Women Who Talk Pt. 06

Helen swallowed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Uh, yeah."

"I must also inform you of the following rights. You may communicate with a friend or relative to inform that person of your whereabouts. You may communicate with or attempt to communicate with a legal practitioner, do you understand these rights?"

Helen let her breath out suddenly and put her hands over her face.

"Shit, shit, shit, okay, I did it."

The male cop took a step back and nodded at his colleague who put her hand on her shoulder, Helen tensed for a moment and then rose slowly and looked around the room at her former colleagues and then she stepped forward and turned towards the door.

"Put your hands behind your head," the policewoman directed her.

Helen acquiesced and she was then patted down. The policewoman then nodded at her partner who opened the door whilst Helen was led out in full view of the others. They followed her progress out into the street and over to a police panel van. The police then took her car keys and locked her in the divvy van and proceeded to search the car and it didn't take long to find a hunting knife, which was put into an evidence bag. Penny turned away as the divisional van drove away some ten minutes later and a moment later her staff started clapping. She weathered the applause for the better part of fifteen seconds and then held up her hands.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're glad to see the last of her but let's not forget why I sacked her. These rules exist for a reason and this is what happens if you break them, it's not an idle threat."

"So, who's replacing her?" Charlott asked her.

"You'll see," she smiled.

***

The Toyota Celica that pulled into the car space that late afternoon caused Charlott to look up and then she nodded at Margaret.

"What's the bet she goes into the salon?"

"Maybe it's the milk bar," Margaret looked over at Penny, "what's your prediction?"

"What kind of car is it?" Penny glanced up from behind her desk.

"A little sporty Japanese car," Charlott replied, "young woman, late twenties, slim, attractive, I'd say she's definitely going to the salon."

"She's coming in here," Penny clicked the mouse, "get your money ready ladies."

Charlott opened her mouth to say something but then shut it again when she looked at Lisa who hadn't responded at all. Another car pulled into a nearby space and a familiar woman got out of it and greeted the woman in the Celica. Margaret rolled her eyes and reached for her handbag.

"I should've kept my mouth shut."

"Save your money, ladies," Penny rose and walked to the window as Alana got out of the car. She was wearing an elegant looking cream blouse and black trousers, Robyn was talking to her and gesturing at the office and a few moments later the two women started walking up the street to the front door.

"What does she want with us?" Charlott glanced up.

"If things go according to plan, she's Helen's replacement," Penny inclined her head.

"That quickly?" Margaret broke in.

"Well, while I reckon astrology is just a load of bullshit, sometimes the stars do align but let's not count our chickens before they hatch," she glanced at Lisa.

"How're you getting on with the files we took out of Helen's place?"

"I've filled four garbage bags with catalogues that are of no use to us, but I haven't started on the files on the computer yet."

"Leave that for Monday," she replied as Alana and Robyn reached the front door, "can you keep Robyn entertained while Charlott and I interview Alana?"

"Of course," she shrugged.

Alana looked a little pensive as she stepped into the reception area and Penny greeted her with a smile as she met her at the counter.

"Hiya, I'm Penny and this is my associate, Charlott," she inclined her head at Robyn, "Robyn, if you go into the office Lisa will show you around and make you a coffee."

"No worries," Robyn nodded at Alana, "good luck in there," and then she was stepping away.

"This way," Penny nodded at the small passageway leading to the conference rooms.

"I brought my old CV with me," Alana spoke up as she followed them into the conference room that was still empty, "my updated one is on the computer at home, I've only just started updating it the other day as a matter of fact."

"Whatever," Penny opened a door and gestured, "take a seat and we'll have an informal talk about the position."

Alana sat down and looked around the room, taking in the large table and eight chairs, a narrow bench took up most of one wall. It had an electric kettle, coffee, tea and a small fridge with a water cooler on top of it.

"Coffee, tea, or just plain water?" Penny glanced at the bench, "we have a bottle of wine that might be still drinkable."

"Just water, thanks," she replied, "I'm not a big drinker anyway."

"Good to know," Penny grinned.

Alana said nothing as she took the CV out of her handbag and stared at it, she'd written it years ago and this copy had been stored at work along with all the other CVs for years. When she'd written it she'd been a lot younger and as a result the job experience section was painfully thin and as she let her eyes play over it she felt herself cringing inwardly. It was sprinkled with woefully inadequate adjectives, it was written in a passive voice because years ago she'd been hampered by a shyness that was almost toxic. So much had changed since then, one of them being marriage, she sat up as Penny put the plastic cup in front of her.

