"She is so totally female." Kaitlin said. "You'll love working for Ingrid. She's the ultimate boss." "Sounds good." Said Elana. Kaitlin didn't seemed like your average office kiss-ass. Maybe she was telling the truth. Kaitlin went on, "You know how women like to talk about a great bargain they got on a great skirt or a pair of shoes? And then some guys walk in talking about golf and the women lower their voices or shut up completely? Like they're not real? Like they're not talking about something that matters? Like GOLF?" Humph. "Ingrid isn't like that. She takes a long weekend and goes to Chicago or New York or Toronto and shops. To relax. For some serious downtime. "When she talks shopping she TALKS SHOPPING. She owns the floor. Some good old boy shot her a look while she told us about her latest spree... she called him over and put her foot on the table and asked him if he ever saw a sweeter pair of Kenneth Coles. Stuck it right in his face. He blushed and said they were nice. We laughed as he walked away. Around here shopping RULES. The guys better respect our conversations even if they don't want join in. "Wait'll you see her. She is sooo, soooo, awesome. Class? She has got a ton of class. And sexy? She is sexy as hell. Not in a slutty way. She buys tailored suits from top designers that usually do movie star stuff. God, she looks fantastic in them. "It's like a classy English actor saying the word fuck. It sounds like the most elegant word in the world. She's like that. She's elegant and sexy and tough. God I want to go down on her sometimes-" Here Kaitlin closes her eyes and hugs herself at the thought of it. "Not that I'm gay or anything. She is just so totally FEMALE - she inspires me. She's my hero." "Wow. Can she leap tall buildings at a single bound?" "Huh?" Kaitlin asked, too young for the Superman reference. "Nothing." "It's just that I get so energized just seeing her. Just being in the same room with her. Just THINKING about her. She is the most powerful woman I've ever known. It's like I could connect directly to her energy if I went down on her. Don't you ever have fantasies like that? That'll never come true? You don't really WANT them to come true but you've got them out there to think about?" "I guess mine are a little different." Elana said. "But, yeah, I have them." "These older women don't understand." Kaitlin said. Tilting her head toward her coworkers across the office. Then she realized Elana was probably just as old. "I'm not saying YOU'RE old." Elana nodded that she understood. It was all right. No offence taken. Kaitlin went on, "They're a little jealous or envious or something that Ingrid made it so far into management and they didn't. They know she earned it. Still they resent it a little. They probably had to put up with just as much stuff as Ingrid did coming up through the Old-Boy-Network but Ingrid was able to work through it better. A lot of these women still seem hurt from things that happened a long time ago. Like they just grew a shell, a hard shell around their pain; but it's still there. "They resent the fact that Ingrid doesn't give the men a hard time. Not new guys or guys that are fair. She'll tear into any sign of the Old-Boy mentality, --- you know SEXIST bullSHIT --- but if a guy's okay she treats him okay. The older ladies think Ingrid should give guys the same kind of treatment the Old-Boys used to give women. Ingrid's not like that." Kaitlin got a far-off look in her eye, "God, sometimes I wish she were a guy so I could fuck her. "OMIGOD! I don't believe I just said that. I'm so sorry. I talk too much. Just ignore me. That is SO not cool." She was blushing. "That's okay." Elana assured her. "Most places they send me everyone tears down the boss. It's a nice change." Interesting. Kaitlin didn't bat an eyelash talking about going down on Ingrid but got all flustered at imagining her as a man. As though Ingrid's feminine gender was inviolate. As though the very thought was blasphemy. In walked Ingrid. After introductions Ingrid invited Elana back to her office. "I see you've met my number one fan." "Disciple, I would say. She's intense." Ingrid handed Elana a coffee cup and said, while looking away, "Two sugars." Then she sat down to her desk and clicked on her computer. In someone else this manner would seem dismissive. In Ingrid it seemed inclusive. She accepted Elana immediately. No need to stand on ceremony. It was an act of familiarity. She could have said, "I'm not going to make a habit of this but could you please bring me a cup of coffee? There are a few things I need to look into before our talk. By the time you get back I'll be ready to go." But all that was understood. Elana knew that Ingrid was the kind of boss that would do the same for her if Elana were busy at her desk. And