New Girl

At first glance, the Sun Horizon Building was a nondescript grey building that everyone would walked passed every day without a second glance.  That however was not the case.

A failed work discrimination lawsuit filed against the Sun Horizon group a few years ago made huge news. The group was accused of discriminating against its female employees but it was the group’s response that was so unusual. The group almost admit to the discrimination, but say their female employees were working there willingly and the “accusations” were more due to cultural differences.

The lawsuit failed but that was not the end of the matter. The building was now a weekly protest site for feminist groups. The Sun Horizon group responded by ignoring the protests and continuing their unique company work culture. It was this “unique company work culture” that attracted Myra Fox to the company.

Ignoring the 10 to 15 protesters outside the building, Myra walked into the building in her best power suit and headed straight to the reception table. The woman sitting behind the desk was dressed in the most unusual receptionist “uniform” you would ever see in America; a burqa.

Myra approached the blue burqa and noticed the “Karen” name tag. That’s about the only thing of note. The burqa has no embroidery of any sort outside the skullcap and the mesh for the eyes. Myra noticed the mesh was wider than the burqas she saw on TV news and guessed it was probably done so that the receptionist could see. Myra gave her best smile to “Karen” and hoped the woman could see her smile behind the mesh of the burqa.

“How may this girl help you Madam?” the burqa called Karen said.

Myra maintained her smile despite her discomfort speaking to someone she couldn’t see. She knew if she was successful, this was something she need to get used to. “My name is Myra Fox. My husband, Reggie, work here. I’m here for a job interview.”

“How may this girl help you Madam?” Karen said again. It was as if she never heard Myra and Myra immediately realized her mistake.

“This girl’s name is Myra Fox.” Myra replied back quickly. “This girl’s master, Reggie, work here and ordered this girl to report here today for a job interview.”

“Please wait here Myra while this girl checked with her superiors.”

“Of course and thank you.”

Myra bit her lips while Karen spoke to someone on the phone. She had somehow managed to screw up within 10 seconds of entering the building. She just hoped it would not count against her. Karen put down the phone and informed to take the stairs to the 5^th floor. Climbing the stairs left Myra breathless. Her slim figure was achieved via yoga and diet; exercising was a distant third. Myra found a woman waiting for her.

Dressed in an all-black outfit that covered her from top to toe, the woman was wearing a indaba that covered her face but for a small slip for her eyes. Myra saw that the woman had a name tag declaring her name as “Wendy”. Wendy was carrying a clipboard which she glanced at before asking for Myra’s name.

After providing it, Wendy signalled Myra to follow her. After following her down the corridor, Wendy opened a door and signalled Myra to go in. It seems that among the women of Sun Horizon, words weren’t used very often. Myra walked into the room and saw another woman sitting on the floor.

She truly was sitting on the floor. The room was simple and there were no tables or chairs in the room. Dressed like Wendy, the woman was totally covered in black with a niqab covering her face and her name tag state her name as “Lucy”.

Wendy closed the door behind her and left with little choice, Myra walked towards the sitting woman. In front of the woman, Myra saw a red box and two palm prints painted on the floor. She was wondering about them when Lucy told her what they were for.

“Kneel with both knees inside the box and place your hands on the prints.”

Myra felt a rush at the order. This was a test and the reason why she wanted to join the company. She knelt and placed her hands on the floor as ordered. She immediately realized she looked like a total fool. Dressed in power suit; blazers, blouse, and mini-skirt; she was now on her hands and knees like a bitch. She looked up at Lucy. The silence stretches for seconds before Lucy began speaking.

“Congratulations girl, you just passed your first test. Not everyone who entered this room would willingly do what you just did.”

“Thank you…” Myra discovered she had no idea what to call Lucy. Can she call her “girl”? The answer was no.

“You can call me Madam. If you are accepted into Sun Horizon, you will start as a female intern. All girls in Sun Horizon are below all men; all female interns are below all girls. If you passed your 6 months internship, you will be promoted to “girl” status. Until then, you will address all girls as Madam.”

“Yes Madam.” Myra said. “May this girl asked what does she…”

“Girl” Lucy corrected.

“Sorry Madam. May this girl asked what does this girl called a man who worked in Sun Horizon?” This way of speech will take some getting used to but Myra was more than willing to do the practice.

“All girls in Sun Horizon, without exceptions, must call all men “Sir”.” 

“Yes Madam. Thank you Madam.”

Lucy nodded and Myra thought she was smiling behind her niqaab. She then asked a question that shocked Myra.

“Do you and your master do this often?”

“Madam?”

“BDSM, domestic discipline, Gorean; whatever you’re into to. You seem to have some experience on your hands and knees.”

Myra knew her face coloured and she quickly looked down in embarrassment.  That prompted a laugh from Lucy. “That’s not something you need to be ashamed of here. Most girls in Sun Horizon are in some variety of these relationships. The company attract…a certain kind of girl. I just hope you are for real.”

“Madam?” Myra asked in surprise.

“I had seem many girls who enter this room thinking of some sort of “Fifty Shades of Grey” romance. Sun Horizon is not like that. The men here are not going to sweep you off your feet. They expect the girls to be obedient servants. If you’re not into that…”

“Madam, this girl is married. This girl is not here for romance.”

