Vice

53: Workday

Natara feels like everyone is staring when she arrives at work. 

The secretary at the front desk glances up and smirks. People she passes by in the halls seem to stare a little longer than usual. Workers look up from their desks as she passes by their workstations and offices. 

She wonders if she's just feeling insecure or more sensitive after last night. She walks quickly, hurrying to get changed into new work clothes and hide away in the privacy of her personal office.

Before she can make it there, a man steps out into the hall, blocking her way. 

Natara has never seen him before. He's dressed in a teal button-up and tan slacks and his black greased hair sticks to the top of his head like a layer of spiderwebs. He leans one arm against the wall and rests his head in his hand, smiling down at Natara. 

The sneer on his face is predatorial and it makes Natara uncomfortable. She tries to step past him without acknowledging his presence but he doesn't let her.

"Whatcha running from me for?" He asks, raising his hand toward Natara and running his fingers along her cheek. Natara steps back and he grabs her wrist, pulling her back into stroking range again. "Come now, I've heard you're the office slut. You don't need to act shy."

Her anxiety feels like a spike stabbing through her chest. She doesn't understand why this man is touching her and not letting her get down the hallway. She wants him to leave her alone. She wants to keep on walking toward her office. And usually Natara would just take it, just let him do what he needs to do and not cause a scene, but today she doesn't. And why is he calling her the "office slut" when she's only slept with one man: her boyfriend?

"Leave me alone!" She shrieks, jerking away. The man raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. He grabs her again and a smirk snakes across his face. "Get off of me!"

"No, I don't think I want to," he grunts, pushing her against the hallway wall and raising his hand to the top button of her blouse. Natara whimpers, kicks, and struggles as he pops open the first button. Then the second. Then the third.

Then a voice interrupts them. 

"What the hell is going on here? Natara, get back to your office. Samuel, do I have to tell you what's going to happen to your job if I catch you harassing one of my employees EVER again?" The voice says. Through all of her anxiety, Natara can recognize its familiarity. It's Jaquie. 

Thanks to him, the man releases Natara and she manages to slip down the hall. She mouths "thank you" to Jaquie and he nods. She could hug him and cry right now for saving her. Her hands shake as she rounds the corner of the hallway and buttons her shirt back up.

Her heart still pounds even as she reaches her office and her legs feel like Jell-o. For as long as she's been working here, no one has ever approached her. Besides Jake, but he approached her as a friend. This man acted like he wanted to take advantage of her. It was scary. 

She had heard about things like work harassment and sexual harassment in passing throughout her life - on internet pages and the news - but she didn't realize that things like that would ever happen to her. She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world. She didn't even think she was pretty at all. She shouldn't be a target for anything like that.

But, yet, it had happened to her. She was lucky that Jaquie had been passing by and stepped in to help. What if he hadn't been? What if she wasn't that lucky? How far would things have gone? Would she have ended up in the same situation as she was with Jace last night, except with someone far less attractive and scarier? 

A work skirt and button up blouse wasn't that hard to get past. Maybe she should have worn something harder to get off, like shorts and a non-buttoned shirt. She probably shouldn't wear dresses from now on, either. 

She settles into her office, thoughts still racing through her head. She picks up her pen and sets it back down. She doesn't feel like she can focus on doing her paperwork until she calms down.

Her life is in turmoil. 

Wasn't it not long ago when she was worrying about keeping her grades up and making it to her classes on time? Back in school, all she had to worry about were her low grades and staying out of the way of the other students. 

Being at work feels like walking through a minefield of stress and drama. Was work like this for everyone? Was the adult life like this for everyone? 

She breathes in deeply and then breathes out slowly several times until she feels her body begin to relax. Natara closes her eyes and places her palms flat on top of the cool metal of her desk, trying to ground herself. After several minutes of self care, she feels ready to reopen her eyes and work on her paperwork.

The paperwork helps and the rest of the workday passes by normally. She relaxes in the comfort of her personal office. The only thought that remains nagging at the back of her brain is the feeling that she may have made a mistake sleeping with Jace, but she doesn't understand why. 

Jace is her boyfriend and he's a very sweet guy. Basically everyone in the office loves him, so she isn't sure what the problem is or why having sex with him might have been a bad idea. 

She lets out a sigh as she drags her yellow highlighter across one of the pages. She just wants to do her work, to focus only on the papers in front of her. And that's what she forces herself to do.