Co-Workers Ch. 1
#1 of Co-Workers
Gabrina sighed, looking at the large cardboard box that sat atop her desk. She could feel her ears flattening and tears welling up in her eyes as her gaze fell across all the mementos of her twenty-nine years of employment with Northbridge Services. Sales commendations, award plaques, old faded photographs with bosses who had long since retired or died... even the small bowling trophy she'd won on the company team back in 1995. Until this morning, all those pieces of her history had been proudly displayed throughout her office. Her thin, lightly-furred hand once more picked up the single page that had been waiting for her in her inbox when she arrived.
_"Ms. Falchayn,
You are hereby notified that your position has been eliminated as of today, 19 Aug. 2006, as a condition of the merger between Northbridge Services and Angeski Sales Inc. As of the printing of this notice, your employment with Northbridge Services is terminated. You are given until the end of the normally-scheduled workday to remove all personal effects and belongings from your office and vacate the premises.
-Stanwell Forche, Transition Services Team"_
"I won't cry. I won't let them make me cry." Her softly-spoken words rang hollow in her own ears. She'd already cried twice today, and would likely do so again once she got home. The wolf rested her hands against her desk for a moment, then took her last belonging off of its scuffed wooden surface- her nameplate, the very same one she'd been given when she'd first taken the sales position in 1980 after just three years in the mailroom. The bubbly, optimistic 24-year-old she'd been then seemed a world away from the tired-looking 50-year-old lupenoid whose reflection stared back at her from the shiny finish of her nameplate. "You've gotten old, girl," she told her image, whose gray-streaked dark muzzle moved to copy her words. "Old and useless and disposable."
Then there was a knock at her door, and she closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. "Come in," she called, somehow managing to keep her voice from breaking.
Brown hair and concerned blue eyes peeked in through her door. "I loaded the rest of your things into your car, Gabie," Bryan's voice came in. "Are you alright?"
Despite her sadness, she smiled. "As well as can be expected, Bryan. Come on in. I'd like it if you shared my last moments here in this old dump."
The young human walked into the room, standing next to her near the desk. He was visibly upset, his hands clenched at his sides. "I'm sorry, Gabie," he said. "I tried my best. I told them how you kept the entire department together during the restructuring, how you took the computer classes to keep up when the office modernized. I tried to make them see what an asset you were with your experience and your open-mindedness. But the fu...." He visibly bit back a profanity. "But the bean-counters in charge of the merger just want 'young blood'."
"I know, Bryan." She gave him a sad smile, putting one hand on his shoulder. Despite wanting to put on a brave face for the young man, she couldn't keep her ears and tail from flagging. "And I really appreciate you going to bat for me. You could've gotten yourself fired too, though- this 'transition team' is cutting through our department with machetes."
"To be honest, Gabie, I'm already posting my resumé on all the relevant job sites. I think you should too. I can recommend some good sites to try."
She stared at him in shock. "Bryan! How could you think about leaving? You've already made a name for yourself here! The computers around here shake in fear whenever you walk by- I swear they actually perform better when you're here! You could almost write your own check around here, especially with how 'future-conscious' these people are."
"Maybe that would've appealed to me when I first started out here, Gabie. But I like to think that I learned a lot about how to appreciate people from you. This isn't Northbridge Services anymore... it's some monster now, cut in half and stitched to something alien that I don't want to be a part of. The majority of this department feels the same way I do, and I've already helped half a dozen of them prepare their resumés. Even Petar Eschkaray."
Gabrina gasped. "That old lizard?! He's practically a fixture- I'd think you'd have to unscrew his tail from something to get him to leave! I was shocked enough to hear he'd been spared the axe... but he's leaving?"
"Him, a good number from Accounting, nearly a third of Resources, plenty from the ad design crew... this merger alienated a lot of people, especially with the rough treatment you got."
The wolf sighed. "I don't like being a cause... especially with people wanting to end their careers over it."
"A lot of people consider you the heart of this entire section of the company, Gabie." He patted her shoulder. "If these new supervisors could do that to you... then they're not the kind of people I want to work for."
She couldn't speak for a moment, so overwhelmed was she by Bryan's words. Apparently he understood; he took her box in his arms. "I'll put this in your car for you," he said quietly. "I'll wait there for you until you're ready to leave, alright?"
