A NEW YEAR... new beginnings? (Part 103g)

Hank had indicated that the new wagon would be built in the middle of February and would be delivered  President’s Day week. It was shades of waiting for Christmas from when I was a boy although now I was an adult. The year I got my trains I’d discovered them about two weeks prior to Christmas and that was the longest two weeks of my life!

With the vehicles situation pretty much in order it was back to the same old grind at work. I’d talked with Judith about her ideas for Stasia only one time since we’d first discussed and she said she was waiting for ”just the right time“ to spring it on her. Messing with the cars I’d pushed it to the back of my mind. Even seeing Stasia at work didn’t get me all that fired up. There seemed to be too many obstacles to overcome. I’m not sure exactly when it was but near the end of the month Stasia didn’t show up for work one day. I had a dead on view of her desk from my work table and it seemed strange not to see her sitting there with a blank look on her face. I didn’t put the fact that she was missing together with Judith’s ”plan“ until it was time to go home. I decided to stop at the drug store to see if Judith had firmed up her ideas and to see what, if anything, I could do to help.

The only person in the shop was Judith’s husband, Paul. I wasn’t sure just how much he knew or didn’t know about Stasia so just asked for Judith and he pointed me to the back room. It seemed like she always had a smile on her face and when she saw me it broadened even more. She told me that I must have ESP as she was going to call me the next morning. Stasia’s absence had nothing to do with her ”plan? but she felt she had enough things in place to approach her.

The “plan“ was for Judith’s brother, a partner in an accounting firm near the city, to hire Stasia as a receptionist. His partner (and wife) had a small apartment in their basement where she could live rent free for six months. If she agreed to it Judith would drive Stasia and her son to the place and would stay with her for  the first weekend. I saw all kinds of ”holes“ in the plan but kept my mouth shut. Besides that,
I was still a bit paranoid about the possible fallout if Stasia went along with it and my involvement was discovered. I was pleased to hear that Judith had taken that into consideration for both of us and suggested that I not come to the drug store for a while. In her case, based upon a favorable reaction to the offer, she was going to tell Stasia to pretty much avoid the shop as well. The big question was in when she’d approach Stasia. Now I had two things ”hanging“.

With the advent of February I still hadn’t gotten any information on my attending the computer classes in Ohio. One thing that had begun to bother me was that Rich, the part time teller, part time bookkeeping machine operator, would ”zing“ me whenever I was in his area for an audit. I tried to let them slide but one day I heard him say to no one in particular ”Just what the hell was he hired to do anyway.“ It was enough for me to pursue Monty, the Chairman of the Board. When I did I almost wished I hadn’t as he ushered me into his office and closed the door. In the almost six months I’d been at the bank I’d seen that door closed maybe a half dozen times. He offered me a chair and then he sat behind his desk with his hands folded on it.

”There’s been a change of plans.“ That’s all I heard. I knew he was talking but I was still processing those words and didn’t hear what he said. I guess you might say I was in shock. The next words I remember hearing him speak... ”We’ll find you something to do, though“. I remember sitting there, totally ”lost”. Married with three kids and a new car on the way and the job I was promised was being yanked out from under me. I know I didn’t say anything because I then heard him ask if I was OK. I must’ve nodded that I was because he stood up, shook my hand and asked me not to say anything. In fact he suggested that I take the rest of the afternoon off. I remember sitting in my car in the parking lot wondering just what I was going to do. When I’d calmed down I tried to figure out what had happened. If Monte had given me the reason(s) for the change I hadn’t been listening so was completely blindsided.

So as to not drag this out, my ‘buddy“ Rich (NOT!) had been secretly campaigning to be the one to run the new equipment. He had been ”schmoozing“ some of the board members and to push them along, told then that if he didn’t get the job he was going to quit. Unfortunately, management had allowed him to establish systems that only he knew how to operate and to supervise. If he quit he could, in effect, shut the bank operations down. It took about a week for me to glean this information out of Alvin. He’d reported the conflict in a number of his internal audit reports but the Board had chosen to allow it to continue. I ended up being the victim.

I honestly felt that Monty really felt bad about my situation. Rich left for Ohio the second week of February and it coincided with the announcement that the new equipment would be delivered by the end of the month. Nothing changed as far as the work I was doing. Alvin certainly wasn’t complaining. I was doing the majority of the ”grunt“ work for him which gave him a lot of free time. When I’d told Elle about the situation I’d emphasized the fact that Monty had assured me that I did, indeed, still have a job. It wasn’t much of one and I remember how I’d chafed at doing such mundane tasks while waiting for the new computer to be delivered. Now I was glad to do it. It was very strange.

It was during that week that I found a note under my windshield wipers from Judith telling me that she'd spoken with Stasia. Initially she rejected the idea but had sort of changed her mind. To make Stasia more comfortable she was going to drive her in to meet her brother, his partner and his wife. In the note she told me that’s where Staisa would be when she didn’t show up for work. That was the best news I could get about then. Possibly someone’s life was going to change for the better.

To be continued...