"Tuesday, the ninth."
"Tuesday? I guess I must be in court again today. What shall I wear? Black would be proper in honor of my father, I suppose."
Teresa set the glass of water on the nightstand, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. "I think your red suit will do nicely."
Laura moaned a second time. "I hate red."
"Yes, Mum, but it brings out the color of your hair. Do you not want to please your husband?"
"Please him, no; taunt him, yes. Come to think of it, I might enjoy reminding him of what he is missing. Red it is." Laura struggled to throw the covers back. "Who am I fooling? He hasn't been tempted in years. We don't even sleep in the same bed, and not even the same house most of the time. Crumbs, that's all he ever gave me. I truly hate the man, but Connie, I still long for his crumbs sometimes."
"Teresa."
"Oh yes, Teresa."
The maid held out a silk robe while Laura stood up and slipped her arms in the sleeves. "Come along, it is time for your shower."
Laura followed her to the bathroom, and then leaned against the doorjamb while Teresa tested the temperature of the water. "You know, it is almost spooky."
"What is?"
"How much you remind me of me when I was your age."
*
"Nicole just fired Colleen," Jim whispered as he walked past Maggie's small office cubical. She stood up, made certain Nicole was not around, and followed him to the break room. She liked her dark hair long, but not long enough to reach the middle of her back as it did now. Sadly, a hairdresser was something she could not afford. Her wages were scandalously low, but considering her circumstances, she was happy to find any position with a Human Resources Department that didn't require American references.
The Gallaher Superior Telephone Service office building in downtown Denver once housed over 500 people. With the failing economy and so many improvements that GSTS couldn't match, the number of employees had dwindled to one-hundred-twenty-six. In Maggie's department, that left only five.
Maggie Jackson was an Account Cancellation Specialist for a phone company. Simply put, it meant she cancelled accounts, generated a final invoice and refunded deposits. The more their customers moved on to other providers and cancelled their GSTS accounts, the more secure Maggie's job was.
For three years, she watched fellow employees come and go, most of who were good workers and didn't deserve to be fired. Unfortunately, there was more going on than met the eye, and some didn't figure that out until it was too late.