Women Who Talk Pt. 06

"She would've bought that out of the Trading Post, Helen is good at hunting things down," Penny pointed to the box folders and other folders, "they're all filled with catalogues and real estate lists," she leaned back in her seat and stared at the screensaver on the monitor.

"If a client's ex husband claims the house is worth ex amount I get Helen to bring me the folders for that particular area to double check. There are other lists as well, boats, cars, luxury items as well," she let her eyes play around the room, "although to be honest I have no interest in the more trivial things the other party might own but Helen is obsessed with lists," she smiled slyly.

Robyn nodded and traced her fingers along the files closest to her.

"Wow, she's certainly thorough," her eyes dropped to the bottom shelf, "so, what's in the one titled Women?"

"Women?" Penny leaned forward, "where?"

"Here," she took it out for her.

Penny stared at her and her eyes widened.

"Holy fuck," she held her hand out, "let me see that, please."

Robyn handed it to her and Penny put it down on the desk.

"I take it this isn't work related?"

"You bet your sweet arse it's not," she opened the folder and then stiffened as she stared at the page behind a plastic envelope that had a photograph attached to it. There was a name at the top, Anna Spencer and below it were contact details, home and work addresses, next of kin, body type and dimensions, likes and dislikes right down to sexual fetishes. Anna had a liking for outdoor sex and at the very bottom were two dates, the date the affair started and the date when it ended, she stared at the name again and swallowed.

"Fuck me, you too?"

"What?" Robyn joined her, "who's Anna Spencer?"

"A former client of ours," she stared at the date, "this is a fucking brag book," she touched the alphabet tabs on the edge, "in alphabetical order," she selected Z and flipped over to it. A moment later she took her phone out of her jacket pocket and while Robyn pulled the rest of the envelopes over for her she rang Lisa and her colleague answered on the first ring.

"What's up?"

"Hiya, I'm in Helen's office with Robyn, she's got a brag book with photos. Zara is in it, and the dates match, but there's more here. I've just found a mini biography of Anna Spencer... yeah, the same one and at the very bottom are the dates the affair started and when it ended... oh yeah, it says that in black and white, affair started and affair ended," she leaned back in her seat and moved the mouse. The screensaver dissolved to be replaced with the desktop.

"No, just stay home," she clicked the start menu and then the Recent Documents sub-menu, "going by her recent documents on this computer these printouts came from this computer," she stared past Robyn for a moment.

"And if that's the case then I can do a snap audit tomorrow morning, if she's used this computer to create these files then that's every justification I'll need to conduct my audit. This machine belongs to me and if she's broken the terms and conditions then there are consequences... no, don't bother, I'll call Anne myself but as soon as we're en route I'll give you a phone and you can meet me here," she leaned back in her seat.

"No worries, sweetie. Have a good night and thanks for your help tonight," she hung up and put the phone down.

"Who's Zara?"

"Another ex client of mine. I have a rule at work. No one gets sexually involved with a client and if you feel as if you might succumb to temptation tell me and I'll deal with it."

"Okay," she frowned.

"Let's just say that from the witness account I've just heard an hour or so ago, Helen was partly to blame for Zara losing her daughter to Social Welfare after she walked out on her. She took over her life, apparently and became her one and only friend and then left her for someone else."

"So, what happens to her now?" Robyn asked her.

"I'll do my audit while she's at work, I'm supposed to do one every year at least but it's always just a basic audit and I'm not due to do another one until the end of the year," she frowned, "but I pay the rent on this office, and as you've just heard, I own the computer so I can legally walk in and do a snap audit whenever I bloody well want."

Robyn nodded as Penny stared at the computer monitor, the most recent file was titled Robyn and so that meant she'd probably already printed out a hard copy but she brought herself back to the present moment as she continued.

"She'll be suspended on half pay until I finish my investigation but from what I've seen in that book it's a foregone conclusion that she'll lose her job. It's in her contract, all my staff sign up to that deal when they start with me. Some might call it a bit draconian but we deal with damaged people all day long and if we're caught screwing a client then the opposition will eat us for breakfast and shit us out for morning tea."

