Okay I'm awake again and I guess messing up my formatting isn't a big deal so here it is posted regular-like.
4:54 AM
“I quit” Rick said out loud to the empty lobby. It was still dark outside and he was convinced that only the craziest of the crazy were awake in Los Angeles at the moment. The streets had been nearly deserted on the drive to work but that was the only up side to a pointless trip. If he were at work to work then that would at least be something but he was here to sit and listen to a nationwide teleconference of the company CEO beating his chest on the other side of the country in New York…..where it was 8:00 not 5.
The branch manager, the regional chief of marketing (Rick), and the regional chief of public relations were all required to listen to this live for some stupid reason that he pondered darkly as he took the elevator to the 20th floor. The branch wasn’t large, only 36 people on 2 floors, and it like every corner of the 30 story office building was dark and quiet. All except for one lighted office in the corner of the floor. Rick shuffled down the hall into his manager’s office and took a seat around the mini conference table, shaking his nearly empty coffee cup as he did so. Slouching in his chair he gazed about the room in boredom. Watching him from the desk, no taller than a coffee mug, was a cheerful ceramic clown sporting a head full of spaghetti-like rubber hair. Bright eyes hovered over an open mouth grin as if to say that he always got up at 4 in the morning. "Screw you Bozo" Rick muttered.
“You know I think talking to toy clowns is a warning sign” came a voice from behind him. Rick turned to look as Jamie strolled past him to the desk where she grasped her own coffee and took a sip. “So is owning one” he replied sarcastically with a faint grin.
"But he reminds me of you sweetie!"
He and Jamie had met when he transferred there nearly 3 months ago and started bantering and flirting almost immediately though mostly when no one was looking. After all it wasn’t politically correct to make eyes at the boss. Jamie was 29 to his 26 and stood about 5’8, pencil thin with small neat breasts and bleach blonde hair down to her shoulders. This morning she was wearing a long sleeved black cotton shirt, grey business pants, and black platforms. She had put on stylish reading glasses which didn’t take anything away from her soft cool beauty. God how does she look like a runway model even at this hour? he thought. You’d think she had an entourage of makeup and hair stylists following her around.
Not for the first time he wished he’d met her anywhere but here. He actually thought Jamie was pretty amazing; she was thoughtful and also fun with a sparkling sense of humor. His birthday had fallen less than 3 weeks after he arrived, before anyone else knew or cared, but Jamie actually brought him the customary cupcake with a candle in it. A month after that for April fool’s day she had switched the picture of him and his brother that he kept on his desk for a well photo shopped version with them kissing each other (it took a week of chuckling behind his back before he noticed). He was in the middle of plotting revenge for that when she came to him and apologized. She said she was sorry she let it go so long and hoped he wasn’t too embarrassed. That was Jamie. He ditched the revenge plans, he still glued her pens together the next day but that was for something else. One strange thing about her though, she had a great sense of style, but it was oddly conservative. LA heat or not she was always well covered; he had never seen so much as her forearm or even a toe, which might not be so odd if she didn’t continue the trend on casual Fridays. It didn’t seem to match anything else about her but Jamie forever looked cool and untouchable.
“So where’s Greg?” he asked, referring to the last of their trio. “Not coming, just emailed in sick a few minutes ago. Probably got that condition you get when you mix tequila and daylight” she said with a roll of her eyes. Greg had a lousy track record for this sort of thing and normally Rick would have been annoyed but in this case the news actually woke him up a few degrees. He and Jamie had spent almost no time together outside of work and the odd company teambuilding excursion to the bar. Listening to a jackass on the phone for a few hours before dawn with two coworkers was one thing but spending that time alone with Jamie….maybe this day wasn’t off to such a bad start.
5:12 AM
The conference started a few minutes late, all in all there were more than 200 people dialing in from branches, homes, and hotel rooms and of course the last to join was the CEO. After performing the customary greetings he began explaining in excruciating detail how well the company was doing “First quarter numbers are up from the numbers in 2009, with a 4.3% increase in depreciated….”. Rick and Jamie sat quietly for all of a minute before starting to talk and joke around. The phone was muted so no one could hear Jamie giggling when Rick started mouthing out the words as he made faces and scratched himself comically. “WOW, it’s just like he’s right here with us haha”. “What was that?” came the voice from the phone and they both instantly froze. “Tell him I’ll talk to him after this..*paper shuffling*..now where was I?” The pair exhaled at the same time and laughed about the absurdity of it. This was getting to be fun.
