CHAPTER 5 - WORK
She’s going to steal something
today. She knew it the moment she woke
up. Phone calls to her mother tend to
have that effect. The announcer on her
clock radio says tomorrow will be unseasonably
warm, but today a front is coming through
with blustery winds. Going for, “Aren’t
you freezing?” she selects a pretty
little jacket that will not impede her
short skit from flirting in the breeze.
After one last, approving over the shoulder
look she climbs down from the bathtub
and hurries for the elevator.
“
Stand clear the closing doors!” Lurch...
touch. There are no seats on the subway
so, reluctantly, she shoves her way to
the pole. She doesn’t like standing
because her ass is a magnet for “accidental” touches.
These are easier to ignore in winter but
today’s short jacket offers little
protection. Of course, if she didn’t
wear the “fuck me” heels
and minis in the first place...
She has fantasies about the train. It’s
always very late, she’s the
only one in the car and there are
no policemen
in sight.
42nd Street. She flows out with the
crowd and runs for the shuttle.
It’s a
pain working on the East Side and
living on the west. Nine minutes later,
her little
skirt if flicking back and forth
as her heels click up the stairs. Men
always
watch when she climbs, and sometimes
push to get behind her. Often she hears
groans
and expletives in Spanish. She likes
being provocative. But some day she knows,
she
will pay for it.
Third Avenue. The bus is just pulling
out. Given the traffic it’ll be
faster to walk the eight blocks to 50th.
She’ll still be late. Maybe her
boss will punish her. No, she’s
given up on that, though she knows damn
well he can’t keep his eyes
off the merchandise.
Cressid is an “executive assistant,” a euphemism for
secretary-do-everything-drudge-for-crap-money. Ordinarily, breakfast
is coffee and a bagel or a piece of fruit picked up at the Korean's,
but today there’s a big proposal due and she has to skip it.
Lots of typing, changes, charts and graphs. In a way it’s
good. Ever since she got the idea that somebody might be spying
on her at night it’s been difficult keeping her hands on the
desk. But what about lunch? An hour with nothing to do can be very
dangerous. Tina’s always a good distraction, she could have
lunch with her. Talk, talk, talk, sex, sex, sex. Or, she could torture
Amy, the needy, little intern whose forever doing favors that she
doesn't want done. Gossip and chatter are Amy’s strong point.
She’s always talking to Cressid about men, though
she never seems to date herself. Her only friend is fat
Margo down in word
processing.
Speak of the devil. Fat Margot’s in the coffee nook, clutching
a bag of Krispy Kreams, dumping packets of equal in her tea like
a junky on a diet.
“
Morning Margot.”
Margot smiles sourly while Cressid pours
coffee and waits for access to the half-pint
refrigerator beneath
the counter.
Things
between
them have been cool ever since she snatched the
photo of Margot’s
six-year-old nephew. Implicating Amy had been the real coup, or
so she thought until the whole thing backfired, and for three endless
weeks she had Amy weeping on her shoulder. Call it karma. Eventually,
Margot relented and the two resumed their friendship. But since
then, things don’t sit quite right. Maybe it’s
ESP.
Fat Margot leaves; Cressid pours the
milk and hurries
to her desk. It’s a big proposal and she becomes totally absorbed. At 2:15
Tina’s on the intercom: “That’s it, I’m
starving, I’m going to lunch.”
Tina hits the salad bar, .Cressid orders
Pizza, and they meet at a favorite corner
of the atrium.
“
Why are you so quiet?” Tina starts.
“
I didn’t sleep much last night.”
“
Anybody I know?”
“
I wish.”
“
Kenny’s friend is real cute.”
“
No fix-ups.”
“
You’re so boring.”
“
Tell me about your weekend.”
“
Which part?”
“
You know.”
“
Well, we went to the movies first. It was cold! Did you go out Saturday?
That wind! Anyway... you know Kenny can’t keep his hands off
me, even in the movies. Like I’m sitting slumped down with
my knees up on the front seat, and he kind of leans over, pretends
to be getting his coke, then he puts his hand...”
Cressid gobbles her pizza and
lets her mind float. All she can
think
about
is the box
in her closet
and what
she’s going to steal
today. Tina’s story doesn’t help. Fuckin’ Kenny’s
only got one thing on his mind… Just like Cressid. The gnawing
hunger in her stomach begins to subside. Suddenly, she’s locked
in her room again. Such a persistent, hateful memory. “Come
on, we’d better get back.”
It’s almost seven when she drops the proposal on her boss’s
desk, and heads for the elevators. By now most of the cubicles are
empty. Tina’s long gone. She slips into Tina’s “office” and
ducks down into the seat. It’s
all there. Pictures of Kenny and
two other guys, the a six inch
high teddy bear seated on top
of her monitor. Cressid slides
open the center drawer. What a
mess. Pens, pencils, emery board,
paper clips, gum, whiteout --
birth
control pills? For a second everything
seems very quiet. She screams
angrily at her mother through
the locked bedroom door and weeps.
What this world needs is a pregnant
Tina.
The moment her finger touches
the button the elevator dings.
She jumps
and her
hand closes
around the
dispenser. Descending,
she
imagines lots of little Tinas
running around. That’ll teach
her to be so promiscuous. Slut, slut, Tina the slut.
She slaps herself mentally. Where
does she come off trashing her
friend.
Bad Girl.
