The Girls Club (5 page)

Rochelle showed her where the files and books were, gave her a street map with red line links to all the offices they went between.  Being a PA to three lawyers wasn’t going to be easy.  But the pay was good and look at all the snatch in the office.

You slut.

This earned a self-reproachable eyebrow lift.

Rochelle was showing her the online internal folder for ‘Chain’ information and statistics.

“You can’t download or print this documentation. If you try it sends an alert to the Chain bosses. Look” there were various links in the ‘Chain’ folder.  You had your ‘Chain standings’, ‘Time in the Chain’, ‘Highest position in the Chain reached’.

Lots of odd bits of information.

“What do they need all this for?”

“It’s not a picnic you know, being able to do what you want and still have people take you seriously is big business. It means the Chain is well guarded, see that?”  The top ten positions of the Chain standings file were blanked out.

“Only if you get to the top will you know who those people are. But take my advice.  If you meet someone you like, s
tick with them!
The Chain is fun. But like I said, when its official, use it to find someone you love. That way you’ll get your cool tattoo”

“That’s what that is then?” she turned Rochelle’s hand over.

“Yeah, once you decide to stay at the position you’ve reached you get the numeral put on your hand.”

“Nice.”

“Alright. I’m going to let you get settled now. Change your desk around whatever way you like, that little intercom there is how the bosses buzz you, sometimes it’ll be coffee, sometimes they’ll want something picking up from across town. Other times they might want a ‘personal chat’ with you. All part of being on the Chain. Live it and love it.”

She started to walk away, “Look, if you get stuck, buzz me, there’s a list there, I’ll help where I can until you find your feet”

She was absurdly touched by this.

“Thanks for that”

And then she was alone.  Her desk,  her PC and her intercom.  Lost amidst a sea of debauchery and high stakes legal cases.  It was millennia away from where she thought she would ever be.  But here she be all the same.

The desk needed some adjustment for her right pawed nature.  The desk itself had a sheen of dust across it

Looks like the last owners been gone awhile.

A shiver ran through her.  An odd thought to have. 

There was some polish and cloths in the drawer, she made it as neat as she could.  Once it was tidy she went to the coffee machine in the corner and poured herself a cup.

Dadratted tea-bags.

Coffee was going to make her crazy.  She had to meant ask Rochelle about where to get some of her favourite brand of tea-bags but it had slipped her mind.

Guess being up half the night shaggin’ll do that to ya.

“Guess it will” she said to herself.

“Will what?” a voice from behind her.

She jumped and almost got hot coffee on her shoes.

“Sorry babe”  It was the receptionist. Carolyn?

“My coffee machines gone on the fritz, is it ok if I use this one?”

Her eyes were wide and eager, Karen worried for the 37
th
time about the shape of things to come.  She too had a tattoo and that meant only one thing.

Gotta check the standings.

“Yeah, help yourself”

She leaned forward and took the pot.

“How’s your first official day going?”

Small talk.  Patented and delivered on spec.

“Good. Just doing some tidying up. Very dusty at that desk”
Why don’t you ask her why it looks like no one has been sat there for months?

“Well, you look like the type of person who’s rough and ready for anything, you’ll soon have it how you like I’m sure.” A shark.  That’s what she was reminded of.

“What’s she doing?” Minnie and Rochelle were peeping round the wall from the canteen into the area that Karen now inhabited.  They’d seen Care come this way and thought perhaps they’d make sure she wasn’t up to mischief.  That’d be just like her to spoil the whole thing for everyone else.

“She’s just talking, smiling like a fucking vampire. Bloodless bitch”

“Have you done your report yet?”

“Sure did. Sign, sealed, delivered. She’s a shoe in. Nice too”

“Yes!”

Karen heard something and looked round.  She could see a shadow on the floor at the corner of the wall and knew they were being observed.

“Well. You’re going to have to get used to that too I’m afraid.”

Click, click, click
the sound of stilettos creeping away.

“Its ok, I guess its nice for people to be interested”

“Oh they are dear. They are.” She sipped her coffee and her smile grew to insane proportions.

And then she left. 

It had been a massively exhausting 24 hours.  To go from a small British town to LA, and an office full of love hungry lesbians might have sent others home packing.

But Karen had invested something last night. 

And she was going to stay the course.

Chapter 3

The rest of the day had passed quietly for Karen.  It was the rest of the office that bubbled with news of the Brit and her first night with one of their own.

Minnie submitted her report to Sarah Steiger.  As the highest in the Chain at Tarkingtons it was then down to her to formally approve or disapprove her entrance to the Chain.

“Well?” she asked Minnie as she put the folder on her desk.

“It was good.” Minnie smiled.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I bet she gets top ten, if you let her in”

Sarah rocked back in her chair and put her feet up on her huge desk.

