THE NEW YEAR... changes ahead (Part 78e)

All in all she (we) made out OK without making a mess. We woke up to a Winter wonderland with everything sparkling with the early morning sun shining on the ice. By mid afternoon the ice had melted and phone service had been restored. We called Millie and Alvin to find that power there had been restored even though it hadn’t at my parents. (We lived at the end of a private road and were always the last to get service.) We headed back and were shocked to see all the fallen limbs from trees that lined the road. At home I found a note from Jay saying he was over at the office and to call him when I got back.

Andre had fallen on the ice and broken his wrist. Jay was in with Jo and trying to get caught up and wanted to know if I could come in and help out. I knew Elle wouldn’t be happy but for some reason I felt compelled to go. Being a Saturday there was no one there but the three of us. It was a little stressful at first as we decided on priorities. After that we pretty much worked on our own projects until we decided to break for lunch. Jo, as she’d done before, had brought in sandwiches. The only soda machine in the building was in the cafeteria which was locked. Jay said he’d run down to the delicatessen at the five corners. As I’ve said before, I enjoyed working with Jo, primarily because of her up beat personality. That day was no different as she jumped up on a table and sat there, yoga style, asking about my kids. Jay had left one of the machines running and it was a bit annoying while trying to talk. I walked over to it and turned it off. As I walked back I saw a beautiful sight... a fantastic DP (down pants). I don’t remember the exact color of the slacks she was wearing, only that they were dark, thus making the white of her panties jump right out. As I saw it the first thought I had was what could I do to extend my “peek”. I couldn’t come up with a reason to stay behind Jo so, reluctantly, returned ot where I’d been sitting. It had been quite a while since I’d had even a glimpse of her panties and it ceratinly “stimulated” me.

We actually ended up doing more than we’d planned which only reinforced the fact that we were a good team. Even though I had to put up with some “grief” from Elle from time to time, I really liked my work. Even with Andre’s injury, we were able to keep up and to even get the new tape drive operational. It was just before the monthly County Supervisors meeting that the Controller walked in with Leo, the Deputy Controller and Irwin, the Chief Auditor trailing behind. He went right to Jay and asked for a tour with focus on the new piece of equipment. He was to give a report to the Supervisors on the status of the DP department. I was not in position to hear much of the conversation and as I now know, having part of the story is sometimes worse than not having any of it. (4)

What I had overheard was Leo talking to the Controller and telling him that since we (the DP department) had been physically removed from the Audit and Control area it had become a “rogue” department. In my mind, any words from Leo’s mouth were venomous and thought he was making a try at getting Jay fired. As soon a the Controller left I let Jay know what I’d heard. That started a domino effect leading to Jay contacting the Controller directly. Long story short... Jay was told that he was in no danger and that he, the Controller, was very pleased with the job we were doing. BUT... it got back to Leo who had another “hissy fit” and came down to face off with Jay. I got involved and started yelling at Leo which was not a very bright thing to do. Jay, although not officially a department head, carried that status. I was merely an employee and Leo let me know it. I went home that night very remorseful. The end result was that we were paid a “Leo visit” each and every day after that. That was my fault and was not fun!

With Rena out of the picture the Purchasing Director’s secretary, Corrine, (The busty blond) became the liaison between the two departments. The first thing anyone ever noticed about Corrine was her chest, even me. Although she wore tight skirts they were mostly dark and not good for showing VPLs. After a quick look “up top” I would immediately check her “bottom”. On this one day she came in to get the daily report for purchasing only to find Jay tied up on the phone. I’d continued to feel somewhat guilty for not getting in touch with Rena and knowing that Corrine had been in contact with her asked for an update. What I really wanted was to find out a little about her living conditions and family. Corrine was reluctant to discuss the subject until I told about the trip we made to see her and the result. I guess that was enough for her to open up.

I already knew about her grandfather and the glass business he was in. Rena’s father and mother had married right after high school and she came along a year later. When WWII started her father ended up in the Army, was wounded and captured by the German’s and spent almost a year in a Stalag. When he arrived home he was given a hero's welcome and then he went back to work for his father. What no one knew or realized he was traumatized by his experience and was very unstable, mentally. After a while Rena’s mother left. Rena wasn’t yet a teen. Her grandparents took her in but she felt she had the responsibility of looking after her father. Somewhere in her teen years he was placed in a mental institution and shortly thereafter her grandmother died. Her grandfather was physically crippled by then, not able to run the business, and sold the homestead for money to live on.

When Rena’s father came back from the war his father wanted to build him a house right behind the business and they dug a hole and put in the foundation. When it became obvious that her father wasn’t “right” construction stopped. Eventually, it was covered and and Rena and her parents moved in. That was where she grew up until she moved in with her grandparents. When the homestead was sold there was no place to go but back to “the hole in the ground” where she and her grandfather lived.

To be continued...