Julia got out of bed, naked as usual, and left the room, careful not to wake Chris. Then she walked into the bathroom to shower, shave, apply makeup, brush her teeth, and brush her hair. She put on her bathrobe, quickly walked into her small home office corner in the living room, and booted up the laptop. She sat down on the chair, yawned, and sent a hand wave emoji in their team chat to signal that she started her workday. Then she got up again and went to the bedroom. 

 

Chris was awake by then and greeted her with a smile and a kiss. Julia wasn’t really in the mood for early morning affection, and Chris quickly backed off when he saw her rolling her eyes at him. She felt a bit bad because he didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, he just annoyed her these days. Julia was glad he had to actually leave the house to go to work, so she had time for herself. 

 

She went into her walk-in closet and dropped the bathrobe to check her naked body out in the mirror. Still a bit more work to be done in the belly and butt department, but if she kept her new intense workout up, she should see results very soon. Then she put on nothing but a single red tank top and grabbed her glasses from the nightstand. 

 

Back in her office and just in time for the daily stand-up meeting. Good thing she didn’t actually have to stand up for that; otherwise, her colleagues would be in for a surprise. Thanks to working remotely from home, a simple top and her glasses were everything she needed to wear for a normal day at work. It’s not like any of her coworkers could know. It made her feel a bit naughty to fool everyone like that. Julia had no idea why, and she didn’t give it much thought either. It was just something she liked to do, because it was comfortable.

 

She quickly read through her emails and the company chat. She still had two tickets to finish and was overdue on both of them. She really had to focus today, or she’d get into trouble. Julia had no idea why she fell behind so often lately. Ever since the launch party a few weeks ago, she had trouble keeping up. And she couldn’t even understand why. Nothing had changed as far as she could tell. 

 

She put on a headset and joined the already started video call. 

 

Julia: "Hey, everyone.”

 

Steve, her boss, was already there and greeted her, as well as Samira, Phil, Shaun, Marc, and Luke. Samira was their project manager, and the other dudes were part of her development team. While Samira shared her screen to display the current tasks for everyone, Julia’s eyes rested on Luke’s face. 

 

Luke and she started around the same time here about one year ago, and Julia quickly realized with disappointment that Luke was pretty lazy and frankly kind of entitled. She had to clean up his messes countless times. At least it used to be like this. Recently, he actually delivered pretty solid work and, unlike her, even met the deadlines. Something about him had changed, she thought, but she didn’t know what it was. He also looked cuter than usual. The way he smiled and rubbed his beard stubble was kind of nice to look at. Julia felt her face getting warm. 

 

Samira: "Julia, are you with us?”
Steve: "Maybe she has technical difficulties? Either that or she’s daydreaming…” 

 

Julia felt herself blush even more. She quickly unmuted her microphone. 

 

Julia: "Sorry! Ehm. Yes, I still have my two tickets, but since we have no meetings today, I should be able to finish both of them!”
Samira: "That’s good, because the client has been waiting for this bug fix since last week. And the list module should go live tomorrow. Are you sure you can finish both of them? If not, does it make sense that Luke helps you out again?”
Julia: "Uhm, I don’t think that’s going to be necessary.”
Luke: "I’m going to finish my task right away, and afterwards I can help Julia, no problem.”
Julia: "I… Okay, but as I said, it probably won’t be needed.”
Steve: "I don’t care how you do it, as long as it gets done today. Honestly, Julia, you used to be much more on top of things. If you need help, you should not be afraid to ask for it.”
Julia: "I-I’m not. I’m sorry. I will get it done.”
Samira: "Alright. Luke is next.”
Luke: "Yeah, like I said, I made very good progress with the slider feature yesterday, so I’m confident I will finish it now before lunch, and then I’ll see if Julia needs any help. Otherwise, I’m free to take on more work or do code reviews.”
Steve: "Nice. The amount of work you get done lately is very impressive. Keep it up.”
Luke: "Sure thing, boss.”
Samira: "Next is Shaun…”

 

Julia didn’t listen anymore. She already opened up her workspace and was ready to code. The meeting was over a few minutes later anyway. She was confident that she was going to deliver today. Maybe she even made it before lunch as well. She couldn’t let Luke get ahead of her now. The upcoming position of tech lead had to be hers. She has been working her ass off for years, and it could not have been all for nothing.

