Pinstripes

by Faith Bleasdale

  “Who?” Ella asked quietly.

  “Who do you think it was?” Clara replied, enjoying the drama.

  “Clara, I don’t fucking know. That’s why I’m here. I didn’t think anyone did.”

  “Well, you’re wrong. Someone did and it was Johnny, your new boy.” Ella sank down on to the armchair.

  “Johnny,” Ella whispered.

  “I called someone from my old desk who went to talk to Liam. Apparently Johnny was bragging about how, I don’t know how, he found out you were never at Durham. He told your boss, they checked it out, and that’s why you’re here.”

  “Shit. I don’t believe it.”

  “It’s true!”

  “Thanks, Clara, but I only knew Johnny for a week – less. Why was he poking around?”

  “Maybe he found out by accident,” Virginia offered timidly.

  They shot her a look.

  “Of course – he was just walking down the street and accidentally found out that Ella was a liar and a forger. How did you get that done by the way?” Clara said.

  “It doesn’t matter. We had a couple of run-ins, mainly because I was supposed to be mentoring him and he disliked me. He was scum, really egotistical, and I knew he didn’t like me ... but to do that – to try to discredit me?” Ella rubbed her head; her hangover was returning.

  “Ella, people are like that. Look at us. Tim did it to me, Isabelle to Virginia. He probably wanted to get rid of you. All he knew about you was where you went to university, and he started there. He didn’t need to take it further – he must have thought it was Christmas.”

  Ella took her head out of her hands. It all made sense. “You’re right. He probably didn’t dream he’d find that, but he was looking for a way to get at me, or to humiliate me. God, I remember one argument we had when he was saying how he went to Oxford and Harvard and how he’d got an MBA as well as an economics degree, and I told him that just because I had a history degree from Durham, it didn’t make him any better than me. Shit, I hate him.”

  “Good. So we all hate someone. Now, can we move on?”

  Virginia felt as if she was in a nightmare. Ella looked as if she was in a nightmare.

  “Clara, wait. What else did Liam say?”

  “Well, he was concerned for you and he asked if you could call him. They don’t like Johnny either, but I’m sure he can’t take down the whole desk.”

  Ella knew she had been hard on Johnny, but he had deserved it. She could just imagine what happened. After the trade fiasco, he had stormed off wanting revenge. She still didn’t know how he had found out, or what had possessed him to try. He was such a weasel. He had ruined her life.

  Clara called them over to the table and they all sat down. She produced her pieces of kitchen paper.

  “What’s that?” Virginia asked.

  “Kitchen towels,” Clara answered.

  “Yes, but why?” Ella said.

  “Oh, I didn’t have any paper. Anyway, this is Virginia’s, this is mine and this is Ella’s.” She gave them each a bit. “I thought we’d start by writing what we know about each person on them and go from there.” She handed them each a pen.

  They started writing. Virginia finished quickly, Ella ran out of steam soon after and Clara seemed to take hours. When they finished, Clara read out what they had.

  “Virginia, I’ll read yours first because I feel you had the biggest injustice done to you.” Virginia felt flattered. “Isabelle Holland, manager of Emerging Markets at SFH. Tall, good-looking, a bitch. Is that it?” Clara looked at Virginia.

  “I don’t know much about her.” Virginia blushed.

  “Ella, do you know anything more about Isabelle?” Clara asked.

  “She plays squash at my health club,” Ella offered.

  Clara wrote it down. “Excellent, that’s the sort of thing we need. Now, I know that she’s heterosexual, single, thinks of herself as a cultural person and is as dull as dishwater.”

  “How do you know all that?” Ella asked.

  “I listen to things, I find out things, and if I didn’t you two would be in deep water. Luckily for you, I’ve been to a couple of parties she was at. She was like a bitch on heat. Anyway, now Johnny. Johnny Rupfin. Ex-Oxford, Harvard MBA, has pimples and is an arrogant little cock-sucker. Do you mean that literally?”

  “What do you mean literally?” Ella asked.

