Then there was the changes she felt over her body. She cupped one of her breasts and felt the great weight in her fingers. She was never too small to think about enlarging them, but this was a far greater size than she'd been only a week before. Perhaps that strange scent he administered to her to cloud her mind also effected her body. She wasn't sure she wanted to find a cure for that, though. So far they hadn't really caused her any problems.
Sam shut off her alarm right before it usually went off and dragged herself out of bed for a nice, hot shower. She had a little trouble getting dressed, though.
When she tried to fit her skirt of her panties, it wouldn't zip up all the way. She finally had to give up and toss aside the underwear. Likewise with the bra and shirt, but she finally managed to shove her breasts inside the bra. Her mounds noticeably pushed out, though, and she found a vest to fit over her chest to hide the increase in size.
"This is not normal..." she muttered to herself.
After feeding herself a healthy, and for her incredibly large bowl, of cereal, Sam drove to work and slouched down into her chair a few minutes before time. She was a little disappointed Slinky hadn't arrived earlier, since she wanted to talk to her about the keys before anyone else could overhear. They'd have to discuss it at lunch, providing her rash friend didn't do anything foolish before then.
"You look tired."
Sam jumped up and clawed at her seat to keep from completely capsizing onto the floor. Her head jerked this way and that before she noticed something peeking out from beneath her small desk. She squinted and her mouth dropped open when Slinky smiled back.
"What the hell are you doing down there?" she hissed out. She couldn't be louder because their coworkers were starting to file into their own small boxes around them. They all shuffled like zombies, but they could all rejoice in the day. Friday. The gateway to freedom.
"Just wanted to see how I'd fit beneath one of these things," she explained as she popped out of the tiny space. Slinky stood up and cracked her back. One was particularly loud, and she winced. "Ouch."
"Why do you need to know that, and why in the hell are you trying it out on mine?" Sam questioned. "You could get us both into trouble for goofing off or something." She uneasily smiled and waved as one of their coworkers passed by with one brow arched in question. They went on their way, but not without suspicion.
"I'll tell you at lunch." Slinky's eyes darted to and for. "It's not safe here."
"Oh, I can't wait for this," Sam muttered as she pushed her chair up to her desk. She was again surprised when she kicked something, and she bent down to see a backpack in the small space. She had no idea how that had fit with Slinky's body down there. "Um, Slinky? I think you forgot something."
"Shh!" came the reply from beyond the wall. "Keep it there. I'll get it later."
Sam rolled her eyes but she grudgingly agreed to babysit her bag. It was too early to start an argument, and for some reason she was too hungry to care about anything except getting a snack from the break room before she went off on her daily chores. The only stop off the floor was to get the mail, and when she arrived the box was ready for her to pick up. Mr. Cass smiled at her, but he seemed a little worried when he looked her over.
"You don't seem to be yerself, Miss Olsen," he politely pointed out. "You feeling well?"
"Yeah, just didn't sleep well this morning." He didn't seem to buy her explanation, but he didn't have any way of making her confess to the truth, either.
"You know, you kinda look like Miss Taylor did when she first came," he commented as she wrapped her arms around the box. She paused and looked to him with a quizzical expression. "I'm not meaning yer hair and stuff, but just the way you've kinda changed."
"How did she change?" His comment both scared and intrigued her. She was worried there was something life-threatening going on with her body.
"Well, lemme see if I can remember. It was a pretty long time ago," he admitted as he looked up at the ceiling and tapped his chin. "I reckon about fifteen years ago."
"Can you remember anything?" Sam insisted as she tried to keep his focus.
"If I remember right she was a tiny thing then. Hadn't gained the weight she had when she left." He shook his head, but more out of pity than any sadness. "She was supposed to pick up the mail, too, so I got a good look at her that first week she was here. She was pretty eager to please everyone, all smiles and stuff. I wasn't too fond of her, though. She liked rubbing elbows with the people on the top floor, but wouldn't give me the time of day whenever she came down here."