For the next while they played a makeshift game of hockey, batting a ball of paper back and forth across the table trying to “score” into each other’s empty coffee cup. Jamie was winning 3-1 and couldn’t quit teasing to save her life “Ooh is this how you’re supposed to play? I’m not sure I... OH look there it goes again. Am I winning? This sure is hard" she said smiling. Rick was a good sport but losing to a girl in any kind of physical contest just wasn't going to fly, especially a girl who delighted in busting him about it. "Live it up, you do know I'm going easy on you right? Besides I'm distracted by the big boss man's inspiring speech, it's making my eyes well up with tears it really is". "Oh is THAT what those are" she shot back playfully. "I thought it was cause you're losing". As she said it she agressively pushed the paper wad towards him again but Rick wasn't having it. He rested his forearm flat in front of the cup and shoved her arm back. "CHEATER" she yelled and shoved forward trying to force the ball around him, both of them locking their arms in place like some kind of mock wrestling match. In a moment of pure instinct Rick reached out with one hand and swiftly tickled her under the arm.
She jumped back in surprise, a look of shock on her face that quickly disolved into a smile. "OHHO someone's living dangerously! You're lucky I don't fire you right here!" she said in a way that wasn't remotely threatening. "Hey thats big LA business, never show weakness" he said gravely and then grinned.
Rick was cool and confident on the outside but inside he was half stunned. WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO!? Guys have gotten their asses canned for a lot less! It was true, in fact the head office sent out representatives every year to "educate" employees on acceptable behaviour in the work place. Fratronization was against policy and doubly so when it involved a superior. Even if she doesn't kick your ass out the door right now or report you to HR she's gonna look at you funny every dam day that you don’t quit! You just stepped in it good! All for a tiny slip. What a wonderful world, he sighed inwardly. Well it’s too late to take it back. If you're in front of the firing squad...you may as well dance......
5:34 AM
With professional barriers all but destroyed Jamie and Rick talked easily for a while. They talked about Jamie playing volleyball on weekends and Jamie told him how hot his Mustang was. Through it all the CEO went on about the importance of not talking on a cell while driving and not stealing projectors from conference rooms. The phone was like a black hole in the middle of the room, slowing time to a crawl but still Rick was having a good time except that something was starting to bother him. Why the hell is she looking at me like that? Jamie smiled and talked casually but something was going on in her eyes. Her gaze hadn't left him in quite a while, it was like she was trying to read something written on his face. "Now we're going to be hearing from John in logistics about the importance of not mailing personal packages.." went the phone. The mute button glowed softly, the only thing protecting their conversation from the rest of the company.
Jamie went silent and looked away for a moment before she spoke again. "You know what could be fun..." she began and then shifted her eyes again. "Go on" Rick said with interest. "Never mind..it's too bad" she replied with a giggle. "Well now you've got to tell me, that's the rule". She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, a small grin tugging at her mouth. "We can't make any noise on the conference line........we could have some fun with that...." she continued slowly. Rick leaned in "What do you have in mind?". "We could make kind of a game of it.......if I had to stay quiet........" she looked away again but only for a moment ".....while you tickled me a bit".
Rick nearly fell out of his chair and for a moment wondered if he had blacked out and imagined what she just said. But no, she was right there looking at him intently and a little nervously waiting for an answer. After forgetting where his voice was for a few seconds and deciding she was indeed serious he replied "Yeah..that actually does sound like fun". She brightened visibly and he went on trying to sound confident...while not letting on that he knew anything about the subject "So where are you ticklish then?". She leaned back, smiled and bit her lip for a second and said "Everywhere. But especially my feet". Jamie smiled shyly which wasn't typical at all for her. "Ok then..I could do that. I could like hold your ankles or something or you know....if you're going to thrash around a lot maybe I could..tie you to the chair somehow". Her eyes widened at that but only for a moment before they resumed their cool facade. "Hmm" she giggled. "How would you do that?". Rick pretended he was thinking about it for a moment, for tickling was something he knew all too well and he already had bondage ideas for every ocasion. "Be right back" he said and headed down the dark hall to the shipping department. He returned a minute later with a large roll of plastic wrap. Seeing it Jamie caught on immediately and smiled approvingly. "Cool".
