A Decision for Jarren - 2. Chapter 2

When Jarren woke he was disoriented for a moment as he became aware of his surroundings which were unfamiliar. It was still dark and he groped for his phone, finally finding it on the nightstand next to the bed. It was a little after five-thirty. His body was used to getting up early and yesterday had been an alcohol induced exception. His bladder decided it needed to be taken care of so reluctantly he got up and headed into the bathroom after pulling on a shirt. He had slept in a pair of soft cotton sleep pants which were now tented as they led the way across the hall. He took care of business, washed his hands and splashed a little cool water on his face.

Jarren padded silently down the hallway and managed to get some coffee started without making too much noise. He fixed a bowl of cereal and poured some coffee when there was enough in the carafe. He checked out a couple of news apps as he ate his breakfast. It looked like they were going to have a few cold days ahead of them before it warmed up a little by the following weekend.

Jarren had been up for about an hour when he heard Danny come into the kitchen. Looking up he smiled and said “Good morning.”

Danny returned the greeting and poured himself some coffee. He put a bagel in the toaster and took some cream cheese out of the fridge. When it was ready he came over and sat at the table across from Jarren and said “I’m going into the office today. I have to meet with the senior Development Manager about our scheduling for the next month. I’ll probably have to be on the road for a little while to help cover trade shows. This is the busiest time of year for us. There’s a spare key hanging on the hook by the door. It’s the one on the hot air balloon keychain. Go ahead and get a copy made for yourself if you go out. I should be home before five.”

Jarren nodded and told him “I’m going to call your friend in a little while and see what happens. If that doesn’t pan out I’ll probably stay here and see what’s available online.”

Danny finished his breakfast and went back to his room to shower and get dressed. Jarren let out a whistle of appreciation when the cute young man came out dressed in nice, fitted black pants, a blue dress shirt and black and gray tie with a little bit of blue in it as well. “You clean up well my friend.” Jarren told him.

“Well, I like dressing nice. Yeah, jeans and polos are more comfy, but I do look pretty hot if I do say so myself!” Danny laughed as he gathered his wallet and phone. “Have a nice day dear!” was his parting shot as he blew Jarren a kiss as he left.

Jarren smiled. It had been a while since he had someone to banter with like that. The past six months or so, he had fallen into a depression that had him behaving much differently than his normal happy-go-lucky self. He was unsure what direction he wanted his life to head in and it had taken a toll on his psyche. He knew his family was worried about him and that was a big part of why he had decided to take off for a few months. He just needed to get away and clear his head.

Jarren cleaned up what little mess was in the kitchen and took a shower. He pulled on a pair of faded Levi’s and rummaged through his bag for something that wasn’t too wrinkled. He found a royal blue Henley that was still folded nicely. He looked at the time and saw that it was almost seven-thirty. Knowing that contractors started their day early he figured it would be a good time to call. A pleasant female voice answered and he politely asked if Andre Wilson was available. After a moment on hold another voice identified himself as Andre. Jarren quickly explained the purpose of his call and mentioned that Danny had referred him. Andre asked if he could come by at ten. Jarren quickly agreed and wrote down the address. They said their goodbyes and Jarren felt optimistic for the first time in a while.

Knowing he had at least an hour to kill Jarren emptied out his two bags of stuff and put the clothes away in the drawers and hung a couple of things up in the closet. He didn’t bring much with him and he figured if ended up getting this job he could have Mazen ship some of his other clothes down to him.

When it was time to leave he took the house key off the hook and locked the door behind him. Andre had given him the address of where he was currently working. It took Jarren just under a half hour to get there, leaving him ten minutes before his appointment time. He parked his truck near a trailer that he assumed was the office. The job site was a hotel that was being built. It looked to Jarren as though the foundation was laid and they were in the process of putting up walls. Workers were busy all over with the various tasks required for the job.

Jarren knocked twice on the trailer door before entering. The inside was your average run of the mill work site trailer. There was a desk near the door currently occupied by a young girl who was manning the phones and taking care of paperwork.

She looked up as Jarren entered, smiled and said “Can I help you?”