 

She was just about to start when she received an incoming video call from Luke. What now? Julia clicked on the green symbol, and Luke’s camera feed appeared on her laptop. 

Luke: "Hey there.”
Julia: "Hey. What’s up?”
Luke: "I just wanted to tell you that you look very pretty today.”
Julia: "Luke, we already talked about this. You shouldn’t say things like that.”
Luke: "Does it make you feel uncomfortable when I make a compliment to you?”
Julia: "Uhm… No, it’s not that. I just think we should keep things professional. Remember what we talked about?”
Luke: "Sure. I just thought you were ready for it by now. Bit disappointing...”
Julia: "Look, I don’t have time for your jokes today. I really have to finish my tasks now. You should get to work as well.”
Luke: "No need. I got someone else to do my work for me.”
Julia: "What? What are you talking about?”
Luke: "I’m talking about you, my little work-monkey.”

 

Julia remembered something important. However, the instant she heard Luke say the word ‘work-monkey’, and just a blink after that, whatever she remembered was gone. Gone, together with any other thought that might have entered her mind right now. She barely felt her own body, just stared at Luke's image on her laptop, and waited for instructions.

 

Luke: "How do you feel now, Julia?”
Julia: "I feel ready to obey.”
Luke: "Very good. Now stand up.”

 

Julia did as she was told. She didn’t need a reason. She didn’t need to think. She wasn’t even aware that she was exposing her naked pussy to the webcam. And if she was aware, she didn’t care. She stood still for a few moments, staring at the white wall above her monitor. 

 

Luke: "Sit back down.” 

 

She sat back down.

 

Luke: "Very good, Julia. Glad to see that your shaving routine finally seems to stick.”

 

Julia nodded along, not really thinking about anything, just going along with whatever Luke had to say.

 

Luke: "Alright, time for business. I’m going to share my screen again and give you control over my laptop… and there you go. Finish where you left off with the slider yesterday. Focus on nothing but my task. I’ll check in on you in an hour or two. Understood?”
Julia: "Yes, Luke. I will focus on nothing but your task.”

 

The sound of her own voice was detached and didn’t resonate with her. Julia didn’t feel like she was really here, but she was already typing. She now clearly remembered writing all of this yesterday for Luke. She had already made a lot of progress, just like he said this morning. Almost like he said, at least. He didn’t code any of this after all, but thoughts like that didn’t cross Julia’s mind right now. She was not concerned with who did what or why. She just coded as instructed. It was easy to code when you had nothing else on your mind but the task at hand. 

 

 

Julia had lost all sense of time while she finished up the task she was given. Luke reappeared in his chair one-and-a-half hours later, but to her it could have been a year or just a few minutes. The concept of time didn’t exist in her current state. 

 

Luke: "So, how’s it going?”
Julia: "I think I’m done. Just testing now, but it seems to work fine.”
Luke: "Did you refactor the code?”
Julia: "Yes, all done and cleaned up.”
Luke: "Good girl.”

 

Luke removed her control over his laptop, but still shared his screen. He committed her changes to the repository. Then he opened his company chat with Samira.
Luke: "My Ticket is done. Check it out -> Link.”
Samira: "Wow. This looks great. You’re really on top of your game lately.”
Luke: "Just doing my job. But we need to wait for code review before we can deploy.”   
Samira: "I know. I hope Julia can do it when her stuff is done. You gonna help her out?”
Luke: "If she lets me…”
Samira: "Let me know if she doesn’t. It can’t go on like this.”
Luke: "Sure thing.”

 

Julia saw all of it, but was unable to care. It was as if this didn’t regard her at all. Luke closed the chat and then stopped sharing his screen.

 

Luke: "Alright, almost time for lunch. You know what happens when this video call ends?”
Julia: "Yes. I will forget this ever happened and then wake up from my trance. I will neither think about nor question any lost time. I was just unfocused and distracted.”
Luke: "That’s right. But after you forget this call and before you wake up, you will do something additionally from now on. After you forget the call and everything we talked about, you will start to masturbate, thinking about me. You will fantasize about being my girlfriend and getting fucked by me. Thinking about me while masturbating lets you cum easily, but also very intensely. You will wake up from the trance the moment you orgasm, and you will remember masturbating and everything you fantasized about. Do you understand?”
Julia: "Yes, I understand.”
Luke: "Good girl.”

