the streaks were
clearly in stark contrast with the rest of her hair. He figured that
they were trying to give her a cheap looking, pseudo self-dyed hair that
some of the maids they employed sported.
While they waited for the color to seep into her hair, the stylist took
out her makeup remover and approached Sofia's face. Sofia gave Rita a
glance as she asked, "Why are you taking off my makeup?"
"We can't have you doing anything to make yourself prettier. We'll see
if you need any makeup once we take it all off."
Sofia felt a quiver run through her before she submitted to the stylist.
The stylist set about removing nearly every trace of makeup from the
girl's face.
Jack watched as his wife's features became less defined and plainer. The
unevenness of her perpetually tanned skin tone became as apparent as it
was each morning before she did her makeup.
Once the stylist finished taking off her makeup, she turned to Rita and
asked her opinion. Rita shook her head as she said, "I don't think she
needs any makeup. She's plain enough without it."
Sofia felt a tingle between her legs as she clutched at her sides beneath
the smock. The stylist then chatted with Rita before a timer went off
and she got Sofia to her feet to wash out the dye. Jack watched the dye
run off her head and into the sink as the new color of his wife's hair
became clear.
His jaw dropped as the water ran clear and there was no doubt that he was
looking at meandering grey streaks running throughout Sofia's hair. He
shook his head, afraid that his vain wife would freak out once she
realized that she was given the appearance of a woman who had given up
trying to maintain her appearance.
With the dye out of Sofia's hair, she was stood up. Her eyes turned to
her shoulders and caught sight of the grey streaks that Jack had been
looking at it in her thick hair.
She was stunned by it. She had never expected them.
"What the hell?" She shrieked.
"Don't take that tone in my presence," Rita ordered.
"Why did you do this?"
"I asked if you looked at yourself recently."
Sofia gave her another dumbfounded look before Rita explained, "Our maids
are presentable, but they're not good looking. Good-looking girls don't
work as maids. Society gives them other options."
"But you didn't do this to Jack. I thought it would just be black."
Rita laughed before she said, "Take a look at him. He's not in your
league. He doesn't need grey streaks to look homely."
Jack nodded, agreeing with the assessment. He knew that his feminized
appearance was well below that of the average girl.
Sofia realized that Rita might be right. A part of her was also turned
on by the coloring while she sat back down and let her hair be blown dry.
Once the stylist put down the hairdryer, Rita paid the woman for her
services before she saw the girl out of the suite. Rita locked the door
behind her before she started back towards the kitchenette to present
Sofia with the rest of the items that she was going to sport with her new
appearance.
Rita stopped into her office and took hold of the thick-rimmed glasses
and tooth makeup before she walked into the kitchenette. She grinned at
the sight of Sofia holding Jack's hand. She loved to see the girl
nervous.
Rita forced the grin away from her face while she handed Sofia a pair of
glasses and said, "These are for you?"
Sofia looked at the black glasses before she said, "Are they real."
"In your prescription."
"How do you know that..."
"It was in your records from when you worked here. They're the same
prescription as your contacts."
Sofia nodded before she put the glasses down.
"No, put them on."
Sofia looked for a place to put her disposable contacts down before Rita
added, "You can wear them home."
Sofia quivered at the thought of wearing such glasses home. She never
wore glasses in public since she was child. She hated the way they
looked and was eager to get into contacts the first chance she got.
That was a different her though, Sofia concluded while she removed her
right contact from her dark brown eye. She put it on the countertop
before she did the same with the left. Through the blurry room, she
reached for the glasses and brought them up onto the bridge of her nose.
Rita struggled not to smirk at the way Sofia looked in the glasses. With
the hair, she was certain the girl looked several notches below the way
she did on her worst day before she woke up that morning.
Jack's stomach churned while he looked at his wife. She looked like she
had gained a decade in age or more in under an hour. He clasped his
fingers into fists, wanting to kill himself for her forcing her into such
a horrid position.
