Bella walked for a bit after finding the sufficient coverage in the nearby trees. Occasionally she heard a car which meant she was probably towards a city. Seattle didn't have much in the way of trees like this, though, and it felt nice.
Maybe she wouldn't go back and could find a spot here to live. She'd have to wait till nighttime to see if there were any gutters to climb through, although that might make it easier for the demon monsters to find her. Maybe she could just find an abandoned cave, or something. She'd happily stay outside, but it rained a lot and was cold. If an ice storm occurred she had no way to protect herself unless she could find an empty house or an unlocked garage to stay in when the worst of the weather happened.
The greenery began to end and Bella realized she could see an actual yard a few feet ahead. Ducking behind a tree she peered around looking for people. There was a house to the right, but at this angle she couldn't see if there were windows, or if people were in the house.
Moving left down the tree line, she ducked and ran from tree to tree, waiting until the yard ended and the forest bloomed. The yard was big and it took her a few minutes to reach an area where she could see the back of the house.
When the house appeared to be empty Bella sighed in relief, not only from the lack of people, but the sight of two huge trash barrels sitting outside. She still had the soda can in her pocket, but she needed something more substantial to ease the hunger, the brief jolt of sugar only carrying her so far and leaving a nasty headache in its wake.
The sharp crack of a twig had Bella freezing in her tracks.
Oh god!
She started to tremble. Had she been found? Standing perfectly still Bella waited for the feel of an icy hand to grip her shoulder or maybe the normal feel of that Paul man. He still intimidated her, but was preferable to the demon.
For fifteen minutes she stayed rooted in position, unsure of what she should do. Her belly was not as patient gurgling loudly in protest, her body lurching forward slightly as she bowed over in pain. Regardless if she had been found, she needed food now. If she was taken, she was sure to die either way and a full or empty stomach wouldn't help. If she hadn't been found, a full belly was a must!
Encouraged by the thought of food in a residential trash barrel, she wanted to crawl across the ground in hope of staying small, but knew if she had to run suddenly she'd lose too much time trying to jump back up.
Running quickly, the grass making small crushing noises as she crossed the yard, Bella almost bowled over the cans, partially in relief and partially in tiredness. Not only was her tummy still hurting, but the knife wound ached and itched uncomfortably. The lid of the trash can hit the side of the house when Bella eventually tore it open, her fingers tearing into the first bag as she searched for anything to nibble on.
Paper towels, empty cardboard food boxes, paper plates that looked like they had had some really good food on them and other miscellaneous debris was in abundance; everything but edible trash.
Trying not to panic that her first bag hadn't held any results, Bella grabbed the next one, the first bag tumbling to the ground by her feet. Again she found hints of food items, empty cartons and plastic sleeves, but no real food, not even a forgotten nibble.
"Hey! What are you doing?" A deep voice boomed, causing Bella to drop the last bag from the bottom of the bin. "Get out of there!"
With a squeak, she backed away quickly, watching a large man approach from the side of the house. He wasn't Paul man large, but he was definitely big. His face looked really mad and Bella panicked, darting across the yard back into the trees, running as quickly as she could while the man pursued her, shouting mean words.
She didn't feel the limbs and branches lashing into her face, nor could she even tell what direction she was running, not that it mattered. She had to get away from this meanie before he tried to hurt her or called the cops and reported her attempted thievery.
As suspected from last night, Bella's smaller size made it easier to navigate through the dense foliage, the meanie cussing when he didn't duck quick enough and hit his head on a limb. The loud snarl and howling from the other direction didn't even frighten her as she dropped to the ground to roll a bit in an unexpected ditch, her fingers pulling her upwards as she cleared the other side of it and continued to limp away.
Eventually and not really that long in time, Bella stopped running, too tired to continue her frantic escape. Her sides ached right along with her belly and Bella knew she had used any reserve strength she may have had. Dropping to her knees where she stood, she finally cried.
She never did understand why people got upset when she went through their trash. It wasn't like the rubbish was something they desired to keep; who cared if she could make use of it? It had to be selfishness on their part and Bella couldn't imagine such an act from people. It was like her cubby in the Underground. If she never got back there, she fully expected someone else to take her things and make use of them. Even if she did get home, as much as she hoped her stuff to be okay, it would be foolish to think it had lain unclaimed.