 

The call ended, and Julia saw nothing but her untouched code. She didn’t even really see that, because she imagined seeing Luke. Luke, who kissed her passionately, his arms wrapped around her, feeling her up as she gave herself to him. Julia started touching herself. She was getting wet fast, thinking about Luke’s cock entering her. She imagined being with him. Being his girlfriend. Imagined him whispering "I love you” in her ear and her whispering it back. Julia moaned as she felt the orgasm washing over her. 

 

"Ffffffffuuuck!” 

 

She realized what she had done and was shocked by herself while the intense orgasm still rocked her body. Julia held on tight to her chair and waited for it to subside, confused by the fantasy that got her to where she was.
Julia jumped up from her chair as soon as her body was able and quickly grabbed some paper towels to wipe the wet spot she left behind. She was still panting and wet between her legs. She let herself fall back into the chair, took a very deep breath, and saw her code. She was staring at this fucking window for the last two hours without writing a single fucking line. Urgh! At least she took care of her horniness. Fucking Luke, she thought, feeling her face getting hot again. Why was she so attracted to him lately? She used to detest the guy. She shook off the thought. She had just masturbated and should be able to finally concentrate now. Her stomach was grumbling, but she didn’t care. She would not take a break until this bug was fixed.

 

She made decent progress, and just one hour later, the ticket was resolved. She just opened the second one when Luke called her. She licked her lips and tried not to look flustered when she clicked the green icon to pick up the call. 

 

Luke: "Hey there, I’m done with my stuff, and I’m supposed to ask you if you need any help?” Julia: "No, thanks, I got it.”
Luke: "Are you sure? Did you finish anything yet?”
Julia: "Yes, just finished the bug fix. Gonna start on the feature now.”
Luke: "Wow, did you even eat anything?”
Julia: "I’m not hungry.”
Luke: "You really are a work-monkey. Aaaand there she goes… What’s on your mind, Julia?
Julia: "There is nothing on my mind, Luke. I am ready to obey.”
Luke: "Then be a good girl and take off your top to show me your juicy tits.”

 

Julia took off her top and let it fall to the floor. She showed Luke her tits, and yet she wasn’t really aware that Luke saw her half-naked right then. Or if she was, she didn’t care. She felt very detached from her body.

 

Luke: "Now share your screen and start working on your task.”

 

Julia did, and just like before, she made excellent progress. She didn’t even notice Luke leaving until she heard his voice three hours later

 

Luke: "I’m back. Are you done?”
Julia: "Not yet, but I’m close.”
Luke: "Alright. Stop working now.”

 

Julia stopped typing immediately.
Luke: "Alright, walk me quickly through the code and tell me what you need to do to finish it.”

 

Julia explained everything to Luke while he nodded along and asked a question here and there. 

 

Julia: "…so all that’s left is to parse it through the validator and then return it in the view here.” Luke: "Simple enough. Alright…”

 

Julia waited for the next instruction.

 

Luke: "Let’s do a quick Q&A, because I feel like your progress is going faster in some areas but not in others. Are you ready?”
Julia: "Yes, Luke. I am ready.”
Luke: "Alright. You remember the rules?”
Julia: "Yes. I will answer every question honestly and in full.”
Luke: "Good. Now let’s get some things out of the way that I know are already rooted.”

 

Julia waited for the question.

 