After taking in Sofia's new appearance for a moment, Rita handed her a
brown bottle. Sofia looked over the bottle that looked similar to nail
polish. The only indication it was different was the label reading
'Tooth Coloring.'
"What do I need this for?" Sofia asked as she read the word beneath the
description, 'Nicotine.'
"Your teeth are too white for a maid's," Rita explained in response.
"Is this stuff permanent?" Sofia inquired with some alarm that made Rita
laugh.
She shook her head as she turned the bottle around and showed her the
instruction labels that advised the coloring washed off with toothpaste
or rubbing alcohol on a swab.
"Coloring's an old theater trick. I expect you to do it everyday," Rita
said in a matter of fact tone.
Sofia nodded before Rita added, "Why don't you demonstrate it now?"
"Do you have a mirror?" Sofia inquired.
Rita nodded before she retrieved the makeup mirror she kept in her desk
and handed it to the girl. Sofia took it with a short thanks that made
Rita grin, enjoying being thanked by the girl for helping her appear
uglier.
Jack watched with a feeling of deep shame while he watched his wife paint
her chemically brightened white smile with the contents of the bottle.
He could see the instant discoloration as her teeth took on a streaky
yellow and brownish color that seemed to show evidence of decades of
smoking.
'I can't believe she's doing this,' Jack thought with a shake of his
head, amazed by her dedication to him and despondent over his role in
letting it happen.
Jack's eyes focused on Sofia's face. He saw an odd look on it. It was a
look he sometimes saw when he took charge with her.
Sofia struggled to keep the smile off her face as she glanced at her
discolored teeth. Sofia did not want to give Rita the satisfaction that
would accompany further proof of how right she had been about her
assessment of her.
While Sofia's eyes veered to looking over the rest of her new appearance
in the mirror, Rita went to get her uniforms. She took them with a
fleeting smile before she walked back into the kitchenette.
"Here are your uniforms. I expect you to wear our uniforms with pride,
whether you're in a customer's home or riding to and from work on the
bus."
The sound of Rita's voice, caused Sofia to pull her eyes away from her
temporarily discolored smile before she heard her husband counter their
boss, "We have cars."
"Most of our maids do not have cars," Rita chided before she said, "You
girls haven't been here long enough to afford the luxury of a jalopy, let
alone the cars you drive."
Jack nodded, understanding her point while Sofia felt a tingle between
her legs as she thought about being reduced to riding the bus to work.
She took the uniforms from her boss with a more intense tingle running
through her nether regions.
Sofia looked over the cheaper polyester of the powder blue uniforms and
white aprons. They were very different from the skirt suits and
pantsuits she had worn into the office when she last worked for the
company. Rita sensed Sofia's self-hating enjoyment of the thought of
wearing the uniform to work.
As Sofia clutched the uniforms to her chest, Rita said, "Now, as I'm sure
you guessed, you two know that you're not Jack and Sofia Kaufman anymore.
We could not risk letting you work with those names or even some girly
take off on Jack. As far as everyone in this company is concerned, your
names are Francia Ferrerra and Satcha Mencia."
Jack and Sofia exchanged nervous glances at the sound of their Spanish
names. While Jack's mother was Puerto Rican, he carried on the name of
his late father. While he bore a closer resemblance to his mother, he
felt it was disrespectful to his father's memory to answer to any other
name. Still, he understood Rita's point before Rita continued, "As far
as anyone at your level of the company is concerned, you are two Honduran
immigrant cleaners. Do you understand?"
Jack and Sofia nodded before Rita continued, "Now, since both of you are
fluent in Spanish, this should not be much of an issue, but you need to
remember who you are. You are not to speak English to each other or any
employee. They expect you to speak Spanish only. You two know only a
little bit of English and you can speak that in some accented tone to any
of our clients who have something to say to you. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Sofia said while Jack nodded.
Rita shot Sofia a glare and said, "Say it correctly, Satcha."
Understanding her point, Sofia said with a heavily accented tone, "Si."
