Corporate Punishment

Exercise, for a date

He wakes to a pounding head and a full bladder. He stumbles to the bathroom and relieves himself. About to crawl back in bed, he picks up his phone and sees that it is 9:30. In a rush, he takes a shower and realizes that he slept in the cage. He knew he didn't have enough time to take the polish off his toes, so he unlocks himself and gets dressed. He sends Tiffany a text that he may be a few minutes late and gets a ride to the bar where his car is parked before heading to the mall.

He is almost 30 minutes late when he finds Tiffany sitting in the food court scrolling through her phone. "Sorry. I was out late with friends last night and woke up late."

"Yeah, sure. You know I was about to leave and tell you we would do this some other time." She looks over the beleaguered Sam. "I don't enjoy having my time wasted. Please try to be more punctual next time, or I may have to figure out some sort of extra payment."

Sam looks at his shoes. "Sorry Tiffany. I'll do better next time."

Tiffany smirks at him, getting a better feel for her co-worker. "Well then, let's get going. First, we'll find you those brown shoes and then we can figure out how else I'll spend your money."

They take Sam's car and he follows her directions to some boutique shops in a gentrified part of downtown. They enter a men's shoe shop and Tiffany picks out a couple pairs of brown shoes. She decides on a pair of medium brown shoes with a leather eyelet decorative piece down the side.

Back in his car, she looks him over. He had thrown on a pair of jeans and the first clean shirt he grabbed. While it didn't have any holes in it, the partially worn lettering read, "There are 10 types of people in the world.".

"I don't have it in me to work on replacing your casual wear. What do you have in exercise clothes?"

"Exercise clothes?"

Tiffany sighs. "Why doesn't it surprise me you don't exercise? Would you even go to the gym if we got you some proper workout clothes?"

Sam felt small in his own car. "Well... I... I guess I would. I never really thought about going to the gym. Do I need to?" Sam knew he wasn't cut, but he wasn't fat.

"It is well known that exercising is good for many things. I'm not saying you need to get buff, but some aerobic exercise probably couldn't hurt you." She pauses as she looks at him intensely. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"I guess, as long as I can refuse to answer."

"When was the last time you went on a date with someone?"

"I. Umm. I can't remember." Sam tries to hide in the driver's seat.

"I don't want to waste your money, so I'll make a deal with you. If you can prove to me you are exercising at least five days a week for the next month, then I'll see if I can get you a date with one of my friends."

Sam almost objects, but he had no other dating prospects, and the few times he tried to use apps, he got no responses. The treatment he has been getting from his boss hasn't been helping his self-confidence either. "Ok. Deal."

They go to a chain sporting goods store where they buy him several pairs of shorts and moisture wicking shirts and a new pair of shoes. Sam thought they were done, but Tiffany headed over to the women's wear section. "I could use some new exercise clothes too, and you owe me for today." Sam just nods as she tosses several sports bras into the cart. She gets several pairs of leggings, holding them up to her jean-clad legs, asking Sam if he thought they would look good on her. He did like several of them, but pointed out a few that he didn't like. Surprisingly, she seemed to take his comments to heart and put one pair back. She picks up two pairs of booty exercise shorts and turns to Sam with a wicked grin. "Do you think these will look good on me?"

Sam could feel himself flush as he imagined them clinging to her body, barely covering her butt. "I guess so. I can't imagine what they would look like on you."

"You lie so badly sometimes. What you are thinking is written all over your face."

He drives them back to her car at the mall. "Now remember, you need to prove to me you have been working out at least five days a week. Only then will I see if I can get you a date with one of my friends. So I would suggest setting up something on that smart watch of yours."

Sam nods. "Yes, I remember. Thank you for going out shopping with me. Have a good rest of your weekend."

"You too Sam."