AUTUMN... now the changes (Part 143e)
While Elle was
still with her 4 H group at the church I was able to get to my ‘stash’
and pull out a SansSoucie panty box and to grab six pair still factory
banded together and with the price tags attached. Elle had some kraft
paper that she’d used in a school project that I used to carefully wrap
the box. Luckily, I got it done and the package into the trunk of my car
before Elle and the kids returned. The next part was in how to get it
to Laura without Joanie seeing me. They’d become almost ‘joined at the
hip’, doing almost everything together.
We were eating
supper when the phone rang. Elle absolutely hated that and just let the
phone ring saying that if it were all that important they could call back
later... and they did. It was Bret to let me know that Hank, the bank
messenger/custodian, had a heart attack and died. It was a shock to say the least. Hank
was a ‘horse’, never shied from any manual labor and, from what I’d been
told, hadn’t missed a day of work in the ten years he’d been with the
bank. After we got over a little reminiscing about him I got back to the
reality of what it meant for the bank. Together, we put together a plan for
opening the bank the next morning and getting the first messenger run
completed. I figured we could take it further once we were at work and
could get input from both Bert (the president) as well as Hobie. That
news was not a good way to end a day off.
I took care
of letting the employees in to the bank the next morning and passing on the bad news.
Most of them liked Hank so, for them it was hard to take. I’d
wanted to catch Moira when she arrived to make sure the car had run to
her satisfaction but by the time 9am came and I'd unlocked the doors for
the public she still hadn’t arrived. That worried me.
As
soon as Bert arrived he called Hobie, J J, and I in to his office to
discuss our immediate options. I told them of the conversation Bret and I
had the night before and told them that he was going to make the first
messenger run. Bert seemed pleased with that news. It was the rest of
the day that was the problem. There were many little things that Hank
did around the bank that nobody had paid much attention to. He’d become
just like the woodwork. Hobie suggested that we do an immediate survey
of each of the department managers and supervisors to get a handle on it
and we’d meet again just before noon. I won’t call the list exhaustive
but it did fill a legal size yellow pad. To all of us it was eye
opening. We quickly prioritized it to get through the rest of the day
and to cover opening the doors on Monday. Being in charge of personnel I
was told to try and locate a replacement ASAP.
With my
morning taken up with things pertaining to Hank I didn’t think much
about Moira or Laura. The continuing unseasonal warm weather triggered a thunder storm just as I was to leave for lunch so I passed on it. I decided to go upstairs to speak to J J
concerning the priorities he’d listed. I didn’t agree with some of them
and when I told him that if they were all that important then he might
end up having to do them himself like Bret and I were doing. He gave me
one of those “are you kidding me looks“ indicating that it would be
beneath him to do something normally done by a lowly
messenger/custodian. When he flashed that look at me I walked out of his office. He
called me back but I ignored him. I stood just outside and
surveyed the work area and didn’t see Joanie. I went over to J J’s
secretary, Lynne, and asked about her. She said she'd called in sick, the news of
which triggered my mind back to Laura and the panties. It was the
opportunity I’d been looking for to get the box of panties to Laura
without Joanie seeing me do it. At least there was one good thing
happening that day.
Being on the second floor and
having my mind temporarily off the ‘Hank’ crisis I thought of Moira. I’d
been so busy in meetings and the like that I’d missed her coming in. I
walked to the back, peered into her work area and saw her busily
entering numbers into an adding machine. I was taken by the fact that
the savings area was soon to be connected to a computer that would
generate all kinds of useful information in a matter of seconds and here
was Moira plugging away at an adding machine to generate but one single
answer. She saw me and the smile that crossed her face was the only
answer I needed. I waved and turned to leave when she called out for me
to please wait. I stopped and she was right there facing me in seconds.
She said she’d come in late to work because Gee, the bank Trustee who
was also an attorney, had called her at home to tell her he had some
interesting and potentially good news and he’d asked her to go to his
office the first thing. I truly wanted to hear what it was but told her
it’d have to be later as I had to finish up adjusting for Hank’s death.
She
looked shocked and I remember her repeating ”death“ in the form of a
question. By coming in late all the ‘chatter” about his passing had
calmed down and she was unaware of it. I remembered that she and Hank
had ‘bonded’ a bit in that Hank had lived in the city somewhere near
where Moira had lived as a girl. I’d overheard him call her “Brooksie”
when letting her in a time or two referring to Brooklyn where she’d
been born.
Bret had assumed the afternoon messenger
run and I made the trip up to our correspondent bank with the days
deposited checks. Both of us had forgotten that Hank would make sure the
deposit and withdrawal slip holders were filled and that the public
restroom had paper towels and toilet paper. We were reminded by customer
complaints. By 4pm I finally got a chance to look at the application
for employment files. There was one interesting application, at least on
paper. They guy had just retired as an over the road truck driver. I
didn’t recognize his name but gave the application to Trish to call to
have him come in.
After dropping the form on her desk I
saw Laura alone at hers. I walked up and asked if she’d heard from
Joanie telling her that I’d heard that she was sick. That brought a
smile to her face and she quickly looked around to see if anyone had
heard me or seen her face. I just smiled back at her but quickly let her
know I had a “package” for her. She nodded indicating she understood. I offered to give her ride to Joanie's and when she accepted I knew that mission would be completed.
To be continued...
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