Hiccupping the last of her tears away, Bella slowly stood back up, her body really sore. She had no idea what she was going to do, where she was, or even how to get back to the Paul man's house. She had to get back, though, and hope that he'd at least feed her a little bit. She didn't require much, just enough to fill her mouth a few times and ease the ugly ache that felt like it was growing within her.
Another twig snapped close by, Bella trying not to freeze in panic. Had the new meanie found her so quickly and without her noticing? Turning around, she searched the trees, not wanting to actually see anyone, but wanting to know why she kept hearing the scary sounds.
When no one appeared and nothing moved, Bella took a few steps forward, hoping to retrace her steps. She didn't move as fast as she wanted to and thought about ditching the pack but the blanket…
She'd definitely need her new treasure if she couldn't make it back to the Paul man's house and had to stay out here for a few days. How far had she traveled anyways?
Another twig snapped close by and she stopped moving. Maybe there were wild animals out here? Bella really hoped that wasn't the case; they'd probably eat her like the monsters said they wanted to. When there was no sign as to what had caused the noise, Bella continued, shifting her path slightly away from the noise, clueless to the knowledge that she was being directed.
When the trees started to thin again, Bella slowed her snail's pace, studying another house close by. Like the earlier house, it, too, looked empty, but she wasn't as easily fooled this time. Shadowing the tree line again, she tried to study this place from various points, lingering when she spotted another set of trash receptacles.
Someone in this area had to have food they threw away, right?
Partially from desperation and partially from pain, Bella sneaked her way to the new set of trash cans, praying that she would find anything to help make it through another day. When she finally opened the bin this time, she almost ignored the plain brown paper bag lying on top of the plastic.
There was something about the crisp folds of the package that made her hesitate. It wasn't odd for people to just throw stuff in a can as they passed by, usually the trash being rumpled or squished to show it was garbage. This bag looked like it had been placed thoughtfully and something urged Bella to make a grab for it, taking a few steps away to peer inside.
The loud gasp echoed harshly around her and Bella slapped her hand across her mouth, afraid another meanie might come barging out of the house to yell and possibly catch her. Clenching a fist around the bag, she scanned the immediate area, relief almost sagging her to the ground when she didn't see anyone.
There was no need to take any more of a risk than she already had. With a nice bonus in her hands, Bella sprinted back to the woods, not stopping until she found a small peaceful area with tree stumps. Inspecting the largest log for the bugs—they could hurt her—Bella gingerly sat down to look once more inside of the bag.
Two really big sandwiches glowed for the taking.
She couldn't help the gleeful noise that escaped her lips when she pulled out one, her mouth watering at the thought of biting into it. Despite willing to eat just about anything, Bella knew she had to be careful. People didn't throw away perfectly good food for no reason and if it was tainted, she could get sicker than she was.
The bread felt soft and fresh, something she had only experienced once or twice at one of the homeless kitchens she had visited before. This wasn't regular sandwich bread though, it looked to be like the kind that special bakery on 12th Street sold.
Bella went through all of the steps, sniffing the meat for sourness; eyeing the bread for green or white fuzzy splotches; even going so far as to poke at the tomato hanging out from the side, the vegetable still firm enough to show an unusual freshness, Bella bit into her treasure and literally moaned.
She had no concept of the honey enriched ham, or the tangy flavored Colby cheese, or even the sun ripened vine tomatoes used to furnish her meal, but it felt like heaven as she chewed hurriedly and swallowed.
The sandwich a third of the way eaten and Bella thought her belly would explode in fullness. She still couldn't believe someone had just ungraciously thrown away such a feast, but she was ecstatic. As the grumbling lessened from her stomach, she decided to inspect the rest of the bag, placing the remaining two thirds of her sandwich back in its protective plastic and shoving it into her coat.
From her first look, Bella knew she had another whole sandwich. If she planned it carefully, she would probably be okay with saving it for at least three more days and from there being able to go another five or six days until she had no choice but find more food. In the bottom of the bag a package of chips and an orange occupied the rest of the space.
Gently she examined the bright orange fruit, feeling for hardness. She didn't know why, but if this type of food was hard, it meant it would be sour and of no use to her future plans. The fruit was, as far as she could tell, in perfect condition and Bella couldn't stop her smile. That meant after the sandwiches were eventually gone, she'd be able to eat the orange and then save the chips for even longer.
Bella knew she was lucky to have found such a catch and was briefly saddened she hadn't taken the time to further search the trash. There could have been more food, or items needed to start her new home; wherever that ended up being. Looking up into the forest from the way she had come, Bella knew she'd never find this house again. She would just have to be grateful for what she had found and hope she'd be just as lucky next time. Now, she needed to try and find the Paul man's house. If it looked like he was home, she'd pull away and find somewhere else, but if he was still gone, she'd crawl back in and pretend she had waited on the couch for him.
