Allen Chase - The mirrored den

Although Carol would never admit it, all wasn't right or happy in their young marriage; undercurrents were always flowing around the two of them. Bob resented her working at the drive-in in the first place. Even Carol wasn't happy over the skimpy little costume she had to wear but the money was so good and the hours were fine.

In fact, although she would never admit it to Bob, she liked the work. There were times, when she got into the swing of things, when she began to feel the pitch and rhythm of the place itself, when she could feel herself moving in a pace that was unison with all around her, she enjoyed it. She laughed with the young men in the cars and spun on her heel, and, buttocks switching fairly twitching, she would hustle away with a full order. There were times when she was busy and the hours fairly flew and she would stop, amazed, that her shift was over so soon. She found, at tunes like these when she felt the restless hum of the nearby freeway and of all the people who drove up for the rest and food and light and warmth and someone to talk to in the middle of a Los Angeles night, that she could handle any remark made. She ignored those that she didn't like and reacted to those she liked with a stunning sunny smile.

There were times when Bob would arrive and wait to take her home and he would sit, handsome and slumped in his car and watch his wife dance around the cars, ducking her head to talk, wiggling her buttocks as she yakked and he would feel his penis swell with an aching longing and that night, when he drove her home, he would literally force her to bed and she would allow him to get on top of her and, in no time, it would all be over.

Carol was worried about sex with Bob. He was so gentle and understanding in other things, yet so coarse and crude when it came to sex. It wasn't enough that she had to show her body off eight hours a clay at the drive-in, when she got home and got into bed, she was treated like some kind of slut or whore by Bob who made smutty remarks and suggested-hinted at lewd things.

Carol's upbringing had been conservative and she somehow found herself stuck with the notion that a man should be gentle with the woman that he loves, that he should treat her tenderly and with care, that he should treat the woman he loved differently from any other woman he might have loved. He was to treat her with a tender care and not expect her to do things that a common whore would do.

A shudder ran through Carol's body. The thought provoked all sorts of thoughts in her mind; thoughts that she didn't like, for, if she dwelled on them too long she found her body full of all sorts of uncomfortable excitements and emotions and she would get a giddy feeling as her hands whispered over her lovely body and she wondered what would happen if she just relaxed and let herself go… off to drift anywhere?

Those kinds of thoughts played about in her mind often and much more than she would like to admit – like when striding across the lot and knowing men were watching her almost naked buttocks swaying teasingly behind her.

Her job! She bit her lip and looked at the clock. She got up and dressed hurriedly, pausing to look at herself in a full length mirror then turning to and fro, examining her stunning curved figure from every conceivable angle, then satisfied, she runs from their tiny apartment and gets into their second car, a battered Volks and speeds off to work. Today, she is going to meet with the outgoing manager, Patti Goodrum.

She was worried about meeting with Patti, worried about what kind of image she would present. Deeper, on a human level, she was worried about Patti as another human being. She hadn't been a bad manager, just missing a lot lately. Patti seemed nervous and preoccupied and it was whispered around that she was drinking on the job.

Carol liked Patti who was just a little over thirty and, when she saw her face to face in the tiny office in the back of the drive-in, she looked every day of thirty and more. Her skin seemed dry and ready to wrinkle. Her look was haggard and there were circles under her eyes.

As they sat, Patti fingered a Dixie cup, a paper cup before bringing it to her mouth in a swift desperate movement and gulping the fluid down. She smiled a ravaged smile at Carol. "Little eye opener. As in 'hair of'. How about a little? Just one to celebrate taking over as a manager?"

Carol smiled but shook her head curtly. "No thanks, I never drink before evening."

"How about just one to celebrate my promotion way out yonder?"

Patti had been given what was called a "promotion". She was kicked upstairs to what was called district supervisor whose duties were vague and extensive, causing her to travel a lot simply, it seemed, to put in an appearance. Her powers were next to nothing. She was to report, by mail, once a month, to Leo. Her salary was small but there was travel expenses and the vague promise of an over-ride should business warrant it.

Everyone knew it was Leo's way of getting rid of unwanted help. The average supervisor hung on for three months before quitting to go to some other job. Leo just gradually eased people out of the company rather than fire them outright.

It frightened Carol how easily Patti was being moved along how heartlessly she was being put out to pasture. Patti was still young and very attractive with a good figure and cute face framed by bangs. Now here she was sitting across from Carol with her face looking wretched from too many nights of drinking.

Her eyes had that flat, glazed, self-acceptance look. "Have a drink," she urged. "I'm supposed to train you, tell you all about the job. Have a drink."

"No thank you," Carol demurred again.

"You'd better," Patti urged, "Because of what I'm going to tell you."

"Oh?" Carol lifted an eyebrow.

"The thing you have to look out for more than anything else is not dishonest employees, nor the day's take or how the girls are getting on. No sir. The thing you have to worry about can be summed up in one word. Leo McKern. That son-of-a-bitch!"

Carol sat stunned, not knowing what to think. Never had she heard an employee speak so venomously about an employer. She didn't know what to say. She shrugged finally and managed, "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way."

"You mark my words," Patti said, leveling a trembling finger. "Leo McKern will get you in bed!"

Carol drew herself up. Drunk or sober, Patti had no right to talk this way or even think that she, Carol, was such a person. "I hardly think you've the right to say a thing like that."

Patti chuckled and Carol could see, to her embarrassment, that Patti was far more drunk than she realized. A sudden sense of shame and urgency swept over her. She was embarrassed for Patti – all the girls would see her this way and wondered how she could help her to her car.

"I felt the same way," Patti went on nodding and chuckling before there was a choke in her throat, "That was, I felt that way until I became Leo's mistress!" She glared at Carol, looking at her with haunted and hate filled eyes. "Hear me? I was Leo's girl! I shacked up with him whenever he came to town. I'd do anything he'd say." Patti was looking off, her vision drifting and she talked more to herself than to anyone in particular. It was, for a moment, as if Carol wasn't even in the room.

"I was his girl. I knew he was married. Everybody knew he brought his wife through in that big Imperial. I knew and I didn't care and I lived for the weekends he'd be in town and we'd be alone in bed together. I knew he had a wife and probably other women like me at every drive-in. I didn't care! When he was balling me I didn't care. And then, then." Patti's face was a sudden mask of tragedy and she fought back tears. "Then he stopped coming around. Oh, he'd be in town but he just wasn't available." Patti made an effort to pull herself together. She smiled at Carol and saluted her with the cup. "So I took to drink to numb everything out. Everything gets a little blurry and begins to fade out. Carol, baby, I've watched you and let me tell you, beware of Leo McKern. I'm warning you. He'll have you doing all the obscene things you've never even dreamed of in no time at all."