Chapter 5
Rebecca really did have a board meeting that morning and she rose early. Her husband had already left for work and as usual had been quiet enough not to wake her. Pulling on her thick white bra and plain white underwear, Rebecca avoided looking in the mirror before she was fully dressed with pantyhose, calf-length blue dress and white blouse. She hadn't looked at herself nude in ages and certainly didn't have the time or interest this morning. She put her hair up in a dignified manner that befit her professional status.
Rebecca was a firm believer in that old adage "clothing makes the man." Dress how you want people to treat you, she always told her two daughters. Slipping on her modest blue heels she woke the kids and told them to get ready for school. The board meeting ran long and by the time Rebecca got to the paper, the diehard student reporters were already into their daily routines. Scott, the local news junkie and senior editor, was nestled into the couch someone had brought in for late nights. During election coverage, the students would sometimes wait until the last minute to print the paper to make sure they got as many results as possible. They would pull an all-nighter as they say and take turns napping on the couch. Scott had a police scanner he had bought himself and was busy turning the dial looking for news. He barely looked up when Rebecca said hello. He looked like he had spent the night but she knew he always looked that way. Poor boy needs to take the job a little less seriously, she thought to herself, putting her purse down on her desk.
"Good morning, Janie. How are you?"
Janie looked at Rebecca and smiled weakly. "Ok, I guess. I feel a little nauseous, though. My mouth's all dry from drinking last night." "Maybe you should see the nurse, Janie," Rebecca said with concern. "Oh, no. It will pass, Mrs. Forester. I'll be fine."
"Janie's a little trooper, aren't you, Janie?" Kallie said, sliding up to Janie and putting her arm around her.
"Oh, hello, girls," Rebecca said. She told herself she would be polite but firm if the girls ever came back around the paper. They were not welcome beyond the second door if they were not employees. "I think I told you about the employees only rule, didn't I?"
"Oh, we're sorry, Mrs. Forester," Leah said, flashing her a pretty smile. "It's just that we need your opinion on this new drink we're marketing in out class. We switched to marketing, did you know that? Selling ads for a school paper just seemed too...easy."
I'll tell you what or who is easy around here, Rebecca thought to herself but smiled and guided the two young women back to the public area with firm hands. "I'd be glad to help you two out in any way I can as long as it's on the up and up."
"Mrs. Forester," Kallie said, frowning at the middle-aged teacher. "We've learned our lesson. You scared us straight." Well, not exactly straight, Leah thought to herself, remembering last night.
"Fine. Fine. What would you like me to do," Rebecca asked. "We just need you to taste test our drink and tell us what you think in your own words," Leah beamed.
Rebecca opened the cap of the bottle and sniffed the drink. "There's no alcohol, is there, girls?"
"No ma'am. Just our own brand of apple juice. Try it." "Alright, but let's go into the board room. We're blocking traffic out here."
"Whatever you say, Mrs. Forester. After you," Kallie waved her arm.
Janie fought down another wave of nausea as she sat at her desk. She tried to focus on the layout in front of her but her mind kept going back to last night. She had drunk only one beer last night that she could remember. No, not a beer. Something else. She had meant to study with Kallie and Leah, she remembered that much. The next thing she knew she was in her own bed with a headache and a very dry mouth and her two new friends trying to wake her up for school. They had quizzed her about how she felt and what she remembered. She answered their questions as best she could and they finally seemed satisfied with her answers. She wondered what that was all about but was in too much of a rush to worry about it. Now that she had time to think, she recalled a very vague dream she had last night. It was not at all a pleasant lingering feeling she had now. She remembered it to be vaguely erotic but mostly horror of suffocation. She was claustrophobic to begin with and had passed on her first career interest as a result of it. No way could she be an OR nurse and wear a surgical mask for hours at a time. She tried to remember if she had seen a movie or TV show before she went to bed last night but couldn't recall anything. Janie shook her head again to clear the cobwebs and went back to work.
End chapter 5