Free Circuit Breakers (Contract Negotiations) by Jordan Billingsly, Brooke Carson

1
    A quick rap on the door brought my attention away, suddenly, from the accounting issues I had displayed on the computer monitor in front of me, to the owner of the company.
    “Sidney, can you look at this with me?” she asked, almost hesitantly stepping into my office.
    Working in a small office of only women, I found myself the go to person for practically everything under the sun. Sure, I’d been raised by a mechanic…on a farm, so squashing a bug or hanging a shelf wasn’t that much of a problem for me.
    “Whatcha got?” I replied, appreciating the break from crunching numbers.
    “Remember a few months back when we had the ice storm, and we lost power for a few days?”
    A historic event I’m sure none of us would soon forget.
    “Sure,” I answered, not sure where this was going.
    “Remember all the electrical contractors who came right after? The ones we were asking for bids for a back-up generator?  Well, we finally received the only actual bid from any of them. I’m just wondering if you know of a way to verify and see if their bid is overinflated.”
    “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
    Having been raised by a man who was a jack of all trades, and master of none, I’d picked up some jargon along the way…besides street smarts.
    Leann, athletic build by genetics and runner by choice, fully entered my office to place the bid on my desk. I quickly averted my gaze to the paper. Seeing her tan, toned body always made me want to hide under the desk. When I read the final $ sign at the bottom of the page I thought I’d have a coronary from the sticker shock.
    “Oh, yeah, they’re trying to screw us royally!” I said, chuckling at the same time.  “I’ve seen a few generators over the years, a lot more heavy duty, and that is way over the screw the pooch amount.”
    “How would we find out for sure? I don’t want to pay more than we need to.”
    “I can make some calls and see if we can get more bids.” I offered, even though I didn’t want to get in the middle of the whole process.
    “Great, let me know what you find,” she said as she turned to leave.
    Damn!  I didn’t have time for this. I’ve been known for letting my willingness to help get me in over my head. So, I let the idea roll around in my head overnight, knowing my only true option was making the phone calls.
     
    ****

 
    2
    When I got to my desk, the next day, I closed myself up in the office and pulled out the yellow pages. AC experts, HVAC specialist, electrical contractors…bingo. I called any contractor who had a specialty ad listed and described the details of what we needed. Luckily, the original bid we had, gave me enough facts about the job to Google that information and come up with precise details, which made me sound knowledgeable when phoning the rest of the listings.
    The first calls were standard… who we are, where we’re located, what we’re needing, etc. Then, I made the last call. Something happened, and I didn’t know what it was. His name was Mitch, and immediately his voice smoothly lulled me. All the doubts I was having about finding a contractor melted away, and a strumming spread through my inner electrical system causing my body to vibrate. At first, I started to wonder if I’d had too much caffeine this morning. I even found myself revealing more details about myself, in relation to contracting and electrical work, than I’d even thought of when I talked to the first contractors.
    It just so happened, Mitch was going to be close enough to our office, later today, and was going to stop by to give us a bid. I hung up the phone and the intensity of my reaction to him amped me up. What the hell was going on?  Why was I feeling zings coursing through my whole body?  Suddenly, I couldn’t sit still.
    Even knowing that it’d be a few hours until he arrived, I busied myself in the front office. Looking for anything to do to keep myself from sitting down…because I couldn’t, I even offered to