The Product Tester - Chapter 8

As always, fantastic illustrations by HofBondage. 

Mary sat on the couch, busily typing away at her laptop. 

Ethan stepped up from behind the couch, carrying two mugs of hot cocoa and setting one in front of her. “You wanted whipped cream, right?” 

She looked up at him, deadpan. “Do you even need to ask? Everyone wants whipped cream on hot cocoa.” 

“Okay, okay,” he chuckled, craning his neck to see her computer screen. “What are you working on?” 

She turned her computer away, smirking and shaking her head. “Hey, hey! I don’t get to peek at your notes, you don’t get to peek at mine.” 

Rolling his eyes, Ethan sat back on the couch, sipping his cocoa and flipping through channels on the TV. “Fine. How are you acclimating, by the way?” 

She glanced up from her computer screen, then paused to take a sip of her cocoa. “Are you fishing for information?” 

He shook his head, settling on a cooking show that could play in the background. “No, I just want to make sure you’re feeling okay. I know this was… kind of a big deal for you, I guess?” 

“Well, I’m adjusting fine,” Mary replied, tabbing open to a new screen. “Still kind of getting used to the whole… well, yeah. But I’m getting kind of desensitized to it.”

“It’s been six days,” Ethan pointed out, glancing sidelong at her. “And I haven’t seen you make any real progress since that first set of experiments. It’s alright to admit I was right, you know.” 

Staring up from her laptop, Mary got a good look at her fiance’s wide smirk. “Asshole!” she said, kicking the side of his leg gently with her foot. 

He laughed, cheeks turning a little red. “I’m just saying, I haven’t even seen you try anything since that day I had to come home and take care of you. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think maybe you’d given up on ever using the toilet again.” 

Mary feigned outrage and shock, but she couldn’t hide her smile as she set her laptop aside and sat up. “Jerk! I’ll show you-” 

“I mean, I know it’s convenient,” Ethan said in a loud, patronizing tone, “But-” 

“Shut up!” Mary snickered. “You’re just happy because you think you’re winning!” 

Ethan laughed. “Well sure, I think it because it’s true. I told you this’d be impossible, baby. Did you think I was joking?” 

She rolled her eyes, taking her laptop and returning to her project. “We’ll see about that.” 

In truth… he had a point. She hadn’t been slacking the last four days, but she had been turning up nothing with her work. 

Even though she knew that the cover had to have some sort of wireless connection, she’d been completely incapable to figure out how to crack it. She had thought she’d be able to figure out an exploit there, but the security on the signal was incredibly tight. So tight, in fact, that she hadn’t even been able to definitively detect what kind of signal it was. 

So, without brute force or a wireless exploit being on the table, Mary had been at a dead end. She’d even taken a few other jobs that she could do from home, setting up some websites for a client. 

Mary wasn’t about to admit it to Ethan while he was high on power, though. Instead, she changed the topic. “What’s our netflix login again?” 

Ethan glanced over at her, but he didn’t seem suspicious. “My email address, and “Ethan!sgr8”. Why?” 

“Wanted to look up and see if a show was on there,” Mary explained, punching in the login info. 

If she’d lectured him on password security once, she’d done it a thousand times. It didn’t matter how strong a password was, if he used the same one for every single account, it wasn’t going to do him any good.

So, she logged into the Lab-D employee portal, opened Ethan’s account, and began scrolling. 

Unfortunately, she couldn’t find any big, obvious files labeled “HOW TO GET OUT OF DIAPERS”. Even something more likely, like a schematic of the cover, was nowhere to be found. It seemed like those sorts of files weren’t stored on the employee portal, just a schedule, some payment and tax information, employee communication, and…

“Bingo,” she said aloud.

“What’s that, baby?” Ethan looked up, puzzled. 

“Oh, I found what the show was called,” Mary explained, coming up with a quick cover. “Had to look in our watch history.” 

He seemed puzzled by that, but didn’t push the issue, returning his attention to the show. 

Formulating a plan, Mary did her work, covered her tracks, and logged out. To be safe, she cleared the recent browser history, then finally set her laptop aside and took another long pull of her cocoa. 

Looking over at her, Ethan chuckled, pointing at his own lip. “You’ve got a little-” 

“A little what?” Mary asked. 

“Here, let me-” Scooting towards her, Ethan leaned in, kissing her upper lip. Smiling, he added, “Whipped cream.” 