she would do it without being asked. She somehow knew this about Ingrid. They seemed to know a lot about each other after one glance. Elana came back and sat across the desk from Ingrid after handing her her coffee. "I know you usually like to temp rather than hire-in but I'm going to buy your contract from the agency and make you a regular employee." Ingrid said. "Without an interview?" Asked Elana. "Without even asking if it's alright with you." Elana sat back and took it all in. Kaitlin wasn't kidding. Ingrid ruled. Her understated grace pulled at Elana. Yielding her heart into a natural alliance. As though yielding to the common good. As though signing on to further the cause of women everywhere. Elana's temping days were done. From now on she was Ingrid's. "All right." Elana said. "You're my assistant. You would usually have your own office but I'm moving you in here with me. You'll like that." "Yes." Said Elana. "This might sound silly. But one of the things I want you to do is become my alter-ego. "You've met Kaitlin. She's a dear. Do you know why she's so devoted to me?" Ingrid asked. "You don't take crap from guys is the main reason, I think." Elana said. "There is something more than that." Ingrid said. "When she first started working here, three years ago, she must have been all of nineteen, her first job was handing out annual reports in the big conference room. "Some giant office boy dropped a stack of folders in her arms that weighed a ton. She was already nervous and naturally shy so she didn't have the nerve to ask him to set half on the table and she'd do them next. No. She tried to handle everything at once and dropped it all on the conference room floor in front of a room full of top officers. "One of the idiot VP's stopped the few gentlemen that tried to help her. He said, 'She can do it. She does some of her best work on her knees.' Implying she'd given him a blowjob, of course. "I was out of town at the time or it never would have happened. "Almost all of the guys around here picked up on it. And some of the women, too. Kaitlin was in tears several times a day after that. Well, when I found out about it I set things right. I even had the VP apologize both personally and in writing. "Fun's fun but when they take advantage of such a delicate soul it pisses me off. So that's why she worships me. It's irritating to me but what's worse is that it's stifling to her. She's made herself into a kind of mascot. She's got a lot to offer but she's stuck in a rut and I haven't been able to help her get unstuck. "I need to get stern with her. I hate to see her hurt but I think I need to make her hate me before she can grow. Before she can become her own woman and quit being a kind of mascot caricature. The young woman needs to get unstuck." "That's your understanding of it?" asked Elana. "What do you want me to do?" "Just give her moral support. I don't want to break her spirit completely. She is a very special young woman. I just want her to become her own person. Let her cry on your shoulder and maybe explain that I don't really hate her even though it may seem that way to her. This needs to be dealt with." "I can do that." Elana said. "It's strange the way life plays out." Ingrid said, almost to herself. Feeling comfortable enough here with Elana to think out loud. "When I was about Kaitlin's age I thought I knew everything. Then something terrible happened and it almost crushed me. My spirit, I mean. But it strengthened me more than I ever knew. Once I got through it. "Kaitlin needs to work through some things to bring out her individual sense of self. It sounds like I'm playing God almost. Maybe I am. But I know letting her go on worshipping an ideal isn't the answer. The young woman needs to see me as a person, not a symbol. "When I was her age I worked for a young executive. A very ambitious guy. We worked well together and I thought I was so hot. I refused to get coffee for him. He kind of liked that about me. A liberated woman, I was. "One morning we went into the conference room coffee closet. Each carrying our own cups. We stood drinking our coffee lost in talk. We hadn't noticed that, just on the other side of the door from us, the conference room had filled up. We were trapped. We couldn't get out without interrupting the meeting. "We whispered and went on making small talk when he said, 'Too bad there aren't any munchies or muffins in here.' I hopped on the counter and said, 'I've got your muffin right here.' I spread my legs and showed him my bush. 