Finn and Fiona. Day Five

I took off my pyjamas and wiped my stomach dry with them before taking a plastic bag that I had brought, just in case, and putting them in before sealing the bag and putting it in my case. I then had a shower and shaved.

I put the suit on again as today may be the time that I needed to pull rank. After another good breakfast I went back to the room to clean my teeth and gargle. Taking my briefcase I went out to my car and drove to the factory. Today, before I went to the spare office I had been given, I asked the manager if he could allocate someone to give me a guided tour. I said that I would be in the spare office when the person is available. At the office I opened up the padlock and went in, turning on the computer and logging on with the key I had been given yesterday. There was a knock on the door and a pretty little lass said that she was Amy and that she had been told to show me whatever I wanted to see.

I told her that I wanted to see the manufacturing process so that I could match the costings with the actual events and to start where the raw material comes in and show me everything until we reached the loading docks. We started at the unloading docks and looked at the incoming materials then went to where the process actually started. The various chemicals and other raw material was mixed in big vats with rotating paddles before the mixtures were pumped to holding tanks or, in the case of the powders, were sent on a conveyer system to a row of holding tanks up near the roof. From here everything was gravity fed to the appropriate machines where the pills were pressed and bottled or the liquids were bottled and sealed. Then everything went through to the labelling machines and then to the area which was the one I was really interested in, the packing and despatch departments.

I took copious notes as we went along and we asked the operators if there was anything we needed to know. Amy declared that she had learned more this morning than her last six months working here. It was, as I expected, that she was chosen because she knew nothing. This meant that any corruption went pretty high. In the packaging department the boxes of pills and potions were assembled onto pallets and plastic wrapped for transport. I stood there chatting with Amy and noticed that there was often a spare box that was put aside. Usually these would be manually added to the next pallet but I saw that they were stacked in neat piles. The jarring thing was that we delivered to wholesale outlets, by the pallet, and there was no reason whatsoever for there to be stacks of mixed product. I made notes and smiled a lot and we finished our tour at the loading dock where I let Amy take me back to the office and thanked her for her help.

I now knew what I had to look for and it took all day to finalise my report. I gathered up all of my notes and scrap paper to go in my briefcase. I logged off the computer, removed my latch from the door and made my way to the managers’ office. I gave him the books and thanked him for his help and told him that the head office will send him the audited figures. I said that Amy was a lovely young girl and an asset to the company. I put my briefcase in the back of the car and drove back to the hotel where I rang my supervisor.

I told him that there was systematic stealing at the packaging department and that I thought that management was in on it. I said that I had only spoken to the manager and had been given a total new girl to show me around. I described what I had seen and reeled off the numbers that I had deduced from the difference in raw material and the outgoing product. He thanked me for my work and asked me to be at the local airport Thursday morning to pick up three people from the office. I was to stay at the hotel overnight and to put my bag into the reception as I was not likely to get away before late afternoon.

I gave myself a very good evening meal with a glass of wine and took myself up to bed. In my room I put all of my notes and scrap paper into a plastic bag for the future case to come. I hung the suit and had a shower. I put on my clean pyjamas and got into bed, pleased with what I had uncovered but sad that there was something there that needed to be uncovered. I listened to the local radio for a while and finally needed to turn it off to go to sleep. I drifted off and then the classical music woke me.

I opened my eyes and looked around the pink room, thinking that I would be able to get away from it next week. The room had been my older sisters’ and it was she that had made it so pink. I was not a fan but had put up with it as it would have been far too much to change it. Today I was totally able to please myself as the only appointment I had was for tonight. I was to be picked up for a girls night out. While I was thinking about filling my day my mother called up to tell me that she had started breakfast as she had organised something for us.

I went for my ablutions and put on the robe and slippers and went downstairs. After we had eaten I asked my mother what she had organised and she told me that we would be picked up in an hour and taken to see her sister in the country as she had arranged a lunch for that side of the family who wouldn’t be able to attend the wedding on Saturday. My aunt had married into a religious community and they could not travel on Saturdays. I reminded her that I needed to be ready for the girls night by six and she assured me that we would be back in plenty of time. I went up to my room to get ready for a day with the weird side of the family.

We were picked up by my Uncle David in his small car and we chatted to him while we travelled west. Arriving at the family property we were welcomed by the rest of the crowd. My mothers’ sister, Gertrude, was a rather large and jolly woman who had born nearly enough children to equip a football team, as long as they allowed mixed genders. Some of them were present today. I put on a happy face and found that they were really quite pleasant in a yokel sort of way. Having been brought up in a big town I had been spared the chances to feed the animals and shovel shit, not that I have anything against animals or their shit, it’s just that it had not figured in my childhood.

We did, however, have a nice chat and they did put on a good lunch, much of it from their own smallholding. Mid-afternoon we were sent off with a basket of interesting goodies for the larder, including some jams made from plants I thought brought you out in a rash. When we got home we offered Uncle some money for the petrol but he would not accept any. He did accept a cup of real tea before he went, saying that it was the one thing he missed, and dandelion tea not really hitting the mark.

Up in my room I stripped and had another shower, making sure that I was clean and tidy. Tonight was a night out with the girls so I had to look my best as the blushing bride-to-be. I chose black undies with a push-up bra, a garter belt and stockings, followed by a little black dress and heels. I lightened the look with a gold belt and chunky gold chain with drop ear-rings and a few gold bangles on my wrist. I only needed a clutch tonight so I put everything I needed into it. I took my ID and some cash but left my cards on the dresser as the girls had told me that it was their treat. I wondered what they had planned and I hoped they didn’t try to get me drunk as I usually only drank in moderation.

I was picked up by Suzy in her car and she drove into the city and parked near a trendy, new-age, restaurant. She and Beverley had been experimenting with modern fads as they came and went and I supposed that this was just another episode in the on-going journey. There were a number of others at the table, a few from work and a number of others that I knew. We had an interesting meal, very large plates with very small portions and, I expect, prices to match the former. From there we walked a block to a place I had never been in before, and probably would never have gone into on my own volution. It was a well-known dance club that catered for the gay and lesbian community and tonight was ladies only.

I kept my worries to myself and was pleasantly surprised by the décor and the class of the place. We danced to the DJ and drank a bit and I was picked out to do a solo dance by the DJ around midnight. By that time I was beyond worrying about looking a fool as I was a little tipsy and had enjoyed myself. Suzy dropped me off at home about one and I did manage to get inside and up to my room. I was not so drunk that I didn’t take care undressing and taking off my make-up. After a very long pee I washed my hands and face, put on the black nightie and fell into bed to fall asleep immediately.

The portable alarm went off and I woke up in the hotel room, amazed at all the things I had learned from this woman and her antics. However, today was going to be interesting indeed.

Marianne G 2021