I was at the apartment writing a long note to one of my old team now in Afghanistan, when Shirley came in the door, carrying a big covered baking pan.
She had doctored her eye with some makeup and it didn't look as bad, but I knew it probably still hurt like hell. "Oh boy, Shirley, smells good and I'm starved."
"I'm just going to put this on the stove and we can fill our plates from there. How about a beer and some of those rolls we bought to go with this? The gravy is thick and will taste good on bread."
When we were seated and had started eating, Shirley said, "Don't know where the old man is. I told him what time the food was going to be done. I guess he'll eat out at the clubhouse. He's probably feeling guilty. He usually does after he loses it with me. Hope he comes back looking for some loving before he takes off again. I have a feeling he won't stick around long this time."
I nodded and kept stuffing. The pot roast was delicious.
A bike roared up behind the building and Shirley went to the door then out back. Soon Shirley and her guy came in. She fixed him a plate and got him a beer.
He took a bite, "Damn, this is good. I could get used to eating like this. Look here, Chuck, I lost it with Shirley earlier over something personal. I hope you can look the other way over a black eye."
I looked at him and nodded, but figured I needed to say something else, "It's none of my business. Just don't fuck up the cook. I like to eat."
The man began laughing, "You're my kind of guy. You mind your own business but share what ya got. So how was your night out with that bunch of women that picked you up last night?"
"It was a good time. We went to the Hard Rock at the Indian reservation. Got to see AC/DC, then we drank and celebrated in the lounge out there till late. A good time."
He asked, "What were you celebrating?"
"The unemployment agency hired me as the agent who finds jobs for people getting out of the military and for ex-military people that are looking. I have to go out looking for various jobs and employers, plus go to the base and other military facilities to tell people about the service. It should be fun. I like helping people, so this ought to be a good job. Now I'm going to be able to afford to pay rent and eat. I was worried for a while."
The man looked at me, "If you were concerned about money, how come you made the deal with Shirl?"
"Easy, I don't cook very well and I get tired of frozen dinners. Buying food to feed us costs less than a frozen dinner, so I get fed good for less."
"Didn't think about it like that, pretty smart. How did you know to do that?"
"I have a buddy up in Chicago that does the same thing. He and his ole' lady and the couple next door to them cook together and eat better for it. He says they actually save about fifty percent."
"With me eating here too, your theory gets messed up. I'm glad you're feeding me though."
"So far, I'm under budget for what I had planned. I think there's still food for Sunday, then I have to take Shirley to the grocery store again. I'll make sure we plan on the three of us. We can have some Italian. That's cheap and it goes a long way. I'm hoping to keep getting leftovers for lunches."
He finished chewing his food and offered, "You want to go out to my clubhouse with me this evening? They're having a party and invite prospective members out. Gonna be a bunch of property out there."
"Property?" I asked.
"You know, fluff, babes that wear the "Property of" patches. The prez calls 'em comfort hostesses. Come on out."
"How about I stop in with you and meet your people. I have an appointment later with a friend for some barhopping. Is that okay?"
"Sure, the club will know I'm out soliciting. You haven't worn a patch before have you?"
"No, always been an independent other than being in a pretty exclusive group in the service."
He asked, "What group is that?"
"The Marines, Special Operations or in our group's case, counter intelligence."
"Well, you got your leg fucked up so now you're not a part of that group anymore."
I looked at the guy funny, "Once a Marine, always a Marine, it's till I die. My fellow Marines will always be my group and they feel I will always be in their group. That's the way a Marine is."
"Hmmm, I know we have a few ex-Marines in the national club and they're pretty tough cookies, but I don't think any ever lost a leg. Come out, I'll introduce you to the other ex-Marines."
"Do yourself a favor. Don't call them ex-Marines, once a Marine, always a Marine. It's in the head, we live the life." I said that firm enough I think he got the idea. "What time you goin'?"
"Soon as I wash up. Maybe Shirley will come along, will you, Shirl?"
She smiled at her man, "Sure, Honey, but I don't want to be anyone but your comfort tonight, please."
He frowned, then smiled, "Okay, you took it when I dished it out. We're even. Don't let it happen again."
