Chapter 5

“Okay,” Tiffany said, swallowing her mouthful of sandwich.

“They moved into that condo; by the way, it as pretty as everyone says it is?” Nina said.

“Actually? Place is gorgeous,” Tiffany said. “I mean, looks like it’s out of a magazine, I swear.”

“And the other woman had her two girls with her. Prettiest little girls; they’re what? About six or seven, no, six,” Nina went on.

“Uh, Amelia and Amanda?” Tiffany guessed. “Found some towels, had ‘A is for Amelia’ and ‘A is for Amanda’ embroidered on them. They’re so cute!”

“Yeah, Mealy and Mandy,” Nina agreed, finishing her lunch. “Anyway, God, I’ve never seen Ashley like that before. Smiling, laughing, once actually heard her singing some stupid kid’s song to herself. No, no, it was that stupid Brick’s Pizza commercial.”

“Oh God, hate that commercial!” Tiffany agreed.

“Uh huh, but you remember Brick’s Pizza, don’t you?” Nina agreed. “Anyway, Pen… The other woman’s husband says he’s going tell the court they’re molesting them girls, making them do stuff. And, rather than taking the chance of losing the girls, she goes back to her husband.”

“And just leaves Ashley to deal with it,” Tiffany deduced.

“Oh my God, really thought she was going commit suicide,” Nina said. “I mean, I know it wasn’t true. You want something from Ashley? Tell her it’s for a kid. She will literally give you her last penny.”

“Or for a cat,” Tiffany murmured.

Nina scurried from the room, already three minutes late. Tiffany shook her head, knowing the elevator would take at least five minutes to reach the fifth floor, then another three, four minutes to drop to the second floor.

After completing her own lunch, Tiffany used the stairs. She entered the call center and walked toward her desk. At the last moment, she walked to where Ashley was seated, typing rapidly on her keyboard.

Tiffany put a gentle hand on Ashley’s shoulder. When Ashley peered over her shoulder, Tiffany gave Ashley a smile and a gentle squeeze.

“W. T. F?” Ashley asked as Tiffany sat at her own desk and clocked back in. “What was that all about?”

“Don’t know,” Nina said. “Hmm. Maybe she likes you? Maybe she doesn’t think you’re the meanest woman she’s ever met?”

“Keep it up, I will go to HR,” Ashley threatened.

“Oh B. U. double L shit,” Nina said. “Wait a minute. Thought you already dealt with Tim Sullivan?”

“Did. Evicted him, what? On the sixth, no, no, the seventh. Why?” Ashley asked, leaning over to peer at Nina’s computer screen.

“Public Utilities; two months behind, power’s been cut off, but he still owes two hundred forty seven,” Nina read aloud.

Calling Tim’s cell phone told Nina that the voice mailbox was full and could not accept any new messages. A text message sent to the same number went through and Nina made a notation in his file.

At five o’clock, Ashley gave Tiffany’s shoulder a soft touch, then left the room. As Ashley disappeared from sight, Elizabeth Herd leaned over and gave Tiffany a knowing smirk.

Tiffany flamed hotly, then grew angry with herself. What did it matter to her what Elizabeth Herd thought? She knew that there was nothing inappropriate between her and Ashley. And even if there was something beyond roommates going on, it was none of Elizabeth’s business.

Tiffany busied herself with her next call, ignoring Elizabeth. At five thirty, she sent in her log, and clocked out.

“Whew,” Tiffany said and left the call center.

“There’s Mommy,” Ashley said when Tiffany entered the condo. “Mm hmm, there’s Mommy. Go on. Tell Mommy what a bad girl you’ve been.”

“Oh no, what’d you do?” Tiffany asked Lady.

“Oh, just scratching up my couch,” Ashley answered as she stirred a teaspoon of minced garlic into the cast iron skillet.

“Oh! Oh Ashley! Oh my God, oh, I am so sorry!” Tiffany gasped, truly horrified.

“What? Tiffany, she’s a cat. That’s what cats do,” Ashley shrugged.

“But still,” Tiffany moaned.

“Why I bought her that scratching post, which, by the way, she still hasn’t even noticed,” Ashley said, scraping around the hot skillet.

“God, I’ll, how bad is it?” Tiffany asked, looking through the doorway of the kitchen at the luxurious couch.

“Not really all that bad; I wouldn’t have even seen it if I hadn’t heard her doing it,” Ashley said, pouring the warm beef broth into the sizzling skillet.

“Bad! Bad Lady, very, very bad,” Tiffany fussed at the cat.

“She’s a cat,” Ashley quickly came to Lady’s defense. “Okay? She’s just a cat. Cats do that.”

Tiffany looked at Ashley. Then she nodded her head in agreement.

“But still, she knows better than that,” Tiffany said.

“Okay, you fussed at her, you told her she was a bad girl, now leave her alone,” Ashley defended.

Tiffany studied Ashley’s face for a long moment. Then she scooped Lady into her arms and gave the beast a kiss on the top of her head. Ashley turned and continued cooking.

