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

Long story short... he did and right after daybreak that Saturday Jay and Jo came by to pick Elle and I up. We’d taken the kids to Elle’s parents house the night before. It was about a 20 mile drive East to meet up with Andy and then he showed us a sneaky way how to get out onto the beach. I’d instructed Elle to make sure to wear a “package” because there would be no bathrooms where we were going. Since there were four of us in the cab of the truck Elle sat on my lap and I could feel the pads on my lap. Once on the beach we didn’t have to drive far to see the devastation. We saw as much as 30 feet of erosion and it wasn’t just sand. One of the first mansions (as opposed to beach homes located on the barrier island) we came to had the whole front of the house missing. It was a 3 story, brick and stone home. We could look right into the foyer and could see part of a spiral staircase. We could see into two of the bedrooms on the second floor and on the third floor there was a bed sticking out, just hanging there. It truly was a lesson of Mother Nature’s wrath at work.

Andy had told us not to stay too long as the National Guard would be patrolling and we might be stopped. As we pulled off the beach I felt my lap get a bit warmer. I knew exactly what Elle had done. None of us had eaten so we stopped at a diner for a bite. Elle and Jo got along really well which pleased me to no end. When we got back to the trailer Jay wanted to show Jo the playhouse. She’d heard us talking about them but hadn’t actually seen one. Elle was first out and when I followed her I could see that her plastic panties had leaked around the leg openings on her backside. She was halfway to the playhouse before I caught up with her. She quickly turned to see Jay and Jo right behind her. She looked at me as if to say “Too late” and kept on walking. In retrospect, I was proud of her. In today’s vernacular it was an “It is what it is” moment. I did get one peek of Jo’s panties when she had to bend way down to get inside the playhouse. There was one interesting thing and that was the waistband elastic. It wasn’t the same as on her panties I’d seen on the clothes rack when she’d borrowed Elle’s clothes. It was something else for my memory bank.

As I remember it, things continued to run smoothly at work for the next few weeks. I managed to get three more orders for playhouses and the first of them that we built proved to be memorable... for a number of reasons.(9) I was running a report with the printer when Linda called to me that there was a call for me. I got on the phone and this guy’s talking at me like I was supposed to know him. I didn’t recognize his voice and when I asked him for his name he gave me a smart ass reply. I was about to hang up when he finally said “Costas”. I’d never even heard that name before but now I was curious. It was obvious the guy had a way with words and he finally got around to telling me that he wanted me to build his daughter a playhouse. I told him I was busy at that time and asked him for his phone number. It was obvious that he was going to have the last word as he told me to stop by his business on my way home. I remember taking the phone from my ear and looking at it and thinking “who the f__k is this wise guy anyway?” but didn’t hang up. He told me that the business was on the same road as the trailer park so I gave in and told him I’d see him later.

I’d driven past his building over a hundred times and never really noticed it. No signage on the road and only a small paper sign in the window to let the public know it was a plumbing supply company. As I pulled in I saw a white Jaguar and an old box truck parked against a loading dock. I went up the stairs and inside all I saw were a few plumbing fixtures out by the window. I called his name and a few seconds later this short, dumpy, middle aged man appeared. He had one of those full mustaches that covered his whole upper lip. We shook hands and I followed him into this room with nothing but a desk, file cabinet and two chairs. Before I could open my mouth he said he wanted the playhouse to be at least 50% bigger than the one he’d seen at the trailer park (mine). I just shook my head and told him that I only made one size. He then said that he knew I charged roughly $120 for a playhouse. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills and peeled off two $100 onto the desk. I stared at them for a few seconds and shook my head again. I could see that didn’t go over too well. He started to say something but pulled a $50 bill out of the wad and put it on top of the others. Then he looked at me waiting for me to say something.

To say that I was uncomfortable in this situation is putting it mildly. There were too many questions about him in my mind but there was something in the back of my mind that was telling me to take the money and to not get him more upset. When I did he told me he wanted it built that Saturday. I was so nervous at that time I don’t know what to say but OK. I was perspiring I was so nervous. he said to me but I do remember being glad I was back in my car and headed home. He did give me the address before I left but I was worried that Jay would balk at doing it. To add to my discomfort I was also worrying about the consequences if it didn’t get built.

To be continued...