She nodded slowly, not trusting her voice to speech. He smiled. "And don't let on that I told you, but there's a collection going to throw you a party. I told them they should hold off for a bit until all this sinks in for you. I imagine you'd rather not have us do anything like that for you - but I don't have the heart to discourage them." He gave her a gentle wink as he eased his way out the door, with the last of her precious possessions in his careful grip.
Once more her former office was silent, except for the familiar whirring of the air vent. Gabrina ran her fingers through her headfur and let out a deep sigh. Bryan's gentle support was more or less the only thing keeping her together; there was no way she could let herself break down in his presence. And to think I thought he was a jerk when I first met him, she thought wryly.
She took one more moment to absorb all the atmosphere left in her now-bare office, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then headed for the door. This place no longer had anything to do with her.
True to his word, Bryan was at her car, leaning against the side. He straightened up as he saw her approach. "Everything's loaded in," he told her. "So... how are you feeling, Gabie?"
"Upset. Angry. A bit frightened. I don't know what this will do to my retirement benefits- and you know the beanheads are just slavering at the thought of cutting them as much as they can. And I'm too old to get another job."
"Bah, I don't believe that for a moment. Anyone would hire a 42-year-old woman with your skills."
Despite herself, she smiled. "Dammit, Bryan, you know I'm fifty, I've told you my age."
"And I still don't believe you." He winked. "Listen, Gabie. Go home. Get a good cry going. Throw things if you need to. Go hit that punching bag of yours for a while. Let it out of your system. Then get a good night's sleep and call me here tomorrow. By then we'll have that 'secret' party of yours planned out."
She managed a laugh. "Alright. Thank you, Bryan. You've done a lot for this old wolf today, and I don't know if I could ever repay you."
"I'm just repaying all the things you did for me in the time we've worked together. Still have a way to go yet, I figure." He took her hand in both of his. "This is hardly the end of anything, Gabie. You told me once that I should keep my eyes open and my ears forward, no matter what. I'm still working on that second part, but now I've got to give you the same advice. Keep those ears up for this hairless ape, hm?"
Another laugh escaped her muzzle, and she did her best to raise her ears. "I'll try."
--
Sunlight streamed through the blinds over her window, finally bringing her awake. She growled irritably and rolled over, squinting at her alarm clock- which read 10:42. She gasped and sat bolt upright in her bed. "Hell! The time! I'm late for... oh." Realization struck her as she remembered she no longer had a job to be late for, and she'd forgotten that she had turned off her alarm for the first time since she'd bought the clock. With a soft, depressed sigh she brushed aside her blanket and dragged her nude body out of bed.
She stopped by the mirror mounted on her closet door as she padded by it, taking a moment to appraise herself. Sure, she was graying around the edges, her breasts had a bit of sag to them, and she had just a bit of a paunch belly- but she was still faring better than plenty of other women ten years younger than her. If Jamie Lee Curtis can still be a sexpot, then I can at least be nice to look at, she told herself, swishing her tail playfully before grabbing a robe from a hook on the bedroom door.
The newspaper was at her front door, and the coffee maker had faithfully kept her coffee warm as she had slept late. The merger had made page 9 of the financial section, but of course there was no mention of the toll on the workers- only talk of an IPO and possible initial stock prices. She sipped her coffee and nibbled at a microwave danish as she read the rest of the paper. I think I'm forgetting something, she realized. What was it... oh, wait! Bryan wanted me to call. Guess it's late enough for that.
She picked up her cordless phone from its base and hit the speed-dial for the office. A few button presses through the voice menu, and then the phone rang. An upset-sounding voice answered the phone, and it took Gabrina a moment to recognize it as Bryan's. "I.T. department," he muttered.
"Um... Bryan? It's Gabrina."
"Gabie! God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to growl at you like that." She heard him sigh. "Today's not a good day, I'm sorry to say. We have some high-ranking jerks from the transition team running around 'assessing' the place. Apparently we've been doing things completely wrong all these years!" He laughed bitterly. "Hell, it's a wonder we didn't run this place into the ground."
"Gah, I'm sorry, Bryan. I guess I called at an inopportune time, then. Is it really that bad in your department? I feel like I should be there."
"Gabie, I wish you were, you'd be a real bright spot in the hellhole this place is today." He sighed again. "Um... I know it might be a little forward of me, but could I get your home number and call you back when things are a skosh less stupid here?"
