Studio Sex aka Studio 69 / Exposed

first of March next year at the earliest.'

'And I have to pay my dues in full until then?'

'Yes, unless you stop practicing journalism.'

'Well, that's exactly what I'm going to do. As of this moment.'

'So you've left your present employment?'

Annika sighed. 'No, I've got a permanent job on the Katrineholms-Kuriren.'

'Then you can't leave the union just like that.'

I'm going to reach down the telephone wire and strangle the woman. 'Now listen. I'm leaving the union now. Today. Forever. What I'm doing is none of your damned business. I won't pay another cent. Just strike me off the register right now.'

The woman on the phone got angry. 'Obviously I can't do that. And it's not our union, it's your union.'

Annika laughed out loud.

'You're too much! Well, then, if I can't leave, I just won't pay the full dues, only the unemployment benefit fund contribution. Just send me a form.'

'Well, that's not the correct procedure.'

Annika closed her eyes and swallowed. Her brain was about to explode.

'Okay. Tell you what. Forget it. I'll leave the unemployment benefit fund as well. Just go to hell.'

She hung up, searched the phone directory, then phoned the syndicalist union, the SAC, the Swedish Workers Confederation.

'I'd like to join the unemployment benefit fund… Oh, great! Sure, I'll send you the papers straightaway.'

Things could be so simple.

She went into the kitchen and made a sandwich, ate half of it, and threw the rest away. Then she went and got her notepad and settled down. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, then she wrote both the letters. She could buy envelopes and stamps at the corner shop.

***

It was evening when Patricia got home and stepped on the heap of clothes on the floor.

'Hello?'she called out. 'Have you been to a bar or something?'

Annika popped her head around the kitchen door. 'Why?'

'Your clothes smell like an ashtray.'

'I've been fired.'

Patricia hung up her jacket and walked into the kitchen. 'Have you eaten?'

Annika shook her head. 'I'm not hungry.'

'You've got to eat.'

'Or what, I get bad karma?'

Patricia smiled. 'Karma is sins from previous lives that strike you in your present life. This is called hunger. People die from it.'

She went up to the stove and started cracking eggs. Annika looked out the window; the rain pattered, emphasizing the dark gray of the evening.

'It'll be fall soon,' Annika said after a couple of minutes.

'Here you are, a mushroom omelette.' Patricia sat down opposite her.

To her surprise, Annika finished the omelette.

'So, tell me, what do you mean, you've been fired?'

Annika stared down at her empty plate. 'I didn't get another contract. The union wanted me out right away.'

'Idiots,' Patricia said with such force that Annika started laughing.

'Yes, they are actually. I've left the union.'

Patricia cleared the table and did the dishes.

'So what are you going to do?'

Annika swallowed. 'I don't know,' she said quietly. 'I've just resigned from my job at Katrineholms-Kuriren and given my landlord in Halleforsnas notice. I posted the letters this afternoon.'

Patricia opened her eyes wide. 'How are you going to make any money?'

Annika shrugged. 'It'll be a month before I get unemployment benefits. I've got some money in the bank.'

'Where are you going to live?'

Annika threw her arms out. 'Here, for the time being. It's only a short lease, but it could be for as long as a year. After that, I'll have to see.'

'We always need people at the club.'

Annika gave a shrill, cheerless laugh. 'Well, I've got the main qualifications: tits and a pussy. Mind you, I have spun the roulette wheel a few times in my day.'

'Really?'

'I worked as a croupier at the Katrineholm Hotel while I was at college. I can spin the wheel eleven times. I used to be able to make the ball land on thirty-four if I snapped the ball out from zero just right.'

'Actually we need someone for the roulette table.'

'I'm going to go away for a while.'

'Where to?'

Annika shrugged. 'I can't remember what it's called. It's in Turkey, by the Mediterranean.'

'That sounds nice.'

They sat in silence for a long while.

'You should find out where you're going,' Patricia said.

'Sure.'

'Hang on, let me get my cards.'

Patricia got up from her chair and padded into her room. Annika heard her unzip her bag. A few moments later, Patricia appeared in the doorway, holding a small brown box.

Patricia put the box on the kitchen table and opened it. Inside was a bundle wrapped in black material that she slowly untangled.

'What's that?'

'Tarot is an ancient source of knowledge.' Patricia placed the deck on the table. 'It's a philosophy described in esoteric images on cards. A tool for moving toward greater awareness.'

'I'm sorry, but I don't believe in this kind of stuff.'

Patricia sat down. 'It's not about believing. It's about listening. Opening up and gazing into one's inner realm.'

Annika couldn't help smiling.

'Don't laugh, this is serious,' Patricia said sternly. 'Look, there are seventy-eight cards, the Major Arcana, the Minor Arcana, and the court cards. They represent different insights and perspectives.'

Annika shook her head and got to her feet.

'No, sit down.' Patricia caught Annika's wrist. 'Let me tell you your fortune!'

Annika hesitated, sighed, and sat down. 'Well, all right. What do I have to do?'

'Here.' Patricia placed the deck of cards in Annika's hand. 'Shuffle and cut.'

Annika shuffled the cards, cut the deck, and held it out to Patricia.

'No. First you cut it three times and then you shuffle again and cut it twice.'

Annika gave her a skeptical look. 'Why?'

'For the energies. Go ahead.'

Annika sighed inwardly and shuffled and cut, shuffled and cut.

'Good,' Patricia said. 'Now, don't put the two piles together but choose one of them with your left hand and shuffle it again.'

Annika rolled her eyes and did as she was told.