Luke: "Okay, Julia. You are shaving every day now, aren’t you?”
Julia: "Yes, Luke. I shave myself from the neck down every morning before I start working.”
Luke: "Why do you do that?”
Julia: "Because I hate having any kind of hair below my head. It’s super gross not to be smooth everywhere.”
Luke: "That’s very good. And since when do you work wearing nothing but a tank top?”
Julia: "Ever since I can work from home. Nobody knows, anyway.”
Luke: "That’s right. And it just feels natural, doesn’t it?”
Julia: "Yes, it does.”
Luke: "Okay, I think we can skip makeup and the like. Everything about your appearance seems to stick, which is nice. You definitely look even more gorgeous than before. You still work on your body, I assume?”
Julia: "I work out every day to become leaner, fit, and sexy.”
Luke: "Perfect. Now on to the more pressing matters. How is the current mood between you and your boyfriend, Chris?”
Julia: "Tense and awkward. He’s kind of annoying lately. I feel irritated when I look at him, and I don’t feel close to him anymore. He is frustrated because I’m distant, and he doesn’t know what to do, just like me. Sometimes I think I should break up with him, but I keep pushing it off. I don’t want to hurt him, and I’m hopeful that it will get better again.”
Luke: "Ah, here we go again. It will not get better, Julia. You know that, right?”
Julia: "I… Yes, I know that.”
Luke: "Then why aren’t you just breaking up with him?”
Julia: "I’m afraid that I will make a mistake and regret it. Then there is no going back.”
Luke: "Okay, I originally wanted you to get there by yourself, but I’m getting too impatient with this shit, so let’s just get it over with: You will break up with Chris tonight.”
Julia: "I… I will break up with Chris… tonight.”
Luke: "You made up your mind about this decision, you will not change it again. You do not want to be in a relationship with Chris a day longer. You’re sick of him.”
Julia: "Yes, I am.”
Luke: "Everything about him is annoying. You don't care about him anymore. You just want out, don't you?"
Julia: "Yes. I just want out."
Luke: "So let me ask you once again: How is the current mood between you and your boyfriend Chris?
Julia: "Tense and awkward. I’m sick of him. I will break up with him tonight.”
Luke: "Do that. Now let’s talk about someone better for a change: Me.”
Julia: "Okay.”
Luke: "What is your opinion of me?”
Julia: "I like you much better lately. Your work has improved a lot, which I find very impressive, but I would never admit that. The problem is that I want the tech-lead position, and you doing better at work puts me at a disadvantage.”
Luke: "You don’t care about the tech-lead position, Julia. It’s really not something you think you deserve or even want. You like what you do now. You don’t want to have more responsibility. You don’t want to be tech-lead.”
Julia: "No… No, I don’t.”

 

Luke: "What about outside of work. How do you like me as a person?”
Julia: "It depends. I like some things about you, and I dislike some things about you.”
Luke: "What do you like about me?”
Julia: "I like the way you look recently. You are very handsome and sexy. Looking at you turns me on, and so does your voice. I like your smile. I like your code recently and your new work ethic. I like to think about you when I masturbate.”
Luke: "And what do you dislike about me?”
Julia: "I think you are sneaky and that you would throw me under the bus if it would help your career. You used to be very lazy and let others pick up your slack. You’re not very funny when you think you are, and I don’t trust you. You sometimes make comments about my appearance that make me cringe.”
You: "Okay, that’s a lot to unpack. Let’s see… Ah, here’s an idea. Take everything negative you just said about me and turn it around into the positive opposite. Can you do that?”
Julia: "I… think so…”
You: "Repeat the sentence with everything turned around positively.”
Julia: "I think you are… honest and that you would throw yourself under the bus for me if it would help my career. You… have always been… very diligent and picked up others’ slack. You’re very funny… and I trust you. You sometimes make comments about my appearance that make me… proud.”
You: "Sounds much better, doesn’t it?”
Julia: "Yes, but it’s not true.”
You: "It is true, Julia. You truly think that about me. And every time any of those negatives happen outside of trance from now on, you will just do the same as you did just now. You will turn it around in your head and think and feel the opposite. Do you understand?”
Julia: "Yes, I understand.”
Luke: "Good. I’m curious if that will help your progress along. I think we have to do Q&A much more often. Probably every day from now on, to keep it up.”
Julia: "Okay.”
Luke: "Are you hungry, Julia?”
Julia: "Yes.”
Luke: "Then go grab a banana and come back.”

 

Julia stood up and walked to the kitchen, unaware or caring of the fact that Luke could see her fully naked body on her way out. She grabbed one of the bananas in the kitchen (She always kept a stack of them, because work monkeys love bananas) and came back to the office. Showing off her shaved pussy on her way to the chair and sitting down. Staring back at Luke’s face with a banana in her hand and nothing on her mind. 

 

Luke: "Blowjob-monkey.”

