Lionsheart

Chapter 26: The Office Baby Chad met her gaze, his eyes blinking away a fleeting thought as he smirked, “Let’s get you dressed and then have a little talk before you can go train alongside Derek, hm?” He knew her skirt she wore that day had a wet patch he had caught when he slipped down her skirt earlier. Not to mention, he doubted it would go over the diaper. If it did, the diaper would be obvious in the tight-fitted skirt. His mind mused at making her wear that skirt another time, he'd show her mercy today. Chad went to the closet, fetching a skater style black skirt within the few items he had. He noted he’d have to do some shopping that weekend for more items. He would need a lot more things soon than what he had in his inventory currently. He only had the supplies he did in the opportunity to diaper her sprang about and didn’t expect it’d be this soon. Luckily, he had a little stash for this impromptu situation. Emma nodded as he approached with the skirt and she stood, eyes flicking over the mid-length skirt. It was a much shorter skirt than she’d ever worn in the office or in her normal day-to-day life. Chad kneeled in front of her, and she felt instantly heated, as he was meeting her at eye level with his stare. The idea of this man on his knees, helping her into a skirt made her knees weak and the thought brought her to a new intensity of fuzziness. One that made her mind flood with desire. “Step in, baby Emma.” He coaxed her back to reality gently, waiting for her as he held the skirt out, unzipped. She nodded, stepping and losing balance a bit as he quickly gripped her hips. Emma’s mouth opened at the contact, feeling flustered by proximity and him touching her hips. “Put your hands on my shoulders, then step little one. I know you’re just learning to walk and we’ll take it slow, hm?” He said, the belittling jab and him being so close giving her stomach butterflies. Why did she have butterflies? Fuck, Emma thought, trying to regain her footing on Earth because she obviously had fallen off the planet. She put her hands lightly on his shoulders and stepped in. He pulled her skirt up, his fingertips skimming up her thighs in a caress and then they danced over the diaper. He adjusted the skirt, zipping it and straightening her camisole over her skirt, “There, how’s that?” He wished he had a onesie for her as his eyes glanced at the satin camisole. It was more sexy than cute, which was not his preference. Emma looked down, feeling air too close for comfort on her bottom, shifting her weight on her legs and feeling the ever-present softness in the diaper that pushed her legs apart. Luckily, the skirt was doubled lined and moved with her. It covered the diaper sufficiently, but not enough to make her not paranoid. “Good, I guess.” She said, her voice raspy from crying and her lack of water. “Mhm, only good? I thought you’d be feeling much better than just good that your now wearing appropriate padding.” He stood, his fingertips grazing the bottom of her skirt and pulling it up to remind her of the diaper underneath, “You should be thankful that I’m letting you wear a skirt the rest of the working day. Hm?” He held the edge of the skirt, eyes smoldering in intensity down to her. Emma gulped, still parched, “Yes, thank you.” She chirped quickly, eyes shifting at the thought of him considering not letting her wear anything to cover the diaper that day. He couldn’t be serious, could he? Part of her called bullshit on that one, yet the other part of her didn’t want to tempt fate. Chad let the skirt edge fall, swishing over her soft thighs softly as he broke his stare, taking her wrist gently and pulling her behind him to the chair, “Sit. We need to go over a few more things, then you can go to Derek’s office.” Emma nodded, sitting as he hovered for a moment and then walked to behind the desk, patting the remnants of powder off his hands before looking to her. “What else do we need to talk about? I think I understand everything now.” Emma asked between the silence that fell between them. Chad suppressed a smile tugging at his expression, eyes bouncing playfully, “Since this daddy and little girl relationship dynamic is new to you, there’s a few things you should be aware of and boundaries I want to set.” Daddy. The word made her tingle with a new level of arousal when looking to him. “Okay.” She said, awaiting what he had to say patiently. Chad’s eyes studied hers, “You will address me as your Daddy in private settings. I will not respond to you calling me by name and will reprimand with the appropriate consequences if you say it. The first time will be a warning, the second time I will punish you. Understood?” He said, Emma’s brain fuzzy with the word. She knew he was a daddy dom but hearing him say it aloud to her made it so much more real. Fuck, Chad was a real daddy dominant, sitting so casually in front of her very eyes. Graham would be teasing her for a lifetime if he ever found out. Emma nod, “Yes.” “Yes what?” He asked, head tilting. Emma bit her lip, flushing at the humiliation of being forced to say it, “Yes, Daddy.” “Good girl.” He praised, crossing his arms and sitting back with a smile placed on his face, “You will call me Mr. Williams in public. Same rules apply as calling me Daddy in private. One warning is all you get.” She nodded, and he studied her messy hair for a moment in thought, “The next thing is, you are not allowed to remove your diaper yourself. No and, buts or ifs. You need to ask me prior to leaving for the day or you will spend the night in it, and I’ll change you the next day." Spend a whole day in it? Emma bit her tongue, remembering the pain of her most recent spanking that kept her quiet. "This rule only applies to your diapers. Pullups, training pants and other garments you’ll have other privileges for.” Emma blinked at the phrase he said, her mind going back to it. Your diapers. That one burned. She sucked in a slow breath, realizing this was already harder than anticipated. She had to ask to take the diaper off before the end of the day? Sometimes Chad left before the staff… he wouldn’t do that on purpose, would he? “What if, uhm, I can’t find you before the end of day?” Emma asked, on edge. He gave a wickedly handsome smile with his canines, “You’ll have to wear it until the next day.” Emma shifted, the softness of the diaper absorbing her wetness that wasn’t from peeing, “But- what if I, uh, need to…” He ended her thought, “Go number 2? I’ll give you a grace period for now. You’ll have to text me for permission before you take it off. If I find you took it off without permission, I’ll take away that privilege. Understood?” The threat of that privilege being taken away made her shift again. “Yes… Daddy.” She said, the words feeling cute but also awkward in her suddenly smaller voice. “The other thing is, if I’m absent for a longer time than anticipated or it’s necessary when I’m not around, my staff that know about our arrangement are allowed to change you.” Emma froze at the thought, “Who knows about this?” Her mind buzzing to Jessica, Eric, Jose, Megan or Charity. Nope, there was no way Chad would go that far, right? “Only Sav and Derek, for now.” The subtle threat of him telling more people made her dizzy with embarrassment, “Those are the people I’ve spoken with about this who I’d trust handling you.” Emma felt the odd premonition of seeing the wrath of Sav eventually. Emma hadn’t exposed her publicly, but she was sure Chad would tell Sav about their conversation about how Emma found Chad's profile on Fetlife. Derek had a way of talking to his submissives that she internally cringed, wondering what would ensue in her future. She didn’t think Derek was even close in comparison in humiliation and dominance like Chad, but he could give bars in his chats she read. She didn’t know how his roleplay was because she hadn’t seen that side, but she feared it was coming soon. Chad opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a single ruled notebook and a pen, pushing it to her across the desk, “While your with Derek, I’m going to give you homework to complete before 4PM. I want you to write down all your subscriptions, accounts, software’s, and apps with logins and passwords. When I give back your phone before the end of day, I want you to be near your phone to text me the codes and two-factor authentication numbers later tonight.” Chad said, eyes unwavering in seriousness. Emma gulped, feeling the weight of what that meant, “So… all accounts, like Netflix?” “Yes and more. This includes your internet service, banking accounts, personal email, your monthly subscriptions, everything and anything you can think of that’s an online payment. I’ll ask you probably for more when I go into your bank statements.” Chad smiled with a twinkle in his eyes, enjoying her shocked face of reality settling in as her face looked like it was in fear of what she may have in the recesses of her data that no one accessed besides her. She nodded, “Okay.” Chad asked, “Any questions?” Emma shook her head, “I don’t think so.” He glanced at his clock and then to her, standing, “Good, I have a meeting in ten minutes so I’ll walk you over to Derek’s office now so I can get back to work.” Emma nodded, standing and realizing she was still barefoot. Chad came over, as if he read her mind, “Sit again, I’ll help you into these.” He said, kneeling again and taking her 1-inch black platform heels and sliding them on, buckling the straps as his fingers grazed the top of her small and dainty feet. Chad stood, looking down to Emma who stood and grabbed the notebook and pen. He led the way out, opening the door. As she walked forward, she felt the swish of the skirt, hearing the crinkling of the diaper with each step and feeling the unfamiliar air touching her mid thighs. No woman in the office wore a skirt this short, she was certain of it. Let alone, walking past people with the crinkle noises. It was only her that probably could hear it, but it was a reminder of every movement it was there, pressing her legs more apart than usual. Her mind ruminated on how her bottom even looked and how obvious the bulge was. She was more scared to walk down the stairs in a skirt this short. The realization hitting her that the balcony had glass siding. Fucking glass. How would people not be able to look up at her skirt as she walked the area or down the stairs? Luckily, that wasn’t a problem in the present. She’d set that worry aside for later, she had more pressing matters as Chad’s hand went to the small of her back and he opened Derek’s door for her. Derek flashed a knowing smile to Chad, eyes falling on Emma, “Ah, the little girl who blackmailed me is here, finally.” The usual friendly smile and persona that Derek had was nowhere to be found. Replaced was a tone of authority and a slight annoyance as his light green eyes that narrowed on her. Chad closed the door, nodding to the chair, “Sit, baby Emma.” Emma felt her face hot from him called her a baby in front of Derek who smirked. Derek didn’t hide his smile, crossing his arms in his dark grey sweatshirt, “I’m guessing she was properly spanked and diapered at this stage?” His eyes went to Chad. Emma winced at the comment, cringing at the words aloud so soon from someone who wasn’t Chad. Chad put his hands in his pockets, eyeing Emma who looked lost, “Mhm.” They talked so casually, as if she wasn’t in the room. It made her feel so small, like an ill-behaved child. “I’ll pick her up around noon for lunch in my office in two hours.” Chad’s eyes glanced to her again who was staring down at her hands as he started walking out. He looked to Derek, flashing a smile, “Thanks for babysitting.” “Yep.” Derek nodded and Chad left, closing the door. A silence passed of Derek staring at Emma and Emma staring at her hands before he stood and went to his mini refrigerator is his office, grabbing two water bottles and setting it in front of Emma’s notebook and pen. He looked down to Emma as she looked up to him, “I want you to drink both of these before lunch.” A look of revenge shadowed his eyes as a smirk appeared on his face. Emma gulped dryly, knowing she was thirsty but knowing that any water would get her close to wetting her diaper before the end of the day. She hadn’t realized until now that when Chad put her in a diaper, she assumed it was just for the costume and roleplay. It hit her hard to grasp it wasn’t just a costume nor roleplay for a specified timeframe; this was going to be her new lifestyle. She was going to eat, sleep and breath being dominated by not just one, but multiple people at her new workplace. She was expected to act the part and wet the diapers that her Daddy and others would change. Her new life for the next two years as the office’s baby had only just begun, and she wasn’t ready for how real things would really become. Emma looked up to Derek's maliciously flickering gaze down, as if he was going to enjoy his time with her thoroughly. Emma had a strange feeling that her situation just became much more complicated, that was certain. Not only did she find she had to put up with Chad's daily antics... but now she had two other people to walk on eggshells around and the second one didn't even know how much data Emma had on her. Fuck, Emma thought, eyes shifting in paranoia to the notepad and knowing that the pictures she screenshotted of Sav were in her deleted folder on her iCloud still. Emma made messy work on that regard but she didn't think she'd be exposed this quickly! Even if Chad didn't find that, she had a feeling Chad would probably tell Sav about Emma's comment of finding her FetLife and then finding Chad's profile, so there was that. Great, just great. Emma thought as she bit her lip as Derek sat and went to his computer, blinking to him and having a feeling the day may just keep getting worse.

Chapter 25: All of It Chad. Chad watched as Emma was in the own little world for a few moments, looking so lost but content in her post spanked and diapered state. He savored the sight before his eyes. Her cheeks a light pink and flushed. Her bright green eyes puffy, innocent and shifting to her diaper in thought. Her satin white camisole barely grazed her diaper on display as she laid there awkwardly, just asking for all his cuddles and affection. His mind mused on how much of a little was and today was the day she discovered it. It was like Chad entered into a DDLG story trope he’d never imagined would become real life. It all played out too well, falling into his controlling hands like a domino effect. When Chad found out it was Emma, he knew in that instant he could give her a chance to run or his chance to keep her for however long he wanted. He didn’t hesitate on the second option, there was no question in that decision. When Chad loved something, he held it close with a strong-hold grip. He gave Emma no choice but to take Ted’s plea deal and sign his contract. Was it morally corrupt of him? Yes, he knew it was without question. Was it what Emma didn’t know she wanted? He genuinely believed so. If he didn’t have the inkling she wanted it or would like it, he would have stopped. Just like the spanking, he could tell when she couldn’t handle anymore. The only reason why he spanked her a minute longer was to get his point across that he was the dominant in this relationship going forward and she’d know how severe the consequences could be. At the end of the day, Chad was a dominant, not an abuser. There was a difference and hard line he drew. He had morals and a code of ethics, whether Emma would believe it or not. She was the most adorable little he’d ever gotten to diaper, so timid and obedient. Given, she wasn’t always that way, yet for her diaper change she there was a new side he saw to Emma. She was raw, vulnerable. There was something troubled within the look she gave, something there he couldn’t place. It made his heart swell, something inside him cracking a bit when he was given the rare opportunity to see through her walls he knocked down oh so easily. The glimpse that she gave him into her being during that moment was everything, and he wanted more of it. All of it. His for the taking. Those thoughts made him ravenously hungry for her in a way he wouldn’t admit and made him blink it away, because he couldn’t, no, wouldn’t allow himself to get attached. It was a contractual relationship, and this was his employee, after all. His mind set a hard boundary, then and there, deciding he could still fall for someone platonically and that’s what he’d decide going forward. His brain clawed at his consciousness, realizing that it had only been a month with a girl he barely knew, who faked her identity to him, yet he just admitted to falling for someone. That was something he hadn’t felt in over five years and the feeling was much stronger, faster. Yet, as much as he could try to pull away from Emma, he couldn’t let her out of his grasp, nor even bear that thought since seeing her in a little state. He craved her submission, the power, dominance and control it gave him. He needed it, it fueled all he was and he couldn’t imagine living a life without this feeling she gave him. That feeling was jolting because it was unlike any other little, he ever played with or dated. In that moment as Emma looked up to him, there was a moment her eyes flickered in pain he didn't understand before flicking back to her lost look, that looked like she needed him in that moment. His coddling. His control. His affection. He nudged himself back to reality and making eye contact, that Chad knew he had someone before him who could destroy his life. He couldn’t bear that thought of losing her already. The idea of losing his control and power over her, the chance at all the things he could do to her and with her. That was the most dangerous thought for Chad. Exceptionally dangerous and he’d make sure to not let it happen, ever. He had his work cut out for him in the upcoming days, but at least he’d ensured two years by the contract today. She wouldn’t leave, even if she wanted to, and that look on her face made him know with clarity she was staying, at least for another day, and that’s all he needed. That thought calmed down his fears, being able to relax and snap back into the present moment, ready to introduce more of his world to her newly found little self. Chad had many plans for her he’d thought of for weeks now, and he had only just gotten started.

Thanks for this kind comment, kerry! I was wondering when someone was going to comment about Emma's willingness and decision making. I was in between writing some hesitation into her character thoughts and that part of the story but... Emma is a spontaneous and impulsive person. It'll make maybe more sense in future chapters but I completely agree- it's not realistic on that frontier with that nor the safe words, haha! She's definitely naive in many ways that I'm sure our MMC would agree with. 🤔 Thanks for the thoughts here and it means a lot coming from you! I am a fan of your stories and appreciate the views here. ☺️

The chapter posts from here on out will be a little bit slower posts(maybe once to twice a week)- I have 35 chapters written and don't want to get too far ahead of myself. I was just really trying to get to the diaper chapter *finally* haha. Chapter 24: And So It Began Chad gathered the documents and put it in his file cabinet, locking it and putting the key in his drawer as Emma watched him. The room was silent, neither of them talking since the moment she signed everything. The reality that this was her life away the next two years settling in. She watched as Chad took off his chestnut leather and silver large watch, setting it on the desk as he eyed Emma, “Come here, little girl. I think someone needs a well-earned spanking.” He patted his lap, pushing his chair back from his desk. Emma flushed, hearing him say little girl and his verbal teasing. Why did he have to do it so easily and naturally? From anyone else, she would have cringed, yet he was so confident in his words and held a conviction with his dominant tone that made her shudder internally. Emma nodded, taking off her shoes and walking over timidly to where he sat. Chad tugged her wrist when she was in reach and pulled her quickly towards him, going to her skirt’s zipper and taking down her skirt in a quick swoop. To Chad’s dismay, her heathered grey panties were soaked through as she stood in front of him. “Ah, someone wet themselves again I see. What did I say last time about you wetting yourself?” Chad asked, sitting and not going to remove her underwear. It was a punishment in itself for her to stand there in her soaked from excitement underwear, let alone feel hot and bothered by his verbal teasing. Emma shifted on her feet, feeling hotter by the second by his awaiting stare. Was he really going to make her say it aloud? She blushed as he waited, eyes flickering in more annoyance the longer the silence went on, “Uhm.” She said, moss green eyes shifting as she looked to the ground and her light pink polished toenails, “Think you said about that I’d need protection.” “Mhm.” He nodded, “And what do you need?” He was slowly trying to get her to say the word. Emma swallowed, knowing it was either a worse punishment or saying the damn word. Emma shifted again, clasping her hands, “A diaper.” The word was not as seductive in her voice. It was awkward and embarrassing to repeat that only made her hot and bothered. She gave it to Chad, he made the roleplay seem easy. Whether this was lifestyle or roleplay, she really didn’t know yet. She didn’t even get a safe word, after all. Emma’s eyes shifted again at the thought. Oof, should have asked about that before signing, Emma thought to herself. She was sure he’d stop if it was too much… right? “Mhm, that’s right. Good girl. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure your in the appropriate attire for your accidents after this.” His hand came up to her chin, tilting her face to look at him in the eyes. His finger tips brushed her blushing cheek for a moment before he tugged her underwear down. Within the next moment, he grabbed her wrist roughly, pulling her over his lap on the chair. Emma shifted and stared at the wooden floor, gulping as she felt his fingertips caressing the soft flesh of her bottom. She was finding that was something he liked to do to start. He’d graze her bottom, drawing out the time for the first spank and making her flinch, even when he hadn’t even began yet. Emma yelped when the first spank landed sooner than past times. He didn’t make it as pleasant as the last spanking were either. The spanks were harder, faster. She was in tears within minutes, whimpering at the pain. When he’d typically stop, he didn’t, continuing his spanking as she whimpered louder and louder. It wasn’t making her hot and bothered anymore, just painful and sharp. After a few more moments, it became numbing as her face became snot and tears. His grip tightened when she shifted in his lap and she began pleading from the pain, “Stop, please stop. I can’t, ouch! Take anymore!” She said, between the spanks. She could feel his spanks slow down a bit, his chest rumble from a chuckle. He was... laughing? He didn’t stop for another minute, making Emma wonder if he was going to ignore her for a longer while. He stopped a minute after she began pleading, helping her up onto her feet, “What do you have to say for your actions this past month and your attitude today?” Her legs trembled as she stood and he held her by her armpits to steady her. “I’m s-sorry. For everything.” Emma said in between sniffles and wiping her face, knowing her makeup was probably everywhere. Chad stood to his full height as she felt suddenly so small, “Good, little girl. Now let’s get you into more appropriate clothing, hm?” He took her hand, guiding her around the desk and to the leather brown couch he had. “Stand and wait here.” Chad instructed, going to the office’s closet and opened the door, grabbing a few items. Emma shifted as he walked back over, setting an adult-sized baby animals patterned changing mat on the couch, placing his other supplies on the coffee table. Emma eyed the coffee table supplies, feeling warmth and tingling from her head to her toes. Powder, baby wipes and a thick adult diaper laid before her. The words were much different than the actual, physical things that came with it. She forgot the whole fact that she’d not only look like a baby but also smell like one, powder and all. Not to mention, the diaper was embarrassingly huge. In Emma's head, she imagined it'd be smaller than that, yet seeing it in person made it so real and only humiliated her further. “Lay down, baby Emma.” He said, gently coaxing her out of her lost look and patting the changing mat. His once intense stare turned to an affectionate and caring look. Emma blinked, surprised at Chads sudden switch from dominating and intimidating to an almost warm and coddling presence. Emma nodded, walking over and laying down, feeling very very naked and vulnerable in front of Chad as he picked up the diaper, fluffing it out with an pro experience level in diapering that was immediately felt by Emma. The thought struck her immediately in wondering how many times he had done this. That thought also made her feel jealous, which she brushed that feeling away quickly, reminding herself it was only a contractual relationship. He flattened the diaper below the pad and broke her out of her thoughts, “Up, little one.” Emma raised her butt as he slid the whole diaper much higher up than she anticipated. Chad went to the baby wipes, pulling two out, “Let’s get you cleaned up, someone made such an accident earlier.” He said, the verbal teasing making Emma feel like an actual baby. She felt heat on her cheeks as his hand brought the wipes to her pubic mound and below, touching her gently and softly with the cool wipe. She squirmed to his touch, the area feeling hot and sensitive as she tried to bite back her naughtier thoughts yet they were still there as his large hand was gentle and nearby. It was in this instance she was thankful she waxed recently and was bare down there, imagining how embarrassed she’d be if not. Maybe she should be more embarrassed that she looked like a literal child shaved bare though, she couldn’t decide what was worse in that moment. He tapped the underneath of her legs, breaking her out of her thoughts as she looked confused to him and he said, “Now I’m going to wipe your bottom, legs up for me.” Emma nodded, pulling up her knees and ankles as he grabbed her ankles and pushed her back farther than she anticipated. The wipe swirled in her anus and over her bottom. She obviously didn’t wet her bottom, but it seemed like Chad wanted to give her the full experience. There was something surprisingly relaxing and comforting being pampered like a literal baby, and she was enjoying it with all the humiliation that came with it that made her brain fuzzy. After her good cry and now laying down, she did feel a bit tired too. When she thought he was done and began lowering her legs, he scolded and held her legs up over her head, “Ah, ah, did I say you can do that yet?” He scolded, his look reprimanding. “Sorry.” She said, her voice smaller than expected and shyness coating it. He smiled knowingly at how she was being such a good girl and got the powder, sprinkling it on her bottle before his hands gently gripped her ankles, pulling them down and powdering her front area. He lightly rubbed in the powder to her crevices and inner thighs before setting down the powder bottle. The smell of powder wafted into Emma’s nose, reminding her of babies and the unsettling thought that she’d smell like one the rest of the day. Chad made a final adjustment to the diaper to straighten it out before pulling the fluffy white front over her midsection, reaching to grazing a touch below her belly button. What Emma didn’t expect was how soft the diaper was on her bottom and pressing over her lower parts. A mix of pleasure and humiliation tingled in her lower section as he taped the diaper snugly on with all four tapes. Emma was in awe of how babyish the diaper looked, yet it was her-sized. It had a Huggies baby cloth diaper feel and baby lions over the plastic in the front that made her blush deeper. Emma blinked up to Chad who was smiling at her little state, watching her reaction with a flicker of him melting at the sight of her in a diaper. In that moment, she felt like an actual baby. The swirl of comfort, softness, safety and affection bubbling in her chest. The feeling making her tear up again as it hit her so fucking hard that that feeling was something she hadn’t felt in a really really long time. Emma hadn’t gotten much attention as a kid growing up with a mom who struggled with alcoholism and a dad always gone, finding out later on in life that he’d been cheating on her mom and had a second family that she had found out only a year before. Her dad left by her freshman year of high school years and kept in contact every now and then by phone, yet Emma never saw him in person since he left. Even if she’d ask to see him, he always said he had work projects or some reason that he couldn’t take off work. Holidays, weekends and anything he’d tell her it was this or that reason they couldn’t meet in person, yet Emma knew it was lies. She just didn’t know how much of everything he lied about. And it wasn’t even her father who told her, it was her half-sister she found through 23 & me. 25 years of Emma’s life she thought she was an only child and then she found out that she had a half sister close to her age. After finding this out, her whole childhood had shifted as she realized her dad chose the other family and her half-sister to leave Emma and her mom alone with addiction issues. Her brain still couldn’t fully wrap around it, really. There were still things Emma was unpacking and had blocked out, hiding from herself and others like she so easily did. When her half-sister had reached out, Emma did what she always did best: she ignored the situation and didn’t respond to her half-sisters messages. She ghosted her only sister. She packed up the emotions and shipped them away. Forgetting the fact that she had a sister. That her dad had done the unthinkable. That Emma was the unwanted daughter. If Emma ignored the problem, that meant it didn’t exist right? As much as she wished she wasn’t like her father, it seemed she was beginning to become more like him the older she grew. She’d like to think she didn’t pick up traits like her mom either, yet she’d be lying to say there were things that weren’t right in her brain and was admittedly mentally unstable too at times. That ‘Becoming like Your Parents’ commercial always hit her hard with those thoughts, yet the ignoring and blocking out problems was how she survived. It was her coping mechanism, as much as she’d tell herself that at least. That was at least until that moment that Chad gave her a feeling that she hadn't felt in ages. The feeling of actually being important to someone, being loved and cared for. Little to say, there were deep seated reasons why she craved this type of attention, no, needed it to heal what was broken and left in shattered pieces inside Emma. Maybe she was a needy baby after all and needed Chad more than she’d like to admit. That thought was destructive to Emma. Not many things scared her, but trusting someone with her soul, her entire being, was absolutely terrifying. As her watery eyes met Chad's, she realized she was in the most dangerous game of all. One she had a feeling she wouldn't survive without getting her heart broken or, worse, spiraling out of control and losing her life in the process.

