Corporate Espionage

Chapter 7
Chapter 7

Chapter Description: Mattie is taken to work...at a photo studio?

Chapter 7:

Mattie went to work the next day, just not in the same way he expected.  His mommy woke him up and changed him out of his night time diaper and into a dry daytime one.  She slipped a onesie on over him and buttoned it between his legs, and put on some socks and tennis shoes.  She fed him breakfast in his highchair, and just like that she led him back to her S.U.V., buckled him into the car seat, and drove off to greet the morning.

The boy didn’t even realize that they weren’t on the way to PharmaCorp’s headquarters until the car stopped in front of a windowless, single story building far far away.  Mattie  could tell it was far away, because when he was let out of the car he was able to see the city skyline and pinpoint the building.

“I thought we were going to work…?” Mattie said.

Mommy put a finger to his lips.  “Not all work is done at corporate, silly billy,” she cooed at him.  “Now come on.”

A sudden gust of wind reminded him that he was outside and Mattie remembered to be slightly embarrassed. Numbly, he wobbled into the new building.

Another woman, a black lady with gorgeous curly hair and crimson lipstick smiled.  “Hello,” she said in a sing-song way.  “Good morning.”  She stood behind a counter and waved to them.  The floor was shiny white and her voice echoed a little bit with how empty things were.  A couch here, some potted plants there, but otherwise the place seemed pretty, dead.

Mattie looked down at his reflection...and saw Matthew in a onesie with a big puffy diaper underneath staring back at him. Mattie gulped and put his pacifier back into his mouth.

“Is this him?” the lady said, but not to Mattie.

“Yup,” Mommy replied.  “Who else would it be?”

The two ladies chuckled.  “At this point in the operation, you’ve got a point.  If things go well, though...”

“If things go well…””

Mattie looked at the women, dumbly. “If things...go…?” 

“Hiiii,” the new pretty lady gave Mattie a hug.  He returned it and forgot what he was about to ask.  “You must be Mattie!”

Hearing someone else, someone besides Mommy,  say his name out loud like that was somehow a bit jarring.  “Mathew...actually….”

“It’s nice to meet you Mattie,” the lady bowled over him.  “I’m Miss Charlandra.  Are you ready to get your picture taken?”

“Picture...taken…?”  Mattie blinked, trying to piece things together.  “I already got my picture taken.  For my photo I.D…” he looked around at himself and only just then realized that his Employee I.D. was missing.  Reflexively, he patted himself down looking for pockets that just weren’t there.

Something else was wrong, too.  But Mattie couldn’t quite put his finger on it.  His employee I.D. was missing.  Somewhere in the back of his mind, Matthew wasn’t terribly bothered by losing it; mostly because he hadn’t intended to need it for very long.  Why was that, though.  This job with PharmaCorp was just meant to be temporary, wasn’t it?  It was like he was walking down the pathways of his mind and between today and a few days ago, somebody had put up a big mesh baby gate that he couldn't get past. 

He went straight up to it and put his face against the white mesh he could juuuust make out something in the past, but it was still hazy at best; the kind of thing where he’d have to know what he was already looking at to get noticed. 

“Right this way, and we can get started,” Miss Charlandra said.  She made a little waving gesture and started walking to a back door. Mommy grabbed Mattie by the hand and together they followed her.

As opposed to when he came home early yesterday, Mattie wasn’t surprised with what he saw when he crossed the threshold.  It was a photo studio.  Several white screens were hung up and draped onto the floor to create the illusion of a single blank plane; softboxes Mattie thought they were called.  Along the periphery of each softbox were several lighting umbrellas and a high end camera pointed front and center.  PharmaCorp had a similar setup at their headquarters albeit in a much smaller room.

Along the sides of the studio were props and racks of costumes. Civil War era uniforms hung next to cowboy outfits, military fatigues, and flapper dresses.  Rifles were propped up right beside giant lollipops, dancing canes, tennis rackets, and umbrellas.  This was a professional photo studio, alright. 

Based on what research he’d done of PharmaCorp’s corporate structure and holdings, this was likely a branch of a modeling company that PharmaCorp either owned outright or partnered with so exclusively that they might as well.

