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

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

It turned out that I didn’t have to do anything. Because the lawn was littered with small branches and twigs as a result of the thunder storm Elle didn’t want the Kids out playing on the lawn. She got board games out for them to play and sent me out to pick up the litter in the yard. I couldn’t have planned it better. Armed with a rake I set out out to clean it up and, of course, started out back by the wash lines. I’d pretty much expected to see double backed cotton panties but was a bit surprised by the number of them. I knew they belonged to Barbara because I’d had a few panty peeks that confirmed it. There were six pair and it compared to only three pastel nylon panties that had to belong to her sister. I’d previously had the thought that Barbara had a similar problem to Elle’s and this discovery seemed to add to that theory. Based upon other family underwear on the line it seemed like it was three days worth. I was intrigued.

On the way to work Friday morning I wondered how Joanie would act following the incident with her wash the day before. I saw her chatting with Laura when I walked in which, in itself, wasn’t unusual because they’d become good friends. What was strange was that after seeing me looking at them they both looked down in a guilty sort of way. I made note of it but didn’t pursue it at that time. I kept an eye on Joanie when she came over to her desk and noted that she wouldn’t look over at me. After a while I needed her to type a letter and called her over. I decided to call her out on what I’d observed and asked why she and Laura acted so guilty when I saw them talking to each other. I could see the color rising in her cheeks and watched her eyes turn down towards the floor. When she didn’t answer I ‘pushed’ a little harder and told her that it looked like they were talking about me. I was looking right at her and saw the rose color in her cheeks turn even brighter. That was when I told her that her silence was an admission of guilt. That got her to look up at me and finally speak. With sort of an apologetic look she admitted that she'd told Laura about me seeing her underwear. I didn’t hesitate in asking why she’d done that. She sort of shrugged her shoulders and looked back at the floor. I waited for a few seconds before speaking again. I’d been fortunate that Bret was tied up with a customer at a teller window so our little ’session’ was pretty much private. I was sort of annoyed with her and when I spoke there was a bit of a 'bite to the tone of my voice. In looking back on it as I write this I’ll admit I was on a bit of a ‘soapbox’ too.

In general, I chastised her for making such an issue over something that was really trivial. I reminded her that I hadn’t gone out of my way to view her things and, in fact, she had the chance to remove them from the line before I ever got to them. I can’t remember the words I used but I might’ve even told her to “grow up” or to “get over it”. I reminded her about her actions in trying to hide the items and how it only served to bring more attention to them. I have a tendency, when worked up such as I was at that time, to go too far and I did when I continued on. I can’t explain the motivation for it when I told her that she needed to get some new underwear to go with her new clothes. I can still picture the look on her face when she heard me utter those words and I definitely remember her putting her hand to her mouth in shock.

If she’d walked away at that moment I wouldn’t have blamed her... but she didn’t. I immediately apologized, at least twice, and told her to sit down. (She’d been standing next to my desk as this all took place) I wanted to take her hand to somewhat comfort her but it wasn’t the place to do such a thing. I also became concerned that if she was really offended that she might say something to someone, possibly J J, and... well, I didn’t know what would happen then. Having her sit seemed to calm her a bit and I took a few deep breaths before trying to extract myself from the very sticky situation.

I started in by saying that I realized I was way out of line. However, she interrupted me and said that I’d been right in that she’d made an issue out of nothing. That surprised me so I let her continue. She mentioned her mother and how she’d been sickly for all of her high school years. Because she couldn’t be like most mothers and involved in her life she’d been “protective” of Joanie and had “warned” her of the “evil intentions” of boys. I had to work hard at not smiling when hearing that. She eventually agreed that my seeing her underwear wasn’t an “evil thing” and that it had been caused by “circumstances“, not planned. By that time she’d relaxed a lot and was now apologizing to me. I don’t know how long I let that go on but ended it when I gave her the letter to type and asked as she was getting up if we were ”still friends“. That got a typical Joanie smile from her but before she got away I, with a big smile on my face, told her that she still needed some new underwear. The smile remained but she shook her finger as if to scold me. WHEW!

It was my Friday to stay until 6pm when the doors were closed to the public but I asked Bret to cover for me for the time it took to drive Joanie to the hospital. She’d received word that her mother would be coming home the next day and she was excited about that. I was back to work before 5:30pm and thanked Bret for helping out. He had a guilty look on his face and I had to ask why. He hesitated for a few seconds and then proceeded to describe the panty peek he’d gotten when Joanie was collecting her personal things from under Trish’s desk. I just smiled back.

In the back of my mind was the conversation that Joanie had admitted having with Laura when she’d told her of my seeing her panties. (I’d never called them by that name when talking with Joanie and I don’t remember why.) I called her over to my desk as she was about to leave and gently asked her about the conversation telling her that Joanie had admitted they had been talking about me. Of course Laura blushed. The two of them were still very young and not ‘worldly’ at all. I wanted to know just what had been said and lied when I told her that Joanie hadn’t gone into any detail. After a little ‘hemming and hawing’ she said Joanie told her that I’d seen some of her underwear and that she’d been very embarrassed. I hesitated and then, looking her right in the eye, asked if she, Laura, had been embarrassed back when I’d seen hers. It took a few seconds but then she broke out a broad grin and headed for the door.

To be continued...