AUTUMN... now the changes (Part 143b)

AUTUMN... now the changes (Part 143b)

Wednesday was shaping up to be a big day. The special Board meeting, Moira’s car and a call that came in from Albie at the service bureau too late on Tuesday for me to reach him. Just knowing that they were working on a solution to the names and address problem had taken it off the ‘front burner’ but I was still anxious to see what they’d come up with. “First things first” so I called Albie but got his boss Bruce. I liked both of them and found that in spite of the difference in titles (Asst VP for Albie / VP for Bruce) they seemed to be totally interchangeable as far as responsibilities. He knew immediately why I was calling but the one big difference between the two of them was that Bruce was definitely the more animated... both in speech and actions. I had to pull the phone receiver away from my ear because Bruce was almost yelling... “I’ve got two for you! I’ve got two for you!” My mind was asking but my mouth wasn’t... two of what? What Bruce didn’t know was that I hadn’t spoken to Albie the day before. My silence had him puzzled and he wanted to know if I was still on the line. Once we got that squared away I was let in on the whole plan.

Basically, they were going to loan us two of their teller machines so we could do the name and address inputting ourselves. There had been a fire at a strip mall where one of their branches was located and even though the branch suffered no damage, the town fire marshall condemned the whole building. They tried to find space in the surrounding area to service their customers but were unsuccessful. Once that was determined they had two machines not being used and thought of us. The only ‘hitch’ was that we had to get the phone company to come back in to install two data packs so the digital information could be transmitted over the phone lines. In essence, Bruce told me to get on the phone company and “ride heard” on them to get it done.

I brought Bret up to date with the news and the two of us set about trying to find a place to set the machines up when they arrived. There was no way for them to go into the existing teller machine space and then for the tellers to be able to wait on our customers. As we looked over the work area I was thankful that Trish’s boy friend had asked if we wanted to run extra phone lines because they were now going to be part of the solution. I let Bret make the ultimate decision only reminding him that  the first floor staff would still have to ‘navigate’ the area.

Even though I’d talked with James about Moira’s car on Monday I wanted to be sure everything was still ‘on track’. Fall has always been my favorite season. My thinking being that when we get an unseasonal day of weather to the positive, it’s like a gift. Our mind is anticipating the colder weather to come but when a 70+ degree day arrives in the Fall season you have to take advantage of it. So... I decided to walk up to James’ place to take a look at the car. It was, at best a 15 minute walk. Arriving there I saw it up on the lift with the oil draining from the motor into the catch can. I walked around and could see the tires had been changed because they had tread on them, something almost lacking on them when I’d looked before. James was at lunch but his helper was there so asked him about the motor. He smiled and said he’d just finished tuning it up and in about ten minutes it would be ready. He wanted to know if I wanted to take it with me and my first reaction was to say “Yes”. But I thought better of it deciding I’d drive Moira up after work so she could say “Thanks” to James in person.

Hobie had been busy all morning. As the corporate secretary, it was his responsibility to prepare for all formal Board meetings. He’d had Trish with him so there were some letters that I needed her to type up after lunch. When Hobie returned I made a ‘soft’ try at getting some information about the meeting hoping to find out if he’d seen the actual floor plans. All I got for my effort was a frown. That told me things weren’t going well for him and to back off.

The first of the Board members started walking across the lobby about 2:30pm. The meeting wasn’t until 3pm and I watched them trickle in right up until the lobby doors were closed. Every time I saw some of them it upset me. I considered most to be self important and ignorant as to the actual running of the bank. Some were worse than others but Polak Joe was the worst. He was still under “sanctions” and not able (supposedly) speak or vote on any matter that was up for discussion. That didn’t stop him from coming to meetings or to talk, individually, to the other Board members so I wondered just what good the “sanctions” were. Hobie had told me that the only subject on the agenda was the branch and he hoped it would be a short meeting. It wasn’t.

At 5pm Moira appeared at my desk as we’d discussed. I gave her the key to my car and told her I’d be out in a few minutes as I was hoping that the meeting would be over before I left. I remember suggesting to Bret that he stick around for as long as he could with the idea of getting some information. He agreed and said he’d stay until around 5:20pm. I didn’t know how long I’d be with Moira and James so told him I’d call him later.

As expected, Moira was all excited. She was standing outside the car because, with the warm weather and the windows rolled up, it was very hot inside. The sun was behind her as I walked across the parking lot. She was wearing a pale pink flowered cotton dress that came to just above her knees. From my purview it looked like she wasn’t wearing a slip because the silhouette was incredible. She had her eyes closed, legs spread apart and her arms out at shoulder height to let the breeze cool her. I know I slowed down when I saw her. I also know I took a deep breath before hailing her to get her attention.

It was the warm weather that we chatted about on the trip up to the service station. However, the look on her face was childlike and when we pulled into the service area her car was parked right there in front. As soon as I stopped I got out but Moira remained just staring at it. James came out and I took him over to introduce him. Looking in the window I could see tears flowing down her cheeks. I looked at James and could see he was moved as well.

To be continued...