"Before we start this informal discussion let me talk about the elephant in the room," Penny sat down next to her.

"I was made aware of an incident that occurred in your driveway on Tuesday night a few hours ago and that the woman responsible for it worked here," she eyed her.

"Robyn told you," Alana replied quietly.

"She did, but more as a heads up thing but Helen was sacked a couple of hours ago and the police have taken her back to the station to answer questions about the incident. So, with that in mind I would like to apologise for the distress it might have caused you. Helen's state of mind is chaotic at the best of times, she was a good legal secretary but I found her personal life to be shall we say, not a subject for polite company."

"Robyn's explained the reason or what she thinks is the reason," Alana replied.

"And she's the reason you're here right now," Penny glanced at the CV.

"When I told her that I was going to get rid of Helen for breaching company regulations she went and suggested you as a possible replacement. I did ask her to approach you today anyway but when she told me about what Helen had done it blind sided me," she picked up her CV.

"So, she's been arrested?"

"Yeah, she'll make bail on her own recognizance because it's considered a minor offence but I can assure you that she won't be coming anywhere near this place in the future. The police will be in touch with you at some point in the next few hours to see if you still want to press charges."

"What do you recommend?"

"I'd say yes, Helen has been wriggling out of trouble for years now and a guilty verdict would be a serious blow to her reputation but that's entirely up to you."

"I'll certainly think about it," she eyed her CV, "but we're not here to talk about Helen."

"No we're not," she too looked at the CV, "so let's talk about why you want to get into law."

Alana shifted in her seat and for a few seconds she almost baulked at the reply but then she started talking about her experiences as a child when she used to help her father past the amendments and then moved further forward to her high school years. She'd done a basic introduction to law when she was doing her business studies but at senior high school level it was very basic. Her reasons for not pursuing law were down to her need to support her mother when she was diagnosed with early onset arthritis. Since then it seemed as if she'd fallen into a rut, although she'd never truly given up her desire to get into law.

"On the basis of what you've told me," Penny flicked through her CV, "I'd say you've got what I takes to fill the requirements, you're motivated, mature and seem to be eager to learn," she pushed a few stapled pieces of paper towards her.

"That's a breakdown of what you'd be expected to do on a day to day basis along with the starting salary, that's gross by the way," she jotted down another number under it, "and that's the take home pay, without overtime of course."

She leaned back and studied her.

"After three months if you've performed suitably we'll sit down and talk about part time study at law school, I pay seventy five percent of the fees and in return you commit to five years service once you graduate. So, it's a long term commitment but we're not there yet, how much notice do you need to give?"

"Four weeks but it could maybe be less," she bit her lip, "if I make a phone call."

"Four weeks is fine," she glanced at Lisa who merely shrugged, "but take that home, read over it at the weekend and give me a call on Monday or Tuesday at the latest."

Penny leaned back and glanced at the door.

"It's a time limited offer though, if I haven't heard anything by the close of play on Thursday then I'll have to advertise and you'd be going up against other applicants."

"Can I say yes now?"

"Sure," she inclined her head, "but have a read through first and if there's something you're not sure about then call me either here on Monday or on the mobile if it's on the weekend or after hours and if you're still interested in the job we'll get you to sign a few forms early next week."

"I can do a few hours at the weekends or on my days off too," Alana replied, "even if it's voluntary, I'm keen to learn as much as possible."

"We'll work something out then," Penny nodded, "but it won't be voluntary."

"Thank you for this opportunity, Ms Jones," she looked past her.

"It's not me you have to thank, it's Robyn. She's the one who talked you up and she was right, my only hesitation was that thing with Helen. I didn't want you to think I was trying to piss in your pocket, this is a real job offer, she's no longer working here and if she comes near you, call me at any time of the day or night and I'll deal with her," she flicked at her hair.

"And it's Penny, not Ms Jones. If any of my staff call me Ms Jones I always know they've done something wrong, okay?"

"Okay," she teased a lock of hair over her ear, "I do have one other question but it's not to do with work though."

"Which is?"

"This group you run, Robyn told me about it. Women who talk? If I take this job, can I still come to the group?"

"Of course you can," she smiled, "Lisa comes but she's been doing a part time night school course for the last few months, so you're more than welcome to come along."

"So, how did she get on?" Robyn asked her some fifteen minutes later.

"I think she'll do fine," Penny replied as she watched Alana drive away, "you've saved the day, so to speak."

"And the thing about Helen?"