Research…?  The concept felt funny between the baby boy’s ears.  What research?  Why would he need to have done resear-?

“Okay,” Miss Charlandra said, motioning over to a blanket.  “You can take his clothes off over there.”

Matthew felt his cheeks flush.  “What?” he yelped.  His legs were already taking him to where Mommy was leading him.  “What am I going to be putting on?”

“Nothing,” Miss Ginni told him.  He was able to stop for exactly one half step before a light swat to his behind kept him in sync with his mommy.  “Don’t worry, silly, you’ll still have your diaper on.  No one is gonna see your naked butt.”  That little reassurance made Mattie feel far better than it should have.  Something about hearing that he was staying protected in his diaper triggered massive dopamine release.

His legs bent and his body gently laid itself down on the blanket, legs spreading so she could get to the snaps in his crotch more easily.  The ex-hacker didn’t even think of it.  His body just kind of took over.  It was doing more and more of that lately.  It gave Matthew more time to think but...

Ex-hacker?

Pop-Pop-Pop went the buttons of his onesie.  He planted the flats of his feet and pushed up his hips so that Mommy could lean forward and shimmy the onesie up over his diaper and past his belly button.  It was a queer sensation; one that he was simultaneously used to and second nature and unfamiliar at the same time.  Mommy reached forward and grabbed his penis, squeezing it through the thick padding encasing him.  “Still dry,” she commented.  She gave a gentler second squeeze and squinted briefly in thought.  “Maybe a liiiiitle wet,” she amended. “Hard to tell, but it won’t show up in camera.”

She must have been.louder than Mattie thought.  “Don’t worry about discoloration,” Miss Charlandra called over.  She was setting up and tinkering with one of the cameras.  “We can digitally color correct a lot in post.”

Mommy looked back after her shoulder.  “I hear they like big wet diapers, anyways!” She took a moment and wriggled off his shoes and socks for him. 

“True.  But if he poops or is a really heavy wetter, you’ll have to change them.” Miss Charlanda called back.

Like a good boy, Mattie sat up and let his mommy take the onesie the rest of the way off.  The world went blind to him for a moment as the shirt was yanked back over his head.  “Why? You can’t digitally smooth out the bulges and wrinkles or something?”

“I can,” the photographer answered.  “But there’s only so much I can do if they start sagging down his thighs or falling off his hips.”  She started trotting over to the blanket where Mattie was being undressed.

“Fair.”  Mommy reached forward and tweaked Mattie on the nose.  “Don’t want a stinky baby anyways.”

The photographer laughed, “Not in my studio!”

Mattie tingled inside and he wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad tingle.  They were talking about his bathroom habits right in front of him like he didn’t care.  Like they didn’t care.  Like it was all business.

All business?  Wasn’t there business that he was supposed to have been attending to?  Something about dia-?

“Up, up!”  Mattie’s hands were grabbed by the two ladies.  They tugged at his wrists and he stood the rest of the way over.  “Good baby!”

They didn’t release his hands. They walked him all the way over to the first softbox.   The ground there was surprisingly soft.  There must have been an extra matt on the floor or something.   “Down we go.”  Like a trained dog, Mattie sat, crinkling all the way down.  Between the comfy padding on the floor and the comfy padding on his bum he barely felt anything. 

Miss Charlandra started scooting and turning him around.  “Let’s move here...okay. Good.”  She poked his chest.  “He’s a little pale, but we can fix that in post.”

“Yeah,” Mommy agreed.  “Pretty sure he didn’t get out much before.”

The photographer’s hand went up and down Mattie’s chest. “Wow, Ginni,” she said.  “This is a really close shave.  You did good work.”

“Thanks,” Mommy smiled. “I try.”

“Whatever you used on James Bond here, do you have any left over for my legs.”

“My name’s not…”  Mattie started, but the grown-up lady stood up and walked back over to the camera. 

Mommy rolled her eyes.  “Miss Charlandra knows, baby.  She was just making a grown-up joke.”

Mattie sat there, contemplating what she meant by ‘grown-up joke’. A quick flash made his own thoughts stutter a bit.   “Perfect first shot,” the photographer said.  “Good baby!”  That made Mattie smile in surprise.  Another quick flash.  “And there’s a second.”