"Forward? Oh come now, Bryan, that's hardly what I'd call 'forward'." She recited her number to him. "Call me whenever you like, but tell my answering machine who you are. Screening calls is an old habit, what can I say."
"Alright. Thanks, Gabie. If I don't throw one of these guys out a window first, I'll talk to you later."
Gabrina set the phone back down and let out a soft sigh. "Why did the board have to approve the merger?" she wondered aloud. "Oh, that's right... the payoffs. Take the money and run, boys and girls, and watch the rest of us drown in the sorrow you leave behind."
She finished her coffee, did the dishes and then launched herself into her typical weekend routine to help keep her mind off of what was happening at the company. Stretching exercises, then her morning jog and workout, taking a warm shower, tending to her garden, and checking Email and her few favorite sites on her computer... all this with her phone within reach, just in case Bryan called, even though she didn't expect him to call until at least early in the afternoon.
It was much later, in fact- 6:30 PM. Gabrina was watching the evening news over a cup of tea when an unfamiliar number popped up on her phone's caller-ID, but the voice that came through her answering machine was familiar. "Gabie? Hey, it's me, Bryan. Sorry to call so late-"
She grabbed the phone and hit the answer button. "Bryan! I was getting a little worried. What happened?"
"More bullsh- err. More crap than I really care to relate. I ended up leaving late. I don't want to dump it on you... let's just say that all our feelings about the new management being less than pleasant proved true. But in between all that, we did talk about putting a party together for you. Not many details coming out yet, but I did happen to mention that you have a weakness for Italian cuisine."
Her tail wagged. "Bryan! Gads! I don't even remember telling you that. I have to watch what I say around you!"
She could almost hear him grin. "Don't you dare. I'll do my best to keep you updated, but with things going how they are at work I'm not sure we'll have time to breathe, let alone plan." He paused, and her sharp hearing could just barely pick up a sigh. "So how are you doing on your first day of freedom?" he asked.
"I'm bored to tears, Bryan. I'm used to being busy! Suddenly going from harried to idle is leaving me feeling lost. I can't do this 'retiree' thing."
"I'm really sorry to hear that, Gabie. You know...." he paused a moment. "If you'd like, we could always go do something on a weekend."
"Hm?" She couldn't help but grin. "Bryan... are you asking this old wolf out on a date?"
He laughed good-naturedly at that. "Why not? I'm ashamed that I never thought to before now... I've known you for five years and yet we've only ever seen each other at work."
She chuckled. "When we first met, we didn't have anything resembling common interests. Then it got to be an issue of time. I guess that's not a concern for me now, though! So yes, if you have the time this weekend, I'd love to do something with you. What did you have in mind?"
"Well, errr... I don't know, actually. What sort of things do you do on weekends?"
"Boring old-lady things, Bryan. Trust me. I'd rather see what YOU do to have fun."
"Drink a bit with friends and play games, mostly. The local entertainment plaza is my 'hangout', I guess you'd call it. I don't want you to be completely bored, though, so we could have dinner and watch a movie beforehand."
A giggle escaped her muzzle. "Bored? I think that's a far sight from a night in the living room reading old novels by candlelight."
"Sounds romantic."
"Only when you've got company, believe me." She chuckled. "I'll let you pick the movie, Bryan. Choose something big and flashy and totally devoid of artistic merit. Do you want to meet somewhere, or should one of us pick the other up?"
"I still believe in chivalry, so I'll come pick you up. You'll have to tell me where you live, though."
"1821 Fig Tree Road, out in the suburbs. Near where they built the new strip mall with the adult video store that got all the protests."
"Oh, there? You're only about ten minutes from me. That's a pretty nice area, too. Alright, then... what do you say I pick you up Friday night at about seven?"
"If this old lady isn't asleep by then." She laughed; he chuckled softly. "I'm looking forward to this. What should I wear?"
"Go casual. My friends are hardly the formal type after work, I promise you that. I'm sure you'll like them if you don't mind a bunch of tech-talk."
"It'll beat another CSI rerun. Don't be late... remember, I can track you by scent." She laughed. "And in the meantime, no more stressing at work! Give me a call tomorrow and tell me how things are going. I feel bad enough not being there; being out of the loop completely is driving me insane."