"I wonder if I'm in there," Robyn turned the pages until she got to R.

"I think it's most likely judging by the most recent files on here," Penny replied.

Robyn however didn't reply until she got to her entry and then she swallowed, "fucking bitch, I'm there and look, there's the ad for the pattern folder she sold me."

"Along with a strand of hair," Penny stared at the page, "there's no picture of course but that was only a matter of time, but you see what I mean, she's thorough."

"She's been a little over friendly but I thought it was all harmless," she swallowed, "and I thought I could handle her but tonight she was so smooth, although what I'm curious about is why she hid that letter. Eventually I was bound to find out."

"That's probably her first big mistake, she hasn't opened the letter. She's usually more thorough than this, but she may have gotten overconfident and misjudged the situation. I wasn't exactly up front about how I felt about you, especially to her, but if you'd found out she would have claimed the money fell out and she just forgot," she turned the folder around.

"Helen is sneaky," she started flipping the pages, "and manipulative, she'd try to make out that I was lying to cover something up," she stopped as she found her entry, "and there's my page along with a full sized picture of me," she leaned back in the seat again.

"I'm sorry," Penny looked at her as Robyn sat on the divan again, "this is my fault. If I'd given you that cafetière myself none of this would have happened but I was snowed under at work and Helen offered to take it into you."

Robyn looked down at her feet and frowned, "but it's not your fault, you trusted her and I trusted her so that makes us even," she looked at the folder on the desk as Penny closed it and rose from her seat.

"So, what are you going to do tonight?" Penny asked her as she picked the folder up and rounded the desk again.

"I could go home and feel like a bloody goose," she fiddled with her cuff of her double-breasted white blouse, "I made this with Cindy's help the other day."

"That's really nice work," Penny's eyes flickered from the blouse to the three-quarter length skirt, "it looks similar to the one you wore that day you came into my office."

"It is a copy but with a few minor modifications," she cocked her head to one side, "are you serious about asking me out on a date?"

"I am," she replied as she put the folder back.

"So, why don't you ask me to stay the night?"

"You mean tonight?" Penny turned to look at her.

"I don't have to work tomorrow, so yeah, tonight's a good night. We can have dinner, we can light a candle if you want, we can talk and drink wine but I won't drink as much as I did the other night," she teased a lock of hair over her ear.

"And if you kiss me on the throat I won't resist. You were the one I wanted to be with because I feel secure with you, you've treated me as if I was an adult. You didn't make me feel small, you didn't try to mother me. You treated me like an equal," she finished suddenly.

"Huh," Penny exhaled slowly.

"That's... the best come on line I've ever heard," she walked towards the door, "you've also treated me as an equal and at first I tried to rationalise it all, make out that perhaps you didn't know me as well as you thought you did," she stopped in the doorway and stared down the hallway.

"I wrote that letter because I decided, on a whim, to just open the door and see if you were going to walk in but I had no plan for what happens next. I still haven't picked out one of those buckles yet but I've been busy with other things the last few hours," she turned towards her.

"It was spontaneous, one of those rare off the cuff moments that sneaks in under your radar and it takes you by surprise."

"So, keep both buckles," Robyn shrugged, "I can afford that much at least."

"Thanks," she inclined her head in her direction, "I meet a lot of women who try to impress me with expensive gifts and it always embarrasses me because I know full well that they can't afford it. I'm the one with the money," she nodded at the money on the divan.

"I don't ask that of anyone, I just want people to treat me like an equal. Invite me into your home and make me a coffee, let me lie on a lounger out in the backyard and talk shit. I need that more than I need top of the range perfume or a spa weekend in Daylesford. That's why I love Cindy and Mary so much because I can just come in and put my feet up on the coffee table and let it all go and they just take me as I am."

"I love them," she smiled, "but if it's a weekend in Daylesford then you'd have to pay, that's above my pay grade," she stood up.

"So, what do you say? Can I stay the night?"

Penny hesitated, Robyn looked down and then Penny chuckled.

"Of course you can," she reached out for her hand.

Robyn took her hand as she stepped forward and then she let go and put her hands on her shoulders and stared at her.