Happy Friday and the comments on the last post had me laughing on the back and forth about the characters! Hope you enjoy this long chapter. Chapter 23: The Contract Chad tilted his head, studying Emma’s lost expression and red flushed face, making her look oh so adorable already to him, “What’s wrong?” Emma took in a breath slowly, licking her lips and shifting in the cushioned leather chair, “Nothing. Just thinking things.” A smile tugged at the corner of Chad’s mouth, “Hm. I can imagine it’s been a long day for you already. Maybe a much-needed nap is in your future after we’re done.” He hinted as he stood straight to his full height, towering over her for a second longer, that damn feral energy eating Emma alive. He broke his stare with her and walked around the desk, grabbing the packet Ted left and setting it in front of Emma with one of his pens, “This is the contract and our terms. Would you like to read it all before signing, or do you want the summarized version and where to sign?” Emma snapped out of her inner thoughts, shaking her head, “Uhm.” She swallowed, her mouth was dry, like really dry, as she looked down to the papers, “Summarizing and signing sounds fine to me.” She didn’t think she could read with her pulse frantic at the thought of what would happen after she signed. She looked nervously to Chad, feeling exceptionally hot and bothered, just by his stare alone. It was unfair how he did that, really. His brown eyes studied her flustered expression, and he smirked knowingly, “This first page is for the Administrative Assistant position and pay with a 2 year minimum contract with Penn & Williams Firm. Similar to what you signed before, but under your real name.” His voice became a low growl at the end. Emma shifted at his tone changing, knowing she was in for it, as she nodded. She said in a playful way to lighten the intensity she felt, “So this is paid… not a volunteer role?” Chad’s jaw feathered, his neck vein throbbing as his smoldering brown eyes stared into her, “Do you want a spanking while you sign?” He tilted his head. Emma chirped quickly, “Nope, no thank you.” She signed without hesitation. He shook his head in irritation as he flipped a few pages, “The next page goes over our non-disclosure agreement on what is said, happens and held in or at company events or on property stays within the company. If leaked, spoken about or used as blackmail to defame us, you would be terminated, this contract would be breached and you would be held liable for your criminal past activity.” Emma held back her comment she wanted to make, nodding and signing. He flipped another page, “The next is about randomized drug tests, required doctors visits, physical exams and screenings that you agree too.” Emma paused for a moment, noting that was a bit different of a requirement than what she previously signed but nodded a moment later, signing as he flipped again, “This page summarizes your dress code and that you will wear appropriate attire at the workplace. From this point onward, we will have the discretion on what you can and cannot wear every day. That includes but is not limited to your undergarments.” Chad paused as he flashed a wickedly handsome smile to Emma. Emma felt hot, frantically beyond heated, as she shifted at his smile, curiously reading the words on the page and wondering why Chad was smiling like he inflicted the first punishment already for Emma’s actions. Emma’s eyes read and everything looked the same, besides the undergarment part and… Emma blinked at the words: Protective wear, including but not limited to as follows: Training underwear Pull-ups Diapers Plastic pants Her eyes rereading because she didn’t think it was real, it couldn’t be. Diapers. That word made Emma feel everything she wasn’t expecting. The instant dampness she felt in her panties, the heat devouring her senses and making her mind fuzzy in her sudden humiliation. Emma dared a glance up to Chad who was watching her carefully, a quiet seriousness and enjoyment of her embarrassed state shadowing his eyes. Emma gulped and read below about that any disagreements, issues or removal of said appropriate attire by the Employee would lead to a punishment, outlined on page 14. Emma noted that they were only on page 5. Ah, so the fun had only began. “Any questions?” Chad broke the silence, stifling a smile at her loss of words. He was tempted to put the nail in her coffin with a verbal tease but he stopped himself, noting how suddenly quiet she was. He reveled in the power he felt and the excitement to get started in the next week on regressing her. Emma shook her head, signing quickly. Chad smiled, knowing that was the second to the worst page in his packet he had to get through, “The next is about your devices. In signing, you agree to giving me your personal mobile device and accessing all passwords to your accounts when asked. Along with this, I’m allowed to confiscate your phone when I see fit and appropriate.” Emma opened her mouth, eyes darting to Chad with a flicker of annoyance, “Is that really necessary?” Chad tilted his head, eyes twinkling in humor of her nerve to even ask that, “You’ve breached people’s privacy and data as your full-time job. You don’t think you can handle someone giving you a dose of your own medicine?” His eyes flickered incredulously to her. Emma blinked down to the paper, sighing and signing, “Fair enough.” “Give me your phone, now.” Chad instructed with a serious tone. Emma looked to Chad, an even look in her eyes, “That was literally two seconds, Chad.” Her voice was shakey, yet Chad could hear the edge and attitude. Chad growled, “Don’t make me come over there.” Emma paused a moment, holding Chad’s feral stare back. She could see he was a second away from lunging as she reached for her phone in her back pocket of her skirt. She handed him her iPhone, blinking to her phone and all the things she had on it she didn't want to imagine him going through. Emma was not prepared in the slightest for this level of invasion of privacy. Her phone looked so much smaller in his hands as he tapped the screen, “Your passcode?” Emma sighed hesitantly, crossing her arms uncomfortably, “908976.” He typed quickly and accessed her phone, his fingers scrolling her iMessage for a moment. He went to her photos, “Do you have any of my staff’s images or screenshots on your phone?” Emma pursed her lips, her face feeling suddenly hot to the touch as she sank in her seat a bit, “Possibly.” “Mhm. It’s in your hidden photos, isn’t it?” He asked, tilting his head, eyeing her sharply. God damnit he was quick with his interrogating and so intelligent, it made Emma only wetter at the thought of her being in his hands for two years. Fuck, if I even survive that amount of time, Emma thought to herself. Emma took in a sharp breath, “Yes.” Chad took her phone and turned it to her for the Face ID access before she could even protest. The unlock icon showed to her disappointment and he turned the phone back to him, eyes shifting quickly. Chad’s shot an enraged look to Emma within a few seconds, “How?” He asked, his voice rough, biting down a growl. Emma knew what he saw immediately, but she waited for him turning her phone to her with his Fetlife profile icon being the last picture in her hidden folder. She'd like to say she had it in the recent area for reasons of her assignment, yet in all honestly she had touched herself to that picture the other night. Emma would fight until her last breath to admit that to him though. Emma shrugged with a deeper blush, trying to forget why his profile icon was really on her phone and not kept safe in her desktop folder at home, “Maybe don’t friend your Operations Manager on Fetlife. You’re lucky you had your profile deactivated.” Chad went quiet, oh so quiet, as his eyes narrowed, and a feral intensity took over his eyes. He was fucking livid. Chad took in a slow breath to calm himself, “Four more signatures, then you can get your well-needed spanking, hm?” Emma looked evenly to Chad with a nod, without a mask and completely vulnerable, yet she liked the entertainment of poking him. It only made him bring his dominance out more. Emma knew she was in trouble, but she couldn’t help it. He let out an obviously annoyed breath, “The next page,” There was a sharp edge to his voice now, “is about your presence is required for every business event, trip, and outing that the company hosts. You will travel with me on business seminars and trips when requested, even if it’s the day of. There is no allowance of an off day for personal reasons. You are only allotted days off when I also have days off since you are my personal assistant. You have three weeks allotted of paid time off.” Emma clasped her sweaty hands on her skirt, “Do you ever even take a day off?” Chad said with a slightly calmer demeanor, “Most holidays I do along with the week of Christmas. Some long weekends here or there for smaller road trips, family events or weddings. Your PTO length should cover the amount I take off per year.” That was strangely wholesome to Emma. The fact that he took off time for family and holidays surprised her. Maybe Chad was part human after all. “Great. Thank you.” Emma said, politely. She was grateful to have PTO, considering he didn’t have to give her anything. He owed her literally nothing, yet he basically saved her livelihood today. Her brain couldn’t grasp the full scope of the person he truly was, considering he was so controlling since she met him, but he had this side to him that was caring in some gaslighting and toxic masculinity way. She ignored her thoughts of falling for him from the actions he did for her today, yet she couldn’t, no wouldn’t, develop feelings. This was all a contractual relationship at the end of the day. Nothing more and nothing less, she told herself. Chad’s eyes stared a moment longer before tapping the signature area as a reminder to sign. Emma was still stuck at the word diaper to be fully functional as she nodded, signing. Chad flipped the pages, “The next page is going over the list of punishments that are to be given by myself and my staff.” My staff. Did he just say his staff? Emma froze, well that complicated things. “Punishments will be given for any time you have inappropriate behavior with a staff member, exhibit an attitude, don’t follow instructions, tardiness, and anytime I deem it’s necessary for other reasons not limited to the list on the page.” Well, fuck. Emma glanced at Chad in complete shock and then looked to the page. Chad let her absorb what he said with humor playing on his expression before he continued, “The next page is a list of the punishments. If you have any hard limits that are out of your comfort zone, we can discuss them and amend this contract as necessary.” Emma dared a glance at Chad who looked to be thoroughly enjoying the shock on her face. Emma read quickly, her eyes flashing at things she’d never even thought of: Spankings Time out Homework Soap in mouth Scheduled naptime or early bedtime enforcement Bathroom privilege revoking Bladder control Forced urination Semi-public humiliation (In controlled environments) Public verbal humiliation, teasing and degradation Costume wear Butt plugs Restraints (Including but not limited to bondage, ropes and clothing) Collar and Leash training Shocks Enema Chastity Uninformed medication administration (Including but not limited to laxatives, diuretics, and calming medication) Emma shifted, almost feeling like her skirt was saturated from the wetness that swelled in her lower center, her mouth dry from gasping softly. She had many thoughts swirling in her head, she thought she could pass out. Her mind flicked across the fantasies in her head, making her fuzzy with humiliation. She felt like she was floating, wondering what new state she entered. A few minutes passed of her reading, her face becoming redder and she bit her lip to bring her back to current reality. Chad waited patiently and saw her read the list a few times, not speaking, “Anything you’d like to discuss?” He was slightly nervous she may run out of the room then and there. The punishments he wrote he knew were strange and weird. He expected her to want a few things amended at the very least and was waiting for her to speak. Emma met his gaze, for the first time reading the list, a blush on her cheeks, “Are there any, uhm, punishments that are of a sexual nature to expect?” She said, a bit breathlessly. His eyes flashed, seeing her longing in her eyes and immediately saying, “No.” He straightened at his desk, “I don’t have sexual relations with my employees.” His eyes flickered something before switching to cold and unreadable, but Emma caught something in his eyes that matched her own the second before. She saw the flash of interest, the flash of wanting it maybe more than he’d let on. Emma swallowed down her sadness with a nod, reminding herself that this was a contractual relationship to Chad. She was but a pawn in his games he wanted to play, whether it was slightly sexual or not, she wouldn’t get what she wanted fully. That was going to have to be okay with Emma. She had toys and a vibrator to satisfy herself after working hours anyways. Chad asked again, “Do you have any questions or want to discuss any of it?” Emma’s eyes flicked back to the page, tapping the back of the pen on the desk for a moment and rereading the punishments, only making her excitement stir more as she shook her head, signing in a silence. Emma’s moss green eyes slowly looked up to Chad and Chad blinked in surprise. Chad’s voice was suddenly rough, tilting his head, “Do you understand what you just signed?” Emma nodded, eyes not leaving his, “I do.” She understood it very well and wanted to try everything. All of it and maybe more. She wanted Chad’s control, his domination and his everything he had to give. Chad couldn’t contain his thoughts, his mouth agape and his hand rubbing his face, “We’re you a submissive or an ABDL prior?” He couldn't wrap his head around Emma. She was a mystery to him from day 1. Given, she lied about her name, yet he didn't think her personality was ever made up and her tells of being submissive and liking it. He just didn't realize until now the degree of how much she must have liked it. “A what?” Emma asked, eyes blinking at confusion of the acronyms he threw at her. Chad tilted his head, a smile tugging at his lips at the thought that she didn’t even know what it was, “ABDL stands for an Adult Baby Diaper Lover. It’s a term for someone who enjoys diapers, roleplay and being treated like a baby.” It wasn't as simple as just that description but he didn't want to go further into all that was included. He had an appointment scheduled for a well-earned spanking as soon as possible and wanted to get the contract signed, after all. Emma opened and closed her mouth, shaking her head, “No. I’ve never, uhm, done any of this or that.” Chad was staring for another moment, so perplexed on how she was seemingly more than okay with that, “You’ve never done anything? Had a relationship with a dominant?” He was dumbfounded, literally unable to comprehend how she was so willing to try out the list of punishments in front of her without one question. He expected several, but none? He didn't understand her and would figure her out, that was sure. Emma shrugged, “No, I’ve never tried really… anything.” Her eyes shifted in thought, “Haven’t even gotten past second base.” Now it was Chad’s turn to swallow and lick his lips, eyes locking on hers for a moment with a hunger she caught before they switched back to the gaze he held before. He couldn’t help but look at her in awe and surprise that he had a very submissive little in front of him that didn’t even know she was any of that. It was like he struck the lottery of littles. The perfect mix of bratty, beyond adorable, troublesome and asking for it without even knowing it. If she wasn’t his employee, he would have considered being her first. It was too bad that he’d not break his rule, regardless of how tempting it was. Chad cleared his throat, “Two more pages to sign,” He got back to the task at hand, sliding the contract over, “this page is over your location tracking. You are informed I’ll have access to your location at all times when you’re not in my presence. You will be tracked by your phone or someone your with if you don’t have your phone on you. If you are found trying to disarm the location on your phone or faking your location, I will find alternative routes such as an ankle device or GPS location watch.” Little did he know, Emma knew how to disappear anytime she wanted. She signed as she bit back a smile. She found it funny he thought a location on her phone would work, but she tried to keep her composure the same as he spoke. He tilted his head as he saw wheels turning in Emma’s head, “I honestly should consider an imbeddable device for someone who’s known to disappear but I’m deciding to be nice.” He stated as Emma blinked. “Like a dog?" Emma's voice was an edged blade of annoyance, "That’s like... illegal, isn’t it?” Emma asked, eyes squinting slightly at the page. Chad gave another wickedly handsome smile, showing his canines, “Not if you signed you’re okay with it, in which you just did.” Emma opened her mouth as his finger pointed to the section and clause that said about an injectable in the arm, “In my arm?” She asked, eyes glancing up to him. “You’ll barely feel it and will most likely forget about it if we ever need to go that route.” He murmured with a ghost of a smile on his lips, ignoring her irritated stare as he flipped to the last page, tapping on the paper, “The last signature we need is a disclosure statement on your part that you aren’t under the influence of drugs, held against your will or threatened for your life to accept these terms and conditions of the contract. You understand this is a binding contract with my company and myself that is not able to be broke once signed. By signing, you agree to these terms and being mine from this point forward, knowing all that entails.” She blinked at when he said mine. She felt it was an official thing to be his, like property, and something that would be between them and them only. Emma never felt so special than that moment. She felt like someone who meant something to someone. That was something she’d never been nor felt before that pulled a string within her and began unraveling her inner deep and very dark desires. Even if it was for only two years and this was only a contractual relationship, she wanted it. Emma didn’t know what awaited her if she signed this final page, yet she could guess and that was fucking exhilarating. She wanted to find out what could be, what she could be and what it meant to be Chad’s little. Whatever that meant, she wanted to feel it and experience it, even if it was uncomfortable, degrading and humiliating. She wanted to be his, all that it entailed and experience everything he could give her. All of it and more. After a moment, Emma looked into Chad’s awaiting brown eyes that watched her, signing without breaking her gaze and setting the pen to the side. His eyes flickered, the feral energy of the first day she met him returning behind his calm and collected composure. Emma knew in that moment that there was no turning back anymore. Her fate was signed and it had Chad Williams all over it. Whether that was the best decision or the worst one she could have made, she would find out. And that thought made her feel alive. So. Fucking. Alive.

Chapter 22: Alive “Emma Marie, come to my office, now.” Chad’s voice was loud and domineering, causing coworkers from a nearby office with their door slightly ajar to look over in surprise from Chad’s tone. Jessica’s head looked from Emma to Chad, confused that Chad was calling her a different name. Jessica didn’t dare to question or speak, looking at her computer and trying to ignore the tense interaction she did not one any part in or association with. Emma blinked, hearing Chad say her real name for the first time in a low growl and seductive tone in a public setting that made her feel heated in her face and lower regions, even when she knew that he just confirmed her whole life was about to shatter into pieces. She knew her demise had only just begun. Prison was imminent and she knew what lied ahead. She instantly regretted not taking Graham’s advice. He was always so fucking right all the time, it was upsetting. Emma was frozen since hearing her name and realizing the severity of the situation. She almost felt like she couldn’t move, her heart pounding as she swallowed. Chad stood, putting a hand in his pocket and waiting patiently, his eyes flickering in a wild rage she’d never seen. “Don’t make me carry you up there.” He threatened as he approached the desk. Jessica raised her eyebrows a bit, still staring at her computer and trying to act like she wasn’t there. Emma licked her lips and nodded, standing hesitantly and walking around the desk. Chad waited until she was in front of him, and he walked slightly behind her, his hand touching the small of her back as he guided her to the office. The feeling of his hand touching her back made Emma gulp, feeling that pure rage transfer by touch alone to her in his silence. With the silent walk, her brain imagined the next few years. It’d start with an interrogation, then move to be held at a local jail, then the court case and a hearing. If she was lucky, she could bargain for a plea deal. She’d think Kiara did that so her likelihood of a plea deal was low. Even after prison, she’d have her assets suspended and probably have the best likelihood of finding a job in fast food from her criminal record, living life paycheck to paycheck if she were lucky. Her eyes teared up as she walked in the silence and tension between them, knowing her fate as he opened his office and Ted stood in the room with a packet of paperwork and a nod to Emma. “Sit.” The coldness in Chad’s body language cut Emma deeper than her future life that would soon transform to wearing orange, limited privacy and working in the cafeteria of a prison. Chad stood with his arms crossed, studying Emma who looked on the brink of tears. His heart melted a bit seeing her break. Ted spoke, “I’m sure you can imagine why you’re here, Emma Marie Rose.” He paused as Emma pursed her lips, “We have identified you as a past hacker at Kueller Law Firm and have traced the Jenkins Consulting Firm payments to your banking. For the crimes we have evidence on, you are looking at 3 to 5 years at the least for cyber crimes against two companies. If the judge is feeling merciful, that is.” “I understand.” Emma said with a nod, not even meeting his gaze and looking at her hands, accepting her fate. Chad blinked, surprised that she wasn’t denying anything. Ted paused with a look to Chad who nodded, “But, luckily Chad is a longtime friend of the CEO of Kueller and Chad is not pressing charges, nor will be Kueller.” Emma felt like she could breathe suddenly as she blinked up to them, “That being said, they will only let you off the hook if you agree on their own conditions.” Ah, so that was the catch, Emma thought to herself, “Kueller wants a payment as settlement for damages in which Chad has agreed too so you won’t have to pay out of pocket.” Emma blinked to Chad, surprised that Chad was doing something so unexpectedly kind for her crossing him, “Now, the other part to get you out of being held in prison for your cybercrimes is working with our cybersecurity team to locate your manager Bailey and provide the client who hired you. By working with us, you’d be our anonymous source and you’ll skip interacting with law enforcement. Your cybercrimes and criminal past would be forgiven in a plea deal we’ve already started drafting and a 2 year minimum working contract with Penn & Williams, per their terms.” 2 whole years? Emma’s eyes shifted in shock to Chad’s knowing smirk and then she looked back to Ted, “This isn’t our usual route and typically we would immediately contact law enforcement, but, since no one is pressing charges due to Mr. Williams connections and grace for this situation, you’re off the hook if you agree to all parties’ terms.” Emma opened her mouth, looking up to Chad who’s eyes that still had a feral flicker in them as his eyes didn’t waver from her. She was overwhelmed by his intense gaze, yet incredibly thankful for his generous help. She didn’t care what a few years of being Chad’s assistant ensued, anything was better than the fate she had just escaped. Emma nodded, swallowing, “Yes, thank you both. This is very kind and I’ll be happy to help.” She said, looking to Chad with sincere and watery eyes before speaking, “I’m one of the best hackers in our Agency and could find Bailey, I’m sure.” Chad titled his head, surprised by hearing her talk about her hacking work and how confident she was, “I just have one request, if I have even a choice in the matter that is.” Chad wanted to say she wouldn’t get choices anymore after today, but Ted spoke first, “Yes?” “I have a friend who never hacked, he was only an office assistant, but he was a part of the firm. I’ll find Bailey and provide the client who hired us, but I’d like to request his own plea deal or immunity.” Ted looked wearily to Chad who nodded in his calm anger to Ted, “I think we can work something out. We will discuss privately. We can’t promise anything but if this person was only administrative work, they wouldn’t face as severe of penalties like you would have. It’d probably be less than a month prison sentence for association.” Emma blinked back tears at the thought of Graham going to prison. It hurt for her to think of him being guilty by association. Chad crossed his arms in thought, “We’ll discuss privately.” Ted nodded and set the documents on the desk, “I finalized these and they are ready to sign. I must get to my other client meeting but just scan and send the documents later and I’ll forward it to our legal team.” Chad nodded, “Thank you, Ted. For everything.” Emma sat, blinking tears of relief flooding her senses as she quickly blotted her eyes as Ted left. Chad put his hands in his pockets, sitting half-way on his desk directly in front of her, studying Emma before him as if it was the first time he were looking at her. He remembered so vividly the first time he saw her. Beautiful moss green eyes, flushed cheeks and pouty lips. She had a doe in headlights look when he met his eyes, just like she did right before him now. Emma swallowed as she stared back, knowing that her end and beginning was standing right before her very eyes. In the past five minutes, she had escaped law enforcement and the threat of being sued. With that news, she should be relieved and celebrating, yet anxiety and a wild energy had filled her body because she knew what was coming next: the wrath of Chad fucking Williams. That was past due, after all, and, in that moment, Emma felt what she craved more than anything. Exhilarated, feverish with heat flooding her whole being, and, most of all, fucking alive.