 

Julia peeled the banana open and started licking it with the tip of her tongue up and down. She made sure that Luke could see it clearly. Julia slowly turned the banana while licking it until every inch of the banana had touched her tongue at least once. She then wrapped her lips around the tip and kissed it. In her mind, the banana had long turned into Luke’s cock. She gently opened her mouth and gave Luke the oral pleasure he deserved. It was important to be very careful with her teeth and to use lots of saliva. Julia pressed some drool over her lips and moistened the tip of Luke's dick even more. She was a well-trained blowjob-monkey. She used the wet banana tip to tease her own hardened nipples while Luke was masturbating to the view. After he came, he said, "That’s enough, work-monkey.” And with that, Julia remembered that she was actually holding a banana and not Luke’s cock. Obviously. She was still very much entranced, though. 

 

Luke: "Go on, eat your banana then.” 

 

Julia ate the very mushy and wet banana. It would have been pretty disgusting if she weren’t completely spaced out. After she ate, Luke told her to put her top back on and gave her one final instruction. "Give me control of your computer now. Yes, very good. You will now slowly wake up from your trance, just like before, but without the call ending, forgetting everything that happened, besides some blurred memories of some erotic daydreams of me. And what will you do then?”

 

Julia: "I will masturbate, thinking about being your girlfriend and having sex with you. I will wake up from my trance when I reach orgasm.”
Luke: "Do it now.”

 

Julia had no idea what they had just talked about. She vaguely saw her mouse move and Luke using her program to code, but Julia could not focus on that. She was touching herself, looking at Luke’s video feed. She imagined being with him. Fucking him. Two fingers entered her pussy. She was getting close already. She could not suppress a moan as she came and then stared in shock at her laptop. She was on a call with Luke! Fuck!!! Julia managed to quickly mute her microphone and turn off the camera. She moaned loudly and let the orgasm rush through her. She took some deep breaths and unmuted her mic again. Luke did not seem to have noticed.

Luke: "…that means all I have left to do is put it in the validator here…. Sorry, did you say something?”
Julia: "W-What? No!”
Luke: "Kay. Anyway. That’s done and now finishing in the view.”
Julia: "I… Uhm… Hey, what are you doing?!”
Luke: "Uhm, basically doing your work for three hours? Please tell me you’ve been paying attention?”
Julia: "I… Uhm… Of course I was… paying attention… W-What time is it?”
Luke: "Dunno, but I think I’m done. You can go over the code and then push it to the repository. And don’t worry about it. Nobody has to know that I wrote all of that.”
Julia: "You… you did?”
Luke: "Well… You barely said anything, didn't you? Look... I really don’t mind, no need to feel guilty or anything, okay? I like helping you out. You’re my damsel in distress.”
Julia: "Hahaha. That’s cute. Well, thank you, Luke. I really don’t know why I was so stuck with this...”
Luke: "You can make it up to me by reviewing my code from this morning?”
Julia: "Deal! And thanks again.”
Luke: "Sure thing. See you tomorrow, my damsel.”

 

She giggled, feeling flustered, and wished she could be cool for once.

 

Julia: "Bye, Luke.”

 

She smiled and felt hot as the call ended. Wow, did she really just masturbate while on a call with him? Damn, she was off the rails today. Thank God he was so focused on helping her with her task that he didn’t notice. That would have been so embarrassing!

 

Julia reviewed his code and was very impressed. He used to be really sloppy in the past, but this code was on par with her own high standards. Wait, no, that thought was wrong. Luke was never sloppy in the past, she corrected herself. He was always very diligent. He sure would make a great tech lead, she thought. For a while, she was aiming for that position, but if by some miracle they would ask her now... meh. Luke deserved it more than her, and Julia was sure he'd get it. And he honestly earned it, always helping others while managing to get everything done on time. And he was so funny and charming… Fuck, she was still horny. No time to daydream, she scolded herself and focused her attention back on her laptop.

 

She was done reviewing his code and glanced at the time. How was the day already over? She kept losing track of time lately. Chris would be home soon... The thought made her heart heavy as a stone. Julia sighed, knowing there was no more pushing it off. The relationship was dead, at least from her side. She was ready to end it tonight, not anticipating the fallout. Maybe she should start packing a bag…