Chapter 6: Inspection

Geoff Parsons was standing in line waiting for the pre-shift briefing. Half a dozen of his colleagues were there too, all dressed in the same black and white housemaid uniforms. Nothing was said. It was hard enough to snatch a moment to talk to one another while they were working. Here in the Housekeeper's Hall it was just asking for trouble. They didn't have to wait long, anyway.

The Head Housekeeper emerged from her office with one of the floor supervisors following. The usual form for the morning's briefing was a short inspection, assignment of jobs for the day, and a few announcements – including mention of any special guests. It looked like this was going to be much the same.

The announcements came first. One of the government departments was hosting a conference in the banqueting rooms, a couple of minor politico's were staying in the Penthouse; two New Opportunity guests were in the Princess Suite; a pop star in the Empress Suite; the usual stuff.

The inspection started at the far end of the line from Geoff. The Head Housekeeper looked as though she was being even more exacting than usual. Geoff was worried that his hurried change meant he would almost certainly have something for her to find fault with. There was a noisy outburst at the end of the line. Geoff didn't dare turn his head to see who was at the heart of it. From where he was standing he could only see the reflection in the glass wall opposite as the floor supervisor grabbed one of Geoff's colleagues and span him around. In a moment the man's skirt was up around his waist and he was bent over as the floor supervisor laid into him with her thick cane. The man's yelps made it plain to Geoff that her cane was striking him below the buttocks, cutting across the top of his thighs, between the tops of his stockings and his pants. The beating stopped and the two women moved along the line getting ever closer to Geoff. Another beating was handed out. Another sharp exchange of words was followed by the Housekeeper dealing a vigorous face slap to one of the others. Geoff winced at the thought of it. He was getting steadily more nervous as she moved nearer.

Then she was standing in front of him, looking at him with pale eyes through the smoked glass of her spectacles. Her floor supervisor, one that Geoff had worked for directly was looking pleased with herself, flexing her cane in her hands as the housekeeper studied Geoff. "Parsons," the housekeeper said. "You'll do, I suppose." The floor supervisor looked disappointed. Geoff was as surprised as much as he was relieved. "You'll be on the Princess and Empress Suites, today. Looking after two young ladies from New Opportunity should be within your capabilities. They have additional service booked so you'd better get on and take care of that as soon as we've finished here."

"Very good, Ma'am," Geoff responded respectfully. He breathed a sigh of relief as the Housekeeper and her Floor Supervisor walked back to the centre of the room. He didn't much care for having to deal with the additional services and whoever was in the Princess Suite always turned out to be a challenge but he'd cope, he knew. He had to.

"Right, all of you! Be off to your duties. I expect you to keep up the highest standards. You all know the consequences of falling short. And you three," she turned to the unlucky recipients of the Supervisor's canings, "pull yourselves together, stop whimpering and think about how you can avoid getting another dose of the same thing tomorrow. Dismiss!"