Chapter Text
“You have gotta be fucking kidding me. And here I thought that today couldn’t get any worse.”
Cursing some more under your breath as you tried to avoid most of the water on the floor — which was pretty futile really because the whole kitchen was already drenched — you tiptoed over to the dishwasher that seemed to be the cause of the problem. Great, wet socks. Everyone loved those.
“Mad? I can’t find my tab-”
“Don’t come in here,” you shouted and turned around with an arm outstretched in a stopping motion.
Your goddaughter froze with her foot still in the air from where she’d been about to walk into the kitchen. She looked at you in bewilderment before her eyes fell to the floor where she finally noticed the mess.
“What happened now?” she asked with a sigh and an eye roll that made her seem older than her ten years.
“I think the dishwasher broke,” you grumbled, swiveling back to said dishwasher to squat in front of it with your mouth in a flat line.
“Is anything not broken in this house?”
You sighed explosively but didn’t reply. Because she was right. Sure, you’d gotten this house for a bargain for a NYC suburb, but after moving in around half a year ago, just about everything had broken or needed fixing in some way at some point.
“Could you grab my phone please?” you requested while opening the dishwasher and squinting your eyes, fully prepared to be sprayed by water.
“I dunno where it is.”
You closed your eyes and breathed in deeply at her petulant tone. “I think I left it in the living room.”
“What about my tablet? I-”
“Lia, please,” you finally snapped and turned your head towards her. “I need to call a plumber, but I don’t want to get any more water around the house. So please, go get me my phone.”
To her credit, Lia knew that you meant business because she moved instantly, knowing that you only used this tone when it was necessary. While she was searching for your phone, you turned the dishwasher off — which was cooperative enough not to attack you with water — and opened the cupboard under the sink, which was right next to the dishwasher, to look for the little handle that would cut off the water supply. You had to take out several cleaning products to reach it, but you got another surprise when you leaned in further. The whole piping work looked about to fall to pieces, water leaking from different holes in the PVC pipes and the metal attachments, creating a mess in the cupboard and seeping through it. How had you not noticed this? You just stared at the damage, in between shock and resignation, until you heard Lia calling for you, which had you moving to turn the handle you’d been looking for. Considering the damage, you weren’t sure that it would help in any way, but it was the only thing you could think of doing for now.
Getting to your feet and trudging through the water, not caring anymore about wet socks, you gave Lia a grateful smile as you reached the threshold between the kitchen and the entrance hall.
“Thanks.” You retrieved the phone from her hand — she’d apparently also found her tablet, since she was carrying it under her other arm — and proceeded to look up plumbers that worked around the neighborhood. “I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready.”
Lia looked at you and then the kitchen floor with a dubious look.
“Take out?” she tried with raised eyebrows.
You couldn’t help but laugh at her correct assumption that cleaning up that mess might take a while, especially if someone needed to come fix things, and that you wouldn’t have the time to prepare anything. Not if you wanted her to be in bed at a specific time since it was a school night.
“Fine, takeout… You choose.”
Lia’s eyes lit up at that, which told you everything you needed to know about where she’d want to order.
“Right… Same as always?”
She nodded emphatically and ran off into the living room further down the hallway with a little laugh. Smiling softly as you watched her go, you sighed after another second and focused on your task of finding an available plumber. After twenty minutes of research, you finally called a place which had pretty decent reviews and did emergency calls. It would probably be pricey, but you didn’t really have a choice.
“Castle Plumbing Solutions, how can I help you?” greeted the cheery voice of a young man.
“Yeah, hi. I have a bit of an emergency here. I don’t exactly know what’s wrong, but I had water all over my kitchen floor after I started the dishwasher, and I just saw that the pipes under the sink are seriously damaged.”
“Have you already turned off the water supply in the kitchen or the main water supply?”
You heard some clicking and typing as the man spoke.
“I did, yes. Only in the kitchen for now. That’s how I noticed the pipes. Should I turn off the main one too?”
“You could, but mostly if you notice that water is still coming through the pipes. Could I have your address, please? I’ll see when I can send someone over. You just need to be aware that there’s an additional fee for emergencies as well as for after business hours depending on when our coworker will be done.”
You had already guessed as much, considering that it was close to 6pm, so you quickly agreed and rattled off your name and address before also giving your phone number.
“Alright. I’ll make a few quick calls, but someone should be over in the next hour or something. I’ll confirm it via text.”
Sighing in relief, you thanked the young man and hung up before going to the DoorDash app and placing your order for a little later.
While you waited, you checked the pipes — they seemed fine for now — and started mopping up the water. Ten minutes into your cleaning, you got a text from the plumbing company, confirming that someone would be over in the next half hour. Well, they definitely would get a good review for their responsiveness.
“No, it’s not takeout,” you called as the doorbell went off some time later before Lia could come running, and laughed when you heard her muttering unhappily.
Still laughing, you went to the entrance door and opened it. When your eyes fell onto the man standing on the stoop, your laugh died down to end in you more or less staring at him. For some reason, and it probably was because of the young man's voice, you had expected to see a man in his twenties, gangly and with a bright smile. What you found, however, was a man in his mid-forties, broad shouldered and with a thick beard going along with the dark hair. He wasn't smiling cheerily, but his expression was friendly politeness.
