Team Building

by Robin Roseau

  “I’ll let you have me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Do this for me, and I’ll let myself be Altered to be yours for a night.”

  “Oh, now that’s an interesting offer,” said the left dragon. “I’m torn between watching what that one decides and eating them both down right now.”

  “I’d say we’re not dilly dallying anymore,” I said. “Give us a minute. Back off.”

  They didn’t back off, but they settled down, right at our feet. They were huge, but I turned to Gail. “Please go.”

  “Selena,” she whispered. Then she grinned. “Really?” She eyed the dragons. “Wait! You’ll be dead and never pay up.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “Don’t let that stop you,” said the left dragon. “Maybe she’ll get away when we fight over her.”

  “Why is this doing a favor for you?” Gail said. “It should be me doing a favor for you.”

  “How about we discuss that later. I can’t make it. You can. Please go.”

  She paused then rotated, tossing a leg over both of mine. “I’m about to engage in sexual harassment of a coworker. Are you going to report me?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” She bent her head and kissed me. I was filled with absolute pleasure as she kissed me. And then she sat back. “Wow. Just. Wow.”

  “They’re playing with our minds,” I said. “Go now.”

  She stood up then pulled me to my feet. I cupped my hands, and then I helped her climb up me. At the top of the wall, she turned and looked down at me. “Why are you doing this, Selena?”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do,” I said. “I don’t want you to watch.” I turned to the dragons. “Please don’t eat me until she’s not watching.”

  “We like to play with our food first, anyway,” said the right dragon.

  “We can catch you up there,” said the left one to Gail. “Go, or we’ll take her apart slowly while you watch.”

  “Go, Gail,” I said as the two dragons moved closer and closer.

  “You better not die,” she said. “I want that evening.” Then she disappeared, and I heard her drop to the ground.

  The left dragon lifted her head and peered over the wall. “She’s running.”

  I climbed to my feet, using the wall as a support. By the time I was steady, both dragons were watching me. I took two steps forward, bumping into the nose of the one on the right.

  The dragon opened its mouth and roared into my face. I felt a rush of utter fear, and then I felt my legs crumble as I fainted.

  I don’t remember being eaten.

  Chapter Four

  Okay, clearly, they didn’t eat me. I don’t know what they did, but I woke up. I was in my hotel room bed wearing a pair of my pajamas, and I didn’t feel like I’d gone to bed sweaty and dirty, or worse, covered with dragon slime.

  I lay on my side, staring straight ahead for a while. The clock read 6:30.

  I wanted to just crawl under the covers and never come out. Instead, I sat up and turned on the bedside light. There was a note waiting for me. “Breakfast from 7:00 to 8:30. The first event is at 9:00. Casual attire is fine.”

  I got up and headed for the shower.

  * * * *

  The door wouldn’t open, but there was another note that said, “You must don the headset.”

  I remembered seeing it, sitting on the desk, so I returned to it and pulled it into place.

  I found the dining room. There were two tables of my coworkers, but I collected a light breakfast and sat down at an empty table. I felt a little dead inside, and I didn’t want to deal with them.

  And so I sat alone for about three minutes until a tray appeared on the table beside me, and Gail sat down. “Hey,” she said, her tone subdued.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “They didn’t eat you. What happened?”

  “She roared, and I passed out,” I said. “I don’t know what happened after that. I woke this morning in my room.”

  “It’s not fair,” she said.

  “That I didn’t get eaten?”

  “No. I didn’t get any points. But you lost two more.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “It’s not fine,” she said. “You and I did more for our team than anyone else. Hell, we did more than everyone else combined. I got nothing for it, and you got less than that.”

  “That’s not true,” I said. I turned to fully face her. “I got an amazing kiss.”

  She froze and then she began to smile. “The kiss wasn’t bad.”

  “Did you know you were gay?”

  “No. You?”

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “Are you gay now?”

  “Hell if I know. I wasn’t when I got here.” She paused. “Fuck. That’s some serious mind fuckery.”

  “Should I be offended?”

  “No,” she replied. “Selena, I don’t know what’s real.”

  “Neither do I,” I said. “Don’t worry about it, okay. If you weren’t gay when you got here, I bet you aren’t by the time you leave, either. It’s fine.”

  “So you’re backing out of our agreement?”

  “No,” I said. “But I’m not holding you to anything because they’re messing with us.”

  She paused then nodded. “What if I still want it, after?”

  “Then I’ll do it,” I said. “I keep my promises.”

  “Is that the only reason you’ll do it? Because you promised?”

  “No. I think it would be really hot, if you got into it.”

  “You wouldn’t want me to belong to you?”

  “You know, that might be fun, but I don’t know.”

  “What’s not to know?”

  “How about this? Let’s talk about this after. Because right now I can’t really think of that. I can think of it one way, but not the other.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I think that’s part of their game.” I paused. “I bet they do more messing with us.”

  “Probably,” she said. “I wish you’d stop sacrificing yourself. You heard Tara. She’s going to fire people.”

  “If she fires me, then she fires me,” I said. “I’m going to do what I think are the right choices.”

  She nodded. “I bet they fuck with you for it.”

