esther, dee dee, and joanie worked as clerks in mr dave johnson’s real estate office for many years.
dave johnson also employed a number of salesmen, who were not expected to spend much time in the office, and who usually moved on to other jobs after one or two years.
esther had worked there for a couple of years more than dee dee or joanie, and she was left in charge of the office when mr johnson was not there, but she was not really dee dee’s or joanie’s “boss”.
the three of them got along well enough most of the time, when the weather was not particularly hot or cold.
but in the extremes of winter and summer dee dee and joanie had terrible fights about the heat and air conditioning.
dee dee would turn the heat up full blast in the winter and then joanie would wait a little while and get up and turn it down.
and in the summer the reverse would happen and joanie would turn the air conditioning up as high as she could, and then dee dee would get up and turn it down.
harsh words would be spoken, especially when mr johnson was not in the office, although they never actually struck each other, only repeatedly threatened to do so.
every six months or so mr johnson would have a “staff meeting” with the three of them and the salesmen, and the subject of the heat and/or air conditioning would be brought up by dee dee or joanie and after listening for a few minutes, mr johnson would indicate that he didn’t want to hear it and he would move on to his next topic.
esther was sometimes exasperated but more often amused by the conflicts between dee dee and joanie.
esther was a true crime buff, and watched many true crime tv shows and read many true crime books. she thought that when she retired she might write a true crime book herself.
she especially liked the true crime books of ann rule. ann rule had written many books, but was perhaps most famous for her book about ted bundy, whom she had chanced to know personally.
it amused esther to think that either dee dee or joanie might actually kill the other, and then she, esther, could write a book about them.
things went on in this way until dave johnson sold his business to a national real estate chain. it was not a surprise, as he had been planning to do so for years, as soon as he got what he considered a good offer.
esther, dee dee, and joanie were out of jobs.
mr johnson took them to lunch, at a local pub. he left early, after finishing his caesar salad, and assuring the proprietor that he would pick up their tab, no matter what it ran to.
the three of them got quite drunk.
esther confessed to dee dee and joanie her dream of writing a book about the two of them, after one of them killed the other.
neither of them was amused.
dee dee glared at esther. “who would get the money for the book?”
esther was taken aback. “i would, if i wrote it.”
“what about us?” joanie asked. “it would be about us. don’t we get some consideration?”
“well, ha ha, one of you would be dead, and the other probably in prison.”
“that doesn’t mean we couldn’t get money - or our kids could get money, ever think of that?” dee dee shot back.
“yeah, you think you can just write about people and make money off them just like that?” joanie added.
“well, i was just kidding,” esther responded, “besides, you are both alive and well and are not really going to kill each other anyway, are you?”
“it’s the principle of the thing,” said dee dee.
they continued to ask esther questions, as if the book were already written, and money, and tv and movie offers, pouring in on it, and esther tried to deflect the questions as humorously as she could.
but the happy mood of the little party , such as it had been, was destroyed, and they broke up, without even telling each other they would keep in touch.
joanie was a little younger than the other two, and got a job as a hostess at an applebee’s.
dee dee and esther found employment as telemarketers.
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