He looked at me and said, "Something personal, sorry."
I nodded.
Shirley did the dishes and I went out and wiped down my bike, checked the oil, getting ready to ride. Back inside I called the Fab Five's house to have it answered by Brandy.
"I'm going out riding tonight and am calling to see if any of you guys want to take a ride with me. Going to wander around barhopping."
Brandy said, "I have a date, but our resident lez would probably like to go. She loves bikes and knows all the bars. Let me get her."
Frieda came on the phone, "Sounds good, Chuck. You don't mind if I don't wear a helmet do you. I hate those things. If you listen to me, I'll take you to some neat places. What time you coming by?"
"How about eight, I'm going out to a local bike club for a few minutes to meet some people but will be out of there no later than seven-thirty. If I'm early is that okay?"
Frieda said, "The earlier the better. See ya."
Shirley was gone, so I hopped in the shower to clean up then dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. I had a denim jacket if it got chilly, so I stuffed it into my saddle bags. I checked my wallet and decided I only wanted to have a hundred bucks on me, so I hid the rest that I had, and went out the back after locking up. I was pushing the bike around, getting it pointed out, when Shirley and her old man came out.
"Follow me, when we get there, they're going to shake you down so if you're packing, you might want to leave it." I shrugged and gave hand signs that I was not packing.
The clubhouse wasn't but about ten minutes from the apartments. The place was back in a neighborhood that looked fairly quiet. The gate guards let us both in but had me wait up while one closed the gate. He had me shut the bike down then patted me down for whatever he was looking for. I didn't have it, so he said, "Park right here in the visitor area. Have your host come with you when you leave."
Shirley's old man was waiting for me and took me to their social area that was a bunch of lawn chairs and some picnic tables. There were a bunch of semi nude girls running around with only some mini skirts and open "Property of" vests. Some guys were wearing vests with "Prospect" written on them, and they were quick to fetch beers for the three of us.
I was introduced to the club prez, then the guy looked around and brought a couple guys over to meet me. They were introduced as ex-Marines. One of them said, "Damn, how many times do I have to tell you there is no such thing as an ex-Marine. Jesus, listen to me."
He turned from him and stuck his hand out saying, "Semper Fi." I said with the same enthusiasm, "Ooorah." The man winked at me and asked what outfit I had been in and how long I had been out. I told him about the Special Operations group and that I had been retired this past Monday.
"How bad you hurt?"
I used my cane to knock on my metal stalk that held me up.
He nodded then slapped me on the back. "Wilson here, was only in a year when he was gut shot in the first Desert Storm. He's still pissed they won't let him back in, but he has to eat funny so they couldn't keep him. Me? I did two tours, one in "A" country and one in Iraq. I'm done. Hate that fucking hot and cold sand. Florida sand is easier to put up with. No human size fleas that bite."
We chatted till it was getting toward seven and I said I had an appointment with some entertainment for the evening. The two guys nodded then noticed my host having a heated conversation with someone and said, "The man never learns. He's such a hot head, he's always arguing with someone. We'll take you to the gate and tell him that you had to leave. Come back, visit with us, and consider becoming a part of us. I'm Bucky, and this here is Wilson. Ask for us, we'll get you in. If you decide you want to be a part of us, Marines don't prospect, they've already prospected. No one fucks with us."
We went back to the gate and I fired up and left, heading toward the Fab Five's house. When I pulled up at seven-twenty, Frieda came out the door immediately, carrying a jacket. I put it into a saddle bag and she got on and we headed toward Jonah's.
There, Jonah and Millie greeted me warmly and were surprised I was with Frieda. Millie asked, "You man enough to change this lezzie's stripes?"
Frieda said, "He's good enough that I think I want to stay in this group a while."
Millie was laughing, "My God, Jonah, she likes dick. I'm gonna miss that ever lovin' mouth of hers, but I'm glad she's learned to go both ways.
Millie almost enclosed me with her big arms and generous body, "What do you have that another doesn't have, Stud?"