“I’m Jarren Dalton, I have an appointment with Andre.” he replied.

“Oh yes! I didn’t realize it was almost ten! I’ll let him know you’re here. Have a seat. It shouldn’t take too long for him to get here.” she told him. Jarren watched as she took the two way radio off her desk and called to Andre. He heard the man reply that he would be there shortly.

It was about five minutes before the trailer door opened and Andre stepped in. He was average height, a little shorter than Jarren. He was older, Jarren guessed mid 50’s. His face had that weathered look of someone who had spent a lot of time working outside. His eyes were lined with small wrinkles and there was a good amount of gray showing in his short black hair.

Andre introduced himself and led Jarren to the back of the trailer where there was another desk and told him to have a seat. They went through the preliminary questions and Jarren told Andre about his work history with his father’s company and what he was capable of. He held a plumbing and gas fitting license in Massachusetts and said he could obtain one for Georgia if needed. Jarren could tell by the questions that Andre asked that the man knew what he was doing. Andre explained that the hotel site was their biggest contract at the moment and he had a full crew already.

Then he asked Jarren “Are you OK with being paired with someone for general labor? I just had a guy quit and he left his partner high and dry on several residential projects. We’re contracted with a realty company and take care of the service calls on their rental properties. I prefer to have the calls handled by a team of two people. It tends to make the jobs go easier and it covers our ass liability wise. Several years ago we had a lonely trophy wife accuse one of our guys of inappropriate behaviour. Luckily she changed her tune when she found out he wasn’t interested in women. I don’t want any of my guys being falsely accused again.”

Jarren answered “I don’t have a problem with that. I just want to keep busy and work. I’m good at what I do and am pretty easy to get along with.”

Andre looked at him with a smile and said “When can you start?”

Jarren returned the smiled and answered “Tomorrow?”

Andre pointed to his secretary and instructed “Go sit with Mandy and she’ll get the paperwork taken care of. I’ll have Nash meet you here at seven tomorrow morning. He’s the guy I’m going to have you work with.”

Jarren thought he heard Mandy give a little snort, but he ignored it. He went back to her desk and she handed him several forms. They were the standard new hire paperwork, tax stuff, general information, background check authorizations, that kind of thing. He found out that Georgia did not have a reciprocity agreement with any other states so in all likelihood if he wanted to be licensed he’d have to sit for an exam again. He would decide about that later as he wasn’t really sure how long he would be here.

He was still filling out the forms when Andre said goodbye. He needed to get back to the site before the guys took their lunch break.

Mandy smiled at him as he handed her the completed forms. She made a copy of his driver’s license and he said he would bring his social security card tomorrow. It was in with his stuff back at Danny’s.

As he was leaving she told him “Good luck with Sully tomorrow.” She seemed to pale as she realized what she said.

Jarren’s eyes narrowed slightly and he said “Andre told me I was working with someone named Nash tomorrow. Who’s Sully?”

Mandy turned red and admitted “We call Nash Sully. He’s not all that friendly, you know, kind of sullen? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sure he’s a nice enough guy. He just doesn’t talk much with anyone else. That’s why RJ quit. He didn’t like working with Nash. He couldn’t give Andre a legitimate reason and Andre doesn’t put up with petty bullshit like that.”

Jarren frowned slightly and told her “I’m not worried about it. Sometimes people are quiet for a reason. Did you ever think of that? I can get along with most people, if this Nash doesn’t want to socialize I don’t really care, as long as he can get the job done.”

Jarren stepped out of the trailer and sighed as the door closed behind him. He was secretly pleased that it looked like his new partner was the silent type. He wasn’t in the mood to get sucked into any drama. He just wanted to work his shift and earn a paycheck. Andre offered a really good hourly wage and if he stayed and got a Georgia plumbing license he could probably make double what was offered. He held a master plumbing license from home and knew he could easily pass the state requirements. He just needed to figure out if he was staying or not.

Jarren stopped at the nearby Walmart. He was going to need a few more pairs of jeans that he didn’t care if they got messed up. Mandy had told him she would order t-shirts for him with the company logo and he could wear any solid color in the meantime. He grabbed a package of four navy blue t-shirts. That should get him by until the company shirts came in. He also picked up some more socks and underwear and added a reusable water bottle to the cart.

