The Girls Club (18 page)

No.

Rather than go right home she drove them to the beach.  The sun was going down and the sky above them was turquoise.  She needed to do something for Sky.  Something to make up for her misplaced temper.  She couldn’t keep making assumptions about what people knew, Sky didn’t know that Karen felt that this Miss Heidi was involved with what happened to Demi.  The huge bail itself didn’t prove that, but it fit.  Right into Sarah’s office too.  The same Sarah who had taken Demi off her and Rochelle’s hands that night.

Sky smiled when they pulled over.

“We can’t stay long. Rosh is waiting”

Sky smiled as she slid Karen’s blazer down, “You love her don’t you?”

“Yeah”

Sky sat back, perhaps remembering how she’d felt while Minnie had continued to play the field after declaring her supposed love for Sky.

Karen got out of the car, the sound of waves lapped the bleached sand, she went round and opened the door to Sky and held out her hand.

“Come on”

Sky took her hand and for once, Karen did the leading.  She took them down to an outcrop that looked deserted in the darkening gloom.

She put Sky down on the sand and in the darkness they found what they needed of each other.  It had always been the way.  As Sky entered her skilful fingers Karen shed a single tear, it all felt so
final.

“You alright?” Sky asked, Karen couldn’t see her face in the shadow, she settled for nodding her head, she didn’t trust her voice not to give her away.  When Karen came Sky took matters one step further and placed her arm round Karen.  The smell of salty air, the taste of sand crumbs.  In the dark it was surreal.  Karen massaged Sky’s clit with pliant fingers and because they were huddled so close she could feel Sky’s groans all the way through her body.

There was a sense of closure.  Sky trembled in her arms,  she searched in the dark for Karen’s eyes and couldn’t see them, but she knew the look.  She’d seen it often enough.  Serious.  Karen would have her serious face on, like making her come was the only thing in the entire world that mattered.  Rosh was a lucky girl.  Sky didn’t envy her at all though. 

Love your friends.

Karen waited for the trembles to ease then began again with her deep and probing movements, Sky felt her head fill with light and went with it.  She wailed. 

Karen put her head against her chest and they stayed that way for a while.  Shivering and lost in the dark.

Sky lifted her head and kissed her.  It was always how they parted.  It was to be the last time.

Chapter 9

Sand.  Ever loving sand in every crevice it felt like.  Rosh looked awful.  Karen regretted taking so long getting home.

It had been as she had feared.  Miss Huntington-Wolfe was known to Rochelle.  In a round about way Rochelle explained a little altercation between this woman, herself, and ‘Sainted Twat Steiger’.  She hadn’t mentioned her scars but Karen could think of no other thing that would make her look so upset, besides Demi that was.

“Why don’t we just leave? You must be nuts staying with these people, you’re a wreck!” Karen shouted from the bath tub.  A little trail of sand in the bottom.

Rosh came in and put the toilet lid down.  She sat and drank her beer.

“I’ve told you. The people here are my only family”

“What am I? Chopped liver?” Karen splashed water at her.

“Is Sky really going to spend the weekend with her?”

“Well, from what I gather she’d spend the weekend with her even if one of the conditions was she had to get her flaps pierced.”

“Star struck eh?”

Karen squeezed the sponge viciously.

“I could just…Argh!” the sponge was hurled through the open door to the bedroom.

“Do you think she’ll hurt her?” Rosh asked calmly.

“Did she hurt you?” it was a gambit but she had to know.

“No” she didn’t add that she’d been there though, present at the cutting.

“She slapped her”

“When?”

“Well, after Sky had finished, you know…”

She shook her head slowly up and down. 

“Some like the rough stuff. You should know that, look at Kelsey and her amazing arrangement of toys”

“It just feels…like its going bad”

And then it was out.

“But listen, this is the way its always been,
always
”

Karen felt blood rise up her neck, “So people are always getting hacked up and wearing peoples initials is normal round these parts?”

“Don’t be like that” and she left her alone in the bathroom.

Fucking brain washed.  She’s not right in her head. 

That was cruel. 

“Rosh? I’m sorry” she got up and out of the tub, picking up a towel she went to smooth things over with her. 

