“We’ve got a new client called in. Needs their network checked and their computers serviced. Apparently, their last service contract was with Sheldon Electrics,” she said and handed him a service order.
“Okay, so why are you bringing it to me?” he asked although he guessed the obvious answer.
“First off, you are the only tech free in the office. Second, they asked for the boss or the head tech to come in. Third, as a first contact type of situation, I figured you aught to go and put the best face on Alpha. Especially as Sheldon had been their last service contract provider,” she finished. Sheldon Electrics was one of those companies that did well right up until they over extended themselves. They did that constantly, and it was the customers that suffered.
Luc nodded and looked at the paperwork. “Okay, when did you say I’d be there?” he asked.
“About 45 minutes from now. 11am. And don’t forget to take your printer this time,” she said. “You’ll need to fill in the details on the service contract.” Ginny turned and walked out of the office.
Luc watched her go and smiled. The file she had was filled with 90% of the information he’d need, including a quote for all possible jobs. “Damn, she’s efficient.” he thought. “Probably a good thing I’m not her type. Otherwise she’d own the company,” he thought with a smile. He and Ginny had been lovers for about two months when he first opened the business. She was ten years older than he was even if she didn’t look it. However, they were much better business partners than bedroom partners and both of them recognized that.
He grabbed his tool bag with printer in the bottom as well as a box of Cat5e and other bits and pieces he knew he needed from the list Ginny had put in the folder. Looked like a rewire job at the least. Heading out the door, he waved at Ginny.
Meg had had enough. After four days, she simply couldn’t do another thing. She couldn’t do any work and her office was stripped waiting for repairmen. She had called as many clients as possible and told them that the office would be closed for at least three days if not a week. Most of the partners could work from home and that left just the support crew in the office. Their consulting firm while not the newest one in the area, certainly had a select clientele. Not every day that a company lands a state contract to provide demographics. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes,” she told Angie. “I’m going to grab some lunch,” Angie waved from the front desk and marked Meg as out.
It felt good to get out of the damp and humid office. She filled her lungs with clean air and wished that she was back in the mountains with Luc. She wondered why he hadn’t called her. Then again, she had been so busy, she hadn’t called or logged on to her computer either. As she got in her car, she pulled out her phone and made a note to call him this evening. Pulling out of the parking lot she headed for the bank and some place to grab a burger.
Luc arrived at the job with five minutes to spare. He walked in and the smell of wet cement, moldy carper and damp assaulted his nose. “Ugh,” he said to no one in particular.
“I agree, but standing there won’t fix it hon. What can I do for you?” said a round receptionist behind a desk with a pad of paper in front of her instead of a keyboard. The nameplate said Angie.
“Oh, Sorry, just talking to myself,” said Luc. “I’m here to talk to someone about a repair contract. Sheldon Electrics had it and now someone here wanted to switch over to Alpha Wolf Tech,” Luc said.
“Oh yeah, that would have been Mr. Larken, but he isn’t in today. He decided he would work from home,” said Angie.
“So, who do I need to talk to?” he asked.
“Well, Margaret is out to lunch, but she should be back in about ten minutes. Want to wait, or do you want to look around and see just how bad the damage is?” she asked. “We had a pipe burst and it really flooded the building.”
“Yeah, I’ll walk around and see just how bad it is. Mind if I set my bag down here on the desk?” he asked.
“Not a problem hon. All the offices are open and the server room is down the hall to the left,” she said and pointed.
“Thank you Angie,” Luc said and headed down the direction she pointed. He pulled out a notepad and started jotting down things. From the looks of it most of the walls were drying out. Not a lot of drywall to replace except in the back offices. All the carpet was ripped out and from the way the cable runs were done, most of them were okay. Sheldon Electrics had a bad habit of dropping everything from the ceiling. Only one out of twenty runs was actually on the floor. The server room had been a write off. The bottom servers were soaked. He might be able to retrieve the data, but he sure hoped they had backups. Larken’s office was next. Once again, not a lot of damage, but enough. More notes. Next was a corner office. It was fairly well stripped. Furniture piled to one side and the desk covered in a drop cloth. Drywall had been replaced and the room was ready to repaint. Luc was crouched down on the floor examining the plug layout. This room wasn’t a drop down wire arrangement.
“Damn,” he said to himself looking at the mess. He realized that this office backed onto the server room. He dropped to one knee and started to make notes.
Meg hurried back from lunch and saw the computer contract van in the parking lot. Alpha Wolf Tech, LLC was blazoned on the side with a large paw print as the logo. “It couldn’t possibly be,” she thought as she headed inside. She knew Luc worked with computers, but business was something both of them had avoided like the plague. There was a big case sitting on Angie’s desk when she walked in.