“You going swimming again?” Tiffany asked as they sat down for supper.

“Hmm, probably,” Ashley said. “You?”

“Mm hmm. Oh, you don’t think Slimy and Slimier are going be there, huh?” Tiffany asked.

“The Barf-erons? Don’t know,” Ashley said, put her fork down and took a sip of water. “Maybe. But who cares?”

“Wish I could find my old suit,” Tiffany said. “Covered up a lot more than that bikini, that’s for sure.”

“And?” Ashley asked, a hint of a smile at her lips. “Tiffany, I thought I could get away with it? I’d swim naked, just to throw it in their disgusting faces, ‘Look. Look at what you’ll never get your sleazy little hands on.'”

“Ashley!” Tiffany gasped, then giggled. “That’s horrible!”

“Isn’t it?” Ashley smiled.

The Bergerons were not at the pool, but Vince, Monica, and Vinnie Davis were. The moment he saw Ashley, Vinnie started calling out to her. Ashley smiled, then delighted the three adults and one child by diving into the pool, giving Vinnie a pinch on his foot, then surfacing right next to him.

“Mith Athley! You don’t do dat!” Vinnie giggled.

“Do what? I’m just swimming,” Ashley feigned innocence. “Must be that boy shark I seen in here.”

“Boy shark?” Tiffany asked.

“Mm hmm, dangerous animal. But she only eats up little boys,” Ashley verified as she gave Vinnie’s leg a little pinch.

“Oh no!” Vinnie squealed as Vince and Monica smiled.

Ashley introduced Tiffany to the two executives from Sweet Oak Water & Sewage, then hefted Vinnie out of his father’s arms. She gave the boy a ride around the pool a few times, then safely returned him to his dad.

“Okay, well, we’re getting waterlogged,” Vince smiled as he walked to the steps of the pool.

“Bye Vinnie,” Ashley said.

“Say ‘bye Miss Ashley,'” Monica instructed her son.

“You really love kids, don’t you?” Tiffany asked as Ashley waved good-bye to the child.

“Aw, Jesus. Just remembered its last Friday of the month,” Ashley groaned, not answering Tiffany’s question.

“Pay day!” Tiffany whooped.

“Uh huh, and three thirty meeting,” Ashley said. “‘Um, uh, okay, uh, is everyone here? Um, someone check the break room, everyone here? Everyone, anyone out in the hall? Okay, it’s now three minutes after four, so I guess we should go ahead and get the three thirty meeting started. What? Where’s Penny? Penny? Penny? Where, anyone seen Penny?'”

“Oh my God, it’s almost like I’m there, in the conference room,” Tiffany giggled at Ashley’s uncanny imitation of Brad Prescott.

“Month after month, blah-blah-blah, numbers, it’s all about the numbers, blah-blah-blah, it’s all about productivity, blah-blah-blah, um, Emily? Um, anything from the call center?” Ashley said. “‘Well, golly gosh, Mr. Prescott, um, like you said, it’s all about the numbers, tee-hee, thank you Mr. Prescott. If it’s not too much trouble, can I kiss your ass, Mr. Prescott?’ That weird ‘pop’ sound is Brad’s hand popping out of Emily’s ass before he moves on to the next sock puppet, then he’ll say, ‘That’s right, Emily, if them phones ain’t ringing, we’re not working.'”

“Always wondered what that sound was,” Tiffany agreed, laughing at Ashley’s imitation of Emily’s inane chatter.

“And…” Ashley said and suddenly, Tiffany was looking at Ashley’s large breasts as Ashley’s bikini top slipped up.

The breasts were two melon halves on Ashley’s slender frame. Both orgs were lightly tanned, with light brown areolae, each the size of a half-dollar coin. Each areolae was dotted with a tightly crinkled nipple that stuck out nearly a quarter of an inch.

“Oops,” Ashley smirked, covering her breasts from view.

“Hey Ashley and Tiffany no last name,” Adam Bergeron said a moment later.

“Ashley Dunn, you’re horrible,” Tiffany accused and Ashley shot her a mischievous smile.

Ashley swam to the ladder and got out of the pool. Climbing out after Ashley, Tiffany ‘accidentally’ let the bottom of her bikini slip down enough so that Adam and Samantha Bergeron saw that blonde was indeed Tiffany’s natural color.

“I’m horrible?” Ashley whispered as they toweled off.

“Mm hmm,” Tiffany agreed. “And you’re a bad influence on me.”

They entered their condominium and Ashley again gave Tiffany a mischievous smirk.

“Hey Tiffany? Bet you thought my little boob show was for you, Huh?” Ashley asked, then flashed her breasts at Tiffany again.

“Honestly? Didn’t have a clue what was going on,” Tiffany shook her head.

She then flashed her own 30C breasts, with light pink areolae and hard nipples at Ashley. Both women giggled.