While I was trying to find a way to get air, Frieda answered for me. "Millie, he's gentle, he caring, he loves all of you at once, then he's like the energizer bunny, he just don't quit till you're screamin'."
Millie put a lip lock on Jonah and said, "Get me one of these for my birthday, Honey. I want an energizer bunny."
It's hard to keep a straight face around Millie, and now Frieda when they get wound up. Since it was Saturday night, a lot of couples were out riding, bar hopping. Frieda saw some of her friends and we were soon off to another bar. I felt a little out of place at the next place we went to, as I was the only guy except for a rather large, but obviously gay bouncer. As soon as we were inside, Frieda was hollering. "Hey Sam, where's that cunt, Sam, she has to pay up, come on out you cheap dike and buy my guy a beer."
A female, dressed mannish with short hair, came out a door behind the bar. "What are you yelling about and you," she was pointing at me, "you are not welcome in here. Beat it."
Frieda took my arm, "He's mine, Sam, and he's made me a believer. I'll loan him to you for an evening and you'll be begging him to come back."
Sam looked warily at me, "You drugging this lez cunt or what."
"No, Sam, he just loved me up to the point that I want more and more."
"Just the same," Sam said, still unsure. "I think you should have a blood test or at least see a shrink." Sam turned to me and asked, "So you been in this cunt's pants, tell me something about her that's unusual."
I thought for a minute then said, "Do you mean that cherry birthmark she has on her, ah," I thought of what limb it would be from my perspective, "Her left thigh?"
Sam just said to the barmaid, "Give the man a beer then get Joey and throw him out. Damn, even a good lez isn't safe from the clutches of the penis."
Frieda was still having fun, "Did I say I fucked him? The man knows how to eat pussy with the best of them. He licks, he sucks, he bites, and he loves it. He's so good, I dragged him up by his ears to kiss him and that hard thing he carries around popped right in. From there on, I was a goner."
Several of the girls around us were laughing at the contortions Frieda was going through to describe our liaison. Some were up close and personal, trying to get a handful of my butt while I was standing with Frieda. She noticed their getting friendly and said, "Better watch out, you may catch what I did, then you'll never be satisfied with just women again."
Frieda was smiling, "Give 'em all a quick kiss, Chuck, and let's beat feet. I want to show you around some more."
We hit two more places before I felt like I had all the beer I could hold. We were on the way back toward Tampa when Frieda said in my ear, "Take me home, take me to your place. I want to wake next to you in the morning."
Frieda had been fun, so I quietly rolled up to my back door, shutting down while still coasting. I noticed Bart's bike was back and was glad I was being quiet. After quickly chaining up the bike, I unlocked the back door and brought Frieda inside. I rummaged around in my duffel to find her one of the new toothbrushes I had. We brushed our teeth then crawled into bed, with the window open.
I didn't realize how tanked Frieda had been getting, but we had just snuggled when I could tell she was gone. It was nice snuggling with a naked lady anyway. I fell sound asleep.
I woke to noise in the kitchen. I opened an eye and could see into the kitchen where Shirley was getting pans out to cook breakfast. I slid from bed to close the door, but Shirley saw me before I was done. "Hey stud, I see you have company. Do you mind if I get the old man some breakfast. He's a little hung over and needs some food. I'm making pancakes, so I'll make you guys some too."
I closed the door then crawled back in bed. Frieda had her eyes open and was smiling, "Do you have a maid or is that another girl friend?"
"She's a neighbor that I share food with. I buy, she cooks. It's a good deal and we both get fed."
Frieda snuggled into me and kissed me, "I woke in the middle of the night and wanted to wake you up to ravish you, but you were so peaceful looking I let you sleep. And just think, I was drunk on my ass last night. You could have done anything you wanted to me but you just cuddled up and we slept. Some biker you are."
After a few more kisses, Frieda said, "I need the bathroom bad then I have to get some aspirin out of my belly pack. I tried to drink the bars dry, didn't I?"
Frieda surprised me by getting up naked and walking out of the bedroom to the bathroom. When she was through in the bathroom, she walked into the kitchen where I could hear her talking to Shirley, then I heard Bart's gravely voice. This babe had balls. I quickly got up and slid my jeans on, only to meet Frieda as she came in the bedroom with a cup of coffee for me.
