JUST ONCE- CHAPTER 2- THE TWO NECKLACES
Finally 5 o’clock arrived and soon thereafter the two woman sat on a the very ends of a bench in the deserted courtyard. They looked at one another and then started to laugh. It was part nervousness, but mostly out of the recognition of ludicrousness of it all. Two grown women contemplating a catfight between them. It was sort of funny, except for the fact that they were serious about it.
Emma broke the silence and said half jokingly, “So, you think you can take me?”
Ashley smiled, “Well I could ask you the same thing.”
“I don’t know, but it might be fun to find out.”
“Well I don’t know if I’d call it ‘fun’.”
“Yeah, you’re right. It would probably be horrible. Especially for the one of us that ends up losing. Are you sure you want to do it?”
Ashley thought for a moment, “I guess a lot depends on what sort of fight we agree upon. Have you considered exactly what you want?”
Emma replied, “Well until I heard you in the break room, I’d never given it that much thought. I know that I would want it totally in private. No one must ever know. If word got out we could lose our jobs.
“Agreed,” said Ashley.
“So I guess we need to decide if we trust one another enough not to let it get out of hand? A fair fight without killing one another?”
Ashley thought for a moment. “I think so. It’s obvious that we really don’t like one another very much, but we are not crazy, and if we agree on some limitations we might be able to do it.”
“What sort of limitations?”
Ashley didn’t hesitate. “No face punching! I have no doubt we can accomplish what we are after without that.”
“Well what about face slapping?” asked Emma.
“Sure! A face slap won’t land either of us in the ER.”
“Can you think of anything else?”
“Well biting and choking of course, but that goes without saying. Offhand, I can’t think of anything else, but maybe something will come to me.”
Emma, ever the bureaucrat, took a deep breath and proceeded to summarize the meeting. “So we meet someplace private. Catfight without face punching, choking and biting. And go at it until one woman gives up. Is that about it?”
“Pretty much.”
There was a long silence as both women pondered what they were considering. It was so foreign an idea to both of them that they had a hard time processing it. Finally they did what civil servants are famous for; kicking the can down the road.
Ashley said, “Well we sure do have a lot to think about. Let’s meet back here tomorrow after work, and see where we stand then. We can go forward with it, or trash the whole idea.”
“Sounds like a plan.” And then with her final words, Emma made certain that these two women would indeed fight each other. As she got up to go to her car, she turned to Ashley and said, “By the way, to be honest, I really do think I can take you.”
Ashley whispered, low enough that Emma couldn’t hear, “Bitch.”
The idea of then fight was never far from the minds of the women for the next 24 hours. Did they really want to do it?
What a crazy idea for two grown women. And yet, they kept envisioning being entangled with the other in a desperate fight, and it intrigued them. They only saw each other once on that Wednesday. They had both been called up to the 10th floor for a status meeting on purchases. About 15 workers sat at a large conference table, with Emma and Ashley as far apart as the seating would allow.
They made no gesture of any sort to each other and avoided eye contact completely. However this did not prevent each woman from sneaking a glance at their rival to “scout” them. How fit and strong did they actually look? It was so very hard to tell.
At 28, Emma, the blonde, was one year younger than Ashley, the brunette. Both had started working for the State the same year. Neither woman was considered a great beauty. In fact the word “plain” fit them perfectly. They probably could have looked a bit better with a decent hair-do and some makeup. But they were “worker bees” and eschewed glamour in every way. It was just not important to them. They were proud of the work they did and indifferent to their looks. The fact that both had rocking bodies was not obvious as they lacked fashion sense and dressed very modestly. But general consensus among the men at Building C was: Face 7, Body 10.
Even with their outstanding bodies they didn’t attract much male attention. Their personalities were too prickly for that. Forget about flirting, they had no time for that nonsense, and lacking a sense of humor they did find themselves lonely on occasion. All work and no play makes for a dull girl, and maybe their fallow social life contributed to their desire to seek some excitement; even if it was something as odd as a catfight.
Each woman had made the independent decision to go through with it, and as they once again met in the Courtyard after work they each hoped that their rival would feel the same.
“What have you decided Ashley?” asked the blonde getting right to the point.
“Well Emma, what I said in the Break Room was the truth. I want to fight another woman just once to see what it is like, and how I would do. And you seem to be a very suitable opponent. I want to do it, how bout you?”
“It’s funny after all our little disputes and disagreements, we are now of one mind about something. And it’s fighting one another! Who woulda thunk that?”
They nervously smiled at each other. The die had been cast, and it made them shudder a bit at what had been agreed to.
Ashley took a deep breath, “I guess we need a time and a place, right?”
“Well, it just so happens that I have a place. My sister-in-law runs a Gymnastics and Dance studio up on Route 4. There’s a nice room there that with mats that they use for floor exercise. I can get a key but we will have to wait til they close up if we want to be alone. Can you do it at 10PM?”
“Sure, that works. We have the Holiday on Monday off, if we meet on Friday it will give us an extra day to recover. Can you get the keys for Friday?”
“I’m pretty sure I can,” replied Emma. “I’ll let you know for sure, tomorrow, but plan on it. What do you suggest we fight for?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well if we are fighting there should be a prize for the winner, don’t you think?”
“I don’t think there is such a thing as a catfight trophy, Emma. Do you have something in mind?”
Pointing at Ashley’s neck, Emma responded, “I’ve always liked that necklace of yours. Want to risk losing it?”
Ashley thought for a moment. “I like your necklace as well. Shall we bet? Winner takes home both?”
The fact of the matter was that neither necklace was expensive, valuable or important to either woman. But it would give the women a little extra motivation to win and take something from the other. The two necklaces would certainly serve the purpose.
“I guess we are real true prizefighters now, aren’t we?” said Emma.
“For sure!” Both women chuckled.
“Just one more thing, Emma. It’s very important to me that we are serious about this. No fooling around. I want this to be a real fight. I plan on hurting you enough to make you give up to me. And I don’t want any excuses from you after it is over. I know how you can shift blame on other people. I’ve seen you in action at work.”
Throughout their discussions about the fight they had always been civil and polite to one another. This was the first time either had been insulting, and it pissed Emma off.
“You can count on my commitment, bitch. And I’ll be more than pleased to wear your little necklace to work on Tuesday.”
Without thinking Ashley lashed out with a hard slap to the blonde’s face, and Emma immediately replied with a slap of her own. Both women frantically looked around to see if anyone had seen the exchange. Luckily the Courtyard was deserted.
“Best we save it for Friday.”
“Can’t wait.”
