Trina signed for the box, but when the man put it down on the doorstep, she just stared at it. She couldn't invite the man inside as she didn't have permission from her boss, so watched the man leave. After making sure that there was nothing fragile in the box, she dragged it inside and into the office area. She stowed it away until she was given further directions.
As she sat down, she heard the doorbell ring again and sighed. She jogged to the door and opened it to find two workmen on the other side. They were close to her age and wore jeans and matching work shirts. She guided them into the office area and watched as their jaw dropped at the condition of the machine.
"I guess I don't have to tell you what is wrong," she laughed, gesturing to the mess on her desk.
They laughed with her and shook their heads. One of them spoke up and said, "No, I think we can figure it out. But how did this happen? Did you throw this at someone's head?" She noted the name on the guy's pocket. Max.
"I have no idea. I am just doing what I am told," she admitted.
The other man, whose name she didn't catch, was holding the box with wires spilling out of the side and shaking his head. "It doesn't matter how it happened, but I hate to tell you, this is going to take more than us to get this fixed," he said.
Trina frowned. "Really? Why?"
The other sighed. "Whatever happened, the brick needs to be repaired as well and we might have to check on the wiring at well," he answered, giving her a smile.
Trina groaned, making both of them laugh a little. "The two of you can get started, I will make arrangements for the rest. How long do you think it will take you before I ask them to come over?" She knew that anyone else on that list of contacts would rush over when they heard Mr. Wright needed their help. He probably paid extra for efficient work. Her distaste for the top 1 percent was showing.
"It is going to take us at least until late this afternoon to make sure it is all working correctly. So you can tell them to come after that," Max said promptly.
Trina nodded and turned to her computer. "Do you need to work right here or…" she trailed off.
"We have to start working on the wiring for the walls. We have to change the machine, so we can wait for that to come in," they said. Just before they left, Max turned to speak, "By the way, what's your name? You know… in case we need you for something." He shrugged.
She turned to look at him and noticed that he had a friendly smile which made her smile back. "Trina… Trina Hudson." She reached her hand out towards him.
He gripped it in his own and softly shook it. "Nice to meet you."
She jerked her head politely and looked back at the screen. She could hear them go outside to talk about the work they had ahead of them. She opened the address book to search for the handyman. The dog who destroyed the system had no idea what a mess he had created and the work it would take to repair it.
.
Randall watched dawn break through her bedroom window. The birds chirped and the sun glared, a complete contrast to his current mood. Randall looked outside and his plan for the day solidified. He was too irritated to go out for some fresh air and he didn't have any work for the day. He also didn't want to admit that he was happy to have an excuse to hang around the house all day. But it was true.
Miss Hudson would be there in several hours and he needed the time to figure out what to do since leaving was not an option. He walked downstairs and heard Dino's paws clicking against the floor. He moved around the house and prepared food for both of them before hanging around her office. He eyed the ruined machine sitting on her desk and shook his head. He had gone overboard with it.
"It's sunny outside, do you want to play in the garden?" Randall asked Dino. He yipped and skipped towards the back door.
Randall chuckled as he followed and opened the back door for Dino before going back inside the glass and fixing himself a glass of peach iced tea.
Yes, the big bad wolf liked peach iced tea. Sue him.
He was watching Dino play and basking in the blazing sunlight when he realized it was time for Trina to arrive at his house. If she came after how rude he had come across on Friday night.
He tugged on Dino's collar, pulling him inside despite his protest. "Come on," he whispered as he tugged the dog inside. He needed to hide in his own house. He closed the door to his bedroom and Dino jumped onto the bed, looking overtly dissatisfied.
He quickly typed out her work list for the day and paused before sending it to her. He could have written it down for her as usual, but he didn't want to stumble into her downstairs when she came in.
Yes, he was sure he could handle himself in front of her when they met next, but the bruised pride had not recovered as of then.
He knew not to confront her when he didn't know how she felt, so he pulled up the CCTV camera feed for the front porch and the road.
With absolute precision, Trina arrived in front of his house and paused. He felt her brow narrow as she appeared to be speaking to someone even though she was clearly alone. He focused and saw the words, "Randall Wright" and "fuck himself" roll off her lips. This seemed to bolster her resolution and she marched towards his house.