She smiled and said, "Now you have a rep. Shirley's guy is out there with his tongue dragging on the floor. I stood there talking to Shirley and kept scratching my cootchie right in front of him."
"How did you know Shirley's name?" I asked curious.
"I didn't, that was the first thing I asked her. I said to her, 'What's your name, Honey, I need to find out where a glass is so I can get some water for some aspirin.' She told me, so I said 'Shirley get me a cup so I can take Chuck some coffee to get him started.' Her old man was having a cow."
"I guess he knows I'm heterosexual now anyway," I said with a smile. "Put something on so I can think of something I'd rather eat than you. I'm hungry for you and food."
As Frieda pulled on her jeans and T-shirt she said, "Let's get some chow, then I'll take care of that other hunger."
We ate with Shirley and Bart then I told her to scoot, that Frieda and I would do dishes. They were quickly done, then we took a quick shower. Frieda thought it was funny how I had to constantly hop and grab hold of things to keep my balance. I told her to try to do her stuff on one foot and tell me how easy it was.
After drying off, Frieda helped me back to bed then snuggled into me with lots of kisses. It wasn't long till we were going after each other in that ancient physical dance that men and women have been doing since time began. It took a while, but when we were finally satisfied, Frieda said, "I wasn't kidding last night to Sam. This is so good. I'm going to have to try out some other guys to find out if it's as good, or what. I like that stuff. I used to go home with Jonah and Millie, but I never would let Jonah touch me. Millie and I would do each other until I was zoned, then Jonah would bang her senseless. I want to try them out again and let Jonah do me that way this time. See, you've made me a new woman."
Soon, we cleaned up and dressed, then I rode Frieda home. No one was at her house, so I kissed her goodbye saying I would see her in the morning. At home, I discovered all of my new shirts had been washed and ironed. I used the rest of the day to clean the bike, the pickup, and gave the apartment a dusting. I noticed when I came in that there was something on low in the oven, so I checked to find Shirley was making lasagna. She came in, pulled the tray from the oven then cranked the oven up. Once it was at the right temperature, she put the tray back in and said, "We'll eat in about forty-five minutes. If you want something to go with that, get it out. You still have some lettuce, do you want a salad?"
I ate a salad, set the table, and was enjoying a beer when Bart and Shirley came in. They teased me about Frieda a little, but mainly ate. Bart was on his good behavior without being confrontational. Shirley was just enjoying having her man around. Bart said, "I heard there is a big job down at Tampa Shipyard. Some big ship is in to get cleaned up. That's right up my alley, so I'm going down early in the morning to see if I can get on. I need to hang around here a little before I lose this lady. I know I have a golden girl, I just don't treat her like it. I'm a tellin' ya straight, I'm gonna try to do this right. At least for a while. Then we'll see."
Shirley was obviously happy, smiling with pleasure. She washed dishes then said, "Bart has to be down to the shipyard at eight so we have to eat breakfast early. If you want, I can just take his breakfast and cook it at home, then you can eat later."
"That's fine, Shirley. I need to get an early start anyway. I'll be up by five thirty. See you two when you get here, and that lasagna was great. Can I take some of that for lunch tomorrow?"
Shirley was happy receiving the compliment, "That's why I made so much. I'll freeze some for another meal, but I'll keep out a couple of helpings for lunches."
In the morning, I was showered and partially dressed by the time Shirley came in around five forty-five. Bart was done and gone by six fifteen, while I relaxed a little before finishing getting ready.
Somehow I knew Ms. White was going to be early, so I showed up at seven thirty and met her coming in. After she put her personal stuff in her office, we went up to my new office on the third floor. The former employee had not been in the office for what looked like months, as there were stacks of mail throughout the room.
Ms. White told me to go through the mail, then try to straighten the office, keeping in mind what the goal of the job was. By noon, I had taken two loads of trash down to the dumpster out back, and the office was beginning to look like an office. I ate my lasagna at lunch with the usual group and was teased by the envious women about the great time we had out at the Hard Rock the previous Friday. No one even mentioned that I had stayed over.