“Afternoon, ma'am. I’m Frank from Castle Plumbing Solutions,” he said in a low, raspy voice that just added to his roguish looks.
“Yes… hi, hello,” you quickly cleared your throat and smiled before turning to the side to invite the man in. “Thanks for coming so fast. Please come in.”
He smiled with a nod and cleaned off his shoes on the doormat before walking into the house with a large tool bag in one hand.
“A broken pipe?” the man — Frank, he’d said — inquired as you led the way to the kitchen, his eyes taking in the mess on the floor and the different rags you’d used to mop up most of the water.
“Looks like it.” You confirmed and watched him crouch in front of the open cupboard, looking inside with a frown. “I already turned off the water supply.”
He nodded approvingly and placed the tool bag next to him, then began opening different parts of it, revealing multiple instruments and tools, which were all neatly placed in their designated spots. Once he was done with the bag, Frank went to his knees and leaned into the cupboard. You heard him muttering to himself while he tinkered with the piping work. A minute later, he sat back on his haunches and looked up at you with a small grimace.
“Afraid I’ll have to change the whole thing. Looks like the water also went through the bottom of the cupboard. I can remove the toe kick to check underneath, see if the wall isn’t damaged. Or at least clean the water away.”
Sighing in defeat, you nodded with a small smile directed at his commiserating expression.
“Yes, thank you. That would be great… I’ll just need an invoice for my insurance company later.”
“Yeah, ‘course.”
He got up, which had you realizing how close you’d been standing to him as you watched him work because he was suddenly standing barely a foot away. You felt your face heating when his eyes met yours, and his scent — a mix of sweat, faded cologne and something warm you couldn’t pinpoint — wafted into your nose.
“The water pressure been actin’ up lately?” he asked in that low voice, but without stepping away.
The question put you out of your trance. Looking away from his brown eyes as you thought, you made a contemplative sound and shrugged with one shoulder.
“I’m not sure… Nothing noticeable, at least. I mean, we’ve moved in only a few months ago, and I feel like I’ve had about everything fixed already. It wouldn’t even surprise me at this point if the water pressure’s bad, and I just don’t know the difference,” you smiled wryly.
Frank uttered a small laugh at your tone and nodded.
“That could be the case, yeah. Especially if the whole piping system’s as old as this part.” He pointed his thumb at the sink. “I’m gonna grab what I need from my van real quick ‘n turn off the main water supply. Afraid you won’t have any water until I’m done.”
“Yeah, sure, no problem.” You nodded before you watched him head outside.
He returned with several new elements a few minutes later, placing them on the floor next to his bag.
“Do you need anything? Or can I offer you something to drink?” you asked as he went through the motions of getting the rest of the tools he needed out of the bag.
Frank sent you a small smile over a shoulder and shook his head. “Nah, ma’am, I’m good. Thank you.”
“Alright,” you started, before he fully leaned into the cupboard, which brought his ass into your line of sight. That man definitely didn’t have the cliché jeans-hanging-low-down-his-ass-thing going on, and instead wore a pair of jeans that hugged his backside perfectly. “Call me if you need anything,” you finished faintly before quickly leaving the kitchen after his grunt of acknowledgment.
Sure, this Frank guy was extremely attractive with that gruff look, warm eyes and, let’s admit it, fantastic ass, but this was getting ridiculous. What was this? Some terrible porn movie with a hot plumber coming to fix your inner piping? Shaking your head at yourself, you headed straight to your office and put your focus on the last line of coding you’d been writing for an App. It thankfully did take your full attention, since you’d been fighting with writing the code lines the whole afternoon before the kitchen debacle. You were deep in thought as you typed away on your laptop, and actually jumped in your chair when the doorbell went off. It took you a couple of seconds to remember that you were waiting for takeout.
“Maaaaad,” Lia yelled from the living room when you didn’t react immediately.
“Yeah, yeah, coming.”
Putting your laptop into standby, you made your way to the entrance door and glimpsed Frank still hard at work from the corner of your eyes as you walked past the kitchen. You made quick work of getting the food — which you were glad about ordering, since Frank didn’t look about to be done — and went into the living room to place everything onto the coffee table. Lia dug in as soon as you’d set the boxes around the table. You watched a show in comfortable silence, with Lia chiming in every now and then.
Half an hour later, you piled everything up to either be taken to the trash or to be put into the fridge for the following day.
“I’m so sorry for keeping you here over dinner time,” you grimaced as you entered the kitchen with Lia in tow and put the boxes on the kitchen island. “Are you sure I can’t offer you anything?”
Frank grunted as he slid out of the cupboard and got to his feet, sending you a grateful smile.
“That’s very kind of you, ma’am, but I’m good. I’ll just eat when I’m done.”
“But what if you have to stay here all night?” Lia gasped, her eyes taking in the array of tools, old and new, lying on the floor.
Frank chuckled warmly at her wide eyes.
