The Product Tester

Chapter 2

Mary shuffled her feet, avoiding eye contact with the secretary as she waited for the contract to finish printing.

She was acutely aware of the eyes on her, staring at her ass, at the wet stains running down her thighs. It wasn't that she'd seen anyone staring; she was too mortified to actually look around and see who was ogling at her accident, but she just knew that anyone who saw her would stop to gawk at the grown woman in soggy pants.

If she didn't have a head full of stubborn annoyance with Ethan to keep her going, she might have panicked and run for the door. As it was, she stood to the side, listening to the desktop printer whirr.

Someone giggled as they walked by and Mary's face turned beet red, but when she turned to look she saw that they were staring at their phone. They hadn't even acknowledged her.

Sighing in relief, she turned back to face the secretary. "How much longer?"

Looking up from his keyboard, he glanced at the printer, read the LCD, and said, "A couple minutes. Slow printer, big document." Turning his gaze on her, he added, "Look, do you want a towel or something? I'm sure the janitor has-"

"It's fine," Mary said. The last thing she wanted was to make a fuss about her accident. "I'll just wait."

"Suit yourself," they shrugged.

Rather than just stand there and fret about anyone laughing at her, Mary checked her phone while she waited.

Ethan: Babe, I'm sorry, I was being an ass. Can we talk?

Frowning, Mary thought about it for a minute or so before she typed out her response.

Mary: Once we're home. I'm kind of stressed rn.

The same moment that the message sent, she saw three little dots appear as Ethan typed out his response.

Ethan: Okay. I love you. Sorry if I was what stressed you.

Mary: <3

A few more moments went by as she checked out social media, then the printer stopped whirring. Leaning back in his chair, the secretary took the stack, squared it on his desk, and stapled it all together.

"Here you go," he said, passing over the thick document. "Have a nice day."

Mary took the stack and stuffed it into her bag. "You too."

She was disappointed to see that it hadn't started raining as she stepped outside. If it was, she could just let the water soak her clothes and hide the pee stains, but instead it was a bright, sunny, beautiful day.

"Figures," Mary grumbled, fuming about the weather as she turned down the street to walk to the bus stand.

Lab-D's building was situated in an office park. It was a blocky, ugly building, set between other blocky, ugly buildings, that had all been built with efficiency and cheapness as their main priorities. As a result, they were miles from the rest of the city, on a plot where land was cheap.

Mary would have preferred that they have a building downtown. She didn't care about the architecture, or the neighborhood, but having to take a lengthy bus ride to get back to her apartment was less than ideal.

The bus stop outside the office was, thankfully, empty. Less thankfully, the bus that arrived was packed full.

She could wait for the next bus, but that was half an hour away, and there was no guarantee that it would be any less crowded. Bracing herself, she stepped up, swiped her pass, and found a spot near the front where she could hold onto a handle.