Jarren made his way over to the grocery section and got some lunch meat, cheese and rolls. He figured he would bring lunch with him so he wouldn’t have to buy it everyday. He also grabbed one of those big variety packs with several kinds of chips in individual bags. A swing through the produce section saw apples, pears and some bananas added to the cart. An insulated lunch bag rounded out his shopping cart. Figuring that he had enough Jarren paid for his purchases and put them in the truck. It was past noon so he decided to hit the Arby’s that he had seen not far from Danny’s apartment complex. He ordered a double beef and cheddar with hand cut fries and decided to splurge on a Jamocha milkshake. He hadn’t had one of those in years. He got back to the apartment and managed to unload all of his purchases in one trip. He put the groceries away and enjoyed his sandwich and fries. Once he had slurped down the final sip of his milkshake he tore all the price tags off his new clothes and put them in the washer.

When Danny got home just after five, Jarren was pulling his new work clothes from the dryer. He looked up and grinned when he saw the cute blond. “I have a job!” he informed him.

“Congratulations! When do you start?” Danny replied.

“Tomorrow, seven am. It’ll be nice to have a routine again. I threw one of those frozen lasagnas we got in the oven. I hope that’s OK. I had a late lunch and didn’t really have time to fix anything else.”

“That’s fine. I had a late lunch too. The director took a couple of us out and I’m not super hungry. I’m going to be gone for two weeks starting the first week of February. Liam, that’s my boss, can’t cover all the trade shows in Florida. I’m going to take care of Tallahassee, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona and the Villages. He’s doing Naples, Fort Myers, Sarasota, Tampa, and Spring Hill. Then we meet up in Orlando. From there we’ll head down and cover Ft. Lauderdale and Miami before heading home. I’m excited that were going to have a few days in Orlando. I’m going to meet up with an old friend I grew up with. I don’t get to see him very much. He and his husband own a restaurant near the Mousetrap and don’t get away too often.” Danny said.

Jarren smiled at his reference to Disney World. He had been once when he was a kid. It was one of the rare family vacations they had been able to take. Jarren was nine and remembered how crowded it was. They had gone during their winter school break and it seemed like everyone from up north was there. His mom got a little frazzled trying to keep an eye on all her kids. In addition to his twin Mazen, he had two older sisters and two younger brothers. Having come from a big family Jaren tolerated crowds, but the Mousetrap, as Danny called it, was a bit much for him to ever want to go back to.

“Sound like you’re going to have your hands full.” Jarren commented.

“Yeah, but I don’t mind. As long as I don’t have to be on the road like that all of the time I’m good. I think I’m going to have a little piece of that lasagna, then watch a little TV before going to bed.” he said.

Jarren told Danny it sounded like a good idea. He would be up early from here on out and he hated it when he didn’t get enough sleep. He got wicked irritable and cranky. He didn’t need to be snapping at someone he didn’t know right off the bat.

They ended up watching TV until ten. Danny introduced him to Santa Clarita Diet on Netflix. He laughed his way through four episodes. Drew Barrymore was fucking hysterical. Timothy Olyphant played her husband and the acting chemistry between them was incredible. The whole cast was great together. The episodes were only a half hour so the time flew by. Who knew an undead real estate agent could be so funny?

When the fourth show was over Jarren said goodnight and made his way to the bathroom and got ready for bed. He was hoping that the new job would work out. He needed something new to look forward to.

Jarren was out the door by six-twenty the next morning. He wasn’t a morning person even though he had gotten up early most of his life. He just dealt with it. He was happy to find a Dunkin Donuts on his way to the job site. The drive-thru line was short this early and it didn’t take long before a large styrofoam cup of hot liquid heaven was sharing the truck with him. Thank God for caffeine, he thought as he sipped the brew. He arrived at the trailer at six fifty-five. He saw a Toyota Tundra with the company logo parked near the trailer as well as a Ford F-150. He grabbed his coffee and lunch and rapped on the trailer door before entering.