'Warm and moist.' He looked me right in the eye for half a second and then went down on me. With a conference going on on the other side of the door. "Like most men he couldn't go down worth a damn. But I figured it was the effort that counts. For a young woman to have her boss do something like that was quite a turn-on in itself no matter how inept he was. "I let him up and took my turn. I pulled out his cock and went to town on it. Downtown. I sucked his dick for all it was worth. I had him ready to shoot in no time flat. Then I stopped. He gasped. Somebody had to have heard him. He got scared. Then I started up again. He didn't know whether to kiss me or kill me. I had him squirming. I ended it with some deep throat and swallowed just seconds before the door opened. "They'd heard us all right. We said we came in for coffee and got caught waiting for the pot to brew. Yadda. Yadda. "In the days after that I sucked him off all over the office floor. In copy machine nooks. The Men's Room. The Ladies Room. Under his desk, of course. Never at his request mind you. I called the shots. I was hot shit indeed. Or so I thought. "Finally we agreed to have a real grown up liaison in a swank hotel room. Room service dinner with champagne before hopping between the sheets. It was a game to me. I didn't care. I think he was falling in love. "I was so naive and stupid. I actually paid for the room with my new Gold Card --- remember when that was a big deal? --- the very first transaction. I felt so free and unfettered, fiscally and otherwise --- the epitome of the liberated woman... epitome of an idiot.... "I was already under the covers when he walked in. Running just a little late after bumping into some frat brothers holding a poker game down the hall. "I laid down the law about him being tardy. I took him to task and made him kiss my ass and say he was sorry and beg for my forgiveness. All of which he did willingly. I was stoked on control. I commanded the situation. I had my boss, one of the best and the brightest up-and-coming young executives in our company, at my beck and call. I was invincible. You know how the song goes? --- I AM WOOO-MAN! Yeah. RIGHT. "Well I fucked his brains out plain and simple. Me on top of course. Taunting him with my breasts. Letting him feel them when I said he could and not before. Leaning down and putting them right in his face and saying either 'Kiss' 'Lick' or 'Suck' and by God that's exactly what he did and he did it exactly when I said so, exactly the way I wanted him to, or else. "'Or else' was a non-factor. He obeyed. "I was damn near giddy with the thrill of domination. Not just of him. Total domination. In my mind I had conquered the known world. At least as it applied to me. I was now my boss's boss. I controlled my own destiny. I was such a stupid young woman. I knew nothing of power or personal responsibility. I was so naive. "After I finished fucking him I sent him out for cigarettes. I was sitting naked at our dinner cart when he made it back. With several friends. Some of his poker buddies were taking a break and invited themselves in. "My boss was obviously flustered. He was saying, 'Hey, guys, this is my girlfriend, please, we need to be alone.' They knew I worked for him and they had certain definite ideas of their own as to what 'girlfriend' meant in that context. "'How much would it cost for her to be our girlfriend tonight?' one of the buddies asked. Then added: 'Oh how crass of me. You wouldn't take money from a frat brother now would you?' My boss gave him a weak smile and tried to reason with him saying how I was a nice girl and not like THAT and sure they were frat brothers but please could he just leave, please. "At the rate it was going I was going to have to throw them out myself. My boss was too weak. He craved their approval. Besides I found his assessment of me as a 'nice girl' patronizing and insulting. After all I was a world class dominatrix wasn't I? "So, I forced the issue. I took control. I stood up, stark naked, and told them to clean off the room service cart and let's get the party started. Either my boss was going to throw the bums out or I was going to make him wish he had. Either way, once again, I controlled the situation. "The gutless wonder didn't throw them out. There were four of them, not counting my boss. Their eyes all looked at me to see if I was teasing. Hanging on my response. I had their attention. I ordered them to do it and they gladly obeyed. "I laid myself across the cart and invited a pair of them to take an end while I stroked a cock in each hand. They just about panicked. I had upped the ante. They never expected anything like this. I was calling the shots. "As we all did our business my boss broke down in sobs but I had no pity for him. He was weak. That's all I knew. "I gave the four dolts the best sex they probably ever had. They marveled at my tight vagina and nearly screamed under my oral and manual control. I controlled it all. Except... "It didn't end at four. More poured in. More than just the poker