BACK TO REALITY... Same ole, same ole (Part 165o)

BACK TO REALITY… Same ole, same ole (part 165o)

Having Trish involved was both good and bad. The good was that she would put some ‘insulation’ between me and Woody. The bad… let me put it this way… in just a few days I’d be celebrating my third year at the bank and in all that time I’d not seen her in anything that could even be loosely considered colorful and certainly not form fitting. I think I may have seen a few VPL’s during that time and as far as panty peeks, she kept her dresses and skirts to below the knees. To say that she dressed ‘matronly’ would be a little harsh but to her a bright color might be a battleship gray skirt. Back when I got involved with Lorie and the robins egg blue pants suit she about had a fit. It wasn’t that she was old… (actually only 25) but her taste in clothes was to be conservative and drab. So… I could see her leading 20 year old Woody down the same path and it bothered me.

At home I was confronted with more clothing as Elle and the other two ladies had gone through the latest donations to the church Thrift Shoppe. Looking at the all stuff in the back of the station wagon I wondered if they had kept anything at all. When I got out of my car I went over and took a look at it and the one thing I took away from it was the obvious smell of moth balls and I wanted it out of there as soon as possible. I’m going to admit I was a little peeved so I started just grabbing stuff and pulling out of the back. Elle came running out of the house and was yelling at me as she did. It turned out that the ladies had contacted the people at CAST, the organization that had taken the first of the rejects, and someone was stopping by that evening to pick it up. Now, faced with having to pick it up I was really pissed.

While eating, the phone rang and it was Alan to tell me the parts for the motor were in and that he could work on it that night. I really wasn’t in the mood but since I’d gotten Elle upset decided I couldn’t get her much madder so said I’d meet him at the garage. We got along very well and without much conversation got a lot accomplished. In cleaning up I, to make conversation, asked if he and his wife had any kids clothes that they didn’t need any longer. I told him why I was asking and he said he’d have some things together by Friday, the next time the whole crew was to be together. That simple question gave me the impetus to plan on asking both Dick and Cliffy who both had young kids. On my way home I thought I had something to ease the tension between Elle and myself. By the time I drove up the driveway I’d added Bret to my list of possibilities. Unfortunately, Elle had gone to bed so I had to wait with the news.

It was the phone that woke me/us up. It was a call from the school for Elle to come in and teach. It was her first call for the new school year and, because it was, it created a bit of panic. Totally unprepared, she was like the proverbial ‘chicken with no head’. I have no idea why she’d put off the inevitable as she’d been told by Bill, the principal, that she was first on the substitute list. In any case as she headed down the driveway I was saddled with making sure the older girls were prepared for school. My bigger worry was in finding someone to watch Kaye. By the time I did I knew I was going to be late and I’d wanted a word with Trish before she spoke to Woody. Like they say, ‘the best laid plans…’.

She’d waited for me and seeing that, it relaxed me a bit. Not wanting Bret to hear what we were planning I suggested that we head for the Board room but that we take different routes. Once there I started in on a prepared speech but no sooner had I started when Trish interrupted. Because of ‘asides’ and sort of snide comments about her dress from time to time, plus the ‘dust up’ between the two of us on Laura’s blue pants suit, she wanted to get her ‘two cents in”. Acknowledging the fact that her ’tastes’ were “narrow” she’d decided to encourage Woody to pick out some things that she liked. (and I remember her her sticking her tongue out at me when she said the words “with some color”) She said her role would be to only address the bank’s dress code. It was refreshing to hear but there was one other thing… budget… or how much money she’d be limited to. I wanted her to get practical things that could be interchanged… mix and match type things. I felt a jacket that would go with multiple colors of skirts and pants was critical and would be the most expensive. Since it would be over two weeks until she got her first paycheck I also stressed variety and as I did Trish, with an impish grin, again added the word “color”.

I’d had a hand in some of the choices both Joanie and Laura made but, for a number of reasons, felt it better that Trish go it alone. Trish also felt that she should make Lorie aware of what was going on. Not really happy with that I didn’t protest and we headed back down the stairs. I’d left it at $100, plus or minus and told Trish I’d take an early lunch and go to the department store where I had credit and let the manager know there would be some things put on lay-away in my name.

The rest of the morning had me in a meeting about advertising for the upcoming ‘busy period’ so I lost track of what was happening between Woody and Trish. It wasn’t until after the lunch break that I caught up with Trish. I asked her how it had gone and she gave me a thumbs up but didn’t comment. That snippet of information was good news but I wanted more. It seemed like Trish avoided me until the doors closed to the public. Thinking I could finally get the ’scoop’ I went to her desk. Like in the morning, she didn’t give me a chance to speak before starting in. It was to say there had been a small problem and she was frowning. When she’d gone to speak to Woody about the offer she wouldn’t hear of it. It took getting Laura to join them and confirming she’d been offered the same sort of arrangement to get her to even consider it. She finally agreed to at least go with Trish to take a look at some clothes. That was when Trish finally smiled a bit. The end result was that Woody had picked out some things she really liked and Trish emphasized that they had some “color” to them and hoped I’d like them. My only question was to ask about a jacket. Trish said she didn’t really like the one she chose but it would work with multiple skirts and slacks. I avoided asking how much they all cost and I can’t tell you why. We finished up with me saying I’d leave a little early to take care of the charges. As she got up to leave I asked how Woody felt when they were finished and she laughed… “Like she couldn’t believe something like this could happen to her”. That made me smile too.

There was one final hitch to the plan and that was when I showed up at the store to put the items on my charge card with the store. I hadn’t realized it back when the manager had set me up with my account and that was it had to be re-approved every six months. I put forth the card and was told it would have to be approved by the manager. It had been a while since I’d shopped in the store and hadn’t seen him since the start of Summer. The problem was that he was attending a meeting at the main office. All I could think of was how disappointed Woody would be if I didn’t get the situation resolved. Because it was almost 5pm there was no chance to make a personal withdrawal of cash. On my way back to the bank I remembered the petty cash that I had control of. I debated with myself all the way back to my desk but once there pulled it out. As I did I could see Woody kind of hovering back by the coat room. A quick glance at the clock told me there was no way to go get the clothes and have her make her bus.

To be continued…