  “Does he suck cocks?” Clara asked.

  Virginia flinched.

  “I don’t know.” Ella was exasperated. She was beginning to regret coming.

  “Oh, I suppose we couldn’t be that lucky. I take it he’s one of the computer Rupfins?”

  “I don’t know, but his uncle got him the SFH job. He’s one of their private clients,” Ella offered. Virginia nearly burst into tears at thelatest reminder of her lost opportunity.

  “Then he is. My father knows his uncle, which might come in handy, although I’m not sure my father would approve of what we’re doing. Oh, well, every little helps.” Clara wrote it down. “Right, Tim Pemberton. Womaniser, takes cocaine, likes prostitutes and kinky sex. Never takes his socks off, likes champagne. Goes to the Tribor club on Thursdays, which is very exclusive, then goes to a seedy strip-joint or to see a hooker. Used to be having an affair with me. But isn’t now, thank God. Wife, two children, both girls, a dog and a huge house in Hampstead. Used to be poor and common, is now common and rich. That’s the type of information we need.”

  “What? That he keeps his socks on in bed?” Ella giggled.

  “What I mean is that all this information will help us to take our revenge,” Clara said reprovingly.

  “Before we continue, I need to clarify something. I’m not prepared to break the law to do this,” Ella said.

  “Me neither,” Virginia agreed, eyes wide. That idea hadn’t occurred to her.

  “Oh, God, don’t be so silly. Of course we’re not going to break the law. We’re going to do this in a way that keeps us well and truly out of it. I have my family reputation to think about,” Clara said.

  “I just don’t want to go to jail,” Ella said.

  “So, what are we going to do?” Virginia said.

  “I don’t know. God, you can’t expect me to do everything. What I’m doing now is collecting information. What we need to do is to plan a revenge for each one that relies on their weaknesses. Tim’s weaknesses are cocaine and sex. See? What about Isabelle?”

  “Well, I guess she’s motivated by money and power.” Virginia offered weakly.

  “Good. Johnny?”

  “He’s egotistical, arrogant and a cock-sucker, although not literally.” Ella was surly.

  “Fine. He probably thinks he’s special when really he’s an irritating, unattractive little wart. We use his ego to bring him down.” Clara was enjoying herself.

  “So what are we going to do?” Virginia asked again.

  “I don’t know why you think I should have all the answers,” Clara replied.

  “Well, this was your idea,” Ella said.

  “I know, and I’ve done all the work so far. Oh, God, I’m not going to argue. What we do next is think about what we’ve gone through this afternoon, then we meet tomorrow and every day until this is over. Same time, same place. It won’t happen overnight. We need to put a lot of thought into it. I want to make sure that each of these worms gets what they deserve. And that is, no job and no reputation. We’ll tear them to shreds. I think it’s better if we deal with them one at a time and we start with Isabelle. When we meet tomorrow we go over ideas of how we can get her. Are we all agreed on this?”

  “Yes,” Virginia said. She was feeing stronger.

  “Fine.” Ella was really pissed off. Clara’s bossiness annoyed her, as did Virginia’s timidity. However, she knew that they had to do this.

  “Let’s have a drink to celebrate.” Clara clapped her hands together.

  “I’m driving,” Ella and Virginia said in unison.

  “Well, one won’t hurt,” Clar
a said, and went to get the wine.

  While she was gone, Ella and Virginia exchanged glances. They didn’t speak. Clara returned with three glasses and a bottle of chilled white wine. She filled each glass.

  “Here’s to revenge.” She held up her glass. The others clinked glasses unenthusiastically.

  “Christ, you really are being very boring about this. Can’t you see that we are going to do to them what they did to us? Can’t you see how important this is?” Clara was stroppy.

  “Clara, this isn’t one of your public-school japes. This is real life,” Ella said.

  “Yes, well, real life isn’t great for any of us at the moment. Before tomorrow try to raise a little enthusiasm. Virginia, perhaps you could borrow a voice before you come back.” Virginia turned red.

