“How was this missed? Or perhaps a better question might be, does it have to be done now?” Gage asked. He also turned his head to follow his gaze up the stairs, before turning back to Trent, confusion clear on Gage’s face.
“If you’re able to get a green tag during the final inspection from the city, I’d be shocked. Regardless, it won’t hold through the opening. Something will blow, tripping something else. Everything electrical won’t be able to work together.”
“Shit! Where’s McCall? Jacquelyn, could you get McCall for me” Gage said over his shoulder, acknowledging the curator for the first time. “What’s it going to take to replace it and keep everything on task?”
“I need to look closer at your schedule. Right now all I can say is it’s gonna take time and money. We’ll pull a special permit for this. I’ve got to check the roof and the wiring. Depending on what I find, the electric company has to shut off the power and let us replace it. The city inspects the work, then gives the go ahead back to the power company to turn it back on. Here, let me show you what we’re talking about.” Trent pulled his clipboard forward to show Gage the numbers he’d worked up a few minutes earlier. “Here’s the simple math of it. This column’s the estimated average amp usage you’ll need to run this building every day based on the equipment I’ve seen. At the very best case is two hundred, probably more like two twenty-five. Your current box supports up to one fifty.”
“Shit, how wasn’t this caught before now?” All the sexual tension between them left as quickly as it came. Those sexy, steamy hot blue eyes were turning into shards of ice shooting daggers as he spoke. No way did Trent want any part of where those daggers might land.
“Mr. Synclair, the plans are showing a bigger box here. I’m not sure who drew up these specs… but yeah, it should have been caught before now… I guess it’s past blame time. Even if we did a temporary to get you through the opening, you’re gonna have to take the time to replace this thing. I can try to call in favors, I have a few, but I first need to see what I’m working with upstairs and outside before I talk to anyone.”
“So what’s the best possible time frame on this?” Gage asked.
“Off the top of my head, and best case scenario, my part can be done overnight. It’ll be a solid eight to twelve hour job, but we can get our part done in one shot. It’s the city and electric company who’ll require time. I may have a connection in the city who might work closely with us. I don’t know, though, it’s asking a lot in such a short time. Let me get up on top, see what I’m looking at and make some calls. It won’t take me long. I’ll find you when I’m done and we can talk pricing and timeframes,” Trent said as McCall came through the basement door.
“I’ll be in my office. McCall, I need to see you,” Gage didn’t say anything more, but took off up the stairs and out the door, Roger McCall at his heels.
Chapter 4
Trent paced the outside sidewalk in the front of the gallery, treading a solid path back and forth on the small walkway beside his old pickup. He’d called his men, all his suppliers, and the city, trying to come up with the best possible solution to get this panel change completed as soon as possible. Roger McCall all but abandoned him after what he supposed was a solid chew out by Gage Synclair. The large glass panels separating the office from the rest of the showroom hid nothing as Gage lit into McCall’s ass. He didn’t let him out for a good twenty minutes. McCall immediately left the jobsite, spouting something about ‘informing corporate’ as he tore his ass past Trent, and hadn’t been back since.
Trent worked out possible solutions to the time frame as he continued to check the blueprints now spread across the hood of his truck. His head journeyman grumbled over the idea of an all-night, Saturday evening panel change and then a full day of work the next day, but he reluctantly agreed with double overtime pay as enticement. Trent called Sophia next to beg her to watch the children since Rhonny already had out-of-town weekend plans. She lived up to her reputation as Auntie Crazy when she agreed to his request but insisted he lied to her and really planned a hot sex date instead.
The supply company kept him on hold while checking pricing and availability of the different panel options. It had already been eight of the longest minutes of his entire life! This forever hold pattern completely pissed him off. They were taking their sweet time and every minute that ticked by felt like dog years. To top it all off, even after all this aggravation, his fucking hard-on still wouldn’t settle the fuck down. Interesting how his super easy morning of everything falling into place took a huge nose dive, skidding him slowly and painfully across the concrete floor. Already, the anxiety of this job was past the point of dumb, and it hadn’t even officially started yet.
His stomach let out a loud angry grumble of protest. He looked down at his watch. How could it already be a quarter to one in the afternoon? What he’d intended as a quick check in had turned into almost four hours already, and this stop was so not on his to-do list for the day.
Trent forced himself to calm down and stop pacing. He leaned his butt back against the side of the truck and took several deep, relaxing breaths. He listened to the terrible hold music for a minute while turning his face up to the sun, closing his eyes, letting its warmth coat his skin. He refused to think about this job for the next couple of minutes as he waited on hold. Instead, his thoughts strayed back to his conversation with Auntie Crazy and the next terrible topic in his life.