Getting Back to Work

“G’Day, Mitchell Plumbing, Jeff speaking.”

“G’Day, Jeff. It’s Terry Thorne. Are you back at work yet?”

“Hey, Terry; yes and no. Yes, the doc says I’m good to go, and no I’m not doing anything right now. What do ya need?”

“Good; I’m rentng Toni’s old place with a view to buy, and I want to change the master bathroom. Can you meet me over there to have a look round?”

“Sure thing, Terry. I can come over in about an hour if you like.”

“Great, I’ll see you then. Thanks, Jeff.”

Jeff hung up the phone and went out to the back garden where Stevo was scooping a couple of wayward leaves out of the pool before going for a swim. “Seb, I’ve gotta go out, going to look at a prospective job.”

Stevo put down the pool net and walked over to Jeff. “Where ya going, mate?”

“Over to Toni Richards’ old place. Terry Thorne s renting it with a view to buy; he wants to remodel the master bathroom.”

“Could be a big job. You up to it?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping. I’m going troppo here with nothing to do. I’ll make sure I don’t load any equipment on my own…if I get the job. So far it’s only a look see.”

“Okie dokie, Jeffie. Call me before you leave and I’ll get the dinner on.”

“Ta, Seb,” Jeff replied, hugging Stevo and giving hi a quick kiss before jogging round to his ute and heading off.

Terry was walking round the garden when Jeff pulled up. He really liked the way Toni had set it out, and decided that he wouldn’t change the main plan, although he thought he might like a veggie patch; he’d been thinking about his childhood and the way his mum and dad had given him and his sisters a little plot each to grow their own veggies. It was an enjoyable time…a time he’d like to recreate. He decided to have a word with the gardening crew the next time they came over, and get their advice where to put it.

Jeff waved as he got out of the ute and Terry smiled. He liked Jeff; the young man always seemed to have a smile on his face, and his recent accident didn’t seem to have got him down too much either.

“How ya going, mate?” Terry asked as he gave Jeff a welcoming hug.

“I’m good, Terry; glad to get your call actually, ‘ve done enough sitting home healing, I need to get back to work.”

“Well, here’s hoping I can help you out then, come on in.”

“This is a nice place, Terry. I’ve only seen it from outside.”

“I’ll give you the tour then, let’s start down here.”

Jeff loved the lounge room and the kitchen. The dining room was great too. but he wasn’t quite sure about the white den.

Terry laughed when he saw Jeff’s expression. “Don’t worry, mate; it’s not going to stay this way for too long. I understand there’s some nice wood under all this paint so my first job is to get it all back to bare wood and then put some good oil on it to bring out the grain.”

“Good idea. You gonna use paint stripper?”

“Not if I can help it. I was thinking of a high pressure steamer.”

Jeff took out a knife and carefully scraped a flake of paint off, then sniffed it. “You’re in luck, mate. It’s water based paint so the steam should work well.”

“Great, that’s something I can do myself then. Right, let’s get on with the tour; upstairs now.”

Jeff was very impressed with the property, and with what terry told him he was going to do with each room. Finally, he was shown the master suite and he got out his notepad and tape. “I’ll just get the measurements, Terry, so I know what space have to work with.”

“Okie doke, give me the end and I’ll help.”

“Thanks, Terry; appreciate it.”

Measurements taken, they men went back downstairs and Terry offered Jeff a drink, and they both chose iced water. Jeff got out his stock book and showed Terry the different designs he could offer. Terry was interested in a state of the art multi jet shower cubicle and a whirlpool tub, with matching twin basin vanity, toilet and bidet. Jeff smiled at the mention of the bidet, perhaps Terry was looking at the future and maybe not being alone forever.

They spent the next couple of hours looking through the various designs, and Terry produced some graph paper and both he and Jeff drew up various plans until they got something that Terry liked.

“Looks good, Ter. I’ll do a computer plan and price everything up for you by the end of the week.”

“Hold on, mate,” Terry interrupted, worrying Jeff more than a bit. “I think we’ve forgotten something.”

“What’s that?”

“Tiles…floor and wall.”

“Ah, so it’s going to be a total makeover; give me two ticks.” Jeff jogged out to the ute and pulled out his tiling catalogue. “Here ya go, Terry. Now, I can leave tis with you if you like, give you a couple of days to look through.” Terry was already flipping through the pages.

“No need, Jeff. I like these; do they have floor tiles that would complement them?” Jeff looked at his choice and smiled. Terry had good taste.

“They certainly do,” he replied, turning a few pages and showing Terry the range.

“Okay, if you can get hold of a sample floor and wall tile in both these colours,” Terry sad, pointing to his choices, “I can make up my mind after seeing them in situ.”

“I can get those tomorrow arvo. Will it be convenient to bring them round then?”

“Sure thing, Jeff. I‘ll be making a start with the pressure steamer so I’ll be here all day.”

“Great, I’ll see you just after lunch.”

“Tell you what, how about I order something from Andy’s to go and you pick it up on the way over. That way I’ll be forced to stop and eat.”

“Sounds like a plan, Terry. I’ll do the plan tonight and bring that too, and I’ll work out how many tiles I’ll need and get the costing to you by Friday.”

Terry stood up and walked Jeff to the door. “Thanks for your help, Jeff…and don’t worry, the job will be yours; I know you give a fair price, and I’ve seen the work you did for Maximus.”

Jeff beamed in delight as he hopped up into the drivers seat and waved as he drove off, remembering as he got to the gate to stop and call Stevo to let him know he was on the way home.