Leaving her tree stump, it wasn't long before Bella heard the sounds of twigs snapping and she took great pains to turn away from the noises, unwilling to risk being found, whether by man or animal. Nothing looked familiar to her and after awhile when the trees started to thin again, Bella realized she had actually done it! Standing before her was the Paul's man house; she could still see the open window she had escaped through.
There weren't any cars and the house appeared to be vacant in Bella's eyes. Looking back at the forest behind her, she realized it would be best to hide her cache outside where the Paul man wouldn't find it. If he was going to keep her, he'd know she was planning on escaping if he found the stuff she had taken.
It took a bit of cunning on her part, but Bella finally found a tree she could climb, her hands constantly slipping and earning her a few more scratches as she shimmied her way up high off the ground in an evergreen. Carefully she removed the paper bag from the pack, shoving it in between two branches.
Back on the ground, she examined the rest of the pack, making a last minute decision to leave a pair of socks out here, too. She really wanted to leave the blanket also, but that would be too much of a clue for the Paul man if that was gone. In the event that she had to get away quickly, Bella could only hope she would have time to take it with her.
Climbing back through the window was more difficult than it had been leaving. She threw the pack in first, wincing when the other soda can she still had hit the floor with a loud thunk. She couldn't see where to place her feet as she lowered herself through the small space and ended up dropping into a heap next to the pack, her feet smarting from the impact on the cold cement floor.
The sun had almost set and Bella didn't know how much time she had until the Paul man came back for her. Not wanting to be caught, she emptied the pack to put it back and then arranged herself on the couch to show she hadn't moved and completely forgetting about the mess she had left in the kitchen earlier from the noodles.
Pulling the blanket back around her for warmth on the couch, Bella rubbed her contented belly, frowning when she accidentally hit the gash. It was really starting to hurt; more so than it had been. She pushed those thoughts aside. She had eaten, was slowly getting warmer and was starting to feel drowsy. Leaning back into the couch, Bella smiled at the thought of everything she had accomplished, knowing that unless the Paul man tried to kill her, she'd live for at least a couple of weeks now that she had food.
She was asleep within minutes, unaware of the large creature approaching from outside.
Scenting the area, the large beast circled the tree Bella had climbed earlier. It was confused as to why her scent was particularly strong here and froze when the taint of blood assaulted its nostrils.
Rearing back, the creature braced its forefeet on the evergreen, deliberating sniffing the paper bag that should have been empty, but obviously still held remnants of food. Whining in distress, it dropped to the ground, observing the house just past the light foliage. When the steady thump of a heart could be heard from within, relief was instantaneous and the beast slunk back into the forest.
Its job was done for now.
Hauling the last structure into place, Paul screwed in the final piece of hardware, relieved that he had been smart enough to work on the units unoccupied by other co-workers, so they wouldn't comment on his speed or strength. He certainly wasn't the only overly large male, but no one else could have transported the multiple layers of quartz counters by themselves. Most single layers required at least three if not four men to make sure they weren't dropped.
When the last line of sealant had been applied, Paul stepped back to admire his work; hiding a scowl when he heard the next team approach the unit. Thank fuck he was done and could leave their immediate presence.
Despite the site almost being finished, it was loud. Had Paul been human he probably wouldn't have heard his cell ring, knowing the others usually left phones to vibrate so as not to miss calls from the boss.
"Yeah," Paul yelled into his phone over the noise of the work trucks in the background, not checking to see who had called.
"Paul," Jake's voice crackled through the static, "Was your girl awake when you left this morning?"
His urchin?
Oh, shit this was not the time, nor place for Jake to be asking such a thing. What the hell had happened? Detouring into the break trailer, he slammed the door shut behind him, trying to cut out some of the noise from the diesel engine machinery.
"No. why? Did something happen?" Paul asked a bit forcefully, briefly noting that he was by himself in the small space. Thank fuck he was alone in the trailer; otherwise he would have been snarling even more for some privacy.
"I don't know what to make of it," Jake said, confusion evident in his voice. "Quil called me, saying he thought he saw Arial out by his house. I told him to follow her at a discreet distance; just to make sure, but not to approach her."
