1.
The constructor's van pulled into the driveway while I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly then repeated the same action several times. At the last exhale I was still not prepared for the next few weeks' chaos that was to ensue in my home. The van switched off, the back canopy door flipped open and several workers peeled out talking loudly in their native tongue that I did not understand. They then proceeded to pull out pieces of equipment and tools from the back of the van where they had been sitting and placing them on the driveway. I wondered if the back of the van was a bottomless pit since there was a seemingly endless stream of tools.
Finally, the driver, whom I presumed was the foreman, ended his phone call and got out of the van. He strode directly over to the workers and started talking or rather it looked more like lecturing as they responded half-heartedly. He then took off his cap, held it with both hands and walked towards the front door. I left the window and got to the door as he knocked. I got greeted with a pleasant smile.
'Good morning Ms Conley. I believe we are to start with the renovations on your house today.'
I was about to reply when he continued, 'My name is Kai Naihe. I will be the site foreman for your project.'
His right hand left his cap and presented itself to shake my hand as a formal introduction. I offered my right hand and shook his. It was a firm handshake; his hands were slightly rough in line with his form of work but gentle at the same time. He had a manner about him that immediately made me feel at ease and that it would be okay to trust him.
'Please call me Darla. I guess you had better come in and get started then. Your office did phone to confirm that you were on your way. They even gave the registration number of the van, the number of staff and a description of what you looked like, very efficient I must say.'
'We want our clients to feel they can trust us and that hopefully we will get recommended at the end of the contract,' he hinted impishly.
I opened the door to its full extent and indicated that he should follow me to the back of the house. He followed, carrying a bunch of plans and his cap. We exited the back of the house, and I waited for him to take in the design of the house and the surroundings. I showed him the building on the side of the house which originally was a shed, and which was now to be extended to join the main house as a fully equipped flat. But that was not all that was to get done; I wished it was.
The house was old and in dire need of some serious restoration. By the end of the project, the house might have none of its old features still visible. That was not what I wanted, and I hoped the designers and builders had got it into their heads that they had to preserve as much of the history of the house as possible. They had promised to do just that, but there were always issues that prevented this as so many of my friends had told me. My friends with their delightful stories from their experiences of renovations had made me extremely nervous and at one point I almost cancelled the whole project. The only reason I went ahead with it was the need to have my mother live with me. She had been living in a wonderful retirement home, but she was not exactly happy. Her desire for her freedom and routine drove us to look for a home that would accommodate both of us and still allow our individual lifestyles. We definitely would have made life a lot easier for ourselves buying property that had all that we wanted in place from day one, but for whatever reason we had both fallen in love with this old rundown house.
Kai placed the plans and several other objects on the ground and took a look around the shed and the outside of the house. Then he opened one of the plans and with it spread out open in his hands he re-examined the shed and the house. As I watched what he was doing I suddenly remembered the table and gazebo I wanted to give them to work from in the garden.
'Uhm…Kai,' I hoped I had pronounced it correctly as I did not remember his surname, 'in the shed is a table and a fold-up gazebo. I thought you might want to make use of it. If not, that's also fine.'
He turned around slowly still glancing between the plans and the house and with a quick look at me thanked me very politely. I went inside to the only room that was barely liveable – the spare bedroom. I heard feet traipsing through the house a dozen times; voices echoed between the walls and every action such as putting down a bucket or laying down plastic was loudly audible. I realised from that first afternoon that my intention of living in the house during the renovations was not going to be at all possible. I had foolishly given notice in the flat I was living in and had moved out at the end of last month. Had I known what the living conditions would turn out to be like I would have stayed in my flat until the house got completely renovated, cleaned and polished?
I had to make up my mind in a hurry – did I move in with my friend for the next six weeks or should I go to a hotel? My best friend, Rylee, lived in a small townhouse on the other side of town. She had, at least, five cats that I knew of, and there was the distinct possibility she had found a few more lost and lonely felines to rescue since my last visit. I had no objection to owning a cat or two nor to her desire to own so many, but personally, I preferred dogs. Large ones for that matter. So I had to ask myself repeatedly if I would be able to withstand the onslaught of feline affection for six weeks or more. One other worrisome issue that would come with living with Rylee would be her immense need for partying and consuming more alcohol in one evening than I was able to manage in a month. She was a woman of many contradictions. The other alternative – hotel or B&B – would obviously cost me a rather large sum of money which I needed for the renovations. If I went to the hotel and after a few weeks had discovered that I was unable to afford it, and only then went to ask Rylee it was possible, I might offend her. A tap on the door interrupted my thoughts.
'Sorry to disturb you Ms Con…Darla, I only wanted to let you know that the delivery trucks will start arriving within the next half an hour.'
Kai stood in the bedroom doorway waiting for my response.
'Okay. Thank you.'
He turned to make his way back to the backyard, but I quickly continued, 'I think I will make other living arrangements. This noise, dust and I will not get along very well.'
'It will probably be the best option.'
He nodded and left, placing his cap back on his head once his back turned on me. He fascinated me. He was so well-mannered it was almost unnerving. I knew he was not a local man and definitely from another country. He was probably in his late twenties or early thirties. He had an olive skin, brown eyes and wavy black hair, and he was tall and from what I observed, decently built too. My mind left Kai and swung back to the decision making, pondering on my two options but not for very long.
'Hi Rylee,' I said when she answered her phone in her professional tone.
First we made idle chatter catching up on the day's events then I asked, 'So can I still take you up on your offer to stay with you?'
'Silly, of course, you can. When I get home we will fix up the spare room; it's minute as you know but I'm sure you will be comfortable. It's going to be awesome to have human conversation every night instead of only feline chatter.'
I was not sure how to respond to that but thanked her and confirmed that I would be at her place by seven that evening. Rylee's townhouse was on the cheaper side of town, not that I minded or had any issues with that, it just meant that I had to drive at least fifteen minutes longer to the hospital where I was doing my final year internship in the paediatric ward.
My usual route to run every morning also had to be altered now that I was living on the other side of town. After a few mornings, I found a decent route and got back into the rhythm of jogging, but I still missed my normal route along the beach front and so I changed my mind and drove to my usual starting point and ran my old route along the beach front. I was far happier and content with this arrangement.
Every day after my shift at the hospital ended I stopped in at the house to check on the progress and to discuss any issues with Kai. He was always the same gentleman that I had met on the first day. Sometimes when I stopped by at lunch time I'd find him sitting alone in the sun reading; he was an intriguing fellow. Kai would go over the details of the progress always giving me a guided tour as well. It was on the very odd occasion that he phoned during the day for any matter, and by the end of the first week I trusted his every decision even if it was a major change that had to get made.
One evening the air was nippy and fresh after an earlier rainfall of an hour or so. I'd had my morning jog as always but felt the need for another run in the crisp air. As I ran along the beach front passing the masses of people taking an afternoon stroll or jogging too, I noticed a few men kneeling at the edge of the ocean with their surfboards lying on the sand next to them. I stopped, why I do not know, and watched them wondering what they were doing. When they stood up, I recognised Kai. I took a short breath and remained to stare at them as they picked up their boards and made for the ocean to surf.
That's odd, I thought to myself and continued with my run constantly looking back at the surfers and in particular at Kai.