ANOTHER YEAR... with new adventures (Part 151l)

ANOTHER YEAR... new adventures (Part 151l)

One thing that Elle really disliked was having the phone ring while eating. With it being after 6pm the girls had already eaten and it was just Elle and I. We allowed the girls to answer the phone and had taught them how to do it politely. The problem was the two oldest would race to get to the phone first. So, when it rang that night the last person I expected it to be was Hobie. Jean came to get me and when she told me who it was she used his surname, just as she was instructed to do, but it took me a few seconds for it to register.

My first reaction was that something had happened at the bank. His opening words were to apologize for cutting me short. He told me he didn’t want to take me away from my family and asked me to meet him in the Board room at 8:30am. I already knew that he had to have been upset about something that had happened in the meeting but didn’t think it concerned me. Now, with this call, I wasn’t sure. I tried to think of what it might have been. Random thoughts populated my thoughts for the rest of the evening. Elle, who continued to be in a good mood, picked up on it but didn’t make an issue of it.

It was a restless sleep for me and I was up well before the alarm went off. I was at the bank even before the scheduled time but noticed Hobie’s car was also there. Since it was prior to 8:30am, Mike wasn’t there to let me in. Once inside I headed up the back stairs and into the Board room. I found Hobie standing by the window looking out to the back parking lot. Before I could say anything he commented that by Monday we should have all our parking spaces back. I went to the window and saw he was looking at what was left of the pile of snow that had been plowed from the lot. He quickly turned towards the table and pointed at a chair indicating he wanted me to sit. I remember taking a deep breath.

As important as what he had to tell me was I really can’t remember the exact words he used. Basically, what he said was that the Board had approved the hiring of a manager for the new branch. He was still talking as I was trying to understand why they would do that when the earliest the branch would open was five and a half months away. With my mind on that thought I missed the first part of the next thing he had to say. I did pick up that he would be starting at the end of the month. The next thought was on just where he’d sit. Thinking of how the desks on the platform were placed I couldn’t visualize another one being added as Bret, Hobie and I barely had enough room to wait on customers. But Hobie wasn’t done and he continued on by saying that the guy would be joining the bank as an officer. That news took me back to when I was hired and the fact that I had to go through a probationary period before being promoted. By then I had a lot of questions and as soon as I started he got defensive. Without letting me finish even my first one he stated, rather firmly, that he was not a party to any of the decision making concerning his hire. The branch sub committee had done the interviewing, made the choice and the person was presented to the whole Board. I knew him well enough to be able to recognize he wasn’t all that pleased with the way it had been handled but kept quiet. He finished up by asking me to have patience and to see how it all worked out. Before leaving he gave me the task of figuring out how to get another desk on the officer’s platform. I don’t really know how long I sat there before going downstairs to my desk. My head was spinning.

Hobie hadn’t told me not to say anything about the new person. Since he’d be located with Hobie, Bret and me I went right to Bret. He wasn’t quite as concerned as I until I told him that he would be sharing space on the platform. That did get his attention. I told him about having to figure out a location for another desk and he volunteered to come up with some ideas. I liked that because he was continuing to show initiative.

One of the things that I’d taken to doing was proof reading the minutes of the Board meetings after Trish typed them up. It was to not only help her but also a way for me to keep up with the ‘inner workings’ of the bank. I hadn’t seen the ones for the special meeting from the week before so asked her about it. She said Bert, the president, wanted to do it and she hadn’t seen them since giving them to him. I asked about the previous day’s minutes and was told Hobie hadn’t yet dictated them to her. Those were actually the minutes I wanted to see.

By Friday afternoon Bret had concluded that there was no way to add another desk. However, with a stroke of luck we stumbled on a place for another desk... under the stairs to the second floor. We laid out some yardsticks we used as give-aways to simulate the space a desk and chairs would occupy and felt it had possibilities. We located Hobie and as soon as I saw him blurted out that ”we found a place for the new guy“. I could see he didn’t take too kindly to way I phrased it but followed us to the stairs. After looking it over he totally surprised us by saying he’d move over to it. I had to ask why and his answer was something like ”he’s going to be here to work, not hidden away“. I got the message. Then he said he’d go across the street to the office supply store to pick out a desk and chairs on Monday.

It was my Friday to work late but before she left for the day Trish managed to slip a message to me. It told me to wait until everyone was gone and then go check her pending file. As I’ve written before, Trish and I were pretty much ‘in sync’ so I knew it was important. The hard part was waiting until after 6pm. After I made a complete ‘sweep’ of the building I made my way to her desk. Under the typewriter return was a pull out that had three trays. The top one was for things she had yet to type. Positive that there was no one there but me, I pulled the tray out and right there on top was the draft of the minutes from Wednesday’s meeting. I scanned the pages and on the third one I found the reason why she’d given me the note.

To be continued...