Climbing the stairs, Tiffany was again looking at Ashley’s compact backside. She watched as the muscled globes flexed and straightened with each step that Ashley took.

“Going brush my hair?” Tiffany asked as Ashley opened the door of her bedroom.

Ashley stopped, mouth open slightly in surprise. Then she slowly nodded her head in agreement. She closed her bedroom door and followed Tiffany into Tiffany’s bedroom.

Again, they perched on the opposite bed, Tiffany between Ashley’s splayed legs. Ashley slowly brushed through Tiffany’s hair.

Then, with a soft ‘whack’ to Tiffany’s buttock with the brush, Ashley announced, “There. Got all the starfish and sea shells and mermaids out of that hair.”

“What about the boy sharks?” Tiffany asked.

“Hmm, didn’t see any fins when I was brushing,” Ashley said.

Tiffany looked over her shoulder and smiled when she saw Ashley’s smile. She jerked slightly when Ashley gave her buttock another soft ‘whack’ with the brush, then stood up.

“Thank you,” Ashley said quietly from Tiffany’s doorway.

“Thank…” Tiffany asked, but Ashley was already gone.

That morning, the first thing Tiffany did was determine that Prescott had deposited her pay check into her account. She asked Ashley if she’d checked and Ashley shook her head.

“Nope. It’ll be there,” Ashley said.

“Damn it. Didn’t get the bonus this time,” Tiffany deduced, doing the math in her head.

“Hmm?” Ashley said. “Damn, that’s a shame.”

“Yeah. Oh well,” Tiffany said. “See you in a bit.”

“See you,” Ashley agreed and left the condo.

At three o’clock, Tiffany looked up when Emily Ashford, the manager of the call center strode into the room. She looked over her shoulder as Emily whispered something to Ashley.

Tiffany gave Ashley a worried look. Ashley shrugged her shoulders at Tiffany’s worried look.

“Aw, what did your little girlfriend do this time, Tiff?” Elizabeth mocked.

Tiffany bit back the outburst that was just under the surface. Elizabeth calling Ashley her girlfriend did not bother Tiffany; Tiffany knew there was nothing sexual going on between her and Ashley. But in the past four days, Ashley had been more of a friend to Tiffany than any of the other women working in the call center had been in the nearly two years she’d been working there.

In the hall, Emily pushed the up button for the elevator. The door opened with a grunt.

“Elevator’s here,” Emily announced.

“I’ll take the stairs,” Ashley stated firmly. “Fifth floor?”

“Hmm? Yes, uh, Mr. Prescott’s office,” Emily agreed, stepping into the elevator.

This time, Emily was waiting for Ashley just inside the door of Danielle’s office. Danielle nodded with her head, indicating that they should enter Mr. Prescott’s office.

Entering Brad’s office, Ashley froze for a moment. Penny Minzelle, her former lover was in the office, along with Shirley Dangelo. Sam Moss, the head of the Accounting department and Stacy Nash, their property manager were in the room as well. Brad smiled at Ashley, but it looked more like a grimace.

“Ms. Dunn, thank you,” Brad said. “Thank you for coming.”

Again, Brad did his usual hemming and hawing, beating around the bush. Finally, Shirley Dangelo stated that Emily Ashford was leaving the company.

“And uh, with uh, Ms. Uh, oh shoot, Ms. Farley out uh, out sick,” Brad attempted again to take the reins.

“We’d like to offer you the position of manager,” Emily said.

“You were the logical choice. With your degree from Norman’s,” Penny said.

“That is a very flattering offer,” Ashley said.

“We’d start you off at fifty four thousand,” Brad again attempted to gain control of his own manager’s meeting.

“Fifty seven six,” Ashley stated firmly. “Plus ten percent of any bonuses my employees earn. Oh. And I have sole rights to hire or fire anyone I see fit.”

Brad stared at Ashley for a long moment. Sam and Stacy also stared at Ashley.

Emily looked away, trying to hide her amusement. Penny nodded her approval, but Ashley ignored her.

Brad looked at Shirley for guidance. Shirley nodded her head slightly and Brad nodded his head.

“Fine, fifty seven six,” Brad agreed.

“Plus ten percent, plus hiring and firing,” Ashley continued. “Please have that in writing.”

Sam finally interjected, “Why do you want hiring and firing? I don’t get that in my department.”

“Precisely,” Ashley said. “And it shows.”

Sam goggled at Ashley’s brazen statement. Ashley held up three fingers.

“Three times. Three times in this quarter I had to contact Ms. Dangelo, to contact you, to let you know that someone in your department had the wrong amount of back due rent for one of our clients. Three times. Since we are dealing with people’s living arrangements, as well as their credit scores, getting the amount wrong once is bad enough. Getting it wrong twice is really unforgiveable, but three times is almost criminal,” Ashley stated. “And that’s three times I have found errors. How many errors have slipped through? Not everyone in our call center takes the time to check everything in our client’s files. How many of them have let a client’s credit score fall because of your department’s mistakes?”