Lesson 24- When someone is doing their job, be a good helper by not getting in their way.

Torin was right about sleeping being difficult. Everything will be quiet for a couple minutes and I’ll think I’ll finally be about to get some rest, then the power tools start back up again. It’s incredibly frustrating. I finally give up on sleeping at what I’m guessing is about lunch time. I need to get a watch or something, I’m so used to using my phone to tell the time that now I’m completely lost without it. I should probably be worried that I’m so dependent on my phone, but who isn’t these days? Like most people, it’s my lifeline. It’s my connection to my brother, my workplaces and the internet for when I need to look something up. I’d say it’s a connection to my friends but I don’t really have many friends, and none that would worry if they didn’t hear from me for a while. Is that a little sad? Maybe. I’m not a shy or quiet person, but I don’t share much of myself. I’m friendly with everyone, but that doesn’t mean I actually have friends.

Dragging myself out of bed, I give up on getting any more sleep and just accept that I’m going to be very tired by the time the night ends. I throw on a tank top, leggings and a hoodie. I don’t bother with shoes or anything. I’m not working for hours yet so I don’t think it really matters what I’m wearing. I really want a shower. My hair is all greasy and I feel incredibly gross. But there really isn’t much I can do about that. So I default to my default plan for a bad hair day. I pull my hair into the tightest braid I can manage. Maybe I can trick people into thinking I’ve gone for the slicked back look and that the oil in my hair is intentional. Laura picked up deodorant for me so I make sure to apply that liberally as well. I don’t think I stink particularly bad or anything and all my clothes are clean, but I don’t want to risk it. Actually, that’s something to consider. I’m going to have to do laundry eventually. How is that supposed to work? Well, I have enough clothing for a few days, so I suppose I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Honestly, getting me washed up feels like more of a priority right now. Torin said he would figure it out. Maybe that has something to do with the workmen here… But surely he wouldn’t be full on renovating this place just for me. He’s probably just getting some temporary shower thing set up or something like that. Are camp showers a thing? They probably exist. I would look it up online but I don’t have my damn PHONE. Ugh. This is so annoying. I take a deep breath and let it out. Okay, I can’t obsess over my phone all the time. I am definitely ordering a watch online though.

I’m sort of presentable now, at least as clean as I’m going to get. So I wander out of my room to investigate what the hell these workmen are doing here. It’s been a few hours so surely they’re almost done. I’m shocked to find that the hallway is a total mess. There are tiles stacked all over the floor, white powdery dust over EVERYTHING and footprints all through it. PVC pipes are stacked against one wall and miscellaneous tools are everywhere. Plumbing stuff probably. The power tool noises are coming from the bathroom. This is definitely a bigger renovation than I expected. Maybe it was already planned. It can’t all be because of me… Right? I try to make my way through the mess to the kitchen. My bare feet are leaving footprints as I pass and I get distracted when something sharp stabs me between my toes. I don’t know what I stepped on but when I lift my foot to try to brush it off I trip over and fall forward. I manage to catch myself but I knock over the pipes that are stacked against the wall and they come crashing to the floor.
“Damn it!” I yelp as I attempt to stack them again. It’s not working, I can’t seem to get them to stay the way they were before.
“Well what’s going on out here?” A familiar voice asks. I find myself face to face with a pair of steel capped shoes. I look up and find Jackson looking down at me. He seems amused by my predicament.
“Makin’ a mess here darlin? Don’t worry about it. We can fix it. Hop up.” He prompts me, holding out a hand to help me to my feet. I take his hand and he pulls me up so hard that I nearly fall over again. Thankfully, I manage to stay upright and maintain at least a little dignity. A glance down at myself shows my black leggings are now covered in white dust. Ugh, I’m a mess. I’ll have to change again before I work tonight. I really hope they’re figuring out a shower for me and I hope it will be ready tonight because it’s been like two minutes and I’m already fairly sure that the white dust is covering almost every part of me. I’m sure I’ll be finding it in my ears, my hair, under my nails and probably in every other possible crevice for weeks, no matter how well I clean up. I’m itching to find a broom and start cleaning this place up even though I can tell they’re still working and it would be a definite waste of time.
“Hi Jackson. I guess this is what you meant when you said you would see me today?” I ask and he nods.
“Yep! Are ya surprised?” He grins at me and I laugh.
“You could say that. What are you doing in there?” I question, trying to look around behind him to see in the bathroom. Right now it looks like an absolute wreck. Are they tearing everything down? It’s a little scary.
“Torin requested a whole new bathroom. Apparently the little toilet and sink combo isn’t cuttin’ it anymore. He wants a shower added. He requested a bathtub and everything but I had to explain that there’s no way to make it fit. I can rearrange what’s in there to jam a shower into the space, but I can’t make the room bigger. I’m a werewolf, I don’t have that kind of magic.” He jokes and I snort out a laugh.
“If you could do that I doubt you would be working for someone else, you would be a very rich man.” I comment and he smirks.
“You got that right.” He agrees. Another guy pops his head out of the bathroom. I don’t know him but he’s a lot younger. Almost too young to be working. Is he an apprentice or something?
“What’s going on out here?” He asks. He catches sights of me and he perks up excitedly.
“Oh, the girl is up! Does this mean we can put some music on now? Working quietly is so boring.” He whines. Jackson rolls his eyes.
“Ronny, you're being rude. Say hi to the lady first at least.” Jackson lectures him with a tone that wouldn’t be out of place on a parent. The other guy, ‘Ronny’ looks guilty.
“Sorry. My name is Ronald but you can call me Ronny. It’s nice to meet you.” He says politely and I smile.
“Nice to meet you Ronny. I’m Rina.” I say cheerfully. They’re getting me a shower. I want to be nice to them.
“Well, the kid is right. Are you up now? Because we will work a lot faster if we don’t have to tiptoe around.” Jackson questions. I shrug.
“I couldn’t sleep through the noise anyway. Thanks for your efforts but it wasn’t working. You do what you’ve gotta do. I’ll catch up the sleep later. I want to wash my hair so I’d much rather you get your work done, even if I have to give up a bit of rest.” I say firmly.
“Ahh yeah, I get it. I was originally supposed to be working elsewhere today. But when the dem- I mean, when Torin called yesterday and told me he had a woman living here and no suitable bathroom I knew it would be an emergency. I have two sisters and I can’t imagine either of them would be thrilled with the situation. Not to mention I would never dare turn the demon down.” He adds quietly. I want to lecture him about making sure to use Torin’s name again. But he corrected himself earlier so he is clearly trying. Old habits die hard. I’ll leave it alone for now.