“He does nothin’,” Susan says, still smarting off for not having her objections heard.
“You’re better off goin’ to Mr. Calhoun,” Judy chimes in.
At the mention of Asa’s last name, my heart skips a beat. I turn my focus to my plate.
“If you ever have the opportunity to step inside his office that is,” Judy says.
“He scares me,” Florence says.
“He doesn’t scare me,” Susan replies.
I look up just in time to see her arch a brow, causing Judy to giggle. Slowly, I chew my grits and control my jealousy. I like to think of myself as a rather calm person, but I can feel my blood boiling the longer I sit here. Asa is mine. Asa has been mine. Asa will always be mine.
Yet, he’s married to another woman. Shares his bed with her every night.
It’s agony, and yet, it’s my reality.
“I saw you with Mr. Calhoun yesterday,” Susan says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I lift my head and find the ladies at the table staring at me. “Do you know him?” she asks.
I don’t want any of them to know that I’m familiar with Asa outside of the confines of work. I don’t want the ladies to look at me differently. It’s been a long time since I’ve had conversations that didn’t center around Matilda and one of her “spells” or Oliver. At Brignac House, my only companions were the servants. I have a real opportunity at creating friendships here. I know I have Rainey and Serene. But with these ladies, I can choose what they know and don’t know. If I want them to know I’m a widow or a single lady then I can do just that. There’s something very uplifting in that knowledge.
After several seconds, I answer, “A- Mr. Calhoun,” I quickly correct, “is a friend of my brother, Étienne.”
“Was your brother the tall intimidatin’ man here yesterday?” Susan blurts.
Next to her, Judy elbows her and whispers in her ear. I don’t hear everything, but just pieces here and there. “Stop it,” and, “I told you it was Étienne Lacroix…”
Susan’s question and Judy’s whispers are nothing new.
“Yes, that’s him,” I confirm.
“And the red head?” Susan questions.
Leaf leans in. “Susan is awfully noisy if you didn’t notice.”
Susan scowls. “How else do you discover information?”
“By quietly listenin’?” Judy suggests.
Susan quickly waves her cousin’s words away and focuses her attention back to me. “So who was the red head?”
“That’s my brother’s wife, Serene.”
Susan nods and sits back, seemingly appeased with my answers.
“Are those all the questions you have for her?” Leaf asks with a smile.
Susan shrugs. “For now.”
“All right, ladies. Lunch is over.” Floyd is back and wisely keeps his gaze away from Susan as he points to the direction of the hall.
“Sweet Lord. Does he think we’re lost?” Susan murmurs beneath her breath.
“Apparently,” Judy replies.
“I think we can find our way back to our call stations just fine,” Leaf says dryly.
As we gather our food, I continue to listen to the ladies with the barest smile on my face.
You need to be cautious, Nathalie! You’ve only met these ladies!
However, I can’t help but hope I form lasting friendships with them.
The four of us are walking down the hall when Leaf looks at me then Susan with a twinkle in her eye. “Does Nathalie meet your approval, Susan?”
“I don’t know. Our shift isn’t finished yet.” Before we get to our call stations, Susan gives me a smile that borders on ominous. “We’ll see how you feel at the end of the day.”
After eleven hours of staring at only the switchboard, my eyes start to go blurry. I try my hardest to remember everything Leaf tells me, but she moves with a swiftness that is impressive, but also enviable. I want to scream in frustration that I can’t follow her when she moves that fast. I think she takes pity on me one time because she slows her movements, but Louise walks by and clears her throat. At once, Leaf sits straighter in her chair and begins to work even faster than before.
Louise has that effect on all the ladies. She is a puppet master. She pulls the strings, and the ladies do her bidding.
Even after observing her, I am still willing to be one of those puppets.
Louise sternly calls out, “Shift change.”
All too happily, I take the headset off. I can’t decide which I loathe more: the uncomfortable seat or the dreadful headset. I lost count the number of times I had to wipe moisture from the receiver. Each time, Leaf would look at me from the corner of her eye and furtively shake her head.
Quietly, I follow Leaf out of the room, not before Louise tells me, “Ms. Claiborne, you will have the same shift tomorrow and will sit next to Leah Frances.”
I nod, simply because I haven’t used my voice in so many hours.
Once I’m in the hall, I take a deep breath. Leaf’s waiting there with Susan and Judy. The three of them stare at me expectantly.
“That was… horrible.”
“Of course, it’s horrible,” Leaf says. “But will you be back tomorrow?”
My reply is instantaneous. “Absolutely.”
Leaf smiles victoriously at Susan. “I told you she would stay. Welcome, Nat!”
Susan moves forward and gives me a nod of approval. “I hope you appreciated your life before this job because you’ll never see it again.”
The ladies laugh, and I laugh with them, but inside, I am desperate for her words to be true. I want to forget the past and the life I created when I married Oliver.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Asa
“Look at it!”
I pause in the threshold of my home, straining to hear more, but the voice stops talking. The voice is familiar and belongs to Juliet.
But what I can’t understand is why she’s yelling.
I turn in the direction of where Lemrich always stands each day, ready to take my jacket and briefcase, but he’s nowhere in sight. In fact, there’s no movement coming from within the house.
What is happening right now?
I repress a groan and place my briefcase on the floor. I’m exhausted. I love the challenge that work brings me. I can spend hours locked away in my office, lost in the numbers. Nothing ever distracts me.
Nathalie does.
There’s been nothing about her behavior that’s untoward. As a matter of fact, we hardly speak. Which I tell myself is for the best. Yet I have questions for her. How is she handling the job? Standards are high and the responsibilities that come with being a switchboard operator are almost too much for ladies to withstand. I am constantly hiring new ladies because of it.
Discreetly as possible, I asked Louise about Nathalie’s performance. In an inelegant manner, she lifted a shoulder and said, “Fine.”
Of course, Louise didn’t take interest in Nat. As long as calls are being answered in a timely manner, she is okay.
I take it upon myself to check on her. My office is on the second floor, directly above the call center. It affords me the perfect opportunity to look and see how everyone is performing. Under Louise’s draconian rule, I’ve never had to give the ladies a second look, but I find myself standing by the windows, keeping a watchful eye on Nat whenever I have the time.