Mad Women, Ch. 2
This series is set in an alternative version of 1960s New York City, one with rather more enlightened attitudes toward freedom for the “fairer” sex and more liberal about personal tastes and desires.
Dani was sitting at a table with her friends, a small group of women from the agency. It was her and three others, all of them invited to Vermont to go skiing. It had been a very good year for Abraham and Weiner, and the bosses had rented out some cabins at a lodge and taken some of the more valuable employees with them for a little getaway over the holiday break. She was a beautiful young woman of South American descent, born in the Midwest and come to New York for college, who then stayed to work on Madison Avenue, of average height, with an impressive body with a large and well-shaped bust and long curly brunette hair with blonde streaks mixed in. Like her friends, she was wearing tight jeans and a sweater—a light brown v-neck that showed just a bit of her excellent cleavage—and it all made her features very prominent and desirable. It was their second night there, and Dani and these other younger women had formed a small group and walked down to the bar to have some fun. The bar was warm and snug, with dim lighting and hardwood decorating that seemed to date from before the turn of the century, and they all felt right at home. They were on their second round of red wine when one of the other ladies tapped Dani and pointed out that she had gotten the attention of a man at the bar. He looked to be in his mid-40s and was ruggedly handsome, tall, with a strong jawline, and he was wearing a windbreaker that made him seem very athletic. The man smiled at them and raised his whiskey glass to them and Dani smiled back and then turned back to her friend and leaned in toward her and giggled. He seemed to be a typical Manhattan businessman and she didn’t think too much more about it.
They all finished their wine and sat talking about the office: who was up for a promotion or didn’t get the promotion they had been promised; which boss was having an affair and which one wanted to; who in the endless parade of clients who churned through their agency was hot and who had once been hot and then lost his hair or let himself get fat; which former clients had seen their business go bust; which extremely outgoing and demonstratively masculine CEO at a certain tobacco company secretly preferred men. It was all going very smoothly and over the course of the office gossip Dani noticed the guy at the bar smiling at her once or twice and she smiled back. Either he would come over and introduce himself or he wouldn’t, she thought. It was the New York crowd, always shifting. And he was handsome and probably well off but he would also probably forget about her or move on to the next conquest shortly, and the sex probably wouldn’t be worth all the hassle anyway. Too much liquor and red meat had ruined a lot of men on Madison Avenue.
She was about to suggest they buy another bottle of wine and take it back to their cabin with them when a redhead materialized at their table. Of average height, with an enormous bosom and a strong and fit look to her body, she was quite gorgeous, her red hair hanging in loose waves down past her shoulders. She too was wearing a sweater, a black turtleneck, a rather tight one, and tight jeans to match, and she had on quite a bit of makeup; a woman firing on all cylinders, as they said. She had a very serious gaze that was fixed entirely on Dani, and she put her hands on her hips and drew herself up, sticking out her massive chest, before she spoke.
“You don’t need to worry about John,” the redhead said.
“Thanks for the information,” Dani said, staring up at her. From that angle, her view was mostly bust and nostrils, one of which was flaring with anger. And the other was just as imposing.
“I just wanted you wouldn’t be able to get his attention anyway,” the redhead continued, as if Dani hadn’t spoken.
“Look, Red,” Dani said, rising to her feet. Red did not step back to allow her room, so as she came up their bosoms rubbed together. There were standing nose to nose, or as close to it as women like them could get. “I get that you felt the need to come over here. You’ve obviously got a lot of feelings that you need to get over. And a lot of makeup,” she added, which made Red’s eyebrows arch up. Dani liked that, and she pressed on. “But this isn’t something you want to do tonight.”
“Oh, I think it is,” Red answered, and, quick as could be, she snatched a glass of water from their table and poured it over Dani’s head.
