Delilah was tired. She hadn’t slept particularly well, as she had found herself restless after the events of the previous evening, from arousal more than anything else. She hadn’t dared touch herself, however. Self-restraint, she had thought to herself over and over. She was sure Ms. Verity would be proud of that.
She had arrived on floor sixty-four half an hour early, but after knocking on the door to Ms. Verity’s office with no response, she had ultimately ended up loitering around, fiddling with her bag. The wide corridor had plenty of room for chairs. Delilah wondered if she should suggest putting some there, now she was an employee of the department. Or perhaps, she could…
“Can I help you?” A voice brought her mind back into focus.
“Oh, I…” She turned to find a woman standing in the doorframe of another office just off the central hallway.
“Ms. V won’t be here for another few minutes, but she doesn’t take non-urgent appointments in the morning anyway. Did you want to leave a message, or…?”
“No, no, I’m the new girl. Um… I was told to be here at eight. I figured I should get here a bit early… I’m Delilah Tilly if that helps?”
“Delilah… Delilah Tilly… Ah! Of course!” A look of realisation dawned on the woman. “Cherry told me to expect this at some point. I didn’t realise it would be quite so soon, though… She could have given me a bit more of a heads-up…” She began to mumble to herself before cutting herself off and extending a hand. “Amy Estevez, Senior Administrator for the department.”
Delilah shook it. A thought dawned on her. She had to assume that this was one of the submissives Ms. Verity had mentioned offhand as if it were nothing. She was a little surprised. While she could picture Cherry and Ms. Verity… Well, she tried to move her mind from what she could picture them doing together, Amy seemed like any other person who worked in Grandvale-Lilton. She wore fairly regular office attire - White blouse, grey jacket and trousers, brunette hair tied back in a ponytail; There was little out of the ordinary, save for a red, silk scarf tied around her neck that added a touch of colour and flair.
“I’m Delilah. Delilah Tilly. Still.” Damnit. She had already told her her name. “I do… Uh… Well, I guess I did data entry and stuff, mostly. On floor three.”
“Way down there in the trenches, huh? What did a little worker bee,“ a phrase Delilah was almost able predict before Amy had even said it, “like you do catch Ms. V’s eye? Something naughty?” Delilah bit her lip. Naughty? She thought. Well… As she was about to answer, Amy cut her off. “Wait, don’t tell me. No time. She’ll be here soon and she’ll want to talk to you once she’s got her coffee, so I better get you started...” She led Delilah swiftly down the corridor, pointing to each door along the way – Breakroom, supply cupboard, bathrooms down the hall and to the left.
Opening a door halfway down, she led Delilah into a large room lined with row after row of slightly dusty metal filing cabinets. “Now, assuming she has in mind for you what I think she does, this should be yours,” she said as she patted a desk against one of the walls, empty save for a computer. “While Ms. V does think there’s a certain dramatic flair that comes with brandishing a folder, I.T. won’t get off my back about ‘data storage modernisation’… So she is finally relenting and needs someone to back up… Well, all these files onto the system.”
Great. Delilah’s new job was essentially the same, just sixty-one floors higher. She sighed, placing her bag down. At the very least, she would be closer to Ms. Verity up here. She wondered how much Amy saw of their boss. More than the girl tucked away behind a filing cabinet, most likely, she thought. “I mean, that’s nothing too hard. But sitting in a dusty file room isn’t exactly what I had in mind…”
“Oh, yeah?” Amy pulled open a drawer and rifled through the folders. “Well, before you came along, I’ve had to do this so far, and it’s a bit below my pay grade too. We don’t always end up in jobs we expect.” She turned and dropped a stack of folders onto the desk. “No offence, of course. What did you have in mind?”
Delilah looked around at the metal columns that filled the room. She could hardly say ‘being on my knees under our boss’s desk all day’ as she had often fantasised about over the last month. “Honestly, I’m… Not actually sure. Ms. Verity didn’t really say… She just asked if I wanted to work for her last night and I said yes.”
“Wow. Short notice. No wonder nobody had told me you were coming today. So, Ms. V told you to jump, and you just asked how high?”