Ahh, I see what you mean here! I definitely read your initial comment wrong, my apologies. Agreed, the dialog will get interesting. Also, hopefully this comment bumps us to page 3. The next few chapters are preeeetty long and I'm trying to make sure this thread doesn't become impossible to scroll, haha! Thanks for the comments, they also help so page length isn't too bad.

I was in between pushing the facade out and the cat & mouse game longer with Chad & Emma but... it didn't make sense in the storyline as Emma is too smart to have stayed longer and Chad is too controlling that realistically, he wouldn't allow any more time for her to ruin his company. I like the comment on playing with his food, haha! Good luck to Emma. 😅

Chapter 21: Code Red Emma. The next 16 hours went by incredibly calmly, too calm for Emma, that it made her side-eye what was happening. On Tuesday morning, as she was at work, she looked at her phone in surprise to see Graham calling at 8AM. That was against their assignment protocols, and it must have been urgent if he was breaking the rules, “Hello?” She quickly walked to the restroom. Graham said in an urgency, “Bailey quit. I deleted our contractor records and left just now.” Emma’s mouth opened in shock, feeling her stomach drop. She stood for a moment and then walking to the bathrooms quickly and pacing, “Did she give any information as to why?” “She didn’t. She just didn’t show up this morning and sent an office wide resignation email. We’re on code red, it’s time to quit.” “Graham, what am I supposed to do just walk out?” Her heart tugged, the thought of leaving her new coworkers she was just beginning to actually like and the connections she made. What hit harder was the idea of leaving Chad, disappearing from everything that she was just starting to explore in his dominance. She wasn’t ready nor mentally prepared for this. She needed more time to figure out why the fuck she enjoyed the feeling of humiliation in his presence. If she left, she’d be leaving everything that made her feel, the simplest form, alive for the first time since high school. “Yes, Emma. Leave, please.” Graham pleaded over the line as Emma paced in the bathroom. Emma felt nauseous about this all, swallowing as she paced, “Okay. I need to take a moment and think about it.” “Think about it? Emma, it’s a code red, you know what that means.” Graham said, an unbelievable tone in his voice. Emma knew what Bailey leaving meant, the moment Graham said it. All employees at the Agency did, they spoke about the code red plan many times before. If management left, it meant that things were exposed. It meant they were being sued and liable for data felonies if the companies going after them brought it to law enforcement. Even if Emma only was apart of 4 assignments, she was guilty by association. The best case scenario was if she got a plea deal. The worst-case scenario, prison for up to 10 or more years. Emma was silent over the line for a few more moments, her eyes shifting, “I know, I know, but-“ She paused, trying to explain the chaos in her brain, “I need time to think this through. Maybe I’ll leave at lunch, I just need to think.” Any other assignment, it’d be a no brainer, she’d leave in a heartbeat from a code red, yet, she felt frozen, unable to move, let alone, think. Graham was silent on the other end for a moment, “It’s him, isn’t it? You’d throw it all away for the CEO?” Emma scoffed, “C’mon, him?” She said, acting as if she had no feelings surrounding Chad, yet it was all a lie, “No- I just don’t want to be in hiding my whole life, Graham.” “You rather be in prison?” Graham asked, awe in his voice. “No, please, just give me some time.” Emma said, pausing and thinking, “I’ll consider leaving as soon as lunchtime. Would that make you feel better?” She felt her heart sink by saying she’d leave. “I don’t think it’s my feelings you have to worry about. I think you’ve developed feelings for the target and now you are willing to throw away everything to have a few more moments with him.” She huffed, “That’s not…” Emma pursed her lips, “Fine, whatever. Just let me think and I’ll text you on what I decide.” She muttered, hanging up and putting water on her suddenly hot face. Just a few more hours, she told herself. She just had to make it to noon and she’d be free. Free of this job. Free of her illegal hacking past. Free of Chad Williams. Yet, she didn’t want to be truly free from Chad; she wanted the exact opposite, to be quite honest. Emma wanted his attention, his slight tells of affection, his intensity and the things he could give her that she didn’t think anyone else could be capable of. Emma had the choice in that moment. She could leave, disappear and relocate, find a normal job and live out a normal life. Emma could start new in a whole new city. Maybe go to college or start a business with the money she had in savings from past assignments. Or, Emma’s could stay at Penn & Williams and keep acting her part, awaiting her impending doom. Maybe there was a chance Kiara wouldn’t expose Emma. Kiara liked Emma, after all, and Emma would like to think she wouldn’t put her under the bus, yet there was still a higher probability. When people were desperate, they cracked. Emma was sure Kiara wasn't the exception to that. Even if Graham erased his and Emma’s data, Emma knew that wasn’t enough. She had a wire trail of money sent to her for ‘Art Commissions’ and there was no way to explain the connection if Kiara exposed the payment system Bailey created. Everything would be over for Emma in a blink of an eye by the payment system alone. As a skilled hacker, Emma should have questioned the flaw in their own system if ever exposed, yet here Emma was, vulnerable to being found. Emma shook her head at her inner chatter that was suddenly so loud. She walked out of the bathroom and stopped near the elevators, staring at the doors. Her mind and her heart screaming at each other on what to do. Every second felt like an hour as she knew she had to decide. Emma knew she should leave and run far far away, go into hiding. Yet Emma knew that life of hiding from her past would only lead her on the same miserable path of insignificance she had lived her whole life prior to becoming a data thief. This assignment made her feel everything, all that she craved and never had until Chad Williams. There was something in her deep and dark desires she’d shoved so far down that was unlocked the moment she met Chad. Things she’d told no one, not even Graham. Emma was, in the simplest of terms, mentally unwell and unstable at times. She had gone through a lot of her life thinking she was unimportant and not worth people’s time. Elementary school she was bullied by the popular girls and only had one friend she had ever trusted with even the tiniest piece of her soul. Her parents were too busy with work to even care. Emma’s dad was nonexistent most of Emma’s life, always at work or work-related events. Her mom was depressed and an alcoholic, mostly gone at bars, concerts or parties. Then high school came, and, well, her first crush and person who made her feel semi-important had a crazy on and off girlfriend. Before Emma knew it, she was sexually exploited in the main pool girl’s locker room. What Emma didn’t anticipate was how she felt after when the nudes were leaked. She was beyond embarrassed, but it made her feel important for once in her life and gave her the attention she never had before. It made her feel alive, fucking incredible. She was on top of the world, a more addictive feeling than alcohol or drugs could ever give her. For years after, she’d think back to why she felt that way, why she enjoyed the verbal teasing from her high school bullies? She didn’t understand it, yet it was the beginning of her sexual awakening and learning who she really was, underneath her masks and fake persona she built over the course of years. It wasn’t just a façade for being a hacker. The truth was that it bled into her real life more than she let on. Emma found that she craved a certain type of relationship that she knew she’d never find until she met Chad. One that was all-consuming, exhilarating, and unwavering. The feeling of pure humiliation Chad delivered so naturally was the most exhilarating high Emma could ever experience and she’d craved more of it. Of him. It was the reason why she enjoyed her job, why she worked as a data thief. It was thrilling and risky. The fear of being caught made her feel alive, which is something she needed to survive her dark thoughts that ate at her being when her mind was too quiet. The full body tingling, the swirl of pleasure and the complete euphoria that came with her embarrassment was incomprehensible to her. She didn’t know what was wrong with her that she felt this way, but she just knew she wanted more. Emma wouldn’t ever admit it, but she liked the game he played and she’d play it every day if she had the chance. She wanted to be chased. To be found. To be embarrassed. She wanted to be controlled and humiliated with everything that he could give, even if she acted like she didn’t want it. The thoughts swirling in her brain in that moment dug deep into her core, making her whole world feel like it was unraveling by a thread that was Chad fucking Williams. Emma broke out of her deep thoughts, making her decision. She took a slow breath, calming herself and walking back to the front desk, deciding to stay and take the consequences that came with it. Emma sent the text to Graham, letting him know that she was staying. She went back to work, knowing that karma would be knocking on the door, and she was ready to accept whatever karma decided to bestow upon her. Even if it was delivered by Chad Williams himself. Little did she know, the turnaround time on her karmic delivery would be much faster than anticipated. Within minutes of Graham’s call and leaving the bathroom, she saw Chad appear around the hallway, on a mission of pure wrath. His jaw feathering, expression calm yet collected, and a feral flicker in his eyes as his intense stare did not falter when his eyes found hers. “Emma Marie, come to my office, now.”

I like the theories and thoughts here! There's seemingly a lot at play and maybe, just maybe, we'll find out more as the story progresses. 👀 Hope you enjoy the next few chapters! Chapter 20: The Data Thief Chad. On Tuesday, Chad woke up at 4:30AM like every other morning, going to the gym and working out before going into the office. It felt like any other day, yet he had a recurring thoughts that kept him not sleeping as well as usual the night prior. Someone had infiltrated his company, and he didn’t know who. It was frustrating for him, and he hated the loss of control he felt. He knew someone was fucking with him and he would extract a slow and sweet revenge on whoever they caught. Chad had a theory that it was an ex-employee, but wanted confirmation before he confronted them. The other problem that came up around the same time that he was faced with was Gabriella Simmons. She was unwittingly bratty, constantly defying him, unknowingly submissive and admittedly beautiful, his perfect combination of a little he didn’t think would walk into his office until the month before. The thing that made him smile was that he didn’t think she knew how submissive she really was yet. He’d have his fun toying with her, but he had to figure out the company blackmail scheme first. Then he’d have time to regress Gabriella into his own good little office baby. Chad was afraid to push her too fast like he unknowingly did with a past employee, yet Gabriella was asking for it every time and he couldn't stop himself from his impulses. Not to mention, every time he spanked her, she was dripping with excitement. It was unsettling how much he was fascinated by her and how much he had to block the thoughts of what he’d want to do to her when she acted like that. She was an employee of his company, after all, and that was a line he swore he’d never cross. Sure, he spanked her, but there was a side of him that wasn’t sexually connected to the dominant part of him. He could easily turn the sexual side on and, with Gabriella, it was almost too easy, but he could resist the temptations, no, would resist temptations, even if that blue-balled himself. Chad made the mental note he would not date her, yet his brain liked to play with the idea from time to time. He had decided to keep it strictly platonic, that was that. That’s what he told himself for now at least. He was still testing the waters with her and didn’t want to scare her away. He genuinely liked her, and Chad got easily bored with roleplaying with past littles and submissives. She kept him on his toes and surprised him with her comments. They were playful and quick-witted, but unwarranted, too sarcastic for his liking and spank-worthy. Her bottom was so damn spankable too and it was a crime to Chad how perky it was. He could only imagine how adorable her diapered bottom would be and was waiting patiently for the right moment to introduce the next level of humiliation. He was hesitant on going to the next level, yet with Gabriella it would be inevitable. Chad had never diapered or babied an assistant, only past littles from Fetlife who were already into them. He didn’t know how Gabriella would react or if it was too extreme to introduce that he held off this far. He’d mentioned it a few times and he saw the interest in her eyes, the wanting and, his favorite, the humiliation from his words as her face became red every time. He’d never seen that before from someone outside of Fetlife littles. He wanted to explore so much with Gabriella and that was a dangerous thought for him. He didn’t like to get emotionally attached to people he roleplayed with, let alone employees who put up with him for the transactional relationships without genuine connections. Given, his situation with Gabriella was part his fault since he had threatened to fire her if she didn’t get a spanking… yet she could have quit at any time and could found a job easily with her qualifications and didn’t. That was the moment Chad knew she was a hidden submissive and possible little. She was different than his past assistant, Brittney, nothing like what he’d experienced with her so far. Chad had been burned by Brittney. She flirted with him for months and acted like she genuinely liked him. Since Chad had a hard rule to not date employees, he made every attempt to cold shoulder her, yet her attempts were making him consider going against one of his rules. She wasn’t his type nor did he think she’d fit his lifestyle, yet he humored the idea and began to start pressing his dominance and controlling nature to see if things could work. After a few months, he noticed a submissiveness to her. Not close to as strong as Gabriella, but it was there. Things took a turn after talking to a few CEO friends, he found out she was a CEO gold-digger and sociopath who had done the same to one of his friends. His friend Carl ended up dating her for a year, finding she was spending his credit card all the time and when he took it away, she broke up with him. When he found out this news, he acted out of his usual calm and collected self. He asked her to admit her months of trying to seduce a CEO. She denied it and he couldn’t take the lying, telling her if she wanted to keep her job then she’d go over his lap and take a spanking for her actions then sign an NDA and quit. He didn’t want someone like that working under him anymore. Outside of that situation, he was well aware that someone of his status and money tended to bring in people dating him for money and he wasn’t looking for a sugar baby, only a real adult baby who genuinely enjoyed his company and his fetishes as much as him. That was one of his larger insecurities in relationships in which he gave up entirely on the thought of dating. He had decided years ago that he only wanted flings and playdates, no strings attached. Unfortunately, for the first time in a long time, Gabriella Simmons, showed him a glimmer of what was possible. She was nothing like Brittney nor other people he could tell were trying to seduce him for money. Chad mused because she seemed to act like she wanted nothing to do with him and avoid him at all costs, yet she gave so many subtle signs of her wanting more. The moans, the blushes, her soaked panties, the looks she gave him. It was almost like she was begging for it. For him to humiliate her. To dominate her. To make her his own. Chad shook off the thoughts and went home. He showered and got ready for work, putting on his watch, dark grey pants and white dress shirt, grabbing his blazer before leaving the house again for work. After a half an hour or so into the meeting at 7AM with Ted of setting up the computers and some small talk, Ted looked to Chad and his executive management who met with Ted bright and early, “From my deep diving, this sounds like an inside job. Did you hire anyone recently who would have access to all employees’ personal emails?” Chad’s jaw tightened, his mind going to Gabriella, “Yes.” It couldn't be her though, Chad thought, pain flickering in his eyes for a moment as he stared in deep thought. Ted’s eyebrows raised, “In our previous cases we’ve seen, it’s usually an assistant who is hired within 6 months and then leaves without any ways we can trace them besides an employee picture.” Chad’s eyes flashed from pain to a calm rage, “There’s an agency who we’ve investigated called the Jenkins Consulting Agency. They operate with their clientele who pay skilled data thieves and spies to breach data of companies from the inside out. They use it as blackmail against the management and executives as a revenge scheme.” Ted caught Chad’s suddenly unreadable facial expression, pausing for a moment, “You don’t have any past employees who would have a reason to cause revenge of this scale, would you?” Chad stared at Ted for a few moments before saying, “Do you have a picture of the employee from the last companies you worked with on cases like these?” He ignored the revenge bit. He could care less, what he cared the most about what the current threat in his company that was illegally breaching his own employees data and trying to harm his company. Chad had an idea of who it could be, yet his mind couldn’t wrap around it fully yet. He wouldn’t believe it without a picture. Ted nodded, getting out his laptop as a silence fell in the room for a few moments. Ted went through his files and clicked into the picture, the picture popping up on the screen as the room fell silent. “This was Rebecca Hoffman, she worked for Kueller Firm and then quit a few weeks after a company data breach. In the breach, one manager was blasted in email for his fetishes and cheating scandal and then poof she was gone. No way to find her and we have no way of tracking her. No facial identification for a while, nothing.” Ted smirked, “But, then we got some data from a new case. A girl named Kiara Richardson provided some information about the Jenkins Consulting Agency and it’s employees. Her name is Emma Marie Rose, 26 and impeccably smart, valedictorian of her high school. We’ve tried tracking her, but she’s disappeared completely off the face of the planet. No address or contact information, we can’t locate her.” The whole room looked to Chad in shock as he stared at Emma’s moss green eyes, his jaw tightening in a calm fury that would soon be unleashed. He felt crossed, out of control, and, most of all, a stinging pain that he’d been lied to by someone he was developing feelings for, whether he’d admit it or not. That pain bubbled to Chad’s neck as his vein pulsed and the tension in the room thickened. Rather than Chad feeling the need to fire her like he did with Brittney, instead he felt surprisingly relieved to know it was her and wanted the exact opposite. His mind mused over the opportunity to have her closer than she'd probably would like to pay back the issues she caused and money Chad bled to investigate her blackmail attempts. He wanted to force her stay at his work on a contract rather than taking this to law enforcement. It only gave him the opportunity to regress her and humiliate her without any strings attached for him. It was the perfect situation she could have fallen into. Chad’s mind reveled in the things he could do to her, the punishments he could inflict for her actions. How he could humiliate her, embarrass her to a point of no return. Chad decided in that moment what he’d do. If she could lie to him, fake a name and try to infiltrate his company, she’d pay the consequences of her actions. Little did Emma know, life would look a lot different soon for her and Chad would make sure of it. If she was going to attempt to humiliate his company, she’d be in for a rude awakening for what he planned to give back to her.

Chapter 19: The Point of No Return Emma went with Derek to the meeting over the recent blackmail attempt on the company. She sat in her usual corner as the executives sat at the table. Emma tried to relax her body, yet she couldn’t help but pick her fingernails as the meeting was about to begin. Ted plugged in his laptop for an educational meeting for management over cybersecurity and the new systems they were installing in the office. Ted was installing fingerprint devices for logins and went over the process to set up everyone’s device when they’d get it installed. He went over a new program to install to everyone’s computers. Eugene talked as well about how all computers would be down around 2PM today for a security upgrade. Emma nodded along and looked like she was paying attention, yet her brain was on high alert. Emma’s brain went to the potential that Brittney knew all along this assignment was a lost cause. How could she even know? Emma couldn't wrap her head around it, around the uncanny feeling she got thinking back to all that lead up to this point. The high payout, the 4 targets and Bailey's willingness to meet Emma on a higher commission. Emma's eyes shifted, wondering about if this was a setup. Was it? Bailey wouldn't do that to her, there was no way. Bailey basically created Emma into a cyber hacking machine, she wouldn't go as far to throw her under the bus unless... She bit her lip as she frowned, then quickly straightened her mouth, placing her mask on immediately. Emma needed to stop those thoughts, they were causing her to make weird faces in a meeting she couldn't lose her cool in, that was sure. It couldn't be true and Emma was being beyond paranoid. That made Emma feel good for the moment and that's all that mattered. She shoved the thoughts away, telling herself it was all in her head. Emma refocused her attention to Ted and Eugene who were still speaking. They spoke about all the privacy upgrades and that every employee would have to change their passwords, business-related and also personal related ones. As Emma heard the new privacy and password changes, she cursed in her head that there was nothing Emma could access now. She was blocked on every frontier possible. This was the moment she knew it’d be time to throw in the towel if Brittney didn’t respond nor contact them back. If there was no payout, there was no point for Emma to expose Sav or the small bits of data she had on Chad. It was pointless at this stage, truly. Emma was nudged out of her thoughts as Ted and Eugene opened the floor to questions. Adam asking, “So, do we have a lead or any insight on why someone would decide to leak data? Kind of seems like a personal vengeance to me.” Emma blinked to Ted, feeling her pulse quicken. Ted tilted his head with a smile, “We are currently investigating that. Prior to this job, I was a private cybersecurity investigator hired by the government." That was great to hear. "I think we will find some more information soon. In most cases, these data leaks tend to be lower-level employees with access to all company emails and other data, either previously fired or currently employed from my past experience in these cases.” They were in seemingly a room full of executives, yet Ted didn't know any lower level employees were in there or else he wouldn't have said that. Emma felt the intensity of Chad’s eyes fix on her. She didn’t dare to look in his direction nor move a muscle. Emma couldn't help it after a moment longer though, shifting in her skirt on the seat and feeling her thighs sticking a bit from the sweat on her body. Emma was careful to act like she was as confused as the rest of the group. Ted looked at his watch and said, “I do have another client I have to see today. I will see you all at our meeting Friday. Just to confirm also, Mr. Williams, you and I are meeting tomorrow at 7AM, correct?” Chad nodded, clearing his throat as his eyes went away from Emma, “Yes, this is correct.” She let out the slowest and softest sigh of relief as she felt the stare leave her and she continued to stare forward, as if she didn't see his gaze, or, rather, didn't feel his gaze, lighting a fire in her lower regions and spreading across her body like wildfire. Emma stood after Ted left and said to the group, “I’ll be back with the order, it looks like it’s at the front.” Chad didn’t say a word but nodded, watching her leave. Emma brought the food into the meeting as Derek was giving a presentation over current budgeting for the month. Emma was excused to lunch and then shadowed Jessica until the end of her shift. Emma felt like she was literally saved by Chad’s meetings upon meetings for the rest of the day. It felt almost too good to be true that she hadn't been whisked away to his office nor was graced with his intensity since that meeting before lunch. Before clocking out, she checked her email one last time and saw Chad’s email pop up within moments of looking. What were the fucking odds? She felt heat start in her chest and her palms sweat in nervousness: Hi Gabriella, I expect you to shadow Jessica tomorrow when you come in since I’ll be in a meeting. I scheduled a meeting before lunch to do a performance review. Regards, Chad Williams CEO of Penn & Williams Firm Emma stared at the screen, rereading the words on the screen a few times. It was short and to the point that made Emma feel like he was onto her, onto what she had done. The tension she felt from Chad was building. She didn’t know if Ted’s words made him think it could be her, yet she had paranoia bubbling in her chest. Something was beginning to feel off, very very off. Part of Emma knew this was the point she should disappear, tell Bailey she was done and leaving. Just like her last failed assignment the year before. She had left before the cybersecurity investigator got there and Bailey praised her for the timing of it. The other part of Emma's being thrummed to the desperate need of being controlled, given attention and humiliated that convinced her to stay another day. To grasp onto the thread of hope that Brittney would respond. That everything would go back to how it was the week before. Little did Emma know, that one day would cost her everything and so much more.

