Monday, December 21, 2015

CONTINUING... surprises & changes (Part 139g)

CONTINUING... surprises and changes (Part 139g)

Joanie’s house was but a few minutes from James’ service station. I hadn’t transferred the registration or plates on the ‘new’ car and wanted to tell him I’d try and do it on Thursday. When I pulled in I figured I might as well get gas. James wasn’t there and the young man who came out to wait on me (remember... this is the 60’s when you did get service at a gas station) was new to me. He knew who I was as he mentioned my ‘new’ car saying it was really nice. I appreciated the comment and wasn’t expecting what followed when he asked what I was going to do with the the ‘55 that I was driving. With everything that had been going on in the past week I really hadn’t given any thought to it. He anxiously awaited my answer but I didn’t have one. He gave himself away when he blurted out that he wanted to buy it. That was a nice surprise but I didn’t have any idea what to ask. I can’t explain why I’d not given any thought to selling but I hadn’t. I finally told him I’d get back to him. He was disappointed but before he got to the office he turned, called back to me to please not sell it before talking to him. That was something else to think about on the way home but it was a good thing.

Even though I had the new clothes for Elle I decided to wait. I needed more time to figure out how to tell/explain about the ‘new’ car. The one thing I remember was that between the upcoming Board meeting, Joanie’s situation and the car I didn’t get much sleep. I was in early to work the next day so that I could find out how Joanie had made out with her father. If she was wearing one of the new outfits it would be a good sign. But, before she arrived I saw one of the Trustees walking across the lobby and he was quickly followed by two others. That was one of the frustrations of being a junior officer... not knowing what was going on around me. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Joanie wearing the dress she'd picked out. Her hair was still down but the bangs were back. Even with that she looked more mature than she’d been before. I waited until Laura showed up to speak to Joanie and when I did I asked how her father had taken to the new clothes. She made a face but didn’t say anything. I called Laura over and the three of us retreated over to Hobie’s desk area.

In a perfect world I would’ve been able to talk with Laura before that meeting. The long and short of it was that Laura was very supportive of Joanie’s changes and confirmed everything I’d told Joanie about the arrangement Trish and I had with her. There was one surprise though. Laura asked if Joanie would be interested in some suggestions concerning her hair. She’d been learning how to be a hair dresser and told Joanie that she had some ideas that she might try. I ended up being nothing more than a spectator as the two chatted until I saw a customer over by the gate.

Bret had commented on the ‘new’ Joanie the day before but when I returned to my desk he was waiting for me with another. He had a big smile on his face. When I asked what was so funny he said that he was really enjoying the ‘new’ Joanie. I smiled in return. It was at least an hour later before I found out what it was that had him smiling. I was talking with Liz, the Auditor, just in front of his desk. I happened to look over at Joanie as she was rolling her chair to the side to get to the low file cabinet. As she did she spread her legs to get the chair to move sideways and it was quite a view. The contrast of the gray material of the dress and the white of her panties was unmistakable. Thankfully she was concentrating on getting to the file and the contents and didn’t see me looking at her. It was the first time I’d had more than the one VPL when she first came downstairs to work with Trish. I will tell you that at that point I was jealous of Bret.

As much as I wanted to follow Joanie’s movements I had to get the final preparations for the Board meeting completed. I’d noticed a few more of the Board members arrive during the morning and at lunch there were about a half dozen leaving together. I debated with myself about giving a call upstairs to J J to see if he had any idea why the Trustees had been in so early on a Board meeting day. I knew he was still upset about Hobie and I ‘borrowing’ Joanie and wasn’t sure he’d be receptive to my inquiry. After a few minutes I decided it was worth the effort... but it wasn’t as he told me that he’d seen them come in, talk with Bert (the president) and then go into the Board room. He told me he’d even made a cursory pass by the door only to find it shut, something that only happened when there was a meeting. Since I’d been working with Lena on the ‘Joanie project’ and she’d been receptive to my asking for her help I decided to give her a call to see if she’d shed some light on the situation. If she did know anything she wasn’t willing to share it with me but closed the conversation by asking me what I thought of Joanie’s new dress. Of course I said it was great but  the answer wasn’t about the look of it but the fact that I’d gotten an upskirt while she was wearing it.

When the president and Board members returned as a group they again retired to the Board room. Normally for a Board meeting I, as the acting Secretary, would place an agenda at each member’s place along with a full copy of the previous meeting’s minutes at the end of the table nearest the door. That way any member who wanted to see the detail of them could peruse it prior to the start of the meeting. When I went up to do that the door was still closed. As I waited more of the other Trustees arrived and walked on in. I wasn’t sure what to do so I asked one to have Bert come to the door. When he did and saw me he seemed surprised and told me to wait for another few minutes. This secrecy was driving me crazy. What was going on in there?

To be continued... 

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