“I wouldn’t… When you put it like that…”
Amy chuckled, hardly seeming to listen to Delilah’s reply. “Oh, I bet she loved that. Doing exactly what she says, without even thinking? I think I can guess what she sees in you!” She winked playfully. Delilah was about to protest, but Amy hardly seemed interested, already turning back to the desk. “Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s what you expected. You can do it, can’t you?” She grabbed a folder from a desk and pulled out the papers inside. “Most of the stuff in here should be on the system already. The main things we care about are rule violations and disciplinary actions. Most of the time, it’s nothing interesting. Some unauthorised days off here, sloppy work there… It doesn’t matter either way. Anything to get them into Ms. V’s sphere.”
Delilah furrowed her brow a little. “Her sphere?”
Amy stopped rifling through the folder. “Sphere of influence. It’s usually the little things that pull you into it. And once she can watch you, she always finds something a little bigger. A little more serious. Or at least something she can construe as more serious. Suddenly, you’re worth looking at even closer. She’s permitted to look into your out-of-work activities – for entirely work-related purposes, of course – until she finds something she can bring you under her thumb, and keep you there. Just in case she ever has need of you.” The way she jumped from step to step made it sound like the most obvious process in the world. Delilah frowned.
“That… Sounds like blackmail…”
Amy tutted. “It’s all stuff she could, at a minimum, pull any employee aside for a warning for. It’d all go on file anyway. It’s just that this way, useful employees don’t get punished over silly little things, so long as they otherwise stay in line. Everyone wins! And if someone really wanted to avoid any of that, there’s a simple solution: Don’t do anything wrong in the first place.” Delilah contemplated just how long she might have been on Ms. Verity’s radar, but her trail of thought was cut off by a relieved sigh from the room’s entrance.
A mousy-looking woman with pastel-pink dyed hair had stuck her head around the door. “Oh, Amy. Thank goodness, I’ve been looking all over for you. Could you call Facilities? The coffee machine’s working, but it’s being so slow and…” She trailed off as she saw Delilah leaning against the desk. “Oh, um… H-hello…” Delilah was about to greet her in turn, but the girl’s focus had already shifted to Amy, beckoning her over. “Is she… The new girl?” Violet whispered as Amy approached, looking from her to Delilah. “The one Cherry said would probably be coming soon?”
“Yes, she is. Violet, this is Delilah. Delilah, this is Violet.”
Delilah raised her hand to wave a little, but once more, Violet had already turned back to Amy. “And… And that means I’m no longer…?” She mimed a ladder with her hands and pointed downwards.
“I suppose not,” Amy shrugged.
A flash of excitement shot across Violet’s face. “And… And… And so that means I finally get a chance to…?”
Amy nodded along with another shrug. “I suppose so, if you really want to.” She tried to appear disinterested, but it was hard to disguise the curl in the corner of her mouth.
Violet turned to Delilah and stepped forward, pausing for a moment. “Hey! New girl!” In the silence, Delilah could hear her breath quivering just a little. “I… Um… I w-want you to kneel?” Her inflection made it sound like a question, her voice just as shaky as her breath.
“Huh?” Delilah was caught off-guard.
“I said… I want you to kneel. Now!” Violet said as assertively as she could muster. Delilah turned to Amy, only to find her raising an eyebrow, giving her no clue what was expected of her. She slowly sank to her knees. Violet could hardly hide her stunned look, quickly turning back to Amy to excitedly clap her hands in a way that undermined her attempt at appearing stern.
“I want you to… Um… Ah! I know! Expose yourself!” All the same, she was rapidly growing in confidence and it was obvious.
“H-huh? I can’t when I’m…” She looked to Amy for help but only found her leaning back against the wall, watching with curiosity.
“Just… Don’t question! Just do what I said!” Violet did her best to put on an intimidating frown. It wasn’t the most convincing – all of it felt performative, as if the pastel-haired woman was doing what she thought she should, or perhaps just could, rather than what came naturally – but Delilah slowly lifted her skirt and tugged her panties aside. By this point, her cheeks were turning crimson, and she found it easier to look off to the side rather than make eye contact.
Violet slowly started circling Delilah, looking down at her. Delilah watched her legs leave and step into her view again. “Now, I want you to…” Violet abruptly froze as she stepped back behind Delilah. Delilah turned around and saw her staring in the direction of the door. There, leaning in the door frame with her arms crossed, was Ms. Verity.
“Don’t stop on my account,” she said. “Continue,” she motioned with her hand.