Rita nodded before she told them to go home and rest up for the first day
on the job. Jack and Sofia noted their understanding before they were
shown out the door to head home for the evening, looking far different
from the fledgling power couple they had been two days prior.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On Monday morning, Jack and Sofia got up far earlier than they were
accustomed. They showered and ate before they each began to get dressed
for the day ahead.
Jack slithered the bodysuit up his body before his hands reached between
his legs. The uncomfortable pull made him cringe for a second before he
zippered the crotch of the bodysuit shut.
His fingers pulled away from his smoothened groin that his eyes could not
help but linger on. The absence of any indication that he was a man made
it seem as if the garment had been designed to mock him. It made it all
to clear that he was no longer a man.
Jack fought back tears as his arms worked through the shoulder straps.
His hands then reached to fasten the front closures that made the
bodysuit conform to the figure that it was reshaping through its
tightness and padding.
With the bodysuit in place, Jack reached for a pair of suntan pantyhose.
The stylist's instructions repeated in his mind as he rolled the
pantyhose down into two tight donuts before he unfurled the pantyhose up
his smooth legs, one side at a time.
Sofia caught the image of her husband putting on pantyhose out of the
corner of her eye. She was transfixed for a moment by the image he cut
as he shimmed from side to side before bending down to adjust and smooth
out the pantyhose over his hairless legs.
Her eyes examined his body. The bust provided by the padding of the
bodysuit was small and gave him the appearance of being bottom heavy.
His girlish crotch made her wonder if she could think of him as her
husband for long. She felt slightly sick by the sight of his feminized
appearance.
Jack turned as he caught a glimpse of his wife. Their eyes met for a
fleeting second before Jack's head snapped away from his wife with
blushing cheeks.
As Jack's shame burned him deeply, Sofia hurried out of the room for the
bathroom as she thought, 'Oh, my God. She's such a sissy.'
Jack tried to get what he was sure his wife was thinking out of his mind.
He reached for one of his uniforms and pulled the dress over his head
before he began to button up the front of the dress.
By the time Jack slipped his feet into his plain, black shoes, his wife
was already dressed. He went into the bathroom and moved beside her to
do his makeup.
His wife gave him a jealous look, wishing that she could wear some of her
own as she tied her thick, salt and pepper hair back in a low ponytail.
She shook her head at her makeup less and glasses adorned reflection in
the mirror.
'I look like a fucking old maid,' she thought to herself with a mix of
arousal and despair.
She walked out of the room and worked her hand down her panties while her
husband put on his makeup. Jack remembered the advice he had been given
as he added each cosmetic to his face.
Jack was horrified that his unskilled hands somehow made his makeup look
even more clownish than it had been the day before. Jack shook his head
as he put on his contacts and glasses and wondered how he could show his
face like this.
It had been bad enough walking through the building and to his car. He
knew that many more people were going to get a view of him that day.
As the sound of Jack's shoes clacking on the wood floor reached Sofia's
ears, she hastily withdrew her fingers from her pussy. She pulled up her
pantyhose and let down the front of her apron-fronted uniform before she
said, "Are you almost ready?"
Jack nodded while he put his makeup into one of Sofia's cheaper
pocketbooks from before their marriage. Sofia put her pocketbook on her
shoulder and walked towards the door to their garage.
Jack followed behind her. Sofia turned and saw that the Jack was moving
slower than she was. She realized that her eagerness might be giving her
away, so she forced a scowl to her face.
The scowl made Jack cringe. His self-hatred for what he had done to both
their lives raged at the sight.
"Come on," Sofia said in a forced, resigned tone.
Jack nodded with downcast eyes while he went down the steps behind
towards his car. Jack went to get into the car before he paused to open
the garage door behind them.
Jack wondered how they would appear to any neighbors who saw a pair of
maids in a luxury car. It had to be strange sight.
"Do you want me to drive?" Sofia asked as she noticed his hesitation on
the gear stick.
Jack blinked a few times before she added, "I look closer to the picture
on my license."