"Would you...would you've called her ambitious?" Sam asked. That was one of the words Davies had used last night to describe her predecessor.
"I'd say she was the spitting image of such a gal," he agreed as he solemnly nodded his head. "Was real keen on getting a position on the top floor, but she had to go through Winkle first. From what I heard, those ladies really duked it out. I'm really surprised they both stayed on that long before Miss Taylor left."
"I'm pretty sure Slinky's talked to you about this, but do you know why she left?"
"Well, I can't say for sure," he slowly drawled out. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "I didn't want to say nothing to Slinky, seeing as how she wouldn't tell me why she was looking, but you seem to be in some sort of trouble, Miss Olsen."
"That's what I'm trying to find out, Mr. Cass," she admitted. She shrugged and shook her head as she glanced down at herself. "I know I look different and stuff, but I don't know why. Even if I told you what's been happening, I don't think you'd believe me."
"Well, I'm not gonna pry into your personal affairs, so I won't ask no questions, but I'll tell you this." His voice dropped and he leaned in toward her. "Miss Taylor weren't having no affair with any board member. I know from speaking with them that none of them were too fond of her."
"When did you get to talk with the board?" Sam was surprised the high management would talk with the low mail man.
"Well, some of them like to get a few things in that they didn't want to show their wives or girlfriends," he vaguely explained with a mischievous grin. He chuckled at Sam's surprised expression. "Most weren't all that bad, but some of them could of got them in hot water with those women folk."
"So why do you think she was let go?"
"That I can't be sure, but she was getting real interested in getting a pair of keys to get onto the top floor." Sam blanched when she heard that. So what Davies had said about her betrayed his trust was completely true. "And speaking of keys, don't forget to tell Slinky I'm still waiting for them keys back. I don't know what I'd do if she kept him." The warning would have been intimidating, but he had such a simple manner about him that it only came out kindly.
"I won't, you can bet on that, but you were saying something about how Miss Taylor changed after she got here." The old man was an expert at winding the conversation around every conceivable topic.
"I was, wasn't I?" He pondered what he'd been trying to come up with from his scattered memories. "Let me see, it was something about her looks, wasn't it?"
"Did she change like I have?" Sam suggested as she stepped back and spread out her arms.
"Well, you got something there," he admitted with a firm nod. "She was all skinny and kinda short, but when she'd been up there a few days she kinda got all plump and easy on the eyes like yerself, if you beg my pardon." He noticed Sam blush at the compliment. "But if that ain't what happened, then I'll quit my job right now and retire to some nice little island country."
"I don't think you need to do that, Mr. Cass. I believe you." He gave her a wide smile and a twinkle in his eyes. "So did you mention the change you saw to her?"
"I did and she was mighty happy with herself. All preening and stuff. Didn't seem worried about it like you are."
"Well, if you remember anything else, feel free to give my extension a call or page my beeper." She glanced around for some paper and pen to write down the numbers, but he only chuckled.
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"No need to tell me yer numbers," he revealed. He walked over to a beaten up old desk in the far corner and returned with a dusty, crumpled piece of paper. He handed it to her and she was shocked to find all the lines in the building neatly listed in his handwriting. Even the private lines to the top floor were there. "I got 'em all down on my sheet. Took me a while to find some of 'em, too."
"How in the world did you get a hold of these ones?" she inquired as she tapped on the twentieth floor extensions.
"Someone up there owed me a favor when I smuggled in a box of chocolates when they were supposed to be on a diet." He gave her a wink. "I wouldn't be telling our friend Slinky about these, though. She wouldn't stop pestering me about them if she knew."
"Yeah, neither of us would hear the end of it," she agreed with a laugh. "But would you mind if I got one of these?" She tapped on the only one from the twentieth floor which read 'Smith.' "I'm pretty sure I know this guy, so he wouldn't mind.
