"Hey Dom, Janet's son just called. Janet is away on business and the kitchen sink is blocked. Any chance you can go take a look?"
I rolled my eyes, looked at the clock and put down my book.
"OK Charlene, tell him I'll be over shortly. I thought he had moved to San Francisco for a job?"
"No, not yet, he's going next week I think."
I liked Janet, and she always made a fuss of me when I went over, but since her divorce, I seemed to have become her regular handyman and her house seemed like it was doing its best to fall down. My wife joked that I did more around there than I did in our place. She wasn't wrong. As she was best friends with Charlene I felt obliged to help out, but sometimes I did think her ex could pull his weight a bit more.
It was just after nine in the evening, but fortunately, her place was only a ten minute drive away. I grabbed an old tee shirt and jogging bottoms and jumped into my pickup, checking my tool box was in the back. I was restoring a log cabin down by the lake so I always had my tools ready.
The house was quite old, and Janet's ex-husband was an accountant with no practical skills whatsoever. Even the front door was a little warped and the paint was flaking in one or two places. I made a mental note to definitely not mention that or I would probably be down there sanding and painting!
"Hi, you must be Dom," a cheery girl said on opening the door. Music was playing quite loudly and there was some laughter coming from the living room.
"Yeah, that's me. Where's Nick?" I asked, peering over her shoulder to see if Janet's son was coming. I had not seen this girl before, but she did have a family resemblance. I tried to picture Nick, but I had not seen him for months. "Haven't seen you about before, are you a relative?"
"Uh huh, I'm Ella, Nick's cousin. Thanks for coming over! It's a really disgusting mess, all this yucky black stuff! Shall I show you?"
"It's OK I know where the kitchen is."
She followed me in and watched as I put down his tool box and opened the door under the sink.
"Do you want a drink?" She asked.
"No thanks, this shouldn't take too long. Can you get Nick though." I was not comfortable that I had not seen Nick and that there seemed to be some sort of party going on. If he was leaving next week that made sense, but I wanted to make sure that Janet was aware, or at least that Nick was being responsible.
"Oh, he's gone to the gas station to get some drinks and chips, he'll be back soon I'm sure."
"OK. Can you get me a bucket, there should be one in the utility."
Ella came back with the large orange bucket.
"Will this do?"
"Yeah, perfect."
Dom looked her over. She was an attractive girl. Really nice blonde hair that came down to her shoulders and with a sweet set of bangs that framed her face in a really cute way. There was clearly some sort of party going down as she had big lashes and had put on a lot of eyeshadow in a classic smoky eye look. Her lips were a perfect cupid shape and bright, glossy pink. She was wearing a dangerously short black dress and sneakers, with the most amazing pair of legs in between. Dom couldn't remember the last time he had been to a party and momentarily his mind drifted back to his younger days.
What is it about these simple jobs that mean something always goes wrong? I think it's because you think it's simple and then don't take enough care. It also doesn't help having an audience, especially one whose legs were so completely awesome and a real distraction. I had removed the trap and cleaned it out, getting a little splashed by the mucky water. It was full of sand and fat.
"You really shouldn't clean your boots in the sink, and definitely not be pouring hot fat down the drain," I mumbled to the knees behind me, then I showed her the mess to make the point. She pulled an icky face.
I put the trap back on and realised too late that I was cross-threading it. I asked Ella to run the tap and, as I feared, it was leaking. Fortunately, I'd done this sort of thing before and knew that some silicone tape and putty could fix the problem with a little effort, but I would still have to replace it at some point as I did not like a bodged job. Finally, it was watertight and I turned to stand up but Ella was standing right on top of me. My cheek brushed against her lower thigh and I caught a tantalising glimpse of what seemed to be cute pink panties under her dress. The feeling of her warm skin, her perfume, those sexy panties, and the fact I was getting up quickly after being crouched down for so long made me feel a little unsteady and I grabbed hold of the cupboard door.
"Are you OK Dom?" she asked in a worried tone.
"Yeah, fine, just getting up too quickly," I sighed. "Is Nick back yet?"
"No, not yet." She said.
"What the hell is he getting? I need to ask him if Janet is aware of this party as I know she's not a fan of him inviting people around. Maybe I'll catch him at the gas station, I need to fill up and they're the only people near here who'll sell alcohol without ID."
"Sorry, I lied," Ella said. "He isn't there. He told me to say he was."
"Where is he then?"
"Upstairs with a girl."
I rolled my eyes. The young! Always after one thing. Mind you, so was I back then, and still was if I was honest, but I had been on a severe sexual diet for the last few years and somehow gotten used to celibacy.
"OK, well tell him I won't say anything, but he'd better clean everything up good. I'll come back with a new trap later in the week."
Ella giggled and blushed. Her eyes flashed in their dark pools of makeup. She was so adorable that for the first time that evening, I felt a twinge in my pants and immediately felt bad. She literally was young enough to be my daughter.
"How's that funny?" I asked with a puzzled expression.
"Oh, no reason."
"There's a reason. Why is coming back with a trap so funny? I guess it's some urban slang. What's a trap?"
"A sexy young transgender girl."
"Right!" I laughed. "I guess that is pretty funny. Not sure where I'd find one of those around here though."
