In the Shadows: Darkness Between us Series

Chapter 2:"You don't wear a slip?"

"You don't wear a slip?"

"Everyone listen up!" Margaret clapped and shouted, getting all of the girls' attention in the operator room. Quiet filled the space and only the sounds of ringing filled the air now. "This is Mr. Newman's daughter, her name is Evelyn. Today is her first day here as an operator." She spoke proudly and I shrank down into myself wishing she hadn't said who I was as I watched the fear appear on the girls faces.

"Hi everyone, most people call me Evie. Only my father calls me Evelyn really and I am not here to make you feel uncomfortable. I truly want to learn from everyone and work hard and I hope you will just see me as Evie and not Mr. Newman's daughter." I spoke with a soft smile and it seemed to relax everyone a bit.

A very peppy small brunette with short curly locks came prancing up to me. We would be about the same height if I hadn't been in heels. "I'm Cassandra, but everyone just calls me Cass." She says with a smile holding her arm out for me to take. "Come on I will show you were to get a uniform and where to change." she said, smiling up at me. I took her arm playfully and looked back at Margaret with a smile and a wave.

I followed Cass into a door that was placed at the back of the Operator room. The door opened up to a locker room with a wall that presented like a large vanity. The mirror stretched from one side to the other and a small ledge appeared with chairs tucked under it to sit. Behind it were lockers all decorated and some with names.

"Follow me this way the uniforms are in here." Cass said, waving me towards her into a small office filled with blue uniforms. "You get two uniforms a week, you leave them here after your shift and you come and change in the mornings. The cleaners come on Wednesday and Friday afternoon to pick up the soiled uniforms." she dug through grabbing two skirts, two white short sleeve blouses and Two blue jackets with cold buttons on the front. "Friday's are casual, you can wear whatever you like as long as it is modest. So, you should only be wearing your uniform two days in a row." She said, handing me the pile of clothes. "Here try these on."

I moved over to behind the lockers and pulled at the handles of each wooden safe, looking for one that would be empty. Finally, I opened up a vacant locker, slipped my shoes off and set the new uniforms on a hanger inside.

"Stockings and shoes are not included but the ones you are wearing now are perfectly fine." She says. I start to undress slipping out of my skirt and top leaving me in my garter attached to my stockings and my undergarments.

"You don't wear a slip?" I heard a raspy voice say and I jumped, yelping and covering myself with my clothes.

"What, what's wr-oh." I saw Cass come around the corner and roll her eyes at the person leaned against the edge of the locker smoking a cigarette.

"Has anyone ever told you it's rude to walk-in on someone changing?" I said with attitude dripping in my tone as I covered myself.

"You're the one not wearing a slip." the strange person spoke.

Their hair was boyishly short but waves sat across her forehead and pinned down towards their ear femininely. It made it hard to decipher if they were male or female "Not that is your business, but I find them highly uncomfortable and they ride up making my clothes look lumpy." I said before grabbing my change of clothes and hiding behind another corner changing quickly into the uniform.

I looked at myself in the mirror and smoothed out my skirt. Skirt came to just below my knee, but was not fitted. It was an A line that made it easy to move in. I tucked the white short sleeve blouse into the skirt and paired the blue belt it came with around my waist. I folded my other clothes neatly and walked back over to the locker, setting them on the shelf and keeping the jacket away due to the warm summer weather.