The Bottom Line (3 page)

Helen would have asked for an explanation but the bus was drawing up outside the hotel, and by the time the girls had collected their keys and made for the lift, she had forgotten all about Dolly's throwaway remark.

She was about to look for her luggage, but Carla promptly stopped her. ‘Yours will be here in a few minutes,' she said, again with that slightly supercilious air. ‘It's not your job to hang around the staff carousel or carry your own luggage. It might even be in your room by now.' With which she turned to Louise and asked, ‘Have you decided yet who's rooming with whom?'

‘Yes,' Louise answered, ‘Dolly's looking after Helen and I'm coming in with you, so that leaves Karen and Bridget together.' This seemed to satisfy the boss lady, and there was only desultory chat thereafter until the girls, in their pairs, left the lift to go and find their rooms. Helen was quite overawed when she saw the room she and Dolly were to share. She'd stayed in one or two upmarket hotels previously, but this was the first room she'd seen with two double beds in it, not to mention the wide-screen television with DVD, the fax machine and the computer terminal.

‘Which bed do you want?' Dolly asked, but Helen didn't care and was happy to accept her roommate's choice.

‘Okay then,' Dolly said, ‘do you want first bath or shall I go first?' Again Helen felt she would rather allow the other girl to choose, but realised that Dolly wanted to hear a decision from her.

‘You go first if you like, while I put my things away,' she said, and Dolly smiled and headed for the bathroom, while Helen began her unpacking. She heard the sound of running water and then splashing, after which there was relative quiet for ten minutes or so, punctuated by occasional bursts of song from the direction of the bathroom. Then came a shout.

‘Helen... Helen...'

She called back, but this was obviously not sufficient for Dolly. ‘I can't hear you properly,' she responded. ‘You'll have to come here so I can talk to you properly.'

Although Helen's upbringing had not prepared her for invitations into the bathroom of a girl she'd known for only a few hours, she didn't want to appear rude or unfriendly, so she tentatively opened the door and slipped in. Dolly was lying in a deep bath almost covered by foam, except that her two most prominent features appeared to be floating on top of the water. Helen blushed and averted her gaze, but Dolly was completely unabashed.

‘Oh, come on,' she said. ‘You don't mind the sight of my boobies, do you? I can't help it,' she added, ‘they just seemed to go on growing.'

Helen didn't reply to this piece of intimate information, but asked what she could do for her colleague. It transpired that Dolly never used hotel soap and had brought her own, but forgot to unpack it, so she asked would Helen like to go and look in her suitcase for her? Helen did so, noticing as she carried out her search a packet of condoms and one or two other items of a ‘personal' nature.

When she went back into the bathroom Dolly was sitting up, a position that exaggerated the dramatic effect of her pneumatic shape. Helen passed her the soap and returned to her unpacking, realising eventually that Dolly had emerged from the bathroom and was busy slipping into her underwear.

When Helen took her turn for a bath she wondered about locking the door, but decided it might be taken as rude if she did. In practice her privacy was not disturbed and she had taken the precaution of taking clean bra and pants into the bathroom with her, so she was able to retain that level of modesty to which she was accustomed.

Dinner went down well with the girls, and the occasion was pleasant enough. Carla tended to dominate the conversation, but in fairness she was well informed, bright and witty. Louise seemed to hang on her every word, Dolly added occasional giggles and other non-verbal forms of punctuation, while Karen and Bridget joined in the general conversation without adding to it anything particularly original or memorable. Helen asked at one stage about the flight-deck personnel.

‘We don't usually see them at dinner,' Carla explained. ‘You see, we're all on inclusive terms and the company pays everything centrally, but they have expense accounts so they can go and eat anywhere they like. Usually they're on the pull by now. Sometimes, if they're not successful, they drop in at the party later on.'

Dolly looked up at this. ‘Is there a party tonight, Carla?' she asked.

‘Oh yes,' Carla replied. ‘After all, we haven't welcomed Helen officially yet, have we?'