5:41 AM
The chairs around the conference table were armless, mesh covered, adjustable types. Rick decided the chair Jamie was in would do nicely and directed her to sit with her arms at her sides. He then slowly wrapped turn after turn after turn of plastic around her upper body and the chair back. His hand grazed her chest atleast once and made him blush slightly. If Jamie noticed she didn't object. One layer of this stuff could be a nuisance when you were trying to unpack something. Ten layers were strong, form fitting, and unbreakble. When he was finished he asked her to try and move and to her surprise she couldn't budge an inch. She and the chair were fused as solidly as a weld. "Second thoughts?" Rick offered. Jamie appeared to think about it for a moment and then with a grin simply said "No". That only left her legs to deal with. For that he jacked the chair up to its full height and tucked her legs under. He then used a length of plastic wrap that he scrunched up into a makeshift cord to bind her calves to the shaft.
Rick stepped back to admire his handiwork. It wasn’t quite perfect, her legs still had some give to work with but it would do. Her suspended feet pointed towards the back of the chair. Is this really happening? he thought. Is my super hot boss actually giving me a free pass to tickle torture her, and at work no less or did I wrap my car around a telephone pole this morning and go to heaven? “Enjoying the view?”. He snapped his attention away from feeling his own pulse to find Jamie looking at him and smiling. “Take your time, I’m not going anywhere” she said and wiggled her feet. Good enough.
5:49 AM
With a tap the mute button on the phone was switched off. From here on out every sound they made would be carried across the country into the ears of all the wrong people. Both of them knew that this was a bad idea but the situation was as alluring as it was terrifying and the opportunity would never come again. He winked and smiled before stepping behind her and she returned the gesture. He knelt down a little unsteadily in front of Jamie’s feet. Taking a breath he grasped her right shoe and then carefully pulled it off revealing her beautiful bare foot. She wiggled her toes playfully at him. The sight of this exposed vulnerability contrasted against covered skin quickened his blood in all the right places. The phone chattered mindlessly but Rick wasn’t listening.
Gently but firmly he cupped her foot in his left hand and with the other he began to explore. Slowly he ran a finger from her heel down to her toes. He couldn’t see but a smile that wasn’t quite involuntary spread on Jamie’s face. Every touch on her bare sole was like a live wire, her muscles tensed, a laugh swirled in her chest, and she strained against the bonds that held her but they had no intention of letting her go. Neither did Rick.
He continued slowly tracing his finger this way and that, circling her heel, playing along her instep, running along the base of her toes, back up her arch and randomly around again. He drew a figure 8 just for comic effect and continued on with feathery touches in random patterns, taking in her reactions and savoring the feeling. Jamie hadn’t made a sound but he was only getting started. “Think you’re in trouble now Jamie” he whispered. “Got yourself in quite a situation….tick-le..tick-le..tick-le” as he began to quickly scratch his finger up and down her arch. The effect was immediate, Jamie cringed and her foot began to struggle in his hand. Her lips closed tightly as she tried to suppress the rising laughter….and she succeeded. She faced the attentive phone with smiling lips and smiling eyes but also self discipline that she wore like armor. She wasn’t going to crack easily.
The glass walls of the corner office offered the sight of nearby buildings standing quietly in the dark. Dozens of dark windows like closed eyes ready to open and observe the spectacle taking shape 20 stories up. The setting was unreal and so was the subject but nonetheless Rick was in the middle of it. He continued scratching away with one finger, moving it around subtly, happily looking for weaknesses to exploit. Jamie was obviously more than a little ticklish, he could sense the torture he was inflicting on her by watching her foot flex and twitch under his touch. Somehow though she still made no sound, he was impressed with that. The teleconference continued dully with a sea of people completely unaware that they were listening to the sound of a beautiful girl getting tickle tortured. Jamie twitched a little more violently as he moved over one spot near her heal so with a devilish smile Rick concentrated his efforts there.
