Cass
Without Prejudice
Cass started at A.V Bennies, engineers the day the big boss from Singapore arrived. He had emailed ahead his instructions, that one person from every department was to be sacked.
Didn't matter about the person, or work performance, it was a financial decision only.
Cass kept her head down all day and took notes as her trainer Sue, showed her the ropes and whispered the gossip around the office. People were packing up desks all day and there were tears and threats and the atmosphere was claustrophobic.
Sue was chatty as she hadn't been let go. Cass was replacing her as Sue was having two hip replacements at 33. her Mum had just had hers done at 60, and Sue's bad hips were hereditary and had worsened from hormone therapy used in IVF, enabling her to have her twin boys, now 3.
Cass asked her how she managed with twin boys and working, and she said her husband, He being a house hubby. Her Mum helped out as well.
Cass kept trying not to look "new" but one girl went past her, hissing,
"Suppose we all going to be replaced by Temps"
And Cass had looked at the venom in her face, and replied,
"I can't help it"
But the woman had gone, sweeping things off a desk on to the floor.
The Big Boss James came up to Sue at the end of the day and asked how everything had gone and Sue gave her a great rap and Cass smiled at her.
James had glanced at her,
"Not the best day to be starting"
Cass just smiled and said,
"Not really a lot you can do about it", and shrugged.
He said,
"Do I know you from somewhere?"
"I don't think so"
Ah, Ok, well enjoy the position it should go for about three months, I will ring your agency now and let them know"
"Thank you for everything"
And he was gone.
Cass was jubilant, three months work,
"Yaay"
Sue smiled,
"Looks like you impressed Mr Frosty
Who
James Frost, but we just call him Frosty as he is a bit, cool.
Is he a good boss??
Oh, yeah, very fair but him and his wife Jackie have just split up, apparently she was a bit of a lush and liked the men, you know"
Cass had just a similar situation with her ex, although he wasn't a lush, just hell bent on knocking off half the females in the village where they had been sharing a house. Oh. well, one she knew of and maybe there were more, who knew ??
It was Cass's house so she packed up his guitar with the broken strings, his NO FEAR T shirts and kicked him to the kerb one wet and rainy night six weeks ago.
Cass was well over it, but had no intention of settling down again for a while.
She and Declan had been together for 3 years, she 24 and he 34. It had been fun for a while, sharing the house together, playing house. Declan a copywriter on the way up and Cass studying part time for her Bachelor Of Arts and working casually during the day.
They didn't see a lot of each other, Cass out two nights a week and studying the rest. Declan would always be home about 7pm and peel off his socks and drop them near the front door. pad his way to the lounge room and turn on the TV and crash for the night.
Cass had to wake him up when she arrived back home and he was always apologetic. The work took a lot out of him, but by Friday night he was up and ready to party. Cass felt the age difference should have been the other way around.
She felt old and mature at 24 and Declan was like Peter Pan, at 34, wanting to relive his youth he had missed out on.
They spent many a Friday and Saturday night at the local pub and Declan was always flying high when surrounded by others.
He was totally outrageous and lead all the singing and flirted all friendly and affectionate. arms around the women. Cass was quieter and more shy, gripping her one gin and tonic all night. She liked the friendly and outspoken men, and they were all single. As were most of the women.
Declan knowing most of them all from his Uni days and remaining friends over the years. He was a popular figure, charming, sly. fey, with a wicked sense of humour.
Cass watched after a while at certain glances between Declan and Jane an old Uni friend and thought she saw glances that lingered a little too long, a whisper in the ear when no one was looking.
Jane was blond, buxom and funny, she seemed to be forever tanned and wore low cut tops that gained her lots of attention from the "lads".
She was a primary school teacher and encouraged Cass to get her Bachelor and then do one year dip of Ed. Cass was following her advice, loving the thought of being a Primary Teacher. Sweet little kids faces turned towards her in rapt attention as she read them stories.
Declan began not to be home sometimes when she arrived home from classes. And when he did he reeked of alcohol and second hand smoke and sometimes perfume. She noticed he showered before getting into bed and she knew, she knew, but said nothing for the time being. biding her time.
One day she skipped class and followed him to the Pub, heart pounding with each step in case he saw her. He swung into the pub doorway, the pub half full on a Wednesday night, pay day the next day.
And there was her darling Declan nuzzling, Jane's neck in a corner near the back. Cass strode in and smacked him straight across the face, the slap a resounding crack in the half empty pub,
"pick up your stuff, I'll have it packed up by tomorrow and you can pick it up from the garage"
She spun on her heel and then she turned back to look at Jane's reaction, she just smiled at Cass, a cat that has the cream look,
"have him, Cass said.
"He's all yours."