"Alright, alright," he laughed quietly. "I promise. See you on Saturday."
"See you then." She punched the off button and replaced the phone, then couldn't help but stand up and let out a little yelp. She hadn't been looking forward to spending the entire weekend sitting at home, but she'd come up empty on things to do other than watching pay-per-view movies or running out to the Boulevard of the Arts to catch some third-run play. Spending some time out with an intelligent young man and his friends was a much better alternative.
--
"How many explosions was that again?" Gabrina rubbed her ears gingerly. "I lost track after they blew up the Ferrari."
"Shame they had to do that to such a nice car." Bryan grinned. "But yeah, even my ears were aching. THX audio has that effect... I like to think it means 'total headache extreme'." He looked her over a moment, causing her to raise her ears in curiosity. "What?" she asked. "Did I get butter on my jeans?"
"Hm? Oh, no, not at all. I'm just still not used to seeing you in casual clothes."
"I was thinking the same about you." She smiled. "Not that you were the usual tie-and-pocket-protector sort like most of the I.T. department, but I couldn't have imagined you in jeans and a T-shirt before tonight."
He grinned. "You pull it off better, though," he told her. "You really do look good."
"Flatterer." She could feel her ears burn as she blushed. "You look good as well, Bryan." She lightly squeezed his shoulder. "And it was a good idea to have dinner before seeing the movie. It can't have been THAT long since I've been to a theater- but they wanted four dollars for a box of candy! I had half a mind to have them arrested for highway robbery."
The young human laughed. "Honestly! I was expecting to see loan applications next to the napkins."
She broke out into giggles, holding her sides. "Ahh! Bryan, I'm too old to laugh so hard."
"Pssh." He grinned at her. "Ah, here we go," he said, turning her towards the entrance to the entertainment plaza. Her hearing was overwhelmed by the sounds of dozens of video games, plasma televisions playing various sporting events, and people chatting and yelling. She whistled softly. "It looks packed in there," she said.
"It gets a little chaotic on weekends, yeah," Bryan responded. "It's great for unwinding, though, and I think you deserve that after all that's gone on. After you, dear lady." He smiled and motioned for her to enter.
"Why thank you, good sir!" She entered the plaza, and he followed closely, gently placing his hand on her elbow to guide her. He brought her to a long bar, above which were set four wide-screen plasma TVs, each playing a different football game; Bryan brought her up to three other young men- another human, a leopard gecko, and a snow leopard. All of them turned as he approached. "Ah, here's Bryan with his lady friend!" the gecko said, earning chuckles from the other two.
Bryan grinned. "Gabie, this is Joe, Machran, and Serchi. Guys, this is Gabrina."
She smiled at them as each of them greeted her in turn. "Bryan told us you and he used to work together," Machran said.
"We did, yes. Then the merger hit." She took a seat at the bar next to the group, and Bryan sat at her other side. The bartender asked for their orders; Gabrela ordered a light malt brew, and Bryan had a domestic beer. The group chatted for a while, nursing their drinks and pausing to watch the game being shown above them; the three men were witty and friendly, trading playful jabs with Bryan and asking Gabrela polite questions. As she finished her drink, Bryan patted her shoulder. "Care to join us boys in a race?" he asked her.
She blinked. "A race?"
"Over on that game there." He pointed to a line of booths along the wall, each with a seat in front of it. She realized that it was some sort of car-racing game meant for multiple players. "We always run a couple races each time we come out here. Want to give it a go with us?"
She smiled. "I'd be delighted."
The machines looked a bit intimidating to her until she realized that they were simply set up like the driver's seat of a common stock car. Serchi obtained some tokens and shared them with the others, and Gabrela took a seat at the fifth car down, quickly familiarizing herself with the game. She adjusted the seat and steering wheel to her level of comfort and dropped the tokens into the waiting slot.
The moving seat and feeling of resistance from the wheel took her by surprise at first, but she quickly became comfortable with it, running the entire race without a crash. She still came in last, but with a respectable performance; Bryan and his friends seemed amazed. "Wow," Joe said. "You're sure you haven't played this game before, Gabie?"