"I suppose so, since you know the fellow." He could see she wasn't lying, as her eyes didn't turn away, but he was a little hesitant. "If ya tell me what yer gonna use it for."
"I'm going to call him up and talk to him." It was another honest reply.
"Then it's all yours, but don't show Slinky that ya got it."
"Cross my heart," Sam promised as she quickly scribbled the number down on a piece of paper. She glanced at her watch and saw that she'd used up a good forty minutes coming down here and talking. "I'd better be going before everyone wonders where their diet cheaters are at."
"If I don't see you later, Miss Olsen, you have a good weekend."
"Thanks. You, too, Mr. Cass!" she called over her shoulder as she lugged the heavy box out the door.
Thoughts and plans were formulating in Sam's mind as she rode the elevator back up to her floor. She had quite the task to perform in order to get to the filing cabinets she'd seen in Davies' office. She would not only have to sneak her way up there and boldly pass by the secretaries along the hall, but she had to figure out a way of sending Smith away from his desk without him being suspicious.
Then she hit upon an idea as she recalled his being out that one day to the herbal shop. Perhaps he left every day at that time, the usual lunch hour. She could confirm if he was there by ringing up his phone and seeing if he picked up. That would probably also take care of the other secretaries upstairs, but she wasn't so sure about Davies himself. She'd have to take that risk, since she hadn't seen his name listed on the phone numbers Mr. Cass had shown her.
The biggest problem, however, would be to get the keys away from Slinky. She wasn't sure she wanted to involve her friend in this escapade. Besides, she'd be asking too many questions about her motives, questions she couldn't or didn't want to answer.
With her plan in place, she just had to out-sneak her sneaky friend, a feat easier said than done. She'd need to get a hold of where ever she kept those keys and take them, and hope Slinky wouldn't notice they were gone.
By the time Sam got back up to the floor and unpacked all the mail, she was feeling peckish again. She went for what remained of the box of three dozen donuts, of which about six were left. She hardly noticed as popped four into her mouth one after the other and carried the other two back to her cubicle.
Sam walked by Slinky's cubicle and noticed her friend was out. Her coat, however, was slung over the back of her chair. She looked up and down the hall, and stood on her tiptoes to peek over the walls. There was no one around, so she ducked inside and stood over the coat.
"You trying to blow my cover or something?" a voice hissed. Sam jumped a full foot in the air and she nearly dropped both her donuts. Slinky peeked out from beneath her own desk and scowled. "Somebody's gonna see you standing in here and I might be spotted."
"I-I just, um, I was just gonna." She looked down at the slightly squished donuts in her hands. She'd gripped them a little too tightly in her fright. "I was just gonna see if you wanted a donut. These are the last two."
"Oh, well, in that case." Slinky shot out, grabbed the one that was the least mutilated, and slunk back into her hole. Sam was surprise she didn't hear the sounds of the wild animal munching.
With her plot foiled, she had no choice but to go back to her own hole. As she sat down in her chair, her feet kicked something. She leaned over and scowled at the bag which still lay in her way, but then an idea struck her. Maybe Slinky was smart enough not to have the keys on her person, and maybe the bag was going to be used for the planned invasion this weekend.
As quietly as she could manage Sam pulled out the bag and began rifling through the pockets. To her glee her theory proved correct and she pulled out the key chain from the largest pocket. She quickly stuffed them into her coat and put the bag back. Now all she needed to do was figure out a way to get out of having lunch with her friend, and she'd be set. The sudden gurgling of her stomach gave her another brilliant idea.
When the noon hour had almost come Sam suddenly groaned and clutched at her stomach. She pushed back her chair and waddled passed Slinky's cubicle while groaning even louder. Her destination was the girl's bathroom stalls, and when lunch time came in five minutes Slinky was indeed looking for her lost friend. She found her in one of the stalls still whimpering in pain.
"You okay, Sam?" she called as she knocked on the door.