Thank you for this catch here! 🙏

Haha, yes! Seems like Emma is just struggling out here. Love the thoughts on the character dynamics and hope you enjoy the next few chapters! Chapter 18: Entering the Most Dangerous Game of All “We haven’t had contact with Brittney in a week.” Bailey said over the phone on Sunday. “Well, fuck. I have to talk to her, like yesterday.” Emma said, pacing in her living room, “I can finish the job this week at a 50% completion rate and quit. I just need the okay to do it.” The words hurt to say aloud, but she knew that's what she'd have to do. Bailey sighed, “Even if we were in contact with Brittney, a 50% completion wouldn't be good enough, think we'd break our contract and have to refund. We agreed to 100% completion, only two targets wouldn't cut it. We could try negotiating for the two, but that would require her communication, in which we don't have right now." Bailey said as Emma stared at her wooden dresser, knowing what that meant and how fucked she was. "Don’t do anything until we get word from Brittney. If we aren’t paid anymore, there’s no need for more blackmail and we don’t need any more incrimination that can get us caught. The risk is too high right now and you’re the only contractor we have on assignment.” Emma paused, hearing Bailey’s comment, “Did you just say…” Emma’s brain thought about that Hannah and Erin were on assignments around the time Emma left, “Erin and Hannah, what happened?” Bailey said in a lower voice, “Erin is back in office. Hannah got caught on her assignment. She’s being held currently by the state county prison, the company has evidence on her hacking crimes.” Emma bit her lip, her heart sinking, “Fuck. What has happened to Kiara then, is she going to prison too?” “No, she isn’t, not yet at least. I’m thinking she cracked and is sharing our inner hacking ring as a way out of being charged for a felony.” “Okay. Well, that’s even better news to hear.” Emma said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Look, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later this week. Just lay low, stay on the assignment just another week and I’ll let you know if I hear from Brittney.” If. She said if not when. Emma blinked at her wording and knew what that entailed. I am so fucked, she thought to herself. “Okay, sounds good. We’ll see if I can survive another week then.” Emma said, the line hanging up on her and sighing. She was a sitting duck now, with all the things she had and unable to do anything without the okay from her boss. Emma contemplated the idea of leaving the Agency and Penn & Williams Firm seriously for the first time in that moment. That thought stabbed at her chest and she couldn't, no, wouldn't do anything until it was dire and Bailey told her to retreat or leave. Until then, Emma would wait, even if that meant her being caught by Chad Williams himself. She wasn't ready to leave and go back to what she was before this assignment. She didn't, no, couldn't go back. She liked who she was around these people, around Chad. Emma was in the dangerous game and she was ready to play. Whether that hurt her long term or sent her to prison, that was the game she'd stay in until the very last second. Emma breathed out slowly and shook off the ruminating thoughts prickling her brain, staring at Chad’s current deactivated profile on Fetlife. He’d deactivated it two months ago from Emma’s data pull. She thought she had enough dirt on him, yet she only had his username as blackmail and couldn't reactivate his account without knowing his personal email connected to Fetlife which she didn't have in the CSV files, no matter how hard she looked. Daddydom43. His profile picture was him sitting and leaning forward with his forearms on his knees, wearing his white dress t-shirt and dark grey dress pants. His face was cropped out of the picture and the only way she knew it was him was his watch. Emma stared at the picture, feeling tingly for the fifth time looking at it. It was unfortunate that knowing he had a profile on FetLife calling himself a daddy dom and a hot picture made her hot and bothered more than she knew possible. It was more unfortunate that she touched herself the night before fantasizing about her being his submissive and the things he could do to her. She couldn’t help but wonder what kinks he put in his profile. Emma searched the dark web and came up with nothing. Literally nothing. She’d like to say it was for her assignment purposes, yet really it was for her own fantasies. She sighed, eyeing his profile and feeling the excitement again swirling in her. Emma looked to her nightstand that had her vibrator on it and cursed under her breath at herself of how fucked up internally she was that the idea of being caught in her web of lies by Chad made her overly hot and bothered, more than she'd ever care to admit. Emma went into work that next Monday with little energy, barely sleeping the night before with her mind replaying what her and Bailey spoke about and what that meant for the predicament she was in. She broke out of her thoughts when she saw a text on her Hyundai Elantra dashboard from Chad asking for a coffee run before work. Emma talked into her phone to send a text, “On it.” Luckily she was five minutes earlier on her drive and stopped at Starbucks. His text pinged again: Be sure to order yourself something too. She smiled a little giddily at him offering to cover her coffee for the first time on his card. Emma stopped at Starbucks, picking up the order and going into work with the coffees at 6:55AM. She caught the elevator as Jessica was walking in, “Hey!” Jessica looked up from her phone with a smile, “Oh hey, Gabby. How was your weekend?” Emma opened and closed her mouth, almost telling Jessica that it wasn’t good since Sundays news. Emma’s job with the agency was on high alert and shaky. Emma had never experienced a rift or unsteady feeling in her job. She made good money, over 6 figures the past few years from assignments. This was the first time in 7 years she’d seen Bailey unsure about the state of the office with what was going on. Let alone, Emma was dealing with a controlling CEO that intimidated the fuck out of her, yet made her want more. Jessica awaited a response, blinking to Emma’s emotions written on her face, “Are you okay?” Emma swallowed, blinking back tears, “Yep.” Her voice was a bit rough, “Sorry, close to my period. Think it’s making me emotional.” Jessica laughed, “Sure, that will do it. Mondays are harder with hormones.” Emma didn’t say anything as the elevator doors opened and she saw Chad speaking to a middle aged man with blonde and white hair with square framed glasses and a sharp nose. “I’ll give you a tour and introduce you to Eugene.” Chad said, his gaze drifting to Emma’s as she walked in with Jessica. He looked away, talking to the man she didn’t know to Eugene’s office. Emma gulped, wondering if that was the cybersecurity investigator. From hearing so recently that Erin was being held by state county, she felt slightly nauseous at the thought of a prison sentence. She’d heard stories of ex-contractors of the agency that went to prison from 1 to 10 years, depending on that state they hacked illegally in. It was illegal what she did and sometimes Emma forgot about that. The fact that all she did was enveloped in lies, yet Emma didn’t know how to untangle herself. She'd been in the cybercrime game for over 7 years now, that was a long resume of hacking and a past that wasn't easily forgiven. She was in too deep and there wasn’t a way out that she knew of. She needed to finish her current assignment and consider an alternative career and possibly entire new life in a different state with a new name following this. She was seriously considering administrative assistant positions following her disappearance from Penn & Williams. Emma knew how to ace an interview and it’d be in no time she’d find a real job, one that wasn’t illegal anymore. Emma delivered the coffees to her management. She couldn’t help but think of the pictures she saw of Sav in her outfits and her chats with her submissives when she handed Sav her drink. Sav’s dark brown eyes were ice cold as they stared back at Emma, not smiling nor showing a trace of emotion as always. Now that Emma understood Sav more, she got why she seemed like a bitch. It was engrained in her and she loved the dominance. Unfortunate for Emma that she was probably the perfect submissive for someone like Sav. Although Emma didn’t consider herself bi-sexual, she was bicurious and the messages of Sav’s to her submissives were kind of cute to Emma. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but Sav did intrigue Emma's newly found dark and kinky self. Emma delivered the other coffees and knocked on Chad’s door to deliver his, “Come in.” Emma walked in and saw the blonde haired man setting up a finger print login device on Chad’s computer. The man in a full light grey suit outfit stood after inserting the USB and nodded to Emma. Chad introduced him, “This is Ted Melloncamp, our cybersecurity investigator and consultant. Ted, this is Gabriella.” The investigator. Great. “Hi, I go by Gabby.” She said, offering a smile that didn’t match her eyes. “Nice to meet you.” He said with a nod. Emma nodded back, setting Chad’s pike place black coffee on his desk and awaiting his instructions on what to do that day. Chad nodded to the door, “You can shadow Derek today. We’ll have a meeting around 11AM and I’ll need you to pick up a Potbelly catering order for the management team to deliver by 12PM." Emma's eyebrows raised in surprise on placing a delivery order instead of him making her pickup the order. He continued, answering the look she gave him, "You’ll be in our meeting and won’t be able to pick up, make sure to order something for yourself. We’ll have an executive only meeting starting at 12PM and after lunch you can go downstairs and help Jessica the rest of the day.” “Okay.” Emma nodded and walked out of the room, sighing in relief about escaping being around Chad for the rest of the day from the dilemma she was suddenly in over the weekend. Emma didn't think she could tolerate Chad's intensity with her brain scattered on what the fuck to do with the situation at hand. She needed clarity and soul-searching right now more than anything, not more humiliation blurring her senses. She walked to Derek’s office with her coffee and knocking as he told her to come in. “Oh you again.” He flashed a playful smile to her and she almost rolled her eyes at how blatantly flirty Derek was since being exposed via her emails. “Me again, this is correct.” She closed the door and walked in, sitting in the swivel chair next to him. “Looks like today is a game of sitting on our phones. I just got an email that the investigator wants us to not touch our email inboxes for the first half of the day.” Derek said, sitting back with a sigh. Emma sat back, “Good, getting paid to sit. I enjoy that.” Derek smirked at her, eyes glancing at her for a second longer than she’d like, “How’s your bottom doing since Friday?” Emma shifted, blushing at the comment. How would he even know? “Uhm, what do you mean?” “I went to the restroom when your were in the family restroom with Chad." Emma's eyes blinked in shock as he paused and his eyes met hers, "Your whimpers weren’t that quiet.” Derek said, giving a knowing smile. Emma sunk in her chair, drinking her coffee, “I rather not talk about it.” “For someone who hasn’t tried roleplay yet, you seem to like it.” Derek mused. Emma opened her mouth, faced flushed, “I never said I like it.” Derek tilted his head and rose his eyebrows in an ‘oh really’ look, “Your moaning doesn’t convince me otherwise.” “Fuck.” Emma put her hand down her hot face, “How do you know it was consensual?” “So, you mean to tell me that you are feeling sexually harassed at the workplace?” Derek asked, eyeing her with a sharp look. “No, I’d never say that.” She said, crossing her arms. “So… you like it then.” Derek asked in a teasing way, trying to pull it out of her. Emma crossed her arms, “I refuse to admit to liking it.” She paused, “And I’m not interrogating you on your 6 relationships, dick pics, fetishes and fairy roleplay.” She said with an edge to her voice. Derek threw his hands up with a friendly smile, “I’m an open book, ask me anything and I’ll tell you. I don’t care, nor it seems like most of our office.” Emma blinked at his genuine kindness. It was quite unfortunate how nice he was. “Did your wife know?” She asked. Derek nodded, “Yes. She doesn’t partake in my weirder kinks, so we’ve agreed for me to get that from other people. She has her own too and has other partners.” Emma simmered in his honesty, frowning, “Whatever.” She tapped open her dragon hatching game on her phone. Derek stared at her for a moment longer in thought, “Chad does enjoy brats. Almost exactly what he’s been looking for since you seem to ask for it.” Derek muttered, opening his Instagram, casually scrolling through his cosplay feed like it was normal. “I’m not a brat. I’m an adult woman.” She sneered back in annoyance. “Mhm, tell the same thing to Chad and see how he reacts.” Derek murmured, going to his DM chats. Emma frowned and looked over to his phone, “You should really get a privacy screen.” Emma said, changing the subject. “I have nothing to hide anymore and could care less. I've enjoyed exhibition with past partners and it gave me that feel when the email was sent." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Think I can now flirt with who I want a little easier now that people know I’m in an open relationship.” Emma paused at his full transparency, realizing maybe she was a twinge more alike with Derek than she'd care to admit in enjoying the public humiliation from her own past, “That’s… a positive way to look at it I guess.” Derek’s eyes slid to Emma’s, “I’d flirt with you more if Chad wasn’t possessive of what’s his. Think I’d lose my job if I did.” He said candidly. Emma blurted, completely ignoring the fact that Derek just admitted flirting with her, “I’m sorry… you said I’m his? I’m not fucking property nor is he asking me out for a date nor has he tried courting me.” Derek smirked knowingly, “Chad shows his liking in other ways. Spankings are one of those. He’s a man of action, not affirmation.” Derek said, going back to typing a message to the fairy girl on his phone. Emma scoffed and went to her phone, her brain reeling, “Mhm, and I’m sure he’s done that with every assistant then.” Emma said, an edge to her voice that was dripping with jealousy. She suddenly felt like she wasn’t special, as if she was just another toy for Chad. Derek shook his head in thought, “Only one. She quit after the first time I heard he spanked her about, I think, 4 months in?” Brittney. That was his last and only person Chad had spanked? Then she quit... Emma had to file that thought and what it meant for another time. Her brain was becoming overwhelmed and she didn't want to think of the possibility of Chad actually liking her. She paused, looking at Derek, “So… no ones been spanked and left then? No sex in the workplace with the past assistants?” “Nope, only that other assistant." He paused, debating if he should say something else and decided to say it, "And Chad doesn’t have sex with employees. I’ve asked him, man to man. He's pretty strict and doesn't cross that line, ever.” “Oh.” Emma felt relief flood through her body that Chad wasn’t as much of a player as she thought. Maybe Emma was the exception to his rule, or, possibly she was just a platonic role play. The thought hit her that maybe she was left to be just teased by him without getting a chance at her sexual fantasies nor ever getting the release of the tension between them she craved. If Emma quit after her assignment, maybe she’d just message him and slide into his DM’s. Maybe Chad was different outside of work, she’d really like to explore that side of him, after all. Emma spent the rest of her time before their meeting imagining her and Chad after she quit and what they could do, fulfilling her deepest darkest desires she only had found through meeting him. She didn’t know the full extent of Chad’s wrath and punishments, but she wanted to experience everything he had to give her. Everything and more. That thought awoke her to how she was slipping into a dangerous game. One she wouldn’t be able to come out of alive without going to prison or being left in heartbreak. In this moment, she realized she liked Chad, quite a bit more than she’d ever admit to anyone else. She had crossed the line in her assignment and, by god, she knew hell was waiting for her soon enough from the things she’d already done. Emma believed in karma and that one day it’d come for her on the things she’d done. It was as of lately she had a feeling it was coming, whether she was ready for it or not. _____________________________________ Thought I'd make an unimportant author's note on this chapter that no one asked for but I'm providing it anyways *hehe*. I've been listening to a lot of Chappel Roan and My Kink is Karma when writing along with Charlie XCX Brat album that inspired a lot of Emma's internal dialog and some of her character building. If you haven't heard My Kink is Karma, highly recommend maybe giving it a listen in the next few chapters. By no means is this a spoiler and the song has nothing to do with the plot- just if you want to hear some Emma energy then it's a great listen. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and there's more to come this week! Spoiler alert(select text after this area to read): the story is about to pick up, brace for impact. Diapers inbound at Chapter 25 for those who are patiently waiting.😉

Chapter 17: The Chase Begins The weekend went by too quick for Emma's liking. While Emma had time, she went on her usual hike and came back home to do what she could for her assignment before the cybersecurity investigator could halt her plans. Thus far, she only had access to Adam’s personal data and it would have to do. She took a few hours looking through his Instagram DM’s. Adam was vanilla as fuck and was barely on social media. He was wholesome in his chats with his family he contacted weekly and had only Facebook group chats with his friends. No dick pics and he was insultingly nice to the women he messaged. A true gentlemen, really. Emma got into his bank statements and all she found as donations to small businesses and non-profits. “Well, fuck me then.” She said to herself, pursing her lips. Why was Adam a target? She wondered, shaking her head and thinking of another way to make progress the next week on her targets. She’d have to tell Brittney she had nothing on Adam. It was rare that she had someone so unscathed and wholesome, yet here Adam Davers was, proving Emma that not all men were toxic. It’d reduce her payout, but Emma had really nothing here. She sent a text to Brittney hours ago, saying that she’d need to meet in person in the next week. Brittney didn’t text back and Emma was a bit weary as hours ticked by without a response. Rarely, past Agency’s clients have been known to pull out. Either out of fear, guilt or regret of their decisions. She would like to think Brittney wasn’t going to be one of those as the things Emma went through she'd hoped it wouldn't be all for nothing. The saving grace was that she knew Bailey should have gotten a deposit for 30% of the payout, which meant Emma would get something at the very least. Emma took a shower and was thinking deeply about what else she could do this next week. She’d have to go to the next target, either Sav or Chad. Chad was… impossible to go through. He had a privacy screen, a habit of distracting her from paying attention to his password typing, and a two factor authentication system on everything which only meant there wasn’t much she could infiltrate. The only morning she had with him, she failed to even watch him type in his keyboard for passwords. She was too flustered after the spanking to do her one job. Day by day, she felt so far away from the $120K. It became a moment of accepting taking the loss at this rate. She had nothing else to try besides going the manual route, yet she needed confirmation from Brittney to carry out that risky task and the lack of response made her believe that that future was possibly slipping away. Emma paused as she dried herself off with her towel, thinking about what her coworkers said about Sav and having a Fetlife profile. Emma did have Sav’s personal email in her CSV file of company records. Emma put on her clothes quickly, springing to her laptop and logging in. Emma found Sav’s email and went to the dark web, retrieving her old passwords from numerous data leaks. Emma saw her most recently leaked passwords and immediately went to Fetlife. Emma took the first email and typed in one of the more recent passwords. The red failed attempt showed and she frowned. Emma typed the second most recent password and got another failed attempt. She only had one more attempt or she’d be locked out. Emma tapped her fingers on the leaked passwords and stared, eyes going to one that seemed more fetishlike she typed: BDSMlover88* She hit enter and the screen reloaded, Emma grew a large smile as she accessed her data. Her eyes greedily consuming her messages and profile, screenshotting without mercy. Emma’s coworkers weren’t lying, Sav was a domanatrix and a seasoned one at that. She’d been on Fetlife for 10 years and had not one, but multiple submissives. Her kink list was extensive too, Emma rose her eyebrows at seeing some things that sounded all too familiar. Female humiliation. Spanking. What Emma stumbled upon in Sav’s dominatrix profile next, she was not expecting. Her eyes saw a profile the person's face cropped off in Sav’s friend list that looked all-too familiar. His brown leather watch. His vein lined arms. His white dress shirt. Daddydom43. Emma gulped in her excitement to see his goddamned attractively hot profile picture. Her body tingled in all the right places as she greedily clicked the profile, finding it was deactivated. She frowned. Fuckity fuck, she thought as she screen shotted his profile, knowing it was the only blackmail she'd have, but it'd have to do for now. She had more digging, but this was the first of many things she could dive further into. She had her work cut out for her still but this was the most she'd ever had on Chad and that was a victory in itself. She threw up her fist in the small victory, knowing in that moment, she had all the data she needed to start Chad’s company's destruction with Sav and Chad's data being leaked to not only coworkers, but his clientele. Through that alone, clients would withdraw partnerships and his company would slowly crumble. The same way she had done so many times before. Yet, there was a strong pull to not do it. To stop everything, give up on the assignment. Her gut and heart said to delete the screenshots and tell Brittney she had nothing on them. To give up the $120K commission and leave the assignment. The logical part of herself said to destroy the company and disappear. Given, the logical part had always been right, yet Emma liked defying things, even when it came to her own mind it seemed. God, did those thoughts of her having to leave or disappear cut so deep in her heart, stabbing and making her almost cry. She wasn't ready to leave nor disappear this assignment. Let alone, she wasn't even ready to process her emotions with Chad nor the whole dynamic they had. There was chemistry, excitement and that damn hum that made her stay. She wanted more, she wanted everything he had to give her. The pain cut so deep thinking of giving that up, throwing away the one thing that gave her the feeling that live was worth living in the past years. That thought ate at her being. The fact that she felt so alive, so herself around him. She couldn't imagine leaving him now when she was just learning about herself and having an awakening of who she really was. Most of all, Chad made her feel accepted for the first goddamn time in her life, like she wasn't alone in these dark fantasies and found someone who wanted them as much or even more than her. Given, way more than her, yet she was there for everything he had to give. She wanted to experience it all, no matter how humiliating and degrading. Emma tapped her nail on the laptop, staring for a while and deciding to procrastinate her decisions of if she should terrorize Chad's company and, instead, have some much needed me-time after seeing Chad's really fucking hot profile picture on Fetlife. If she didn't, she'd be scared to be a flustered mess next time she saw him, that was sure.

