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

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

You could call it a standoff. I’d told Elle the truth with no embellishments or omissions. In my mind it was up to her to make a move. I don’t really know how long I stood there but eventually she spoke to tell me to take the towels back down to the washing machine and run them through the rinse cycle. By the time I returned she was gone. I could see a light was on in our bedroom but it was way too early for bed for me so I stayed down and watched TV. I ended up falling asleep. When I woke I had no idea what was showing on the screen so headed up the stairs wondering where I stood in Elle’s eyes. I had to wait until morning to find out.

She was up and out of bed before I woke up and was in the process of getting dressed. Seeing me awake she asked if I could oversee getting the girls out to the bus on time. The first thing I noticed was that her voice no longer had the hard ‘edge’ to it and it was a far cry from what it had been. I looked at the clock and saw it wasn’t even 7:30am so asked where she was going. In a matter of fact way she said she had to be to school to get the paperwork done so she’d get credit towards her retirement and to get the information on a new student assigned to her class. As she started down the stairs she asked, with a bit of a sneer, what I was going to do with the panties. I don’t know if she asked it as a kind of ‘trap’ but my answer sort of covered me when I said I didn’t know but that we ( and I did use we) could mail them back to her. That answer brought forth a second question... what about her own panties. There was no hesitation when I told her that Gracie told me she’d wash them and mail them back. With that, Elle disappeared down the stairs. At that point I had a lot to do in a short time so never even got to see Elle leave. I rationalized that the situation was at least better than it had been when I got home the night before.

Gracie’s panties had ended up on the floor so I picked them up. They were exactly the same as the ones I’d taken from her basement. Dry by then, I took a sniff and could smell the scent of the hand soap from the bathroom. I figured they were clean enough to mail so folded them up to take with me to work. I had to hustle to get the older girls outside for the bus. Kaye was a great dawdler and was true to form. By the time I left the house it was after 8am and I knew I’d get to work later than I wanted.

At least the crowd of customers at the back door was much reduced which gave me hope that the day would be a relatively smooth one. By 9:15am there were lines at the teller's windows, but manageable. Since we were still getting customers in who were experiencing the on-line service for the first time we were still barraged with questions. By then, though, the tellers had pretty much mastered the answers. Alice was back at her window and Peggy was back at the drive-up. I made a point of commenting on how well she’d done while filling in for Alice the previous day. I’d made special note of it for when I’d need a replacement on the lobby side. I was talking with her when Trish walked up saying that Hobie wanted to see me and right away. I’d seen him right after he arrived and we’d made ‘small talk’ for a minute or two. As I walked back to me desk I wondered what was so important. He met me half way and indicated he wanted me to follow him. We rode the elevator to the second floor and then headed for the president's office. As soon as we walked in he closed the door. I knew this wasn’t a good sign.

Bert wanted to know if either of us had heard the local news that morning. As I’ve previously written, I didn’t listen to the local station. When Hobie said he hadn’t either Bert told us that they were reporting that we were having “difficulties” with new equipment and that there was a chance that the numbers the depositors were having posted to the passbooks was wrong. I know my jaw dropped open when I heard it but he went on. He said it was also reported that because of it people were withdrawing their money. I’d not briefed Hobie on my run-in with the station owner’s wife nor the conversation with the reporter/announcer so he was unaware of it and upon hearing Bert I knew that it was directly related.

All I could do was explain what had happened. I brought up the fact that the bank’s relationship with the owner’s wife had been confrontational for a while and that she was hard to deal with. She'd left in a 'huff' and soon after I ended up having a conversation with the reporter/announcer from the station. I stressed that in my conversation with him he told me he'd report only facts. I told them that I’d gone over our whole on-line process and explained the problems customers had been having understanding it. I couldn’t ‘read’ either Bert of Hobie and was extremely  uncomfortable. Hobie confirmed that the woman was difficult so I felt a little better. Bert asked Hobie if he knew the radio station owner saying that he only casually knew him. Before he could answer Bert told me I could leave.

Arriving back at my desk more than a bit concerned, Trish told me to contact the retirement system people. I know it’s hard to believe but I’d actually forgotten that all the employees were to get back the money they’d paid in. For accounting and tax reasons it had been deferred until after the first of the year. I hadn’t talked with the lady who handled our account for quite a while. We’d hit it off well right from the start so hearing her very pleasant voice took my mind off the current crisis. She was calling to say that all the paperwork from their end had been completed and she had the dollar amount that each employee was entitled to. Selfishly, I wanted to ask what I’d be getting back... but didn’t. She said the information would be mailed out that afternoon. After hanging up I felt great and completely forgetting about what was transpiring upstairs. It had been weeks since I’d thought about it. It made me think about Elle’s and my 10th wedding anniversary that was coming up in the Fall. I was hoping it would be enough money to be the basis for a special trip. I’d not mentioned anything about it to Elle because I wanted to surprise her. Now, I couldn’t wait to find out just how much money it was.

To be continued...