It broke her heart all over again.  Rochelle was sat in the middle of the couch, hands over her face, shoulders hitching.  She wasn’t just crying, it sounded like her soul was pulling loose.

She jumped over the back of the settee and put both her arms round her.

“I, am, so, sorry. I forget sometimes that my dry wit isn’t always something to be laughed at”

Rosh wouldn’t bring her hands down though.  Whatever this was she was living it alone.

Karen stroked her hair and rubbed her back, the sobs couldn’t be quelled. 

When each sob became less pronounced and the space between hitches was longer she slowly lowered her hands.  Karen took one look and dashed off to get a wash cloth.  When she came back Rosh had gone over to the window.

“Here” she handed her the wash cloth.

Rochelle put the cold cloth against her face and sighed.  It was a sorrowful sigh.

Karen went and sat back down.  She’d get herself back together now.  Of that she was sure, people couldn’t maintain being as upset as that and in honesty it scared her.  When the bedrock of someone’s psyche can produce such sounds of torment you began to wonder about what their long term plans were.  And whether they had any.

“I’m fine. Really”

“Didn’t really sound like you were fine. You can tell me anything. I thought you knew that”

Rosh turned to face her, she was grinning, but it wasn’t a happy grin, “The only thing wrong round here is you!”

It felt like a slap.

“Pardon me?” she asked, trying not to raise her voice.

“You’ll run round, causing trouble, shooting your mouth and you know what’ll happen then? I’ll give you an idea shall I, Demi! That’s what happens to people who cause trouble.”

Karen was stunned. 

“You don’t really think that of me do you?”

“Yeah. Yeah I do. God damn you for making me care again.YOU’RE JUST LIKE HER!” Rosh was past being upset, she was angry now, red flashes on her cheeks made her seem impish.

Karen got off the settee. “Calm down eh? Who am I like? Is that what the problem is? Did she not like the way people were treated either whoever ‘she’ was?”

“Fuck you! That’s none of your business!”

“Lets say I’m making it my business, because yes, I care. Damn me all you want”

She went through to the bedroom to get her clothes on. 

How about a minute to think? How much further are you going to push her?  You won’t be happy until you’ve maybe ruined your one chance of happiness.  You’ll have broken your promise too.

Karen had never been given to be emotional, it wasn’t part of her make-up, nevertheless she was close to crying herself.  This whole thing had just changed to the most horrible shade of nasty. 

She got dressed and heard the front door of the apartment shut.

“Rosh? OI!” she stumbled out into the hall with her shirt half buttoned and saw no sign of her.  Must have taken the stairs.

Maybe she needs some time away from you.

But what could you do if you needed time away from yourself?  When you’d upset yourself so badly that self-loathing couldn’t compare?  When you hated your own guts at your fuckability of any given situation.

“Shit fuck” she banged the door behind her.

She ached to chase her.  Grind her down.  Make her tell.  Tomorrow was Friday.  She’d see her at work.  Tonight she would have to reside herself to her first lonely night since arriving in LA.  And she hadn’t really anyone to blame but herself.

And what about Sky?  It all seemed to get worse at the arrival of this potty mouthed red head.  Now Sky was flinging herself at her disposal.  Rochelle mentioned she had links with Sarah Steiger, and from Karen’s own surmising Sarah Steiger was into some real low shit. 

Come to work in America.  See the world.  Expand your horizons.

Love your friends.

I was trying to…

But what you also have to do is make sure not to hurt them…do no harm, maybe an addition to the credo you grew so fond of from the first time you heard it.

Her head pounded and her throat was dry.  It was a silly time to go to bed at just after ten.  She’d go over to the bar two streets over and have a few dozen drinks.

But you won’t be tempted to call Rosh and give her more aggro?

She knew that she would though.  Leaving her mobile phone on her bedside table she set out to find beer and whatever solace it could give her love weary heart.

Good gracious me.  You really have turned into a mooch. 

Karen smiled.  She was feeling alright.  Not all of it good it had to be said, but she was feeling. 

The bar itself wasn’t grandiose enough to be a club, one of the few places that didn’t charge a cover and they had a happy hour.  Which she had just missed.

