Undercover Boss

The CEO entered the room. Sat before him was his divisional manager, Tess. She had 20 years experience in the industry and was very well thought of in business circles.

"We seem to be suffering a decline in performance in our flagship hotel. I am hearing negative reports on the level of service. I feel this stems from weak management. I need to get to the root of the issue. i am asking you to go undercover and report back to me on where things are going wrong. I'll need you to go into a position on the bottom level so you can witness operations from that perspective. Think you can do this for me?"

"Sure boss" Tess responded.

"OK great, you can start next Monday in the Regal. I'm thinking start in the bar. This should give you a good insight into how things are working there. I'll need you to stay a couple of weeks. Tess, you report to James Hardy, the bar manager.He is unaware of who you are, and may be the main focus of your task. As far as he knows it's just a new employee arriving as directed by HR to their new appointment."

Monday came around and Tess found herself in reception, asking for James. He appeared and a smirk crossed his face. "who is this knockout?" he thought to himself. She was an elegant woman with a lovely head of brunette hair flowing onto her shoulders. "This one is going to liven up the bar, that's for sure" 

"I'm Tess, I'm here to start in the bar"

"yes of course, just come this way with me, we'll go through the basics and get you sorted with uniform"
They went into the bar and he went through till operation, stock system, and location of the various items stocked and sold in the bar area.
"Now, uniform.. we need employees to wear a white shirt, black vest, and our bar staff tie" He pulled one out of a drawer. It was navy blue with yellow diamond pattern.

"you can have this one, follow me and we'll get you a vest and a shirt"

"no need for the shirt, I have one at home" Tess said

"OK great, just make sure it's a neat fit with a stiff collar. That is standard for the hotel staff"

Tess was going to go to her husbands tailor. She wasn't going to wear a hotel issue standard shirt. She may be going undercover as a bar worker but she wouldn't compromise on the quality of the clothing she was going to wear. After all she would be here a couple of weeks.
She took a cab to her husbands tailor shop. 

"hello Tess" Mr Smith the tailor beamed as she walked in, "what can I do for you today?. Does your husband need a new suit?"

"No, it's me that needs something today. Something has come up for work.. I need a white shirt"

"Ok, no problem. I don't think I've fitted you up before, let me take some measurements."

Tess slipped out of her coat and readied herself. Mr Smith took her arm and chest measurements. He then looped the tape around her neck.

"I need to wear a tie with this shirt. So I'd like it to be a good fit"

"Oh?" Mr Smith responded, an element of surprise in his voice. "very good.. I shall take it a little higher up." He took the measurement a little higher up her neck. " I take it you'll want a stiff collar?"

"Yes. It's for a formal work outfit and it will need to be presentable as such. I'll need 3 shirts"

"That's no problem, I'll get someone working on it straight away. Just a thought I had.. I can make 3 slightly different collar sizes.. one size of the exact measurement I took, 13.5 inches. One 13.25, and one 13.75. Sometimes the actual fit can need to be a little larger or smaller depending on when the shirt is actually on the person. Or it may depend on the occasion of course. You may feel the need for a slightly closer collar fit when wearing a tie"

"Ok, sounds good. I like your thinking. How long do you think before they will be ready?" Tess asked.

"Give me about 3 hours, me and my associate will start straight away"

Tess returned later that day.

"Hello Tess, everything is ready. We've stitched you 3 high standard shirts. I'm sure you will wear them well"

"Excellent. I might try one on." 

"Of course. Right this way" 

Mr Smith directed Tess to the changing area out the back. She took the shirt with the collar size 13.5 inches and slipped it on. It felt very new, the cool linen felt smooth on her skin, and the smell of the new material had the fresh tone of starch. She buttoned up leaving the collar open. She stopped a moment and thought to herself whether she had ever closed the collar on a shirt before.. "nope, don't think so" She fastened the collar. It was a slightly strange new sensation. The stiff starch was both cool and warm. She looked in the mirror and noted the slight sense of restriction the collar brought. All of her neck was in contact with the collar, it really was a perfect fit. She came out of the dressing room and Mr Smith admired his good work. 

"Looking very well there Tess. I knew you would wear these shirts well. How is the collar? Good fit?"