Interesting thoughts here on the plot and characters! I like where you're going with these thoughts and I guess we'll see what happens next. 👀 Chapter 16: The Not So Happy Hour Emma had to call off her plans with Graham that night. Graham was sad to not see her, but he understood her hustle for the current state of their jobs. From what Graham told her throughout the week, there were no new assignments nor clients coming in and people were holding their breath around the Agency. Emma didn't give it too much thought because she honestly didn't have time for it between trying to figure out what was wrong with her inner workings and making it through another day under her intense new supervision. That was draining in itself and at least Bailey was still her manager and Brittney still was paying for her assignment, Emma wouldn't worry. Emma shook off the thoughts as she shrugged a soft light pink long-sleeved scoop neck bodysuit that she snapped on at the crotch that was a little flirty in showing her curves and made her look cute, maybe too cute for her liking if she was in Chad's presence but tonight she didn't have to worry. She slipped on her favorite pair of light blue high-rise jeans that hugged her butt in a flattering way that she knew turned heads. She called an Uber after spritzing on perfume and grabbing her purse before walking out the door. Before she knew it, she was at Tipsy Tony’s and one tequila shot plus one margarita in, sitting next to Charity, Jessica, Eric and a few other coworkers she hadn’t met until that night. Megan and Jose she got to talk to at the high chair table they sat in their corner of the bar. They were the construction specialty consultants in the office and had their own offices on the first floor that Emma never really passed or got to talk to them. Their job in the company was pretty busy and it'd be rare if Emma had a chance to have small talk inside the workplace anyways. A few other social groups of coworkers scattered around the bar that Emma recognized but they were older age groups that she just didn’t talk too nor had anything in common with to say hi without being incredibly awkward. Emma wasn't good at small talk and never had been. Her facade could become extroverted but she didn't feel like playing the part tonight. She'd rather just relax and be herself with people she genuinely liked on her assignment. While she may not talk to them after the assignment, she could always enjoy during the time being and that's what Emma ultimately decided on that night. “Okay, I think we’re all buzzed enough to talk about it.” Jose said, swirling his glass of wine in malice. Megan blurted, “The dick pic, right? It was a 10/10, hands down.” The whole table burst out laughing, even Emma. They all shared they’re laughter, breathless after a few moments. They were so loud that a few of the other coworkers from across the room looked over, curious on why their table was howling in laughter. Jessica said, “Did you see his messages though? Kinky as fuck and kind of hot, almost made me consider a new kink today. Not sure if my boyfriend would approve though.” She frowned, looking at her margarita. “You guys weren’t grossed out with the one about peeing on someone though? Wasn’t that kind of.... yuck?” Charity asked. “There’s no kink shaming at this table. You can sit with the moms and dads who talk about their kids as their only passions in life over there.” Jose said, pointing to the table across the way. They all laughed at Jose’s charismatic voice and motioning to Charity to leave. Emma was picking up that Jose was super friendly and funny. She was sad she hadn’t got to really talk to him until today. Jose reminded her of Graham, gay as hell and incredibly funny. Graham would have been the life of the party and Emma knew her new coworkers would have loved him. Part of her got sad that she would never be able to combine her real life with this one. The other part didn't want her friends to know Graham because he'd probably overshare a little too much about Emma that she kept very very hidden. That was Graham's specialty, throwing Emma under the bus and teasing her about things, after all. Eric spoke, “I didn’t read the pee one. Only the fairy roleplay one. That was a top notch role play. 10/10 think I’ll try it with the wifey.” Emma blinked, surprised at the comment. “The pee one or the fairy one?” Emma asked, teasing. The whole group cackled at Emma’s question as Eric frowned and Emma had tears in her eyes from pure laughter. She wasn’t even putting on a façade. These were people she could get down with, no question. Emma didn’t think she’d find a single soul to call a friend or ally when she started yet now she seemed to find people she’d gladly introduce her own real friends too. It was too bad that could never happen, like ever. Jose pointed his wine to Emma, “You have passed our test. Picking on Eric is the best way to earn respect in our office. You’re officially one of us.” Emma grinned, feeling a warmth in her chest of being let into a friend group. Past Emma wouldn't trust people this much to even hang out after her assignment's work hours, but this was the rare occasion she actually fit in somewhere and wasn't considered weird that she was willing to work overtime. Was it really working though? It wasn't, Emma just couldn't admit to herself that she enjoyed this new found friendship with in her coworkers. Megan pushed her dark blonde bangs out of her brown eyes, “That’s if Chad doesn’t fire her or she quits first.” The table went silent, looking to Emma. “Let’s not talk about the inevitable. Let me get drunk and enjoy this moment, Megan.” Emma teased with a grin as the group burst out laughing again. Emma took another sip of her margarita as her eyes saw a few people enter the bar. She almost spit out her drink as her eyes met the familiar smoldering brown ones who were surprised to see her here. Emma felt suddenly hot, her face flushing. He looked away quickly and walked with his group. “Derek’s here? You’d think he’d be hiding in a closet after today.” Jessica said, eyes following Emma’s. Emma was so flustered by Chad she hadn’t even noticed the people with Chad. Emma watched as Derek was walking around and saying hi to the other coworkers who came out. Her eyes briefly floated to Chad who was at the bar with Adam, talking and not looking in her direction. Jessica said lowly into Emma’s ear, “Chad usually doesn’t fraternize with most of us, if that makes you feel better. He probably won’t come over here.” Emma blinked, wondering if Jessica could tell that Emma was nervous. Was it that obvious? Emma didn't know but it seemed like Jessica picked up on her tells already. It cut through Emma like a knife in that moment to realizing how badly she was doing on maintaining a facade since the beginning of her assignment. Emma had completely lost grip of her facade at this stage in her assignment and decided it was time to stop worrying and let Gabby Simmons persona die off. The mask was gone, she couldn't continue to keep giving herself a hard time for showing her true emotions anymore. Emma could only be herself in this office it seemed. Her trying to be someone else was futile in the presence of Chad fucking Williams anyways. Emma broke out of her thoughts as she watched Derek make his rounds to all the tables, laughing and smiling as Emma could see people making comments about the email. Derek looked unphased and confident, the complete opposite of what Emma had done to all the past targets. Did she enter an alternate universe? She watched as Derek looked like the popular guy in school, greeting everyone and acting like nothing happened that day. It was impressive and shocking to Emma, all at the same time. It was like all the work she did to humiliate him only made him more liked around the office. It was astonishing, truly. Derek finally got over to their table as Jose went to give the handshake and hug combo that Derek was doing around the room, “10/10 dick pics my dude!” Jose said as he slapped Derek's back. The table burst out laughing and it sent Emma almost in tears. As she calmed down, she could see out of the corner of her eye Chad’s head turn, staring at her. She could feel his gaze, watching her as if they were in his office again. Even though she was in a room full of people, she suddenly felt like she was the only one. She shifted, turning her head to him as he didn’t falter nor turn away. His brown eyes smoldering in the dimmer lighting of the bar. A part of her had a thought that maybe he knew it was her, that he saw through her fake name and everything she lied about. The other part of her brushed off the thought, knowing there was no way he’d know. She was careful and was sporadic. She’d be sure to wait a little longer to expose Adam next, then Sav and then Chad himself. When they thought the hacker was gone, she'd strike again. Maybe it was the drink or her friends surrounding her, but for the first time she didn’t give a timid look back. She looked back to Derek who was looking at the group, an air of confidence in his eyes and a humored look, “Well, I guess my secrets are out. I’m sure whoever hacked our system recently is just teaching us a lesson to not click phishing links.” Megan deadpanned, “You clicked the phishing link?” Megan was in awe that a CFO could make such a newbie mistake. Jose touched his shoulder, “You’re the CFO, my dude, you should know better.” Derek scratched the back of his head, “Look, the executives got a different email than the rest of the office. I clicked it and realized too late.” “Well, fuck, I clicked a link that day too.” Eric said, his forehead wrinkling in stress. Jose howled in a laugh, “Might as well just send the dick pics to the office on Monday then. Get it over with.” The whole group laughed. Derek looked down to his phone that began ringing, “The wife is calling, I’ll have to fill her in on today.” Megan looked around the table after he left, “So… are we not mad he cheated on his wife 6 times and there’s proof?” Jessica rolled her eyes, “You don’t know? Derek and his wife have a polyamorous open relationship thing. Derek told me about it once and that his wife was going on dates with a few women. His wife knew about it and is more than okay with it, I’m sure.” Jose sauntered to the bar, saying hi to Chad and asking the bartender for something, nodding to their table. Charity looked to Emma, “Has this not all scared you off yet?” Emma smiled and raised her eyebrows, “Yup, think I’ll put in my resignation later next Monday.” The group laughed and finally changed topics to talking about their clients projects. Eric groaning about his manufacturing company he was contracted to consult. Megan talked about a construction project and how difficult the clients were to get their data they needed to complete the project. Jose walked back over with shots, passing it around, “New girl, take two. Then you’re officially welcomed into the cult.” “Hey now, I thought I was official earlier.” Emma said, grabbing a shot, taking it back. She took the second one, throwing it back as the group cheered. “YES, Queen!” Jose and the group cheered. Emma winced at the burning in her throat, “I need a water after that, yuck.” She scooted off her chair, grabbing her phone and putting it in her back pocket as she walked over to the bar, feeling a buzz that would possibly turn to drunk after those shots. Her brain was so focused on getting water that as she walked up to the bar, she went to the only open area. It wasn't until she approached the counter that she realized it was in between a older man drinking beer by himself and Chad who was talking to Derek. Chad’s eyes drifted to Emma’s green ones as she walked up, his eyes trained on her like she was prey. Emma was way too late to turn around. Maybe if she had noticed before he looked to her, she could've escaped his stare and ran back to her table. Alas, Emma had too many drinks and the fear was quelched for the moment that she could deal with his intensity radiating off his body as she got closer. All she had to do was get water, then she'd be back to her table. It wasn't like he would do anything in a public place anyways. She clung to that thought as she felt the confidence of the two shots start to hit and she grinned to Chad. “Hey.” She said, nodding to Chad and Derek, waiting for the bartender to come over between the multiple people waiting for their drinks to be made. Derek had his back turned and looked behind him, “Oh hey, Gabby. How’s the first happy hour going?” She felt Chad’s watchful gaze, her eyes twinkling back in a slightly buzzed state, “It’s been great. I managed to get on Jessica’s good side somehow.” She paused, eyes going to Chad who stood up, towering above her, “The next goal is to get on Chad’s good side. Then maybe I’ll stay employed.” She grinned playfully to Chad who’s face was unreadable. Maybe she overstepped but it didn’t matter. The drinks made her feel like it didn't matter, at least, and that was good enough for now. Derek howled at the slight jab at Chad, “Ha! Good luck. I’ll leave you two to working that out then.” He sighed looking around the room, “Hoping the dick pic topic will go away soon. Wish me luck.” Maybe the alcohol hit faster than Emma anticipated as she said without filter, “The dick pic topic will most likely go away. Not sure about the roleplay chats will as fast though. There’s been mixed office opinions on that.” Derek paused before leaving, eyes curious as he looked down to her, “And what’s your opinion on the roleplay chats you saw?” A look of lust shadowed his eyes. She felt hot and her face flush as she felt Chad’s eyes curiously watching. Her eyes dared to look at Chad’s that reflected her own feelings. A trace of lust, a glimmer of wanting the humiliation he gave her so easily. It was addictive and she wanted more. No, needed more. “I don’t kink shame. I have friends into equally as wild of things.” She shrugged, half-lying considering she didn’t know entirely what her friends Deon and Kylie were into. She had just seen enough fetishes of her targets that nothing surprised her anymore. Derek pressed, “But are you into roleplay?” He asked as Chad rested an elbow on the back of a stool, eyes curiously awaiting her answer. Emma laughed nervously in their intensity, “I mean, I haven’t really tried it. I haven’t had many experiences since high school.” She said, clutching her elbow awkwardly. The bartender finally came up to her, breaking the intense conversation, “What can I get you?” “A margarita on the rocks with salt please.” She said, forgetting about water. The sudden heat her body felt in Chad's presence required more alcohol. “And a water.” Chad added, eyes watching her as if she already had too much to drink and didn’t need more. She felt her back pocket vibrate and Emma got out her phone, seeing Graham’s name on the top of her notifications. Chad’s eyes did not give her any privacy as he saw the notification too. The bartender brought the margarita and water over. The bartender asked, “Is this on the company’s tab?” Chad nodded as the bartender went to the next patron. Derek asked what Chad was thinking, “Text from the boyfriend, eh?” She didn’t look at the text and slid her phone back in her pocket, “No, just my best friend. He’s gay and would hit on you if he saw the dick pic. Beware.” She looked to Chad in surprise, hearing him chuckle for the first time ever at something she said. His smile was handsome and drop dead gorgeous. She barely saw it but when she did, it made her melt a bit. She blinked to Derek, trying to not show her inner thoughts by staring any longer. Derek shrugged, “It’s out there now. If Chad fired me, I’d at least have a strong start for OnlyFans at this point.” Chad smirked, “I’m not firing you for a malicious hacker exposing your personal life. It’s sick what they did and after we get the cybersecurity investigator in next week and Eugene working together. I’m sure we’ll get this person or team in court, whether it’s a lawsuit or criminal charges.” Emma felt her heart skip a few beats as she gulped. They hired a cybersecurity investigator that fast? How in the fuck could she do anything more? That’s why this was a suicide mission from the start. Exposing one target was enough for her to usually quit and disappear from an assignment easily before cybersecurity came in. However, this was 4 targets and she was only 25% job completion. She’d have to talk to Brittney this next week about things and what it meant. Emma may need to leave this assignment early if things headed south. She blinked as she felt a sharp pang in her heart from the thought as she looked to Chad. Emma quickly brushed the thought away before it took on a physical emotion. It wasn't the time nor the place for her to think that far ahead of herself and as to why that thought hurt so much. “Well thanks for having my back, Chad.” Derek saw someone across the room, walking away, “I have to go say hi to Ken, be back later.” Emma wished she could curse Derek for leaving Emma with Chad as they were left alone to talk at the bar. The tension was thick between them the moment Derek's shield of friendliness left and Emma could feel it. Feel him and his pent up anger from earlier that day. Emma didn't hesitate for a second after Derek left, grabbing her water and margarita, about to walk back to her table. She felt Chad’s hand grasping her wrist and his mouth next to her ear as he leaned down, lightly grazing her skin, “Sit for a bit and drink all your water. Then you can go back to your friends over there, hm?” His breath was minty and warm as she tilted her face slightly in his directions, looking into his warm and suddenly caring eyes. Emma knew from his tone he was serious and she sat as told, taking a few sips of her water. She shifted, realizing the alcohol hit and so did the need to pee. It always seemed to happen that way for her and drinks. One moment, she was invincible, and, the next moment, she was doing a dance to hold her bladder in a long line at a party or bar. She drank a few more gulps as Chad watched with humor playing on his expression. The need to pee became urgent almost too quickly as she got up, her water halfway done. Chad’s hand grasped her wrist in a flash, his tone reprimanding, “What did I just say, Gabriella?” His grip was strong and a reminder of his dominance. “I really need to pee, Chad. Sorry.” She tugged her wrist from his grip, yet he was unbudging with his eyes humored by her struggle. “Sit back down and finish your water first. Then you can go potty.” He murmured, not letting her go. Potty. The word insulting and arousing at the same time to Emma that she blinked in confusion at her internal debate to bite Chad or ask for more verbal teasing. Emma bit back something she wanted to say but, instead, she got back in the chair and obeyed his command. Her lower abdomen in pain from her very full bladder but she was left with little to no choice. She drank more sips of her water as quick as she could as Chad mused beside her, obviously savoring the moment of her doing a potty dance in the chair and struggling. She chugged the rest of her water as she got to her brink of bladder fullness. If her memory served her, she hadn’t peed in 5 hours. She was not going to wet herself in public, that was sure. “Can I please go now?” She asked, looking to him who gave a wickedly handsome and knowing smile back. He paused, almost purposefully drawing the time out longer, “Mhm, do you need help?” Chad taunted. Emma quickly got up from her seat, “Fuck off, Chad.” She growled, instantly regretting her words as he stood and followed her to the long, mahogany wood paneled hallway that lead to the restrooms. There was a family restroom in between and part of her cursed under her breath as she hurried to the restroom, Chad hot on her tail. Chad grabbed her wrist before she could open the bathroom door. He pulled her roughly against the wall, pinning her arms above her head so easily, “If I wanted to, I’d make you wet yourself here, in this hallway, and show your new coworkers the baby you are who should be wearing her diapers to prevent her accidents.” He said in a low growl, his face inches from her. After a moment passed, his features turned back into a calm rage, “But, I’m feeling nice tonight. So go potty and I’ll give you a well-earned spanking for your attitude and language with me.” Emma flushed bright red at his words and his closeness. She felt herself get wet in her panties from his words, yet also wet from almost peeing herself. She told herself it was mostly her dire need to use the restroom and not the word diaper or baby. It was most definitely not those words making her get dizzy from excitement, must have been the alcohol. Her inner thoughts swirling in confusion as her moss green eyes shifted at him. Chad let go of her after a moment of silence, almost as a added punishment for her to wait a few seconds more to go to the restroom. She hurried to the restroom and into a stall, pulling down her jeans and unsnapping her bodysuit. She cursed under her breath about choosing the body suit that was so damn hard it was to take off in her desperate state. Fuck looking cute, she would not dare wear something like this again at a company event. She wrote her mental note as she sighed in sitting on the toilet. Pure relief flooding her senses that she didn't pee herself. That was a close one, too close for comfort. She took the longest pee that almost hurt at first from being so full. Emma blinked at her panties, they were literally soaked in excitement. Huh, drinking plus excessive hydration and a hot guy that was incredibly dominant pinning her against a wall seemed to do that. It was the trifecta of her saturating her underwear and her bodysuit area that snapped at the crotch. The worst part was, she knew Chad would only tease her further on needing protection. Fuck. Yet, that internal fucked up mechanism in her head wanted it, no, craved it. She came out of the stall and washed her hands, looking into the mirror and knowing she was drunk already. It was the only saving grace for what was next, since the alcohol would numb the pain... or at least she could hope it would. Emma walked out of the bathroom and Chad was waiting with his arms crossed and leaning on the wall. Anger and a calm rage took over his expression as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the family restroom. Chad was obviously experienced in the bedroom that he easily unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, pulling them down to expose her bodysuit. He kneeled and Emma had to hold in her gasp of excitement. There was something hot about his face being close to her lower parts that she'd file in the deep recesses of her brain for a later time. It was definitely not appropriate for her having these thoughts about her boss... yet it wasn't appropriate that he was spanking her either. Tit for tat, they both had their own faults, one could say. He unsnapped the crotch area of the bodysuit, his fingers grazing the wet material, “You had an accident again.” He murmured, more to himself than to Emma, “If I find you wetting yourself again, I will put you in a diaper. Understand?” He asked, so sultry and serious. Emma gasped softly in the swirl of heat and pleasure she felt from his words and his fingers near her parts. The diaper comment should have disgusted her to her core, yet the concerning thought she had was it didn’t. It made her feel the opposite. There was a pleasurable tingling along her head to her arms and down to her toes in embarrassment. She nodded after a moment, “Understood.” Emma seethed at the idea of being spanked in a public restroom. The idea was kind of gross and a part of her wished Chad kept his antics strictly at the workplace. Luckily the bar’s family bathroom was well-kept, smelled like a clean cotton candle and was dimly lit with dark wood paneled walls and a porcelain toilet. It's not like Emma had the choice of the time nor place anyways, so I guess this would have to do. Chad put the toilet cover down and sat, patting his lap, “Good girl. Come here then.” Emma slowly walked over and Chad took her hand and guided her over his lap. He pushed up her bodysuit and his hand grazed her black lacy panties. He mused before starting, “Babies shouldn’t wear such inappropriate undergarments.” Emma blinked, almost forgetting her underwear and how they were probably one of her more 'sexy' pairs. She'd like to imagine that Chad was enjoying his view, but, alas, she couldn't see his face to even confirm that. The other thing Emma's mind spiraled into was that she was beginning to pick up that he really had a daddy and little girl kink. The whole 'treating an adult woman like a toddler or baby type' of daddy and submissive level that she'd honestly only known a bit about by watching TV shows. She’d watched too many episodes of My Strange Addiction and TLC to know about the little girl fetishes. There was a spectrum of age ranges for age play different daddies and littles preferred. The baby and toddler age play range was more rare in those communities, yet it seemed like she struck the lottery, or, alternatively, the IRS selecting her for auditing. She didn't know which one she struck but she was sure she'd find out. As her mind traveled away from her current predicament staring at the dark wood boards below her. Her face scrunched at a piece of scattered toilet paper, she felt the first sting of a spank. Another one hit and she grimaced at the pain. The swirl of pleasure mixed with pain grew in her lower half as he continued. In her drunk state, she couldn’t hold back the soft whimpers mixed with moans and gasps. He went harder when it sounded like she was enjoying it. Emma wasn't trying to moan or like it, her body just couldn't hide it in her drunken state. Chad shifted, surprised by her sudden moans and gasps. Chad landed harder swats than the first spanking, making sure she knew this was a punishment and not a reward. He kept going until her gasps went away and she was crying, broken from the punishment. He helped her up and brushed her tears, leaning in and kissing her forehead. “Shhhh, it’s okay, little one.” He cooed her as she calmed down from her crying. She was about to wipe her snot on her sleeve but Chad grabbed her wrist before she did, “Ah, ah, you don’t want to ruin your cute clothes.” He grabbed a tissue in the bathroom and blotted the snot for her. “Thank you.” She said, as he took another and wiped her tear streaked face. “You’re welcome. Let’s get you dressed.” He said, going to her bodysuit and snapped the crotch. She felt the cool and wet fabric touching her as she grimaced. He pulled her jeans up, buttoning and zipping. “There, all better, hm?” He asked, tilting his head down. She nodded, walking over to the sink and splashing her face with water, dabbing the paper towel on her face as he watched silently with a smile placed on his face. Emma walked out of the bathroom and to the bar where her drink was thankfully still there. Her bottom stung like a motherfucker and she quickly walked back to her coworkers, hoping her eyes weren’t that puffy as they felt as she rejoined the group that was getting drunk and laughing. “Oh hey, you’re back! Our favorite new girl in the office!” Charity hugged Emma in a drunken state. Emma sipped her margarita quickly, “Thanks for letting me into the inner circle.” She got out her phone, looking at the time, “I have to go soon here, I’m pretty tired.” She said. Really, she just wanted to go home and touch herself after how hot and bothered the spanking made her. Not to mention, she needed time to contemplate her existential crisis and why her body felt hot to the touch by being treated like a small child. “Bummer!” Jessica said, the music in the bar becoming louder, “I was hoping we could get you on the dance floor.” “Sorry, I didn’t sleep much yesterday, I’ll try to make the next happy hour though.” She said, going to her Uber app and requesting a ride. “I’ll see you guys Monday!” She nodded to everyone as they waved and said their goodbyes. Emma walked outside and took in the fresh night’s air, closing her eyes for a moment as she waited for the Uber that was 4 minutes away. Her bottom stung, yet the crisp air brushed her skin and made her feel more alive than she had felt in quite some time. “Leaving early, hm?” Chad said, walking outside with his hands in his pockets, “Do you need a ride home?” Emma shook her head, showing her phone, “Already called an Uber, thank you though.” Emma didn't want to bare the thought of being in Chad's car nor him knowing hwere she lived. It was dangerous. As dangerous as her beginning to like him. Chad stood, towering over her with a knowing smile placed on his face from their exchange moments ago, “The spankings are a punishment, not a reward, Gabriella.” He said in a sultry tone. Emma looked to him in a slight glare, “Trust me, Chad, I got that message both times.” Chad stared for a moment, “I don’t think they are working since you still have an attitude. Maybe next week if this attitude continues, we can explore other punishments for your behavior.” The Uber pulled up as she ignored his comment, saying, “Have a good night, Chad.” “Good night, little one.” He said before going back into the bar. Little one, really? She hoped the pet name didn’t stick. His comments were slowly increasing in frequently. It was frustrating, humiliating and flustering for her. That dark part of herself hummed in excitement though, reaching out and wanting her to ask for more of it. Emma's drunken self watched the city's colorful skyline as the driver went on the expressway, wondering how to make it stop. Make the hum of her deep desires and fantasies go away. It wasn't that simple though and she couldn't shake it, at least not when she got home that night. When Emma got home, she had some much needed me-time before falling into a deep slumber, thinking about Chad spanking and diapering her that only bled into her dreams. The worst part was she woke up the next morning in a slight hangover from the dream, not the alcohol, wishing it was real life. Something was really wrong with her, really. It was past due time for her to call her therapist, that was sure.