Pulling the phone away from his ear to check the ID and ascertain it was Jacob Black on the phone, he pushed it back to his head, demanding, "Who the fuck is Arial?"
"Oh, well," Jacob stuttered uncertainly, "I guess Leah wasn't fond of what you were calling your imprint and since you said you were going to refer to her as an urchin, Leah said we should come up with a nicer sounding name until the girl told us what hers was. She…uhh…thought Arial sounded nice."
"You can tell Leah to," Paul growled into the phone before cutting himself off. "You know what? Fuck it; I don't care what the hell you bozos are calling my imprint. Tell me about Quil. Did he lose his shit and Phase in front of her, or show off his furry ass and cause her to panic; is my girl hurt?"
The second Paul uttered the word 'hurt' a cold sweat broke out over his skin. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! How the hell did she get outside and for that matter, what the fuck was Quil doing that goddamn close to her? She may be small and dainty, but even dumbass Quil could've heard her approaching. Shit, unless she was stark raving naked, twat Ateara would've have smelled her from a mile away.
"No, he's still trailing her," Jake said, allowing some of the tension to leave Paul's trembling form. "It's just that when she was at his house, he saw her going through the garbage, looking for…well…we think food," Jacob mumbled the last part painfully, causing Paul's chest to constrict harshly.
"Why the fuck would she go dumpster diving when she could've…"trailing mid-thought, Paul wanted to slap himself. Of course she was hungry, he hadn't gone grocery shopping in forever and there wasn't so much as a crumb to be found in his cabinets. Yesterday he had meant to stop by the store after helping douche nozzle Jared buy his cock ring for his girl, but those plans had been drastically altered.
Sinking into a folding chair, Paul felt his chest tighten. He hadn't meant to leave her without food and had assumed she'd be okay in the house for a few hours until he could get back. On the drive home yesterday, his little urchin hadn't woken up to eat the fast food he had picked up on the other side of the bay. Paul thought he had done the responsible thing by leaving her safe and secure and instead he had fucking starved her!
"Look, I don't want to scare her or anything, but Quil's leading her towards my house. I'm gonna make some sandwiches and place them in a bag. I'll just leave it on top of the bins so she can find them. Hopefully she'll head back to your place."
Paul nearly dropped his phone again when Jake made that suggestion. He couldn't believe his pack could be so goddamn uppity and insensitive, unwilling to take his urchin inside of their oh-so fucking esteemed houses and treat her like a person.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Just take her inside a house, I don't care whose and feed her like a human being. And so fucking help me, Jake you make one goddamn comment about her being dirty or smelly and I'll fucking tear your tongue out and rip off your nose!"
"Claire tried that," Jacob tried to explain. "Or at least her brother did. He was visiting and couldn't understand why his sister suddenly wanted to feed some homeless person digging in her trash-"
"-She's not homeless, you dick. Her home is with me!"
"I know, bro, okay? But that's how it looked to him and you know Claire couldn't say anything about imprinting. Her brother was just trying to protect his sister, although he did turn rather pale when Quil howled to get him to stop chasing Arial."
"Could anything else possibly go wrong today?" Paul muttered to his empty surroundings, Jacob suddenly silent on the other end.
There was no fucking way possible for his urchin to have gotten outside on her own unless she had help. Every window was secured unless she had managed to slip down into the cellar and even then, there was no way physically possible for her to have slipped between the windows even if she had managed to reach one.
Paul literally thought his chest was going to implode from pain. Just crumple right up like a fucking sardine tin and leave blood and guts and shit all over the break trailer as his wolf ate the remains, snarling and attacking the human side of him. Not only had she been hungry but something must have gotten to her. No damn way could she have slipped out of Paul Lahote's house!
"Paul?" Jacob asked hesitantly when he could no longer hear profane muttering through the phone. "Are you still there?"
"Yeah, my sorry ass is still here," Paul answered, wondering if he could just buy a fucking florist shop to apologize to his urchin. "You said Quil was on patrol? Did he do a run by of my house?"
"I would assume so. We discussed the possibility of Arial not knowing how to get back to your place and Quil was going to try and direct her movements in that direction. I'm making her some grub now and then I'll hide out until she takes off again."
"Okay, thanks," Paul sighed. At least if anything worse was to occur, Quil could howl for help and the guys could find the position quickly. He really fucking hoped this was as bad as it was going to get. "I'll dip out of here as soon as I can and head back that way. Can you do me a favor?"
Jacob had never heard Paul sound so soft and almost failed to ask, "What's that?"
