KEEPING UP... Busy, busy, busy (Part 166y)

KEEPING UP… Busy, busy, busy (Part 166y)

By being patient and not insistent on ‘playing’ with her in her soaking wet package I got the ultimate ‘reward’ as we undressed for bed. I won’t say we’d drifted apart when it came to sex but it wasn’t as much of our routine as it had been. Of course, being married for ten years and with three kids had more than a little to do with that. Choosing not to press for a picture, especially with the camera being handy, was hard… but I resisted and ended up happy for my ‘sacrifice’. In bed and ready for sleep my mind kept going back to Woody. I was concerned as to how she’d be at work the next day. With Trish stressing how concerned Woody had been about damaging the costume my plan was to take it to work and give it to Trish so that she could show her there really wasn’t any damage. I really thought that would put her mind at ease.

The mind of a female is unique. My guess is that there is some sort of mutated wave length between the way a man and a woman look at the same problem that almost always guarantees that the man will be wrong. Elle wrapped the clean costume up and put it into a shopping bag with handles (they used to be common, back in those days). I was at work before Trish and just put it on the seat of her chair. I knew she’s still be miffed at me from the previous evening so chose to just observe her. Bret had the desk between the two of us so I could see her actions without her knowing I was looking at her. I wasn’t surprised that she put it along side her desk but wanted to see what happened when she took it to Woody and what her reaction would be.

I saw Woody arrive and go right to the drive-up window pretty much ignoring other people. It was coming back from my coffee break time that I saw Trish over in the drive-up area and figured she was probably showing Woody the costume was OK. With that I thought that whole incident was over and done with. However, I did have to get the costumes back to the guys at the advertising agency so gave them a call. I knew the Rabbit suit and Mad Hatter things needed to be dry cleaned and wanted to know if they had a preference as to which dry cleaning business actually did it. I was waiting on the phone when I saw Trish, with a definite frown on her brow, headed straight for me. She was by Bret’s desk when she emphatically spit out “It’s your fault!”. I knew from the way she left the previous evening that she was upset with me but what she was exhibiting now was pure anger. I hadn’t spoken to her since arriving and was at a loss auto why she was this upset. I still hadn’t connected with either of the guys at the agency so put the phone down and made a ’What’s the problem? gesture by putting both my hands up with open palms. Bret had certainly picked up on it and turned to see what was going to happen. With customers in the area I certainly didn’t want this continue right there so got up and told her I’d meet her in the Board room and started walking back through the work area. I glanced over at the drive-up and saw Lillian operating the drawer but didn’t stop. I could hear Trish on the steps behind me. I just couldn’t imagine what had triggered her anger.

Basically, what had happened was that when Trish gave Woody the bag with the costume Woody asked if Trish had washed it. When she said she hadn’t Woody wanted to know who did. When Trish answered that I’d taken it home with me Woody became very, very upset. It seems that when Trish was helping her get cleaned up she asked Trish not to say anything about what had happened to her. When Trish told her that I’d gotten the costume Woody knew that I knew and it was no longer between the two of them. Wanting to put an end to this whole chapter I asked Trish to go find Woody and to bring her back to the Board room. It took longer than I’d expected (or wanted) and when they walked in I could see Woody had been crying. I ‘cut to the quick’ and directed my remarks directly at Woody telling her that I could understand her embarrassment for what had happened but that Trish had not done anything wrong in telling me about it. I took the ‘heat’ and told her that I’d ordered Trish to explain why she, Woody, hadn’t come out into the lobby with the others. I went on about how Trish had ‘danced’ around the actual incident but in describing it had used the term “scared”. I explained about past incidents where irate customers had made threats to the drive up teller and I wanted to know if this was another one of those times. I made it as clear as I could that Trish didn’t want to tell me but when she told me that the “scared” part had to do with possibly ruining the costume, I became directly involved since I was the one who had arranged to borrow all of them.

Woody had calmed down and the redness around her eyes had dissipated some by then. At that point I apologized and told her I fully understood her embarrassment. I know she didn’t believe me when I said that but in wanting to get her back to trusting me I decided to take a chance. I knew I could trust Trish so I proceeded to tell her about Elle and her incontinence. Based on the look on her face I don’t think Woody had ever heard the term before. I was concentrating on Woody’s expression but did take a quick glance at Trish and my words didn’t seem to get much of a ‘rise’ from her. However, Woody’s eyes kind of popped when I gave her a couple of examples of ‘accidents’ that Elle had endured. To end the session I directed one comment to Woody and it was that Trish was a person she could always go to, no matter what the situation, and know that she could be trusted. I did add that I hoped she would feel the same about me and got a weak smile in return. I left the room and headed down the stairs. It felt like I’d escaped.

It was the first of November, which from the business side of running the bank was a big deal for the accounting department. They had to close out the ‘books’ and prepare the month end statement. I’d not seen much of Moira, the lady I’d hired and placed in the accounting department as well as helping her through some tough times. I knew she was still struggling but after getting her connected with Gee, the Trustee/attorney, to help her about her husband leaving her and her kids as well as the screwing she’d taken on the house they’d bought, I pretty much backed off. She worked on the second floor and not in the main work area so I seldom saw her. When I saw her approaching my desk I thought it was to get some ‘numbers’ so the accounting department could finish up their work but that wasn’t it. She was a stereotypical Irish red head complete with freckles and when she smiled she was an attractive woman… and she was smiling as she sat at my desk. Gee had just called her and the mortgage company that had screwed her (and her husband) had made good and refunded the fraudulent charges that had been made. Today, $900 doesn’t sound like a lot but in 1968, especially when you barely make enough to pay the rent and buy food, it was like a fortune. She was on her way to Gee’s office to sign the release papers but she wanted to thank me for connecting her with Gee. It was a nice way to end the week and to start the month.

To be continued…