8869/There's a Hole in My Bucket

There's a Hole in My Bucket
Date of Scene:	19 August 2019
Location:	Vanessa Carlysle's Apartment, New Lots, Brooklyn, New York
Synopsis:	Vanessa Carlysle gets an unexpected visit from a contractor to fix her place up a bit. Amazing what a fresh coat of paint or a kind gesture can do.
Cast of Characters:	Elixir, Copycat

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Elixir has posed:
There was not supposed to be anyone knocking at the door right now. But all the same, someone is. They knock once, and again. There are some voices in the hallway. The heavy knock comes another time.

In the hallway is a Lebanese man with a receding hairline in his 40's. He is in jeans and his t-shirt says Sterling Contractors. The man is holding a metal clipboard with some papers on it.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa is lying on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table as she fans herself with a fan. The air conditioning has been spotty at best. Running just enough to keep the temperature below the level the city will do anything out of concern for the elderly residents, but not cool enough to be comfortable.

The sound at the door causes Vanessa to jump. She rises, her first move towards her purse, slipping it over her shoulder as she unzips it and seeks out the comforting feeling that the grip of the pistol inside the bag gives her. She goes over to peek out the peephole.

"Yes? Who is it!?" the young woman calls through the doorway, her street-ingrained suspicions already engaged at a high level.

Elixir has posed:
"Sterling Contractors, I've got a work order for your unit," comes the man's voice from the other side. From the sound of his accent, he grew up in Brooklyn.

"Looking for," the man looks down at his clipboard. "Vanessa. Got some issues with the walls and plumbing?"

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa was leaning forward to peer out the peephole. Hearing the man, she straightens with a slightly confused expression on her face. "Work order?" she repeats sotto voce. She hesitates. Most of the workers sent by the landlord seem to fix the issue but leave even worse situations in their wake. Which is how she ended up with the hole in her sheetrock and drywall.

She undoes each of the locks, returning her hand back to the gun hidden in her purse, before opening the door. "Yes, I'm Vanessa. I hadn't even gotten a return call from Mr. Laskey's office," she says of the landlord. "I wasn't expecting anyone," she says, glancing towards the unsightly hole. She'd just been looking at things online she could get on the cheap to hang over it and hide. She'd been considering maybe some sort of flag or curtain.

Elixir has posed:
The man is in workboots and all. He has a ruggedized cellphone clipped to his belt beside a tape measure. He smiles patiently when Vanessa opens the door.

"Huh, he your landlord? Looks like someone named..." the man looks down at his clipboard again.

"...Josh made the appointment. From your landlord's office I guess," the man shrugs. ".Just want to take some measurements and see what we're looking at before I schedule my drywall guy and a plumber. I'm Rahul," he says and holds out his right hand to Vanessa. "Can I come in?"

Copycat has posed:
Some people are entirely suave and smooth about unexpected things. None of those sorts live in this particular apartment. Vanessa's mouth drops open for a moment before she shuts it. It is too bad Josh isn't there to see what Vanessa's eyes express at that moment. It's the kind of thing that just remembering would probably leave someone feeling good for the rest of the day, maybe longer.

"Josh. Right, I remember him," Vanessa says, the pretty woman only partially hiding her warm grin. "Rahul? Vanessa. So nice to meet you," she says, removing her hand from her purse, the gun forgotten as she shakes the contractor's hand.

"Please, come on in, it's right over here," she says, letting the man in before closing and locking all of the locks again. The plumbing fix is not leaking, but done incompetently. Plus the hole in the wall.

Elixir has posed:
"Nice to meet you," Rahul says. He toes his boots off inside and walks over to the hole inside. He pulls a penlight from his pocket and peers into the hole.

"This been like this long?" he asks Vanessa while inspecting the plumbing and wall cavity. Rahul makes a few notes on his work order. "Hope it wasn't a plumber did this," Rahul says with a shake of his head. "I'll have my guy do this properly."

The contractor pulls out his tape measure and starts measuring the hole in the wall. When he's done he looks around the room with a critical eye. He pulls out his phone and uses it to take some quick measurements of the room.

"A hole that size, can't patch it," he explains to Vanessa. "Drywaller'll put new material in, mud it up. Order covers painting the room, too. Surprised, but painting the one wall'll look bad. New landlord? We never get calls here."

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa holds up her hands in a helpless gesture. "It was done by the men that the landlord sent, but... his workers rarely seem to know what they are doing, if you want my totally uninformed opinion. I think Josh went outside of his normal work force on this one," she says, not bothering to clear up the connection with Josh. For all she knows the contractor might need the landlord's permission. If he thinks he has it, she won't say otherwise just to be safe.

Vanessa looks around the room, her expression showing her surprise. "Did... Josh's office, they are paying for it? Right?" she asks hesitantly. Not thinking Josh would do otherwise, and not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth. But so not used to such gift horses, she can't help making sure this is real.

"I guess... yeah, if the whole room, if that's ok. I don't want it to cost him... er... cost more than it need to though," she says.

Elixir has posed:
Rahul nods understandingly when Vanessa explains about the usual guys. "See that a lot," he comments. Rahul is finishing his note when Vanessa asks about who is paying.

"Huh?" he asks, a bit surprised. "Yeah, of course. Don't charge tenants for repairs like that. Paint's unusual, maybe they're saying sorry for leaving the hole." Rahul flips through his paperwork and nods. "They authorized plenty for this job, no problem. Hey, your landlord's willing to stump up for the whole room, you take it, right?" Rahul chuckles.

Rahul walks over and hands Vanessa his card, on the back her work order number is written in. "On the back there is our website. Sign in with the work order and you leave a note for the painter. Go pick out the colour you want at the hardware store, get the code off the sample. He'll pick up what he needs."

He flips his clipboard around for Vanessa and offers his pen. "Just need your signature at the bottom that we can do the work, and your phone number on this line so my guys can call you for times to drop by. Figure we can be done by the end of the week if you pick out your paint by the end of tomorrow."

Rahul takes his pen back and turns toward the door. "I'll get out of your hair. Any problems just call the number on the card and ask for Rahul. If you aren't happy let me know, cause the office'll call when it's done to ask how things were. Want to make sure you got good news for them."

The contractor gets his boots back on and shoots Vanessa a smile. "Have a good day."

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa takes the card and the paperwork, signing at the bottom after skimming over it. "Well, I, yes, I don't want to turn down a nice gesture," she agrees. Though she's already trying to decide how she could possibly express her gratitude adequately.

She signs the paperwork and passes it back. "Right, I'll get over there today and pick something," she agrees. She moves over to unlock the door for Rahul as he puts his boots back on. The whole moment is still sinking in and it shows in her face as she smiles at him. "Have a good day? I already have Rahul," she tells him. And if he doesn't stop her, she steps forward to give the man a quick hug before letting him go.

At least she can pay forward some of what she's feeling, if not pay it back just yet.