Dani had known the redhead wanted to fight her, of course, but she was surprised by the water and she stood there, blinking, feeling the water running through her hair and staring at the smug redhead in front of her. The two women frozen like that, just for an instant, their tight jeans and sweaters showing off every glorious curve of their magnificent chests, hips, and butts. And then hell broke loose. Dani shoved Red in the chest, striking out with her palms on her breasts, driving her back, and then she slapped her across the face. Red slapped her right back and the two women seized each other by the hair. They yanked hard, each bending over at the waist, and the staggered around the room, a few steps in each direction, bumping into tables and sending customers scattering. No one tried to interfere or separate them, though, and some part of Dani’s brain could hear the gasps of excitement even while other parts were processing the feeling of this woman’s body pushing and pulling on her and the tension in her own muscles and the sting on her cheek from the slap. Suddenly, with a violent spin, Red got Dani in a headlock. She cranked hard on her neck, pulling her hair and continuously turning her in a half-circle to keep her off balance. Dani hit her in the leg and back ineffectually and then she saw them coming up close to the bar and she drove Red into. The buxom woman hit her shoulder against the metal railing and stumbled into a bar stool at the same time and Dani got loose. As she came up she popped the redhead in the face with her left fist and then caught her across the cheek with her right. Red was turned around by the force of the second blow but she caught herself against the bar, bracing with both hands. Dani rushed at her and gripping her by the hair and a shoulder pressed her face down into the spilled beer from their fracas. Red sputtered but she immediately threw an elbow back into Dani’s stomach. Dani was caught unaware by the suddenness and violence of the blow and, releasing her grip, stumbled back, both hands over stomach, her breath hitching in her chest.
The redhead pushed herself off the bar and came at Dani. She hit her across the face with a quick left to set her up, then she came back and drove a fearsome right fist into Dani’s stomach. Dani lurched forward and the redhead got her left arm under Dani’s right, hooking it around her torso, and holding her in place like that she drove her fist up into Dani’s stomach and breasts, one mighty shot after another. Dani was stunned badly and she was rocking on her feet as the redhead sized her up and smashed her in the face with a right fist. Dani went sailing backwards into a table, upending it and falling to the floor, food and drink coming down with her. She lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling for an instant, and then she saw Red looming over her, one foot on either side of Dani’s waist, and then she was bending over and seizing hold of Dani’s hair with one hand and readying her fist with the other. But before she could start hitting her, Dani rolled to one side and collapsed her leg and soon enough both women were entangled on the floor. They rolled back and forth, pressed chest to chest, seizing and pulling and clutching on hair, shoulders, backs, whatever they could get hold of. The redhead seized hold of Dani’s large breast, crushing it through the material of her sweater, and Dani grunted in pain and retaliated in kind, mauling the redhead’s even larger breast and getting a similar moan in return. They rolled again and were hitting each other and then Dani was on the bottom and she felt the redhead rising from off of her, pulling up on her hair, and she scrambled up to her feet with her, holding on to Red’s long hair as best she could.
The women were on their feet now, each with their left hand in the other’s hair, pulling down and forward so that both were bent over at the waist and turning and stumbling around the barroom, throwing punches with the right. Dani clipped her a few times in the side of the head and then the redhead slammed an uppercut into Dani’s face. Dani felt herself go limp and she went down to her knees before the redhead who then seized hold of her hair with both hands and rammed her knee viciously into Dani’s chest, sending her backwards. Dani ended up sitting on her ass, her back propped against the bar, and again the redhead was over her. This time she kicked Dani in the side and in the hip and leg a few times and then she hauled her up to her feet and turned her loose. Dani tried to get her hands up but Red tagged her in the face with one hand and then nailed her in the breasts with a right and a left and then got her in the face again. Somehow Dani stayed on her feet but then the redhead slugged her one more time and sent her flying backwards. Dani crashed through a set of chairs and landed hard on the ground and the busty, gorgeous redhead stood waiting for her, hands on her hips.
“You done, bitch?” Red asked her.