‘No, we haven't,' simpered Louise. ‘And we can't let Helen think she isn't welcome.'

‘What time are we starting?' asked Dolly, and upon being told by Carla ten o'clock, she enquired further, ‘Is it in your room as usual?'

‘Yep,' said Carla. ‘And I'll see to the drinks. Have you told Helen about our welcome parties, or shall we leave everything as a surprise?'

‘Let's make it a surprise,' Louise enthused. ‘Everybody likes surprises, don't they?'

Helen thought that Dolly had a rather enigmatic expression on her face at this point, but she said nothing then, deciding to wait until they got back to their room to touch up their make-up.

‘What kind of party is this?' she asked as they shared the bathroom mirror to check their lipstick. ‘There's something going on, isn't there?'

‘Something going on?' Dolly teased. ‘Whatever do you mean?'

‘Oh, come on,' said Helen, ‘I saw all those knowing looks. What happens at these parties?'

‘It's nothing very serious,' Dolly replied. ‘Occasionally we play one of two games, nothing to get worried about.'

‘I'm not worrying,' Helen told her, ‘I'm just curious. What goes on? Or is it better not to know?'

‘You'll find out soon enough,' Dolly said. ‘Just go along with everything and you'll be fine. One thing, though, we usually get changed first, so it's a kind of pyjama party.'

‘Good job I brought a nice silky pair, then,' Helen said. ‘And a matching wrap.'

‘Yes,' said Dolly, ‘they'll do very nicely. I think I'll put on my crepe-de-chine nightie. It's nice and loose and hangs so well.'

Helen decided not to enquire why these attributes were so advantageous, but the thought crossed her mind that there might be some ritual involving the pilot and crew. If there were, she thought to herself, she would go along with it as long as there was nothing really objectionable about it. But she certainly didn't intend to be paired off and, privately, hoped they had succeeded in pulling.

When Helen and Dolly arrived in Carla's room, which was even larger than their own and had a small dressing room off it, the champagne was already flowing and their glasses were quickly filled. For some time nothing much happened except that the six girls chatted and drank, drank and chatted. Then without warning Carla clapped her hands and the room fell silent.

‘Sit down, girls,' she said, ‘and make yourselves comfortable. No, not you, Helen,' she added as Helen was about to sit in one of the armchairs. ‘For the welcoming ceremony you stand at first.'

Helen was about to object, but she saw Dolly put a warning finger to her mouth and decided it might be best to remain silent. ‘Right, Helen,' Carla went on, ‘how did you think your first flight went?'

Helen admitted she'd been quite pleased with herself. She had overcome her nerves quickly enough and she'd been lucky not to have any obstreperous passengers so, on the whole, she had enjoyed it and thought she'd done pretty well.

‘Hm,' said Carla, ‘I suppose so. But what about the coffee you spilled over Mr Salinger?'

‘I didn't spill anything over Mr Salinger,' Helen retorted. ‘It was only a drop and it went on the armrest. Anyway, how do you know about that? I didn't think anybody else saw it.'

‘We see everything, Helen,' Carla stated. ‘Isn't that right, girls?' There was a chorus of agreement. ‘And we all saw the time you tried to run me down with the trolley.'

‘No, I didn't!' Helen exclaimed, feeling increasingly unsettled by what was turning out to be a bit of an unexpected and unfair inquisition. ‘I just expected you to be behind me, not in front of me. And I stopped before I even touched you.'

‘That's probably just as well,' Carla said. ‘But the fact remains that you nearly caused an accident, and nearly scalded a passenger. So what do you say to that?'

Helen was about to make an angry retort, but again she caught sight of Dolly, who was nodding at her. ‘Well, all right,' she said, ‘but it wasn't really my fault either time.'

‘Not your fault?' Carla mocked. ‘Not your fault? What do we think of that, girls? What do you think, Louise?'

