His Construction Princess

Wait. Don't come in here

Aria's POV

I could feel Alexander's smoldering gaze on my cheek. I glanced over at him. His arched eyebrow made my heart skip a beat. I adjusted myself in my seat, attempting to get comfortable. I waited patiently for Marcus to break the silence.

"I've only done this for two years, boss lady. I don't want to let you down, nor do I want to lose my job. Please don't be mad at me. I would prefer if you took care of the order. I know that the crew and I can handle the labor", Marcus voiced.

"Good job. Thank you for your honesty. Wrap it in plastic. Then y'all go home. I'll call you this evening with instructions for tomorrow", I said. "Yes ma'am", he replied, before ending the call. I laid my head against the headrest and sighed heavily.

"You said that you had to fire someone today. Why?", Alexander's voice was gentle. I closed my eyes in embarrassment before rolling my head in his direction. "You said 'incompetence'", he quoted. "My forman came to work high on herion today. He lost control of the forklift and crashed it into the side of my client's house", I admitted, mainly because he won't be using my crew anyway.

"f*****g hell, princess. Does your client know yet?", his voice shown compassion. My anxiety from having to tell my clients what happened, overrode the fact that he just called me princess for the second time. I rubbed my face in frustration.

"No, and I have no idea how I am going to tell them. I know it's at least 100 f*****g grand in damages", I sighed. "f**k", I whispered in exasperation. "I have no choice but to bite the f*****g bullet. Order the material. Break the news. Loose my ass. And pray to God that they don't sue me", I uttered, closing my eyes and resting my head, once again.

“If you need anything. Just let me know”, he said sincerely. “Thank you”, I smiled softly. Still sulking in my anxiety. We pulled down the dirt driveway towards an old abandoned mansion.

I smiled as my childhood memories flooded back to me. “I’m glad the sight of it brought cheer to you”, Alexander chuckled.

“I’ve been in this place before”, I grinned. “Is that so?”, he inquired with a smirk. “Yeah. When I was a child, I would explore abandoned houses. I had an obsession with wanting to know what the inside of other houses looked like”, I explained, as he put it in park.

“Really?”, he laughed. “Yes. It wasn’t about what people had or the colors on the walls. I wanted to see the design. Was every house different and unique in their own way or the same?”, I reminisced, as I grabbed my bag and exited the truck.

“So you really were born to do this?”, Alexander observed, as our paths joined in the front of the truck. “For sure”, I smirked.

I paid attention to detail that I wouldn’t have as a child, as I approached the house. The broken twelve pane windows was the first thing I noticed.

“So here’s how I would normally do an inspection. I list off all the things that NEED to be done and then you can tell me what you want. For instance, all of the windows look like they need replacing. You have two options; I can either replace the broken panes, sand them down, and re-seal them, or we can put brand new ones in”, I said, standing back to observe the conditions of the windows.

“What do you think I should do?”, he asked, arching an eyebrow at me. “That all depends, are you wanting to keep the originality of the house, or modernize it?”, I asked, peering up at him.

“You know what. Humor me. I want this house to keep its uniqueness and I want it to be your input that brings it all together”, he answered. “Then you know my answer”, I grinned tenderly.

“Very good”, he nodded, stepping up to unlock the door handle. “ I have already done one walk through. So, I know it won’t be cheap. However, it’ll make me feel much better once I can see the numbers on papers”, Alexander said.

“I completely understand. I just need you to understand that I can’t always hit it spot on. There’s a lot of unpredictable situations that can happen in a house this age”, I explained. “I trust your judgement”, he commented, leading me into the foyer.

My head was on a swivel, checking for the worst damage that would need to be addressed first. “A clean out is definitely required”, I noted. "Agreed", he stated. It doesn't look awfully different than it did as a kid, except more vandalism. At the far end of the common room was a mirrored accent wall. Almost every 18 inch square was broken.

"That can all go", he said, meeting my gaze in a broken shard. I nodded solemnly, not this many were broken as a child. I used to love this part of the house. As we walked into the kitchen, I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "I suggest replacing all of the appliances. It's a health hazard otherwise", I advised.

My eyes naturally traveled toward the ceiling, noticing water damage. "I bet there is a bathroom directly above me", I uttered, to myself. "It's a twelve bedroom, eight bath. So, the chances that you are right, is substantial", he added in. We walked through the house and discussed immediate repair alongside finishing touches.

I knew I had quite the job cut out for me. As I inspected one of the upstairs bedrooms, I discovered an attic access in the closet. My natural instincts to avoid the attic all together attempted to kick in, but I had to fight it. This is the most crucial part of the entire inspection.

"No time like the present. Get your ass in there, Aria. You've got this", I pepped myself up. Alexander chuckled behind me. "Do you always have to pep talk yourself before going into an attic?", he picked at me. I climbed through the access hole and crouched on the rafters.

I twisted on my feet to face Alexander. "Or a basement, crawl space, anything that triggers one of my irrational fears", I explained, before I illuminated the space with my favorite flashlight. "God damn, did you bring the sun in your pocket? f*****g hell", Alexander teased. I laughed along with him. "My absolute favorite light. Best $100, I've ever spent", I commented.

I heard Alexander crawl into the space as I moved away from the entrance. "Wait. Don't come in here", I fretted, putting my hand up in the stop notion, when I noticed the blanket of black fuzz. "Why?", he questioned, stopping at the door. The more places my light shined on the more fuzz I saw.

"Black mold. Lots of it. The last thing I need is for you to get walking pneumonia because of this inspection", I answered, heading back towards him. He quickly retreated back into the room. I could already feel the tickle in my throat from the allergens in the dense still air. I was holding my cough in, bee-lining for the exit.

The last thing I want to do is stir more dust up and then inhale it. When I made that first inhale of air in the bedroom, I started coughing. "s**t. Are you okay?", Alexander asked, rubbing soothing circles on my back. I nodded, as the fit subsided. "Yeah. I had to cough all the way in the back and held it in", I explained, wiping the tears from my eyes and clearing my throat.