Katie
Katie Kennedy furiously wiped the fog clear from the mirror. She forgot to crack open the window in the bathroom again to prevent such an event. It was useless. As soon as she wiped a clear spot on the mirror, the condensation returned just as fast. She cursed at herself. Katie couldn’t see a thing. If she weren’t already late for work, this wouldn’t have been a big deal. But she was late. She had been late quite often lately.
Her boss, Ethan, didn’t like it when she was late. He never really came down on Katie for her tardiness, but still, Katie felt bad for always putting him behind schedule. The job was full of stress at times, and a happy boss meant a happy day at work for Katie. It made the day that much more enjoyable.
Her new favorite song came on the Wet Tunes shower radio she got as a gift for her birthday from her friend and partner in crime at work, Connie. Connie claimed it was invented by some guy in Stamford, so of course, she had to buy it. Something about supporting Connecticut. Brookville was around a forty-five-minute drive from Stamford, so it kind of made sense to Katie when Connie talked about supporting neighboring towns. Then again, Brookville was a forty-five-minute drive from any location in Connecticut.
Katie attacked her hair with a fresh can of Aqua Net as the soothing vocals of Howard Jones serenaded her. Things Can Only Get Better was becoming her theme at work. Not even a happy Ethan could curtail the unpleasantness of the workplace. The job itself was relatively easy, with scheduling meetings, ordering office supplies, and helping Ethan with whatever he needed to succeed. The drawback was the consistent need to fend off the chauvinistic advances of men for eight hours a day. Katie didn’t think of herself as someone who would cause a scene. A Norma Rae, as Connie would tell her. A movie that Katie never saw, which was one of many movies that Katie missed, much to the chagrin of Connie, who enjoyed catching the latest flick at the local movie theater.
Katie never complained about the catcalls or the rude comments. It was a part of the workplace that she had to accept,or that’s what Connie always told her. She still hated it, and that hate was turning into dread. The dread of going to work and having to battle with the idiotic, sophomoric behavior of men who would be lost without the help of people like Katie.
One thing she refused to let it affect was her upcoming summer plans. The “Summer of Fun” was fast approaching,and Katie and Connie had major plans. Hit the shores over in South Haven on the weekends and head to downtown New Haven for the nightclubs. This summer was going to be fun, even if Katie had to force it to happen. The last few years had been tough, especially for Katie’s little sister, Sara, who was currently banging on the bathroom door.
“How long are you going to be?”
Katie screamed over the radio, “I’m almost done. Hold your horses.”
“Is that the only song you know?” Sara called back, her voice fading as she returned to the kitchen.
Katie ignored her. Sara always liked getting the last word. Usually, some sort of dig at Katie’s expense. Katie let her have it most of the time. It was the least she could do. A few years ago, they lost their parents in an accident. Drunk driving. That left Katie as Sara’s guardian, which meant Katie had to drop out of college and enter the workforce in order to take care of Sara. She was twenty at the time and about to enter her junior year working toward a degree in Economics, but none of that mattered anymore. Katie and Sara were alone and left to their own devices.
Luckily, Katie’s high school friend, Connie Renton, worked as a secretary for Epsen Pharmaceutical. Connie was able to get Katie into the secretarial pool, which was where she met and ultimately started working for her current boss, Ethan Gossamer, a real player in the Epsen executive core. That’s how he was introduced to Katie, anyway. The money was good, and the proximity to her home was even better. She earned enough to cover their expenses, with some frugal cost-cutting, but after a few years, Katie had rebuilt a life for herself and Sara. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Katie and Sara against the world.
Of course, getting along with Sara wasn’t easy. Especially in the beginning. She was always angry and sad, as was Katie, and since there was nowhere to vent their mutual pain and anger, they took it out on each other. Countless nights of shouting and throwing things peppered the past year, but they eventually found footing on neutral ground. They may not have truly faced their feelings with each other, but they managed to find a way to co-exist without blowing up at each other…at least, not as much as they used to. They were trying to survive. That’s all. But the summer of 1985 was when Katie was determined to turn it all around. To go from just getting by to killing it.
Katie blasted her hair with another dose of the Aqua Net can. Giving up on repeatedly wiping the mirror clear, Katie opened the small window in the bathroom to allow the fresh air to clear up the haze. The result was the fog finally lifting,allowing Katie to see the finishing touches of her aerosol assault.
Sara’s footsteps approached the bathroom door. They were heavy and fast. Katie beat her to the knock as she ripped open the door and greeted her sister with a smile and a plume of hairspray. Sara choked on the fumes and the pleasantness of the smile.
“Sorry. Bathroom’s all yours,” Katie scooted by to exit the bathroom.
Sara responded with an eyeroll and immediately turned off the radio.
“Did you eat?” Katie asked.
Sara shut the door without an answer. But Katie knew that meant Sara didn’t eat.
Katie was still late but not in a hurry. The phrase “leaning into the skid” reverberated inside her head. It was something she had heard before. Katie figured if she was going to be late, there was no reason to rush in. Late is late. Katie couldn’t remember where she originally heard that saying. Probably someone at the Epsen office. That’s where she spent most of her days.
