Page 20 of Time for Change

“Fuck you both. This sweet girl is a winner,” he coos at the pie in the box, hoisting it up with a victorious grin.

“Well, as fun as this has been, I better get in there and find out what your issue is,” I say, finishing off my pastry.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Isaac states, refilling his coffee mug.

Returning to the break room, I get busy finding out the problem. I start with the breaker box, ensuring the issue isn’t there, and when I find it isn’t, I start digging in the room. An hour later, I have the problem isolated, and it’s not going to be easy to fix. I fire off a text to Caden to keep him updated before heading for the stairs that lead me up to Isaac’s office.

“Knock, knock,” I say, while tapping my knuckles on the doorframe.

“Hey, come on in. How’s it going?”

“Well, I found your issue. Looks like the entire outside wall has the original wiring in it. It’s definitely old and desperatelyneeds updated. There’s a short amongst the frayed wiring, which means it all needs replacing to bring it up to code.”

“Shit,” he mutters, rubbing the side of his head. “I was afraid of that. Well, we want it right. I won’t risk a fire because the previous electrician cut a few corners.”

I nod. “Understood. I can get you an estimate shortly. Caden is back at the office and running numbers for you. We don’t have anything going this afternoon that’s urgent, so if you want, we can start right away.”

He sighs but nods his head. “Let’s do it. Send me the estimate, but we want this taken care of right away. I want it right.”

“It will be,” I tell him. “He should be emailing you shortly.”

“I’ll watch for it. Thanks, Jack.”

“You’re welcome. I’m going to run to the office and grab a few things we’ll need and be back.”

“Sounds good.”

I exit his office and head back down to the employee break room to retrieve my toolbox. I’m sure it would be fine to leave it while I run back to the office, but that’s not a habit I’m used to. I always keep my stuff within arm’s reach. There’s a lot of shady assholes in this world.

Caden has everything gathered up when I get there. “I shot off the estimate to Isaac, and he approved it right away. We have everything we need in stock, but we’ll definitely need to replenish wire and industrial receptacles.”

“I can take care of that,” I tell him as I help throw the materials into our trucks.

We head back to the restaurant and start to unload. The business is just opening up for the day, so people are starting to mill about, and the first person I run into is none other than Stevie, the gorgeous server who gave me her number. We’reboth in the hallway, me heading toward the break room and her coming out of it.

“Oh, hi,” she greets with a smile, stopping when I’m directly in front of her.

“Hey. How’s it going?”

Her brown eyes shine as she gazes up at me. “Good. You?”

“Uh, good too.”

She looks down at the box of wire I’m holding in my hand. “Did you figure out what’s wrong with the break room?”

“I did. We’ve got to replace some old wiring,” I say, hearing the door close loudly behind me.

“Hey, Stevie, isn’t it?” Caden says when he sees us both standing in the hallway. He’s wearing a wide, knowing grin, and I’m certain he’ll be drilling me for info the moment she walks away.

“Yeah, hi. Caden, right?”

“That’s me,” he replies with a wink. “This man bothering you?” he asks in a flirty tone.

She chuckles and shakes her head. “No, we just ran into each other. I’ll leave you to it. I have to go…up front.”

“See you later, Stevie,” Caden singsongs as she walks away. My eyes trail her as she goes disappearing behind the swinging door leading to the kitchen. “You’re so screwed, buddy,” he says, pulling me out of my trance with a solid swat to the chest.

“Ouch, Christ,” I grumble, rubbing the spot he hit.

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