Settling In

by: Sophie & Pudding

*Commissioned by Cam

Premise: Natalie Anderson hasn’t been able to land a job ever since word got out that she slept with her old boss. But luckily, in her hour of desperation, the perfect position seemed to fall right into her lap. Is this new job too good to be true?

Disclaimers: bedwetting, manipulation, spanking, regression, hypnosis, diapers, wetting, messing

Chapter I

I played with my fingers in my lap and looked down at my nice shoes - shiny, with three inch heels. I had to get this job. I didn't have a choice anymore. Samantha and I couldn't make rent and I couldn't work anywhere else. After my last job - an administrator in a computer repair office - no one would hire me. This city wasn't that big, and word got around quickly. Even McDonalds had turned me down. How I had even gotten an interview here was beyond me. The man walked in and sat down at the desk and I did my best to sit up straight, looking as professional as possible. Our interview had been going on for over an hour already...

"So what do you think?" Cora asked her husband. He read through her file. "Natalie Anderson. She seems flexible." "She would have to be at this point. She hasn't had a job in three months. She's desperate." "Desperate works in our favor." "Is that a yes?" "I think it's worth a try." Cora clapped her hands and smiled at the screen, at the video feed of the nervous girl shifting in her chair. Two minutes later, her husband appeared on the screen and sat down in the chair behind the desk, across from her.

"Miss Anderson, I'm afraid that there's been some complications with your background check." Not that she'd consented for one, or that one had even been done - but in a town this size, a background check was really nothing more than calling around and asking questions for a few minutes. From Natalie’s point of view, that had to have been where the man had been for the past few minutes. "Now now, don't panic, that doesn't make you inadmissible to our work program here, not automatically. There are some more strings I can pull and palms I can grease, but you're going to have to impress me here."

Background check. I knew what that meant. My heart sank and I looked down at my feet. Should I try to explain myself? Did I have a choice? "I know what you've heard," I said quietly, without eye contact. "I... I know my boss at my old job was married, and what I did was awful, and I hate what happened. I would absolutely never let it happen again. I would never disrupt your company like that or put anyone's reputation in jeopardy. I promise to work hard here. I promise to do everything I can so you don't regret hiring me. If... if you hire me, I mean..." My confident attitude had completely fallen apart.

"Natalie - may I call you Natalie? What is your understanding of what will be required in this role?" They'd already talked about it before, and at length, but this time it was going to be different - this time, the man was going to outline what her responsibilities would be. Not just the responsibilities of the role itself, but of her if she accepted the role.

"Um. I... I would manage the customer service branch. I know that has like eight people, right? So it's a small office! I have plenty of experience in office management, too. So it will be no problem. And I would report directly to you. Tasks would be things like... keeping you informed, keeping the staff on task, making sure everything you need done gets done. And of course, keeping quality customer service." I was proud of my answer. I was a very good worker, and I played into my strengths.

"Very good, Natalie. If - and I do stress the if - I were to extend this role do you, quite evidently I'd have to appease both the insecurities of my wife, and the doubts of myself. The only way I could extend this offer to you, therefore, would be for you to take a greatly reduced salary, and provision you room and board at our Vineyard in lieu. This way, our family - and this is a family business - can keep a close eye on you at all times and ensure that you're not falling back into your more... destructive, habits."

I blinked and looked up at the man in surprise. He... he wanted me to live in his house? I thought about Samantha, my roommate, and looked down at my feet. "I... I would love to. It seems like a very generous offer. I just... I can't do that. My roommate depends on me to help with rent and I couldn't just leave her like that, not after she's stuck with me for so long." Fuck...

"I'm sure we can find a position for her about the house. She depends on you to help with rent, you said? Then perhaps her conditions could improve further. You would work in the consumer division, and Samatha could help around the estate. At any time, either or both of you will be free to leave, but your employment is contingent on this condition." That he'd offered something so compelling, so drastic, so out of the ordinary, without even a second thought... well, there was a lot of confidence there.