Katie stared out the kitchen window overlooking the backyard. She zoned out, trying to think about where she heard the phrase, but the stress of work and lack of sleep was wreaking havoc with her memory. Katie must’ve lost track of time thinking about the words because she didn’t hear Sara return from the bathroom until she plopped down on the chair at the kitchen table with a loud thud.
Katie jumped in her shoes. Startled. She spun around to see her sister’s feet on the table, comic book in her hands. She was reading. The little television in the kitchen, something they bought on sale at the mall, was playing a news report. A reporter, standing in one of the parks in Brookville, was pointing to the sky. He was talking about a meteor shower tonight. Katie paid it no mind.
“What’re you reading now?” Katie asked. Extending a small olive branch in the form of interest in Sara’s hobby since Katie took up a chunk of the bathroom time this morning.
“Something you wouldn’t like.” Sara didn’t bother to look up from the pages.
“Try me.”
She sighed. “It’s about a disco singer who comes out as a mutant and has to face the scrutiny of people who don’t like anything different or anything that challenges their idea of normalcy.”
“Hmm,” Katie forced an interesting tone, “That sounds like an interesting comic book.”
“More of a graphic novel, really.”
“What’s the difference?” Katie asked.
“You don’t have to pretend to be interested.”
“I am interested. Don’t say that.”
“Maybe if it was about flirting at work and drinking with the girls, you’d be all about it.”
“Ouch. That’s not fair.”
“Call it like I see it.” Sara was in a mood this morning.
“Well, you don’t see everything. We do a lot of good things at Epsen.” While Katie didn’t enjoy the frat-boyatmosphere, she still considered the company a decent one to work for. They created and designed medication to cure illnesses around the world. She always rationalized it was God’s work they were doing.
Sara shot right back at me. “You’re a secretary. You make copies and answer phones.”
“You’re just full of nice things to say about me today.”
Katie turned her back, hiding how she felt. Like crap. She poured herself a cup of coffee. Then remembered she was still late. A cup of coffee might be pushing it.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” Sara backtracked, showing a tinge of remorse. “I’m just saying that they don’t care about you the way you care about them.”
“Ethan does.” Katie blurted out.
“Ethan?”
“Mr. Gossamer. He cares.”
Sara stifled a laugh. “Is that really his name?”
“Ha. Ha. Yeah, I know. Like the children’s show guy. But he cares. I know he does.”
Sara stared at her older sister. Dumbfounded. “Katie. C’mon. Your boss doesn’t care about you. At least, not the way you want him to.”
Again, Katie blurted out like she was on the defensive. “You don’t know that. And besides, don’t poo on my life because you have all the answers.” She felt her anger grow.
“Poo? Really?” Sara laughed.
“I know what I said,” Katie replied. Standing firm on her choice of word.
“And I don’t have all the answers. Trust me.”
“Well, you certainly judge me enough like you do. I’m doing the best I can. I help Ethan – Mr. Gossamer – with his work. And he appreciates me for it. He’s always saying how I’m invaluable and how I make him a better executive.”
“I don’t doubt that he says that. But does he believe it? You told me that he ignored you all last week. That he was curt with you. Giving you one-word answers to questions. Not including you in meetings. Pretending he didn’t see you when you would leave for the day. If this wasn’t the magical Ethan Gossamer, would you still be defending him?”
Everything Sara brought up was true, and it stung Katie, but that didn’t stop her from making an excuse for him. “He’s preparing for a big presentation, which happens to be today. It’s understandable. He’s under a lot of stress.”
“Don’t you want to be doing something for yourself? Don’t you want a job where you’re not carrying a coffee cup for a man?”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a secretary.”
“I disagree. I wouldn’t do it.”
“Some people don’t have the luxury of being able to choose their own path, Sara. Sometimes sacrifices must be made in order to put food on the table and a roof over your head.” Katie sounded like every adult she grew up knowing, her parents included, and instantly hated it, but she was angry and embarrassed and couldn’t stop. “Not everything is like your comic books or your graphic novels. Everyone doesn’t have superpowers. Everything doesn’t always work out. Sometimes, life just sucks.”
Sara’s face held firm, but she was hurt. They both knew it. One of their classic fights from the past rearing its ugly head. Sara stood up. She slapped the comic book against Katie’s chest. “You know what? You should read this. You’ll see how wrong you are.”
Sara grabbed her bookbag on her way out the back door. She shoved open the door, not caring if it broke. Katie called out. “I can take you to school.”
“The bus is fine,” Sara yelled. She ran to the bus stop. Hiding her tears from her older sister.
Katie glanced at the comic book in her hands. Big red letters on the top. Dazzler: The Movie. She tried to understand why a book would have “the movie” in its title. Maybe it was a comic book thing, she thought.
The front cover had a woman wearing a bikini, legs spread out. The way their mother taught Katie how not to sit. A bleeding heart. An award of some kind. Of course, a man holding a gun. A bald man that Katie thought looked like several executives working at Epsen. The cover was a lot to take in, but Katie’s interest was piqued. After their fight, Katie felt she owed it to her little sister to at least check it out.
She noticed her watch. “Shit!”
Katie was really late now.