"Could you call Leah and ask her to pick up some stuff. I don't know; whatever girly shit chicks like to eat. Tell her just to buy a large variety, especially fresh fruits and veggies. I'll give Sam a check later to cover the costs."
Jacob laughed heartedly. That was the Paul he knew.
"I wouldn't torture you with Leah reaming your ass for leaving a poor, defenseless girl hungry and alone," Jacob said, causing Paul to cringe again. He had left her hungry in his house; the place he had promised himself would be her safe-haven; he was such a douche. "I'll ask Quil to continue to watch her and once she's left my house, I'll go pick up some stuff for you and her."
"Thanks," Paul answered gruffly. "Oh and Jake? Stop fucking calling her Arial!" Shutting off his phone, Paul went to find his foreman, Dan.
"Does this look like a goddamn boomerang?" Dan Caddell yelled from the rooftop, slinging a measuring square down towards the direction of the unfortunate recipient of his rant. Lucky for both, said tool didn't possess the ability to return to its thrower or hit its target. "I spend two thousand dollars a month in upgrading tools and shit and the least you could do was use one of the fucking things to do your job! Now get your ass back up here and do it again! Right, this time!"
Paul watched as the man on the ground scowled before muttering an 'okay', picking up the tool and waiting for Dan to come down the ladder before he could resume his spot on the roof. Loud clamoring and banging of hammers, staple guns and saws could be heard as Paul made his approach to the foreman, catching him before the guy could go and disrupt some other project.
"Jesus H. Christ," Dam muttered, stomping off of the extended ladder, dropping the past the last two rings. "Built like a brick shit house and about as fucking smart as one, too."
"Hey, Dan," Paul called out loudly, knowing his voice could be heard even over the racket.
The foreman turned around; surprised to hear his worker, Paul, call him. Dan split his workers up in teams, rotating them when whatever project they had been assigned was finished. It looked bad on him if one section of the carpentry fell short of the others because he hadn't mixed and matched the able workers with the morons who still had a job because of their contract.
Paul Lahote, however, was more than able to finish any task given. The man barely spoke; only doing so when some other hatch-job was about to mess up whatever project he had been assigned and already finished.
"What's up, Lahote?" The six foot two foreman asked conversationally, sincerely hoping he didn't have to go play referee again. "Don't tell me they're trying to seal the plumbing again before all of the cabinetry is secured."
"Well, they are actually sealing the plumbing," Paul grinned wickedly, observing Dan's face start to melt in renewed anger, "but all the cabinetry is secured, so we're good on that account."
An ostrich could have nested inside of the foreman's wide opened mouth, Paul noted with a smirk.
"Shit! Really?" His boss was able to utter. "Oh damn, that's great news! I figured it'd take you 'til at least Friday to finish that. Fifty units is a lot to do. Are you sure it's good?"
The look Paul gave Dan caused the foreman to chuckle. "Forgive me. I forgot who I was asking. Are you looking for your next project? Maybe you could go up there and help Todd," cupping his hands around his mouth to yell louder, Dan aimed the rest of his statement skywards, "figure out how to use a fucking square." Dropping his hands, he shared an amused smile with Paul.
"I'd be happy to, but we both know it'd go a lot quicker if you sent Todd on a snack run. I can probably finish this unit and four more before the day is over."
Swinging his arm around the taller male, Dan led him around the building to another complex, chortling, "Damn, Lahote! If I had five more of you, we'd both be rich by the speed and man-power cuts we could save."
If you had eight more of me, you'd have a pack of fucking shape shifters, Paul thought sardonically.
Still smiling, Paul carried on with his charade. He could give two-shits what Dan, or any of them thought of him, but he needed to make a request and he could play the suck-up if need be. Dan really wasn't a bad guy; Paul just didn't need any friends outside of the Rez pack to be buddy-buddy with.
"Well, look, I know you got Kevin's crew working on the rest of roofing. If I finish these last three, can I ask a favor?"
"As much as I'd like to say I'd happily turn my back so you could push Todd off of the roof and make it look like an accident, we can't really do that. Unions and all that shit," Dan explained, still amused.
"That's okay," Paul sighed as if it was a horrible mistake." Can I ask for something else then?"
"I guess if I can't let you get away with murder, you're allowed something else. What's up?"
"Something's come up and I'm kind of needed at home for a couple of weeks. Would you mind if I took off?"