party. Many, many, more. I tried to stop it and got punched in the face. Knocked cold. They continued taking my vagina. When that got sloppy they took my anus. In my hazy condition I heard their laughter. I felt their slimy cum in me and on me as several spectators chose to cum all over me rather than inside me. "I was now their toy. "What a stupid, stupid girl I was. I felt so low. Beyond anything I could ever imagine. Where was that dominant young woman now? I was stuck, literally stuck to the table. The puddled cum had dried and I was stuck -- glued - to the cart. "I tried but I was never able to get myself unstuck. "At last some drunk wanted a go at my ass but felt the need to clean it out first. He spied the empty champagne bottle standing with a towel draped over the top. He shoved it up my ass with the towel still over it to sop up the cum. Then he burst out screaming. That's the last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital. "Whoever opened the champagne had been too impatient or inept to pop the cork properly. They just broke the neck open against the edge of the sink. That jagged glass sliced through my bowels and severed an artery. I was alone in the room when the ambulance arrived; a bunch of hand towels stuffed up my ass. It was the only thing that saved me. I was in the hospital for six weeks. "I couldn't look my doctors in the eye. I was so ashamed. The nurses treated me like garbage. They did their duties but --- they were disgusted at me. I couldn't blame them. My vanity got me into this. My naïve stupidity. "I didn't know how I'd ever be able to return to work. After degrading myself like this. But I had to. I had to maintain my medical insurance or I'd never be able to pay my bills. "Once the colostomy bag came off I returned to work. "A curious thing happened as I walked into the office on my first day back. I felt calm. Then I saw the first sneer. I felt calmer still. I walked up to the asshole and asked if he had a problem. Maybe his shorts were too tight? Maybe that's why he had that look on his face? ...No? Well from now on whenever I pass you better look down at the floor. So I don't get the wrong idea. "He smirked. I slapped the silly right off his face. We were out on the floor. I asked right out loud in front of everybody if anybody had a problem showing me common courtesy. Decency. Because I don't care what any of you personally think of me when we are here I WILL be shown proper respect. "They were quiet. I went on to my job. "I realized then that my shame in the hospital had to do with taking up resources that should have gone to people with real illnesses. Here, at work, it was different. I took responsibility for what happened. I let the situation get out of hand. I lost control. It was my fault. But I was still a human being. I put it behind me and never let anyone pass judgement on me in public without correcting their perception. "I never again let myself be sexually manipulated or compromised. From that time on I became my own woman. I treated myself with respect and I prospered. "Upper management approved of my attitude. Other women acted strong. Aggressive. Almost masculine. I didn't need to act. My attitude came from within. I could smell any hint of behavior that smacked of true masculine supremacy. And I squelched it. I admired men who were competent and ethical but if I saw any display of the male juvenile mind-set that let them think it was okay to use women the way the young woman in that hotel room was used that night --- I shot it out of the water completely. No matter where I saw it. Boardroom included. "I quickly moved up in the company. That was a long time ago in a city far, far, away. No one here knows about any of that and this is the first time I've told anyone about it." Ingrid paused and Elana nodded. Acknowledging her trust. Elana rose and walked over to Ingrid's chair, "Can I see the scar?" She asked. "What? Oh. Not really. It's barely visible." "Can I see it?" "It's down low. Nearly in my pubic region." "Can I see it?" Ingrid paused. Elana bent down, stroking Ingrid's hair and kissing the top of her head. "I want to see it. I want to kiss it. I want to heal it." "It's healed. There's nothing there. Really." "I think there's something underneath - inside -- that still needs to be healed." Elana told her softly. Tears welled in Ingrid's eyes. Elana crouched beside Ingrid softly kissing the tears on her face. "There's a frightened young woman you feel responsible for, isn't there? She's still stuck, isn't she? A delicate fragile soul. She needs something you can't give her. I can. I will. I want you to let me nurture the young girl you're so afraid will hate you. Let me hold her. And stroke her. And kiss her pain away." When they were naked they made love on the floor.