Sam really didn't like her job. She cleaned houses, actually. Working for an estate would probably be right up her alley. And she would have to pay a lot less in bills. Hmm... "Alright... well, I will talk to her? And if she agrees, I will do anything to put your wife's concerns at ease!"

"I hope you remember those words, Natalie. We're taking a big risk on you here, and I do want you to understand that this is not charity, or pity. This an opportunity for atonement, which is something we all believe in here at Grand National. But you'll be expected to listen to directions, both in and out of the workplace, and there'll be very little tolerance for messing up. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. I understand completely." I left the office with a phone number on the back of a business card. I sat in my car and sighed, tilting my head back. Would Sam want to do this? What if she didn't? I wasn't making rent... if I couldn't get this job, she'd have to find a new roommate anyway. I put my hands over my face and took a deep breath. Okay. Only thing now was to talk to my best friend.

"So hold up. What's the rent going to be? It's kinda far for me to travel to work… wait wait, what was the rent?" Sam thought her friend had said 'free', but that couldn't possibly be the case. That just didn't happen. Not without a catch.

"Well, I think he wants to offer you a position at the estate? Probably cleaning or something, which you already do anyway. And room and board are included." I never understood that phrase: room and board. What was the board? Maybe the board wasn't included... "You could save money, and we could still live together. Technically." We would share a very, very big house with many people. I'd googled the house at the Vineyard on my phone. Eighteen rooms. "But it's like, an hour and a half away."

"It's a ways away for sure." Sam had thought about that kind of distance before, when they were looking for a new place to live that was cheaper, but the math never worked out. "But If I live where I work, I don't even need a car, Nat. I'd have like no bills except for my cellphone. We should do it."

I gave her a careful look and crossed my arms. "Are you sure? I don't want to accept the job and then have you change your mind..." "I'm sure," she said simply. Sam was a simple girl. That's why we were best friends. "Why does he want you to move in, again?" "Because his wife thinks I'm going to fuck him or something," I pouted. "Seriously, you sleep with one boss and no one trusts you..."

"They do know that the boss you slept with was like your age right? These people own an estate! Are you gonna seduce grandpappy with a Werther’s original?" Sam thought she was a lot funnier than she was. "Anyway, when we do we move? We probably need a few weeks to pack." But they were moving into someone else’s house - what would they actually be bringing?

"I dunno," I said more to myself than to Sam. "I guess I'll go make a phone call and get all this started." One day had so cataclysmically changed my life. But I didn't know the half of it.

* * * * *

My first day of work was the following Monday. I'd spent the weekend moving my belongings into the estate, but we had to rent a storage locker for most of our furniture. The place was huge. I mean, really, really huge. Not like a mansion you see on TV, but way bigger than anything I'd ever seen in real life. Sam was enamored. I was overwhelmed. We used a service entrance on the side of the house to bring in our boxes, which let out into a kitchen. Some people in nice clothes were helping us unpack the truck, but I hadn't caught anyone's name. "You must be Natalie," a woman said, talking over the heavy footsteps and shuffling of boxes. She had a gorgeous red blouse on and her dark hair was pulled back in a tight bun. She put out her hand to shake mine. "Um. Yes. Nice to meet you, uh..."

"Cora. No title necessary, titles are for books and mistresses, and I am neither." Cora laughed the way rich people on television laughed; she was bright and sunny, hiding her mouth behind her hand - a gesture that wouldn't have looked out of place paired with a little paper oriental fan. "It's going to be so nice to have you around the house, Natalie. I can't wait to get all that unpleasantness and rumors behind you. And you must be Sam - oh you're going to look smashing in the house uniform." Cora accentuated this fact by literally turning to one of the maids, putting her hand up the back of her skirt, and pinching her ass.

...well, she was... forward. The maid looked nervously at the two of us, then walked away to fetch more boxes. "Um... yeah... I swear, you have nothing to worry about with me. What happened was strictly a one-time thing. Trust me." "I don't trust you," Cora said simply, with a smile, in a tone I had never heard utter those words. She was bright and happy. I didn't understand her at all. "The help will take care of the boxes - come, I'll show you your rooms." I looked sideways at Sam and shrugged my shoulders.