Dani lay still and then rolled over onto her stomach and pushed herself up and to her feet. As she turned to face her opponent Red smiled at her and came forward. The two women met in the center of the room, ready to brawl once more. Red hit her with a solid shot but Dani took it and she hit her squarely in the mouth. The redhead stood her ground and returned the favor, slamming her knuckles into Dani’s mouth. Dani went back a step and Red came at her, throwing a wild right and an even wilder left, out of control, trying to finish her off. Dani backpedaled and slipped to the side and got out of way as the redhead flew past her. She stopped herself and tried to turn to face her but Dani hit her in the small of her back and then as she turned her face Dani got her across the cheek. The punch sent Red back into the bar and Dani stayed on her. While the redhead was leaning back, both arms out and braced on the railing, Dani hit her across the face and in the mouth and then she went to work on her enormous chest with both fists. Then, one more punch in the mouth and the redhead was sliding down to the floor, where she landed on her hands and knees. As the other woman had done, Dani stepped back, hands on her hips. She was breathing hard and her hair was stuck to her face and neck with the sweat.
“Had enough, bitch?” she asked.
And to her amazement, the redhead got back up to her feet. They faced off again. Dani hit her across the face and Red hit her right back. Dani threw a right cross into the side of her massive breast and the redhead moaned in pain but she hit her in the face again and then she rushed forward and tackled Dani and driving her backward bounced her off of the corner of the bar. Dani hit hard and went down on the floor and before she could move to defend herself the redhead kicked her in the stomach and then in the chest. It was like her entire body seized up and then she was being dragged to her feet by her hair and slammed back into the bar. The redhead held her there by the hair with one hand and punched her in the stomach and the chest over and over and Dani just took it, unable to respond. The redhead lined her up and slugged her across the jaw one last time, sending her spinning to the floor, and the fight was over.
Dani’s friends gathered her up and escorted her back to their cabin. It had started to snow. They made their way through the snow, a girlfriend on either side of Dani, guiding her along and bracing her up, and as they did Dani took some strange notice of how slowly the flakes fell and the few that landed on her sweater and her cheeks. She felt hot and cold simultaneously over her entire body, and by the time they reached the cabin and were moving her to her bed she was ready to sleep for the rest of the week. She didn’t do that, but she did sleep until noon of the next day, and by then she’d recovered a great deal. The rest of the day she spent in bed, under the covers in a nightgown, and she ate some soup and then a sandwich one of the girls brought her. While she lay there, watching the fuzzy picture on the room’s black and white television, she thought about the fight with the redhead. It came and went in flashes and feelings, fists thumping into her face and body, her own hands pulling on the other girl’s hair, the two of them wheeling about the room. It was not the first time that she’d been in a fight over who was the prettiest girl in the room, but it was the wildest she’d had and the first that she had lost. And through it all she kept thinking of the beautiful face of the redhead, marked nearly as badly as her own, looking down on her imperiously.
That evening, 24 hours after the fight, Dani was visited in her room by Susan. Susan was the wife of one of the senior men in the accounting department. She was a brunette in her late 30s, a real looker with a very fit body and luxurious hair, and she was the second wife of a rather boring and quite successful executive—Dani could never remember the husband’s name, but he was the kind of man whom you forgot about even as he was still talking about baseball or horse racing or skiing. Quite possibly it was Donald, but it might have been Roger or Peter or Bud. But despite her husband’s limited qualities, Susan was warm and friendly to Dani, and she seemed to see her more as a potential ally and peer than a future rival for her husband’s wandering eye. Truth be told, Dani suspected that her husband Bud-Peter might be too boring to stray from his wife’s side. Susan brought Dani another sandwich and a bottle of wine, from which she poured each of them a glass, and they sat on the bed talking while Dani ate. Susan informed her that she had taken care of the bill for the damage done to the bar and that the lodge wasn’t make a big deal about it. Their agency had been coming here for quite a long time, and anyway, this was hardly the first time something of the sort had happened. And, given how attractive both participants were, nobody had really made a fuss to the management.