  “Leave her alone, Clara, we’re still upset about our jobs,” Ella said.

  “Yes, and so am I. I know you think I’m some silly rich bitch who slept her way into a job, but once I got there I loved it – well, recently I did – and I worked hard. Ella, we’re not so different, you know. You lied your way in too.”

  “I know. But I didn’t whore myself.” Ella was losing her cool.

  “Christ, you’re so above that, aren’t you? It didn’t involve sex because you probably couldn’t be appealing enough for long enough for anyone to want to sleep with someone as cold as you.”

  “You fucking bitch.”

  ‘”Takes one to know one,” Clara said.

  “Will you two stop arguing? We’re all supposed to be on the same side.” Virginia was almost shouting. Ella and Clara looked at each other. Then they laughed.

  “She’s found her voice,” Clara said, and Virginia laughed too, because it was better than arguing.

  By the time Ella and Virginia left, they had reverted to the cool, civil tones with which they had started. Clara knew she would have to lead them: they were both so docile.

  Ella knew she would never like Clara or Virginia for opposite reasons: Clara too pushy, Virginia too quiet.

  Virginia didn’t know who scared her most: pushy Clara or cold Ella. She shivered and hoped that everything would be all right.

  ***

  Ella drove to the restaurant. Although Jackie was working, the Friday-night rush hadn’t started and they sat down together to have coffee. Ella filled her in on the meeting, Clara’s irritating manner, the news about Johnny – she even told her about Liam wanting to talk to her.

  “Bloody hell! What a couple of days. So, are you going to go through with it?”

  “I don’t know. Clara bosses us around and always sounds condescending. I know I shouldn’t judge anyone after the way I got my job, but she slept with the boss. Things are always easy for people like her. She’s great looking, she’s got a lovely flat, which I expect was bought for her. She doesn’t look like she ever suffered in her life. And she treats this whole thing like an adventure from Enid Blyton. ‘The Terrible Three Go to Get Revenge’. Although I’m angry about what happened to me and I’d like to kill Johnny, I know this isn’t a game. And Virginia, well, she’s just such a loser. Won’t say a word, although she got angry with us in the end. I feel sorry for her, but she’s so painful to be around. She goes pink every time you talk to her. I guess she’s insecure. God, I should be nice to her to make her feel better, but she has this sulky expression on her face the whole time. It makes you want to slap her.”

  “Ella, you’ve got to go through with it,” Jackie said suddenly.

  “Why?” Ella asked.

  “You’ll find out. First, these people you told me about deserve to get done and if you don’t do it they’ll probably go on ruining people’s lives, and second, those girls sound like they’re really messed up. If you don’t help them they’ll probably screw it up. You’re calm, you’re intelligent, and you’re probably the one with the most brains.”

  “I’m doing this for the good of the public and so the other two don’t fuck up?”

  “Basically yes.” Jackie laughed.

  “I’ve got to go back tomorrow. God knows how we’re going to do this. Oh, and can you believe these plans are being masterminded on pieces of kitchen roll?” They both laughed.

  “Ella, do you want to stay with me for a few days?”

  “Yes, please.” Ella knew she didn’t want to be alone. She went home to pack up a few things then drove to Jackie’s house. She let herself in and started to think of ways to get Isabelle Holland for Virginia.

  ***

  Virginia drove home. She should have known they wouldn’t like her and the only comfort she took from this was that they didn’t seem to like each other either. And, of course, she didn’t like them.

  She got home and lay on her bed. She was fed up with people treating her like she was worthless. She knew one thing: she would see this thing through. She would get her own back on Isabelle. She had to. She would do it for all the times when her parents had tutted their disappointment at her, for all the times Isabelle had shouted at her, for all the friends who had left her, and for all those who didn’t even want to know her. She would do something that would make her proud of herself. She would stand up for herself.

  She sat down and thought about all the things she could do to get back at Isabelle. She thought long and hard. As she went to sleep, she was dreaming of revenge.

