A BRIGHT FUTURE... busy but happy (Part 68i)

They were gone for almost an hour. Five Corners traffic circle was now closed because of the flooding. The police created a detour but it could only handle one way traffic which added to the delay. I recognized the plaid blouse that Jo had on. I was a bit puzzled about the origin of the pants but liked the way they fit... tight across the rear. Jo, being at least 2 if not 3 inches shorter than Elle, had the cuffs rolled up. She had the look of a stereotypical farm girl. But what I really wanted to know was which of Elle’s panties she was wearing.

Other than for my payroll work not much had been accomplished. It was decided that we could all use a cup of coffee about then. We were halfway down the hall when the lights went out. It wasn’t pitch black but it was still pretty dark. There was enough light from the windows at the end of the hall so we continued on. As we walked on we saw heads popping out from all the doors wondering what had happened. We got our coffee and headed back. The only windows in the whole Audit and Control department were to the right in the Data Processing room and to the left in the office where the Auditors desks were located. When we walked in, the general work area was dark and empty. As we walked into the DP area we could see people standing by the windows. Without electricity there was nothing anyone could do so watching the rain was better than sitting in the dark. I recognized two of them with one being Leo’s (the Deputy Controller) secretary, Gina.

After a little “small talk” I discovered that she was a distant relative. Since moving back to the area I was learning that this was a fairly common occurrence. The other girl, GT, was the cute little blond that I’d noticed on my first days in the office. I’d never had an opportunity to talk with her as her duties had nothing to do with data processing. However, on this day she was in my area and I took the opportunity to chat with her. Shy, for sure, it was like pulling teeth to get anything from her. She’d graduated from high school in June and, having worked as an intern the previous Summer, was put on a “preferred” list after passing the clerk typist exam and hired right after graduation. She admitted that she was bored with her duties but wasn’t looking for a change. She was engaged to be married in a year and then would be moving anyway. Somehow we got to talking about family and couldn’t believe it when she told me that her grandfather was my grandfather’s best friend. Her grandfather was the one who had interviewed me for a job at the bank at the end of the Summer. For some reason she thought that was really important. I just smiled.

At about 2pm Leo arrived and told us we could go home. The County had been in touch with the electric utility and had been told that the earliest that power would return would be the next morning. I was concerned about the payroll. With no problems I had at least eight hours more to go but there was no point in staying. It took about 30 minutes to get home what with the detours because of the flooding. As I turned into the trailer park I saw this big tree lying on one of the trailers that were in the display area. I still had no real clue as to how bad the weather really was.

I walked in to find that there was no electricity there either. Elle said that my father had called earlier and told her that this was one of the worst Nor’Easter’s on record. In our geographic area strong coastal storms from mid August through November were traditionally called hurricanes. From December through March they were called Nor’Easters. The name came from the fact that preceding and during the storm the winds would come from the East. On hearing that from Elle I immediately called my father. He told me that there were reports that a whole bunch of homes on the barrier island had been washed into the ocean. He said that the dunes had been washed away in one place to make a new inlet from the ocean to the bay behind it. That news was shocking especially since Jay and I had been out there working only a few weeks earlier.

The family home was located right on the water and having lived through three hurricanes I knew that conditions were probably bad there as well. He told me that the tides were way high, covering the dock and were about to come over the bulkhead. He told me that their power was also out but they were using the generator that had been installed after the second hurricane back in 1954. Hearing that we had no power he wanted us to come and to bring the kids. I told him about the road across the river being closed and about the massive flooding along the roads and told him that we’d stay put.

We did but it did get cold in the trailer that night. The kids slept in their snowsuits and we slept in our clothes with coats piled on the bed over us. I think the temperature was around 50 degrees when we got up. Elle was making breakfast when it dawned on me that we could’ve gotten some heat from the oven. She didn’t want me to go to work but I knew the payroll had to be addressed in one way or another. Power was still off when I arrived but by mid morning our wing had lights. Jay and Jo made it in. Linda had run into a puddle on the way home the day before and her car wouldn’t run. Jay made the decision to concentrate on getting the payroll done and to get it delivered to the Treasurer’s office as soon as possible. We just about killed ourselves finishing it up. It was around 7pm. As we left the building Jo told me she’d have Elle’s clothes back on Monday after she washed them. With all the things going on I’d already forgotten that she had worn Elle’s clothes. As I drove home it came to me that Jo’s clothes must still be there. I could only think of one thing the rest of the way home... to see her panties.

To be continued...