Lightspeed - S. Uley

The Hardware Store

A week had passed since the unusual events had occurred at the Uley household. And just as Katie had suspected she had heard nothing from the family or the council since. Her report had been written up in record time and therefore it was closed. There would be no need for her to continue to look into the young man nor interact with him other than at tribal meetings. And she moved on with her life assuming that it would just be a little awkward the next time she was to bump into either member of the family.

Considering Katie lost no sleep over the uneventful welfare check, she continued on with her life as she had intended to do so. Katie had lost her mother during her later teenaged years, something she had slowly come to peace with. Yet the one thing she had to yet find peace with was the state of her childhood home. The place her mother had left her to ensure that Katie would never be without a roof over her head. It was a very small single floored two-bedroom wooden cottage located on the eastern side of the Reservation. The cottage had been her mother's pride and joy and had been the one thing she had worked so hard to have. And Katie was upset knowing that its condition had fallen over the remainder of her teenaged years when she had been living with her grandparents just down the road. Initially they had rented the house out to make enough money a month to pay off the remaining mortgage left on the house. However, those plans had fallen through after the initial year considering the state the tenants had left the house in after their original 12-month contract had expired. 

And therefore, it was time to give the house the love and care it deserved. It was currently in a habitable condition; Katie knew that first hand considering she had moved out into the house a few months back now. But she was no longer satisfied living in the place that barely resembled the place of which she had made so many happy memories when she was younger. And she had enough time off work at present to actually do something about what was plaguing her. She had the potential to fix such a gaping problem as the one presented to her. 

Kaite liked to think that she was an independent person, and therefore, was up to any challenge she brought to her own plate. With the idea that there was no need to get a professional in to repurpose and redecorate her house. After all, she believed there to be no real challenge when it came to painting a couple walls. She had ample experience in making flat packed furniture as well. Therefore, she would be perfectly capable at redoing up her own house. She would only get the professionals in when absolutely necessary, such as organising wiring for both electricity and gas. That was not something she thought would be safe for her to do herself. 

The one part of the process that Katie never actually thought would be so difficult would be the very first step. For as she stood in the local Hardware store staring at the limited collection of paints available, did she realise that she had all of this ambition but no clue of what she actually wanted to do. She had at this point not even decided which room she intended to redecorate first, nor a clue of what she wanted any of the rooms to look like. Her bedroom was out of the question considering her grandparents had helped her redecorate that room before she had moved back in. That only left a limited number of rooms left, there was the now spare bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen the living room and the dining room of which she could pick from. And now she was stuck where to even start. 

But as her eyes landed on a chocolate brown colour, she found an idea posing in her own mind. She had instantly fallen in love with the colour and knew she wanted it in her house. It was too dark to take up space in the living room nor the spare bedroom. And it was not easy wipeable and therefore would not suit the kitchen. Through her process of elimination, it was decided that this would be great for her dining room. It would match the furniture she already had in there and would require little purchasing of new which was ideal considering the small budget Katie had in the first place. Grabbing the first tin on the shelf and placing it on her own trolly Katie went forward to grab the second one which was located much further back on the shelf. 

"Did you need a hand there?" A deep voice spoke out from behind Katie, causing her to jolt a little in the way she stood. She turned around initially to give a polite 'thanks but no thanks' in response only to be stopped by the man who was standing behind her. 

"Officer Mitchell." Greeted the now much cheerier Sam Uley as he took in the appearance of the woman stood opposite him. 

"Please outside of work call me Katie." Katie mumbled knowing she had little right to be annoyed by actually being called an officer knowing her often she was irritated because nobody actually saw her as an officer. But there was just something about this particular man calling her by her role than her actual name which was irritating. And it would be something Katie would think about more in the private of her own home considering she barely knew Sam Uley, she thought he had made little impression on her, but obviously this was not correct. 

"Sorry, let me try that again. Would you like a hand, Katie?" Sam Uley was charming that much was sure, and Katie initially wanted to agree just from how he had spoken to her, but her pride shone through a little too much. Plus, it was only two tins of paint for now she would be fine. 

"I think I'll be okay it's only the two tins. Thank you though." Katie remained polite as her brain started to work on overdrive. She got a smile in response from the man despite her refusal for his help and she wondered just if he was aware the effects of his charisma and charm. He must have known, surely. 

"It's no problem Katie." He gave her another smile, one of which was bright enough to draw one out of her in response. And with that Sam Uley disappeared back down the aisle Katie assumed he came from with no other words. Leaving her confused with a heart rate which had picked up on its own accord. 

There was something telling her that she was going to be seeing a lot more of Sam Uley. 

And there was another part of her which had no problem at all with that.