"I think that's a thing only she could answer," she replied, "she's still trying to process it right now, she's always been supportive of gay people and so Helen's actions have shocked her but we'll see how it pans out," she eyed her. "Why do you ask? Do you like her?"

"I do but not in that kind of way anymore," she moved over to the flyer she'd pinned on the board a few weeks ago, "what're you doing tonight?"

"I was going to go home?"

"How's about coming back to my joint for dinner?"

"Your joint? Okay."

"We can have dinner and then go back to your joint or you can stay at mine."

"Whatever," she grinned, "we'll work it out."

Robyn left her not long after that to go home but as Penny studied the noticeboard she found herself going back over the last few weeks. It had started with a willingness to allow a Christian church to advertise their coffee shop and it'd ended with a loose open-ended arrangement. Her eyes shifted to the newspaper article behind a frame and she recalled that much quoted phrase. Because nobody said I couldn't. The reworked phrase was now taking on a different meaning, because nobody said we couldn't.

EPILOGUE.

Robyn leaned back into the chair as she drank in the view of Melbourne, the early morning mist had lifted from the low lying suburbs but wispy tendrils still clung to the mountain that Sunday morning and as she squinted she could almost make out the church that had been the axis around which she'd revolved for the last couple of years.

That axis was gone now that she'd come out to her pastor. Danny, to her surprised, hadn't lectured her on the 'evils' of homosexuality. Rather he had encouraged her to keep an open mind. It'd made her somewhat suspicious as she drove home afterwards but after speaking to Penny about it she felt a little better about it. Danny after all, had come from a different background, the subculture of the one percenter outlaw clubs and whilst he was a born again Christian, he still retained many of the traits of his former atheistic past. He'd accepted her resignation from the coffee shop gratefully, because it meant he didn't have to take action but he'd encouraged her to keep in contact because his church was a broad church. He did however caution her against coming out to the others, as that might put him in an awkward situation with church elders.

"I know it's not a perfect solution but this world isn't perfect. People are fundamentally flawed, and I include myself in that definition too, we put people into neat little boxes because of our fight or flight instincts. But I still want Kathy's band to play at the coffee shop, I may get fallout from the elders but that's something I can handle."

Robyn glanced off to one side where Sigrid and Louise stood by the barbecue, Kathy and Astrid were not far away, the latter had her camera trained on the city as Kathy propped against the railing and as Robyn leaned forward Penny stepped out.

The older woman touched her shoulder gently and was rewarded with a smile. It'd been three weeks since their encounter and so far things seemed to be progressing nicely. In previous relationships she had always felt a little anxious but this time it was almost surreal at how calm she felt, not even her mother's 'explosion' had upset her. For the better part of a minute she'd stared past her before finally giving her an answer.

"I guess if that's the way you feel then that's between you and God but my conscience is clean."

"You gave your life to Jesus when you were six, I remember and this is hurtful to me."

"That's emotional blackmail, mum," she replied, "you forget that your daughters are adults and we are going to make our own decisions, and whether or not you accept them is up to you. We don't live for your convenience or by your leave, but you know where I live and you've got my number so I'll leave the rest up to you."

Penny sat down beside her and squinted at the barbecue.

"I guess we'd better fire the barbie up now that everyone's turned up. Alana is inside now."

"How is she today?"

"Good," Penny replied, "she's excited about her new job and I think she's finally come to terms with Helen's actions."

"Thank God for that," she stretched and yawned, "speaking of Helen?"

"I got a phone call from legal aid yesterday morning, seeking clarification on a couple of things."

"And?"

"Let's just say that her barrister is a little bemused by her excuse that she was driven to do it by her love for you."

"Is that what the call was about?"

"No, it had to do with her employment status and the reason she was sacked. I think she was trying to work that into her defence but seeing as I sacked her after the incident that's not going to be used by her defence."

"Now that's just bizarre," Robyn frowned, "what's going on inside her head?"

"God only knows," she smirked.

"I don't know if even God could answer that one, he can tell you almost everything else though," she turned as Alana stepped out onto the verandah. Her new best friend turned to look down at her and a smile nudged the corners of her lips and then she turned on her heel and sauntered along the decking towards Kathy and Astrid. Just before she reached them however Astrid glanced over at her and smiled, Alana flicked at her hair and Robyn looked over at Penny. Their eyes met a moment later and Robyn smiled crookedly.

"Something you're not telling me?"

"It's news to me," she propped on her palm, "I thought maybe you might know something."

"I'll let you know once I find out myself," Robyn murmured.

The End.