MORE SUMMER HEAT... lots of it (Part 162u)

MORE SUMMER HEAT… lots of it (Part 162u)

I can’t say I was holding my breath waiting to hear what she wanted to talk with me about… but I surely wasn’t comfortable. She asked where my wife was and that was a bit of relief. I didn’t really know and had to look around to find her. I saw she was with a few of the other ‘wannabe’ racers on the porch of the club. Some of the top skippers were talking with them so pointed her in that direction… breathing a sigh of relief as she turned to walk away. But, I took advantage of that to study her a little bit. Thin and not really pretty but with a bit of a figure, she was worth a closer look. I couldn’t see a VPL or anything interesting but she was certainly worth a second look. I watched as she walked up to Elle and wondered just what she wanted from her. I had to get back to rigging the boat so let the thought pass.

It wasn’t until the lessons were over and we were putting our Sunfish away that I was able to ask Elle what it was that the woman wanted. I breathed easier when she said we’d been invited to her house for dessert as a thank you for feeding her daughter Edna. Our whole family was invited and she and Elle had settled on the next evening. I couldn’t think of anything I had going on but was a little upset that Elle hadn’t asked me first. I didn’t say anything trying to preserve the ‘good will’ I’d established by agreeing to get the new furniture. I’d been so busy in putting our Sunfish away I hadn’t really focused on Elle and it wasn’t until we were back home that I realized that Elle’s shorts were wet. It wasn’t just her crotch area but they were wet almost to her waist. When I saw it I pretty much knew what had happened. When we left for the club it was around 6pm and it was now close to 9:30pm. She’d been out on the water for almost two hours and with the toilets inside the club still not working… well, that explained it. All I could so was smile… and wait until the girls were asleep. And, it turned out my good fortune was holding up as she was more than willing to provide for some wet play before the ‘main attraction’. However, this time we made sure she was prepared for sleeping when we finished.

In the morning Hobie’s car was in it’s parking place when I pulled in to mine… a rare occurrence. As soon as I walked in the door he was there and he proceeded to tell me of his meeting with J J. Not that I would’ve, but he told me not generate a conversation with him about Joanie’s move. He told me to provide J J with acceptable applications that morning and added that J J was told to begin interviewing right away as he’d only have Joanie for two more weeks. I know that in my mind I breathed a sigh of relief. By doing that Hobie had taken the burden off me as far as J J was concerned. But, in my mind I knew J J would know I had a part in it and wondered what would be in store. Hobie then called all the first floor employees together at the foot of the stairs and announced the promotion for Trish. I made a point of watching Lorie’s expression and got what I expected… a big smile. She threw a thumbs up in her direction as an added reaction.

I had Trish take the application file upstairs right after I saw J J walk across the lobby. I made sure she had the application of the girl I’d liked when she was working on the new account campaign right on top and asked her to remind J J of the fact that she’d worked there in the lobby in early July . My reason was that the girl was somewhat attractive and that was always something J J noticed. I made sure to ask Trish what J J’s reaction was and she just shrugged her shoulders. She did add that in general, he didn’t appear to be too happy. I was biting my tongue to keep from smiling. Next, I asked her to find an excuse to chat with Joanie sometime during the morning and to report back to me. I was almost 100% positive she’d be pleased as she’d told me months earlier her goal was to have a job that she could count on as being totally hers.

Reluctantly, I made a trip to the branch to make final arrangements in shutting down the gift campaign. I contacted Morris with the numbers of each gift that were remaining and because the staff had broken open a couple of cartons they couldn’t be returned. I had the numbers as reported by Betsy but I could tell there was some confusion when it came to what I wanted from them. Lobby traffic was slow so I figured two hours wouldn’t hurt. I waited until Bret and Trish were both back from lunch before leaving. Rita, the ‘odd man out’ as far as the branch tellers were concerned had been told that her last day would be August 2nd and I also wanted to have a one on one with her as well. My only concern was what would happen when I spoke with Jerry.

Call me a ‘chicken’ for my decision to avoid Jerry after arriving at the branch but I decided not to get myself all worked up. Things were going well at home, at the main office and at the stock brokerage and I wanted it to continue. I confirmed the numbers for returnable gifts and had a few private minutes with Rita. She, as expected, wanted to know “Why me?” The truth is always the easiest to tell and for her it was purely dollars. I told her that I would keep her in mind if anything changed. She just gave me a weak smile and then I left.

At home we ate supper and then told the girls we were going to visit Edna and her parents. The older two remembered her but weren’t really interested in going. We told them it was the polite thing to do and that we expected them to be nice and polite. Pulling up their driveway I was surprised at what I saw before me. It had been stormy the only time I’d been there and getting out of the rain had been a priority. Now, with the sun out I could grasp the enormity of the house and property. Ed came out to greet us and took us to the front door for our entrance into the house. Going inside was an experience in itself. High ceilings with what I called ‘gingerbread’ for crown mouldings. There was a lot of dark, carved wooden trim and a curved staircase. Very Victorian. I felt I was stepping back in time. I’d never been introduced to Ed’s wife and that was quickly remedied when she came down the stairs. Dressed up she was better looking than I’d thought. Her name was Ellen and, much to my delight, she was wearing a pair of white slacks.  There was nothing for me to see as she approached me but when she reached the bottom of the stairs and led us into the dining room I got what I could only have dreamed about. There’s a name for the material her pants were made of and for the life of me I can’t remember it but a VPL loving voyeur like me would make it mandatory for all white pants to be made out of it. In watching her stride into the room it was like she was wearing tissue paper. There definitely was a reason for my hand to be in my pocket. Edna, her daughter, joined us a few minutes later and immediately took command of our kids. Leading them into the kitchen to make home made ice cream I knew we wouldn’t have to worry about them and could concentrate on learning more about Ed and Ellen. After watching her for just a few minutes I was looking forward to it.

To be continued…