Vice

10: Marker Sabotage

Natara tries every creative way she can think of to try to avoid picking Mr. Vice's underwear up by hand. She almost gets it by using her lanyard, but it's too hard.

Blushing furiously, she plucks it off the ground between her thumb and pointer finger and tosses it in the carton with the other laundry. Beneath two more suits, she finds a second pair. They're the same brand, but this time they're navy blue. Her eyes wander to the little pouch in the center and she tears them away.

This feels too...private, Natara thinks. How can they  let people handle their underwear here? I can understand suits, pants, and ties, but...boxer briefs and socks? I guess it's easier to have it all done at once, but...

Well, at least that looks like everything. She tosses the last ties and socks into the carton and peers into the wall compartment for anything else. Nothing. She closes it and grabs her company phone off of her desk. Then she hauls the carton down the hall, into the elevator, and through the building, following signs that point toward the parking garage.

Natara's lips part as she steps inside the parking garage. Her eyes land on a long line of different makes and models of Vicetech Corporation company vehicles, all with that same black/red/white theme and company logos. 

They're all shiny, new, and...they look much more expensive than anything her parents have ever driven. In fact, all of the vehicles there look like they cost more than her parent's house AND car combined.

She knows that on her resume it states she has her driver's license. She does, but since her family only has one car she hasn't had the opportunity to drive very often. Natara definitely doesn't want one of those opportunities to be on an expensive new company vehicle.

Won't she owe thousands of dollars if she crashes it? 

Her fingertips tremble as she grabs a key off one of the rings next to the elevator. Her breathing is shallow and ragged as she approaches a tiny black hybrid company car and presses the unlock button. It feels like she's stealing - like she's not supposed to be here and any second now someone is going to run out and stop her from driving across town in a company car - but no one does.

This car is way too nice for me to even sit in. How am I supposed to drive this? She wonders as she gently places the carton of laundry in the passenger's seat.

She nervously slides into the driver's seat, slipping across slick leather seats, and can't find a key to put into a slot to start the car. She looks all around until her eyes finally land on a "START" button. Confused, she presses it and the vehicle springs to life.

She's never heard of cars that start from the push of a button.

As she backs out of the parking space, Natara looks forward to make sure she isn't scraping the front end of the vehicle against any other company cars and notices a screen that shows where she's backing up. She stares at it in awe for a few moments, watching it follow the movement of the vehicle as she backs out of the parking space.

Dang. She could have really used something like this during her driver's test. She didn't even know this kind of thing existed!