“Then why are you here Myra? Why do you want to work in this company?”

In hindsight, Myra should have knew that the company would ask her this question but she didn’t and she wasn’t prepared. She said that first thing that came to her mind.

“This girl is here because she do not want to pretend anymore. This girl…this girl want a place where she can be what she is without any need to pretend a “face” to others in public.”

There was no need for Lucy to say anything more. She just nodded. Myra looked back up at Lucy and realized she was smiling. It’s amazing what you can tell just by looking at another person’s eyes. Myra was going to feel right at home here in Sun Horizon.

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Wendy directed Myra to the basement of the Sun Horizon Building to the “Ghost Room”. It was the locker room for women to change into their uniforms and considering the uniform of Sun Horizon, Myra guessed the nickname fits.

Controlling her excitement, she took off her clothes, her heels and started to put on the uniform given to her by Wendy. Unlike the uniform of Wendy and Lucy, it was all in white. Myra guessed it was to indicate her status as an intern.

She started with the white long-sleeved blouse. The sleeves of the blouse covered her arms but left her hands free and more importantly, it was about 2 sizes too big for her. Myra would have commented on this if she didn’t knew about it before walking in. Reggie had told her that girls in Sun Horizon always wore uniforms a few sizes too big for them. Sun Horizon was a Middle East company and the size policy was installed to prevent “distraction”. Girls in Sun Horizon were expected to be submissive but shapeless.

Next up was the white harem pants. Like the blouse, it was too big for her and Myra had to tie up the end of the pants to her ankles with a string to make it of the right length. Then came the white socks and white shoes provide by the company. The shoes were made of some soft material that was supposed to make no sound when she walked and accordingly to Reggie, it actually worked as it’s supposed to.

The last part was the signature piece of the Sun Horizon uniform; her white niqaab. Consisting of an upper band that is tied around her forehead and a long piece of fabric which flows down covering her face, after putting it on Myra saw that outside an opening for her eyes, her face was totally covered.

In fact, her whole body was totally covered thus the nickname for the room. Girls entered the room as women but came out of it without shape, figure or face; like a living ghost. Myra felt her body’s excitement at the thought.

Myra turned to face Wendy who again signalled her to follow her. Climbing up the stairs, they exited the stairway and entered a floor. Myra wondered if Wendy had counted the floors because there were no signs stating the floors but that’s a question for later. For now she just followed Wendy to the end of the floor where Myra was directed to kneel beside the door of an office. To her surprise, Wendy knelt beside her. Myra looked at the door and sat the name “Abdullah bin Ismail” on it. She guessed it’s time for the next part of her interview.

They knelt patiently till a call came in for the secretary. Mr. Abdullah’s secretary then came to open the door. Two women crawled out of it on their hands and knees. Although she had heard about this from Reggie, it was still a shock to Myra’s system when she saw this. In Sun Horizon, girls were not allowed to walk into the offices of higher executives. They could only crawl into them.

It seems this was another test for her.  The company wanted to see if Myra had what it took to work in Sun Horizon. Myra don’t crawl at home with Reggie, they were more into shibari, but she could learn. She could learn in a hurry.

Wendy started crawling and Myra could do nothing but to follow. She put her head down to follow Wendy and immediately found a problem. When your head was down, the veil of the niqaab flowed downwards, blocking your view. Myra quickly raised her head and found that the niqaab works as it’s supposed to. She saw that Wendy was crawling with her head raised up and that’s how you were supposed to do it. Myra followed Wendy’s example and found this even more embarrassing and humiliating. With your head facing down, your face wasn’t facing the world. With the head up, you are crawling and facing the world doing it.  

The room was dominated by a big desk and Myra saw a Middle Eastern man sitting behind it. There was no doubt this was Abdullah bin Ismail, the Head of Human Resource. There were 2 empty chairs for guests but of course they were not for girls. The duo crawled between the 2 chairs and stopped. Myra saw the man smiled and had no doubt of the reason. Which man won’t smile when 2 girls crawled towards him and stopped with their hands and knees on the floor?

The office was silent and Myra knew Abdullah was making the two girls wait on purpose. Was this a test or was he just a jerk? It doesn’t matter. Myra knew better than to ask. Her husband and master, Reggie, had made sure she understood the culture of Sun Horizon before today. In the company, a woman do not speak to a man unless she was spoken to first. Myra would wait as long as it please Abdullah.

“You are Mrs. Myra Jackson?” He finally asked.  

The wait was over. “Yes sir,” Myra replied softly, making sure to sound timid and submissive to the man who would have the final say on whether she got hired or not. “This girl is Mrs. Myra Jackson.”

“It state on your record you are a nurse?”

“Yes sir, this girl is a nurse.”

“You know and understand the position you are applying for in Sun Horizon?”

“Yes sir, this girl understand.”

“What is it?”

“Sir, this girl is applying to be an office girl.”

“The pay for your new job is much lower than your current one. Are you certain that you understand the requirements of the job? Do you want to continue the interview?”