“Ok then”

Minnie set off to leave.

“Ah-hem”

“Oh sorry” she came back and kissed Sarah, in her daydreams of last night she had forgotten her manners for a minute.

Sarah loved her girls.  If Minnie was love struck it meant that it had been worth all the time and expense looking for this new girl.  This Brit. 

“I wonder…” she opened the buff coloured folder and read through the documents there.

Had Karen seen the sheer amount of information there she might have asked just what the hell Sarah thought she was doing, some of the things in there were very private indeed.  Sarah justified it to herself by remembering what would happen if the bubble burst on this little op.  The Chain and everything in it.  The people whose lives would be under the microscope.  The bodies that would be unearthed.

She hoped Karen would do well.  She personally couldn’t wait for her crack at the Brit, it was nice to have loving friends but things had gotten so samey lately.  She would own her, turn her into a loyal dog.  There had been something on Karen’s face, it was, well, brutal.  The worst of it was she didn’t think Karen knew when she had that look, unfettered animalism and a touch of the sociopath.  Would make for an interesting bed fellow that’s for sure.

She approved the submission of Karen into the Chain.

On her PC she wrote an email to Karen, simple and to the point but that’s the way she’d always been.

Dear esteemed new colleague,

Might I take this moment to congratulate you on passing the initiation stage of your entrance to our ‘happy little family’

I have been advised that your intentions are true.

I’m sure you know where to find the details on your PC.

Remember this:

‘Love your friends’

But honour our silence.

Good luck Karen.

S

She opened the Chain standings file, entered her password and placed Karen on the bottom with Minnie.  Looks like Skylar had thrown her hat back in the ring according to this, she did recall hearing tell of Skylar and Minnie becoming a more steadfast couple.  Greedy Minnie.  Stupid Skylar.  Sarah shook her head.  Sometimes an odd mis-match cropped up as was the case with Skylar and Minnie, Minnie was a bed hopper, always had been.  Skylar wanted to settle down.  She was probably getting back on the Chain to rankle Minnie.

Silly, silly.  But as long as they kept it away from her and did their work it made no difference.  As long as things progressed.  As long as things flowed naturally.

She packed up and went home.  She had a meeting with the number 33 on the Chain again and damn it if she wasn’t one fine looking lady.  Then she’d maybe get some work done.  A fine filly often cleared her mind.

She buzzed her intercom, “Karen, I’m off now, any calls from Caplins I’ll take, but anything else and I’m in a meeting and can’t be reached”

“Very good Miss Steiger” came the tinny response.

She put her wool over coat on and remembered she’d taken her shoes off.  Grimacing she slipped them back on, high heeled uncomfortable bastards they were.  Still. Home and a hot woman.  To hell with the rest for today.  She picked up the Caplin file, it was their biggest account of late, they made paint by trade.  They were being sued for damages totalling over ten million dollars.  It seemed some of their paints had had a very high lead content.  They knew they were going to end up having to pay out.  There had been some instances of poisoning and one possible death.  It was going to be her job to make sure Caplin had a company left to run when all this was over.  And she’d do it too.  Because she was a good lawyer.  And a ruthless bitch.

On her way down the corridor she thought about what they were going to have to eat tonight, her date Kelsey Carmicheal had a seafood allergy if she remembered rightly.  She had been with her before and it seemed the right time to re-visit the experience.  The days of being mid-thirties were well behind Sarah now and it was nice to have the choice of who to see.  Knowing that you weren’t yet hung out to dry.

And there she was.  Her curious new prize, under her desk.

“Good night Karen” she called lightly.

Bang!

“Ow, er, Night Miss Steiger” she pulled her head up to watch her go, using her left hand to rub the back of her noggin where she’d just belted it a good one.  Sarah smiled,
way cute,
she’d thought.
 

Fuckin’ cables!,
Karen had been thinking when she’d heard her name called.

She waited till Sarah was out of ear shot then uttered “Mother fucker”, her head felt like someone had walloped it with a hammer.  It was her.  The bloody woman she had been obsessing over all day long.  Her PC had pinged her to tell her she had mail, she’d read the note.  She understood what this was all leading too.  She also wondered what Sarah was doing tonight on the strength of it.  Getting the cart before the horse.

By the ‘Chain Standings’ latest information she knew she better get ready to eat shit and die, the receptionist, Carolyn, her of the vulpine smile, was next.  This was a little interlude she wasn’t going to enjoy very much.

You thought that about Minnie till she got her hand down your pants.

True.  Very true.

Maybe beer would help it along.  How did it get arranged?  Did she just saunter over and say, ‘Hi there, I’m number such and such, you wanna get together and hump?’

Crass.  Not her style.  Although judging by the receptionists leering today she might not have to be the one to go over and make the arrangements.  She’d just about eat Karen raw by all accounts.

