I had not intended to write any more of "The Girl Across the Street" series. However, a reader requested an ending to the story, so this is my attempt to create one. I hope it doesn't disappoint. I also urge you to read the first through fourth chapters of "The Girl Across the Street" before reading this. This chapter will not make much sense unless you do.
This story is a work of fiction. Some real institutions are mentioned, but they are used fictitiously. Insofar as the author knows, no real person affiliated with any of those institutions has ever behaved as described in this story. Any similarities between any character in this story and any real person are coincidental and unintended. I encourage comments on this story, both favorable and unfavorable. Thank you for reading.
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Priscilla d'Ubo bought the old River Valley Bank expecting to make dramatic changes. Trish and I necessarily became instrumental in that transition. First, we had to deal with the existing customers. To do that, we continued as River Valley, working clothed, for a couple of weeks. We were candid with the customers. We told them that, when we re-opened as Exhibition Bank, all bank staff would always work nude. We would not require customers to be nude. That would be largely meaningless since most people banked online rather than in person. However, we created some incentives. New accounts opened in person by nude customers would have most fees waived. Business borrowers would be expected to have as much of their staffs working nude as possible. Our standard loan documents provided for escalated interest rates and fees if we determined that a business was operating "excessively clothed."
Some customers were, of course, outraged and closed their accounts immediately. We were able to sell the loans of borrowers who no longer wished to do business with the Bank to another bank. At first, most customer didn't seem to care.
The River Valley staff cared, a lot. Almost to a man and woman, they quit. Lawsuits based on "constructive discharge for refusing to engage in immorality" were threatened. We pointed out that everyone at River Valley was an employee at will, meaning we could fire them or change the terms of their employment pretty much as we pleased. That revelation, coupled with Priscilla's offer of generous severance payments conditioned on the employees agreeing in writing not to sue, ended the litigation threats.
The employee rebellion meant that we would be starting out very short-staffed. Beyond Liz, Geoff, Trish, and me, we had only one other employee, a holdover teller named Diane Woods. In the beginning, Trish would be handling the part of our IT we didn't outsource. I would do loan due diligence and fill in if more than one teller were needed at a time. That meant I spent time with Diane before the re-opening being trained to be a bank teller.
Diane was a mildly attractive, slender brunette. She was a couple of years out of college. I finally asked her why she had chosen to stay on instead of quitting like everyone else had. "My degree is in philosophy," she replied, "and there isn't a big market for people knowledgeable about existentialism. With the pay raise I'll get when we switch over, I just can't afford to quit."
"You aren't concerned about working naked?" I asked.
"Hell yeah I'm concerned," Diane replied. She paused before continuing less vehemently. "It is way outside my comfort zone. To be honest, I get scared every time I think about it. But you, Trish, Liz, and Geoff all seem to be looking forward to working naked so I'm thinking there must be upsides that I'm not seeing. I'll never know if I don't try it." She paused again, smiled weakly, and added, "at least it will give me an incentive to stay in shape." It didn't seem to me that Diane was having any trouble with her shape.
Finally, the day came. The new signage was up outside, ready to be unveiled. First, however, we needed to be unveiled. Liz, Diane, Trish, Geoff, and I gathered in the Bank's small conference room just after 8:00 that morning.
Liz immediately took over the meeting, establishing herself as our de facto leader. She was wearing a classic banker outfit: dark jacket over a cream-colored blouse with a below the knees skirt and heels. "This," Liz announced in a formal tone, "is the beginning of Exhibition Bank. The name has several meanings. On one level, it reflects our owner's commitment to the arts. On another level, it signifies our willingness to exhibit leadership in a new kind of banking." She paused, smiled, and, in a conversational tone, added, "that bullshit aside, it most importantly means that we are going to show off our naked bodies. Is everyone ok with that?"
Geoff nodded somewhat hesitantly. Trish and I nodded much more enthusiastically. Liz looked at Diane. "Diane?" Liz asked.
Diane knew, I think, she had reached a moment of truth. She didn't respond to Liz immediately and I could see her beginning to blush. After a moment, she exhaled, smiled, and said, with more enthusiasm than I'd expected, "let's do it!"
"Ok!" Liz said. She clapped her hands once and said, "clothes off! None of us wears clothes in this building ever again!" She kicked off her shoes, took her jacket off and put it over a chair, and began unbuttoning her blouse. The rest of us started undressing.
I had never seen Liz Rand nude before. Nudity was a definite improvement in Liz's appearance. She wasn't Danielle or Trish, but she had a full, firm chest, nicely rounded hips, and firm, if slightly large, thighs which framed a neatly trimmed bush.
Nudity transformed Diane from mildly attractive to beautiful. I was amazed at what her clothing hid. She was slim with small, pert breasts, a tight ass, and shapely legs. Naked, Diane was in Danielle and Trish's league. Trish asked, "Diane, you've never gone nude with other people before?"
"Only with a few boyfriends when we were, you know, having sex," Diane replied.
"That's a shame," Trish said, "you look fantastic naked."
Diane blushed again. "Thank you," she said, "but I'm not nearly as beautiful as you are."
It is difficult for me to appreciate guys, but Geoff Cardon seemed impressive with his clothes off, especially for a man his age. I glanced at Liz, who was looking at Geoff with what I'd call "proprietary affection."