And with that she walked home, livid and sobbing with rage. Once home she dried her tears and packed up his stuff quickly into a box and shoved it into the garage. And went to bed, she wasn't that sad. He wasn't for her.
She came home from work the next night and the box was gone and she sagged with relief, no scenes, no drama. He hadn't tried to call her either, so obviously didn't care that much.
She was glad for the three months of continuous work as she was getting close to broke, Declan had paid half her rent money and that had been a good thing.
She toyed with the idea of getting a boarder in and decided she would hold off on that idea for now, and decide later.
Better to settle at the job first and then see how she felt. She missed Declan a lot less than she thought she would.
She settled into the job well and Sue was always around helping out for the last week before her leave. Cass had to stretch herself the new computer system was such a complicated one that management was going to scrap it.
Most of the older Engineers, not being able to work it, baffled by it and the older engineers were necessary as the projects Bennies did were huge and installed all over the world.
Some in Singapore and The Emirates and Russia, India, Brazil all over. The foreign payments were enormous sums of money and Cass often had to ring the foreign countries, talking in halting English to India, who were great and China which was impossible.
Luckily the amounts matched the projects and she could take the older debts of her ledger. She rang New Zealand daily and did all their allocations as well, and when she was finished with Accounts receivable she started on accounts payable.
That was mountainous paperwork but Cass just kept at it, knowing it paid better money then receivable and having to ring all the Sales Reps about their expense sheets. That was a massive job, as none of the reps kept good paperwork, no matter what James told them at their weekly sales meeting at 7 on a Monday morning.
The Reps were all affable and chatty and when Cass called them over about their expense accounts acted wide eyed and innocent at their sloppy paperwork and bogus claims.
Well, Cass only had a feeling they were bogus as the men always were really nervous when it came to lunches with clients and petrol slips for "business trips".
She was a good worker, meticulous and loved problem solving and she could work quicker than the others, having developed a good memory from her classes. Sometimes she wondered what she was doing, in fact most of the time she wondered this.
Did she want a husband and a few babies or did she want a career, first. Her plan had been with Declan to eventually marry and have kids but he had said one night, two years in to the relationship that he had no intention of ever having kids and did she not know this ??
Cass thought he was joking at first, and then thought she could talk him around. After all everyone wanted kids, didn't they ???
But once Declan had voiced it aloud he remained resolute about it and there were no babies in his future.
It probably one of the reasons Cass didn't miss him as much as she thought she should have. The work and classes were a great distraction anyway and Summer stretched ahead of her with all it's hazy amber hue, warm twilight evenings beckoning with their smell of grass and basted ribs on a BBQ. somewhere.
Cass lost weight as she had decided to walk to work a quick half hour and she used the time to think. enjoying the feeling of her body working and the fresh air.
With a tiny bit of her earnings she updated her wardrobe, scouring the thrift stores and op shops for designer labels at a fraction of the cost.
All the women at work dressing corporate, designer heels the only flamboyant touch, but Cass and the other two "temps" could wear what they wanted. But is till had to be smart.
Cass stepped up buying an Ungaro Jacket, silk, for five dollars and a Monsoon top with an Allannah Hill skirt, and 5 pairs of shoes at $2.00 per pair.
She was thrilled and loved the admiring comments from the other girls. She felt some days were so long after the work and the class and she would soak in a hot bath with Body Shop vanilla bath foam and rest her weary body in the heavenly scented water.
She played with the tap with one toe and wondered if she would ever feel the touch of a man again, and realised it needed to be soon. Her body betraying her strong resolve.
She dried herself with a soft towel and the door bell rang. She dressed hurriedly pulling the scrunchy topknot her hair was in and combed her long brown hair with her fingers hurriedly. the bell went again, louder this time and longer.
She dragged on her dressing gown and hurried to the door and glanced through the peep hole.
"what are you doing here, Declan?"
Declan swayed ever so gently and tried to open the fly wire door,
"Let me in Cass, please, Jane threw me out and I haven't anywhere to go", he tried to look pathetic which he did anyway.
"Not a chance"
"Come on Cass, I'm soaking out here, it had began to rain,
"Listen here Declan, you and I are through, I don't like cheaters, nor liars, nor hypocrites, all of which you are, now bugger off back to your girlfriends, she'll forgive you, bye"
And she slammed the door in his face and went back to the bathroom and turned the radio up loud as she exfoliated and oiled her legs and gave herself a bikini wax, and shaved her legs,
She hummed all the while finally hearing the pounding at the door stopping. She sagged against the door frame and sighed a sigh of relief. When she had looked at him she felt nothing. not a thing.
Thank God, that was over, she was just the tiniest bit enjoying the single life, a thing she would have dreaded months ago.