The boy took a look down at himself.  A perfect picture on the first and second tries?  Wow!  He had just been sitting there.  His legs naturally splayed wide so that his diaper was on full display.  “Oh Mattie!”  Mattie whipped his head up toward the camera and was blinded yet again by a rapid series of flashes.  “Good job!”

Good job!  Job...wasn’t he supposed to be doing a job right now?  Two jobs actually.  The regular one and the secret one.  Just like James Bond…

“He’s super cute!” Miss Charlandra said to Mommy.  “Do you think he’s going to be an only child, or do you think he has a little brother or sister on the way?”  That made the baby boy frown and not out of jealousy.  The way this lady talked just then...it was the way that adults...that people talked to each other when they knew someone else was listening and didn’t want them to understand.  Like a code. Like ten-seventeen.

“I think he’s the only one they’ve sent so far,” Mommy answered.  “And even if more come, he’s going to be MY only child.  Even with the massive pay raise, it’s still not enough to take care of two crinklebutts.”

The camera flashed and caught plenty of shots of Mattie looking back and forth to the two grown-ups like a spectator watching a tennis match.  “How’d you wind up with him anyways?”

Mommy shrugged non-chalantly.  “Right place.  Right time.  Computerized image search when I handed him the first trigger object.  Turns out I didn’t get as many pics from college off the internet as I thought I did.”

“Got paid on the pole?”

“Kind of.  Not exactly, but kind of.  Being a Mommy is an adjustment, but it’s not a huge step from what I used to do.”

“Do what you gotta do to make that money, honey.”

“Don’t we all?”

Money.  Yes.  Mattie...Matthew was going to make a lot of money.

“Mattie, baby!” The photographer grabbed his attention. “Do you think you could roll over and stand up for me?  Slowly?”  She traced a circle in the air as if he didn’t fully understand the concept of rolling over.

Carefully, the baby rolled over and shifted his weight over onto all fours.  From the back layer, more flashes lit up.  “Huh?” Still on all fours, Mattie looked back over his shoulder.  Another barrage of flashes lit his face up.

“Got it!”

“Oh wow,” Mommy said.  “Got his diaper butt and his face all in the same shot!  You’re really good!”

Mattie kept trying to stagger up to his feet.  The soft giving mat hidden by the softbox cover made it much trickier to stand.  It was like the crash pad in a gymnastics setting. He tried to stand up and felt the floor wobbling slightly beneath him, causing his profile to splay out; standing spread eagle.  More flashes against the wall warned Mattie not to turn around if he didn’t want his face to be photographed.

“Thanks,” Miss Charlandra talked while she snapped more pictures of the baby’s backside. “I’ve had plenty of practice working with the real babies.”

Real babies? 

Rather than turn around, Mattie accidentally fell forward.  It was only because of the extreme give of the mat that he caught himself, and feet flat footed, he ended up stopping himself from falling and staring straight at the camera through his legs. 
 
More bulb flashes lit up his face.  “Perfect!  Good baby!”

Good baby...but not real baby?  Something felt very very wrong about that.  Like maybe he shouldn’t be a baby at all.  He was a baby.  Wasn’t he?

“So are your pharmacy days over?” the photographer asked Mommy.

“Yeah,” Mommy said. “For now.”  She sounded kind of sad. “But after a few things blow over, I’ll probably be able to pay for his own private nanny and go back to work in a year or two.”

“Until then, it’ll be like your back in college.”

Mommy curled her lip.  “God I hope not.  Those guys were toxic.” She looked over at  Mattie who was just now getting his footing and able to water around.  “Yeah, I have to wipe his butt, but at least he doesn’t expect me to have sex with him.”

Sex?!

Mattie lost his balance and fell back on his but.  More flashes and photos as he sat there bewildered...wetting himself.

He had been planning to have sex.  After this job.  Lots of money.  And sex.  With a pretty girl that he’d had a crush on for the longest time.  Since he’d...since he’d been…

“Seems like he’s still getting a pretty good deal.”

...in diapers?

What was sex?

“Let’s do some action poses.”  The two ladies yanked Matthew to his feet and helped him off of the squishy mat.   “I think that’ll add nicely to the portfolio we’re building.”

