What A Small World

Vera's nails didn't chip throughout the day. It might actually last for a little while since she didn't have any projects going on and wouldn't potentially have new pieces to work on until someone called or she went shopping around on Sunday.

She got a call around lunch time from Casey, which was a pleasant surprise. She hadn't expected to hear from him this soon.

"Hey! How's the renovation coming?"

"Showly but slurly. I mean slowly but surely! It's t-taking a while but I hoped you could w-work on the inside while they work on the outside," Casey sighed, obviously internally kicking himself for messing up his words again.

It really wasn't a big deal. Everyone messed up their words sometimes. He just did it a little more than most.

"I'd be happy to," Vera told him. "I already gave you a quote before so we're good to go on that front. I can start as soon as I get the supplies but it will have to be after store hours."

"I d-don't get off work until f-five anyway. Can you be th-there at six?" Casey asked.

"Absolutely!"

That would give her time to get what she needed to get started. The 1960s were recent enough that getting the screws and such for the cabinets wouldn't be as difficult as getting them for something made centuries ago.

Vera would also have time to get something quick to eat since the leftover pizza was already gone. Six worked perfectly.

"Thanks. S-see you then," Casey said before hanging up.

Well. That pretty much guaranteed her manicure would be ruined by the end of the day. She couldn't care about that too much though because she had been looking forward to working on those cabinets ever since she first saw them.

The day passed slowly before she was able to make it out to the farmhouse. Casey was waiting there for her wearing a dress shirt and slacks. He had to have some sort of office job; it looked like he came straight here from work. She couldn't help but wonder what it was but he didn't seem like the type that welcomed any sort of personal questions.

"Alright," Vera said as she surveyed the kitchen. "I'm going to need to take these cabinets down to make the process easier. Is there anywhere specific you want me to put the ones I'm not currently working on?"

Casey shook his head. She supposed it didn't matter because no one was living here so they wouldn't get in the way.

That was one problem down. She set down a bunch of drop cloths because things were about to get messy in here and began carefully dismantling the cabinets, carefully labeling what went where because she didn't want to accidentally put the wrong door on somewhere.

Only some of the hinges needed replacing but they all definitely needed to be cleaned. She had the supplies in the back of her work van so that wasn't an issue. She was going to get as much done as she possibly could before 9 PM because that was when Casey mentioned he needed to leave.

He was sitting in the living room reading a book as she worked though he frequently peeked over to see what she was doing. He was clearly curious but was probably too afraid to ask her what she was doing.

Vera could be generous. He had been interested in what she had to say about restoring things the day they met while he waited for that tow truck. She could start a conversation and see if he wanted to keep it going. If not, it was no skin off her nose.

"You mentioned before that you watch DIY videos. Have you ever watched anything to do with cabinets?" she asked.

Casey shook his head, which was all the encouragement she needed to tell him what she was doing in detail. He definitely preferred listening rather than talking but he asked occasional questions even if he did blush or otherwise look uncomfortable for daring to ask afterward.

Vera rarely had a captive audience like this. She could go on about her passion forever and a day and she hadn't had such an attentive listener for a good while.

Most of her clients didn't have too many questions for her outside of pricing and how long things would take. They didn't care about the process as long as it didn't disrupt their lives too much.

This was standard. Most people weren't interested in what she did.

Casey was though. She could tell.

The time passed faster than she thought it would because they (but mostly she) were talking the whole time.

At the end of the night Vera had a ridiculous amount of sawdust in her hair and her nails were all but ruined but she didn't care. She had gotten a good amount done for the time frame but still had quite a way to go because of the sheer number of cabinets in the kitchen. This project would take weeks at minimum.

"Do you want me to come over at the same time tomorrow?" she asked as they stood next to their respective cars.

Casey nodded. "See you then."

Vera smiled and waved as she got into her car and began the somewhat long drive home. She noticed that his car was going the exact same way hers was, all the way up her building's parking lot.

They both looked at each other in disbelief when they got out. "…you live here?" she asked first.

"Yeah. W-what a small world," Casey said with a small smile.

The world was even smaller than Vera thought because not only did he live in her complex, he lived down the hall from her and she had never seen him before. At least not that she could remember.