I spent the second half of the day going through the mail I thought was worth keeping the second time around, reducing it to about half. I did find a notice that my department had a healthy advertising budget to help me find jobs for exiting servicemen and women, and to attract out of work retired or released personnel.
Among the mess, I also found a job directive with an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) flip book that I wanted to study later. I figured that if I could read up on what I was supposed to be doing, I could make up a game plan for what to do.
Ms. White came up toward the end of the day and was amazed that the office looked like an office. It really was roomy, actually larger than Ms. White's, but it didn't have any windows like she had. The lack of windows didn't matter because a lot of my work was going to be out of the office anyway. In addition to the desk, a large credenza, and two side chairs, I had a nice little conference table with four chairs to have meetings at or to use for interviews. I was gifted with a nice small combination stereo, radio, and CD player that had been left, so I had music to work by. I found a soothing soft jazz station that went very well in the office.
When the day was done, I gathered the stuff I wanted to read later and put it into a very nice satchel that had been left in the office. Out in the parking lot, the Fab Five were standing around a little Saturn sports car. Tiani hollered for me to join them. Judy asked me, "We go over to Rocky's after work for a few minutes most every night. Want to join us? We don't stay long, but it's always nice to stop for one or two.
I nodded and went for my truck.
The girls followed me on foot, so I knew then that Rocky's must be close. At the end of the parking lot, we went into a back door of a neighborhood bar that was full of office workers. I recognized several from the counter area, and smiled and nodded as people said hi.
We found an open booth and the six of us crowded into it. I was put between Tiani and Nancy on one side with Judy, Frieda, and Brandy on the other. A waitress in short shorts and a bulgy T-shirt came for our order.
Brandy opened the conversation with, "So Frieda took you to some of her haunts Saturday night. I'm glad, she usually either stays home or she goes to one of her gay bars. She must have had a good time, as I noticed she wasn't home yet when I got up."
Frieda said, "I even took him to one of my favorite girly bars. There's a standing joke that if a lez goes straight, the guy she goes straight with gets a free drink. Chuck took the razzing well. We went to a few other places until he said enough. I was so plowed, I don't even remember going to bed. Chuck was the perfect gentleman and didn't take advantage of a drunk babe."
Brandy said, "He was probably afraid you were going to get sick on him."
We had a couple of drinks, then we all left to go wherever it was we were going. I went back to the apartment and changed out of my new suit for some jeans and T-shirt. Shirley had supper just about done and Bart was sitting on my couch, watching TV drinking a beer.
I popped one and dug out the manual I had brought home, hoping to glean some information from it. The thing was written like a lot of government instructions, very dry, and not very descriptive. You will do this, you will do that sort of thing.
After supper, I really dug in and was able to figure out what I was supposed to do and what the job really entailed. There was a hell of a budget for my position with some heavy expenses expected. I pulled the advertising notice out again to re-read it and discovered that the Washington office was requesting a reason why no money had been spent for advertising. I would work on spending some of the budget right away.
The next reading was the SOP. It was a little more plain language and was set up more in a Monday through Friday manner. It gave suggested daily objectives and contacts, then described the reports that were to be filed on Friday. I would have to find the forms they were describing.
By ten I was tired, ready for bed, so I locked up and crashed. Shirley woke me up at five thirty when she came in the back door to start breakfast. I hopped around getting a shower and dressing. Bart was finished eating by the time I was dressed, saying he needed to be at work by six forty-five every day. He said he was hired yesterday and was able to get in a full day. He seemed happy to be staying around for a while.
I was back at work at seven-thirty, meeting Ms. White in the parking lot again. She said for me to get settled this morning in my office and she would be up around eight-thirty. By the time she showed, I had a list on a yellow pad of what I wanted to accomplish today.
I showed her the manual I had read and the SOP, along with my goals for the day. She said that there were copies of suggested advertising down in the media office so that would be easier. She said I should establish regular office hours so counter people would know when I would be in the office.
She told me to let her know about anything out of the ordinary I might find, and not to tell anyone else.
