FINISHING OUT THE YEAR... Gina (Part 144f)

FINISHING OUT THE YEAR... Gina (cont.) (Part 144f)

If it had been me to ask for the meeting I knew what I was going to say/ask. But, with Gina being the one to suggest it I didn’t know what to expect so that was another problem. I wrestled with how to meet with Gina that wouldn’t raise any questions. I knew the place... the bowling alley located on Gina's way home. The next part was harder. In bed one night I came up with the idea of taking half a day off on her last day to get me out of the bank. Since the it was open to 6pm on Fridays we’d usually let the tellers not on duty leave a little before the normal 5pm. Since Gina was leaving for good I knew her cash would be counted by either Liz, the auditor, or by her assistant, Laura. Once that was done she’d be free to go. Once I explained my plan to Gina she was all for it.

I killed the time from 1pm to 4pm by touching base with some of the people in town that I knew but hadn’t kept up with after Elle and I bought our house. One of the people I stopped in to see was Johnny, the appliance store owner who I’d come to know when I was doing light maintenance at the mobile home park when we lived there. In chatting he asked if I knew anyone who had old Lionel model trains. I did... it was me.  I spent an hour with him and left with a promise that he’d look mine over and offer me a fair price for them. After we bought our house and had a place to set them up I'd asked my girls if they were interested and the answer was, as expected. “No”. So... my afternoon was off to a good start with the possibility of getting some unexpected money. I spent some time at the stock brokers office as well. I hadn’t been there all that much over the last few months so renewed friendships and got some investment materials to read. I started getting a bit nervous as 4pm approached and headed for the alleys. At 4pm, business there was almost non existent. I knew the owner, Henry, fairly well so chatted with him only to find out he’d sold the place and was moving to Florida after the first of the year. I’d known the guy from back when I was still training and racing horses as he owned a few himself. He asked if I was interested in his collection of racing year books. I don’t know why I said yes but I did. We set a day for me to stop by his house to pick them up and almost right after that in walked Gina. I remember making up some story as to why I was meeting her there and got sort of a ‘knowing’ smile from him in return.

Gina seemed serious right from the moment she walked in. I didn’t know what to make of that so tried to be as calm and natural as I could. It was obvious she was very nervous so I didn’t ‘push’ her and let the conversation build. It meandered at the beginning but finally picked up some direction. She, still serious, wanted to know, honestly, why I’d hired her since she was carrying so much “baggage” at the time. The only answer I could give her was the truth and it was that I felt, in my heart, that she was a nice person. I added that she had relevant money handling experience and that helped but it was my ‘gut feeing’ that was the decision maker. I’ve written any number of times that I don’t handle tears from a female well and I didn’t this time either. But once she started she couldn’t stop. What made it more difficult was that she was trying to talk at the same time. I was able to get the gist of what she was trying to say and that was that I was a very unique individual and that she was a better person having worked with me. In spite of the awkwardness of the location and situation I picked up on one specific thing that she uttered... “worked WITH me”. I won’t deny that it ‘moved’ me.

I thought it was about over when she got herself together and dried the tears. I was going to give my somewhat prepared speech but before I could she leaned forward and put her hand on my arm. She had a big smile by then and said she just had to ask me about being a “panty man“. I immediately remembered back to Election Day when she’d come in to work to enter name and addresses and how she caught me peeking at her panties when her Farmer John pants buttons had come undone. She’d made reference to talking about my being a ”panty man“ back then and wanted to discuss it. It didn’t happen but here the subject was again. I know I was embarrassed, especially after she’d just heaped praise on me. I think I just shrugged my shoulders and waited for the question(s).

I truly wish I had my Day Timer to refer to now. We probably spent a half hour talking with me answering questions and throwing a couple her way now and then. One of hers included wanting to know if I’d been caught peeking by others in the past and what had happened. Another was if my wife knew of my ‘interest’. I told her about how Elle indulged me (but without the wetting). I don’t remember how the subject of bikini panties came up but I do remember making a point of my preference for the full brief panties. I also remember her making the comment that she used to wear them but she felt so much ”sexier“ wearing the bikini type. By then it was obvious that we’d become comfortable with the discussion and all vestiges of embarrassment were gone. I also remember asking when did she change over to them and she hesitated a bit before giving me her answer of it being five or six years. She quickly added that there were ”days“ where she still would wear the briefs. When she mentioned that her face displayed that ‘knowing’ smile that would appear every so often.

It was after 5pm by then and time for her to be getting on home. As we got up she made a statement that came out of nowhere... ”I had a boyfriend who liked brief panties too“. I didn’t know what to do with it so kept my mouth shut. Outside and standing by our cars she put her bag down and wrapped her arms around me. I wasn’t prepared for it and stumbled a bit. She, actually, kept me from falling. I, gingerly, put my arms around her to give a hug back. It didn’t last for long though and as she stepped back she said one last thing... ”I owe you so much and I don’t know how to repay you." I think I made a half-hearted attempt at a smile and told her “Good luck!”.

EPILOG:

Part 1) In the early part of the new year I got a letter addressed to me at the bank with no return address and the stamp was hand franked so I had no idea where it came from. Opening it I wasn’t sure what was inside because there was a piece of heavy formal writing paper all folded up. I opened a couple of folds and saw there was a photo inside. The image took my breath away.
                           

Gina at about age 18

I recognized that it was Gina but it was obvious that she was much younger when it was taken. I turned the picture over and saw a pencil notation that I couldn’t read. But, there was also date... June 1957. I knew she was 28 years old so that meant she was 18 if the date on the picture was correct. Holding it in my hand I wondered what had prompted her to send it to me. With Bret at his desk I had to hide it away. As I pushed the envelope and paper that it came in into the waste basket I thought I saw some markings on it. I’d not opened the paper up after seeing there was a picture so pulled it back out. There was a short note... “For the panty man. Thanks for everything!” with the word “everything” underlined and signed “Gina”. That’s when I ‘got it’ and understood the meaning of the picture with her wearing full brief panties.

Part 2) After that I only saw Gina once more. I talked with some of the officers at her new bank and was told she fit right in. After about a year she became engaged and eventually got married again and had another child. I could only hope that she was truly happy.

Be looking for "Barbara", coming soon...