26.

A Christmas Story

BY JOANNE

The stock elevator was busy, so Jack Langley took a cus- tomer car and stopped well back as a crowd of women swirled in like a quick gust of winter wind. The door closed with a hush and the car whirred upward, wafted on its own cloud of musky fur and cosmetic odors, the rustle of impatient silk a soft counter- point to the elevator's electrical hum. "Four", the operator said. The doors hissed open and there was a polite crush of paper wrappings and the murmur of sibilant apology as several women pushed out. "Corsetry", the operator announced. She stood abreast of the open doors, her beige linen uniform and her almost military stance serving only to emphasize her girlishness. "Brassiere bar", she said. Jack Langley pushed out of the car and smiled at the girl. She sucked in her cheeks holding back the faintly self-conscious laugh of greeting. "Robes, nightwear, lingerie". Her full lips gave a heavy liquid presence to the words. They seemed to hang in the steamy atmosphere after the doors had clicked shut behind him.

He turned left and walked rapidly between the heavily laden counters topped with Christmas decorations. He stepped agilely through the undulating crowds of women shoppers, past the fragile cases of delicately draped lingerie, and toward a distant ex- ecutive door. Subdued conversation mingled with the tinkle of Christmas bells, and the small giggle of busy cash registers filled the heady holiday air.

As Jack approached the door it opened to emit a girl carry- ing a file of advertising copy beneath her arm and a white satin corselette rolled losely in her hand. "Hi, Jack", she said. She tipped the corselette in greeting. The satin glistened in the subdued light and the six garters leaped against their elastic re- straints sending out silvered shards of light. Jack smiled at the girl and nodded as he passed her. He paused briefly in the door- way, knocked lightly, then entered the small but elaborate office. The woman at the deak looked up with a smile, She motioned him to a chair near her and watched him carefully as he sat. She