It was almost five.  Time to pack up for the day.

“Hey Brit girl” She shuddered, “It’s only me” she turned to see Rochelle.

“Had a mail from Miss Steiger?”

“Yeah”

Rochelle sat on her desk.

“And what did it say?” she sung the question.

“I’m in”

Rochelle leapt off the table and began making two footed hops whilst clapping. Vaguely feeling nauseous she tried to focus her mind on the very important fact that everyone had to start from the bottom. 

A means to an ends.  This is the most excitement some of these gals have had in years.  Believe it or not you have landed on your feet here.

She straightened her face out.  Being mean always went hand in glove with being tired for her.

“It’s been a mad few days”

Rochelle took her arm and linked it through hers.

“I know, I know. Come on. I’ll drop you home. Get some shut eye babe. I bet Minnie was a real pain in the ass.”

Love your friends.

“She was nice yeah. It was all very new but she made it easy.”

Rochelle smiled approvingly.  That’s exactly the right way to behave.  Pillow talk is one thing but talking out of school is another.

“Come on Brit girl”

There was a glimmer of hope that ‘Carolyn the amazingly vulpine receptionist’ was gone, until she all but fell over herself to get back to her desk from around the corner where she must have been hiding.

“Sign out girls” her smile was getting wider and wider.

Don’t let this woman stop you now.  You’ve done the hard part by taking the first step.

Karen slapped her best and brightest smile on, “See you in the morning”

Carolyn responded in kind, her ruby red lips parting to show the most awesomely white and perfect teeth Karen personally had ever seen.  They seemed wrong somehow.

“You bet!”

And they were in the lift then, the doors were sliding closed and Carolyn’s face hovered for a moment even after the doors had shut, the whiteness of her teeth producing an after image.

“Its like taking bad medicine sometimes”

Karen just smiled.

Rochelle carried on.  “You can’t like everyone on the Chain as much as you maybe try to. Its hard. People are different creatures at times. Just do your best” That was an amazing insight offered by the office lackey, a profound Buddha all of a sudden.

Karen thought she understood the scenario a little now.  There could be two reasons for staying at the bottom of the Chain.  Firstly you could be crappy in bed.  Secondly you could
chose
to stay there and progress no further because
everyone
had to start from the bottom.  Say you got to 52 and everyone fucked up or dropped out around 70.  Its lonely at the top.  No more guarantees of regular sex.  You could chose people to come over from the Chain sure, but you weren’t guaranteed of any sort of quality at all if you went fishing below your calibre.

“I need to do some studying. I need to know a good place to get text books for idiots about laws and stuff.”

“Sure. I’ll take you shopping at the weekend and show you around. Do you know what you need yet?”

“No, do they do a ‘Law for dummies’ book”

Rochelle shook her head.

The elevator binged and they stepped out.  Rochelle almost asked her to have a drink with her but she figured Karen might need an early night.  She remembered her first weeks at Tarkingtons, what a roller coaster ride that was!  Never knowing from one day to the next where to stand or shoulder the load.  Never knowing when the only thing you’ll want is to go to bed, to sleep. 

“Come on Brit chick. Lets get you home”

They listened to the radio on the way back to her apartment.  It was all feeling a bit out of kilter, she suspected all the newness was going to keep hitting her for a while, being tired also made things seem even more abstract.

“Night Karen”

“Night. Thanks for the lift”

“No problem” she pulled away and out of the window she heard her shout,
“Remember! Love your friends!”

Boy if the day got any weirder she might just be driven to drink.

A club.  An ‘honest to God’ club.  How could she not want to embrace it and give it her all?  Her formative years were spent as part of a pack.  Its safety and warmth very much with her even now.  The Chain.  On her way up to the apartment she wondered how far she could get.

She had always been top of her game.  Best of the bunch.  The one most willing to go that extra mile.

And what was the harm?  Her mind kept returning to this, searching round the corners and sides of it.  Looking for the one thing that
must
be wrong with it.  It was all very good.  Too good almost.

Bing!

She stepped out of the lift onto the landing and went down to her apartment, situated at the snug of the hallway.  Using her key, her mind still elsewhere, she remembered she had people to email and letters to write.  But she was far too tired.

Surely the world wouldn’t stop spinning if she didn’t do it today.  She had to get her mind round the fact that her next bed fellow was a rather nasal receptionist she hadn’t cared for from first sighting.

She would ponder a strategy in the shower.

Butts!

It was passing strange but she couldn’t recall how many were on the Chain.  It had been a high number.  But she had distinctly remembered those at the top had been blanked out.  Only those at the top would know of each other.  And no one had mentioned they suspected who they were or more precisely
knew.
  Maybe they were famous people.  But having said that, there was always kiss and tell when big names were involved, so how come the secret had remained secret.  How did they sustain it?