"We take things slow, for both our sakes."

"The slower the better," she nodded.

Robyn leaned over and kissed her on the lips and as their lips touched she parted her mouth and tilted her head at the same time. She felt the light-headedness she'd experienced with Helen but it was different with Penny, she felt almost giddy.

"Okay," she pulled back, "I've learned two things tonight."

"What?"

"The first is that I like kissing women more than men and the second is that you're a better kisser than Helen."

Penny chuckled at that and kissed her cheek.

"You'll never wash that spot again," Penny stepped back, "let's clean up here so she doesn't suspect a thing and get back home."

"Sweet, I have to pick up a change of clothes from home first."

They left some fifteen minutes later. The envelope containing the letter was put back with a blank sheet of paper in it and to further allay suspicion she left a handwritten note on the kitchen bench.

Dear Helen,

I know I said was going to stay but your mum needs your help more than you need to be with me right now. You need to deal with this first and after that we can talk.

Take care,

Robyn. X.

She was going to leave the cardigan but Penny convinced her to take it anyway and the only change to the plan occurred at Robyn's place. She came out of the house with a change of clothes in a bag and instead of getting back into her car she opened the back door of Penny's car and put the bag on the back seat.

"Can you run me back in the morning?"

"Sure thing," Penny replied, "not a problem."

Robyn slid into the front passenger seat a few seconds later and closed the door.

"If you're going to sacrifice your privacy tonight then I'm sacrificing an easy exit," she pulled the seatbelt across, "besides, I don't fancy driving up that road after a hailstorm," she rested her hand on the centre console.

"Just don't do a Thelma and Louise thing tonight."

"That's the last thing on my mind," Penny started the engine, "trust me."

***

One of the features of life in the suburbs was anonymity, you could effectively live in the same house for years and never actually know your neighbours. You might know one or two by their first names and if you had children then you lost some of that anonymity but Alana had managed to stay almost disconnected from her neighbours ever since she and her ex husband moved in.

Thus, it felt almost alien allowing Mike from over the road into her house, she'd only let him into her living room because her mother was here and he also had information about the person who had vandalised her car last night. The only thing she knew about Mike was that he had multiple partners who seemed to form a near constant queue to his front door, metaphorically speaking. She'd known for some time that he'd also been looking at her but apart from the occasional hello he didn't step into her front yard.

He'd already complimented her on the interior, which was to be expected but she doubted he found her collection of prints and pictures to his taste. She had a taste for cityscapes and Asian artwork but she appreciated the comment all the same. Her West Highland terrier, Mac was a little unsure of this stranger and after she'd shushed him up he jumped up on the couch and sat staring at him, letting out a muted bark now and then.

He'd settled down somewhat when he perceived that Mike was not a threat to his 'pack' and after getting him a coffee she sat down with her mother to let him tell the story once again, this time for her mother's benefit. He'd seen the white Ford Falcon parked nearby when he went to the bottle shop last night but when he came home the car was still there. Now that he was sitting down though he also recalled that when he'd looked out sometime later the car was gone and he'd ignored it and went back to drinking and watching telly.

"I didn't have that late a night," he went on, "just before midnight I reckon, but I was lying in bed," he stopped for a moment, "when I heard a sound like a tyre getting punctured. I thought it was my car at first but when I looked out there was no one there. I heard the sound of breaking perspex and when I looked over at your joint I saw this little guy in a dark hoodie breaking your tail lights."

"Okay," Angela frowned, "but you didn't call out?"

"He had a knife," Mike raised an eyebrow, "I saw that much when he ran towards the gate."

"Mum," Alana grabbed her mother's leg, "sorry, go on."

"As I told you, he tripped over something in the driveway and ended up on his front, I think I saw something fly out of his hand but I couldn't be sure but he was hurt when he got up. By that time your light was on and he raced out to the car and it was only then that I recognised it as the same one from before."

"And you remembered the rego?" Alana asked him.

"Sure," he handed over a piece of paper, "as you can see, it's an easy one to remember."

Alana nodded as she stared at the registration number, he was certainly right but it wasn't one that she recognised and her ex husband wasn't the type of guy to launch a revenge attack, especially after all these years.