‘I don't think she could help the coffee,' Louise answered, somewhat to Helen's surprise, ‘but she shouldn't answer back. And she was careless with the trolley.'

‘I see,' Carla mused. ‘Answering back and carelessness.' As she spoke she stared at Helen, who was beginning to understand that this was some kind of initiation and that she must not allow herself to be goaded. Carla turned to Karen and Bridget. ‘What do you make of answering back and carelessness?' she asked them.

Karen answered first. ‘The answering back was only minor,' she said, ‘but she did try to get out of it.'

Then it was Bridget's turn. ‘We have to treat the carelessness seriously,' she decreed. ‘After all, there could have been an accident. Somebody could have been hurt.'

There was a short pause, and then Carla turned to Helen. ‘There you have it, young lady,' she said. ‘One minor offence and one major offence. Do you have anything to say before we pass sentence?'

‘Well, you're going to do it anyway,' said Helen, ‘whatever it is you're doing, so I think I'd better say nothing.'

There was another pause, longer this time, and Helen could sense that there was now a real tension in the air. Eventually Carla spoke again.

‘Very well,' she said, staring directly at Helen. ‘Your performance was marred by a minor and a major drop in the standards required, so your punishment will be twelve minor and four major.'

‘P-punishment?' Helen blurted, shocked by the turn of events. ‘I'm not being punished. Who do you think you are to tell me that I'm going to be punished? You go on and play your little games if you want to, but you're not punishing me. I'm off to bed!'

‘I think you'd better tell her, Dolly,' Carla said. ‘And you can sit down while you're waiting,' she added to Helen.

‘It's a sort of game,' Dolly explained. ‘Rites of passage, I suppose. We've all been through it in the past.'

‘And what if I refuse these... these rites of passage, as you call them?' Helen asked. ‘What can you do about it?'

‘We can't do anything if you absolutely refuse,' Dolly told her, ‘but you'd be very unwise to. You might find that your probation lasts longer than six months if you do. Or you might even fail it. You see,' she lowered her voice and spoke conspiratorially, ‘we're all part of a team here and our success depends on working together. This little game is part of that working together. You have to show that you can take the rough with the smooth. So come on, it won't last long and you'll soon get over it.'

‘I still don't understand,' Helen said. ‘Suppose I go along with your silly little ritual? What won't last long and what will I soon get over? What sort of punishment is this?'

‘I think you'd better show her, Louise,' Carla said. ‘Then you can take your pick, Helen. Either you go along with our silly little ritual, as you call it, or I tell those who need to know that you don't want to be one of us.'

Louise had disappeared into the dressing room, whence she emerged bearing a cushion upon which were two leather objects, one quite short and the other much longer. Helen gulped, recognising now what form her punishment was going to take.

‘If I go along with this,' she said, addressing Carla, ‘just what is going to happen?'

‘Now that's a sensible question, Helen,' Carla said. ‘You see this?' She held aloft the smaller object. ‘This is called a paddle, and it's quite a soft and gentle one. I believe it used to be quite popular in the States for disciplining unruly children. Perhaps it still is.

‘This, on the other hand, is a tawse.' She held up the long strip of leather, perhaps two feet long, three inches wide and probably a quarter of an inch thick, with one end split into four strands. ‘A Lochgelly tawse, to be precise, presumably named after the town of manufacture. It used to be used widely in Scotland,' she continued, ‘though it was used across the palm of the hand. We prefer a different target, some would say a more appropriate one.'

‘I see,' said Helen. ‘So I have to accept my
punishment
with one of these instruments, and then we can all go quietly to bed, is that it?'

‘I don't think you're in a position to be sarcastic,' Carla admonished her. ‘And you're wrong, anyway. You will be punished with
both
of these instruments. Twelve minor means you will receive twelve strokes of the paddle, and four major means you will receive four strokes of the tawse. Bridget, Karen, Dolly and Louise will each give you three strokes with the paddle, and I shall administer the four strokes of the tawse.'