DEALING WITH THE HEAT… & more (Part 174y)
Elle had just gotten her
first period after the miscarriage just a few days earlier and didn’t feel up to going to the
sailing club that day. Even though she was registered to race in the
Sunfish races she (and I) had missed enough of them to take us out of
contention for any awards. But, as soon as I arrived home she wanted
to know the details of the “excitement” at the club. I remember asking
how she knew about it and she laughed saying she had “contacts”. I told
her about having some of the members yelling at me and some of them
saying they were quitting the club because of the decision the Board of
Governors made concerning the required chaperoning at the junior sailing
program. She wanted to know why I was yelled at and told her they
blamed me for it. I hadn’t really thought about it but Elle motioned
that our club was the only one in the area that offered a program like
ours did. She added something about the women who complained about
the chaperoning requirement would now have to pay for babysitters if they
wanted the time to do their own thing. She was ‘on a roll’ saying the
fee for the sailing program for the whole season was probably less than a
baby sitter for a week. I told her I didn’t know for sure that the guys
who’d made the most ‘noise’ and said they were quitting the club were
serious or not but, now there was an enforceable policy as far as
chaperones were concerned and that should make her happy.
She did
have some news and that was the neighbors were to start their swimming
lessons in the morning. They would be for the whole week and Elle was
hoping that after they were over she’d be able to take their kids to the
beach with our kids. The lake where the lessons were being held was a
fresh water, spring fed one and I remember Elle faking a shiver just
discussing it. I’d never been to the lake but Elle said it was really
nice. She’d been there a lot when she was in her early teens as the
couple who called themselves her aunt and uncle didn’t like swimming in
salt water so they went to the lake taking Elle and her brother with them. As she
reminisced about that it came to me that it was actually harder to swim
in fresh water and wondered if would make a difference for them. I was
sure we’d hear about it.
After we ate we went to the marina to
check on our new (to us) sailboat. I’d bailed it out once since it was
launched and wanted to see if the seams had swelled yet (it was wooden).
I took the 3 horsepower outboard motor along that “Big B” had added to the deal for the boat with the idea of taking a quick ride up the creek as a sort of
‘maiden voyage’. In the back of my mind was Tuesday when I hoped to take
it for a sail with just Elle. I wanted everything to work when we took
off. We had to do some bailing first but it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.
It seemed strange to be in a sailboat with no sails and just a little
‘put put’ powering it. The girls wanted to know when they’d get to go
sailing and I didn’t have an answer. In a way, I felt guilty about
not letting them go with us on Tuesday but I needed some time alone
with Elle.
At work, the Summer doldrums were setting in. Lobby
traffic had slowed and vacations were in place. Joanie wasn’t in and
Trish, graciously, slipped into her old position to cover for her. I’d
pretty much given up getting panty peeks and or VPL’s from her. Her
choice of clothes pretty much negated them for me. However, when five
o’clock approached I saw Trish head for the ladies room with satchel
like bag. I didn’t dwell on it and was proceeding to clear my desk when
she walked up to me. I know I had to have done a ‘double take’ when I
saw her. We’d seldom been in a casual social situation in my almost
four years at the bank so she really surprised me. Her hair was pulled
back exposing her ears which, to start with, gave her a different look.
Then, as I moved my eyes downward there were some other changes. She was
wearing what looked to be one of her boyfriend’s white shirts with the sleeves cut off and with the
tails tied together just above her waist. I didn’t have to go any
further, at least for a few seconds, as I could see something white
peeking out above the waistband of her dark blue shorts. The contrast
made it impossible to miss only I couldn’t identify who made them from
the waist elastic. But my gaze continued downward to gaze upon something
I’d never even contemplated Trish wearing... short (and I mean short)
shorts. If someone had been taping my reaction to this I’m sure it
would’ve been entertaining. I have no idea what I said… when I spoke.
But, she was in a hurry so it didn’t matter. She told me she and Chaz,
her boyfriend, were going canoeing.
Back in my way earlier posts I’d
written about a distant family relation owning and running a gas station/service garage just down the street from the bank. The property was also
located right on the bank of the river. The Chamber of Commerce had been
trying, somewhat desperately, to find ways to make use of the river.
When my relative sold his business the guy who bought it came up with an
idea… not so much to benefit the town but to benefit himself. He
opened up a canoe rental operation. It made perfect sense since he had
access to the river from his property. He found a local merchant who
dabbled in small boats who would provide him with a source of canoes…
and he was in business. Chaz, Trish’s boyfriend worked part time for the
guy who was to be the source of the canoes and had been persuaded to do
a trial run up the river just at 5pm when most of the businesses in town
were closing. The municipal parking lot made up one side of the river
and the thought was to have Chaz be paddling on the river at that time.
He, in turn, convinced Trish to go with him… and that’s why she was
dressed as she was. The only words I remember her saying was that she
hoped she wouldn’t get wet. As soon as she went out the door I found
Bret and told him. He, in turn told Laurie and before long there were
about eight or nine bank employees who were on their way across the parking lot
to see Chaz and Trish on their voyage.
Chaz was a large man… at
least 6’4”, and probably 230 pounds. Trish was a tall woman, around
5’9”. When I saw them in the canoe and on the river my first thought was
that this was an accident about to happen. Not that I’d had a lot of
experience in a canoe but I knew they were somewhat unstable and,
because I was 6’1” knew my height added to that lack of stability. But,
with two tall people who had little experience… well… it turned out
pretty much as I expected. My DayTimer notes read “ten minutes and it
was over”. Chaz was in the rear and was doing most of the paddling with
Trish pretty much along for the ride. For some reason she turned around
to try and face Chaz and when she did the canoe started to tip. The next
thing I saw was the two of them in the river. Thankfully, the guy
promoting the event was there with a float boat. I watched from the
river bank (along with about 20 or so others) and when he was trying to
get Trish into the boat I saw the benefit of her having worn short
shorts. The waistband got hung up on something on the edge of the boat
and as she finally had most of her body in it I could see both cheeks of
her fanny covered in white. It was a rare treat.
To be continued…
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