Cass started at A.V Bennies, engineers the day the big boss from Singapore arrived. He had emailed ahead his instructions, that one person from every department was to be sacked.
Didn't matter about the person, or work performance, it was a financial decision only.
Cass kept her head down all day and took notes as her trainer Sue, showed her the ropes and whispered the gossip around the office. People were packing up desks all day and there were tears and threats and the atmosphere was claustrophobic.
Sue was chatty as she hadn't been let go. Cass was replacing her as Sue was having two hip replacements at 33. her Mum had just had hers done at 60, and Sue's bad hips were hereditary and had worsened from hormone therapy used in IVF, enabling her to have her twin boys, now 3.
Cass asked her how she managed with twin boys and working, and she said her husband, He being a house hubby. Her Mum helped out as well.
Cass kept trying not to look "new" but one girl went past her, hissing,
"Suppose we all going to be replaced by Temps"
And Cass had looked at the venom in her face, and replied,
"I can't help it"
But the woman had gone, sweeping things off a desk on to the floor.
The Big Boss James came up to Sue at the end of the day and asked how everything had gone and Sue gave her a great rap and Cass smiled at her.
James had glanced at her,
"Not the best day to be starting"
Cass just smiled and said,
"Not really a lot you can do about it", and shrugged.
He said,
"Do I know you from somewhere?"
"I don't think so"
Ah, Ok, well enjoy the position it should go for about three months, I will ring your agency now and let them know"
"Thank you for everything"
And he was gone.
Cass was jubilant, three months work,
"Yaay"
Sue smiled,
"Looks like you impressed Mr Frosty
Who
James Frost, but we just call him Frosty as he is a bit, cool.
Is he a good boss??
Oh, yeah, very fair but him and his wife Jackie have just split up, apparently she was a bit of a lush and liked the men, you know"
Cass had just a similar situation with her ex, although he wasn't a lush, just hell bent on knocking off half the females in the village where they had been sharing a house. Oh. well, one she knew of and maybe there were more, who knew ??
It was Cass's house so she packed up his guitar with the broken strings, his NO FEAR T shirts and kicked him to the kerb one wet and rainy night six weeks ago.
Cass was well over it, but had no intention of settling down again for a while.
She and Declan had been together for 3 years, she 24 and he 34. It had been fun for a while, sharing the house together, playing house. Declan a copywriter on the way up and Cass studying part time for her Bachelor Of Arts and working casually during the day.
They didn't see a lot of each other, Cass out two nights a week and studying the rest. Declan would always be home about 7pm and peel off his socks and drop them near the front door. pad his way to the lounge room and turn on the TV and crash for the night.
Cass had to wake him up when she arrived back home and he was always apologetic. The work took a lot out of him, but by Friday night he was up and ready to party. Cass felt the age difference should have been the other way around.
She felt old and mature at 24 and Declan was like Peter Pan, at 34, wanting to relive his youth he had missed out on.
They spent many a Friday and Saturday night at the local pub and Declan was always flying high when surrounded by others.
He was totally outrageous and lead all the singing and flirted all friendly and affectionate. arms around the women. Cass was quieter and more shy, gripping her one gin and tonic all night. She liked the friendly and outspoken men, and they were all single. As were most of the women.
Declan knowing most of them all from his Uni days and remaining friends over the years. He was a popular figure, charming, sly. fey, with a wicked sense of humour.
Cass watched after a while at certain glances between Declan and Jane an old Uni friend and thought she saw glances that lingered a little too long, a whisper in the ear when no one was looking.
Jane was blond, buxom and funny, she seemed to be forever tanned and wore low cut tops that gained her lots of attention from the "lads".
She was a primary school teacher and encouraged Cass to get her Bachelor and then do one year dip of Ed. Cass was following her advice, loving the thought of being a Primary Teacher. Sweet little kids faces turned towards her in rapt attention as she read them stories.
Declan began not to be home sometimes when she arrived home from classes. And when he did he reeked of alcohol and second hand smoke and sometimes perfume. She noticed he showered before getting into bed and she knew, she knew, but said nothing for the time being. biding her time.
One day she skipped class and followed him to the Pub, heart pounding with each step in case he saw her. He swung into the pub doorway, the pub half full on a Wednesday night, pay day the next day.
And there was her darling Declan nuzzling, Jane's neck in a corner near the back. Cass strode in and smacked him straight across the face, the slap a resounding crack in the half empty pub,
"pick up your stuff, I'll have it packed up by tomorrow and you can pick it up from the garage"
She spun on her heel and then she turned back to look at Jane's reaction, she just smiled at Cass, a cat that has the cream look,
"have him, Cass said.
"He's all yours."
