Monday morning, Sam wakes with a start as he realizes he overslept. He quickly gets a shower and gets dressed before grabbing a packet of pop-tarts and rushing out the door. Parked at work and about to head in, Sam realizes the cage is still at home, sitting on the counter where it had been drying after he cleaned it. In a slight panic, he emails from his phone that he wasn't feeling well and that he was going to take a sick day. Hoping that no one saw him, he quickly leaves the office parking lot and heads home.
He is only a few miles down the road when the WhatsApp notification chimes and a shiver goes down his back. He waits until he gets home to read it. "Sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well. I could have sworn I had seen you in the parking lot. Hope to see you tomorrow, and bring the keys."
He typed out a denial, but erased it and responded with "Yes ma'am." He tried to relax for the rest of the day, but his mind kept wondering how Ms. Wallace was going to punish him.
The next day, he made sure that he was up extra early and got ready for work. He put the cage on and sent Ms. Wallace a pic. The keys go in his pocket and he leaves the house.
Tiffany stopped him on his way in to the building. "Sam, sorry about Friday. My friend Samantha was supposed to join us and I realized on Saturday that I was texting you instead of her. I hope I didn't wake you." Sam assured her she didn't, and they walked in to the building together.
Ms. Wallace was in her office when Sam walked by, so he waved to let her know he was there. She barely looked up, but waved him in. Without instruction, Sam closed the door. She tapped the corner of her desk. "Put them there."
Feeling like a child in the principal's office, he fished the keys out of his pocket and placed them where she pointed. He waited several minutes before she finished what she was working on and looked up at him for the first time. "Sam, I thought things were going so well, and then you pulled that stunt yesterday. Imagine calling in sick because of one... little... thing. I am upset and you need to learn a lesson, however I'm not unreasonable." She reaches in her desk and pulls out a bottle of bubblegum pink nail polish and sets it down next to the keys. "I'll give you a choice. You can either give me the keys for the rest of the week, or you can take the keys and the nail polish. If you take both, then tonight you will need to paint both your fingernails and toenails and send a pic. After the pic you can remove the color from your fingernails, but the toes need to stay pink until at least Monday." Sam stares transfixed at the two items. He barely notices that his boss stood up and walked over to him. From behind him she whispers, "Well, bitch, what is it going to be? Which part of the... little... bit of masculinity are you going to give up?" She waited a few heartbeats to let him stew. "Decide before I decide for you."
YOU ARE READING
Corporate Punishment
Ficção GeralSam gets what he thinks is his dream job, but when he mistakes, his boss finds unique ways to punishment.
