They Plumbed What Was Possible
By: Louise Foerster
Tags: Marriage, Fiction Friday, Fiction, Relationships Love Dating, Family

His beautiful Gina was seated at their favorite table in their favorite bistro in the city. Across from her, a petite, middle-aged blonde twisted black puffs into thick string. The old man next to her wrapped a beefy arm around her shoulders and said something into her ear.

Mike had blown it. He took a deep breath and threw open the door.

The rush of air blew his stink into his face. He was in such a rush to get here that he didn’t stop at home first.

As he entered familiar, dark-paneled warmth, he remembered. He’d promised Gina that he’d have a special bottle of champagne iced down for them.

The bistro had to have something amazing in that cellar of theirs. Mike would pay anything they charged as long as Gina wasn’t disappointed on this big night.

Jean strode over to him, eyed him up and down while taking a big step back. “Ah, Mike! You are here! Your party is waiting for you!”

“That bad, huh, Jean?”

“Terrible. You want me to see if there is anything in the lockers you can change into? There’s a shower in the employee bathroom. Maybe a quick rinse?”

Gina was out of her seat, heading for Mike with a megawatt smile. Her eyes were ice cold fury as she purred hello.

“Mike! I was so worried!” Her eyes widened as she moved to kiss him.

She took a big step back. “Mike! You stink! What happened to you?”

“It’s not my fault,” said Mike, hating the words even as he said them. “I mean, I made a mistake. Billy had to take an emergency call for Mrs. Miller. We were just about done with the Swanson job, so I told him I’d handle it — so I could get here on time. And then the cats attacked me.”

Gina’s mouth dropped. “There were cats? You’re allergic!”

“I know,” said Mike. “Only it was a customer and I’m only an apprentice plumber, so I figured I could just not breathe while I cleaned up. And things were going good, but then, a kitten got stuck and I had to save it. Then my toolbox hit a line and the line broke and there was water everywhere. The cats panicked, ran up my legs like I was a tree.”

Gina gazed at red slashes running down Mike’s face into his collar. “I don’t have anything with me, but maybe we can get something from the kitchen. Jean, you have a first aid kit?”

Jean escorted them into the kitchen. Striding past sweating cooks battling flames, he barked commands without looking.

A breathless skinny young man swerved past them with a tray of baguettes, slipped, and fell. The baguettes landed in a deepening puddle.

Jean spun around. His face went white. He cursed rapid-fire French Mike couldn’t translate.

Mike immediately understood the burst pipe. “I got this,” he said, motioning for a pot.

Pot under the leak, Mike improvised the tools needed to stop the leak. Taping it securely, he bowed to the applauding kitchen staff.

Dressed in an extra-large waiter’s uniform that hung on his lean frame, Mike met Gina’s parents with a bottle of champagne Jean had produced like a magician.

“I have always respected a man who can take care of things,” Gina’s mother purred at Mike. “Tell me about your people.”

Gina’s father hugged Mike like a long-lost son. “We can always use another set of hands on the farm, especially ones that know how to fix things!”

As Jean popped open the champagne and poured it for the table, Gina’s mother assessed Mike through narrowed eyes.

“I wasn’t sure what to do with this yarn. It will make you a fine engagement present. You’re going to have to learn to show up on time, however, if you’re going to be a member of our family.”

Mike kicked Gina under the table when she sucked in a breath to argue.

“I’m a plumber. Things break for no reason, go wrong no matter what you do. Cats panic. Pipes burst. People need help in the middle of the night.”

“Like being a pediatrician,” said Gina, wrapping her hand around Mike’s shoulder.

Gina’s father laughed. “Like being a farmer. Welcome to the family, Mike.”