Jack turned and saw the reassuring smile that his wife had forced upon
her face. He forced a smile to his face to reciprocate hers before he
took up her offer.
Sofia nodded before they each got out of the car. They walked around the
front of the car and passed each other as Jack thought, 'I don't deserve
her.'
Jack got back into the car and Sofia shifted it into drive. She pulled
the car down the driveway while his stomach sank.
Jack looked around the neighborhood as his wife drove. Like most
mornings, there were few people on the street, except for one group of
landscapers working on a neighbor's lawn.
Jack let out a sigh of relief while they made it out of their
neighborhood. Sofia gave him a concerned look in response. She clutched
his hand. Her act of compassion only made him more despondent and sure
that she was too good for him.
Sofia pulled her hand away when she pulled his car into a park and ride.
She parked before they walked towards the bus stop. People were gathered
at it while the morning sunshine beat down upon them. No one was
speaking to one another, so Jack and Sofia decided to act in-kind. As
the bus came into view, the two exchanged glances, knowing what was
awaiting them when they got off the bus.
'I can't believe we're doing this,' Jack thought. He fought back the
urge to cry, not wanting to show any more weakness to his wife given what
she had seen already.
Jack followed his wife onto the bus. Jack gave a wary look at the people
on the bus before he and his wife took open seats that were facing one
another.
They made a few statements to one another in Spanish, but that brought
dirty looks from some of the other riders. They spent the rest of the
ride in silence, wondering what awaited them when they got off at their
stop.
As they got off the bus, the two walked down the sidewalk of the
industrial park. The half-mile walk seemed longer than Jack imagined it
could be as vehicles passed by them. Jack wished that they had been
allowed to drive an old jalopy, but, for the interim, Rita had forbid it.
He figured, with time, it would be more likely that they could be thought
of as able to afford such a vehicle.
Walking up to the garage, Jack's eyes caught sight of Rita's car. He was
startled by the sight for a second. Rita rarely went to the garage
unless there was a problem, since she left the day-to-day supervision of
the staff to her managers.
As Jack reached for the door, Rita pushed it open and ordered the
cleaners to stand in line and face forward for an image control
inspection. The manager stood aside as the girls stood up against the
walls of the garage. Jack and Sofia hurried to join the other maids and
stood perfectly still.
Rita looked over the first maid from her shoes to her head and told her
to tie her ponytail back tighter. Under the CEO's glare, the middle-aged
woman instantly complied with fumbling fingers.
The next girl's uniform was criticized for having visible water spots on
it. Sofia quivered as she heard the warning the maid was given to ensure
that her uniform was properly cleaned from now on. She daydreamed about
it being her, even as she knew that she would likely not escape criticism
that morning.
As Rita moved on from one girl to the next, she moved into Jack's
peripheral vision. Jack stared straight ahead as Rita reached him. She
had never appeared more imperial to him than she did as she stood in her
tailored, below the knee, skirt suit. Her expensive outfit and heels
were in stark contrast to the cheap polyester, white collared dress and
white sneakers he was wearing.
Jack wondered if every employee felt as insignificant in her presence.
She seemed something more than he ever realized. She was a domineering
figure despite her small stature, grey hair and wrinkles.
Sofia had seen it in her before. She noticed it the first time she
walked into the office. The woman had an authoritarian streak, but she
never showed it to Jack. She wondered if he was finally sensing it for
the first time now that he was being forced to withstand her scrutinizing
gaze.
Rita looked Jack over before she said, "Trim your eyebrows, you're
supposed to be maidenly."
Jack only nodded while Sofia quivered, waiting to hear what the woman
would say to her. Rita sneered at her as she ordered, "Stand up
straight, girl."
Rita immediately complied with the order before Sofia gazed into her eyes
and said, "Poor posture is evidence of a lack of class. Do you
understand?"
"Si?" Sofia replied remembering her place and role.
Jack squirmed as he watched his wife being berated. He hated hims