FINISHING THE YEAR... Odds & ends (Part 167m)

ENDING THE YEAR… Odds & ends (Part 167m)

Lynda had a mischievous smile on her face after I asked her to describe what she meant by a “liberal upbringing”. However, she stood up and called to the men at the back of the office telling them to “pack it up”. Then she looked straight at me and said “How about lunch tomorrow?” With the auditors gone and the bank in slow period of time as far as lobby traffic I figured ‘Why not?’ As I got up she said it’d be at Michael’s and she’d call when she was leaving the office and would meet me there. I wondered about the last part but didn’t say anything.

I was a little apprehensive about Woody when I arrived the next morning but she was back to being her usual bubbly self, at least as far as the other tellers were concerned. It was almost 1pm when Lynda finally called. I was glad we now had three people to cover the 'platform' area. Trish and I set our lunch hours up so we could have some freedom as to just what time we went. Bret, because he had to be home at 11:30am so his wife could leave for work before his mother could arrive to look after his kids, had the only set lunch time. So, when Lynda called Bret was back and I was free to go. It only took a few minutes to walk to Michael’s. He was at the front door when I walked in and told me to go to the back of the restaurant. Normally, lunches were served up front and the rear was for dinners and for parties. Lighting in the back part was always dim and it felt a bit strange knowing that it was mid day and we still had natural light outside.

Lynda was at a small table located along one of the walls. There was no way to miss her with her blonde hair and her smile. I don’t remember what the ‘small talk’ was about or what we ordered for lunch. What I do remember was the way Linda began to explain her "liberal" comment from the day before. She started by saying that her family was “unconventional”. Her father, a successful businessman, was away a lot and she and her brothers took advantage of that (and her mother). Rules were in play only when her father was home and she admitted that as a ‘daddy’s girl’ was often allowed to get away “with murder”. Boys came into her life at an early age (I think I remember her saying it was even before she was a teenager) and she was exposed to a lot of things… primarily smoking and drinking. She stopped at that point and asked if she should stop. I distinctly remember shaking my head in a fashion to encourage her to continue. Shortening the story a bit… one time she and a few boys were hanging around and someone dared her to show her panties… and Lynda said she didn’t hesitate saying that she paraded around without her shorts for a while. At that point I had a fairly nice ‘bulge’ going and was tempted to ask a question or two. Before I could she went on to say that it wasn’t long after that that the boys convinced her to strip all the way. I finally got a word in and asked what was going through her mind at the time and if her mother had ever given her ‘warnings’ about doing something like that. A laugh was the answer. But, she did say that one of the boys slipped when talking about it and ‘word’ got back to one of her brothers. Still sort of laughing she said she got “grounded” after that. I had to ask for how long and I remember her shrugging her shoulders. Then she went on that the next time she was around the boys she gave them a panty peek and saw how just that little bit “stirred them up”. It got her to thinking that she had a “power” and could control it at her will. She sort of ended her little talk by saying it was a long time before she gave away “the whole package” again.

I was fascinated and when she asked me if I was “disappointed in her” I, again, shook my head from side to side. I think I tried to say something profound but have no idea what it was. I wanted, so badly, for her to go on and to tell me about her ‘first time’ but wasn’t going to take the chance. Then she sort of changed the subject and wearing that big smile of hers proceeded to ask what had been my actual question the night before. Now it was my turn to laugh. From the recesses of my mind I dredged up some form of the original. She sat there apparently giving the question some thought and when she finally spoke her words caught me off guard. She suggested that the question should be posed to someone who felt that way… that she, and she made reference to herself, thought it was amusing. Immediately she mentioned Ruthe, her co-worker at the office, saying that if she even thought a man might’ve seen any part of her lingerie she’d have a fit. I immediately wondered if Ruthe even wore a bathing suit as prim and proper as she appeared to be. What I did say to her was that she wasn’t helping me to answer the question… but I appreciated her efforts.

What was strange was that neither of us had eaten very much of what we’d ordered. We’d been so engrossed in conversation (believe me when I say I’ve only written a small part of it) we didn’t even notice. We were at a table for two and facing each other. When I got up to leave she reached out to stop me. It startled me because, even with the ‘panty teasing’ and the other talks we’d not touched. I’m not sure what went through my mind at that moment. I definitely remember her looking up at me and saying that she hoped that she’d not shocked me and that nothing had changed and we were still friends. Again, I was so surprised by her reaching out to me that I have no idea of my initial response. I remember her letting my hand go and I very much remember her turning in her chair to get up… and seeing that small patch of white between her legs even in the dim light, and then smiling as we walked towards the front of the place. I tried to pay but Michael said it had already been taken care of. I turned back towards Lynda and she had her usual smile and kind of shooed me towards the door. Outside, she told me she expected to see more of me in the coming weeks. Walking back to the bank I knew she would.

Walking in to the bank and looking at the clock on the back wall I thought it was wrong. It was after 2pm. I checked with Joanie to see if anybody had been looking for me. There was a call from Elle to remind me that “Big B” was coming for dinner and not to be late. I’d forgotten about it but was glad to have something different to concentrate on. I was just going through my mail when I saw a couple of the Board members who were on the branch committee walking across the lobby. It was then that I remembered Morris had said he was going to show the committee the sites he’d picked out. Seeing them was a reminder that Morris said if they had decided on one he'd call. Somehow I had to get involved in the process. However, it was too early to worry about it. As I left for the day I knew my life certainly wasn’t dull!

Dinner with “Big B” was very interesting. For someone who was unmarried he certainly had a way with little kids. I wasn’t late but he was early and I found him, all 330+ pounds, on the floor playing with them. After the kids had eaten he played like the Pied Piper and got them to play by themselves as he wanted to tell us something important. One of the last holdouts of the group of guys who called themselves “the unmarrieds”, he told us he now had a girlfriend. I literally bit my tongue to keep from smiling after having listened to him ’bad mouth’ the others in the unmarried’s group when they got serious about a female. It was another case of being careful when saying “never!”

To be continued…