MAKING PROGRESS… of sorts (Part 172ee)
By the time I got to
Mattie and Martha’s, Kaye, the youngest was asleep. I hated to wake her
up but I knew there was no way I could carry her and get through the
opening in the hedge without waking her up. Being that it was dark, Mattie volunteered to go
with the other two. I thanked her again and focused on getting them all ready for bed. With them headed for their grandmother’s in the morning until Elle got back home I
had to get clothes ready to go with them. While doing it, Jean, the
oldest wanted to know if she could go to see her mother. Writing this
today, it’s hard to remember that back in those days hospitals had some
very stringent rules as to visitations (strict hours and no minors) and
very limited telephone access to and from the patients. When I told her they wouldn't allow it she asked about calling her. All calls coming
in had to go through a PBX switchboard and an operator like we had
at the bank when I started. Outgoing calls were limited to just a few
lines and sometimes the patients had to wait to get one. So, I told her
we’d try. It was obvious she was concerned.
Thursday was pretty
much of a ‘blur’ highlighted by the fact it was the first day of the
'busy period
. It started off badly with a call from Trish saying that
she’d be in late. She, from time to time, had to battle migrane
headaches and they were usually in conjunction with her period. She had
special medication that required her to rest for a few hours in darkness
after taking it. With her out it put a real burden on Bret and I. The
one incident that I remember, vividly, was when one of the local
attorneys came in to get some information for one of his clients. The
attorney told me that Trish had been working on collecting deposit
information for him. With Trish out and being the only one with
knowledge on the matter put me in a bit of bind. The only thing I could
think of was to go through the drawers of her desk. I hated doing that
but I also knew the influence that the attorney wielded so started in by
opening the top right hand drawer. I knew from having watched her clear
her desk at night that was where she put her current projects. When I
opened the drawer I saw a file folder with the name of the lawyer’s
client written on it. I reached in to pull it out and knew immediately
that I'd pulled something cloth like along with it. I put the folder on the desk
and immediately saw that what I’d also grabbed was a pair of panties.
Trish
was a bit of an enigma to me and had been since I started with the
bank. It took a bit of time to ‘win her over’ which when it happened proved beneficial to
me from a work standpoint. She had also baffled me with her ability to
keep me from getting panty peeks… or even VPL’s. She was not pretty by
any means but far from ugly. From time to time I’d seriously wondered if
I’d ever get a chance to see anything of interest. Never did I ever
even think of not only seeing a pair of her panties but touching them as
well. However, this was not the time or place to dwell on it. I
quickly swept the panties back into the drawer and closed it, returning
to my desk and the attorney. I showed him what Trish had managed to
pull out and he was pleased saying it was exactly what he needed. He did
ask a question I couldn’t answer and that was when could he expect the
rest. I explained about Trish’s absence and that it was the first day of
the ‘busy period’. I remember him trying to pin me down saying he needed
it by July first. I remember standing up and shaking his hand, trying
to encourage him to leave. I wanted to get back over to Trish’s desk
drawer. I had no idea when, or if, Trish would appear and I wanted to
get a close look at those panties. I waited until Bret went to one of
the tellers before I slipped into her seat. I opened the drawer and
grabbed the little pile of white material that was right there. I pulled
them out and almost choked when I saw something white right under them.
I leaned over and saw the waistband elastic of another pair of panties.
As it turned out that was a very good thing.
From her desk I
headed right for the bathroom that was right there. The only problem
with that was the light in there was very poor. It was so poor that if
you took something in with you to read it was almost impossible to make
out what it was. In any case, the panties weren’t nylon which surprised
me. The material was synthetic but seemed a little coarse. The waist
elastic was one I wasn’t familiar with which added to the intrigue. The
label was located in the middle of the back just like the Carter’s
Spanky Pants that Elle used for her ‘package’ at night. I had a hard
time reading the maker but finally made out one word… Sears. I was
really nervous about getting them back into the desk drawer and on my
way remembered the other pair still in the drawer. The panties in my
hand were all scrunched up and I realized I had to try and fold them up
so Trish wouldn’t know they’d been touched. Bret was back at his desk
and I was sure he’d ask what I was doing but I didn’t have any choice. I
reached in and took a quick look at how the other one was folded. With the panties in my lap but under the knee hole I tried to fold them
somewhat the same way and then put them both back… and took a deep
breath. Trish arrived before noon and as far as I could tell never saw
that the panties had been touched. The whole thing left me wondering why they were there in the first place.
As I remember it (my Day Timer
entries were very cryptic for that day) Lynda, from the stock broker’s
office called early that afternoon. As I’ve said any number of times in
these posts, “timing is everything”… and her timing wasn’t the best.
Cheerful, as usual, she had a message from Stan, her boss and my broker.
I had a small position in a paper company and he thought it was time to
get out of it. I hated doing something without doing research or
getting a reason so asked why. She, not realizing how busy I was, told
me to come on over. I reacted in a way I regretted… telling her I was
way too busy for that. The next thing I heard was the click of the
receiver being hung up. That was something I sincerely didn’t want
happening so made a point of planning to squeeze in a few minutes to visit
and apologize after 3pm.
I tried calling Elle once in the
morning but her roommate said she’d been taken by the nurses to have a
procedure performed. I knew she was to have it so wasn’t worried. When I
tried again in the afternoon the roommate said she was asleep. At least
I had a witness to stand up for me for later when I showed up and she’d
ask why I didn’t call. While at it I managed to call the Florist and
had them make up a bouquet for me to pick up and take that evening. he whole day had been just one thing after another and when it was time to lock the vault
Bret and I couldn’t get the secondary lock pin to engage. That was the
exclamation point for the day. On my way home I stopped over to the broker’s office and
apologized to Lynda. I wasn’t going to tell her about losing the baby
but I had to have some reason for why I’d been so ’short’ with her. I
got a typical female response even though she didn’t know Elle, saying
that she hoped that it wouldn’t be a problem for us going forward. I
didn’t dare tell her that I was already over it or she would’ve been
really upset with me. The end result was I told her to go ahead and sell
the stock she'd called me about. Then, it was on to the Florist and to the hospital.
To be continued…
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