The New Recruit

Chapter Six: The One with The Broken Pipe

Chapter 6

"I'm so sorry - I know it's late!" Carina said as she opened her door, only a long sleeve shirt covering her body.

"Don't worry about it, I was up anyway," Maya said as she walked through the door. "What's the problem?"

"Kitchen sink," Carina replied, leading Maya through into her apartment and into the kitchen where the offending appliance was currently spraying water up into the air.

Maya chuckled at the sight, "Did the towel go on the sink before or after you phoned me?" She joked, looking at the white towel wrapped around the spraying sink, although it was doing a poor job of containing the water.

"Oh stop it - I didn't know what to do!"

"I can see that," Maya replied with a smirk. She put down her tool bag on the island and knelt down under the sink, the water stopping a few seconds later.

"First step is usually to turn the water off," Maya said coming back up.

Carina rolled her eyes, "Are you going to fix it or just keep making fun of me?"

"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry! I will fix your sink, I promise."

"You're wearing shorts," Carina stated, her eyes trailing down to Maya's strong and muscular yet exposed legs, seeing them only dressed in a pair of running shorts.

"Wow - I knew I hired you for your observation skills," Maya joked, wondering what Carina's point was.

"I mean - why are you wearing shorts? It's 10pm outside and it's freezing!"

"Well - I had to rush out didn't I? No time for a wardrobe change; so in actual fact it's your fault," Maya said shrugging her shoulders.

"My fault?!"

Maya nodded with a smile, before digging through her tool bag and pulling something out and kneeling under the sink, Carina trying very hard to just stare at the blonde's muscles working underneath her hoodie.

"I'm sorry I phoned you out this late. I didn't know who else to call and I know you were able to fix the sink the other week up in the beanery," Carina apologised, sitting on the stool as she watched Maya work.

"Oh it's no problem - honestly, please don't apologise," Maya said, as she grabbed a different tool and shuffled herself backwards again.

They continued chatting until Maya had finally finished. "Okay - take the towel off," she instructed.

Carina hopped down from the stool and removed the now soaked towel with a grimace and dropped it into the bowl of the sink with a bang due to it's now added water weight.

"And turn the tap on," Maya instructed from below. Carina did as she said and sighed when she saw the water running out as it should. At Carina's sigh of relief, Maya shuffled herself back out from under the sink and dusted herself down.

"Thank you so much!" Carina cried as Maya waved her compliment away. "Your hoodie is all wet! Wait here!" Carina demanded, leaving no room for Maya to argue. As Carina left the room, Maya had a look around the room. Seeing, the medical textbooks on the shelves as well as the vast collection of novels, a few of which Maya had read from their exchanges, she could even see her own version of The Great Gatsby waiting to be read; the blankets thrown over the back of the sofa with brightly coloured cushions.

It wasn't messy by any means but it was 'organised clutter' as Maya decided to deem it. Small tokens from around the world were scatted across both shelves and the coffee tables, with many nods to Carina's Italian home, a framed map of the country on the wall and various pictures and some Italian books. It was cosy, with the lamps all set on low, giving the room a warm feeling, homely.