“Well, I guess I would have to take a slice of your pizza then,” he sighed with faked resignation as he glanced at the pizza box Lia was holding.
“Oh, okay. I guess you could.” She shrugged with a thoughtful look at the pizza box.
Frank smiled at her so softly that something warm swooped into your belly at his expression.
“That’s very sweet of you, thank you.”
“You’ll see, the pizza’s really good. Do you like anchovies?”
Frank made a face that had you snorting behind your fist.
“I think that Frank might pass on the pizza in the end.”
“Don’t know many kids who like anchovies.” Frank shook his head with a little laugh.
“Mad doesn’t like them either,” Lia declared with a tone that stated that she couldn’t comprehend why anyone wouldn’t like anchovies.
Frank shot you an amused glance. “Well, while I appreciate you offerin’ me your food, I should be done in” — he looked at the tools and then his watch. — “less than thirty minutes.”
“Good, more pizza for me,” Lia grinned, which had you and Frank laughing.
“Sorry to keep you off the water for so long. I’ll try to be quick,” Frank apologized once Lia had returned to the living room.
“No, that’s okay. I’m honestly more glad that you could come so quickly. Besides, I’ve seen enough water for today.”
Frank snorted, which had you grinning at him.
“I’ll let you go back to it then. I’ll be in the room to the right, just before the living room.”
Nodding, you saw Frank ducking under the sink again and returned to your office.
As promised, a little over twenty minutes later, Frank came to find you, wiping his hands on a clean rag.
“All set,” he announced from the doorway. “I turned the water back on. So far, so good.”
“Great,” you sighed in relief and got up to join him before turning your head towards the living room. “Lia, water’s back. Time to get ready for bed. It’s already past your bedtime.”
Despite her grumbling, Lia appeared in the archway leading to the living room a few seconds later.
“I’m just finishing here and then I’ll be up, ‘kay?”
Lia nodded and turned towards Frank.
“G’night, mister.”
Frank smiled warmly. “G’night, sweetheart.”
Watching her climb the stairs, you then followed Frank back to the kitchen, where he’d already cleaned everything away.
“I removed the toe kick and cleaned the water away… You might wanna get the cupboard fixed ‘cause it already started fallin’ apart from the underside.”
Sighing, you nodded at the information.
“As for the pipes under the sink, as I said, you’re good. I took a look at your water pressure too, though. I don’t wanna pile the bad news on you, but it ain’t the best… If you wanna, I could make a full assessment and if anything needs fixin’ or changin’, I’ll make a quotation.”
You nodded again before laughing without humor. “This house has it out for me.”
Frank smiled faintly. “It’s an older house, but it’s in pretty decent shape otherwise.”
“Except for the plumbing.”
“Except for the plumbing,” Frank admitted with a rueful smile.
“I guess I don’t really have a choice… How much do you charge for an assessment?”
Frank looked at you for a beat without replying before he shrugged. “Nothing.”
You stared back and narrowed your eyes slightly, then laughed under your breath.
“Something tells me I’m not gonna like how much I owe you for today if you’re offering a free assessment.”
“Maybe we just do free assessments all the time,” Frank smiled with an innocent shrug and leaned against the kitchen island. “And ‘sides, dependin’ on the repair costs, you won’t even have to pay out of pocket, but you’ll fill a claim before any work’s done and your insurance will be the one to pay us.”
Making a sound of understanding, you shot him a warm look. “I appreciate it, thank you.”
Frank shrugged again and nodded like it wasn’t a problem at all.
“Does your boss know you do free assessments, though?”
Frank chuckled and gave you an amused look. “Yeah, he does,” he assured you before he leaned down and retrieved a tablet from the tool bag.
You watched him tap away and scroll down on it for a few minutes until he extended the tablet out to you.
“I’ll need your signature just down there.” He pointed at a blank space at the end of the invoice and handed you a stylus.
Taking the proffered stylus, you stared at the sum and groaned in your head. That would make a nice dent in your bank account, but thankfully your insurance would handle most of it. You quickly went to find your purse and got the credit card.
“I’ll just send the invoice and receipt to the email you gave through earlier, yeah?” Frank inquired once the payment went through, and he stored the tablet away before he picked the tool bag up.
“Yes, please, that would be great.” You lead the way towards the entrance door as you spoke.
“Right, you’ll get everythin’ tomorrow mornin’.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” He was quiet for a second as he observed you and looked towards the stairs, then put the bag down again and pulled something out of one of the pockets. “Here. I’ll leave you my card. That’s my personal number. If you need anythin’, even just gettin’ the cabinet fixed, you gimme a call. Any time. Assessment or not.”
You gaped at him as he wrote his phone number onto the card.
“I… Frank, that’s really… You don’t have to…” you weren’t able to finish any sentence, too shocked by his kindness.
“Take care,” he smiled softly after you’d wordlessly taken the card from him.
“Yeah, you too,” you breathed in the end, and watched him leave.
“Mad?”
You jerked against the doorway at Lia’s call, having all but forgotten that you were supposed to check on her before going to bed.
As you went upstairs after closing the door, you found yourself smiling at tonight’s encounter.