ANOTHER YEAR More adventures (Part 168q)

ANOTHER YEAR… More adventures (Part 168q)

Leigh wasn’t on the sofa when I walked in. I could see the light in the kitchen was on so headed that way. Walking in I could hear water running in the shower and, at the same time, saw the basket of dirty clothes out in the hall. I have to tell you… my heart was in my mouth. Walking up to it I could see some white items on top of Davo’s dark work clothes. Looking closely I saw a bra and what I concluded was a slip precariously perched on the pile. With the door to the bathroom open any attempt to do anything with the items on top had to be done with care. I’ve prided myself in being able to come up with solutions to tough situations and on this occasion it was to reach into my pocket, pull the panties I'd taken out and to try and get them intertwined with the  bra and slip. I’d just about gotten that accomplished when I heard the water in the shower stop. I’ll admit that I did panic a bit… and knocked the items off the pile. They fell to the side opposite the open door but before I could attempt to retrieve them I saw a leg appear from the shower. I backed off and into the kitchen.

Leigh was far from pretty but, when sober, had a very pleasant personality. As opposed to the night before she was absolutely bubbly. Her first words were to apologize for her behavior acknowledging that she'd been a terrible hostess. I probably smiled. With nothing but a towel wrapped around her she proceeded to walk past me and into the kitchen to turn on a radio. I’ve mentioned that we were in a rural area and it was so rural that we only had local radio during hours of daylight. That’s why it wasn’t on the night before. The station was giving a list of school closings and late openings for government and some retail businesses. I heard Elle’s school get mentioned so I knew I didn’t have to worry about her. Leigh was looking for a call concerning the hospital where she worked. When I tried to ask her a question she shook her head to shut me up. I knew the bank would be open. I knew there had only been a few cases in which banks had been allowed to stay closed. Finally, she heard what she wanted to hear… only critical staff was expected to come in. She was a part time medical records clerk and that was far from critical.

After hearing that news she turned and headed for her bedroom pushing the basket into the bathroom doorway. From where I was standing I could see the wad of white material still on the floor next to the wall. When Leigh went into the bedroom she never even made an effort to close the door. However, I couldn’t see her from where I was. I thought I might move to a get a view but decided that discretion was the better part of valor. For once it was a good move. I hadn’t turned around and was still facing the hallway from the kitchen eyeing the basket with the wash because I needed to use the toilet. I was just about to drag it back into the hallway when Leigh appeared in just her bra and panties and picked it up and carried it into the bedroom. The whole thing might’ve taken ten to twelve seconds but in that time I got to see everything I would’ve asked for if given a chance and to follow through on it. Naturally, my anatomy responded… but not so Leigh could see. Once in the bathroom I could I couldn’t pee because of it. For some reason I found it to be very funny.

By the time I ‘deflated’ and finished up Leigh was dressed and offering to make scrambled eggs for breakfast. I called Elle while she was doing it and she reported that John, our farmer neighbor, was digging out our driveway. She was disappointed that I wasn’t coming home but I explained that even though I’d been told the road was clear I didn’t know if that was for the side roads as well and I didn’t want to take a chance. Davo called while we were eating and he was on his way but not to the house. He had a load of equipment and was headed for the warehouse. I made one other call and it was to Bret. Jan, his wife, answered and told me he was on his way to the bank. I finished up my eggs, thanked Leigh and headed off for work. It was right around 8am because I hearing my least favorite news announcer signing on.

I’m going to say that I was almost into the village when it hit me… I’d screwed up… royally! In replaying what I'd experienced the previous afternoon, evening and night I realized that I'd missed out on a golden opportunity to have gone though all of Leigh’s panties. With her passed out I would’ve had all the time in the world to do it… but I hadn’t. And, to make matters worse I’d put the panties I’d taken from the dirty wash and put them back. All I had was memories. The realization of it put me in a foul mood and, pulling into the parking lot didn’t make it any better. The plowing service that I’d inherited when I came to the bank left a lot to be desired. I’d made an inquiry as to the possibility for a change and been told by Hobie that it really wasn’t a good idea. The man who did it was related to one of the Trustees. Hobie told me that because of that connection we were to be afforded the best service. We’d not had all that many major storms but with the ones I’d experienced he’d failed miserably. Without wasting time on it, the guy had pushed most of the snow into the rear portion of the lot taking away almost half our spots. It didn’t matter right then and there as the general conditions were such that business would be slow. But, in a day or two we’d have major complaints. Neither Hobie nor Bert were in but I made it a point to watch for either of them as something had to be done to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.

We had enough tellers within walking distance of the bank to handle what few customers we did have. Between Bret and I we were able to clear a single line path on the sidewalks on the perimeter of the building by the time the doors were to open thus sparing us a fine from the village. Mike, the messenger custodian, was to arrive around 10am and in time to do the messenger run. Bret had called the branch and Betsy had opened the doors but was still awaiting Jerry’s arrival so they could open their vault and get the cash boxes. I made sure to have Betsy document Jerry’s arrival time, ‘for the record’, even though I pretty much knew it was a waste of time. Now, all we had to do was to see who was stupid enough to go out in the mess.

It was shortly after 9am when my phone rang. Joanie wasn’t in so I took my own call. It was Lynda… and in a panic saying she’d lost the money she’d withdrawn for her husband the day before. With everything else that had gone on over the past eighteen or so hours I’d forgotten all about Lynda’s money that I’d found next to my desk when leaving. I started out with the intention of trying to reach her but then when the road conditions became impassible I ended up at Davo and Leigh’s house and a whole raft of other things to contend with.

To be continued…