December 2013
As Chardonnay entered through the swing doors and started her long walk up the stairs, she wondered how much different her life would have been had she been called Sophia, Lesley or just plain Ann. Her name seemed to denote everything that was wrong with her life and had in fact greatly limited everyone's expectations about her. Slim and a stereo typical blond bombshell had also contributed to this. Life in spite of all her innate abilities was a long hard trek.
The staircases smelt unclean but as she had checked out a few days before they were not as bad as the lifts. She had driven here twice always leaving the car in the city high rise car park; from there she had spotted this building. The walk and reconnoitre she had carried out were undeniably easy. She had chosen Chester as a city where she had never been and this would help in non identification which was so important to her plans.
Chardonnay looked back over her life and thought that there should be a law against parents giving their children stupid names, or at least if they did their parental care should be placed under a bit more scrutiny. The Mickey taking at school, especially then as a fat smelly kid, had continued over the years until she suddenly lashed out and the class body beautiful ended up with two missing front teeth. Of course she had been expelled but at least their expectations had been fulfilled.
On every stairwell she walked out along the landing and put a small six by four envelope into each letterbox. As the envelopes were distributed her rucksack became correspondingly lighter and her steps quickened. Her luck had been in for the last week but Chardonnay was resigned that had now almost run out. Being abused as a child and handed round her father's friends from early age, made prostitution such an easy choice for a career.
She had been spotted by Johnnie May a local villain and drug dealer down south and he had been her "protector" for the last five years, he trusted her with almost everything; both stashes of drugs and cash were left in her care. What a silly sod! A very slight twinge of remorse passed through her mind but was gone in a flash. Time now to give to some of the real poor of society, and this block was as big a blot on the landscape as many others and due for demolition. She was sure that the envelopes containing used fifty pound notes would be well spent.
Final deliveries were made and she walked out onto the roof, the buildings may well be crap but she loved the views. The rucksack went over the parapet and she watched it twist and twirl as it fell. The pigeons cooed as other birds soared overhead and she felt a certain majesty and gracefulness in their flight. Chardonnays hair was blowing gently in the breeze it was such a warm gentle day, in fact it was perfect. She lingered no longer and feeling ecstatic with the freedom of it all she stepped onto the edge grinning with pleasure holding her coat out wide and she found for herself the beauty of flight.