Her gaze darting to the bedroom door, Mary asked, “How much more of that is there?” 

“Most of the can,” Ethan said. “Why?” 

“I was thinking there were some other places we could lick clean,” Mary purred, kissing him again. “Bedroom?” 

…

Roughly twenty hours later, Mary stood in front of the Lab-D offices, praying in the quality of her disguise. 

Normally, she showed up at the office wearing makeup. Maybe not a lot, but a foundation and maybe some lip gloss, enough to be presentable. Today, she’d skipped that. 

Her hair was the same color and length, but she’d put it in a ponytail, and she was wearing a ballcap over her head. Regular glasses had been replaced with prescription sunglasses, and she’d skipped her preferred pants and practical shirt and instead gone with a nice, flowy dress. It’d cover her diaper better, and nobody would expect her to be wearing it. She’d gotten a new bag to take with her, in case anyone recognized her normal one. 

And, as a finishing touch, she’d wrapped a scarf over her collar. 

It was by no means perfect. Most of her friends would still recognize her easily. Ethan might not even realize she was disguised. To people she was only loosely acquainted with, though… it could work. 

Walking through the door, Mary strolled up to the front desk. It was someone she didn’t recognize working, handling the evening shift. 

“Can I help you?” 

She nodded, taking a folded paper from her bag. “I’ve got a work order to fix some router troubles.” 

They skimmed the paper, frowning. “You’re not with our IT crew?” 

“It’s a third party piece, I’ve worked on them before,” Mary said, making the lie as smooth and reasonable as possible. “And he needed it done right away.” 

“Hmm…” 

She tried to sound disinterested. “Look, if you block me from working on this, I’m billing for my time either way. Already got contracted.” 

The secretary shook her head. “No, I’m just trying to read those numbers at the bottom. Is that a four or a nine?” 

“Oh.” Mary felt a bit silly, but said, “A nine.” 

The secretary punched it in, read the request that Mary had filled out the day before, and nodded, passing Mary a visitor badge. “Alright. You’re good to go.” 

“Thanks,” Mary said, turning to walk towards the elevator. 

“Wait!” the secretary called. “Don’t you need directions?” 

“Uh… yeah.” Crap. I shouldn’t know where his office is. “Right, sorry. Not used to these big offices.” 

“Uh-huh.” They glanced back at their computer screen. “Alright, you’ll go up to the third floor, follow the wall on the left until you get to the end, then just look for his office number. That’s in your paperwork.” 

“Got it.” Mary nodded, waved her visitor badge in front of the elevator, and got in. 

So far, so good. The crinkling of her diaper hadn’t been noticed, and if she was waddling, that wasn’t visible either. She just had to get in and out. 

Stepping off the elevator, Mary looked around, but the coast was clear. Trying not to look like she was in a hurry, she walked towards her fiance’s office. A contractor in her position wouldn’t be in a rush, so she wouldn’t rush either. 

Fortunately, it was the evening shift. Not many people were around, and none of the few remaining were people she recognized. 

Stepping into the office, Mary shut the door, closed the blinds, and walked up to the desktop. Okay, babe. Just tell me you don’t have a special password here and I’ll be all set. 

…

Thirty minutes and a lot of big file transfers later, Mary slipped out of the office, looking around surreptitiously. She just had to get out before anyone realized she was and she’d be golden. 

Scanning over the cubicles, Mary’s heart stopped. 

Ducking down, she leaned against a cubicle wall, whispering to herself. “What the hell is Katherine doing here?” 

The CEO should have been home hours ago, but when Mary peeked up again, she saw her, plain as day. The tall CEO was moving through the office, occasionally leaning in to say something to one employee or another. 

Shit. Shit, shit, shit- 

Mary took a deep breath. It was okay. She could just walk to the elevator. Nobody would think it was suspicious. Standing, she started to walk, keeping her eyes on Katherine. 

The CEO, through some cosmic stroke of bad luck, started walking towards the corridor on the same wall as the elevator.

Sucking in a breath, Mary ducked into a walkway between cubicles, ducking low. The odds of Katherine coming down this specific pathway were… 

You have got to be kidding me. 

Katherine started walking her way, leaning over one cubicle wall to make a comment about the weekend to one of her employees. 