I skipped a few items on my list and went to the media office to get some suggested advertising. They had a huge folder that had never been opened, so I took the whole thing back to my office. When I called the newspaper to get pricing, I was shocked at the quoted rates. The budget would be used up with one small ad.
There were other ways to get into the newspaper, so I called the media office and asked if they used an agency. They did, so I called them. They would send an advertising specialist over right away.
I called the local Air Force base employment office and introduced myself. I made an appointment to visit with them on Wednesday morning, then remembered to call the motor pool to reserve a vehicle. A guy there said that my department had a car reserved all the time, but that it had not been brought in for service for over six months. I asked him to write a note about it and forward it to the director, as well as Ms. White. I would use my pickup if necessary, until they found the car.
The advertising guy came and I expressed my concern over the rates that I had been quoted. He assured me that the rates his agency received were a quarter of what the paper quoted. I showed him what I wanted for this coming Sunday, and he helped set it up with the hours I would be in the office. I would be in the office on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings and Wednesday and Friday afternoons. I called Ms. White to see if those firm hours would be good and she agreed.
The agency guy said he wanted to get some free advertising by getting out a news release on me. He interviewed me, getting my military background along with my other personal information. He said, "I'll play down your lack of a degree and play up your quick rank in the military. That should give a good impression. I'll put this in each of the regional inserts, plus I'll get it into the St. Pete Times. That should be worth some activity. Don't worry about your budget, I can get good sized ads in every Sunday without ever going over your budget."
I told him I wanted to advertise that we had jobs, but to advertise for people to use the service. He looked through the suggested advertising copy and selected another cut. "This should take care of getting them in to use the service. I'll put your office hours on this along with your name and you should be busier that a one armed paper hanger."
Lunch time was the typical good time, eating with the Fab Five and the other folks that stayed in for lunch. Ms. White came in and asked me to stop in her office before going back upstairs. The girls made sure I was going to stop with them after work, then I left, heading toward Ms. White's office. She had a new temp at the desk I had sat in and she announced me to Ms. White.
"Chuck, the car is a problem. The girl who had the job won't give it back so I've asked the director to have a U.S. Marshal go out to get it. He became pretty nervous over the whole thing, so there may be more to that girl just not coming to work. I'm going to let it slip to the motor pool that they need to track it down or to report it missing. Not stolen, just missing. We'll see if that helps. In the meantime, you can use my agency vehicle if you need it."
"I'll use my truck. It's clean with a good body, and should pass the base inspection when I go out there in the morning. I'll use it until they find me a car."
Ms. White nodded her agreement and handed me a box of business cards. It was funny to see my name on a federal government business card. It was very impressive. I told her that I had begun advertising and had an appointment at the Air base in the morning. She reminded me, "You may find notes or something strange up there. If you do find something, give it to me and don't pass it around."
I worked on my list till two thirty, then decided to go through the desk and credenza drawers to clean them out. They had been stuffed with notes and various papers.
Before I could even start, the director walked into my office and did a quick look around. "How are you doing in your new job, Chuck?"
"Great, Sir. So far everything is going smoothly."
"I see you've cleaned up in here. What did you do just use a shovel and scoop it out?"
"I sorted it all out and threw away everything that didn't affect the agency or the job. It wasn't too bad."
He said, "Cleaned up and out everything, huh?"
"Yes Sir, I needed a starting point and found the department directory as well as the SOP. I've already begun using it to establish an office procedure."
"That's great to hear. Say, Chuck, if you run into anything in the files or where ever that looks strange or out of place. Let me have it okay? Sometimes past employees leave landmines around."
"Yes Sir, I'll do that."
"Oh, by the way, nice suit. Have you already spent your allowance?"
"Most of it sir, Ms. White and her husband took me shopping last Saturday and helped me pick out clothes. As you can see, they have good taste."
"I'll say, that's a thousand dollar Brooks Brother suit you have on. I hope you got a discount."
"A big discount, Sir. I think it's called the Men's Outlet Mart."
"Oh yeah, I know the place. It's in a real seedy part of town. Be careful down there."