6:01 AM
Jamie had been the subject of Rick’s ticklish experimentation for more than ten minutes now and the remains of her sanity were bouncing off her insides as the tickling sensation coursed through her. One of the few rational thoughts she had left was that Rick was obviously no amateur, he was methodical and relentless. And SADISTIC, he had just switched from using one finger to scribbling all 5 fingers along the undersides of her toes as he held them back! A quick high pitched squeak forced its way out, the first sound she had made so far. Oh my God does he WANT to get us fired? she thought. Part of her screamed to be released from this agony, she was sensitive to even the smallest touch and always had been, she had built up mental layers to protect her secret from strangers and men who would use it against her without understanding. But that’s not Rick. She had thought she sensed it when they met and she was sure of it now, Rick wasn’t a user, he had a good heart and a gentle touch. And that was why as torturous as this was it didn’t feel like harm, it felt like he was cradling her in an envelope of sensation. And the prospect of getting caught by the ever attentive conference phone added a dimension of thrill that was unbelievable. Whatever happened she trusted Rick and so she would go wherever he would take her….
With hundreds listening and all of downtown LA getting ready to wake up and take notice no one would think of the word intimacy. But Rick felt very connected to Jamie right now. She faced away from him but if she had wanted him to stop tickling her she could have made it known by now. She was fighting ofcourse but she was still choosing to stay and endure this predicament. With him. Her hair was matted with sweat by now, she was a mess but to him she had never looked more beautiful. This was so intense and amazing, the charge that he felt as his fingers danced over her ticklish skin might rival what she herself was feeling. But Rick was getting impatient. Tickling Jamie in this situation was bliss, a fantasy come to life but it wasn't enough. He NEEDED to hear her laugh, to break all her defences and know that she was completely his. The consequences of getting caught were nothing but a mosquito buzzing in his ear now. He was far beyond caring and though he couldn't know it..so was she. In a fluid motion he let go of Jamie's right foot, pulled off her other shoe and thrust in both hands tickling her bare soles with reckless abandon.
6:07 AM
Jamie lurched with such force that the office chair tilted 4 inches in the air before slamming back down and a flurry of whimpering squeaks escaped her lips as her eyes went wide and the reading glasses summersaulted across the floor. "Can everyone on the call please mute your set, thanks" came the voice from the phone before continuing on about planned aquisitions. With enormous effort Jamie quieted herself once more but she was far from in control. Her clenched lips were white, her eyes were frantic, and her feet thrashed in every direction trying to escape Rick's onslaught but it was useless. Rick matched every turn and twist with the confidence that comes from experience and this would only end one way.
NO NO NO NO PLEASE PLEASE DON'T RICK DON'T IT'S TOO MUCH IT'S TOO MUCH I CAN'T TAKE IT OH MY GOD OH MY GOD THEY'LL HEAR ME PLEASE I CAN'T HOLD IT IN IT TICKLES TOO MUCH PLEASE STOP STOP STOP STOP!!!!!! Jamie screamed in her mind as she whipped her head back and forth and strained with all her might to escape before it was too late. Whatever reasoning power she had a moment ago was gone, there were no more thoughts there were only desires. And though part of her was screaming to be released, there was another part of her screaming in ecstasy! This was the sexual thrill she had imagined but never experienced! She was exhausted and out of her mind but she wanted to stay right here in this moment forever. And yet even with the ocasional ticklish squeak breaking through she remained silent. She didn't know why she was clenching her mouth shut so tightly, she couldn't think on that level any more, it was only instinct but still she put all her strength forth to hold on.
"Alright let’s stop for a minute, I think Len has a joke of the week for us...what do you get when you cross an engineer with a drafts person? A headache...". Rick was getting cramps but it didn't matter, with a flick of his fingers he could access Jamie's feelings and make her soar with intensity. In truth it was a remarkable ability even if taken for granted by most. He knew that Jamie was weakening, she barely even had the strength to shake her feet from his touch, not that it would work anyway. How she still managed to contain herself he had no idea, she had to be going insane. Nonetheless he wasn’t about to stop, he wiggled his fingers randomly all over her feet as fast as he could, in her arches, along her insteps and toes, sometimes he worked his fingers in multiple places at once, but no matter where he touched she reacted like a woman possessed, the chair rocked back and forth as she shook any part of her body that would move even slightly, anything at all to distract herself from the overpowering urge to laugh. And so it went.