Seeing no good avenue of escape, Mary looked around for an empty cubicle, ducked inside, and scooted back so that she was beneath the desk. It was as safe as she could be. Almost totally out of sight, and Katherine wouldn’t be likely to look into an empty cubicle for no good reason. 

Her body being the fickle bastard that it was, though, decided that her spike of adrenaline and sudden fear meant she was in fight-or-flight mode. Without her greater motor control being able to kick in and do anything about it, her instincts decided it was best to void as much weight as possible. 

If she had been an animal running through the woods to avoid a predator, it might have helped. 

Instead, she could only try not to grunt softly as her diapers filled, permeating the space under the cubicle with a particularly foul smell. 

Please, no. Don’t notice, don’t- 

The sound of sensible heels moved past the cubicle, and Mary could just see the legs of Katherine’s tailored business suit move past her hiding spot. She hadn’t been noticed. 

Sighing in relief, Mary counted to ten, clambered out from under the desk while trying to avoid doing anything that’d agitate the contents of her diaper, and looked around. 

The coast was clear.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she clutched her bag and speed walked towards the elevator. The coast was clear. She wasn’t looking forward to driving home in a messy diaper, but she could roll down the windows, and it’d be almost time for a diaper change when she got home anyways. 

Pressing the call button, Mary danced her weight from foot to foot. Come on, come on, just get here already…

*Ding*. The doors opened and Mary stepped inside, hammering the ground floor button. “Close, close, come on, dammit-” 

“Hold the door!” 

Frantically, Mary pressed the door close button, praying that it’d shut in time. Finally, the doors began to shut, moving like glaciers, slow and implacable, until-

A sensible heel moved between the doors, attached to a shapely leg, as Katherine caught the elevator. “Almost missed it!” she declared, as the doors opened for her. 

Stepping inside, she glanced at Mary, frowning. “Do I know you?” 

Mary shrugged, trying to sound gruff. “Just a contractor, ma’am.” 

“Hmm.” Katherine pushed the ground floor button, sniffing as the door shut. 

Please. Please don’t, just don’t- 

Her nose wrinkled, and Katherine looked down at Mary. “Hmm.” 

Just think that I farted. Don’t question it. Just- 

Reaching down, Katherine hitched up the back of Mary’s dress without warning, making her diaper plainly visible. “That’s what I thought.” 

“I-” Mary stammered. “That is-” 

“You thought you’d break in and steal some information about the cover?” Katherine suggested. “Well, I can’t blame you for trying.” 

“So… I can go?” Mary asked, hopefully. 

Katherine laughed, reaching towards the elevator buttons and pressing the emergency stop. “Oh, hell no. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.” 

The speaker in the elevator chimed. “What’s wrong?” 

Katherine spoke up clearly, so that the microphone could pick up her voice. “I’m going to need security to meet me at the ground floor, we’ve got a trespasser who needs to be dealt with.” 

…

CLICK. 

The camera flashed, taking a clear photo of Mary for the security office’s records. They’d taken her scarf, her sunglasses, even her ballcap, and she’d had to take her hair down. At least she’d been allowed to put her normal glasses back on, but still - her collar was plainly visible, and she was completely recognizable. 

“Turn to the side,” the photographer said. 

Mary obeyed, blushing. She’d initially protested being detained by security, but when Katherine pointed out that she could always just call the cops and have them handle processing, Mary had conceded that maybe the office security would be better. 

CLICK. Another photo was taken of her from the side, alongside the whiteboard with her name, date of birth, and ‘TRESPASSING’ written in big, block letters. 

Katherine, who was standing by the way, frowned. “Hold it.” 

“What?” Mary demanded, exasperated. 

“Yeah, can we hurry this up? Room stinks,” the photographer complained. 

Mary flushed, as Katherine walked over. “Take another set of photos. I want it to be clear why she was trespassing.” Reaching down, she pulled up Mary’s sundress, showing off her sodden diaper. “Okay, now.” 

CLICK. 

“That all, ma’am?” the security photographer asked, stepping back and pinching his nose. 

“You’re done, Bill,” Katherine confirmed, dropping Mary’s dress. “I’ll handle her paperwork.” 

“What about me?” Mary asked, lowering the sign. “Can I go?” 

“No.” Katherine pointed to a chair. “You’ll wait there until I say you can go.” 

Fuming, Mary walked over and sat down. She didn’t even care that much that her diaper squelched beneath her, she was just watching the clock. 

