ANOTHER NEW YEAR... high hopes (Part 125b)

ANOTHER NEW YEAR... high hopes (Part 125b)

Being the “busy period”, things were hectic at the bank even after the doors were closed to the public. A couple of the tellers had experienced problems when trying to prove up at the close of business which meant Laura and her boss, the auditor, were very much involved in the process. Normally, after work Trish would drive Laura to where she was staying during the work week. However, on this night she couldn’t wait for her and had left before Laura was done. When the tellers finally balanced up Laura came over to see me as I’d asked her to do. The first words out of her mouth were to ask if I could give her a ride. I’d done it a few times and it was only a little inconvenient so I agreed. My intention, when I’d asked to have her meet with me, was to let her know that I was in no rush for her to pay back the loan. But, it became quickly obvious that she had another idea.

She started out apologizing for not having made any payments in so long. In spite of my efforts to make her stop talking she continued on. She said that she had a hard time looking at me during the day knowing that she owed me, an officer of the bank, money. I continued to protest but she was determined. She went on to say that she no longer had to pay James (my friend, the service station owner) and his wife for staying at their house and that she was now doing some bookkeeping and clerical work for his business in lieu of it. That, and the year end bonus that she received, allowed her to start repaying her loan. When she finished I commended her on her desire but told her that I was far more concerned about her well being than the money. She didn’t quite comprehend my point so I had to explain it to her.

When Trish and I had loaned her the money back in the early Summer it was for her to buy some work appropriate and yet stylish clothes. With Trish as her guide she’d done well. But now it was Winter and she was still wearing some of those clothes although they were well out of season. I knew Trish had provided her with one of her old Winter coats and had figured that she’d been wearing some of Peggy’s (the daughter of James) old clothes from high school. I really didn’t know how to phrase the message that she was out of style so “beat around the bush“ for a few minutes. Finally, I told her that what I’d really wanted to do as her ”Secret Santa“ was to buy her some appropriate clothes. Both she and I were embarrassed after I told her. I think we both apologized after I did. Then I told her that I’d come up with the idea of giving her the money that she’d shown me earlier that was on the abandoned account list. I told her that if she hadn’t noticed it and pointed it out to me that it would be sent to the State and no one would benefit from it. I could see the rose color rising in her cheeks as she primarily looked into her lap, occasionally glancing at me. I had to ask her twice if that was OK with her before she finally nodded her approval.

Trying to ease the sense of tension that had built up I tried for a bit of levity by asking her what had happened when she fell face first in the lobby. It had been a number of days and I thought that she’d gotten over the embarrassment. It was plain to see that she hadn’t. With her cheeks all flushed pink she sat there shrugging her shoulders and then started to apologize for ”making a commotion“. I tried to let her know I was teasing but she couldn’t see it. In her eyes she’d embarrassed herself as well as the bank. When Trish had told me who the panties in her waste basket belonged to I’d promised her not to say anything to anyone. Knowing that they did belong to Laura I can’t really explain why I went on to ask her just what had happened.

Because of some of the things I’d done to help her, Laura felt like she had to be completely honest with me and, after a few false starts, explained what had happened that morning. She’d gone to the mortgage department to fetch some folders to audit and, after stepping into the elevator, felt her ”underpants“ (her word) start to ride down a bit. With both arms filled with folders she didn’t have a free hand to try and readjust them. When the elevator reached the first floor there were customers waiting to board so she had to get off. She told me she tried to ”shuffle“ along but it didn’t work and they ended up falling down and caused her to trip. The funny thing was that I didn’t feel anything of a sensual or sexual nature as she explained the situation to me and I felt guilty for having asked her to explain it to me. The whole time she was speaking she just looked into her lap which made me feel even worse. Hindsight can be a punishment in itself and I felt somewhat that way as we sat facing each other.

NOTE: I’m going to back up a bit at this point and go back to the ”bantering“ Trish and I were doing about Laura’s panties that had been found in her waste basket.

The ”bantering“ had gone well enough that led me to fantasize that I could possibly get into a conversation with her about panties. One of the exchanges prior to her telling me that they belonged to Laura had gone somewhat along the lines of: Me...“if they aren’t yours then what do yours look like?” Trish... “wouldn’t you like to know!” Me... “you bet!... I dare you to show me!” Trish... "not even with a gun to my head!“ Me... ”I bet you don’t even wear panties.“ and at that point she stuck her tongue out at me and walked away. Then, a few days later, we happened to be leaving the bank at the same time. I was on my way to a Chamber meeting and she to lunch. Somehow I summoned the nerve to approach the panties subject again. However, this time I took a serious approach. Without going into the detail (which I really can’t remember) I told her that if she was ever interested in buying lingerie at a discount that I had a friend in the business. I do remember her giving me one of those ”I don’t believe you just said that.“ looks. I told her I was dead serious and pointed to my briefcase when I told her I had catalogs. With a somewhat dubious look on her face she asked what I was doing with them. I enhanced the story about one of Elle's friends (Pat) wanting to start a bridal business and had put my friend in contact with her. After hesitating for a few seconds she asked to see them. When I gave them to her I put the Sans Soucie one on top. It had Willie’s business card stapled to it with a hand written message to me right on the front. I was really excited when she asked if she could take them home. Remembering her making me promise not to say anything about Laura’s panties I did the same to her about the catalogs. She said she was running late and would let me know her thoughts the next day. To say that I was excited was putting it mildly.

To be continued...