SUMMER HEAT... so much going on (Part 161i)

SUMMER HEAT… so much going on (Part 161i)

It was busy at the main office on Friday and Trish made the comment that it was a good thing I was back. She told me that Bret had been really stressed. On Wednesday it had gotten so busy that she even heard him say he missed Jerry. That brought a smile to both our faces. From what Lorie told me the tellers were holding up well. I’d not had time to give that much thought but with some of the moves that had been made along the teller line it could’ve been a problem. After helping to open some accounts I finally got around to my mail. Hidden among it was the invoice for the blankets. The whole blanket deal had been put together so hastily I’d not kept close tabs on that aspect of it and almost choked when I read the amount. The price I’d been quoted was around $9 and I’d ordered 3 gross. The price should’ve been around $4,000 and I was looking a bill for over $5000. On the phone immediately I got no answer. I was upset… majorly so. It was about then that Trish came up to my desk to say Betsy was on the phone.

It was about mid morning and what had started out as a good day was rapidly deteriorating. Betsy had a husband and wife who were demanding that they be given multiple gifts because both their names were on the account (a joint account) and wouldn’t back down from their position. Taking a chance I put her on hold (man, did I like our new phone system!) and direct dialed Jerry. I explained what was going on in the lobby and told him to take the people into his office, shut the door, and give them the two gifts. But I told him to tell the people that he was “breaking the law” in doing it (in a vague way, he would be) and they were not to tell anybody. I didn’t know what to expect for a response but I surely didn’t expect him to tell me that he wouldn’t do it. After a few seconds of silence I asked why and he is answer… “I can’t lie… it’s against my religion”. It took all the restraint in my being to keep from screaming into the phone and to keep from doing it I slammed it down. Back with Betsy I asked her to put the one who was pushing for the two gifts on the phone. I got a woman who spoke with a foreign accent, got her name and identified myself as an officer of the bank. As calmly as I could I told her that she would be breaking the law if she got two gifts and before I could go any further I heard her telling Betsy that they wanted their money back. Betsy came on the line and I told her to go ahead and close the account and be glad she wouldn’t have to deal with them again. I wasn’t sure what Jerry might say or do after that so forewarned her.

Needing to get my mind off banking problems I decided to try to reach Cliffy. He was the one to pick up the phone and he was obviously upset with me. Before I could say anything he, quite pointedly, asked if I was still a part of the race team. Not expecting that I just answered “Yes…” and before the last part of the ’s’ in yes was out he wanted to know where I’d been. I sat there for a few seconds, carefully weighing my words, before answering that I’d just spent one of the most stressful weeks of my life at my job. When he didn’t say anything I added that in the scheme of things in my life the race car was not a priority. Now, somewhat emboldened, I added that of the others I may not be the most mechanically talented but when it came to being able to provide sponsorship and/or money none of the others could come close. Then I sat and waited. It took a few seconds before he responded with a totally different tone to his voice. Not a full apology but it was accepted.

The guy who’d taken the cylinder heads to check them out had told Cliffy the problem was a flaw going back to when they were originally cast but had come up with a solution. He was willing to try something relatively new to make them work for us. He told Cliffy that if it worked, he’d probably get a fair amount of business out of it so was willing to do it for $160 or $20 for each cylinder. Our only other choice was new cylinder heads and that was many hundreds of dollars. When the guys had met they could only come up with $100 so he hadn’t started on the repair. Feeling somewhat guilty for not making at least a cursory effort to keep up with what was going on with the team I told him I’d throw in the $60.

Because it was Friday the bank was open to 6pm. Lorie had remembered the to tell the new account girls about it before they tried to leave not like the last time. Activity had slowed at around 3pm and I couldn’t, in good conscience, keep all of them. After working together for the week they’d become friends so I left it up to them to decide who could leave early and who was to stay. Maggie, Moira’s daughter volunteered to stay until 6pm because her mother was working late, upstairs, on quarter ending reports. Because of all the activity Bret was working late as well. It was a bit after 6pm and we were tallying up the numbers on the gift/premiums handed out that day when I noticed Maggie sitting on the stairway to the second floor. She looked a bit funny because I couldn’t see her face but could see the front of her body. I stared at her for a few seconds and then realized she was yelling to her mother who was up on the balcony just above her… and then I realized what I was looking at.

She was sitting on a step with her feet on the step right below. She’d leaned back and put her elbows on the step right above her bottom and leaned way back. In so doing she proceeded to spread her legs… and gave me a perfect crotch view. Bret was at the counter right next to me and I nudged him and nodded my head towards the stairs. His reaction was classic. If he'd had something in his mouth he probably would’ve choked. Since Maggie had no idea what was taking place behind the teller counter right across from her we had a good long look with a couple of open and closing motions her legs as she continued her conversation with her mother.

Because of my fear of Bret reacting negatively to my having had some panty integration with his wife before they were married I’d never gotten into a conversation about panties with him. But, we had shared discovery of some panty peeks of employees. When Maggie started to sit up we both turned our heads and I heard Bret mumble something about what he’d just witnessed had “made his day”. I was immediately prompted to tell him of my viewing of Barb’s panties the day before. He’d not seen her so he asked what she looked like. I don’t know if I was consciously trying to outdo him but I do remember talking her up a bit more than she deserved. Then it got a bit funny as he told of having grown up in the house where he was presently living and being in position to see the neighbor’s daughter dressing and undressing “hundreds of times”. The bedroom window of the neighbor faced the stairway window of his house and if he timed it right he could “see the whole thing”. It never got to a “Can You Top This” between us as some of the people from the accounting department started coming down the stairs and were walking towards us.

To be continued…