Andre was sitting at his desk working on his computer. There was another man sitting across from him with his back to Jarren. Jarren figure it must be his new work partner, Nash.

“Come on in,” Andre said as he looked up and made the introductions. “Jarren, this is Nash Hawkins. Nash, Jarren Dalton, your new partner.

Jarren took in the man who stood up, turned around and stuck out his hand. Jarren took it and his hand was engulfed in a warm, calloused, firm handshake. As he let go he appraised the man in front of him. He was about the same height, just slightly taller, and while he wasn’t drop dead gorgeous, he was handsome in a sort of rough around the edges kind of way. He was a few years older than Jarren, maybe mid-thirties at the most. His hair was black and the thick locks were cut short allowing soft waves to frame his face. Jarren could imagine them becoming curls wrapped around his fingers. There was a harshness to his features that was accentuated by a slight furrow between his brows. His blue eyes locked onto Jarren’s with an almost icy gaze. His right eyebrow was cut in half by a thin scar that scored itself through the short hairs and continued for about a half an inch under his eye. He had a slightly crooked nose, possibly having been broken at some point and his full lips were set in a neutral line. His jawline was strong and smooth, he must have shaved that morning. Jarren’s gaze travelled downward and took in a solid build, muscular and fit. His eyes quickly skimmed further down and assessed the slight bulge in the jeans. The denim wasn’t skin tight and Jarren’s eyes quickly shot back to his face. He thought he caught the barest hint of the man’s lips twitch upward. He saw the other man appraise him just as quickly and efficiently.

Andre spoke and told Jarren “Nash will give you a rundown of procedures. He’ll show you where everything is in the truck you guys will use. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. Nash might be quiet, but he knows his stuff.”

Jarren nodded and then turned his attention back to Nash.

“Come on, let’s go. No matter what you may have heard I don’t bite. At least not on the first day of working with someone.” Nash told him in a pleasantly deep baritone. This time Jarren was sure he saw the slightest hint of a smile.

They went outside and Nash headed to the Toyota with the company logo on it. Instead of a truck bed the back of the truck was outfitted with what looked like one giant toolbox. Nash took a set of keys from his pocket and showed Jarren where the various tools were kept in the storage spaces. The cabinets stocked all of the basic tools they would need. An extension ladder and a step ladder were mounted to the truck as well. Nash told him that if they didn’t have something on the truck, like if a new garbage disposal had to be installed then they would stop at either Lowe’s or Home Depot to get it. Andre had business accounts set up at both.

There was a small cooler on the truck as well. Nash told Jarren that he could put his lunch in there if he needed to. As Jarren put his bag with a sandwich and fruit in he saw that Nash had a good sized plastic container filled with what looked like salad. He dropped his bag on top of the container and closed up the cooler.

Nash went on to explain that their work orders were assigned every afternoon for the following day. He received a text with the description of the jobs and the window of time they were expected. He also got the client’s name and phone number. The policy was to call the client when they were on the way to let them know when to expect their arrival.

Their first job for the day was at a property about forty-five minutes from them. The tenants had reported that some of the tiles in one of their bathrooms were buckling. Nash got in the driver’s side and Jarren hopped in the passenger seat. He buckled up as Nash called the tenant to let her know they would be there in forty-five minutes to an hour. They didn’t have to go anywhere near downtown so traffic wise there should just be the normal morning commute volume.

They drove in silence, Jarren watching the scenery as they made their way through the Atlanta suburbs. They arrived at the house right on time. Jarren could hear a dog yapping as they rang the bell.

“The little dogs are usually the worst.” Nash said as he finally spoke to him.

Before Jarren could answer, the front door opened and a scruffy little shih tzu was frenetic as it yipped at them, running in circles at its owner's feet. Jarren looked over and saw a forced smile on Nash’s face. He almost laughed at the expression. Nash looked like he was trying not to fart. The woman who opened the door bent down and picked up the little dog and told them “Come on in. Let me put Mullet in his crate.”

When she turned her back the two men looked at each other and Jarren mouthed “Mullet?” Nash looked even more constipated as he tried not to laugh.

