MAYHEM IN MAY... life goes on (Part 159j)

MAYHEM IN MAY… life goes on (Part 159j)

The only thing worse than going to work on a Monday morning is to have your secretary tell you, before you even reach your desk, that the president wants to see you. It took a few seconds for that to sink in but when climbing the stairs it came to me that it wasn’t even 9am… and Bert almost never arrived before 9:15am. Hobie wasn’t there to at least give me an idea what I was facing. I walked up to the door to his office with an open, but wary, mind. I’ve described Bert before, and he was, by nature, a very calm and sincere individual. Walking in I could see he had a very different look on his face. He wasted no time telling me that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees had suffered a stroke and was in ICU at the hospital. Naturally, my first reaction was concern for the man and his family. Past that I wondered why I was summoned. There was nothing for me to say so I just stood there like a statue waiting for his next words. But his phone rang and when it did he waved his hand to dismiss me. As a junior officer I seldom had any contact with the chairman. I couldn’t quite connect why Bert had felt the need to single me out for the news.

It didn’t take long for the general business of the day to take my mind off of the ailing chairman. Trish handed me a couple of notes with one being from the Xerox office. It told me that a Kelcy would be there to see me around 10am. I’d had in mind to go check out what space was available after the 3M machine was removed. It was located in just about the most inconvenient space in the whole bank… a small room that held most of the working file cabinets for the accounting department… and where Moira had been relegated to work. I’d had little contact with her for a while and assumed things were going well for her. As soon as I appeared in the doorway she looked up and smiled. Even though I didn’t want to I asked and got way more information than I wanted. I can’t say I didn’t care because I really did. I’d invested a fair amount of time trying to help her out so in spite of the pressure of time before Kelcy (I didn’t know if it was male or female) showed up I stood there and listened.

Basically, Gee (the Trustee/attorney) had been able to track her husband down and had filed papers on her behalf for a divorce. There was a fair chance that he might co-operate. The big thing she was hoping for was that she’d get some money back from the house they’d bought and found they never got the title to it. One thing I got from the conversation was in seeing her with an ‘easy’ smile. She really was an attractive woman but with all her trials and tribulations it seldom showed. I finally had to excuse myself without garnering the information it needed about space for the Xerox.

Kelcy was female… definitely female! It was good thing I’d seen her walking across the lobby before she showed up at my desk or I would've embarrassed myself. Definitely ‘with it’ as far as dress (white blouse with lace around the collar and a light gray pencil skirt) and appearance was concerned. She stuck out her hand and I wasn’t expecting the grip I got. Her long brown hair was all draped over one shoulder and covered one of her breasts. Big green eyes with what we now call ‘pouty’ lips finished off what I called “the city look”. When she spoke her first words I did a bit of a ‘double take’. Her voice was deeper than a lot of the males I knew. It didn’t take long to figure out she knew her ‘stuff’. However, I couldn’t answer her most important questions about the type and volume of copies the bank made. That made it difficult. I got a quick education on types of machines and features. After a short while I could see she was getting frustrated with me. To put an end to it I asked if it were possible to lease a small one just to get us started and then to move a larger one if the volume showed it necessary.

I don’t know if it was that she wanted to help me out or that she was ‘under the gun’ to get a contract signed but she said she’d work something out. She left to get some paperwork from her car and when she returned put a fair sized leather case on the floor and, still standing, proceeded to bend over and rifle through some folders. Her backside was facing Bret and I happened to catch him looking at it. Then, when he saw me he bugged his eyes out to let me know he’d had a good view. There was nothing I could do to catch a glimpse so just sat and waited for her to come up the the contract papers.

Because it wasn’t a standard Xerox contract she had to make a number of calls to her office for clearance. Bret had left his desk so I told her to sit in his chair and use his phone. I was reading the lease papers when I heard her call my name. I looked up and saw her start to spin the chair around and when she did she put one foot on the floor and pushed off with it. When she did I saw the ‘magic triangle’. It was for only a second but I immediately felt that I’d done better than Bret had with his view.

What I ended up signing was a ‘provisional’ contract. I’d never heard of one before but Kelcy told me it had to be approved by Xerox lawyers. I heard the noon siren as Kelcy started putting all her things back in her case. When I saw her start to bend over I made sure I got at least a bit of a look myself. The best description I can give is that I was looking at a nice, tight package even if I couldn't discern a panty line. As I watched her walk across the lobby floor for the back door Trish got my eye and made a face. Caught!

When Bret got back from lunch we compared notes. He thought he was the 'winner' until I told him of the 'magic triangle'... and the final look I had. But, we both smiled as Trish shook her finger at us.

To be continued…