Page 31 of Dead Serious with Benefits
“I…should be concerned?” he wondered, warily.
“No,” I said with a smile. “This conversation is for the living. Olivia is past that, past pain. The best we can do is some living of our own.”
“Now there’s an attitude I can get behind,” he said, chuckling. “I’m sure, with your profession, you own a fine suit.”
“You assume correctly.”
“Good. Now, how about a tux?”
WARD
“Finish it up,” a gruff voice echoed down the hallway from my guest bathroom. “I want to get home.”
“I’m working as fast as I can without making a mess of the place,” the workman growled back.
“Who gives a shit? The rich prick isn’t going to know the difference,” the first man grumbled, apparently unaware that his voice was resonant enough to reach me in the sitting area. Amused, I flipped the book and set it on my lap, sipping my tea. I had been trying to enjoy the rather sordid and grisly story while looking out on the city, but I had found something far more interesting to pay attention to. “We can just tell him it’s the style nowadays. You see the shit he has here? Probably won’t even care, he’ll eat it up.”
“Well, I’ll fucking know. Keep saying lowlife shit like that and Dick might figure you belong at another company,” the second workman, who was clearly of a higher caliber than his compatriot. “And shut the fuck up already, you’re as loud as you are scummy.”
Interesting! How should one handle the situation? The company was clearly hiring people willing to do shoddy work for their own convenience, especially if it was a ‘rich prick.’ Which,to be fair, wasn’t incorrect. I was rich and had been called a prick enough times that there had to be some truth to the accusation. Yet, that same company was hiring others with greater moral fiber.
Report the sleazy and virtuous worker, to correct one hiring mistake and encourage the other? Or should I just...let it go? It wasn’t as if I couldn’t afford to have a sloppy job redone by another, more trustworthy company, but even I balked at the idea of spending money for a job twice. I didn’t want thembothto get in trouble, nor did I want a shoddy job simply because I could afford it.
That was just...insulting.
The dull thump of booted feet drew my head up, and I watched as the workman came into sight from the hallway, glancing around before seeing me sitting at the window, a book resting on my leg. “Sir?”
“Yes?” I asked, turning to face him with a genial smile.
“That’s the last of it,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. I recognized his voice as the one with morals. I raised a brow.
“Everything replaced and put back the way it was?”
“Yes, sir.”
“No alterations?”
“No, sir.”
“No...rich prick style added?” I asked with a grin.
His face lost color. “No...sir.”
“Good,” I said with a chuckle, tucking a bookmark into the book and setting it aside. “And you don’t have to have that look on your face. I have no intention of dragging you over the coals. We can’t always pick the company we’re forced to keep, especially regarding coworkers. I appreciate someone willing to do the right thing even when it’s difficult.”
The workman cleared his throat. “My granddad founded the company years ago and always said that doing a job right is the only way. My dad was the same; he raised me and my sisters to be that way, and I’m raising my kids the same way.”
“A simple philosophy,” I noted as I stood up, making sure my robe didn’t open and reveal everything.
I walked over to my wallet and pulled out a few bills to hand to him. “Here.”
“I...you can just pay with the invoice,” he said, eyeing the money warily.
“Ialwaysslap on extra money for a job well done,” I said. “Feel free to distribute it to your coworker however you see fit.”
“That’s alright,” he said, pushing the money back. “We get paid just fine.”
“As you wish,” I said, tucking the money away. “How long until the bathroom will be usable?”
