AUTUMN... preparing for changes (Part 142k)

AUTUMN... preparing for changes (Part 142k)

The trip to Joanie’s house was, for sure, awkward. Neither of us said a word. Pulling into the driveway I finally broke the silence. The short trip was long enough for me to wonder just what Laura would say if Joanie asked where she’d gotten them... so I asked. The look on Laura’s face was blank. She didn’t have an answer. Usually I was a quick thinker, coming up with something even if it wasn’t the complete truth but this time I had nothing. Actually, I was mad at myself for not having thought of it when Laura had first asked me about getting them. I sat there and realized that the exciting thought of Joanie wearing panties I’d provided had completely blocked my senses. The only thing  could come up with was to tell her to hold on to them until I (we) could come up with a reasonable answer. She readily agreed.

Elle’s day had gone reasonably well back at her old school. She’d been a favorite of the principal when he was the assistant and had the responsibility for calling substitute teachers. But, with our moving and his promotion they hadn’t crossed paths in quite a while. He promised that he’d see to it that she got more calls. That made me happy too as that school district paid their substitutes more money. The teachers Elle had known were happy to see her again and she found out one of them was now living in our town. She told me the name but I didn’t remember just who she was. Elle had told her that she’d invite her over some weekend and all I could do was hope she was fairly good looking.

Wednesday was Anne’s 7th birthday and, because Elle had been teaching, deferred her party to Saturday. She’d wanted a ‘real’ bike (real meaning with regular sized wheels). I’d managed to get one and put together without her seeing it. She was so excited that she wanted to ride it to school. Not!

Thursday was Elle’s and my 9th anniversary. I’d taken a pro active stance about a present and told her that after I got the money back from what I'd paid in for my retirement in January I’d get her an appropriate one. I was fortunate in that she was receptive towards it. I was working on something with my parents  I knew she'd like. 

The worry over the name and address files had been supplanted by the broken teller machine as I drove to work. I formulated a plan so that we wouldn’t have to go through the confusion of the previous day when it came time to prove up the day’s transactions. Luckily, after the ‘crush’ of customers right after the doors opened had subsided the flow was manageable. However, I was holding my breath as far as who the repairman might be and just how much experience he had with this type of equipment. The manufacturer had stopped making this model and customers, like us, were upgrading to the newer equipment. Because we’d let them know we were going in a different direction I was worried that we’d get less than top rate service and they would send an inexperienced person.

I needn’t have worried. The man who showed up was the district service manager and really knew his ‘stuff’. I found out that he was being promoted into a newly created position and, in the meantime, was covering while some of his staff was in training with the new type equipment. The problem with the machine turned out to be major (the whole print sector) but he said he knew where he could cannibalize one from a competitor bank. By noon we were back in full swing. Before he left I told him how much we’d liked Robby and asked if we would be getting an assigned repairman. He was nice about it when he said “No.” but guaranteed that we’d have coverage. I just smiled.

The rest of the ‘busy period’ went by without much in the way of disruptions which gave me time to think about the situation that James, my friend with the service station, had put me in as well as how to solve the potential problem with Joanie, Laura and the panties. I’d tried to come up with some different scenarios that would seem reasonable for Laura to tell Joanie. One thing I had going for me was that I had the SanSoucie catalog. I decided to use that as the ‘crutch’. My plan was to have Laura tell her that she’d been shown the catalog and had ordered some. The fact that it had been some time since I’d been approached by Laura to the present would make it reasonable for her to have not come up with the panties right away. I knew it was flimsy but it was the best I could come up with. Worst case scenario was that I’d have to give Laura the catalog for her to prove her story. The next ‘hurdle’ was to get some time with Laura to go over it with her.

The situation with James, his daughter Peggy and a deal for Moira’s car was a little more complicated. I’d been ‘blindsided’ by James but had been sharp enough not to commit to something I couldn’t produce... a job for Peggy. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her but there were no positions available. There were a few where I wished I could get rid of the people occupying them but... couldn’t. The fact that I really wanted to help Moira out was primary. She’d shared with me the fact that if she couldn’t get by she’d have to leave and go back to the city to live with her parents. I knew she really didn’t want that for a number of reasons and neither did I. In the short time she’d been at the bank I’d heard only good things about her work. So... I mulled over a few ideas concerning personnel. One indisputable fact was that Gina would be leaving around Thanksgiving. No one but Gina and I knew that. As much as I would‘ve liked to hire someone way in advance of that, I just couldn’t. I still hadn’t made up my mind about moving Lillian to the front line. From a purely prurient position, having her out there would certainly provide Bret and I with plenty of panty peeks. But there were some definite negatives to that move. The best idea I could come up with was to go back to James to tell him that there was a possibility of a vacancy before the end of the year and see what that got me.

To be continued...