For the sake of practicality and given that the spectacle of a young girl being spitted was far from a novelty for any of those in attendance, Rebecca and Sarah took Popcorn inside to the kitchen for her prep while Cole and Doug were put in charge of raking the coals and making sure they were ready to cook over and trays of mini pizzas, little sausage rolls, cheese-and-pineapple skewers and other typical party finger-food were passed around. The other senior caterer and her new apprentice returned less than fifteen minutes later with the delicious young girl fully impaled, basted, seasoned and ready to roast.

Since the head-quarters was on an industrial estate and most of the other businesses were closed for the day, there was not a lot of passing traffic except for the occasional learner driver who Mollie hoped, for their own sakes, were just having a lesson and not trying to take their tests, as well as occasional dog-walkers who simply chuckled or shook their heads in amusement at seeing the naked co-workers enjoying their barbecue. The food was delicious, of course, and Mollie felt a warm feeling inside at the idea that her team would go to this much effort to give her a good send-off. At around ten o’clock, just as it was starting to get dark, Nora announced somewhat apologetically that it was time to bring the evening to a close but promised that any left-over food, including what could be retrieved from Popcorn’s fairly well-ravaged carcass, would be left in the staff fridge and available for snacks or lunches the next day.

Having been assured that a few of the team had agreed to stay behind to clean up and that she should definitely not be thinking about such a thing after her own party, Mollie headed to her car. She had gone to head inside to collect her clothes but, perhaps inspired by the Ramierez family or perhaps just because nudity had become such a total non-issue to her the closer she came to her harvest, Mollie decided to drive home in nothing but her Sidney boots, promising to return them the next day. She had other uniforms and underwear at home, after all, so what did it matter? It was already fairly late so not many people would be looking out their windows but if one of her neighbours happened to peek, so what? The free show for them was absolutely no skin off Mollie’s nose!

The next morning, it took her a few moments to remember why her clothes from the day before were not on the back of the chair in her bedroom where she normally left them when undressing for bed. Remembering quickly that she hadn’t worn any clothes to get home, she pulled some new underwear from the drawer and threw them onto the bed then took a fresh uniform out of the wardrobe and laying it out ready to put on after her shower. While she had the wardrobe open, she looked at her nicer clothes, the ones she could wear for her date. Her date. She really did have a date with the beautiful Mrs Maria Ramierez and she had made it quite clear what her intentions towards her were! Her heart beat a little faster at the idea. This final week of her life really was turning out to be full of unexpected treats!

What sort of outfit would be appropriate? She wondered. She wanted to look nice, but not over the top. Of course, if what the three of them had been wearing to their assessment meeting was anything to go by, everyone else at the table would be dressed in outfits that cost more than her entire wardrobe, heck, probably more than her flat itself! Gingerbread was considered a little more up-market than Sidney’s, which had always positioned itself as an affordable family restaurant. A treat, for sure, but somewhere most families could easily afford once a month or so, while other restaurants like the Sidney’s-owned La Fille catered for a very high-end market and a dinner for two there could easily cost a month’s rent. Gingerbread landed somewhere in the middle. It was small, intimate, generally serving only whole children and therefore geared towards whole families or other groups eating together. It was somewhere within the reach of most families as a very special treat, such as a significant birthday or wedding anniversary. Mollie had never been there as a guest but the two companies had collaborated in the past and she had always enjoyed the theming which, as the same suggested, was loosely based around the story of Hansel and Gretel, with a medieval fairytale aesthetic.

After pulling out and rejected a number of potential outfit, Mollie settled on her little black dress which was classy and elegant but, she felt, showed off her figure nicely and, although the back was open meaning that she could not wear a bra with it, the front was fitted in such a way that she actually felt confident being without one. Yes, that was the one. Paired with some black tights and a nice pair of heels, her black ones of course, not the red ones, it would do the job nicely. She hung it up in the doorway between her living room and bedroom to get a bit of an airing since it was close to two years since she had last worn it then went for her morning shower.

To her own surprise, Mollie was able to concentrate reasonably well at work and be productive enough that her being there felt worth-while. All she could really think about, however, was the upcoming evening and whatever may happen afterwards. Of course most of the talk within the team was about the party the evening before and there was plenty of food left over to enjoy though the day, making it feel like the day after the Christmas party, but Mollie, normally one for regular snacking if there were tasty treats available, ate sparingly, both wanting to make sure she saved room for the meal that evening and also wanting to look her absolute best in her dress.


To be continued...