Page 19 of Claimed By my Frenemy

He looks up, his expression one of alarm. “Damn it,” he mutters again, before rushing over to assess the situation.

I watch helplessly as the water continues to spread, soaking into the ground and creating a muddy mess. Theo and his crew are doing their best to contain it, but it’s clear the damage is done.

I can’t let anxiety hit me, because it can be overwhelming when I start to worry about something. Instead, I grab our empty glasses and take them inside. I’m going to wash them and put them away while Theo deals with the water. He’ll be able to fix it.

But when I turn on my tap, nothing is coming out. I shut the sink off then turn it back on, but nothing more than a dribble comes out.

This is serious, then. I hurry to the hall bathroom and try that sink, too. Nothing. Theo and his crew have really done something now.

10

THEO

I watchthe water pooling in Mia’s yard, and the guilt hits me hard. This was my project, my responsibility, and now her property is a mess because of it. I stride over to where she’s standing, her eyes wide.

Before I can reach her, she disappears inside. I don’t know if she’s running from me or just the situation in general, but I let her go. I need to focus on the problem at hand. Right now, the mix of rocks and grass underneath my feet is already turning into a muddy mess.

I make a call to one of the numbers on my list. I don’t have control to shut off this water, but it clearly has to be contained. As I’m waiting to speak to someone, I shout at my contractor, “Get some sort of temporary patch on that pipe! I don’t know how many houses on this street it leads to. Get it under control!”

Everyone is moving quickly, and I know they’re doing the best they can, but they are fired. They are absolutely fired after this. We were able to fix the minor damage done a few days ago, but this kind of damage can’t be done accidentally. They ripped almost a third of the piping off.

Water seems to be bubbling up under my feet, and I stop moving, annoyed by the sloshing noise of the yard under my feet.

Someone finally answers my call. “Yes, hello! We need someone down here immediately to shut off the water until a pipe can be fixed. We’re experiencing flooding.” I give the address of the property, and a couple of people are dispatched immediately. I shove my phone in my pocket again and stare at the damage. With how quickly this water is pooling, it could probably rise to a dangerous level in a couple of hours. I have to remain confident that things will be turned off and patched up before then.

Mia reappears on her porch, and she grips the railing tightly, looking out over the yard with shock on her face.

“Mia, I’m really sorry about this. I’ll pay for the damages and get it all fixed. This shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t know these guys couldn’t drive an excavator, or I wouldn’t have hired them for the job.”

She narrows her eyes at me, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. “I don’t want your money, Theo. I just want this fixed before it causes any more damage.”

Her stubbornness is back in full force, and the flirtatious spark I felt just earlier is nowhere to be seen. She’s all business, focused on the immediate problem at hand.

Mia hops off the porch, and I realize she’s changed into some ridiculous black, rubber boots. I wonder where she got them because they don’t look like her style.

She hurries over onto my property, ignoring the property line completely. I jog after her, splashing mud up the back of my shirt.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

But she ignores me and goes right over to the burst pipe. She evaluates it, and I realize she’s trying to fix it. I want to tellher there’s no way she’s going to be able to deal with the pipe until the water is turned off, but I don’t think Mia wants to hear anything I have to say right now.

“Can’t you patch this?” Mia shouts at one of the nearest construction workers. He shrugs his shoulders, shakes his head, and takes a few steps away from her and her frantic questions.

Mia gets down on her knees and starts trying to gauge the size of the hole, but the water it’s spurting isn’t gentle.

I grab her shoulder and pull her back.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to stop this thing. Can’t we turn off the water somewhere or cover it up so the water can’t leak everywhere?”

“That’s what I’m working on. I’ve called someone to turn off the main valve. I don’t have access to it. Once that’s done, we’ll stop the water from leaking. There’s nothing we can do about it until then.”

Mia jerks away from my grip and falls to her knees again, but she’s not reaching out and trying to stop the stream of water now. She’s just sitting there, staring at the pipe sadly.

Finally, she gets up and trudges back to her property. I want to go after her, but I have to stay here and deal with this.

Someone must have called Steve because he shows up wearing suit pants and a dress shirt. He’s always been a “stay in the office” kind of guy while I’ve never been afraid of getting my hands dirty. He stands on the very edge of the property, his shoes still in the street as he surveys the mess.

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