Violet remained still for a moment, before circling once more. “I… Um… I would like you to… Uh…” She clenched her hands, palms becoming clammy. Her voice was shaky once more, and her confidence had evaporated.
“I told you to continue, Miss Zeiger. You’ve been in her position more than enough times to know how this goes.”
“I-I…” Her cheeks had turned just as rosy as Delilah’s. Delilah looked from Violet to Ms. Verity, uncertain of what to do.
Ms. Verity chuckled a little and shook her head. “Very well…” Stepping forward, she beckoned Violet over to stand in front of Delilah. “First of all, you really ought to stand up straight, dear. You’ll never command respect while slouching.” She placed her hands on the small of Violet’s back, forcing a little gasp from her, and adjusted her posture. “You shouldn’t be letting her gaze wander like that either. In the moment, you must be the focus of her entire world.” Reaching around her, she took a firm grip on Delilah’s jaw and turned her until she was made to look directly into Violet’s eyes. “And finally, you shouldn’t be telling her what you want her to do. You should tell her what she will do. Now, tell her. Give her an order. Something simple.”
Violet paused, trying to think of something off-the-cuff to command. “I wan-…” Violet cut herself off. She stared directly into Delilah’s eyes. “Kiss the tip of my shoe.” There was still some uncertainty in her voice, but it was clear she was suppressing it with all her might. Delilah’s eyes flicked to Ms. Verity for just a second, as if seeking approval. She stared down at her expectantly. She was uncertain whether it was Violet alone compelling her, or the fact that she was backed by Ms. Verity, but after a moment’s hesitation, Delilah slowly lowered herself onto all fours and placed a kiss on the tip of one of her shiny black Mary Janes.
“Wonderfully done,” Ms. Verity beamed. She placed her hands on Violet’s shoulders and leaned down until her lips were less than an inch from her ear. “Now, Miss Zeiger. While I can see you’re enjoying having a subordinate of your own, let’s not forget your own position. Tell me. When I task you with bringing coffee to my office precisely when I arrive each morning, am I merely telling you what I want, or am I telling you what you will do?”
“W-what I will do, miss.” Violet’s forced confidence had evaporated. She was like putty in Ms. Verity’s hands.
“Then is there a reason you have not done it yet?”
“I’m sorry, miss. The machine was slow, and then I-I got distracted…”
“Don’t apologise. Just be a good girl and do it.” Violet nodded profusely as Ms. Verity stood back up. Once Violet had stepped out of the way, Delilah was left looking up at her new boss, a position she was quickly becoming intimately familiar with. “I see you already understand what it means to be at the bottom of the department hierarchy, Miss Tilly.”
“Believe it or not, I didn’t have to tell her,” Amy added, picking a folder up off Delilah’s desk and tucking it back away in the drawer it came from.
“Oh, I can believe it,” Ms. Verity chuckled, before turning back to Delilah and lifting a finger. “Come. My office. We need to have a little chat. Ms. Estevez can sort out your new contract and finish showing you around this afternoon.”
Delilah dusted off her knees and they started walking down the hallway. “I-I… Um… I hope that woman isn’t in trouble because of me. Honestly, it’s probably partially my fault, really, I…”
“Miss Zeiger? There’s no need to try to be a martyr, Miss Tilly. She may need a little ‘reminder’ about the coffee, but no. I’m impressed, not angry. Here I am, thinking that she doesn’t have a dominant bone in her body, and yet she still manages to surprise me. It would be awfully useful to have another under me who knows how to be dominant, should the situation call for it.” Ms. Verity turned to Delilah and flashed a grin. “It would simply mean she would be better able to act as a perfect instrument of my will.”
As the two reached the door of Ms. Verity’s office, Violet rushed after them, a cup and saucer in hand, and held it out to her boss. “I-I’m so sorry for the delay, Ms. Verity. It won’t happen again.”
“No, it certainly won’t,” Ms. Verity said firmly as she took the up. She bent down and whispered, “Come by my office at around three. We’re going to have a little talk about your behaviour back there.” Pushing the door open with her hip, Ms. Verity stepped into her office while Violet was left with a look of uncertainty on her face.
Turning back, Delilah leant over and whispered, “Don’t worry, she’s not mad at you,” before closing the door behind her. It was an unusual feeling, to be the one in the loop rather than out of it.