  “Probably.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  “If they gave me to you, I would be.”

  “I bet they give you to Ida again, or something.”

  I didn’t respond to that, but I turned back and focused on my breakfast for a minute. “It was a really good kiss, Gail.”

  “Yeah,” she said.

  * * * *

  We gathered in Conference Room Yellow this time. There were tables set up with chess boards on them, with chairs. Beside each table were more chairs, not quite loungers, but similar, looking far more comfortable. However, rather than directing us to a seat, we gathered in a group first. “Who plays chess?” Joy asked us.

  Five of us lifted hands. I knew how to play, but by that I meant I knew the rules, and not much more than that.

  “It starts to get serious now,” Evie said. “There are increasing consequences for poor performance. We’re playing in teams of four. Two of you will be playing chess. The other two will be whispering into the ear of the opponent. There are points for winning your chess game, and there are consequences if you become distracted, or if you fail to distract your opponent, based on the role you assume. Your visor will indicate your position. Enjoy!”

  My visor assigned me to the purple board, and I walked around until I found the right board. The visor told me I was to play against Harriet from sales.

  It was Nan Wu, another developer, who would be whispering into my ear, and Marilou to whisper to Harriet. Marilou and I turned to each other, and she said, “I don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to do.”

  “Don’t look at me,” I said. “I wouldn’t, either.”

  We took our sea
ts. I reached across the board and offered my hand to Harriet. “Do you play?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Do you?”

  “I know the rules,” I said. “I know what fool’s mate is. You won’t catch me that easily, but if you actually play, I’m not going to be a challenge.”

  “We’ll have an easy game,” she said. “It’s just a game.”

  “Right,” I agreed. Just a game. With consequences. And I had a negative score from last night. “Just a friendly game.”

  “You’re white,” she said. “Your move.” She clicked a button on a double clock beside the board.

  “What’s that?”

  “The clock,” she said. “Don’t run out of time. You depress your button to start my timer, once you’ve moved.”

  “Oh.” I moved a pawn then pressed my button. My clock on my side stopped ticking and hers began. She moved immediately, and it was my turn again.

  “Hello, Selena,” Nan said into my ears.

  I ignored her and moved. Nan tried twice more to get my attention. I noticed she had a very, very nice voice, but I’d never paid attention to it before. But then she said, “I asked for this role.”

  I turned to her. “What?”

  Neither Harriet nor Marilou paid attention to me. I wondered if they could hear me. Nan smiled. “They told us last night what the game this morning would be. You weren’t there. Something about a dragon. They told us rules they didn’t tell you this morning.”

  “Right,” I said. I turned back to the board. It was my move. I studied the board and took my move.

  Harriet moved immediately, but Nan said, “If Harriet beats you, you belong to her.” I turned back to look at Nan. “But if I distract you enough you run out of time, you belong to me.”

  “Right,” I said. “The game isn’t going to last that long.” I took my move.

  “I made an arrangement with Harriet,” Nan said. “She’s going to take her time with you. Look how fast she’s moving. You’re taking two or three times as long. She’s going to let the game drag out.”

  I moved then looked at Nan. “Whatever.”

  Harriet took a pawn. I stared at the board for a while, but Nan was already getting to me. I shifted my gaze. “I think you’re lying.”

  “Seven people didn’t finish,” she said. “We only lost one, and then the rest of us crossed the finish line together. We were given choices. I picked you. Nellie picked Harmony.”

  I looked around. Harmony was in one of the comfortable chairs, and Nellie was playing chess. I turned back to Nan, smiling.

  “Nellie doesn’t think Harmony can distract her. She was on her chess team in high school, and she’s going to ignore Harmony and beat Nina. She then gets to pick, but she’ll pick Harmony. Or maybe not. Nina wouldn’t be bad.”

  I turned back to the board and moved. After that, I ignored Nan while she told me how much she was going to enjoy watching me as I knelt to her.

  I paid attention to the game. For someone who knew how to play, I thought Harriet was playing overly cautiously. Oh, she was winning, slowly taking pieces from me, sometimes in uneven trades, sometimes in a series of exchanges, and several times without any trade at all.

  But she wasn’t going for a checkmate. She wasn’t attacking my king’s position. Instead, she was eliminating my pieces.

  I lost my queen, and all I got for it was her second knight, a deeply lopsided trade, and then she took two pawns in her next two moves.

  I stared at the board then at the clock. I had about seven minutes left. Harriet had twice that. She was barely using any for each move.

  And then Nan began whispering. “I know you’re gay, and I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

  I turned to her. “I do not!”

  She smiled. “I have a mirror. Hot Asian chick. Tell me I’m not.”

  “I don’t look at you like that,” I said hotly.

  “I’ve been trying hard enough,” she said. “Sitting close to you at work. I let you peek down my blouse.”

  “I don’t peek down your blouse,” I whispered. But then I had images of doing just that. “Stop that.”

  “Stop what?”

  “They’re playing games with me,” I replied. I made a frantic play, clicking the clock.