I thought that was a little strange coming from a guy like him. I guess he's above getting a deal on clothes.
When he left, I began going through the drawers. The center one didn't have anything of importance in it and was soon empty, but it kept sticking. I'd get to it later. In the top right drawer I found a bunch of notes that were for after hours meetings with the director. It seemed strange for there to be so many, so I saved those and put them in an envelope. The addresses on the notes varied and they didn't mean anything to me.
In the bottom left hand drawer, I found some letters and cards that were obviously personal as they appeared to be love letters. I was going to chuck them, but decided to look inside one. The notes were handwritten and were all signed by the same name as the director. I quickly shoved all of them into the big envelope.
The credenza was another mess. There were more notes, letters, and cards, plus a big envelope that I opened that had a bunch of eight by ten photos of the director and some girl that I didn't recognize. The photos were of them in suits, with some in casual clothes. I put those aside and finished throwing away the junk from the credenza. I saved all the agency books and manuals, but threw away two years of out of date telephone books from around the area. The cleaning people were going to hate me, but I didn't feel like making multiple trips to the dumpster again. I would take one box down as I left tonight, but that was all.
It was four thirty, so I still had some time. I figured on fixing the center drawer on the desk. I got down on my knees to look to see if I could see what was catching and saw something taped under the desk that the drawer was catching on. There was a large envelope duct taped to the bottom of the desk. I slowly peeled off the tape so I wouldn't destroy whatever it was holding. When I had it free, I put the drawer back up then looked inside the envelope.
Oops! The envelope was stuffed with dozens of porno photographs. It took a couple of seconds before I realized that the people in the photos were the director and the lady in the other pictures, plus there were some people that I recognized from other departments. I'd bet this is what the director was looking for. I'd also bet that this is what Ms. White expected as well.
I put everything I had found into my satchel then went downstairs to see Ms. White. I didn't even take the big box of trash down. Before I went downstairs though, I wrote a short note to Ms. White, but didn't sign it. It said, call me on my cell between five thirty and six.
I made it to Ms. White's office just as she was closing her door. She asked me, "Do you lock your office up at night?"
"No ma'am, there's nothing in it that isn't from the agency, so there's no need. Besides I'm hoping the cleaning people will finish taking the trash out. The place needs a good scrubbing."
"You might have to do the thorough scrubbing yourself but you can ask to have it painted if you want. I'll ask the janitor crew to give your office some special attention. I know the previous person always had it locked and they couldn't get in."
We were in the hallway alone, so I gave her the note and made the motion of the finger in front of my lips to be quiet. She nodded in understanding then she went to her car and I went to my pickup. I put my satchel in it and then went to Rocky's. The girls were already there. They must have split thirty seconds early to be there already. They were discussing something that had happened to Nancy that day.
Nancy said, "I'm going to tell, Chuck. He'll have an opinion."
The other girls looked at each other, then they all shrugged their shoulders.
Nancy said, "The director had me in his office most of this afternoon for what he was calling my annual interview. My boss gives me my review, not the director. Anyway, after the first fifteen minutes the man was very forward asking me to go out with him, asking me over to his place to party with him and his wife. He was even saying how he could get me a special job at the agency that paid really well. That isn't right. I'm thinking about telling my boss."
Tiani said, "You know he did that with Brandy and with me too. I just let him know I wasn't interested and he let me go. You know the amount of times he called Brandy at home until she threatened him saying she would let her dad know he was harassing her."
Nancy said to me, "What do you think I should do, Chuck?"
I dug out my little note book then wrote Ms. White's cell number on it. "Call this number later. You'll recognize the voice. Tell that person about your problem and mention Tiani and Brandy had the same problem."
"Who is this?" Nancy asked.
"Just call, don't talk about this stuff to anyone else, especially at work. Too many places have ears. Do you guys always sit in this booth? See, if I wanted to know some office gossip, I could bug this booth and I'd know everything fast. This is better than the lunch room because you think no one knows you're here. It's always best to discuss personal stuff away from crowds."
The girls all looked at each other and decided to just tell some jokes and personal stories, letting the bad conversation go for the time being until it was time to leave the bar.