It was hard to read her face but I gave her a few seconds to ‘digest’ what I’d told her. Then she ooched forward on the chair as if to get closer to whisper something. I didn’t move. I remember her looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was around and quickly turning back. “It really was an accident...” Is what I heard and before I could respond she started in with an explanation. I was worried about time fearing she’d be late to where she was supposed to meet her ride but let her go on. In summary format: She hadn’t heard the call for the staff to meet in the lobby. That made sense because, as I’ve told you, the drive up widow area was out of the normal flow of people. She said she knew she needed to use the toilet but needed someone to unzip her room her costume. Almost finished with her proof she decided to get it done and after turning it in to Lorie ask her to unzip it. When she went out into the work area there was no one there and could she saw a group of people standing in front of the stairs to the second floor. To get out there she’d have to walk to either end of the tellers counter and wasn’t sure she could make it and all the way back to the bathroom. In a bit of a panic she told me she just stopped and then could feel herself letting go. Not wanting to draw attention to herself she said she just retreated to the ladies bathroom and sat on the toilet… and that was where Trish found her. I was glad I’d had the patience to wait to hear her story because it was a perfect segue to get to a point I wanted to make. When the three of us had met up in the Board room there was clearly ‘friction’ between Woody and Trish as Woody thought Trish had told me about her accident and broken some kind of promise not to. At the meeting I clearly explained that she hadn’t and had, at my direction, explained her absence at the gathering of the employees to me. I moved closer to her and looking right at her face asked if she and Trish were “O K” and that it was important that they were. I know from the look on Woody’s face she was surprised. It was probably from the stern manner that I’d assumed. In any case she said she was no longer upset or anything but that led me to ask why she’d been avoiding her all week, seeking out Bret when Trish was available to help her. Her face turned red and she looked down. With her head facing her lap she mumbled “I’m sorry”. Satisfied with that I moved on and assured her that she hadn’t caused any trouble and her request for another chance wasn’t even an item. I pointedly asked if she fully understood where we stood… and she, with a weak smile, nodded affirmatively.
Woody had told me she was meeting the lady at 5:45pm for her ride and there was a few minutes to spare. As I’d mentioned earlier, there was another item on my agenda… the Sans Soucie panties I'd given her to try on but I stood up to indicate it was time to go. I did it to give the appearance that what I was about to say was a casual inquiry and not planned. We started across the lobby floor and, as Mike, the messenger/custodian, had left for the night I had to let her out. Almost to the rear vestibule I slowed and, as casually as I could, asked if she’d made a decision on the panties. That caught her by surprise but she recovered quickly and asked if I’d found the $4 in the envelope she’d left me. I’d completely forgotten about the four one dollar bills that had fallen out and to the floor. Recovering quickly I told her I had but didn’t know what it was for. That made her laugh and said the price tags were still on the panties and it was to pay for them. It was my turn to laugh and I reminded her they were samples for her to determine what size she wanted. That made her blush and look at the floor. I asked what as wrong and it took a few seconds for her to look up. I won’t say what she told me was a complete shock but she admitted that she'd been wearing a pair when she had her ‘accident’ (she didn’t use that term and I don’t remember what she called it). She went on that the other pair had been in her bag and, to get home, wore them. She had a funny smile as she told me she couldn’t return them as they were “dirty too” and that’s why she paid for them. Oh how I wanted to ask what she meant by "dirty too"… but I didn’t. I chose the ‘high road’ and point blank asked her which ones fit the best. I remember her kind of shrugging her shoulders with an ‘I don’t really know…’ look. Time was running out and I didn’t want to make this uncomfortable so I asked if she was still interested. I didn’t get an enthusiastic response but took a pro-active position and told her to wear a pair the next day that she thought would fit the best. I got a nod of her head and I opened the door. Her ride had pulled in and was waiting so I felt I’d had a little success for day, after all and one positive thing I knew for sure about the next one was that Woody would be wearing a pair of Sans Soucie panties. That made me VERY happy.
After checking with the off duty cop guarding the front door I was off to the church to see if Nick had finished the painting. I wasn’t expecting to see Johnny’s truck as I pulled up. Walking down the stairs into the undercroft the smell of the fresh paint was almost overwhelming. Johnny was helping Nick pick up the drop cloths with his one good arm and the minister’s wife was observing them. Seeing her reminded me that she hadn’t wanted Nick to go to the church to do the painting yet, here she was, watching. When she saw me she commented that the smell was too powerful to put the clothes back on the tables… that they’d absorb the smell and people wouldn’t buy them. I had to agree. I walked out to the truck with the two men and getting Nick aside while Johnny stuffed the drop cloths into the back told him I’d pay him for his effort. He smiled and said Johnny had already offered but he didn't want any money. In just the short time I’d been around him I was impressed and wondered if there wasn’t a place for him at the bank. He only had a high school equivalency diploma and his experience in the Army had been at the lowest level so that part was of concern. However, it wasn’t something I had to concern myself with at that moment. A quick chat with the minister’s wife confirmed that the shop wouldn’t reopen on Saturday.
As stressful as the day had been I had a feeling Elle would have some sort of project waiting for me to tackle when I got home. When you’ve been together as long as Elle and I had been you almost know what’s coming. But, when I opened the door there was no way I would’ve guessed that I’d see what I saw standing in front of me. The only thing I knew for sure was I liked what I was looking at. Not always one to ‘look a gift horse in the mouth’ my very first thought was “What’s this going to cost me?”
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| Note the two pair... |
2 comments:
The check is in the mail.
OB... :-)
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