Chapter 07: The Raffle Controversy
Dear Maria,
You asked me to tell you about the row recently happening in our office, so here is the low down.
The office was holding a raffle to raise money for Children in Need. No one knew who had started the raffle but the gifts of prizes and been pouring in for a couple of weeks and had spread beyond the original filing cabinet top to a dedicated table.
Most of the prizes were the usual rubbish that people give for raffles such as cheap deodorant gift packs, unusable kitchen aids that sound good in the adverts but are obviously worthless when they arrive, and packets of biscuits or chocolates with names no one has heard before.
Some prizes were attractive. Someone had given a bottle of single malt whisky. There were several bottles of good French wine mixed in with the supermarket bargain bin plonk. The general office staff were startled when the Managing Director's Secretary, a most superior lady, brought in a padded envelope and laid it on the raffle table before turning and leaving a hint of her expensive perfume to tantalise the men.
There was a rush to see what she had left. Marjorie got to the table first and opened the unsealed envelope. She blushed as she peered inside and dropped the envelope as if it had stung her. That increased everyone's inquisitiveness. Penelope had her hands on the envelope almost before it hit the table. She looked in, turned pale but inserted her hand to pull out a dramatic pair of French Knickers. She held them up, giggling nervously. The red silk glistened like the fairy on a Christmas tree as she showed them to her colleagues. The intake of breath from both males and females was audible. These were panties to covet if not to die for.
During the day the sales of raffle tickets doubled because so many people wanted to win those panties even if few would admit that was what they were spending their money on. We could all hope, couldn't we?
By general agreement the French Knickers would be the first prize and would be awarded to the holder of the first ticket drawn. After their fate was known the rest of the prizes would be less eagerly awaited.
On the day of the draw the general office was very crowded. The chief buyer's youngest daughter Charlotte who was visiting the office on a "Bring your child to work day" was persuaded to do the draw. She was rather embarrassed by all the attention. Unlike the rest of the young "children" who had refused to come to a boring office on a sunny day she was twenty-three years old and starting her Ph.D. She gritted her teeth and prepared to do her duty.