  Nan began whispering to me how hot she was, how hot it would be if I belonged to her. I began to squirm, and she was right. Belonging to her would be hot; it would be really, really hot. “I’d be good to you,” she said. “You’re going to lose either way, Selena. You can belong to grumpy old Harriet, or you can belong to the hot Asian chick.”

  I began zoning out, listening to her whispering voice, my play growing slower and slower.

  Until I was lost to her words, and to whatever it was the headset was doing to me.

  * * * *

  I came to awareness. I was kneeling to Nan, and I was entirely naked except for a collar around my neck. Nan held the leash, and she used it to lift my chin until I was looking up at her. “You are mine.”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  She tugged on the leash. “Stand. Come with me.”

  She led me through the facility. I don’t think I was the only one, but I had no eyes for anything but Nan, my hot Asian owner.

  We came to a room. Nan led me in. There was a massage table. She led me to it then unhooked the leash from the collar. “I had to pay for help distracting you. I can’t do all the things I’d love to do, but you were going to win, so they helped me.” She stepped closer, much closer. “You can’t lie to me right now. Have you never noticed me at work?”

  “I noticed,” I whispered.

  “You never acted on it.”

  “Neither did you.”

  “True,” she admitted. “They’re really fucking with you.”

  I dropped my gaze, which didn’t really bother me, as I could see the swell of her exquisite chest. It wasn’t a bad view; it wasn’t a bad view at all.

  “Undress me,” she said. “Slowly.” I lifted my hands and began on the buttons. As I worked, she continued. “I think they’re fucking with all of us. I never would have been brave enough to do this. But they’re fucking with you more than me.”

  She let me undress her, and I felt like I was in heaven. She was absolutely stunning. I’d never fantasized about any of my coworkers before, but if I had fantasized about her, my fantasies wouldn’t have been as good as the reality.

  Then she turned away and climbed onto the massage table. “I want a massage,” she said. “If you can make me entirely relaxed, I’ll reward you before I have to let you go.”

  There was oil. There were candles. I lit the candles, and then I warmed the oil in my hands and went to work. “I don’t want you to let me go,” I whispered.

  “They’re really, really fucking with you,” she replied.

  “You’re right, Ms. Wu,” I said. “You’re a hot Asian chick.”

  She gave a chuckle. “I’m pretty sure that’s more fuckery, because I’m not really that hot.”

  I leaned over and whispered into her ear. “You are to me.”

  “You may offer tiny kisses, in moderation,” she said. “But this is a massage, not a seduction.”

  And so I massaged, but from time to time, I gave her little kisses, tiny kisses as she allowed.

  I skipped over one area, but she said, “Do my bottom, too, and take your time.”

  “Yes, Ms. Wu.”

  “I liked what you said yesterday. Call me Lady Wu.”

  “Of course, Lady Wu.”

  “No one has ever called me that before,” she whispered. “Oh, that feels very nice, Selina.”

  “I’m glad, Lady Wu.”

  I treated her entire body, and every time she expressed pleasure, every time she moaned, every time she complimented me or simply said, “Oh, yes, there, right there,” I was filled with pleasure. And so, I massaged her entire body, shoulders to feet. I spent time on her feet, then moved back up. I worked on her scalp for a while. She wasn’t as effusiv
e, but she said, “That was really nice. A little more, Selena, lower.”

  I moved back to her back, and I gave her more little kisses. She giggled when I kissed her tailbone and even more when I kissed each cheek. “You’re beautiful to me,” I whispered.

  “We’re almost out of time,” she whispered back. “I just want you to touch me now, still hands.”

  I froze, my hands on the small of her back. We stayed like that for a minute until she said, “Help me sit up.”

  That just took a moment, and then, with her seated on the table, and me standing in front of her, we looked at each other. She smiled. “Do you really think I’m hot?” I nodded slowly. “Did you before? The truth.”

  “I thought you were cute,” I said. “But I don’t look at coworkers that way.”

  “You’re looking at me right now, and I’m not wearing a stitch.” Her fingers came up and brushed the collar I wore. I smiled. Then she whispered. “This isn’t either of us. You were wonderful.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lady Wu.”

  “Kneel,” she said. “You may kiss my feet for a minute.” She held my hands as I knelt, and then she offered one perfect foot.

  And I was in heaven, kissing it, and then I sucked on one toe and began to shudder with the pleasure.

  And I thought she was, as well.

  I treated both feet the same, and then she said, “Come up here and kiss me.”

  I obeyed immediately. She wrapped around me, arms and legs both, and we kissed passionately. And while we did, her hands found the collar, and she played with it. I was filled with desire.

  She wasn’t playing with it. She was taking it off, and as soon as it fell from my neck, I froze.

  She did, too, but before I could pull away, she wrapped her arms tightly around me. “Please hold me, Selena.”

  I wrapped around her carefully. “I-” I whispered. “What happened?”

  “What do you remember?”

  “We were kissing.”

  “Taking the collar off freed you,” she said.

  “Oh. Put it back on.”

  “I can’t.” But she tightened. “Please don’t be mad, Selena.”

  “I’m not mad,” I whispered.

  “That was an amazing massage.”

  “I’m glad. Lady Wu. Um.”