They stood in the entryway until the client came back. She led them to the bathroom that was having the issue with the tiles. Jarren could see where the grout had deteriorated and allowed water to get behind it. That softened the drywall and the tiles had been pushed back slightly. He could see Nash assessing the same thing. He let Nash do the talking.

Nash told the woman they would need to remove some of the tiles to see how much damage was behind there. Once they knew what it was he would call the management company and advise them of what needed to be done. He could only do the repair if he received their approval. He told her it shouldn’t be a problem.

They went back out to the truck to get the tools they needed. Nash let Jarren pop the tiles off so they could see what was going on. Luckily the tenant had caught it early and there was no mold behind the tiles. Nash, assessing Jarren’s ability, asked him how they should proceed. Jarren told him they should be able to cut out and remove the soggy drywall and patch it before replacing the tiles they removed. He recommended regrouting all the tile as he could see it deteriorating in a lot more places. Nash nodded his approval. He went to find the tenant and to call the management company for approval. It wasn’t long before he came back and the two worked together to complete the job. An hour and a half later they took pictures and texted them to the management company and then were able to sign off on the work order. They had cleaned up the mess that they had made during the repair and Nash told the tenant that she needed to let the grout dry thoroughly for twenty-four hours before using the shower.

As they loaded the tools back into their proper places on the truck Jarren asked “What do you do when the repairs turn out to be extensive?” Nash had told him that they were allotted two to three hours for each job depending on what it was, not including travel time.

Nash looked at him and said “If it turns out to be something huge we let the tenant know what’s going on and then schedule a time to come back and take care of it. This ended up being a pretty simple fix. I’ve seen cases where there’s mold and shit behind the walls. Then we have to stop working and the company schedules someone to come in and deal with the mold. I’ve had to gut an entire bathroom before because of underlying mold issues.”

Jarren nodded his agreement and said “Me too, my worst nightmare is asbestos. Nothing halts a job faster than that.”

Nash agreed as they got back in the truck. The rest of the day went smoothly. They dealt with a closet door that kept jumping off its track {Jarren hated sliding closet doors for that very reason}, before taking a lunch break. Nash pulled the truck into a local park and they sat outside on a picnic table to eat. In addition to his salad Nash had a thermos with what looked like some kind of minestrone soup. Jarren told him it smelled good. Nash just gave him a tiny smile and focused on his food.

After lunch they were able to take care of their last two work orders. Both were in the same neighborhood. There had been a storm with strong winds several days earlier and they had to reattached some gutters that had blown down on one house and replace a screen door that had been ripped off its hinges at the other. When they were done it was almost four. Nash told him that he usually finished between four and five. The hotel jobsite was only fifteen minutes from the last job and Jarren had to go inside the trailer to give Mandy his social security card to copy. He said goodbye to Nash and that he would see him tomorrow at seven. Nash just nodded.

Jarren watched the truck pull away before he entered the trailer. Mandy looked up and gave him a small smile when she saw him. He still wasn’t too happy with how she referred to Nash as Sully, but she seemed to regret it.

“How did it go today?” she asked as she took his card to make a copy of it.

“It went well. Nash is a nice guy. Just quiet is all. He made sure to explain everything as we went.” Jarren informed her.

Mandy avoided looking directly at him as she handed back the social security card. She looked a little uncomfortable and inside Jarren was glad. He had seen his fair share of bullying and had endured some of his own when people started figuring out he was gay in high school. Luckily Mazen had his back and neither one of them was the type to back off when confronted.

Jarren said goodnight to Mandy and headed back to the apartment. Traffic was a little heavier at this time of the day and he was tired. As soon as he opened the apartment he was hit with the scent of garlic.

Danny was in the kitchen stirring something at the stove. He looked up when he heard Jarren come in and told him “I’m making spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread. I just have to cook the pasta. I didn’t want to start it until you got back.”

Jarren told him he needed to wash up and change his clothes. It wasn’t long after that he and Danny sat down and enjoyed the simple meal. After they ate they just chilled for the rest of the evening. After getting ready for bed and slipping under the covers, Jarren’s last thought before he fell asleep was that he just might be able to get used to this new routine.