“How do you feel?” Susan asked her, pouring a second glass.
“Better,” Dani answered. She had finished her sandwich and was opening a fruit bowl that had come with it. “Sore, but I’m getting there.”
“I guess that redhead can really hit?” Susan asked. She had not been in the bar that night.
“Yeah, and she can take a hit too. I don’t think I’ve had a girl get up like that before.”
“You seem like you can take a shot yourself,” Susan said in a softer voice. She picked a grape from the fruit bowl and popped it in her mouth and looked up directly into Dani’s eyes. “You know, when we get back to the city, there are these parties we throw sometimes. I think you should come to one,” she added, slowly, popping another grape into her mouth. She paused at the end of the sentence and held up another grape, aiming it at Dani’s mouth, and then she tossed it in. “My husband Bud was saying that he wished he had gone to the bar last night. I think he’d have liked to see your fight.”
“Oh yeah?” Dani asked, noncommittally. ‘Bud,’ she filed away mentally.
“Come on now, I was a young woman once. I remember what it was like to have everyone after you,” Susan responded. Both of them laughed and leaned a bit closer together, conspiratorially. “All the boys want you, all the girls want to get rid of you.”
“Maybe,” Dani agreed.
“Well, at these parties, there would be a chance for you to earn some extra money. Because I also remember what it’s like to be young and unmarried in the city. You might even catch the eye of some boring old executive with more money than time.” Both ladies were laughing now. “There are young ladies at other companies in the city who have a lot of spirit, like you. And also very beautiful, like you. It’s something for you to think about. There might even be a bonus if you can find a young lady like yourself to join us.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it,” Dani replied.
“Oh, you’ll do more than think about it,” Susan said confidently. “Now, I have to go get ready for our dinner tonight. Boring senior executives only, I’m afraid. But listen. We’ve been coming here forever. They know me. I’ll let the desk know, and they’ll let you in to use the hot tub before we head back to the city. You could use a good long soak, I’m sure.” And with that, she gathered her things and snatched one more piece of fruit and, hugging Dani and giving her a peck on the cheek, she left.
It was late the following night, and the lodge’s clubhouse was essentially empty. Dani was soaking in the hot tub by herself. Her face and body still ached, but she could feel the heat pulling the fatigue and stiffness out of her. The evening felt very empty and she just tilted her head back, resting it on the wooden frame of the tub, and let everything drift away: the fight with the redhead, her place in the pecking order at the office, whether she should try to move on to a new agency or get promoted up from within Abraham and Weiner. Susan’s offer. Or at least, she tried to let everything drift away. With every thought of the redhead and the women from her office, it was like she could feel every bubble of water storming up from the tub’s jets, every prickle on her skin from the sweat beading up. And then she found that she had given up trying to relax and she was dwelling on how her friends had seen her lose and the sight of the redhead herself. And then the door opened and banged shut and Dani opened her eyes to see the redhead standing before her.
“Look what the cat threw up,” Red said. Like Dani, she was wearing a bikini. The heat of the room had already made the sweat pop on her skin, and she used her towel to wipe off her forehead and upper arms. “Surprised to see you up and about so soon.”
Silently, Dani rose and climbed carefully out of the tub, keeping both eyes on the redhead. There was some unspoken thing in the air, and the redhead opened the door behind her and backed out into the women’s locker room. The room was empty and stone quiet except for the breathing of the two women and the water dripping off of Dani, spat-spat-spatting on the rubber mat that covered the floor to provide texture and prevent slipping. Dani’s bikini was yellow, the redhead’s black, and both put their magnificent bodies on display, proudly, the miniscule fabric clinging to the powerful sweep of their waists and busts. Both also wore their hair loose. A smile crept onto the redhead’s face, twisting her full gorgeous lips, and she bent over slightly, bringing up her hands into loose fists, ready to go.
