Chapter 4

As she waited for an elevator in the lobby of the tall office building, Judy Jeffries was depressed. A tall blonde with beautiful features, Judy was the daughter of Major General Stanton Pierce Jeffries and Susan Barnes Jeffries. Because of her father's high rank, her childhood and adolescent years had always been strange. Since she had been raised on military posts, her father had always far outranked the much younger — and far more junior — fathers of her classmates. This happened because her father married late in life — he was almost twenty years older than her mother. They had met when he was a lieutenant colonel in Vietnam and her mother had been a young network television correspondent. Her mother still worked as a freelance writer with her material appearing in many national publications.

Having graduated from college in June, Judy was determined to get away from home. Home was now the Marine's Camp Pendleton, just north of San Diego, where her father was deputy commander of the Third Marine Division which was based there. She realized that she loved her parents deeply and they loved her, but it was just impossible to have any social life when your father is one of the most senior officers in the Corps.

After repeatedly raising the issue of moving to the city — in her case, Los Angeles — her parents, although very unhappy at the idea, did something that she admitted to herself was so typical of them. Instead of either flatly forbidding it or merely acquiescing, they made a counter offer. Her parents offered to cover her expenses for thirty days of job hunting in the city. If in that time she found a job and could support herself, she could stay. Otherwise, she had agreed to come back home.

Today was the thirtieth day, and all she had had were a series of bitter rejections. And, she realized, this was in spite of both her parents using personal contacts to try to get her placed. A significant part of her unhappiness came from the realization that her parents, although not at all happy about her living in the big city, had done everything in their power to help her out.

Locating the firm she was looking for, Clifford & Jamison, on the building directory, she was riding in the elevator to the thirty-eighth floor — the highest office floor in the structure. When she got off the elevator, there at the end of the elevator lobby was the most magnificent office entrance she had ever seen. When she saw it, her heart fell to her shoes. A firm this prestigious would have a haughty British-accented receptionist to discourage the hoi polloi. They would never consider hiring her.

Being her parents' daughter, though, she went ahead anyway. Opening the door, she entered and just stopped in her tracks. If the entrance was impressive, the reception area was utterly magnificent. Her jaw dropped and she just stood gaping like a tourist from the back country.

She jerked up with a start when she heard a voice greet her saying, "Hi! I'm Kathy Carlson. Who are you?" Spinning, she found a girl her own age standing there with her hand held out in greeting.

Judy took it in a firm grip and replied, "Hello, Kathy. I'm Judy Jeffries and I came to apply for a job that was advertised." Her face fell as she added, "I'm sure it's filled by now, though." Then she looked at Kathy, puzzled, and said, "But why aren't you sitting behind the reception desk? I mean..."

"Because I'm not the receptionist. I'm applying for a job here, too." She hurriedly added, "As a secretary, though, not a receptionist. The turkeys that run this place went out to a meeting or something and asked me to tell anyone who came in just to wait if they want to."

She grinned at Judy and said, "Don't they have one hell of a nerve when you think about it? They just took me for granted." While talking, she had taken Judy by the elbow and drew her toward the sofa where she imitated Ginger by curling up with her feet beneath her. When she had greeted Judy, she was in her stocking feet — her shoes were where she had left them by the sofa.

Judy took a seat on a side chair and smiled warmly at Kathy. "You look like you've really made yourself at home here."

Looking conspiratorial, Kathy said, "Let's face it: I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of being hired here. That being so, I might as well enjoy the furniture." She lowered her voice and said, "This is the first leather sofa I have ever seen, let alone actually been able to sit on!"

Then she looked at Judy and saw that the girl appeared very unhappy. She said softly, "Judy, you look like you just lost your last friend. Do you want to tell me about it?"

For some reason Judy reacted to Kathy in exactly the same way Kathy had reacted to Ginger the previous day. Perhaps it was the constant turn-downs coupled with the expiration of her time allowance. For whatever reason, she suddenly broke down in tears. This time it was Kathy, smiling inwardly thinking of herself the previous day, who got to her feet, went to the girl, just held her tightly and let her cry. In an effort to suppress her tears, Judy ended up with hiccoughs.