"I'm sure. But I suppose I should have told you all about the time I drove a leg in a World Rally Championship race in Mexico." She grinned as their jaws dropped. "It was just one stage, though! I'd gone to watch a friend race, and he came down with a bad case of stomach flu- without a backup driver. So I filled in. Not to brag, but I did get him six seconds closer to the leader." She chuckled, flicking her ears back in slight embarrassment. "But this was back in 1983, of course. I was much younger then."
"In 1983 I was five!" Serchi exclaimed. "The only thing I was driving around was my Big Wheels!"
They all laughed at that as they returned to the bar for another round of drinks. They chatted more, the varied topics a bit more technical than Gabrela could follow, though she felt comfortable enough to ask the occasional question. It seemed like no time at all before Gabrela glanced down at her watch and saw that it was almost two in the morning. "Oh my!" she exclaimed. "Look at the time! And I don't even feel all that tired."
"Man, it HAS gotten late," Joe commented. "Time just flew by there. Something to be said about introducing new blood into our get-togethers, I think."
Serchi and Machran chimed in with agreement, and Bryan smiled and nodded. Gabrina blushed profusely. "You're all too kind," she said. "It was nice to meet you three. Maybe I could join this group more often?"
The enthusiasm of their agreement made her blush even more. "Bryan, how could you hide this sweet lady from us?!" Machran exclaimed. "Keeping her all to yourself like that- for shame, man!"
Bryan gave the gecko a playful swat on the shoulder. "I'm already kicking myself for not doing this a long time ago," he replied, before turning to the wolf. "But I'd most definitely be glad to have you come here with us whenever you like, Gabie."
She smiled demurely. "I'd like that as well."
--
She hugged Bryan tightly in front of her door, giving him a soft peck on the cheek. "This was probably the most fun I've had in one night in a long time," she told him. "Thank you so much."
"I should be thanking you." He kissed her cheek in return. "I have no idea why I waited so long to get to know you better. I missed out on quite a bit."
"I was thinking the same thing about you." She squeezed his hands. "Good night, Bryan. Be careful on the roads, alright?"
"Absolutely. Sleep well, Gabie."
She watched as he drove off, standing in her doorway until the taillights of his car vanished around a corner. Then she closed her door and leaned against it, panting slightly. She was still a tiny bit buzzed from the drinks, not to mention tired... but she also felt exhilarated. It's been much too long since I actually went out and enjoyed myself with others! she chided herself. She went into her bedroom, removing her clothes and releasing her headfur from its braids, glancing into her mirror and realizing that her tail was wagging back and forth slightly without her having noticed it. She gazed at herself for a moment. You need to liven up, old girl, she told herself. Bryan's right. It's time to keep your eyes open and your ears forward.
She slid into bed, pulling the covers over herself and resting her head against her pillows. Yet despite her tiredness, sleep would not come. After twenty minutes of tossing and turning, she realized she was just still too energized from her night out to rest. She sighed, then smiled to herself. Well... it's been a while since I've been in the mood, but I know it'll definitely tire me out....
She stretched out and slid the covers down to her knees, then gently cupped her breasts in her hands and began to squeeze them, caressing her already-stiff nipples with her palms and pinching them lightly. She let her right hand slide down her stomach, her clawtips stroking through her bodyfur, causing her to shiver. Her fingers caressed her thick, closely-trimmed pubic fur, then slid lower, and she let out a soft moan as they brushed against the lips of her vagina. She could already detect the scent of her own arousal, not nearly as familiar as she would like. "Dammit, old girl, you need to spread these legs of yours more often before the dust builds up," she murmured to herself.
Her scent became much stronger as she spread her lower lips open, slipping one finger between them and caressing their inner edges for a few moments before sliding it into her, rubbing it against her already-wet inner flesh in slow circles. Her back arched off of the mattress and a moan escaped her muzzle, only becoming louder as she slid a second finger into herself to join the first. Her thumb pressed gently against her clitoris, rubbing it in time with the slow thrusting of her fingers, which were now sopping wet with her juices and sliding deeper and deeper into her with each movement.
It took her almost ten minutes to bring herself to orgasm through rubbing her fingers against the deepest folds of her passage and stroking the sensitive nub of her clit. She panted quietly as she came down from the waves of pleasure, her tail's tip lashing from side to side and her tongue lolling from the side of her muzzle. She brought her hand to her snout and deeply inhaled the scent of her sex, sighing softly in contentment and letting her head rest on her pillow once more.
It didn't take her long to fall into a deep sleep after that.