THE END OF SUMMER... September (Part 90c)

Pulling up in front of our unit we noticed that Lil’s pick up truck still wasn’t there. We both expected her to have been back by then what with school to start the next day. As we carried the kids inside I also noticed that the light over her kitchen sink still wasn’t on. For some reason she never turned it off when she was home which confirmed that she still wasn’t back. It was puzzling to both of us.

I was looking forward to going to work on Tuesday hoping to find that the new guy, John, would be a good fit as far as working with me on the Clerk Typists exams. I’d determined that just about anyone would be better than Vi who, realistically, wasn’t doing anything more than putting in her time. In the month I’d been there I’d put a lot of thought into making the whole Clerk Typist exam process better. Being that Monday had been Labor day there wasn’t an exam so I figured I’d have a week to ”groom“ the guy to my way of thinking before he actually saw it in person.

Even though I got to work early I found Wilson and Marty moving desks. For some unknown reason they had decided that the PT’s should have their desks in order of seniority. Vi, as usual, arrived at 9am sharp and had a hissy fit to find her desk had been moved. A bit of ”discussion“ took place with Wilson backing down and Vi’s desk went back to where it had been. That meant that I had Sonny on my left and the new guy, John on my right. I liked that.

We had finally gotten that all taken care of and as Wilson took John on a tour to meet the support staff Mrs K walked in and right up to my desk. She motioned for me to follow her and once in her office told me to close the door. That was a bit disconcerting as she seldom closed the door.(z) I immediately noticed that instead of her usual pleasant smile she seemed to have a stern look. Before I was even seated she said something along the lines of ”I suppose you’ve heard the news?“ I didn’t have any idea of what she was alluding to. I guess the blank look on my face escaped her as she went on to say something along the lines of ”It isn’t over yet, though.“

That’s when I interrupted her to say I didn’t know what she was talking about. That put a puzzled look on her face. After a pause to digest what I’d said she asked if Jay (from DP) hadn’t called me. I told her that I hadn’t talked with him since the middle of the previous week. I do remember her next words... ”Leo’s gone, done, kaput!“ I wish there had been somebody there to have taken my picture. I know I was slack jawed for a bit but gathered myself up quickly when Mrs K told me that the matter wasn’t over with that. Then she leaned forward and, with a stern look on her face, told me that I was not to discuss what she was going to tell me with anyone.

I’d gotten to know the woman fairly well by then and knew that she was a no nonsense type. She’d been more than fair with me and I knew that by telling me that she was putting a lot of trust in me. I think I ended up holding my breath for a bit. She went on to say that Leo, even though he’d resigned, was under investigation and that I might be questioned during the inquiry. I told her I wouldn’t say a word and thanked her for telling me. I really wanted to ask why Leo had resigned but didn’t. I got up to leave and she told me to sit back down. In thinking back on it as I write this I can remember feeling such glee with the news of Leo’s resignation and yet, with Mrs K’s warning, not knowing how to express it.

With the same stern look on her face she told me that she was taking the writing of the Machine Operator’s test away from Vi (who had done the audit of the whole DP department) and giving it to Marty and she wanted me to assist him. She said she’d wanted to give it to me because of my experience in the department but because of my ”incident“ with Leo she knew that it wouldn’t go over too well with him. She told me that she expected me to have ”great input“ into it and, for all intents and purposes it was mine to write. To remove any chance of questions being raised about the exam she wanted Marty to be the official author. It didn’t matter to me. Just the idea that I’d have input was exciting to me. That news helped bring me back to a semblance of ”normal“ but, when I exited Mrs K’s office, the looks I got from the other PT’s appeared to be of concern. As I mentioned before, it was a rare occurrence for her door to be closed and most of them knew it. Wilson walked up to ask if everything was OK which actually made me feel good.

I tried my best to focus on working with John and getting to know him but found it very difficult to concentrate. I was able to find out why he had seemed familiar when he first came into the office. He had taken the exam at the same time and place that I'd taken it. I ended up asking Wilson if I could give him the Clerk Typist exam to get him familiar with it knowing that it would give me a little time to gather myself up. I desperately wanted to know the circumstances of Leo’s resignation but, cognizant of Mrs K’s warning, didn’t know how to proceed. I wanted to run down to the DP department but knew I definitely couldn’t do that.

Thankfully, Marty came up to me to say that Vi hadn’t yet been told that the Machine Operator’s exam was being taken away from her and said he’d let me know when I was to get started on it. Other than Mrs K he knew the most about the run in with Leo that had led up to my ending up working in the Civil Service office. I couldn’t hold back any longer and asked him if her knew about Leo’s leaving. I remember him smiling and telling me to have patience and then walking away. It was killing me!

To be continued...