Chapter 15: Saved by the Leak The rest of the week was nothing like Monday had been. Chad reported to work Tuesday morning and he sent her to shadow Derek for all of Tuesday through Thursday. She basically got paid to be on her phone and it was great. Sure, Derek flirted with her every now and then, but besides that, we was genuinely fun to be around. She almost felt bad she had a whole file folder of his messages and dick pics at her home. She felt pre-guilty to expose him in such an embarrassing form. I mean, the guy really knew how to roleplay in messaging. It was respectable to Emma in a weird way. The only thing she couldn’t understand was why he cheated on his wife? She’d look to their wedding picture every now and then, trying to figure out why someone would cheat so much on such a beautiful woman. She was fit, long wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes. Emma even stalked her to learn more, maybe pick up on if she was secretly abusive or an awful person that gave reason for Derek to be so awful of a cheating husband. Emma found nothing besides a dog mom who helped her community, planted trees on the weekends and volunteered to build homes. It only made her hate Derek more by how many people he messaged dick pics and horny messages too. On Friday, Emma strolled in with donuts and coffee from Dunkin Donuts. She made sure to get there at 6:40AM before Chad did. He was always on the dot, exactly at 6:45AM. It made her wonder if he had OCD because he was almost too calculated and perfectly timed in everything he did. He was like clockwork and he obviously built a company so impeccably large with a consistent workflow and worked as hard or harder than his staff that impressed Emma. Alas, she'd never admit that aloud though and had to actively shove any admirable things she thought about Chad in a lockbox and never open it. All this to say, Emma was getting better at coming into work before or a minute after to avoid the all-but-too intense elevator ride up. She had avoided him so far and would continue too as long as she could. After Emma set all the donuts and coffee out, Emma grabbed a powdered munchkin and ate it in enjoyment by herself before anyone else came in that morning. She heard someone come in the break room, “Really early today, hm?” Chad asked, tilting his head as he watched Emma drop powder on her flutter sleeve black dress, powder on her lips. He leaned on the door frame, hands in his pockets like he had been watching her for much longer than Emma had even noticed. Emma finished eating her munchkin with a sudden blush, “I got coffee and donuts for the office.” That was obvious, Emma felt awkward, “Adam said I owed him earlier in the week a donut for taking the swivel chair. Thought I’d get some for everyone again.” She shrugged. “That was very sweet of you.” Chad said, a smile placed on his face, eyes warmly bouncing at how cute she looked with powder on the side of her mouth and on her dress. He walked up to the breakroom table and grabbed a napkin, dabbing at her dress collar where the powder fell and then going up to the side of her mouth, “We really should be wearing our bib when we eat though, hm?” He said, face tilting down to her in a mocking way. Emma felt her face flush in heat by his words and closeness as she looked up. The space between them felt like a magnetic pull, making her want to close the gap as she gulped, “Thanks.” She said, taking a side step away from him and grabbing a napkin for her fingers. “So, uhm, am I shadowing you today?” “No, you’ll shadow Jessica. She’ll show you how to schedule meetings and get you started with some virtual trainings you should have done before the end of the day.” Chad said, grabbing coffee and a donut before leaving. Emma said softly to herself, “I probably could have learned that day 1.” She sighed, going to the front desk and waiting for Jessica. When Jessica came in, she smiled as she saw her iced coffee, “You spoil me, Gabby.” “I try my best.” Emma said with a genuine grin back. Out of all her new coworkers, she found a real connection with Jessica over the past few weeks. Derek was probably her second closest person, but for other reasons that she could guess were only because he had a thing for cheating on his wife. The morning flew by as Jessica taught her what to do and a long list of what not to do on Chad’s scheduling. “He doesn’t like any meetings before 8:30AM or after 2:30PM.” She said, firmly, “He also doesn’t like being asked something twice. If he says something twice, you might as well put in your resignation. He fired an assistant for having to repeat himself I heard.” She said with a frown. “That assistant was only here a week though, if it makes you feel any better.” Emma had a strange feeling she’d just get another spanking if he had to repeat anything to her. She was beginning to take note that most assistants of his only lasted less than two weeks. Given, she was lucky he was gone one of the weeks, yet she would like to think she was different than the others. Maybe a small twisted part of her wanted to think that at least. “Oh, and don’t get caught on your phone since you’ll be upstairs.” She added, trying to think of the other things Chad fired people for. “That would have been good to know the first week.” Emma said, crossing her arms as shooting Jessica a look. Jessica gave a pretty red lipstick smile, “That was before I knew I liked you, sorry.” Her lips pulled down in a apologetic frown. “Ah, now the truth comes out.” Emma said with a genuine smile, not her facade fake grin but her real self showing through in her eyes for a second too long. “Not personal, we just have had some airheads as personal assistant hires. Dumb blondes, really. Thought you were the same and didn’t care to get to know another person who would be fired.” She shrugged. “I'm brunette, first off, so you categorized me wrong from the start." She said shooting Jessica a playful look and pausing, "I keep hearing that and wondering how long my timeline will be here. It sounds like if I last past 4 months, I’ll be the new record. Maybe I'll make it into Ripley's Believe it or Not world records book.” Emma said a bit cockily as Jessica’s eyes widened when Chad strolled past, head tilting to Emma’s words while he walked with a client to his office. He eyed Emma for a moment as he passed, not stopping since he was with someone who wasn’t apart of the office. Jessica cupped her hand over her gaping mouth. “It looks like 3 weeks was my timeline. It was nice knowing you, Jess.” Emma said, her green eyes going back to her training and sinking into her chair, wanting to die from the look Chad gave her, acknowledging silently he heard her. A few hours had passed into the work day and Emma finally had a login and a calendar view of most of the management. She could see Chad in meetings all day. Thank god, she thought to herself. If she could escape being in the same vicinity as him until the end of day, she’d be doing well. Around 3PM as Emma was watching the last training on her list, Jessica got a call on the front desk’s phone, “Mr. Williams?” She paused, eyes glancing to Emma, “Yes, I’ll send her up.” Emma took out her headphones and got up, “It’s a different her that isn’t the me her, right?” She said, playfully to Jessica. Jessica laughed, “Nope, the her is you. It was nice knowing you for the time I did.” She said as Emma stood. “Touché. Please send flowers to my grave.” Emma said, walking down the hallway and passing Sav who quietly met her eyes as Emma walked past, hearing Emma’s joke. Sav smirked to Emma as she passed. Emma didn't think she'd ever seen a trace of emotion from Sav, well, that was until now. Emma walked up the stairs and slowly walked down the hallway, feeling her heart rate quicken a few beats per minute as she came up to the door, knocking. “Come in.” He said behind the door. Emma took a deep breath and put on a smile as she walked in, “Hey, how’s your Friday going?” Her mask was on for the first time she’d been hired. It felt weird and she didn’t recognize herself. Chad’s eyes hovered over her in a slight irritation, no trace of humor that he had earlier that day. He gestured to the chair, “Have a seat. We’ll have a talk.” “Sure.” Emma said, pursing her pink lips and feeling the tingling again. Chad sat back, crossing her arms in his white dress shirt that was rolled up to his elbows. It made him look handsome yet intimidating to Emma and was insultingly distracting as she sat there, “I wanted to discuss something I overheard earlier today.” Emma shifted in her seat, picking her other finger nail in nervousness, “Okay.” Chad leaned forward, clasping his hands on the desk, “How did you know 4 months was the longest we’ve had an assistant here?” His stare was serious, calm and studying as he watched every fidget of hers. Emma blinked, eyes going to the desk, realizing that Brittney told her that and Brittney alone. Emma said quickly, meeting his eyes, “Derek mentioned it.” Humor flickered in Chad’s eyes and a smile tugged at his lips, “That’s interesting because when I asked Derek he said he mentioned not many of our past hires have stayed more than a few weeks.” He tilted his head, catching her in a lie. Emma shrugged nonchalantly, “I must’ve heard it somewhere else then.” Chad’s brown eyes studied her face silently for another few moments as Emma bit her lip, feeling his full attention that was too intense. “I don’t like liars, Gabriella.” He said, eyes becoming irritated, saying her name in a tone that made her feel like she was in trouble. Only if he knew my name wasn’t Gabriella, he’d be infuriated, Emma thought to herself. She stifled her smile and bit on her lip harder to stop herself. “What’s funny too you?” He asked, his jaw feathering in a silent hum of anger. The same anger she saw before he spanked her. Emma had a feeling she had only a few seconds to save her bottom from pain and her lower parts from embarrassing her again. Emma began, “I, uhm…” She heard a knock behind her as she watched Chad look over her shoulder, “Come in.” Eugene peaked his head in, “Sorry to bother you but we need to have an emergency meeting. There’s an email that just went out disguised as our company again and… well-“ Eugene grunted in discomfort, “let’s just say it’s worse than the last one. An executive’s private information leaked. It's... bad.” Chad’s eyes slid to Emma and she could swear he was moments from pouncing on her to spank her, “You’re dismissed, for now.” He said, eyes narrowing as she nodded and walked out silently. Sweet relief flooded Emma's senses from the timing of everything. Emma walked down the hallway, past Derek’s office that was closed and around the balcony that overlooked the cubicles. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, seeing the consultants and office workers whispering and a few gasps and laughing. As Emma walked down the stairs, she heard Charity as she passed talking to Eric as they looked at the screen, “Well don’t keep it open on your laptop! What if Derek sees? The poor guy is going to go through hell today, I kind of feel bad for him.” Emma walked up to them, seeing the screenshot of Derek’s private regions on display that quickly disappeared as Eric saw Emma approach. “Uhm, I’m going to act like you both weren’t looking at porn at work.” Emma said, turning and about to walk away. Charity grabbed Emma’s elbow and pulled her in close, whispering, “Gabby, that was Derek, the CFO. Someone leaked his nudes to the whole office and some of his messages to a bunch of other women and a guy.” “Oh. That’s kind of gross.” Emma said, putting on a fake scrunched face. As if she didn't already know everything and then some. Eric shrugged in Derek's defense, “It’s not what it seems though. I heard him and his wife were in an open marriage. I don’t think it was anything she didn’t know about.” Emma blinked, suddenly feeling guilty for all the messages she leaked. Emma could have been a little more merciful in her leaking if she knew about the whole open marriage thing. Fuck. Emma thought, feeling a twinge of bad for all that she leaked in her pissed off state of genuinely hating that Derek cheated on his incredibly generous and kind wife. Charity widened her eyes, “Are they polyamorous or something? I heard Sav was but never got the details because I’m not normally this nosy.” Eric laughed, “Sav is into some dark fetishes I’ve heard. She’s lesbian as fuck, that’s sure. Ron tried asking her on a date and got denied so fast.” “How do you guys know so much about them?” Emma looked between them in shock. Charity laughed, “This office can let loose and talk at happy hour. Many drunken happy hours and people get to sharing things. Think we only found out about Sav’s fetishes during happy hour with a past intern she dated. Very briefly and it wasn't a good breakup.” Eric said, “Speaking of which, that’s today at the Tipsy Tony Bar down the way. Did you want to join us?” Charity said, “Oh yeah! Not sure if anyone told you we all go out every other week here.” Emma frowned, thinking of Graham and their Friday movie night. Should she go out to gather more data or should she put in the towel for the night? Not to mention, she didn’t want to be graced with Chad’s presence again. Emma asked, a bit hesitant, “Does upper management usually go out with everyone too?” Eric frowned, “Rarely. Think Derek and Adam usually go out the most for happy hour. Feel like the other exec’s only show face once a year during holiday parties, if any. They really don’t socialize with the employees.” Charity nudged Emma, “Come out with us, it’ll be fun. Jessica usually goes out too. I know she tolerates you and she really doesn’t tolerate many people.” Emma smiled at her new and more friendly coworkers she had found through her time there, “It’s a plan then. I’ll run home, change, and be there. Tipsy Tony's right?” “Yep, see you then.” Emma nodded, walking back to the front desk where Jessica sat and raised her eyebrows in surprise Emma came back, “You’re still alive.” “In the flesh and blood.” Emma said, going around the desk and saying, “Are you going to Happy Hour tonight?” Jessica replied, “I wasn’t planning on it but with all this office chaos today, I feel like it’s required. I can't miss out of the gossip, the FOMO would be too real. How’d you find out about it?” “Eric and Charity just invited me. I guess I’ll go and hang out for a bit.” Emma said, popping one headphone in to finish her training. Jessica smiled, “Then get ready to drink. Our office likes to get the fresh blood drunk, you’ve been warned.” “Good to know. I’ll go home, change and Uber over then.” Emma said, going back to her last training to finish before the end of day.

Chapter 14: The Humiliation Addict Emma was finally spaced of boredom as sat through three meetings in the corner of the large office room until she was dismissed to lunch. She had a real lunch break that she immediately left the office, walking to the Chipotle nearby. It took 10 minutes to get her food and she ate in her own little world, taking a moment to breathe outside of Chad’s intense proximity. When she came back to work and walked down the balcony area, Derek called her over, “Hey, Gabby! Chad’s in a meeting in his office. He said for you to shadow me the rest of the day.” “Oh, okay.” Emma nodded, walking over to his office. He smiled handsomely to her as she walked in and she saw the second swivel chair already rolled in, “Sit, get comfortable. Go on your phone if you want, I really don’t care.” He said after closing the door. Emma looked to Derek, staring at him for a moment as he sat and looked to her, confused why she was staring, “Is this a test?” She asked, setting down her purse and crossing her arms. Derek rose his thick black eyebrows with a frown, “We have nice management in our office, believe it or not. I promise I won’t make you stare at nothing while I work like Chad does.” He winked with a smile. Emma blushed at the thought of Derek knowing what really happened that morning. She nodded, hesitantly taking out her phone as Derek went into his email. Emma quietly slid her eyes over to him after 15 minutes, knowing he was her first victim. He was the one of two executives to click the phishing link. Emma hadn’t done much digging on Derek yet but she would over the weekend. But why did he have to be so damn nice? She thought, sitting and playing her dragon hatching game on her phone. Derek looked to her, “So, how’s your first month going here?” His light green eyes sliding to her. Emma sat up a smidge, putting down her phone as she shrugged, “It’s good. Everyone’s been nice.” Her mask was back on, grinning authentically like she practiced. Derek chuckled, “Yes, everyone is extremely pleasant, especially Chad I’m sure.” Emma tilted her head as if she didn’t already know, “What makes you say that?” Derek suppressed a smile, “He’s had a history of assistants quitting or he fires them. It’s impressive you’ve made it 3 weeks. That means he must like you.” Emma felt her pulse quicken as Derek said ‘he must like you’. Was liking a spanking in Chad language? Well, fuck her then. “Well, it helps he was gone last week.” She said in candid reply, moss green eyes shifting, “Can I ask you a question?” “Shoot.” He said, going back to his email. “How many assistants have made it past a few weeks?” How often did Chad hire and do this to women? Jealousy bubbled in her chest, thinking of the fact he could be rotating assistants like a fast-food restaurant. Derek paused his typing, thinking for a moment, “Hm, I think only one made it that long.” Brittney was the only one that made it that far? She knew that Brittney lasted 4 months from what Brittney told her before her first day. Emma swallowed, going back to playing a puzzle to hatch more dragons. “I guess I’d be considered a seasoned worker then.” She mumbled as Derek grinned to her. “You’re funny, you know.” He said, with a bit of flirtation she picked up from his voice. Emma gave a small smile, going back to her phone. After a few minutes of him typing, she looked to his pictures in his office, seeing his wedding photo with his and his wife. A picture of him, his golden retriever dog, and his wife on a hike smiling as they sat next to that one. Ah, a cheater maybe, Emma thought to herself. Emma knew he was one of her targets for a reason. Derek seemed a bit too nice to her, after all. Emma left work at 4PM, going home and straight to her computer. She was waiting until the weekend to dig deeper into Derek’s personal data, but now she was curious. After an hour of reverse searching his personal email and finding his accounts associated with it, she began digging into his accounts. She got through to his iCloud and iMessage, going through his messages. She squinted in confusion, seeing his wife Sarah’s chat and then she saw another girl he seemed to be flirting with. She shook her head in disgust, “Men.” She scoffed, going into his Instagram DM’s next, scrolling through his feed and seeing girls in cosplay and fairy wear. Some were obvious OnlyFans accounts. She checked his DM’s, finding the first piece of blackmail in a recent chat from that week. A cheater was easy for her to blackmail with a few screenshots. It was even easier since his username was literally his initials and random numbers. Emma gulped, seeing his dick pic. It wasn’t a bad one by any means, she thought tilting her head. Her mind wandering to Chad, wondering how he looked down there. Emma swallowed, feeling herself heated again down there at the thought of Chad and getting spanked earlier. Her mind went to daydreaming him fingering her and fucking her after. Her brain kept wandering and she worked herself up, feeling really horny. “Ugh, fuck it.” She said, closing her laptop and grabbing her vibrator in her drawer. She had to get her excitement out, it was a long tease without release with Chad and she could barely stand it. After a few orgasms, Emma chalked up her heightened excitement to not orgasming in a while… which was entirely inaccurate considering she touched herself over the weekend but, eh, she’d use it as an excuse to make herself feel better and sleep at night. Emma logged out of all the accounts after her me-time session and put her blackmail on Derek in a folder for safe-keeping. She sighed, taking a picture on her phone and sending it to Graham in text message: What’s your rating on this one? She grabbed her book on her side table, going to open it as her phone flashed at Graham’s text: OH FUCK ME, DADDY. Emma threw her head back in hysterical laughter as her phone lit up again: 9/10 could use some manscaping tbh. Is this Mr. CEO’s dick pic? Emma bit her lip, typing: I wish. She sent the text, surprised at herself to send her thoughts so candidly. She usually had to be drunk to voice her thoughts. Her phone began ringing, she picked up, “Hey, whatsup?” Graham said, “How’s the assignment going? You haven’t updated Bailey in a hot second since you began the assignment.” Emma sighed, pulling on her sweatshorts drawstring, “Well, this is probably the hardest fucking assignment I’ve had. I should have asked for a 50% commission. The CEO is a control freak. The other executives are cold, besides one who was incredibly nice. Come to find out he’s cheating on his wife with, get this-“ She paused. “Uh-huh I’m ready for it.” “5 women and one man he’s talking too.” Emma said as Graham went silent on the other line. “Well, fuck Emma. What’s his username? I’ll follow him right fucking now and slide into those DM’s.” Graham said, practically begging her. “Ewww! Graham!! He’s speaking to like so many people. Aren’t you worried about STD’s?” She giggled at Graham’s groan on the other side of the phone. “Fine, you just get a good fuck from the hot CEO and let me know how it is.” Graham said dejectedly. Emma said, “I am not fucking him, like ever. He’s really… a lot. I’ll be lucky if I make it another week.” Graham teased, “Uhuh, I’m sure. You’re crushing though, I can tell.” Emma’s mouth fell in a line, “Whatever. Bailey set me up though, I’m pissed at her.” “How’d she set you up?” “There’s only been one assistant that’s made it more than a month in the office. I have a 6-month minimum contract. Like, what in the actual fuck is this assignment?” Emma said with an edge to her voice. Graham howled, “Woah, woah, woah. 1 month no assistant has made it? Why?” “Because he’s intense as fuck! I had to sit for an hour and a half and stare at his clock and desk as training today. Literally was given nothing to do and not allowed to use my phone. I was literally saved from dying of boredom by a few meetings.” If she could even tell Graham what had actually happened that day before that, Graham would have convinced her to quit. She decided to keep the part before to herself. “What? It sounds like he put you in timeout. Were you a bad girl?” He teased as Emma blushed at the thought and only if he knew how many belittling remarks she got everyday from Chad. The thought dawned on her then that made her blush. Was she actually put in timeout? She wondered if Chad did that on purpose today. She felt that swirl of arousal in her lower region again. What the fuck was her problem today?! She thought to herself, shifting in bed. Emma sighed, “I was 15 minutes late this morning because my charger died and my phone alarm didn’t go off.” “Ooof, but you’re always late to our office by like an hour. I’m surprised you manage to be on time for assignment work.” Graham said. “Nope, I don’t go late to assignments. The commission makes me wake up early.” “I know we aren’t allowed to talk commissions but what ballpark are we talking here? Like over 50K or under?” “Over.” Emma said. Graham whistled, “Well, girl get it. Suck some dick if you have to for that paycheck.” “You know I’ve never and don’t plan to start now.” Emma said with annoyance. “I’ve considered quitting every day, Graham.” “Bailey would probably let you go if you did. The agency is barely getting clients these past weeks. Kiara really tarnished our reputation.” “Well, I guess it’s all or nothing then.” Emma said, sighing. “Yup. I’ll be honest with you, I’m looking for a new job. Bailey’s let go of Sandy. I think I’m next.” Emma sat up, “What? She let go of Sandy?” “Yes. Kiara leaked some information to the police and it sounds like the company that had the privacy breach is looking to sue the Agency.” “We’ve never been sued though.” Emma said, frowning. “Yeah, it’s not looking good, Emmie.” He paused, “You may want to talk to your client and ask for a direct payout instead. I’ll keep you in on the company gossip.” “That’s a breach of contract with the Agency though. Bailey would kill me.” “Well, if the Agency gets exposed, I don’t think there’s a contract that legitimate anymore anyways.” Emma’s eyes shifted to her fuzzy light pink blanket on her bed in stress, “Well, I guess there’s that too.” “If it heads south quick, I’ll delete your employment records and mine. We’ll be fine, find some regular job. You’re good at administrative work I’ve heard, I’m sure you’ll find something.” Graham said, his smile apparent over the phone. Emma groaned, “Whatever. Well, just keep me updated since I’m out of the loop.” “You got it, I’ll talk to you some other time. We’re still doing dinner and a movie Friday, right?” “Right.” Emma said with a sigh, “Night Graham.” “Night Emmie, hope you live another day with your new hot manager.” Graham teased. Emma sighed, hanging up and her mind playing back getting spanked earlier that day. Emma groaned at her annoying body that was tingling at the thoughts of Chad again. She grabbed her vibrator with a blush, embarrassed to touch herself another time that day but she needed release from the sexual tension. If not, she'd be a hot mess. Emma had a few thoughts that cycled her brain that night. She didn't know what the future would look like, but knew the day’s events tired her out to the point of exhaustion for a deep slumber when she finally slept. Things were only getting started, with her hacking phase 2 soon to roll out and with Chad revealing his dominant side in full intensity, things were about to get more interesting in the office. The thought she could shake was that deep dark part of her being had experienced something that day that made her restless with thoughts and the ghost of tingling from the humiliation. She felt like an addict who took the first dose of the substance they'd become addicted too for life, even if it killed them. She'd like to think this addiction was a healthy one, yet that was still undecided. Emma realized, prior to finally falling asleep, that the addictive substance was the humiliation, embarrassment and control that only Chad could give her. She got her first dose and craved more, so much more.