Kathy quickly ducked into the conference room and came back with a tray of coffee. She poured some for the girl and for herself, and then seated the girl beside her on the sofa. "How do you know your way around here so well?" the girl astutely inquired.

"They seem to spend a lot of time contemplating their collective navels, so I've seen a lot of this place by now." Grimacing, she added, "I ought to charge them for my commuting, even if they won't pay me for my time." With a shrug she said, "Hell, the view's great, and at least they haven't said no yet."

Drinking the coffee cured the hiccoughs. Now Judy studied Kathy closely and finally said, "Kathy ... It is Kathy, isn't it?" Kathy smiled and nodded as the girl continued, "I think you're going to make it. You have ... style. You exude competence, too."

Kathy was taken aback by the girl's comment, but then changed the subject to the girl's background and experience. Judy quickly filled her in on the background and forthrightly said that she had no experience. With another grimace she added that she had just graduated college with a double major in humanities and physical education. As a phys. ed major, she had worked every summer during school as a camp counselor but then grinned and said, "Unfortunately, that's not a year-round job."

Then she looked down at herself and said, "Aren't I a flabby mess, though? I'm in terrible condition for a phys. ed major, aren't I?"

Kathy realized that Judy, like herself, was a bit flabby although the girl's posture was much better than her own. The more they talked, the better she liked the girl. When she glanced at her watch, she was shocked to find that it was already almost five o'clock. They had been talking for nearly three hours.

Just then the door opened and Ginger came breezing in. "Hi, Kath," she said with a grin. Then with a glance at Judy asked, "Who's this?"

"This is your competition, Judy Jeffries. Judy, this refugee from Woodstock is Ginger Conrad. She's also looking for a job as a receptionist."

Judy rose and shook hands with Ginger who noted that the girl's grip was very firm. As she did, she looked at Ginger carefully and her face fell. Then with a bright smile — far brighter than she felt — she said to Kathy, "Thank you so much for keeping me company, and I certainly enjoyed meeting you. Kathy, I'm sure you'll get a job here. I have to go and get my car and then get on the road. As it is, it looks like I'll be in rush-hour traffic from here all the way down to Pendleton."

Ginger realized what the girl was doing, so when Judy turned towards her, she looked over Judy's shoulder to where Kathy was sitting on the sofa making a thumbs-up sign. "Where are you going?" Ginger asked. "The turkeys have got to be back soon."

Judy just smiled wanly and said, "Ginger, I know when I'm overmatched. No one with even one eye would hire me in preference to you. You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen!"

"On the other hand, she's also probably the most obscene," Kathy interjected from behind her back. "Even her husband says she's a foul-mouthed hoyden, for heaven's sake."

"She's right, you know," Ginger commented. Then she cocked her head and added, "As a matter of fact, that's what he says when he's being nice because he loves me. When he's being honest, it's much worse." Then she grinned brightly at Judy and said, "Stick around, Judy. I'll probably blow this joint. With my mouth, I would survive with a group of tight-assed lawyers for about ten seconds." Then she looked at Kathy and asked, "Kath, are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Ging. Besides, in spite of being almost as flabby as I am, she has a degree in phys. ed. You know: conditioning and all that good stuff?"

"No shit?" Ginger exclaimed. Then she looked at Judy closely and asked, "How much do you want to start?" Then she took the girl by the arm and said, "Come on, Judy. Let's sit down."

Judy resumed her seat on the sofa while Ginger kicked off her moccasins and sat cross-legged on a side chair. As she rested her weight on the chair, she breathed a sigh of relief. Kathy raised an eyebrow and Ginger said, "Come on, Kath! You know how much it hurts for me to have my thighs together. Sitting this way, they're spread almost as wide as when Charley is entering me."

With a happy smile she added, "This feels so natural to me now." Judy did not have the first idea what they were talking about. Ginger nodded imperceptibly at Kathy and grinned.

"Judy," Kathy began, "I apologize. You see I introduced you to Ginger Conrad. It is her name. On the other hand, her full name is Virginia Jamison Conrad. In other words, she's the Jamison of Clifford & Jamison, Attorneys at Law." By the time she had finished, Judy's jaw had dropped so Kathy added, "Honest, Judy, it is true."