"Everything okay?" Dan asked, his smile dropping and being replaced by a serious expression. Paul had never asked off for any time, even going so far as to work holiday weekends to ensure the company finished their contracts on time. Paul was a strong worker, never outwardly bitched to him about timelines and never had to be told to redo something because it was wrong.
Not wanting to share personal details of his life and also not wanting to give an excuse that Dan might turn down, Paul decided to use the guy approach: Lie out his ass and make it sound bachelor related.
"Well, that depends. My cousin is getting married at the end of the two weeks and his nerves are shot. I have to go visit him and remind his dumb ass that he was the one to propose in the first place, all the while planning the biggest and hottest bachelor party I can." Waggling his eyebrows, Paul watched as Dan fell for it; hook, line and sinker.
"I can relate, man. Is this your cousin's first time?" At Paul's nod, Dan just snorted. "Me, I'm working on bitch number three. Damn what a guy won't do for a hot piece of ass, ehh?"
"Yeah, I hear you," Paul agreed before dropping his voice conspiratorially. "But along with this wedding is the possibility of some hot bride's maids and you know how they act!"
Cue the slight elbow nudge, Paul thought as he did just that, making sure it was within normal human tolerance.
"Do I ever!" Dan agreed, happy that Paul's request was so simple. "Yeah, go ahead and take the time off. It's a good thing this wedding is now and not next month. You know we have that office building to renovate."
"Yeah, I know," Paul said, winking again. "Hopefully, I'll have some new tales to share with the kiddies."
Laughing uproariously, Dan took off to inspect another unit, leaving Paul to drop his trademark smirk. Hopefully when he did come back to work, he'd have a happily situated urchin and wouldn't feel like peeling off his fingernails in agony over any future mistakes. Thank god he had been able to convince his boss to give him some time off.
Paul spent the next four hours lining tar paper, stapling it in places and hammering shingles into place. Thankfully Dan thought he was just anxious to plan a bachelor's party and didn't say anything when Paul declined from joining a few of the other guys to lunch.
"Here," Dan offered around two o'clock. Handing a sweaty Paul a fast food bag, the hardworking construction worker nodded his thanks, dropping a hammer and rolling over to sit on his ass.
'I can't believe this one is almost done, too," Dan commented, admiring the quality work of newly shingled roof, the second one of the three Paul had promised to take care of alone. A strong, talented worker could easily handle three roofs a day. They'd be tired as shit and probably wouldn't be able to move for the next week, but Paul was not only doing this alone but in less than a normal ten hour workday. Dan was damn lucky to have a worker like Paul and he knew it.
Wiping his hands on his dirty jeans, Paul tried not to grin as the smell of burgers assaulted him. He started to feel guilty as shit again when he remembered that he had not only completely fucking forgotten about food for his urchin but that he had also failed to realize he hadn't even had food to make his own goddamn lunch.
While not cheap, Paul was frugal and only allowed himself to eat out for lunch no more than once a week with the crew, usually on Fridays as a type of mini celebration for the work week to be ending. They did work on Saturdays, but with a skeleton crew for the guys who had to take time off during the week to make up for the lost time, or if in a crunch an opportunity to get some overtime to finish the project.
"Thanks for the grub," Paul finally said after finishing his first burger and quickly tearing into the second one.
"Hey, I can't have one of my star workers dying of starvation," Dan joked, not realizing how shattering the words were to Paul. Looking out over the complexes, he spotted Todd angrily gesturing to the building they were on.
"Todd's trying to rile Kevin up about your work style," Dan remarked quietly heading to the ladder. "I better go down there and tell him to shut up before I have two whining infants on my hands."
"Kevin won't care. He'll let Todd carry on and say nothing then just ignore him." Laughing loudly at both the thoughts of what Dan was probably imagining and what he could hear, Paul called out quietly to Dan's retreating figure. "We both know Kevin is fucking glad it's me up here showing off and not Todd. That'd set his shit back by at least two weeks."
Pausing on the ladder, Dan laughingly agreed. "I'll have to remember that if Kevin does decide to bitch; him or any of his team. They should be kissing my ass. Maybe I can threaten the team and tell them to shut the hell up, or I'll make sure they always get Todd as a partner."
Paul grinned as he watched his foreman continue down the ladder, enjoying the rest for a few minutes before tossing his bag over the rooftop to hit a dumpster located on the side of the complex used for construction debris. Picking up the previously discarded hammer, he began to work again, trying to keep his wolf from digging out of his skin in worry over his little urchin and what she might be doing.