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

AUTUMN... now the changes (Part143f)

With all the disruption caused by Hank’s passing I’d managed to forget about Hobie’s reaction to the new branch floor plans. Being a Friday it meant that the bank was open until 6pm. Hobie had agreed to stay to take care of customers while Bret and I did the chores usually taken care of by Hank. His staying meant I’d have a chance to ask about the branch but only after I made the last deposit of checks at our local correspondent bank. It had ended up being up to me for that job since Bret didn’t have a car at work. The warm weather was still lingering but and just before 5pm there was thunder storm. Even though I was going to drive to the other bank I still had to get to my car and the rain was coming down ‘in buckets’. I waited in the vestibule for a while hoping for it to let up before making a run to the car. I waited as some of the employees who weren’t working until 6pm also gathered there. One of them was Laura. I knew that on most days she and Joanie would walk both to and from work and when it rained they’d get a lift from Trish. However, Trish always stayed late when Hobie did so Laura was facing a walk in the rain. As some of the others decided to brave the rain to get to their cars I decided to join them. Recognizing the opportunity to be with Laura without Joanie around I offered to give her a ride.

It took less than ten minutes to get to Joanie’s house. I was anxious to transfer the package with the panties to Laura and to go over what she was to say if Joanie asked where she’d gotten them. As I did I also made sure she still had the catalog to go along with the ‘story’. At Joanie’s, Laura stayed in the car while I retrieved the box from the trunk. After handing it to her I made the comment that I hoped Joanie felt better for the weekend. That brought a big, impish smile to her face. I picked up on it right away and pressed her on what was so funny. Almost laughing, she explained that Joanie wasn’t sick but was with her boyfriend. He’d just gotten home from basic training in the Army and she wanted to be with him. The news was a bit of a shock because I had no idea that she even had a boyfriend.

Back at the bank Bret had restocked everything so it was good to go for the opening on Monday. Hobie was at his desk and didn’t appear to be busy so I grabbed the opportunity to ask about the branch floor plans. He gave me a look that sort of told me that they were going to be a problem but didn’t say anything. Not wanting to be too bold I asked if there was any chance to get a look at the plans. He hesitated at first but then told me they were still on the table in the Board room. As I started to walk away he cautioned me by saying that the Board members had voted to go ahead with them just as they were with no changes. That sounded ominous to me.

My first glance at the floor plan told me it was a disaster. I knew there had to be some compromises because of the odd size plot the branch would be built on but from an operations standpoint it made no sense. The thing that stood out was that the vault could only be entered through the lobby. I’d only been in banking for a short time but in that time I’d been in a fair number of branch banks and never seen one that the vault wasn’t located in the secured work area. After seeing that I headed back downstairs to discuss it with Hobie. The only thing was that he (and Trish) were gone. I caught up with Bret and he said he told Hobie he would finish up allowing Hobie to leave. I was pretty upset because of the absurdity of the vault location. I really wanted to find out if Hobie was right in saying that no changes were planned but he’d gone. Once I told Bret about it he made the trip to the Board room to see it with his own eyes. When he returned he was shaking his head from side to side in disbelief.
  
The rain had let up and the sky was starting to clear as I approached the back door to leave for home. I was just about there when I saw Moira approaching from the rear stairway. It was just around 5:30pm. Upon seeing me she motioned for me to follow her over to one of the lobby benches. I then remembered that I’d indicated to her earlier that I’d get back to her on the news that Gee had given her. I remember looking at my watch and hoping that it wouldn’t take too long for her to tell me.

In truth, I didn’t really understand all of what she ended up telling me and part of it was because she didn’t understand what Gee had told her. The short version was that she could get out of continuing to pay the mortgage on her house because of a number of improper actions taken by the seller, the bank who’d held the mortgage on it and the bank who’d issued the mortgage to her and her husband. There was a very good chance that she wouldn’t get much, if anything, back on the monies that had been paid on that mortgage and she and her husband would have to sue, jointly, to get any of their down payment money back from the seller. That was the good news. The bad news was that she’d have to move out within 10 days of Gee filing legal papers on her behalf. But, as she was telling me all of this, it was clear to see she was relieved at the possibility of being out from under the burden of the mortgage. Naturally, I congratulated her which, in turn, brought some tears as she thanked me for introducing her to Gee. I hated tears (and still do).

Because she was in an emotional state I felt it best not to ask if she’d thought about where she might end up living. The thought was two fold... the first being that I was concerned about her and her kids and the second, not wanting to lose what was turning out to be a very good employee. I didn’t want to drag this chat out any longer because we were out in the lobby and customers were both coming and going by. I don’t remember what I said to end it though but I do remember thinking about it on the way home. I hoped that I’d shown enough concern  so as not to have her think I didn’t care.

To be continued...