"You certainly wouldn't forget it's there" she said smiling. She pulled out the uniform tie from her bag. "I've never worn one of these. Can you do the honours please Mr Smith?"

"Certainly. Lift up your collar"

She flicked up her collar. She could feel the stiff points of the collar against her cheeks. He draped the tie around her neck. She could feel him pull the tie against the back of her neck, lining it up with the collar. He looped the tie around itself and formed the knot. Again, a strange but welcome sensation went through her as she listened to the swoosh as he pulled the material through to form a firm knot.  She wondered what this would feel like when he tightened it up all the way to her neck. She found that she didn't mind the thought of that one little bit. She almost wanted to find out. He pulled on the smaller shorter part of the tie and proceeded to finish the task. She felt an un-explainable sense of  curiosity once again at the sound of the material slipping through itself. It rang through her ears. There was a feeling that resonated through her as the fabric which had formed into the solid tie knot closed in slowly around her tightly collared throat. He slid the knot up all the way until it wouldn't go any further. He then turned down her collar. Once the collar was down he observed that the knot may now have another little bit to go. He tugged on the smaller shorter part once more and cinched the tie up. Definitely no further to go now.

Tess pulled away. Things were definitely tighter around her neck now. Not to the point of any discomfort, but the addition of the tie had accentuated the presence of the collar.

"Wow, you certainly have the skills when it comes to tying ties. I must say I like what I see. And I like how it feels too actually"

"My pleasure. An outfit is only as good as the peg that it sits on", he said with a grin.

She looked in the mirror. The collar and tie looked fantastic she thought. The collars straight, stiff, clean lines were keenly wrapped around the skin of her neck. There was no gap visible, which she liked... and the tie knot was, in turn, unmercifully taught at the button of her collar. 

"'I'll leave it on for now. Need to get used to this for my first day tomorrow". Tess said as she left the shop. She liked the thought of leaving it on.

As she sat into the cab all her thoughts strayed to what the 13.25 inch collared shirt would feel like on. She made up her mind that that was the one she would wear tomorrow. She'll need help tying her tie though. Maybe that cocky bar manager can help. She liked the thought of him tying a tie on her. It can be his first test, she'll see what he's made of after that. She then realised that she'll be arriving open collared. She won't know how the smaller collar will feel until she fastens it before he ties her tie. Her present collar was tight, and there didn't seem to be any room to give for a smaller collar. She was willing to go for it though.. she enjoyed the sense of anticipation.

She arrived the next morning and the bar manager greeted her. "ready for day 1?"

"Almost, can you help me with my tie?"

"Oh sure, no problem" he said as she passed him the tie.

She went to fasten the collar. She struggled initially to get it closed

"That collar sure does look like it might be a bit small? how long since you wore this shirt? you can leave the top button undone and we can continue for today. you can get a new one for tomorrow after you finish work today" he said

She persisted and managed to fasten the collar. She moved her neck to see if there was any slack. The collar moved solidly with her neck. This collar was tight! A little blush crossed her cheeks. She knew that he knew how tight this collar was by the way he stared at her neck.

"No, I think I'm fine"

"Up to you! I don't want you throttling yourself on your first day here! " He said jokingly.

He formed a small firm 4 in hand knot with a perfect length down to the top of her skirt. He quickly slipped the knot up around her collar. He may have known the collar was tight but he wasn't compromising on the tightness of the tie. She was impressed with the cool calculated manner in which he fashioned and positioned the tie. It felt nice to be asserted on by her manager.. she felt a little vulnerable, like she had been tethered. She just stood there blushing in a tight collar and tie for everyone to see.

"There you go. I will say that the tie looks so much better with a collar like yours.  I like the way you persist with it and not let a little bit of discomfort put you off maintaining the integrity of your uniform. Hopefully your fashion sense rubs off on the others. I'm always trying to instill a bit of pride in the uniform, you could be a valuable ally in my quest!"

She began to think this guy is alright and began to think that he was not in fact the root of this hotels problems. She had a quick look in the mirror, rubbed her hand over the knot of the tie and gave it a little tug to test it. It was going nowhere, it would be like this for the day.

Nice

I like the start :-)
Hope to read more...

Very nice indeed!