Ethan was supposed to change her diaper in an hour. If she took a lyft home instead of riding the bus, it’d still be fifteen minutes or more, and if she missed the window to change, she would be stuck in her diaper until morning. 

“I’ll admit, I didn’t take you for wearing a dress,” Katherine said, sitting down at the security desk and going through Mary’s bag. 

“Yeah?” Mary grumbled. “What did you take me for?” 

“Something with pockets,” Katherine said, shrugging as she pulled the hard drive out of the bag. 

Plugging it in, she scanned the contents, ‘tsked’, and said, “Yeah, I’m just formatting this whole thing.” 

“Fair.” Mary tapped her foot on the floor. 

“What’s your phone password? I need to make sure you didn’t copy anything there, either,” Katherine said. 

“I didn’t,” Mary lied. 

Katherine simply looked at her deadpan. “What’s the password?” 

“My birthday,” Mary admitted. It was a bit embarrassing to admit such an obvious password, though in her defense she only used it for the phone lock screen. 

Katherine typed it in, then began going through files. To her credit, she didn’t look anywhere she didn’t have to - Mary’s text messages went undisturbed. 

After ten minutes, and some liberal deleting of information, Katherine said, “Here. Ethan’s worried about you.” 

Mary looked up in time to see Katherine toss her the phone. Checking the messages, she saw three texts and a voicemail. 

Ethan: Hey, when are you getting home? 

Ethan: Haven’t heard from you in a while. Getting nervous. 

Ethan: Are you okay? Please respond. 

Typing quickly, Mary just explained that she was fine, but being held up with a work thing. She didn’t want to go into much more detail, since that’d mean explaining what she’d been up to. 

Katherine was meticulously sorting the contents of Mary’s bag, searching for any more hard drives. There was nothing else in the bag, but she took her time anyways, minutes slipping by as she went through it. 

Finally, she was done, and she swept the various sundries into the bag without another thought.

Thirty minutes had elapsed. To have a chance at a change, she’d have to leave soon. 

“Can I go now?” Mary asked, tapping her foot on the floor. “I-” 

“Give me some time... to think about it,” Katherine said, smirking. “I think… no.” 

Mary frowned, getting to her feet. “Why?” 

“Call it a vindictive streak,” Katherine said, grinning. “You broke into my office. Do you think I’d just let you leave without a little payback?” 

Mary felt herself go pale. “So… what are you saying?” 

“That you can take your smelly tush home in about half an hour,” Katherine explained, sitting back with a satisfied smile. 

“That’s not fair!” Mary almost stamped her foot, before realizing how petulant that would make her seem. “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s a total abuse of authority!” 

Katherine smiled back at her, relaxed in her office chair. After a moment’s consideration, she shook her head. “You’re right.” 

“So I can leave?” Mary asked, stepping forward to take her bag. 

“No. Sit back down.” Reaching for her pocket, Katherine pulled out her own cell phone, eyeing Mary. 

Realizing she had the choice to either comply or get into even more trouble, Mary sat back down with a squish. 

The phone rang twice, and Katherine spoke. “Yes, Ethan?” 

Mary blinked, looking up in surprise. 

“We’ve had a security breach at the office, and it’s looking like it was your fault. Yes, that’s right. I’m going to need you to be here bright and early at 6:30 to fix this.” 

Mary felt cold. 6:30? But that’s-

“Yes, I’m aware that that’s before Mary will have her morning diaper change. I’m afraid I have to insist, though. This…” she looked at Mary, smirking. “Leak… was your fault. If she needs to change, she’s welcome to come to the office with you and use the facilities in the lab. Uh-huh. Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Mary gaped, realizing that - at the bare minimum - she was now going to be denied a change until the next day at one in the afternoon. 

“Now that,” Katherine said, showing her teeth. “Is an abuse of power. Don’t you dare try to break into my office again, understand?” 

Anger burned hot in Mary’s emotions, but it was tempered, because she knew something Katherine didn’t. 

She could let the CEO have her little victory. Mary might be the one stuck in her diapers for most of a day, but Katherine was the one who had lost, all things considered. 

Mary’s dress did have pockets, and one of those pockets had a thumb drive inside. Humiliation notwithstanding, Mary had gotten what she came for. 

Shuffling uncomfortably, Mary decided to send Ethan another text. 

Mary: Remind me, how long will that cream work to prevent diaper rash?