“Yes sir, this girl will serve the men of the company in their daily work. This girl will serve them coffee, tea, clean their desk and obey them in all matters.”

“Before that, you have a 6 months trial period when you will be tested to see if you have what it takes to be in our glorious company. During this period…well, you have the janitorial position. Is that okay for you?”

“Yes sir, this girl is aware and understand the need to prove herself to the company.”

“You have no problem with your pay cut?” Myra saw Abdullah’s smile growing bigger; he was enjoying this. That’s okay, so was she.

“Yes sir,” Myra said. “This girl’s husband is working for Sun Horizon. This girl understand if she joined the company, this girl’s husband’s pay will increase by 25% due to his guardianship. This girl’s husband’s pay rise will offset her loss of income.”

“Your husband will be your guardian in the company. You understand this means your performance will affect his performance review and any poor performance from you will affect him adversely. Your pay, low as it will be, will also be directly credited to him as well. You are aware of this?”

“Yes sir, this girl understand.”

“Do you have any problems with all these arrangements?”

“No sir, this girl have no problem with any of it.”

“One final question then,” Abdullah said. “Why should I hire you? Why do you want to work in Sun Horizon?”

It was actually two questions but Myra knew better than to correct the man. She recited her prepared answer. “This girl want to join Sun Horizon because women are treated as they should be in the company. Women are servants to men. Women should serve men. This company allowed women to be treated as the servants they are. Sun Horizon should hire this girl because this girl know and understand what the company is trying to do. The company is trying to allow men and women to be in the roles they were born to be in and if hired, this girl will be a competent obedient girl who believes strongly in the company’s rules and policy.” 

Silence greeted her statement before Abdullah answered Myra’s prayers. “You are hired. Both of you can leave.”

“Thank you sir.” With the answer, Wendy and Myra crawled out of the man’s office.

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After the interview, Wendy led Myra to the 7^th floor. They entered a small room on the floor where Myra saw Lucy waiting with 4 other girls in white. Lucy was sitting on the floor while the other girls were kneeling on their face facing the wall.  Lucy signalled Myra to join the girls.

Obediently, Myra joined the line and knelt. A hand on her shoulder told her to go closer to the girl beside her. Moments later, Myra was kneeling facing the wall shoulder to shoulder with the other girls. Minutes after that, Myra heard the door opened and felt another girl joining the line beside her. Myra then heard Lucy speaking quietly to another girl. Once they were done, Lucy addressed the six kneeling girls facing the wall.

“Congratulations girls! The six of you are accepted into Sun Horizon. There is a 6 months trial period. In these 6 months, you six will be interns. This means for the next 6 months, you girls will be washing the toilets, sweeping the floors while also learning on your assigned floors. Once the trial period is over, you will be full members of the company. For now, you will all wait here till your guardians come to fetch you home. Do not worry, they have been informed of where you are and will come here once their work is over.” Myra could not believe what she was hearing. Surely the company can’t expect her to wait 3 hours for her husband to get off work?  Luckily, Lucy wasn’t finished. “Till then, the six of you can relax. There’s some mineral water here. Just remember not to leave this room.”

With that, Lucy left the room. The six girls then stood and wondered what they were supposed to do. After a period of uncomfortable silence, one girl flipped her veil over her head and introduced herself.  The ice broken, the remaining girls followed suit.

Each introduced herself and Myra quickly deducted the reason the six of them were left in the room. The six of them were all new girls of the company and this time was for them to know each other. The new girls sat in a circle and spoke about themselves. The six of them were of various races; an Asian, an Arab, two whites, and including Myra, two blacks. They were of various religions; Muslim, Christian, and a Buddhist. However they were all here and accepted by the company because they believed in the superiority of men.

They spoke more about each other and Myra quickly found out the reason why each of them joined the company. Some of the girls want to be in an environment that allowed their private life and personal life to be the same. One just want to be working in the same company as her husband while two of the girls were joining to prove to their boyfriends they had what it took to be their wives. It seems their boyfriends promised to marry them if they managed to finish their internship.

Some of the girls also took some serious sacrifice to join the company. One of the girls was a lawyer, while another was in medical school when she decided to quit studying and join the company instead. The former medical student was one of the girls who was to be married once her internship was over. All the girls had husbands or boyfriends working in Sun Horizon who would be the girls’ guardians in the company.

Before they knew it, the girls had talked for hours. The door opened again. Lucy walked in and told Myra her husband was here to fetch her. Myra stood and immediately noticed Lucy pointing her finger downwards. Obeying her superior, Myra knelt and started to crawl. She crawled out of the room and notice her husband standing behind Lucy. He saw her immediately and after the initial shock, he laughed. 

Myra never felt as demeaned or humiliated as she did then. At the same point however, a strange joy arose within her. She smiled behind her veil as Reggie squatted and kissed her on her forehead. Myra couldn’t help herself but giggled at the act.

Reggie stood and walked towards the lift. With no orders to stand, Myra crawled behind her husband like a good pet. She had been a good wife, a good slave when they played “games”, so why not a good pet? The smile she had grew bigger. From now on, there’s no need for her to pretend to be normal. From now on, this was the new normal.

Myra Jackson couldn’t be any happier!