Chapter 4: Video Dixie
Dixieâs Office
November 6, 10:07 a.m.
Dixie had chosen her Power Suit to wear today. A navy blue skirt that hung just past her knees, a matching tailored jacket with a white silk blouse with a touch of frill in the form of a bow at the collar. The ensemble was completed with simple strap pumps with three-inch heels.
She was proud of her office. She had worked long and hard to get promoted off the floor. It wasnât a corner office, and it didnât have a great view. But she was on her way up the building, as well as the corporate ladder.
She had worked most of the morning on the decorating of a new motel that was going in downtown. It would be a lucrative contract if she could find a pattern that the owner would find attractive and contemporary. A task that wasnât getting any easier with every idea that she presented.
Willow stuck her head in the door. She confused Dixie even though they had both been friends for a long time. Willow was a shapely redhead who was smart as a whip. But she seemed to be perfectly content to be Dixieâs secretary, while Dixie made the climb up the corporate ladder. Willow was making the assumption that Dixie would always pull her along by asking for her specifically.
âMail call,â Willow said when Dixie waved her in. âNothing good; just this.â Willow held out a plain brown package. Dixie took the package and looked at the front of it.
âCanât make out anything on that postmark. It looks like it got wet.â Dixie said. âSo it could be from anywhere.â
âI thought those postmarks were supposed to be waterproofed?â Willow asked. âShall we open it and see whatâs in it?â
âSure, you go ahead. That way if itâs a letter bomb I might survive.â
âUgh!â Willow made a face as she opened the envelope. âHonestly, Dixie, I donât know where you get your ideas. Why would someone send you a letter bomb?â
âCalm down, Willow.â Dixie said defensively. âI was just kidding.â
âI know.â Willow said peering into the envelope. âBut how many times do I have to say it: If you focus on the negative then the negative is sure to â OUCH!â Willow jerked her hand out of the envelope and let it fall to the floor. She cradled her finger in her other hand as blood welled on the tip of her finger.
âWillow!â Dixie exclaimed, as she came around her desk to get a look at the finger.
âItâs nothing,â Willow said, licking the blood away.
âThat is so gross, Willow. Couldnât you have waited until you were away before you did that?â
âWhat?â Willow looked up from her finger confused.
âThatâs it.â Dixie said playfully. âEnough is enough.â She took Willow by the shoulders and guided her friend to the door of her office. âBack to work. Enough dallying.â
As Dixie closed the door to her office she turned to go back to her desk. She noticed the envelope still lying on the floor. Curious now, she went and picked up the envelope and peered inside. Nestled in the envelope was an innocent looking VHS tape. Dixie couldnât imagine how Willow had cut herself on videotape.
Dixie went over to the TV with built-in VCR and turned it on. In Dixieâs line of work, it was often necessary to see the interior of a building, light sources, and numerous other details. Whenever Dixie went to view a place, and to find out what the client wanted, she often brought a video camera along. It allowed her to take a second look without having to revisit the property.
She inserted the tape and pressed play. Then she went back to her desk and sat down. For a moment Dixie looked about for her remote, before she remembered that it was on the bookshelf behind her. She turned, grabbed the remote, and turned back. Then she leaned back in her chair, ready to see whatever was on the tape. As with every time she started a tape, she couldnât help wishing she had some popcorn.
The screen was black for about 2 seconds before it faded into an office scene that seemed vaguely familiar to Dixie, although she couldnât say for sure why. The action started promptly with a dark-haired woman walking into the office. The shot was from far enough that Dixie couldnât see her face very clearly, although she could tell the woman had hair that very nearly matched her own.
Seeing what the woman was wearing made Dixie grimace slightly. It was a perversion of the office power suit. A black leather skirt that only came to mid-thigh was topped by a tight white silk blouse that was open far enough down to show a healthy amount of cleavage; not that the tightness of the blouse left much to the imagination anyway. Six-inch heels finished the ensemble, adding remarkable stress to the womanâs nice legs.
The woman went over behind the desk and sat down. Her head bowed as though she was studying some papers on the desk. This was the moment that Dixie half expected some cheesy title to appear on the screen. But it didnât happen. There was a minute pause, and then the office door opened again. A redhead that was dressed about the same way as her boss stuck her head in the door.
âThe Veshcaâs are here, boss.â She said in sultry tones.
âShow them in,â the woman behind the desk said as she looked up.
The redhead opened the door a bit wider and stood dutifully to the side as a shapely black woman strode through the door. She wore a white strapless latex dress that could have been painted on. In the back it dipped so low that the beginning curve of her buttocks could be seen. In the front the material plunged all the way down to just below her belly button. Dixie was sure that the only thing holding the dress on was the lacing that pulled the dress tight both in the front and back. This single-piece dress ended two-thirds of the way down the womanâs shapely thighs.
Behind her was a swarthy looking man whose race was oddly hard to place. He had short, dark hair and was tanned so deeply that he could almost have been a Negroid. But his slim, hooked nose and thin lips belied this. He wore black dress shoes, black pants that were sharply creased, a black silk shirt, white vest, and a black jacket. He was obviously in great shape and moved like a dancer might.
Behind him strode the last of the âVeshca partyâ: a young oriental woman with long black hair that easily reached the middle of her back. Her figure so closely matched that of the black woman that Dixie imagined it had been a chore to find them. She wore the same type of dress that the other woman had worn, except hers was black latex.
âOh, and close the blinds, wonât you?â The woman behind the desk said.
Dixie expected the redhead to go over to the big windows letting light into the office. But she was surprised when the redhead flipped a switch next to the door. The blinds over the windows separating the office from the rest of the building silently slid closed. The redhead walked out of the office without a word, closing the door behind her.
The man had taken the only seat in front of the desk. After backing it away from the desk a bit, he sat down. The women had taken up places about three paces behind him, and a bit to each side. The woman behind the desk smiled slightly. Dixie felt like she should recognize that smile, the face. But she couldnât quite place it.