Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction concocted entirely within my imagination. Any resemblance to real people shouldn't be surprising since most of my stories are based on people I know. While I hope you enjoy this story and are compelled to provide feedback, I don't expect the subject matter will appeal to everyone who reads it. As such, I discourage venomous, nasty feedback full of violent wishes against essentially fictional characters in fictional situations. If this story does not appeal to you, there is undoubtedly one somewhere on Literotica that will, so your energy will be better spent on finding it rather than on vilifying me.
I still couldn't believe that Kayleen was old enough to move into her own apartment. She was actually twenty, but I could still remember when I started working with her dad and we became friends with their family when she was only about six or seven. I never expected to see the place, either; after all, what twenty-year-old wants her parents' friends stopping by for a visit? As it turned out, though, I did spend some time there once I was drafted to teach her a few things that her dad apparently had issues with teaching her himself. Get your mind out of the gutter; I'm talking about maintenance.
I learned from my wife by way of Dave's wife and Kayleen's mom that Dave's philosophy was to fix things for Kayleen when they needed fixing rather than show her how to fix them herself. Maybe he was concerned about not being needed anymore now that she was so grown up. Whatever the case, I was asked if I would surreptitiously help her out with a few things at her new place and maybe take a look and see if there was anything else there that she might need to keep an eye on. It wasn't the first time I'd been asked to put my handyman skills to use, so I threw my toolbox into the trunk one Saturday and headed over to her place.
She'd picked up a second-hand washer and dryer set since she had laundry hook-ups in her apartment, so the first thing we had to look at was how to get them hooked up and running. I explained as I looked them over how we would need to connect both of them and what we'd need to do so. We'd definitely be taking a trip to the home improvement store for a few things, so I asked her what kind of tools she had in case we needed to pick something up while we were there. She showed me her "All-By-Herself" toolkit, which had the basics and was okay, but I wrote down a few more things she would need in addition to washing machine hoses and a dryer vent tube. I then had her show me around the entire apartment and it turned out that she would have to change her furnace filter, too, and she complained that her shower head was pretty crappy. We had a pretty substantial list by the time we headed out the door, but she seemed more pleased that I was going to show her how to accomplish a few things and less concerned about the potential expense.
We spent some time at the closest home improvement outlet so that she could see what was available there and to determine whether she would be inspired by anything she saw to consider any other improvements to her place. We picked up what was on our list along with a few other things and left pretty loaded down. I told her there was one more thing we'd need but that I'd pick up the cost of it then pulled into the parking lot of the Liquor Barn. While she waited in the car, I grabbed a couple of twelve-packs of some good beer, which I'm not sure she would have splurged on even if she was legal.
"You can't get out your tools and do a job without a beer either in your hand or waiting for you in the fridge," I explained as we were on our way back to her apartment. If I was going to explain how to do things, I might as well give her some DIY philosophy to go along with it.
Back at her apartment, we went right to work on the washer and dryer, replaced the furnace filter and carefully removed the crappy shower head and replaced it with a nicer one that Kayleen had picked out. After all of that, we got her tools put away and each grabbed a beer from the fridge. She sat on her couch and let me relax on her recliner as we savored the feeling of accomplishment.
"So do you find having your own place to be peaceful or lonely after growing up with two sisters?" I asked.
"It depends," she replied, "Sometimes I'm grateful for the peace and quiet but other times I wish there was somebody to talk to."
"Must be nice to have your boyfriend over whenever you want, though," I suggested.
"I'm sure it would be if I had one," she replied, "but I'm single with no prospects at the moment."
"What?" I asked, "I can't believe that. You're cute, you're smart, you've got a nice figure, you're funny and now you've got some great tools, too. What is wrong with guys?"
"Actually," she responded, "it sounds as though you might be interested."