“Yes, please.Why did you let me sleep so late?”Jamie sat on one of the benches.I need to find out where these tables and benches came from.
“Because you needed it.”Joesph stood, then entered the diner.“I’ll get you some coffee.”
He looked over towards Salzy’s apartment.
Joesph came out of the back door, a cup of coffee in hand.“We’ll need to get a coffee maker for the apartment.They need to get the drink station moved so they can rewire and replumb for the new location.”
Jamie took a sip of the coffee.“Okay.Have you seen Salzy?”
“Not yet.”Jospeh smiled over the top of his computer.“I suspect he’s going to be feeling that tequila when he does show up.”
“Um...”Jamie blew across the coffee.“And Mike?”
Joesph raised an eyebrow.“He was gone when I got up and back just as the coffee brewed.”He tilted his head towards the back door of the diner.“He’s already in there working on getting the drink station dismantled.”
Jamie leaned forward, closer to Joesph.“Do you know why he’s doing all this?Did you ask him to...”Jamie waved a hand about.“Do...stuff?”
“I only asked him to consult on the steel beam.The rest is justhim.”
“Did you agree to pay him something?”Jamie took a long sip of the coffee.
“I offered him a consulting fee, but he refused.”Joesph leaned towards Jamie.“If you want myhonestopinion, he’s here because he has athingfor you.”He punctuated with a pointed finger in Jamie’s direction.
Jamie shook his head and continued to drink his coffee, not saying anything and not knowing what to think.
“Can...”Mike had stuck his head out of the back door of the diner.He was wearing another tank top that looked as if it had been painted on and was now covered in a thick layer of dust on the front.“Good morning,” he said to Jamie.
Jamie lifted his mug.“Good morning.Sorry, I slept so late.”
“Not a problem.You probably needed it.However, do you think you could give me a hand with this coffee machine?”
“Sure thing.”Jamie stood up.
Mike and Jamie stood in front of the big coffee maker.“What’s the issue?”Jamie asked.
“Well, I can’t seem to get both of my fat hands in that small space under this cabinet to undo the water supply.”Mike held an adjustable wrench in his hand.“I need a second, smaller hand to hold the other wrench in place while I undo the connector.I can’t get both of my hands in there at the same time.Space isn’t all that big.”
“Where is it?”Jamie looked behind the contraption.
Mike lowered himself to the floor and lay on his belly.“It’s down here, close to the wall and floor.”
Jamie joined him on the floor.There was a flashlight on, showing the connection, one wrench already in place.“Okay.What do you want me to do?”
“Slide your hand in and hold that other wrench.I’ll try and slide this one,” he said, shaking the wrench in his hand, “in behind.If I can just get it started, I think I can get it by myself.”
“Okay.Sure.”Jamie pushed his hand in under the cabinet but was just shy of being able to reach the other wrench.“I’ll have to slide in closer.”He pushed himself forward and wriggled his way, putting himself shoulder to shoulder with Mike.
“Got it?”Mike asked.
“Alright.I think I have it.”
“If you just hold it tight...”Mike grunted, squeezing his big, meaty hand in the small space.“Let me...”he grunted.“Let me just get a turn on this.”He grunted again.
“Whoever put this in must have had tiny hands,” Jamie said, his arm fully extended, barely able to get a good grip on the wrench.
Mike shifted, grunted again.“Yeah.I think they must have.”
“Has it even budged?”