“I…” Matthew started to mumble.  “I’m not supposed…to.”

The girl from the pharmacy stepped up to him and slipped two fingers into the front of his diaper.  “A little wet, but you were way wetter yesterday before you needed changies.”

“Still looks good to the camera,” Charlandra confirmed and added a thumbs up.

Mommy handed him a push toy from among the props.  It had two big yellow wheels on either side of a plastic snow globe like dome.Only instead of water and fake snow, it was filled with tiny plastic balls.  Connected to the base of the toy was a long plastic handle that branched into a T-Grip.

Mattie knew how this was supposed to work.  He’d push the toy around and the turning wheels would make a flap on the bottom inside of the dome pop up and down and send the balls crashing around.  And for some reason, it was called a ‘lawnmower toy’.

He wasn’t supposed to be doing this.  He wasn’t supposed to be playing with stupid baby toys or watching cartoons.

“No.” Matthew said.  His head suddenly felt very clear.

“Come on,” Charlandra coaxed, still busying herself with another camera.  “It’ll be fun!  All the other babies your age will think you look sooooo cute!  All their Mommies and Daddies will, too!”

“Mattie…” The girl from the pharmacy threatened.

“No.” Matthew said firmly. “I’m not doing this.”  He turned to leave.  What was he supposed to be doing?  Whatever it was, part of him was screaming that it wasn’t here.  Not here.  Not like this.  Work!  That’s right! He had to get back to work!

The would-be spy dropped the stupid push toy and started waddling towards the door. This time, he made it four steps before he was stopped.  Ginni ran in front of him like a blur.  “Mathew Walter McKinley!  Do you need to go over my knee?”
Mattie froze.  Three names?  She said all three of his names!  Red Alert! Red Alert! Code red!   “I’m sorry, Mommy!  I’ll be good! I’ll be good!”

“You better, little mister. Get your butt over there so the nice lady can keep taking your picture!”

“Yes ma’am!”

The baby boy waddled to the dropped lawn mower toy and picked it up.  He started pushing it, back and forth across the designated softbox, ignoring the camera clicks and flashes.  “Remember to smile, Mattie!”

Mattie remembered to smile.  He was too afraid of his mommy spanking him for being naughty to forget.  He stared down at the floor, looking just past the plastic dome of the push toy.  He imagined that the bits of white in the floor was grass and that each pass was him cutting another row of it. 

Mowing the lawn.

Just mowing the lawn.

Mowing the lawn like a big boy...naked except for a diaper.

Yeah.  That made sense.  Sure.

The last bit of Mattie’s doubt evaporated when he stopped mid push.  “Mattie?” Mommy asked softly. “Why’d you stop?”  He bent his knees, and did not break his unfocused gaze from the floor.  “Oh…I think I know what’s happening.”

Mattie stopped pushing with one set of muscles, and started pushing with another.  All the parts of him that were a “big boy” screamed in horror at the flashes while his diaper expanded and crinkled behind him.  He was pooping in front of this stranger, and that didn’t stop her from taking his picture.  Once more, he couldn't stop himself even if he wanted to. 

Did he want to?  For all the screaming and embarrassment inside him, there was another part just as prevalent and was nodding in affirmation. ‘Real’ or not, he was definitely a baby.  Stopping and going poo-poo or pee pee in their pants whenever they felt the need is exactly what babies did. That’s why he was wearing what he was wearing.
Finishing his business, Mattie stood up. Mommy walked around pulled back his diaper to take a peak inside.  “Yup.” She said.  Let’s take five.”

“Cool cool,” Charlandra said.  “How about you change him into one of the nighttime diapers.  We could get him in some cute poses like with his head down but his butt up and his legs all bunched up.  Maybe see if he’ll suck his toes.”

“But I’m not sleeeeeepy,” baby Mattie whined. 

Another quick swat to his mushy behind silenced him.  “It’s just pretend, baby.  Your naptime isn’t till after lunch.”

“Okay…”

The fact that he wouldn’t have to take a nap till after lunch made Mattie feel a little better.  Still, he wished he could silence the whispers in his head that something was wrong...