Dani tensed herself and saw the redhead flinch, ready for some punch or slap like they had exchanged in the bar, but instead she threw herself forward. She slammed her shoulder into the redhead’s big chest and bore her down to the ground. It seemed to Dani as if the other woman had collided with the wooden bench in front of the lockers, from the sudden spasm from her body as they landed, and Dani took advantage. She got on top and grabbing her the hair she banged her head on the hard rubber mat covering the floor. Red was a tough woman, though, as Dani well knew, and it only took a few seconds for her to recover herself. She reached up and pulled on Dani’s hair in return and then she yanked down Dani’s bikini top and grabbed her breasts. Dani moaned and Red dug her fingers and pushed up so that it was like she was gouging up into her flesh. Finally Dani let go of her red hair and pulled at the hands, and as soon as she did the redhead bucked her hips up and Dani lost her perch. They wrestled with each other on the floor, clutching and pulling and grabbing at whatever they could, writhing, one on and top, then the other, and then Dani felt the redhead trying to rise to her feet. It was the same thing she had done in the bar, looking to stamp her feet on Dani or to pull her up by the hair and take advantage of her as she rose.
This time, Dani wouldn’t let her. As the weight came off of her, Dani snagged hold of her hair and yanked down with all that she had. Red wasn’t ready for the move and she stumbled and then fell headways right over Dani and landed in a pile. She knew that she was in a bad spot but before she could recover and defend herself Dani had grabbed her from behind. She locked her legs around the redhead’s waist, squeezing, and pulled her head back by her hair with both hands. The redhead groaned and writhed and pushed on Dani’s thighs but Dani kept at. The redhead gave up on that, finally, and reached back behind her head, searching for Dani’s hair. The angle was bad and she couldn’t get anything so she settled for pinching and slapping at Dani’s arms and shoulders, until she got lucky and caught hold of Dani’s breast. Dani yelped as those fingers pinched her and the redhead knew what she had and dug in like a tick. Dani let go of her hair and smacked and pulled at the hand on her boob and all she did was give her the chance to get hold of her hair with her other hand. The pinching and hair pull weren’t enough to take Dani out of the fight but it was definitely something. So, she repaid in kind. She yanked up the redhead’s bikini bra and seized hold of her breasts, latching onto them, squeezing and crushing and pulling up like she was trying to pull the enormous mounds up over her head. The redheaded beauty between her legs went wild, thrashing about, twisting and turning, and finally she broke free of the leglock and rolled clear.
On her hands and knees, pendulous breasts swinging under her, Red tried to crawl away and regain her feet. But Dani crashed into her and wrapped herself around her back, slipping one thigh between the redhead’s and wrapping her arms around her chest. The right side of Dani’s face was pressed against the redhead’s left in one moment of the pure intimacy of female violence. Hoping that her weight would drive the redhead down to the floor again, Dani clung hard, squeezing her around her chest with her arms and sliding her hip and thigh lower in her riding position. But the redhead was a powerful woman and she began to rear up even with the brunette beauty’s weight on her back, and Dani had to slide her leg free lest Red throw herself over backwards and crush her underneath. If they had landed like that, Dani would be helpless and she knew she would take a fearsome beating. Standing now, Dani behind her still with her arms wrapped tight, they stumbled about the locker room, their buxom and perfect bodies wet and nearly naked, the two of them stamped together. The curly locks of red hair were in Dani’s eyes, her nose and her mouth, all of her face as she struggled with her and somehow she hated and resented this other woman all the more for it. The redhead was trying to get one arm between Dani’s and her body and Dani released her grip, intending to grab her breasts, but at that same moment the redhead twisted her hips and spun about and got free of her.
