ON AND ON... another month (Part117h)

ON AND ON... another month (Part 117h)

When we went back downstairs Bret was talking to Trish and from the look on her face I just knew she was enjoying the moment. Trish took care of getting all the paperwork handled on Netta so that she could go join Pauline and start her training. As soon as Bret saw us exit the elevator her turned and walked back into the work area. He stayed there until Netta went back upstairs. The only way I can describe him was ”rattled“. When he sat down at his desk he turned to me and said something along the lines of ”You don’t know how hard hiring her is going to be on me.“ and then turned away. I really couldn’t help but smile... but not visibly.

With a ”handle“ on two out of the three problems I focused on the broken bookkeeping machine. I called the service office to confirm that the part had arrived and was told it had and that Robby, the service mechanic would be arriving mid afternoon. The bank’s contract with the company provided service from 8am to 5pm with an hour at each end reserved for travel time. That meant we could only expect the service mechanic on site from 9am to 4pm with an hour out for lunch. That concerned me because we already had 2 1/2 days of transactions to process. I’d hoped to have the machine up and running that day and it didn’t look good.

A first look at Robby wouldn’t fill one with confidence. A tall (about 6’4”), extremely thin man in his late 20’s with a shock of unkempt red hair. However, over time I learned that not only was he a good technician but was also a good guy. He could see that I was stressed when he walked in and I told him of my problem. He explained (again) the rules of the contract but, with a sly smile on his face along with a wink, told me that he could make “arrangements” to stay later than 4pm. I didn’t care what it took but I needed the machine to be operational before he left. He explained that he would have to do a test after the installation of the new part but that if we would be willing to process real transactions as the test it would count. Lorie, the primary operator, was the lone hold out of the Polish Mafia who still hadn’t fully accepted me. When I went to her to ask her to stay late she issued a curt “No!”. By then I was in no mood for her attitude towards me and called her out on it. I knew it was wrong to do it out in the work place so told her to go up the back stairs to the Board room. I started to follow her when Jaz, Lorie’s assistant, grabbed me by the arm. I was a bit annoyed but before I could say anything she told me that she was willing to stay. I thanked her and told her I’d get back to her and continued up the stairs.

I’d tried, time and time again, to win Lorie over and it seemed like when things were going well between us she’d revert back to when I’d first started. She’d put up a “wall” when it came to me. Once in the room I told her that it had to stop. I’ll not bore you with all the dialog but told her she had until the next morning to decide if she was going to stay or go and that if her decision was to stay I’d have to see a change in attitude almost immediately. I told her she could leave to go home to think about it as we exited the room.

Jaz was waiting for me when I returned and I told her that I’d really appreciate it if she would stay. Robby overheard my comment and volunteered that she might want to get something to eat because the machine wouldn’t be ready until around 6pm. She lived only a few streets away and agreed to return at 6pm. As she left I told her that she could dress comfortably and I remember her smiling as I did.

Robby and I chatted as he worked and I asked about the so called “arrangements“ he’d mentioned. Basically, he was going to change some of the hours in his log book to mask the extra time he was spending with this problem. He didn’t come right out and say it but what was also inferred was that he’d appreciate a little ”recognition“. We had a discretionary petty cash box that Hobie and I could use from time to time. I’d only used it once and there was about $40 in it as best I could tell. I was sure he was looking for money rather than a letter of recognition so went back to retrieve the box. I didn’t know how much he was looking for but took out $30 thinking that it would be enough for two hours of work.

When Jaz returned I almost didn’t recognize her. She was a big girl in more than one way at about 5’10” tall and big boned like a lot of Polish women seemed to be built. However, she was not fat although could’ve probably lost 5 to 10 pounds. She had dirty blonde hair that I’d only seen her wear down to her shoulders. It was now in a pony tail so that her ears were showing. It was a completely different look. She was also wearing a pair of cream colored knit pants and she filled them out very well. My first thought was that I wanted to see what kind of VPL they exhibited. It was better than that. She chose to sit in one of the secretarial chairs that were on casters and pushed herself back against the wall to stay out of Robby’s way. Then she sort of slumped down in the chair with her feet out in front of her, almost straight. I stood there looking at her and I saw my first frontal VPL... and a “camel toe” to boot. I’d never seen a frontal crotch line and I had to be careful not to stare. Thankfully, she was chatting with Robby and not looking at me. I had to put a hand in my pocket and had to be careful not to get too “frisky”.

To be continued...