Big oof on my part- I skipped posting a chapter. 🙊 Good catch and thank you.🙏 Here's a link to the added chapter after Chapter 9:

Haha yes!! Happy to hear you're enjoying it so far and more chapters are coming later this week. Chapter 13: Boredom is Boring Emma walked back to his office as slowly as she could, already feeling embarrassed about what had happened. She knocked, hearing him behind the door say, “Come in.” She nodded timidly as she re-entered the room. Chad was typing on his computer, not even looking at her as she walked next to the chair in front of him, standing and waiting. Emma looked at her purse on the chair and then to his desk awkwardly, hearing the silence between them as he seemingly ignored her for a few minutes. She shifted on her feet, not daring to look up at him as she waited for him to speak first. Emma knew the game she was in now, she just got a spanking for sitting without permission and he was testing her obedience. She’d excel this time around, waiting patiently. He murmured, “You can ask Adam for a rolling chair. He has a spare. You can bring it next to me here and shadow while I work.” He didn’t even move a hair to her direction, his features cold and quiet as he kept typing. Emma nodded, walking out the door and feeling his eyes on her as she walked out of the room. Although he was acting cold, she could still cut their tension with a knife. It was frustrating, really. Emma walked down the hall to the last room before the balcony area and knocked on the door, “Yes?” She heard from the other side. Emma peaked her head in, “Uhm, Adam. Sorry, if I can just grab your spare chair?” Adam’s wide smile appeared on his face, “It’ll cost you a donut run on Friday, but sure, have it.” Emma pursed her lips, annoyed by his comment as she took his chair and rolled it back to Chad’s office. She sat down silently next to him as he still wasn’t acknowledging her, working away in his email. His ultra-wide curved screen had a perspective privacy darkening film so she couldn’t see anything. Emma bit her lip to stop herself from groaning in annoyance. Was this how the whole day was going to go? She felt like a child at the ‘take your kid to work’ days, like she was helpless and bored. Emma sat silently as he worked, glancing at the antique clock on his desk every now and then to check the time. She watched as minutes ticked by and became a half an hour. She fidgeted in her seat after it passed an hour, repeating in her head in was worth the $120K payout and humiliation she’d deliver to Chad one day. The silence and nothing to do just made her have to face her internal problems. It was her own personal hell of boredom that made her theorize and debate herself more. The boredom she faced only make her wished she appreciated her phone screen time more. What did people even do before electronic devices? Emma didn't know but was fucking blessed in this technological era because she was dying of boredom and attempting to ignore her inner chatter that wanted to think about things that made her blush. Unfortunate for her, there was only so long she could count backwards in her head from 1000 until those things crept up again. Her brain kept doing somersaults. One moment, she was daydreaming about her spanking her and doing other things that weren’t vanilla in the slightest, nor should be help in a semi-public setting. The next, she was scheming how she would ruin his reputation and company. Then, she’d feel guilty, like she already did something wrong. The one thing her brain kept trailing back to was when he said diaper to her. Insinuating that she should wear one to work, like a child. He mentioned her dress code too, was he really serious? She doubted it… but, then again, he seemed to be a man of his word, which was scary to Emma. He spanked her that morning after he said he was going too, after all. She almost laughed at the absurd thought she had. A CEO of a company would really put her in a diaper? Would he really get out a changing matt, baby powder and wipes? That was weird, a new level of weird she couldn’t imagine the 6’3 chiseled man seating at the desk in front of her doing. Emma gulped, staring a moment too long at Chad, his eyes focused on his work as she felt warmth travel down to her lower stomach again at that thought of him with a supplies in his hands, going to diaper her like a real baby. She blushed deeply and looked back to the clock, trying to shake the thought as he finally looked to her. “Do you need something?” He asked, turning his chair where his knee almost brushed hers. Emma stuttered, “Uh-uhm, no. I just…” She lost her train of thought from meeting his eyes for the first time in an hour, amusement tugging at his expression as she said, “Should I be taking notes? I don’t really know what to do just sitting here.” She felt like she was caught red-handed, as if he could read her mind and know that she was just fantasizing about him diapering her. Good god, that thought again from another wave of heat to her face as she couldn't believe how weird and cringey her brain dove in fantasies. She shook it off, knowing that would never happen and he wasn't serious. He was just teasing her about the diapers earlier because she literally wet on his pants. It was a fair jab. Given, it was unwarranted, but still fair. She'd give him that much credit, although she'd never admit to it. Chad’s jaw feathered as he stared quietly for a moment down to her, “I didn’t think to get crayons or toys for you on our first week together, I guess I should have known better.” He said, more to himself as a thought, “We have a meeting in 30 minutes so I’m sure you can just relax until them, hm?” Emma blinked at his first sentence, caught off guard again by another jab at her. Did he really think she was a small child? First the bib reference, then the pullups and diapers, now the toys and crayons? Emma was trying to figure out and it only made her more frustrated. Chad went back to his work as Emma stifled a frustrated sigh, wondering if it was still worth the $120K. Part of her told herself she already had made it this far, how much worse could it get, right? Wrong, Emma knew she was so wrong, yet it made her feel better in the moment and that’s all that mattered.

Chapter 12: Fucking Hormones As Emma walked around, time slowed and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer. He slid down her skirt as she gasped at the sudden cold air and pulled her into his lap, her perky and perfect peach bottom in view underneath her light pink panties. His hand grazed her bottom as she trembled by his touch, “I don’t think you could understand how long I’ve been wanting to do this, Gabriella.” He growled above her as she shifted on him and his arm held her down in a steel grip. Emma felt it again, the sudden warmth and heat in her lower regions. His body was hard and chiseled as she squirmed over his lap, feeling a pleasurable swirl of humiliation and arousal as she awaited her fate. She swallowed, staring at the white marbled ground and memorizing the lines, furrowing her eyebrows at why she was suddenly so turned on. She broke out of her troubled thoughts as his hand landed in a hard spank and she gasped in surprise. The sting radiated in a sharp pain, spreading warmth quickly. Another one landed moments after, the pain now doubling on both of her cheeks. The pain spread, but her arousal made her want to moan. She didn’t know what was more embarrassing: the fact she had to suppress moans or the fact that she was being spanked like a literal child in the office of a CEO of a multimillion-dollar company? The more troubling thought came next to why did the second thought just make her shudder in pleasure on his lap? Fucking fuck, she thought, biting her lip hard at the next spank. When she thought it wouldn’t hurt more and maybe her bottom would numb, she was mistaken. Tendrils of swats landed without mercy, and she bit back her gasps in pain until she wouldn’t and whimpered. The embarrassment, the pain, the humiliation was shocking her system. Then there was something entirely different that contradicted her whole existence: the heat, the excitement, the pleasure came with it all. It was dizzying as tears welled and fell between her whimpers as his hand landed softer until she was braced for more, but he stopped. Chad helped her up, off his lap, as his eyes trailed to his pants that had a wet stain from her excitement where her front section pressed, “It looks like someone wet during their spanking.” He mused, humor playing at his expression and a trace of slight surprise from her body’s reaction to him spanking her. He’d file that thought away for later on how wet she actually was, trying to calm himself. Chad was a man of many things, but he didn’t cross the line sexually with his employees. That was his one rule he had always stuck to. Emma was still wiping away tears as embarrassment flooded her senses. Not only was she spanked like a toddler, but she managed to stain Chad’s pants. Could it get any worse? She needed to stop asking that question because with Chad, it always seemed too. “Do you were protection for your accidents?” He asked, seriousness shadowing his eyes, as if she had a problem she didn’t know about yet. Emma shook her head in confusion, “Wh-what do you mean?” “Like pull-ups and diapers for when you wet like this.” He said gesturing to the spot on his leg, a thought tugging at the corner of his mouth. Emma blinked at Chad, feeling so in shock of suggesting a diaper, she didn’t know even how to respond. Did he really just say that word? Her brain felt fuzzy from embarrassment by him saying it so casually and calmly, like he really thought she needed that. Was he playing with her? Emma felt beyond humiliated he’d even suggest that. She didn’t dare to say anything smart, instead she shook her head, pulling on her skirt as his eyes hovered to her exposed panties for a moment then to her red, flustered face, “N-no, I don’t.” “Hm.” He said with a pause and an encouraging smile, “Well, if you have another accident on me at work, then maybe it may mean a new dress code for you.” Emma’s mouth dropped open, not even able to hide her shock of his words. She immediately felt frustrated and flustered, with a mix of the excitement at the idea and… butterflies? Why in the fuck did she have butterflies? Emma decided she needed to go see a therapist again. It had been a few years and there was obviously something wrong with her that she felt a hum of excitement in her core, liking the way he spoke to her. As if she was a literal toddler. As if she needed to be treated like one. Why did that thought make her… wet? Like the spanking, she’d be lying to say she didn’t enjoy it outside of the ghost of pain she felt still trailing along her soft flesh. She just nodded, understanding what he meant. If she made a mistake again or was tardy, it seemed Chad was willing to go to a new level of humiliation. She was beginning to understand the game he liked to play. It was degrading for her, yet a part of her wanted to continue this new dynamic with her boss. Chad watched her in her own little world for a few moments, lost in thought as she stared at the ground, “How about you get cleaned up and go potty, hm?” He asked nodding to the door with an encouraging smile. Emma nodded, quietly leaving to the restroom on the second floor in between the hallways leading to executive offices. She quickly walked to the mirror, patting her face with water, before heading to the stall and pulling down her skirt and underwear to pee. She didn’t feel like she had to pee, but felt wet. Like, really really wet. She gasped when she sat and looked at her panties, blinking at her excitement. Good god, she knew she didn’t orgasm but it looked like she did. She blushed, dabbing toilet paper on her underwear to dry them. It didn’t do much because she grimaced when she pulling her panties back up, almost wishing she took them off the rest of the day since they felt sticky and wet still. Emma went to the hand washing station, fixing her makeup with toilet paper and patting her cheeks with cold water, in hopes her face would lessen in redness. Part of her wishes she wore foundation and concealer to hide her cheeks. She had great skin and didn’t need much makeup, yet she wished she wore it to hide how fast her cheeks flushed and how it only made her look younger. Emma swallowed in thought of Chad’s stare to her in her almost always flushed state in his presence, she only imagined that treating her like a child must’ve been his kink. She’s dove into the depths of many executives fetishes and from that she knew most had multiple shocking ones. She was sure Chad would be no different. Emma gulped at the thoughts of Chad being into dominant/submissive roleplay and other kinks, feeling herself tingling in excitement from that thought as she gripped the sides of the marble counter, taking a few slow breaths to calm herself down, to regain her mask and façade. As much as she hated Chad’s belittling since she met him, she couldn't shake the feeling of pleasure from the humiliation of it all. Why did this keep happening to her? Her brain searched the depths of herself to understand it. She needed to understand what childhood trauma could lead to her being this way around him and almost wanting it, wanting all that he had to give her in humiliation. She was beyond nervous around him, yet it made her tingle in ways she never knew she would experience. Man, Emma had to schedule a therapy appointment soon, very soon, before she got worse. Emma didn’t know what had happened to her and the only thing she could pinpoint to her undoing began the moment she met Chad fucking Williams. She wished she could say the way she was acting was just her façade. This could have just been Gabby Simmons. Yet, none of it was a façade or her mask, it was just her raw self around Chad. Without the fake smiling or life she typically lived during assignments. She lived a unauthentic life since after high school, scared to show anyone her true self in the event of it being used against her. The only person she ever trusted with this dark twisted side of her was Graham, and that was only when she was drunk enough to share. Lately, she’d opened up to Deon and Kylie a bit more but there was a part of herself she never showed to really anyone, not even her friends. This part of her, the part that was still hurt, insecure, vulnerable and raw was hidden by a self-confident, edgy and badass woman she became over the course of five years. In the last few weeks, that part of her was unraveling and she was losing grasp of the woman she had convinced herself to become to hide her real self and desires. No one truly knew her deepest, darkest desires, not even Emma. She hadn’t dated or given it much thought in the past years because she knew how weird her true thoughts were and that no one could love her for who she truly was, deep down. That’s why she built a new identity to shield her and why she was so damn good at her job. Well, that was until Chad Williams came into the picture. In the matter of a few seconds of meeting him, he seemingly found the threads of lies and deception she's weaved in the past 5 years and he had only begun to pull her world apart, one thread at a time. If she let him continue pulling, she'd soon be left in the separated pieces she'd never fixed, only bandaged or stuck tape on. Emma knew the game she was in and should have ran, yet the thought of her letting someone in made her feel like life was worth living without faking her identity and acting a part. With Chad, she was unbefittingly and inexplicably herself. Not Gabriella Simmons nor her past persona's. That was a dangerous place for her to be with not only just any person but her assignment's target. What was more dangerous was that in those fleeting moments she forgot that she was working on hacking a company from the inside out, not contemplating her inner dark workings and why she was catching feelings with her new boss. Nope, I don't have feelings! It's just hormones, you idiot. Emma thought to herself as she blinked in the bathroom mirror, walking back to Chad's office and fighting the swirling feeling ever-so-present in her head that traveled down to her body in a heat. Fucking. Hormones. It had to be. That's what Emma told herself, at least.

I like the thoughts here and your theories on what's going on with the characters! There seems to be a lot at play that you may or may not be onto, I guess we shall see as the plot thickens.🤔 I'm writing Chapter 30 now and can't wait to hear your thoughts on the character dynamics later on with not just Chad but other characters. It will get... interesting. This is definitely one of my more 'fleshed out' outside of the main characters written story and I've fallen in love with multiple characters through writing this. I took a hiatus in writing and read like 5 fantasy, rom com and romance books this year that I attribute to learning to write a little better. Your stories have also inspired me to improve too! Thanks for commenting and sharing your thoughts here!

Chapter 11: Shadowing the Devil Himself The next Monday morning she woke up to no alarm. She looked at her phone, thinking that maybe she woke up before her alarm but that wasn’t the case, her phone didn’t charge the night before and was dead. She plugged in her phone and moved the cable a bit, realizing the charger wasn’t working. “Fuck me.” She said as she went to her laptop, opening it and seeing the time was 6:40AM. “Fuck!” She was going to be late on the first day shadowing Chad, how worse could this get! She grabbed her clothes and pulled on her tight grey pencil shorter above the knee skirt and flutter sleeve light yellow polka dot top, sliding on her heels and fixing her hair but grabbing her makeup to do on the road. When she got in the car, she plugged her phone into her charger in the car, seeing a dead battery sign but the charging bolt, meaning that it would hopefully charge enough for some battery at work. She did her eyebrows, blush and highlighter in the mirror at stop lights. When she got on the expressway, she looked at her phone as it came on and she had a text from an unknown number. She looked down at the text sent at 6:30AM and blinked, feeling her heart skip a few beats: Hey, this is Chad. Can you stop by Starbucks and pick up this order for our meeting this morning: Pike Place Hot Coffee, Iced Café Latte, Vanilla Foam Cold Brew 5 pumps vanilla, and a Tall Decaf Caramel Machiatto. She saw the another text below it: I expect you to be here before 6:55AM. Thanks. Emma did the voice to text in response, seeing the time was already 6:55AM: Hey Chad, my phone died last night and my alarm didn’t go off. I’m on my way now and can pick up the coffee, just know I’ll be late. She saw his texting bubble appear and disappear, trying to keep her focus on the drive but feeling nervous to his response. His text bubble showed within a minute: Pick up the coffee still, please. We will discuss your tardiness when you arrive. “Would have been there on time if not for the last minute ask for a coffee pick up, asshole.” She grumbled to herself as she drove, shaking her head. “$120K, Emma, $120K, you can do this.” She said to herself, taking slow breaths. She arrived at 7:15PM with the coffee with her hair slightly messy and down in natural waves. She didn’t have time in the morning to fix it and delivered the coffees to the executives she passed on the second floor. She entered Sav’s office first, decorated in plants and colorful books on a book shelf, “You’re late.” She murmured, typing on her laptop. Luckily for Emma, she hadn't had to be around Sav as often since beginning there. She was lucky, as Charity had warned Sav was pretty cold and off-putting. “My phone died and my alarm didn’t go off, sorry.” She said, handing Sav her cold brew. “Good luck telling that to Chad.” She said coldly with an eyebrow raised in warning. “I fear the luck is not on my side.” Emma murmured, leaving the room as she saw a glimpse of a smile by Sav. Since she’s met Sav, she hadn’t seen her smile once. It was shocking, to be honest. She didn’t think she had a pleasant bone in her body until now. She delivered the other coffees to Derek, Adam, Douglas and Ed. She hesitated at the last dark walnut door at the end of the hallway, taking in a slow breath to steady her emotions and keep her mask strong. She knocked before entering as she peaked in, slowly going in the door as Chad waved her inside, an impassive expression on his face as he was busy typing. She brought over his Pike Place black coffee, setting it on the desk in front of him. He was quiet, barely acknowledging her as she stood awkwardly there for a few moments as he typed on his computer. Emma decided to sit in the upholstered black leather seat in front of him, waiting for him to get his work done. Chad’s eyes slid to hers as she sat, “Did I say you are allowed to sit?” Emma was taken aback by his words; it was as if he were treating her like a kid in timeout. “Uhm, you didn’t really say anything.” Emma didn’t move, continuing to sit and feeling the only ounce of dignity in holding her bottom to the chair. Chad went back to his typing, a click or two before closing out of his email. He stood, taking off his blazer that was over his white dress shirt. He unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling them up as he leaned on the front of his desk, still not looking at her. The silence was eating her alive as she fidgeted a bit by his proximity, standing above her with a power and dominance that made the heat below her stomach grow. She crossed her legs, staring up and trying to hold her composure as his eyes skimmed her face and humor played at his expression. “Why were you late today, Gabriella?” Emma shifted, seeing a flicker of anger simmering behind his eyes, waiting to give him a reason to do something. What would he do if she said the wrong thing? She didn’t want to think further. Her brain went to dark, dark places and fantasies. She was fucked up, truly. She gulped, her mouth dry as she opened, “My phone charger didn’t charge my low battery phone last night so my phone died. My phone is my only alarm.” “And do you have anything to say for your actions and tardiness?” He asked, tilting his head, eyes smoldering in a handsome but intimidating way. Emma stuttered, “A-actions?” She paused before saying what she really thought but, fuck it, “I’m not a child, I’m your employee, Chad. My phone died, it was something out of my control.” Chad crossed his arms, his jaw feathering as all his features were calm, “I’ve lost patience with your attitude, little girl. If you want to keep your job, you have 3 seconds to come onto my lap and get a well-deserved spanking.” He walked around to his executive dark brown leather chair, taking a seat. Emma opened her mouth, “Wait-“ Ah, so this is what she was sure Brittney signed an NDA on. Out of all the assignments she had, this one was a new level. Was the spanking worth the $120K? “One.” He began, eyes watching her crossed face. She stood, feeling the heat from her face to her lower regions. This was the moment she could quit, leave this fucking job and assignment. She could stop all of this. Sure, she’d lose an assignment, but her dignity was worth it. Yet, the dark part of her wanted this more than anything. More than the $120K. “Two.” He said, patting his lap as an invite. Emma looked to the door, knowing she should leave. She should run far away and let go of this assignment. It was a suicide mission anyways. As the milliseconds passed by like minutes, Emma finally looked back to Chad, cheeks blushing as she walked around the desk in obedience. It was already the 3rd second, but she caught the look in his eyes. A glimmer of pain mixed with the calm anger. The pain of her considering leaving. The calm anger of her daring to defy him. Maybe he also had a crush like she did, or maybe she’d be another victim of his insufferable need for control. She didn’t know, but she was certain she would find out the hard, painful and stinging way.