The two of them were face to face, only a few inches apart, and both women immediately launched themselves at the other. Arms wrapped around torsos, faces grinding against each other, their massive bare breasts squashed together so that their female flesh oozed out on both sides under their armpits, they pushed against each other, thigh and back muscles straining, feet digging into the mat. Dani felt the other woman give a bit and she tried to lean forward so that the redhead would be tipped backward and so lose her balance, but instead she twisted her shoulders and hips violently. Dani was caught unawares and went careening into the locker bay and then the other woman slammed into her, pinning her against the cold hard metal. Immediately, the redhead took hold of her hair and banged her head against the locker. Dani was stunned and she began slapping and pulling on the redhead’s back, but it had no real effect.
“You stupid bitch,” the redhead gasped into her ear. Both women were breathing hard now. “I’m going to hurt you bad.”
And then the redhead slammed her knee up into Dani’s stomach. Her breath caught inside of her and Dani’s eyes went wide, her chin resting on the redhead’s shoulder. She felt the redhead draw back her leg for another strike and reflexively she opened her mouth and bit her shoulder. Hard, digging in her teeth, and when the other woman writhed and twisted she held on and as the redhead pulled her shoulder free of the bite Dani slammed her knee up into her stomach in return. Red covered her stomach with both hands and Dani grabbed her in a headlock and twisted and threw her over her hip. The redhead went hard into the locker but she somehow kept her feet and was up and ready to meet Dani as she came at her. The women grabbed each other and struggled against the locker bay. First the redhead had her back to the lockers but then she got her arm around Dani and spun her around so that her back hit the hard metal. Dani knew what was coming and she wrapped one arm around the redhead and held her in close as she started throwing punches into her stomach and breasts. There was little room to generate much force but she was still holding Dani pinned to the metal and still pumping into her with her fist. Dani stamped her foot down on the redhead’s foot and then when she backed up a step, bringing her weight off her hurt foot, kneed her between her legs. The blow bent the redhead over and Dani seized hold of her hair in both hands and slammed her knee up into her massive chest. She let go of her hair as she did and the redhead went tumbling to the ground, landing on her back. Frenzied, desperate to hurt this other woman any way she could, Dani dove at her, but she was rolling clear and Dani only made partial contact. She landed badly and the two women lay still like that, side by side, both hurting, magnificent bodies bruised and hurting, both sucking in air, naked bosoms heaving, hair wild, arms and legs splayed out about them.
Dani felt the woman next to her stirring and rolling away and she forced herself back into action. The redhead had turned her back to Dani. Dani was lying on her left side and she slid her right leg between the redhead’s and hooked her like that and with her left hand she yanked back on her hair. With her right hand she smacked her on her hip and her stomach and then on her breast. The redhead yelped in pain and annoyance and tried to slide away from her but Dani held her in place and she gripped her breast and squeezed, as hard as she could, so that her hand was trembling, and the female flesh oozed out between her fingers and the redhead howled in pain and slapped and tugged at the hand digging into her bosom. Dani stared at the sight, transfixed, and then as the redhead began sliding onto her back Dani moved with her and she ended up sitting across her stomach. The redhead was under her now, staring up, and she reached up and grabbed her breasts and Dani grabbed hers. Both women were panting and groaning in exhaustion and pain, grimacing, sweat running freely now as they mauled each other. They held on for all they were worth, staring into each other’s eyes, and they squeezed and pulled and crushed, and then at last the redhead let go of Dani and moved her hands onto Dani’s to pull them off of her chest. And when she did, Dani took advantage of her distraction at the unbearable pain in her chest and slapped her viciously across the face. Red lay under her, stunned, and Dani hit her again coming back the other direction, and then again and again, sweat and hair whipping through the air. Two more slaps to the face, four more, and the redhead was lying inert, moaning between her legs, and Dani put her left hand across her throat to hold her in place and with her right she pumped one punch after another into her chest, sometimes hitting her breasts and sometimes hitting her squarely in the center of her chest, where her ribs met. And when her arm was numb with fatigue, Dani rose to her feet. She stood looking down at the beaten woman, and finally she found her top and a towel to cover herself and she stumbled out of the locker room victorious.