“Barkeep. Your finest bourbon please” the bartender had seen her a few times and was familiar with her ditzy British attitude to ordering drink and gave her a bourbon shot.  Karen necked it gratefully, ordered a beer and paid for the booze.  Her mind rambled through the past hour looking for the tell tale signs of an impending argument.  She wanted to analyse what had happened and find herself blameless.

However many ways she looked at it, her mind always returned to that one night in the dark, Rosh had been so afraid 

“Can I keep you?”

“Of course. On one condition…I’m going right to the top. I want you with me”

She’d even told her of her intentions! 

‘I hope you know what you’re doing. You know she’d been close to the edge just lately anyway’ -
her own minds recriminations at the time that she had all but disregarded.

“Balls” she muttered to the beer.

“Another?”  a voice from behind her asked.

Karen’s skin tightened over her whole body.

“Yeah sure”

Sarah waved over the bartender and ordered two more beers.

“On your own tonight?”

“Yeah. You know how it is, Thursday everyone’s pretty…”
dead,
“…tired.”

“Don’t I know it. We’ve been
very
busy this week with the client list. You’d be surprised how many stalwart clients only need a call to help them change their minds about legal representation”

Karen drank her beer.  She hadn’t as yet turned to face her boss.  In fact with every angle of her body she was showing her boss her true feelings.

Guess Rosh was right eh? Making waves.  Soon they’ll be making Christmas decorations…with pieces of your body.

She hopped up on a stool and turned to look at Sarah.  She hoped the contempt she was feeling didn’t show through quite so readily on her face.

“I’m glad it worked out”

Sarah smiled and showed her teeth.  Like this was as she had predicted.

“You’ve been very active in our group. We appreciate it. Hell. Number 23 on the Chain already. Some of us took months, hell,
years
to get that far. You’ve got a good work ethic”

“Thank you”

Why are you here Sarah?

“I’ve been here a few times before. It’s out of the way. Bit quieter than the main drag bars.”

“Its nice. Sometimes you just want a quite beer. Time to think” her voice wasn’t quite level.

“Miss Toulouse said she’d promised to provide a dinner date for you and Sky for the swift response on picking up Miss Huntington-Wolfe. She took a liking to Sky didn’t she?” Sarah’s eyes were crawling all over her face now.  She wanted to slap her one upside of her head, anything to just stop the blathering and questions.

“Yeah. Sky’s a real nice girl.”
Give her another lever eh?

“I used to have a lot of fun with Sky too. But that’s all it was. Fun”

Karen wasn’t sure how to answer that so drained her beer instead.

“Listen Sarah,” she stood up.

“No, wait! Don’t go yet” Sarah put her arm on Karen’s arm, her voice was tinged with panic.

“Alright. What’s the matter?”

She looked down and fidgeted at the hem of her white button down shirt.

“I might be in a bit of trouble. I just need to be with someone tonight” her eyes pleaded.

“Buy the beer”

After getting another beer for each of them she went over to the corner table Karen had wandered off to.  Sarah thought maybe being out of her own place tonight might just save her from a severe beating.  Karen thought it paid to keep your enemies closer.

“What’s the deal? You’re a bloody lawyer. Why would anyone want to beat on you, aside from the size of some of the bills I’ve seen go out?”

Studying the beer bottle label, never meeting her gaze, she told Karen she had poached a piece of arse she shouldn’t ought to have done.  Said ‘piece of arse’ had been a tactical manoeuvre, someone on the client list.  Prestons hadn’t taken too lightly to it and Miss Smythe in particular felt they had already suffered as much insult as they were apt to.  They were still sore about Demi.  Although they had no proof the bad blood had been escalated to boiling point.  And as much as she had stature, when you pissed off someone on the Chain, you had to watch your back.  She’d been the one to tell Karen that.

“So you’ve slept with someone on their ‘golden client list’ and she knows you have a copy of their list and she’s grassed you up?”

“In a nutshell. Yes”

“She’s top ten?”

“Top five”

Karen winced.  Prestons would curry a lot of favour with the client then.  Loyalty.  Super snideness had reared its head to bite Sarah on the ass.

“The good thing is that they don’t know that
you
got it for me. I mean, I’m taking the blame on it, they may put two and two together at one point…”