And with that she walked home, livid and sobbing with rage. Once home she dried her tears and packed up his stuff quickly into a box and shoved it into the garage. And went to bed, she wasn't that sad. He wasn't for her.
She came home from work the next night and the box was gone and she sagged with relief, no scenes, no drama. He hadn't tried to call her either, so obviously didn't care that much.
She was glad for the three months of continuous work as she was getting close to broke, Declan had paid half her rent money and that had been a good thing.
She toyed with the idea of getting a boarder in and decided she would hold off on that idea for now, and decide later.
Better to settle at the job first and then see how she felt. She missed Declan a lot less than she thought she would.
She settled into the job well and Sue was always around helping out for the last week before her leave. Cass had to stretch herself the new computer system was such a complicated one that management was going to scrap it.
Most of the older Engineers, not being able to work it, baffled by it and the older engineers were necessary as the projects Bennies did were huge and installed all over the world.
Some in Singapore and The Emirates and Russia, India, Brazil all over. The foreign payments were enormous sums of money and Cass often had to ring the foreign countries, talking in halting English to India, who were great and China which was impossible.
Luckily the amounts matched the projects and she could take the older debts of her ledger. She rang New Zealand daily and did all their allocations as well, and when she was finished with Accounts receivable she started on accounts payable.
That was mountainous paperwork but Cass just kept at it, knowing it paid better money then receivable and having to ring all the Sales Reps about their expense sheets. That was a massive job, as none of the reps kept good paperwork, no matter what James told them at their weekly sales meeting at 7 on a Monday morning.
The Reps were all affable and chatty and when Cass called them over about their expense accounts acted wide eyed and innocent at their sloppy paperwork and bogus claims.
Well, Cass only had a feeling they were bogus as the men always were really nervous when it came to lunches with clients and petrol slips for "business trips".
She was a good worker, meticulous and loved problem solving and she could work quicker than the others, having developed a good memory from her classes. Sometimes she wondered what she was doing, in fact most of the time she wondered this.
Did she want a husband and a few babies or did she want a career, first. Her plan had been with Declan to eventually marry and have kids but he had said one night, two years in to the relationship that he had no intention of ever having kids and did she not know this ??
Cass thought he was joking at first, and then thought she could talk him around. After all everyone wanted kids, didn't they ???
But once Declan had voiced it aloud he remained resolute about it and there were no babies in his future.
It probably one of the reasons Cass didn't miss him as much as she thought she should have. The work and classes were a great distraction anyway and Summer stretched ahead of her with all it's hazy amber hue, warm twilight evenings beckoning with their smell of grass and basted ribs on a BBQ. somewhere.
Cass lost weight as she had decided to walk to work a quick half hour and she used the time to think. enjoying the feeling of her body working and the fresh air.
With a tiny bit of her earnings she updated her wardrobe, scouring the thrift stores and op shops for designer labels at a fraction of the cost.
All the women at work dressing corporate, designer heels the only flamboyant touch, but Cass and the other two "temps" could wear what they wanted. But is till had to be smart.
Cass stepped up buying an Ungaro Jacket, silk, for five dollars and a Monsoon top with an Allannah Hill skirt, and 5 pairs of shoes at $2.00 per pair.
She was thrilled and loved the admiring comments from the other girls. She felt some days were so long after the work and the class and she would soak in a hot bath with Body Shop vanilla bath foam and rest her weary body in the heavenly scented water.
She played with the tap with one toe and wondered if she would ever feel the touch of a man again, and realised it needed to be soon. Her body betraying her strong resolve.
She dried herself with a soft towel and the door bell rang. She dressed hurriedly pulling the scrunchy topknot her hair was in and combed her long brown hair with her fingers hurriedly. the bell went again, louder this time and longer.
She dragged on her dressing gown and hurried to the door and glanced through the peep hole.
"what are you doing here, Declan?"
Declan swayed ever so gently and tried to open the fly wire door,
"Let me in Cass, please, Jane threw me out and I haven't anywhere to go", he tried to look pathetic which he did anyway.
"Not a chance"
"Come on Cass, I'm soaking out here, it had began to rain,
"Listen here Declan, you and I are through, I don't like cheaters, nor liars, nor hypocrites, all of which you are, now bugger off back to your girlfriends, she'll forgive you, bye"
And she slammed the door in his face and went back to the bathroom and turned the radio up loud as she exfoliated and oiled her legs and gave herself a bikini wax, and shaved her legs,
She hummed all the while finally hearing the pounding at the door stopping. She sagged against the door frame and sighed a sigh of relief. When she had looked at him she felt nothing. not a thing.
Thank God, that was over, she was just the tiniest bit enjoying the single life, a thing she would have dreaded months ago.