"And you said you'd be willing to speak to the cops," she looked up.

"Sure, I can't give a description the guy but I can tell you what car he got into."

"That'd help," her mother conceded, "unless it's a stolen car."

"Well that's what cops do," he shrugged, "investigate crimes."

Alana frowned as she stared at her phone on the coffee table and eventually she rose and picking it up, opened her phone book and scrolled down to the number the uniformed cop had given her that very morning. Thankfully when he answered he was still on duty and he listened as she related the story Mike had told her.

"Okay," he eventually spoke up, "we'd like to speak to this neighbour of yours."

"He's here right now, I could," she paused.

"Sure, no worries," he replied.

"He wants to speak to you," she passed the phone across, "Constable David McKinnon."

Mike shrugged as he took the phone from her and she sat back as he answered a few questions and also gave Constable McKinnon the registration number but eventually he handed the phone back to her with a tight smile.

"He um, wants to speak to you."

"Constable McKinnon," she spoke into the phone.

"I'm about to go off duty but I'll forward these details onto my sergeant and I'll drop by tomorrow sometime to update you."

"I'll be at work but you've got my work address."

"And we can drop in on you there?"

"Sure thing, I'm the manager."

"And about tonight are you all right on your own?"

"I've got my mum here for the night," she reassured him.

"Righto, that sounds like a plan. You have a good night then."

She farewelled him and put the phone down.

"Thank you for coming forward," she glanced at him, "I know it must seem like trivial matter but I'm so grateful you did."

"No worries, but it's only a trivial matter to me, if it happened to me it wouldn't be so trivial."

"Would you like to um," she looked down and bit her lip.

"Stay for dinner?"

She looked up and smiled timidly.

"Okay, sure, why not?"

***

Robyn stared at the dark blue sports bag on the opposite couch. Her boots were just near it on the floor and she stretched out her legs as she contemplated her changed situation. An hour and a half ago she'd been on Helen's bed with every intention of getting naked and now she was up at Penny's place whilst Helen dealt with her mother and an unroadworthy car. Her eyes shifted as she recalled some of the things Penny had told her about Helen and none of it was nice but she'd filled in some of the missing pieces. There had been doubts all along but she'd never been able to put her finger on anything, but that was because she hadn't considered her as a sexual partner, but Penny and Alana on the other hand were high on her list.

She stared into the flames as Penny loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. She'd been given a full tour of the house. It started with the small tower visible from outside, the interior of the tower had wooden bench seats all around it, which was why Penny had never hosted a meeting in this room, the seats weren't that comfortable. The next room was her bedroom and she'd seen the similarities between Helen's bed and hers. Penny's bed wasn't a four-poster bed but it was made of recycled wood such as sleepers and fencing posts, and underneath the bed were two wide drawers on each side. The varnished wood was all polished to a high shine but it was her wardrobe that was a truly impressive piece of work.

Made by the same carpenter who'd made the bed, it was a U-shaped room with wardrobe space on each side of a ten foot passageway. The short end of the U was where her shoes were kept and like the bed, the timber furnishings were made of recycled wood covered in coats of varnish. The same theme was continued in the ensuite bathroom with the woodwork around the shell-shaped bath and the bathroom cabinet. The piece de resistance however was the small private verandah on the other side of the French door that overlooked the lights of Melbourne. Robyn had stayed there for a few minutes whilst Penny went to the toilet.

Robyn stared up at the room that had been cleared out last Sunday, it was going to be turned into a sewing room for Cindy, and Penny had made it clear that if she was to continue her apprenticeship with Cindy then she'd be spending a lot of time in that room.

"She'll have the alarm code, so it'll save me a bit of money on security."

It was just another way of keeping the door open and as she let her eyes fall to the wineglass she reflected on the vastly different atmosphere. With Helen's house there was always an element of intrigue and whilst Penny had her own secrets Robyn felt no great desire to unravel them, she had grown to trust the older woman in the short period of time she'd known her. That much was obvious by the fact she'd brought a change of clothes and whilst there were spare bedrooms here she didn't think she'd be using any of them tonight.