Thursday passed in a blur. All Sandy could think about was the Ferry
trip home. Peter had called and left messages for her on her voice mail
but she was in no rush to return his calls. Let him wait a while and see
how he likes it. Finally as eleven-thirty struck, Sandy did something she
had never done before - she left work early. She just couldn't take the
chance she would miss the twelve thirty Ferry. It had been a slow night
and after making sure that everything that had to be done was done, she
left the office in the hands of her assistant.
Reaching the terminal about midnight, Sandy carefully scanned the crowd
gathered in the large waiting area. There was no sign of her. The sliding
access door soon opened and the small crowd surged inside. Checking her
watch, Sandy took a position right at the door and waited until the last
possible moment to board. So absorbed was she in looking for her quarry
that she didn't even notice that the door had begun to close.
"Hey lady, are you coming or what?" Called out the deckhand, rousing
Sandy from her trance.
Without a word, she ran up the corridor and onto the Ferry. Taking her
usual seat, she stared out the window into the night sky. Watching the
tiny lights spread across the harbor, Sandy felt a little let down. The
game had been fun and a lot more interesting than it usually was. She was
sorry to see it end.
"Maybe I just missed her?" She said to herself. "Maybe she was dressed
in such a way that I didn't recognize?"
That thought in mind, Sandy rose to her feet and began to walk the
length of the small Ferry. After her second circuit and an inspection of
every passenger aboard, for all Sandy knew she could be dressed like a man
tonight, she finally had to admit defeat. The boat docked soon after and a
slightly dejected woman walked to the waiting train.
The next day, Friday, seemed to be the worst day of the summer. The
mercury never dropped below 98 the entire day and the setting of the sun
beneath the horizon brought no real relief. Nothing had gone right that
day for Sandy. A short blackout in her area had put an end to the air
conditioner, driving her totally up the wall. Inside her small apartment
the temperature soared over a hundred.
Her attempts to contact Peter had hit a stone wall. As far as she knew,
they were still on for tomorrow, but he was being a real prick about
returning her calls. She would show him she thought, wait until I get him
into bed. Maybe I'll bring him right to the brink and then suddenly get a
headache. That'll show him not to play these games. That she was equally
guilty never occurred to her.
During the dinner break that night, Sandy mentioned the strange woman on
the Ferry to a few of her friends. She left out the part about her little
fantasy game of course, just mentioning how she had seen this woman dressed
up a different way each evening. Each of the people at her table had a
different idea of why the woman was dressing up like that. Sandy listened
with interest at each suggestion.
"A lot of people have both a day and night job, maybe she just has a lot
of different part time jobs." Suggested Kathy Davis.
"I thought about that," Sandy replied as she nibbled at her salad. "I
could match up her being a nurse and then some other kind of professional
the night she wore the suit, but somehow being a by the hour security guard
didn't really fit in."
"I'll bet she's an actress." Mary Jane Sullivan suggested. "You know
they sometimes really try to get into a character when they're trying out
for a role. Maybe she's just attending a lot of auditions."
"That's a good idea, I hadn't really considered that one." Sandy said.
"But wouldn't most auditions be held during the day?"
Mary Jane thought about it for a second then nodded in agreement. She
hadn't thought of that.
"There's another possibility that you ladies have overlooked." Said
Timmy O'Brien, the only man in their little quartet. "She could be a
hooker."
"A hooker?" Sandy repeated in surprise.
"Yeh, think about it." Timmy continued. "A lot of guys are into that
role-playing scene. Maybe she gets a turn-on wearing her outfit of the
night home."
"Speaking from experience are we?" Kathy quipped with a sly smile.
"Or maybe she just doesn't have time to change since she has to catch
the 12:30 Ferry just like Sandy does." Mary Jane interjected.
"I don't know." Sandy mused. "Well no matter the reason, she wasn't on
last nights boat so I guess she was lucky enough to get off the night
shift. Something none of else will ever do if we don' get back to work."
With a serious of faked moans and groans, her three dinner partners rose
from the table and returned to their jobs. The last to leave the table,
Sandy gave the mystery one last thought before turning her mind back to the
work at hand.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully and it wasn't long before
Sandy was saying her goodnights. As she stepped out of her friends air
conditioned car at the Whitehall Street entrance to the Ferry Terminal,
Sandy was engulfed by the wall of heat and humidity she stepped into.
"Please let it rain soon." She said to herself as she looked up into the
lightly clouded sky. "Or at least let the air conditioning be back on when
I get home." She substituted as she shuddered at the thought of trying to
fall asleep in this inferno. The weekend was the only time that she was
able to sleep late, but in this heat, sleep would be next to impossible.
Friday nights there seemed to be less people on the late Ferry. Most
people must leave early to get a jump on the weekend. By the time Sandy
dropped into her regular seat, her blue blouse was already wet with
perspiration and sticking to her skin. Every window on the boat was wide
open but even the breeze was warm. In vain she had looked for an outside
seat but quickly found them already occupied.
Producing that day's copy of the Advance from her bag, Sandy began to
read. Absorbed in her reading, she didn't immediately notice that someone
had sat down directly opposite her. This was unusual enough as the
interior cabin of the boat was almost ninety percent empty, most of the
passengers choosing to sit outside. As she turned the page she became
aware of the other person. When she lowered the paper to take a look, it
was all Sandy could do not to drop the paper in surprise.
Sitting not four feet away, was Sandy's mystery woman. Sandy's mouth
hung open as she took in the image before her. Gone were the professional
outfits, or even the blue collar security guard's uniform. The only job
description that her current outfit could fit was that of a 42nd Street
Streetwalker.
Her hair was now a bright and curly blonde, a color so unnatural that
Sandy was sure that it was a wig. Her lips were full and red, and the
small stud earrings she had worn on previous occasions were now replaced by
wide gold hoops. Her large 38 inch breasts were barely contained by the
red bikini top she wore. In fact, the points of her nipples were clearly
visible through the thin material. Her blue pants were cut so short that
if Sandy was sure that if she looked closely, she would see a few loose
pubic hairs sticking out of the edges.
The woman just seemed to smile at Sandy, then ignored her completely.
Sandy tried to go back to her paper, but was unable to stop stealing
glances. With an eerie fascination, she watched as droplets of sweat
formed between the woman's breasts and ran down her stomach and disappeared
beneath the material of her oh so short pants.t.