Chapter 9: The Bait That morning went by with Emma shadowing Charity’s work at scheduling the executive’s meetings and sending emails. An email popped up as a final reminder by the automated training system about an email security training that employees are required to watch before the end of the week. She glanced over to Charity’s email header: FINAL REMINDER: Complete Your Email Security Training Before End of Day “Huh, I don’t remember seeing this in my trainings the past week.” Charity said, clicking into the link as Emma suppressed her smile. Eric, a consultant in an adjacent cubicle stood and came over to Emma and Charity, “Did you get the email about the training? I never saw it on my list of trainings this month, wondering if it’s some type of system glitch. The training isn’t even in my portal.” Charity looked at her desktop as the link lead to the training portal and asked for her login information. She said, “I’ll check if it’s shows in mine too.” Charity typed her username in password that was now being collected by Emma’s tracker program now embedded into her desktop. Emma watched, acting just as confused as Charity logged in, not seeing the training either, “Weird, it’s not there.” Eric shrugged, “Must be a glitch, I’ll email Eugene. Definitely don’t want another meeting with Derek that I’m behind on trainings.” Emma kept looking at the clock and Charity’s desktop, waiting for the company wide announcement about the suspicious link. If Eugene was good IT support, he’d catch it quickly. If he wasn’t, he’d know his data and the company’s would be potentially compromised from an unknown phishing source. Emma waited, knowing that the emails to executives sent thirty minutes earlier. She knew Chad and his team may be in a meeting about the phishing scheme in their own emails, not even paying attention to another phishing scheme was going live in the full office. Emma would be up tonight collecting as much data as she could over the targets she got exposure too. Eugene would be investigating where the threat was from in the meantime. Fifteen minutes passed and she saw out of the corner of her eyes the executives filing out on the large office and Chad standing at the railing, “Everyone, we have an important announcement, if I can have everyone pause what they are doing.” Emma blinked at him, for once feeling not the center of his attention and having a moment to take in his commanding presence among his employees as the CEO of this company. His eyes trailed the room to see people go silent and look up, “We’ve had a data breach this morning. A few emails were sent with phishing links that were disguised as myself or an automated training system reminder that was a phishing attempt. Everyone is asked to sign off your computers and leave for the day who is not management. This is a huge data leak for our clients and our business that we need to close the office for the day besides our management teams to mitigate this. You will all be compensated for the day, please enjoy your days off and we may ask for those of you to pick up hours next week.” Eric said lowly to Charity and Emma, “So much for happy hour tonight.” “I know right.” Charity agreed. Emma was looking forward to going to the Jenkins Consulting Agency office after this to boast about her win and pop a beer in the break room with her coworkers in celebration of her first phase complete of the assignment and updates to text Brittney about. Emma bit her lip, suppressing her small victory in seeing Chad’s body language, rigid and clearly infuriated in his calm anger again. His eyes scanned the room and fell upon Emma who began standing to leave with her other coworkers. Chad looked directly to her from above, “Gabriella, please come to our office, you are not dismissed today.” There he went, saying her name with a low and seductive tone that almost seethed she was in trouble. Emma nodded, instant paranoia setting in. Could they know it was her? There was no way, but she did execute her plan a little earlier than usual. She should have waited a month, yet she knew that the security here was so high she only had the phishing attempt. The only thing they’d have on her was her recency, nothing else. She shook off the paranoia, not admitting to anything even if they said it was her. They didn’t have evidence and wouldn’t, she was sure of it. Emma walked up the stairs as the other executives and manager filed into the large office meeting room with black glass lining it. Chad waited for Emma and as she met him at the balcony, he said, “Since you’re in training, I’d like you to stay to learn more about email phishing and security from Eugene. He is currently going to be working overtime on this but if you’re going to be doing my email management eventually, I expect no link clicking nor anything without my permission, understand?” He asked, an authoritative tone that left no room for any other response. “I understand. I’ve been through extensive security training working for my last office but I’m sure I can learn much more from Eugene.” Chad gave her a long look, as if he didn’t believe her words, before he walked forward into the room where management and executives sat and stood around the room. Emma took an awkward spot between two managers of the consultants, Michael and Jered, who stood near the back. She felt so out of place as Chad sat at the head of the table and Eugene went to the front of the room, connecting his laptop to the projector. He showed his screen and the emails sent for phishing. Eugene spoke with a bit of shyness, “So, um, we’ve had some data breaches today I’ve tracked to an unknown source so far.” Emma let a slow breath out of relief, “Here are two emails sent today by emails encrypted to look like our company executives or automated systems. If you go to your email and click this dropdown underneath the sender email, you’ll see it’s a grz314@offvz.com which is a phishing email disguised as a company one. Today we had 30 links clicks within 30 minutes, a few from management.” He paused, showing the second email, “This is just a reminder that no one is to click links the next few weeks prior to some more training only through the portal, no link clicking through email. We also will look into contracting a company for monthly tests to practice our trainings and prevent future hacking of our company.” Emma bit her lip to prevent a smile, knowing that Eugene was too late. The cancer of their company had only just begun. Without knowing the source, it would go untreated and she could spread it. It was only phase 1, after all. Chapter 10: Corporate Chaos & Dragons “Emmaleesi does it again.” Graham said at her two-story loft apartment that night. “What’s this Emmaleesi nickname, I don’t get it?” Deon asked, taking a sip of her whiskey. Kylie cuddled into her, watching the TV in her edible induced state. “She is like Khaleesi from Game of Thrones. Chaos, conquers corporate offices, fiery and is merciless who do wrong to her people.” Graham paused, “We began calling her that after her 4th assignment. She’s had the best record in our agency in the shortest time.” “Ahh, now I kind of get it. Man, I didn’t know you caused so much turmoil.” “Lot’s of NDA’s with clients I can’t disclose but, yeah, Graham isn’t wrong about what I’ve done. I’ve ended countless marriages with cheating husbands and wives, exposed sexual predators, money laundering, illegal drugs, the list goes on and on.” “Woah, our job isn’t that interesting and fun.” Kylie said. Emma scoffed, “Don’t get it twisted, it’s not that fun right now. I am working with the most difficult CEO I’ve ever met. He’s…” She trailed off, thoughts of his stare, his intensity and his dominant nature made her blush. “Do you have a crush on him or something?” Graham asked, sipping his beer. “What? God no- he’s morally corrupt. I wouldn’t get this high of a commission if he wasn’t.” She said, instantly defensive. “Is he hot though?” Graham asked, “Like dad like hot or daddy dom hot?” He teased her from the other week at the bar. Emma felt heat travel to her lower abdomen as she felt hot everywhere, her body tingling at the thought of her in the bedroom with Chad. Why did that turn her on? She knew she was the submissive type, but would be terrified with someone of his nature. Her friends stared at her, mouths opening, “Dude, you 100% are crushing. Look at you, you’re a hot mess thinking about him!” Kylie said what everyone was thinking. “No- nope, I can’t and I won’t. He’s condescending, belittling and a dickhole. Period.” She said in defense. Graham laughed at that, “That never stopped you from liking men like that before. C’mon, your describing that one guy in college you crushed on for a few months.” He paused, interest peaked, “How does he look like? How tall we talking?” Emma sat back on her Lovesac, crossing her arms, “I don’t care to continue this conversation.” Deon started guessing, “Over 6’1, muscular, brown hair, white tanned dude that looks like he lives in the gym.” Emma grimaced, “Close.” They all clapped and laughed at Deon’s guess being right, “Okay- okay. He’s probably 6’3 maybe 6’4, a literal athletic build, caramel brown hair, brown eyes and really fucking hot. I’m fucked, okay?” “Correction: You would like to be fucked by him.” Kylie chirped. “Nope. That’s breaching my contract with my client and I’m pretty sure he’s bipolar. Also, did anyone pickup on he’s literally morally corrupt? He probably sexually harassed multiple past assistants. I can’t and won’t.” She said, huffing at their incessant pressuring to have sex with her new manager. “Emmie, look, we know you. You haven’t been this flustered in a long while. Maybe this guy is a dick or maybe the client is morally corrupt and has a revenge mission for him breaking up with her. We have those clients all the time too. Neither party is good people, nor us for exposing them. We’re all morally corrupt technically.” Graham said, shrugging. Emma swallowed, considering his words for a moment before saying, “Drop the subject guys. I’m suffering enough daily, I asked to hang out to escape my new job, not remember it.” With that, the group didn’t tease or press further, letting Emma sit and sulk in her corner while she processed how she’d been hiding her true feelings from her own self. Did she actually like Chad and had developed a small crush? That was… dangerous. She never developed a crush on a target. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It should be the opposite. If anything, the targets crushed on her and she’d destroy everything they ever built. She shook her head, convincing herself that it was just around ovulation and she was hornier than usual. It wasn’t him, really. She reminded herself: he was the enemy and target, nothing more nor less.

Thought I'd post a few chapters today. I have a busier work week this next week so hoping you all like this so far and let me know your thoughts on the story. I love hearing discussion on the characters and plot, it definitely motivates me to post a bit sooner when I'm able too. Chapter 8: Phase 1 Three weeks had passed and Chad was on a business trip the second into the third week of Emma’s training. It was a relief as she got to shadow the other assistant of Adam, Sav and Derek named Charity. She gave Emma access to their calendar’s and she watched Charity type her passwords. The only unfortunate thing was when she shadowed Charity in an executive meeting, she watched Sav sign in to her Macbook laptop with her fingerprint. Thankfully, not all the executives had a Macbook to sign in per fingerprint. Chad had a windows desktop and that was her only saving grace at the moment. She cursed Bailey in her head as she turned her head to Eugene during the meeting. He typed in coding as her eyes looked away, trying not to stare. She knew the coding software he was using and it was close to impossible to infiltrate without direct access. Their security was obviously in tip top shape. The only way she’d be able to get through is by cutting off a finger or, better idea, sending out a phishing link to their emails. If not, she’d have to do the direct access route and plug in her external hard drive to install her software into the admin user's computer underneath a guest user account. She had a strong feeling that the admin user was probably Chad. Emma knew it was much more risky to try going the direct route that she decided on the email phishing route first. Emma went to work that night, creating a few emails to send to the executive emails she gathered from Charity’s login. She smiled at the links and hit ‘schedule’ for the emails to send Friday morning to the whole staff as a fake pseudo email sender, showing it was an @pwfirm.com address as the sender. The emails sent to the executives was from chad@pwfirm.com and she smirked, feeling a sense of control in an environment she’d recently felt out of control and her normal element in. That next morning Emma walked into work for the first time without her boot. She walked to the elevator and waited for the door to open. “No boot anymore, huh?” Chad said behind her, walking up to the elevator door as it chimed open. Emma felt her pulse quicken as he stood next to her. The fuck was he doing back so soon? She thought to herself, once again caught off guard. She finally had access to his calendar through Charity’s login and knew he wasn’t supposed to be back until next Monday! Why did unexpected things keep happening when it came to anything related to Chad? Ugh. Emma walked into the elevator with her Starbucks coffee in hand, “Yup.” She said, taking a sip as Chad pressed the button to the 14thfloor and put his hands in the pockets of his black pants, eyes going to Emma’s awkward quiet stare to the metal doors. “What type of coffee do you get?” He asked, a smirk on his face and that stupid humor twinkling his eyes again as he looked down to her. “The kind that keeps me awake.” She mumbled in her still half-asleep state. “You’re a brat, you know that?” He said in an observation rather than a question as he turned to her fully in the elevator, rolling up his white dress shirt sleeves in a way that screamed he was a male model. Emma’s eyes traced the veins in his forearms, completely forgetting the fact he just called her a brat. What did that even mean anyways? “That didn’t sound like a question that I should answer.” Emma said as the elevator doors silently whooshed open and relief flooded through her that she didn’t suffer longer of Chad’s silent fury he had. Chad followed silently as she set down her coffee at the front desk and he stood in front of the desk, placing both his hands on it and leaning down to meet her halfway on their height difference, “Next week, you’ll be shadowing me. I would keep your smart mouth in check if you wanted to have a good week next week. Am I understood?” His face was serious and cold as her moss green eyes searched his in surprise from the sudden mood change. Emma felt the familiar heat again travel to her face and below her stomach. Emma gulped, her cheeks flush, “Understood.” “Good girl.” He said, standing straight and walking away with confidence she didn’t know could exist in human form. She blinked at his words and the way he treated her. Emma had this fleeting feeling he was dominant and liked the power and control. She just didn’t know to what extent that branched out too. She’d dealt with micromanagement and sexual harassment bosses prior that disgusted her to her core… yet, for some strange reason, a part of her liked the attention he gave her. She liked the way he spoke to her. Most importantly, she liked the way she felt around him. It was thrilling to her, like watching a scary movie. You wanted more of it, even if you knew what you were walking into. Emma was the girl walking into the basement, thinking she’d be different or survive the poltergeist. Little did Chad know, she was also a poltergeist. A smile crept on her face after a few moments, knowing that she’d be seeing him and his company humiliated sooner or later, giving a taste of his own humiliation medicine he liked to give her in belittling remarks. The part of her that was mischievous and wanted to see his demise, yet part of her wanted to toy with the idea of being caught and learning what the wrath of Chad would look like, the one he kept inside that no one saw but the flickers of it in his eyes when she struck a nerve. It was something she never even humored the thought of… until the moment she met him. Yet, then she’d just be another victim of his. He obviously had dark secrets protected by NDA’s. Maybe Emma was just another victim like Brittney thinking she was different, entering the basement, and thinking she could make it out alive and unscathed.

Chapter 7: The Ballad of the Nobody & the High School Quarterback Emma didn’t grow up as confident nor as pretty as she eventually became. Contrary to popular belief, she grew up going through puberty and the awkwardness that came along with it. For most of her school years, she had acne, messy hair, was overweight and socially awkward. Emma didn't have wealthy parents, well, at least not financially responsible parents, and she never had new clothes like other girls or could get her hair cut and dyed like everyone else that made her different. All this to say, Emma was considered a nobody in high school and had only one friend, that friend being Graham Miller who was a theatre nerd she met in her freshman year first hour. The only reason she found one friend was because Graham was a pain-in-the-ass extrovert that wouldn't leave Emma alone during first hour and he asked her to hang out after school their first day. She hesitantly agreed, afraid of having friends again since being bullied in elementary school and middle school by one group of mean girls who thought she was 'weird' that just made her not want friendships any longer. From their first walk home from school and hanging out at the park, Emma and Graham quickly became best friends, sharing a mutual liking to each other, issues with their toxic parents relationships and pasts with being bullied. Graham was no stranger either to bullying. From telling a boy he liked him the year before, the popular guys bullied and harassed him about being gay. Both of them understood each other, even if Emma was an introvert and Graham was an extrovert, the friendships bond would only grow stronger with time. Lucky for her, her life transformed over the course of her Junior Year going into Senior Year of high school when she got her first job at a local fast food chain that was a 10 minute walk away from her home. She saved every dollar and finally could afford a cheap laptop at the beginning of her second semester of Junior year. That's when her entry into online side hustles began, leading her from doing online surveys for cents to a few dollars, to affiliate blog websites she began and then creating 'how to' Pinterest posts that linked to her blog website. That surprisingly did so well and some of her articles began gaining hundreds of views per day. By the summertime, she quit her fast food job, making double the amount she made in a paycheck in fast food every week in recurring referrals from her affiliate programs. From that discovery of online incomes, she went deeper into other opportunities to make money and leave home as soon as she graduated high school. By the end of the summer, she had found a company who was looking for intern in website coding for a pay of $20K/year with flexible hours and commissions on projects she'd complete. Emma didn't have a college degree, but at this stage she had so much experience that she decided to apply, inputting her resume of her affiliate business she had started on her own. After one Zoom interview with a woman named Bailey, she got the job and little did she know that this was the entry into the world of cybercrimes and hacking. The online world giving her an income that was more than her high school teachers. From her quick increase in money from the affiliate business and new internship she started, she afforded her first used car. Her mom was surprised she saved so quick and Emma was careful to tell her she got a loan and a good monthly rate. Little did her mom know, Emma paid in full when she visited the dealership. By the summertime, she invested in a gym membership, began working out and watching what she ate. Graham took note of Emma's busy schedule and sudden influx of money that he interrogated her on how she did it. Emma told him and Graham would soon apply the next year the internship opened and join Emma. When Senior year hit, she walked into school with a complete 'glow-up' transformation when her acne disappeared, she wore high-end makeup, she got her hair done and her curves showed from her strength training at the gym. She changed her wardrobe completely from finally having money to shop on her own and not get the hand-me down clothes from her cousins anymore. For the first time, she was wearing form-fitting clothes to her perky bottom and small waist line that she worked hard on achieving. That's when guys around her high school started noticing her and a lot of the sporty cliques boyfriends turned an eye. People didn't even know her name nor that she even existed until her senior year, yet everyone began to know who she was overnight from rumors and gossip. Seemingly overnight, she became one of the hottest and most interesting girls in school with her 2018 black Honda Civic and a designer purse. It was in senior year that she started catching looks from the star quarterback of the school, Brecken Peterson. As Emma passed him in the halls, he'd make eye contact with her and she'd feel hot, blushing back with a small smile. On her last semester of high school, she walked into day one of her AP History Class and sat down. A few moments before the bell rang, Brecken walked in and found the last seat available that was right near her, smiling to her before sitting down. During classes they'd have small talks here and there about random things and she began to develop a crush that was entirely dangerous since he was dating the head cheerleader, Rebecca Nolen. Coincidentally, Rebecca was the part of the same clique that bullied Emma in elementary and middle school. She knew they had a publicly toxic relationship and they broke up and got back together just about every week. She had only found out this information from Graham since, well, Graham talked to everyone and just also happened to be secretly hooking up with one of Brecken's teammates, Luke Wilson. Emma ignored her feelings every time she spoke to Brecken, although her heart hurt after every time he smiled at her in the most handsome way. One day in the spring during a lecture, Brecken looked to Emma and then down to his notebook and wrote: Hey Emma. Emma was all-consumed by the lecture, highlighting and writing notes as he nudged her and she looked down to the notebook and saw the note. She grinned, her beautiful smile catching Brecken’s eyes. She wrote in his notebook: Um, whatsup? He grinned handsomely and wrote: I’ve been thinking for a while now, I think I like you. Emma swallowed as she saw him write the words and froze. Were Rebecca and Brecken broken up? Emma wasn’t looking for a relationship with a cheater nor a messy one at that like how Brecken and Rebecca were. She even could have sworn she saw them kiss the week before and she didn't know how to stifle her butterflies in her stomach. She didn’t want to cross a head cheerleader of the school, especially one who used to bully her in elementary school. Rebecca used to make MySpace posts of 'Emma the weirdo' back in 5th grade going into 6th. By middle school, it turned into starting rumors about Emma looking at Rebecca's boobs or that Emma was a lesbian. Her clique would give her looks in the hallways and ignore her during group projects. Once, Rebecca 'accidentally' bumped into Emma while Emma was walked with her tray of lunch food to her table and half of her food fell to the floor. Little to say, Emma was here to get through high school with impeccable grades, not try finding a love interest that was tangled with someone who bullied her previously. She went this long without a boyfriend and could endure longer, that was sure. She tapped her eraser on the plastic filmed desk as he looked to her crossed look she gave. She finally wrote: Let’s talk on the phone later? She wrote her phone number down and he grinned knowingly, as if he got a ‘I like you too’ back. Emma wanted to say that she wasn't confirming she liked him by giving her his number. If she could speak, she would have told him that she wanted to talk about his relationship with Rebecca. Emma just wanted to see if he was truly single and wasn't playing her. If he wasn’t, she wouldn’t waste her time. Part of her felt like it was a mistake to write her phone number down, yet the other part of her wanted to flirt with the idea of dating Brecken Peterson and if she had say no, she didn't think she'd ever have another chance to talk to him before they graduated. She had butterflies in her stomach as she left school that day and kept checking her phone that night, awaiting his call. The call never came though and, instead, the wrath of Rebecca Nolen and her cheer squad did within the weeks that followed. ~~~ Emma woke up in a sweat, her brain flashing through her time in high school. Flashbacks of her changing into her clothes after swimming class in the pool locker rooms. She saw girls walk in out of the corner of her eyes, recognizing Rebecca Nolen and a few members from her cheer squad. Before she knew it, she was stripped naked. The next moment, phone cameras were on her, flashes of light and her brain blacked the rest out. Part of her enjoyed the embarrassment, the humiliation high that came with it and her first time experiencing the pleasurable buzz she didn't know could be unlocked deep down, yet the other part wished it never became public. Reality hit hard of how far the pictures went. Before they let her go, the pictures were all over social media and group texts. Snapchat mainly, since Instagram and Facebook didn't allow nudes. Every friend and person that knew her saw it. All of it. Even her parents saw them when it got to the principal. She grabbed her water and took a few gulps, looking at the time on her phone. It was 5AM and she had a feeling she wouldn’t go back to sleep. She waited until 6AM to shower, do her hair and makeup, then pull on her light pink flutter sleeved dress. It was girly and not her usual style but it was her façade’s style, Gabby. She caught a few glances during the week with the management and office coworkers and knew it was soon she’d be able to wiggle into someone’s office to start her process of ruining the company. Emma was waiting for someone to catch her bait, then she'd reel them in for their personal data. If no one took her bait, she'd have to go with her 2nd and 3rd plans of hacking. They were a bit more work than usual, but could be done. Emma got in her car and sighed in relief that it was Friday, considering she survived her first week in the office located in her own personal hell. Lucky for her, Chad was busy with so many meetings she barely saw him or was graced with his intense presence the most of the week. She still remained on edge most days, but that simmered down slowly as the week progressed. The more she met and talked to people, she realized that the office was like being back in high school. There were the jocks, the theatre nerds, the introverted geeks, and the cheerleading team, just like when she was 18. She studied the office culture and realized she felt back to her younger self again, yet this time she wasn’t as naïve. She saw the jocks and cheerleading squad quite vividly and identified every member. Chad, the star quarterback. Derek, his teammate and catcher. Sav, the head cheerleader. Adam, the member of the cheerleading squad. Eugene, Ed and Douglas were the introverted geeks and theatre nerds, her type of people. She could infiltrate that. The others, not so much. The others she’d have to do some ass-kissing, something she’d been working on since she began, yet it wasn't going well thus far. Emma walked into the office with coffee and boxes of donuts for the whole office, taking it to the break room with a large ceiling to floor window that overlooked the city of Charlotte, green, flowering and lush trees in the spring. She unscrewed the coffee jug to pour herself a cup and as she poured she heard a deeper voice behind her. “Donuts and coffee, hm?” Chad said as she jumped, the coffee in her cup sloshing hot liquid onto her light pink dress. “Fuckity fuck.” She said, the hot coffee stinging her fingers. “Watch your language, Gabriella.” Chad chastised, coming over and grabbing a napkin. Emma froze in confusion by his tone, talking to her like she was a child again. Did she hear that right? Before she could protest, he dabbed the spot on her dress near her abdomen before she could sputter a word, suddenly flustered by how close he was and his touch. Her head tilted up to him as his warm brown eyes drifted to hers in a flicker of humor before switching back to his usual intense stare, “I see you still are having issues making messes, hm?” She took a step back as he looked down, awaiting her reply, “No, the messes make themselves.” She said, sarcasm dripping in her voice. Chad’s jaw tightened and she saw his features shift to contemplating to do something or walk away. His neck vein bobbed as he stared at her and said nothing. Emma felt like the next few moments could go south if she didn’t choose her words carefully, “Sorry for the language. I’ll go to my desk now.” She was about to walk away as she grabbed her coffee cup but he quickly grabbed her wrist as her eyes went down to his firm grip and up to his eyes flickering in irritation. His grip loosened and he grabbed a lid, placing it on her coffee, “Don’t want any more accidents, do we?” He smirked with humor twinkling in his eyes as Emma forced a grin. “Thanks.” Her grin disappeared as she walked past him and to the front desk where Jessica showed up at 6:55AM on the dot. Jessica looked at the iced caramel swirl large coffee near where she sat and to Emma, “Who is this for?” “You. I got it, you like caramel swirl right?” Emma asked as Chad left the break room with a donut and coffee in his hands, passing the front desk. Emma saw him taking a donut and coffee as a small win. The second win of the week came when Jessica smiled at her for the first time since the interview day. “I do. Thanks. Maybe you may survive here after all.” “Yup, I’m trying.” Emma said, sitting down and knowing she had already started her infiltration. Jessica didn’t know it yet, but Emma already knew her passwords. She had been watching closely and already had access to the front reception desk information. One small battle had finally been won. Now it was time for Emma to win more battles until she won the war.