"Yeah, just ate something bad." She let out another groan for effect. "Could have been one too many donuts."
"You want me to get you anything to help? You know, like some stomach medicine or something?'
"No, I'll be fine. I just need to get it out of my system. You go on without me."
"You sure? I can stay here if you want." Her offer sounded so serious that Sam was alarmed. She didn't have a very wide window to work with as it was.
"No, no, I'm fine, really. There's nothing you can do. I'll see you after lunch."
"All right." Slinky shook her head when Sam let out another groan. "Hope you get better."
"Thanks."
Everything was quiet in the bathroom after Slinky left. Sam waited a minute or two, just in case, and peeked out from beneath the stall. No one was around and she couldn't hear any voices. Quietly she crept out and against the bathroom door. She peeked out into the office area and didn't see a soul.
Sam mimicked her friend's stealthiness as she slunk over to the nearest cubicle and picked up the phone. She took the piece of paper with the number out of her pocket and quickly dialed the extension. She was using someone else's phone in case everything went horribly wrong and they wanted to trace where the call came from.
The phone rang several times before an answering machine picked up with Smith's message. She hung up then and moved over to the innocent looking door in the corner. Sam knelt down and tried one key at a time, and with each failure she grew more nervous. Finally near the end of the chain the door clicked and she was able to open it. She made a mental note of which one it was, just in case.
Sam quickly slid in and softly shut the door behind herself. She crept up the stairs and was greeted with the next locked door, which she easily passed through with further aid from the key chain. Now this was the fun part. She was relying on everyone being out to lunch.
Sam stooped down as far as she could and slowly began nearly crawling toward the door at the end of the hall. She was relieved to see that everyone was indeed gone out to lunch, and she grew bold enough to straighten up and nearly run down the hall. She reached the door in record time and now had her biggest dilemma.
She didn't think she had a key to Davies' door.
Sam figured it wouldn't hurt to try, so she jiggled the knob to see if it was unlocked. To her surprise the door proved to be open, and she peeked her head inside. As far as she could tell, the coast was clear. Knowing time was not on her side, she strode over to the cabinet and opened the drawers.
As she'd guessed, they were filled with the personal files of every supervisor in the building. She herself still held the majority
of the files for those lower in the food chain. She breezed through the alphabet until she got to the letter T, and then she had another problem. She had no idea what Miss Taylor's first name was, so she'd need to go through the files individually to confirm the identity.
Her time was whittling away as she counted the files and found she only had about a dozen people who'd had that last name and had recently worked at the company, and of those only half were female. She now had to look for keywords to find the right file, and so she glanced over each person's position and whether or not they were still an active employee. Halfway through she hit upon gold and pulled the file.
Sam paused and listened as she thought she heard something. It wasn't repeated, however, and she decided to take one last risk. She dug through the W files and pulled out Winkle's folder. With both of them tucked safely under her arm, she closed the drawer and turned to leave.
Mr. Davies stood between her and the door.
Her breath stopped and she nearly dropped the files. His expression was impassive as he glanced at the vanilla folders in her possession. There was hurt in his eyes as he glanced into her face and tried to read her thoughts.
"You still don't believe me, do you?" he asked. She could only guess he was referring to his outlandish tale of demons and such. He sighed and shocked her by stepping aside. "Perhaps the contents of those files will show you that I'm telling the truth."
"You're...you're letting me go?"
"Without any repercussions," he promised. "It seems I must earn your trust through extreme measures." Sam winced at his parting shot, but she clutched the folders and brushed passed him. "Wait a moment." Her face paled as she turned around. He was scribbling something on a piece of paper. "Since you made an interesting use of your lunch hour, you may need this to allow you and your friend to have a proper meal."
He handed her the slip and she read the contents. It was permission to leave the building for one hour and in the company of only Slinky.
"Thank you." She was as hungry as a wolf and Slinky would enjoy getting out again for food.