  ***

  Clara had another couple of glasses of wine when the others left. She really didn’t know what she had done to deserve being mixed up with those two, but she guessed this was all part of her punishment. Ella the cold bitch; Virginia the nobody. She would follow it through, though, because she had nothing else to do.

  She had a line of coke to calm herself and looked over the notes. She had no idea how they were going to do this, and she hoped that one of the two deadheads came up with something. They had to. They just had to.

  She decided to change before Matt, her coke-bearing friend, arrived. She had dated him before she went to work at SFH, when she was seeing several men at the same time. He was cute, charming and had a huge crush on her. He wasn’t exactly a cocaine fiend, but he used it and he had agreed to supply it to her. He was Clara’s age, which she considered too young for her. Matt was one of the many men Clara called when she wanted a night out. It had never been a proper relationship.

  He was tall and clean-cut with dark hair, the type of boy her parents would love for her. He came from the right family, he had good manners, he was rich, and he had his own career in advertising. He wasn’t a playboy. He was an ordinary boy. Far too ordinary for Clara.

  He turned up smelling of aftershave. A nice smell. He gave Clara the cocaine and told her she didn’t have to pay. It was a gift.

  “Can you get me this regularly, darling?” she asked.

  “Sure, but I don’t use much. I hope you don’t either.”

  Clara sighed. She hoped he wasn’t going to be a bore. “No, of course not. I have a couple of friends who I get it for too, but my supplier fucked up and I don’t want to deal with him anymore. You must have loads of suppliers – you do work in advertising, after all.”

  “Yes, I do, but not everyone’s a coke user. Anyway, it’s just a recreational drug. I normally only take it at weekends.” Matt smiled, and Clara knew he was going to be a bore.

  “So, how have you been?” she asked.

  “Fine. It’s good to see you, though.”

  “Come on, let’s have a couple of lines and then I’ll take you out,” Clara said, unwrapping the paper and lining up the cocaine.

  “It’s a deal.”

  ***

  The next morning Matt kissed Clara tenderly. “I’ll call you. We’ll go out next week.”

  “I’ll look forward to it. I don’t suppose you can bring me more cocaine then?” Clara kissed him hard.

  “Are you sure you don’t have a habit?” he asked suspiciously.

  “No, I told you, I need to give some away. I just use a bit. I think you saw that for yourself last night.”

/>   ‘”True, honey, you’re like me. We just need a little bit for relaxation.” He said goodbye and left.

  “Some people need to relax more than others,” Clara said to herself, as she went back to sleep, mentally striking Matt off her Christmas-card list.

  Chapter Seventeen

  By four that afternoon, Clara had washed, dressed, been to lunch with her brother and had two lines of cocaine. Then she panicked about Matt. Trust her ex-boyfriend to have turned into a square. She knew she didn’t want a relationship with him, she’d always known that. What she needed was her own dealer, and Matt was not going to give her the number of his. She was back to square one and she was angry that she had no supplier, and that Matt had suggested she was an addict. Clara was not an addict: she was just going through a very trying period in her life. Matt did not understand.

  She picked up her address book and looked through it. In frustration, she ripped out most of its pages. Then she spotted Josh Lambert’s address and phone numbers. Her heart flipped. Josh was an old family friend with whom she had practically grown up. She had loved him since she was a little girl. He had succumbed to ‘the charm’ when she was older, but their relationship had not lasted. “Needs must,” she said to herself, and dialled his work number.

  Her heart flipped again when Josh answered. He sounded so pleased to hear from her. She said she needed a favour and they arranged to meet the following Monday. Josh was the only man who had rejected Clara, although he had stopped telephoning her rather than dumping her directly. She didn’t know if Josh still took cocaine, although he had when they were together, and she knew he had a friend who was a dealer. He was her best chance. When she hung up she was calmer.

  ***

  The bell rang. Clara opened the door to Virginia.

  “You are punctual,” she said.

  “Yes.” Virginia, blushed. Clara ushered her in. She had put a bottle of water and three glasses on the dining-table. Virginia handed her a package.

  “What’s this?” Clara asked.