Allen Chase
The mirrored den
CHAPTER ONE
Leo McKern paced the room with that restless rapacious stride of his. "I tell you those buns were so firm I wanted to grab that sweet little ass and rip those pants off her and fondle that sweet ass right there in the store!"
Mona McKern glanced up from the floor where she lay sprawled on the thick nap of the rug in a housecoat, smoking a cigarette and reading the Sunday paper. Her dark attractive face split in a smile. "Listen to the bull in heat."
Leo puffed on his cigarette and nodded, his hand brushing his forehead and felt the ragged edges of a hangover ramming away in his brain. He swung behind the portable bar that was almost always set up in their bedroom, and decided to fix himself a Bloody Mary, a little hair of-the-dog theory, for breakfast and he mixed two drinks, making them both fairly strong and padded barefoot back to his wife, handing her one without a word. "God damn, she got me hot. I can't wait to throw it into that little broad!"
Mona drank, slaking her rampant thirst brought on by too much partying the night before. A dark shapely brunette just turned thirty one, she took good care of her sultry good looks. She looked up at her husband through dark lashes, smiling at him. "You horny bastard!" she said with a begrudging kind of tolerance. She smiled at Leo, loving him in her way, realizing he gave her everything and asked nothing of her but that she behave the way she liked to anyway! She knew him to be a generous and kind man, rewarding her with whatever physical pleasure and possession he could. Nothing was denied her, not even men. Her long lovely body sprawled relaxed on the rug, her lovely legs showing out of her gown.
Leo McKern looked down at his wife and smiled that tough cynical smile at her. Leo also had whatever he wanted, getting his way by incredible guile and charm when he had to, wits when they were needed, intelligence that hid behind a rough exterior and with his fists when necessary, hammering his way to whatever bloody goal he had struck out for. He got whatever he wanted by hook or crook. Now, at forty, he had approached the summit of his manhood and stood straight and heavy and cunning and tough. Next year some paunch would show, this year he was as hard as stone, working out in the gym every day, swimming laps in the pool every day, running his company and chain of stores with a charming reckless kind of native humor and intelligence.
Leo McKern was the earthy president and principle stock holder of a closed corporation which ran a chain of outlet food stores in Southern California. His brand of take-out food and prices struck a public fancy and Leo soon found himself wealthy beyond his wildest dreams, selling franchises for a lucrative figure then selling the food to the franchises. Leo loved every successful dollar-drenched minute of it. He drove a custom-built Imperial and enjoyed his empire and power.
Leo's gimmick was so simple yet successful. The old car-hop idea revived with the girls serving the customer clad in hot pants and a vivid orange blouse that showed plenty of cleavage. And the girl's that worked for Leo had plenty of cleavage. Leo saw to that. He retained the right to hire and fire the help, acting as a kind of universal personnel manager, he traveled the state, interviewing hiring and training the girls.
Leo was no fool. He knew he had to have something more than his labor-market competitors in order to attract good looking girls who were willing to show off a little of their bodies and figures in return for good pay. Leo paid top dollar to start and had all kinds of promotional and incentive plans for the girls. A girl with ambition and a good case of the smarts could combine them with her figure and come out with a good weeks salary.
Leo was no fool. He simply was a little less greedy, settling for a lesser slice of the pie.
Once young men saw the quality of the service, once one of those young lovelies was glimpsed striding toward a car in bright orange hot pants; smiling, their bodies glowing with slim health and youth; once young men saw this and once word got around, Leo's take-out stores were doing a Standing Room Only business all over the state and Leo got his picture and a brief write-up in Time as one of the "new" executives that were springing up in Southern California, land of the Birchers and Cults… Disneyland… Plastic.