6:35 AM
“Now we’re going to discuss the upcoming closure of the Washington branch and answer any questions that you might have….”. Rick stopped. Jamie continued to thrash for a little longer before her thoughts started to make sense again and she became still. Interestingly the first one was disappointment, but it was followed closely by exhaustion, the strain of being tickled silently for nearly an hour had left her drained and she sank into the restraints that still held her. The horizon had begun to glow in the distance and a light had snapped on in an office down the street but otherwise it was still dark and quiet, at least for the moment. She relaxed her lips and let out a breath Oh God that was...insane…overwhelming…..wonderful………I can’t believe………as tired as she was, the disappointment re-asserted itself. I guess it had to end…..this was a stupid risk anyway……it’s just as well, in a few m--... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Rick smiled broadly as he brushed the toy clown up and down Jamie’s helpless foot. The soft rubber hairs felt along the sensitive skin like a hundred tiny fingers and sent a hurricane of sensation blowing through Jamie's nervous system and bursting out through her mouth in the form of howling laughter. She didn’t have anything left for thrashing about, and in truth she didn’t really want to fight the feeling anymore. She laughed and screamed freely and Rick drank it in with a soaring heart.
“WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS GOING ON WHO THE HELL IS MAKING THAT DAM RACKET!!” boomed the voice of the CEO from the conference phone. Rick continued tickling with his unique instrument, gently holding back Jamie’s toes and brushing rapidly under them as she laughed gleefully to her puzzled audience around the country. HEEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHHEEHEEOHGAWHAHAHAD!!!!
“TRACE THAT GOD DAM NOISE!!!....WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!!!??...MAKE IT WORK LIKE THAT!!!.....WHOEVER THAT IS YOU BETTER STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!” Rick didn’t stop. Since Jamie wasn’t fighting anyway he freed a hand to tickle her left foot while he continued lightly dusting her right with the clown. As he did she screamed before dissolving back into earnest beautiful laughter. After a minute of that Rick decided to shake things up a bit and moved his hand upward through a small gap in the plastic wrap and under her shirt to tickle her side. This brought renewed screams as the protected flesh was exposed and explored by poking, scribbling fingers while the grinning clown continued to visit the smooth white skin of her hyper ticklish foot. What do you know, he DOES remind me of me Rick thought smilingly.
6:40 AM
He knew that Jamie was truly exhausted and so five minutes after her laughter filled hallways around the country he stopped tickling her for real this time. “I’VE NEVER BEEN SO DAM INSULTED!!! WHEN I FIND OUT WHO’S DOING THIS…” The voice of the CEO faded to nothing as Rick muted the phone once more and turned down the volume. He circled around to face her as she caught her breath and nursed the last spark of energy she had left. She raised her head and he saw that she was smiling, her eyes sparkling beautifully. He ran his hands over her shoulders and kissed her long and deeply.
Rick unwound the plastic bonds and shoved them down into the trash can. Then he picked up Jamie and carried her to a couch in the break room to rest. She was asleep before he set her down.
7:31 AM
By 7 or so most of the lights in nearby buildings had snapped on automatically as did the lights in their building. The sun was rising strongly in the sky and bathing the morning chaos that was common for LA. Rick watched the scene from Jamie’s office, appreciating the view with fresh eyes. A few minutes ago he heard Jamie wake up on her own and enter the washroom. Presently she stepped into her office once again, smiling at seeing him. True to form she once more looked like she’d been handcrafted in Paris, he really had to figure out how she did that. She sat down to reclaim her shoes, giggling as she put them back on her feet, and stood up.
“Now don’t think you get to do that every morning!” she said coyly. “Dam I should have asked for a raise” he replied shaking his head. “YEAH” she shot back sarcastically “It would take more than that”. She winked.
“I’ll keep that in mind”.
The End
I've started working on another story.
