Meeting Dr. Reid

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 38, Post Number 948

-Motor City, outside Dr. Reid's Laboratory, 10:15 A.M.-

Wearing his white t-shirt with olive green cargo pants and black boots plus his Silver Falchion in its scabbard on his left hip, Leonidas was standing outside of an ordinary single-story house belonging to a Dr. Reid. The most distinctive feature was the large garage door on the right side of the house facing the street. In his left pocket was the job notice that he had answered, which was a job that involved house-sitting while the doctor went on a trip to town to buy food, coffee, and other necessities. Leonidas was tasked with making sure that nothing happened to the doctor's house while she was gone.

Leonidas stood outside of the front door, which had an intercom grille positioned to the right of the wooden door. Leonidas walked over to it and pressed the button in the bottom right corner. A female voice spoke to him through the intercom.

"Password?" The voice asked him.

"Clarke." Leonidas replied without having to consult the job notice in his left pocket.

"Hold on a minute and I'll open the door for you!" The voice said. Leonidas stepped away from the intercom grille and faced the door. A little over a minute later the door opened and a young blonde woman greeted him.

"Hello there!" She greeted him. She had long blonde hair done up in a ponytail and was wearing a pink tank top and khaki cargo shorts with brown work boots. In her right hand was clutched a white coffee mug with the saying "I'll sleep when I'm dead!" printed on it in black letters. Leonidas could not help but to smile when he saw that mug.

"Are you Dr. Reid?" Leonidas asked the young woman. She nodded.

"Dr. Loretta Reid, at your service!" She replied in the affirmative.

"I'm Leonidas Jarnefeldt. I'm here to answer your job notice for... the house... sitting..." Leonidas introduced himself and told Dr. Reid why he was here when she looked at him with a curious facial expression. Leonidas trailed off and waited for the inevitable question.

"Are you related to Leona Jarnefeldt, the Wizard Saint of Courage?" The young woman asked him.

"I'm her older brother." Leonidas answered calmly and without sarcasm. He was not sure if the doctor would believe him or not because she might take his answer for sarcasm and conclude that he was a liar. She looked into his eyes for a few moments, then smiled at him.

"Oh, how wonderful! Please, do come in!" Dr. Reid bade him. Leonidas walked towards the door as the doctor stepped back to let him inside. The moment he entered the door was shut behind him.

-Inside Dr. Reid's Laboratory, the mini-kitchen-

Leonidas now found himself standing inside a mini-kitchen that had all the essentials. To his left was a stainless steel sink to wash one's hands in and to the right of the sink was a set of overhead wooden cabinets that were closed but presumably contained cups and plates. In front of him was a small square wooden table that could seat four. Dr. Reid was seated on the right side of the table sipping from her coffee mug, which had been filled with a strong-smelling coffee.

"You might be wondering how I know your sister, Leonidas." Dr. Reid said to Leonidas.

"Yes, Doctor. I'm curious as to how you know her." Leonidas calmly replied.

"She's worked for me several times in the past. She's been a big help to me on a couple of major projects that I couldn't have completed without her." The doctor replied. She then looked down at her coffee mug, then made eye contact with Leonidas again.

"Would you like some coffee, Leonidas?" Dr. Reid asked him. Leonidas did not need to be asked twice.

"If you don't mind, I'd like some coffee, please." Leonidas replied in the affirmative.

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[Total Word Count: 652/2,500]

Moments after Leonidas had requested some coffee Dr. Reid got up from the table and walked over to the cupboard above the counter, then opened one of the cupboard doors. She fished out a plain white coffee mug and walked over to the coffeemaker, which was positioned in the far right corner where the wall met the counter. She grabbed the handle of the coffee pot with her right hand, lifted it carefully, and poured some of the coffee into the mug, then walked over to Leonidas and handed it to him. He grabbed the mug with both hands, supporting its bottom with his left hand while using his right hand to grab the handle. Once he had a firm grasp on the mug he raised it to his lips and took a sip of the coffee.

It had a strong taste and was loaded with caffeine. It was loaded with so much caffeine that for a few moments Leonidas' heart rate picked up before settling down again a few seconds later. The blond man had never had a coffee this caffeinated before.

He had to know its name so that he could get some for himself.

"What blend of coffee is this, Doctor?" Leonidas asked his hostess.

"It's a blend called Motor City Nitro, Leonidas. It's got three times the caffeine of regular coffee. Your sister likes it too." Dr. Reid told him the name of the coffee and let him know that Leona liked it too. Leonidas was not surprised to learn that she liked Motor City Nitro.

"I figured that she'd like this coffee. Leona likes strong coffee just like I do." Leonidas replied to his hostess. Dr. Reid smiled.

"I can see the family resemblance between you two. The blond hair, the green eyes... the resemblance is definitely there." Dr. Reid commented to him on the physical traits the two Jarnefeldts shared. Leonidas was amused by that, but he did not have long to be amused.

"C'mon Leonidas. Follow me and I'll show you my garage." Dr. Reid bade him before walking through an open doorway to his right. He wordlessly followed her through a door to his right with coffee mug in hand.

-Inside the garage-

Leonidas followed Dr. Reid into a large garage that had a blue four-door "soccer mom" van sitting next to a larger truck towing an enclosed trailer. On the garage floor were a lot of oil stains that had been partially cleaned up but were still visible. Dr. Reid turned to him and waved her hand around like a game show hostess.

"This is my garage, Leonidas. Here I keep the vehicles I need to go to town and here I work on my projects. Follow me over to my van and we'll talk a little more." Dr. Reid told him. She walked over to the blue van while Leonidas followed close behind her. She pulled a key out of her pocket, unlocked the driver's side door, and opened the door. She got into it just as Leonidas walked over to the driver's side of the vehicle.

"Now that you're here and we've met I'd like to get going to town so that I can buy the supplies I need before the stores get too crowded. We'll talk more when I get back, which shouldn't be any longer than four hours." Dr. Reid informed him of what she was about to do. Leonidas was a bit surprised to hear that the shopping trip would take roughly four hours to complete, but he did not comment on that.

"Don't let me hold you up, Doctor." Leonidas gave her permission to get going on her errand... not that she needed his permission. Dr. Reid smiled and put the key into the ignition.

"The job's real simple, Leonidas. All I need you to do is walk through the garage and walk through my house and make sure that everything's in place. I'm not expecting anyone to break in, but I like to have someone watching over my property while I'm gone." Dr. Reid told him. Leonidas did not have any problem with that because that meant easy work for him.

"All right, Doctor. I'll walk around and make sure that nothing happens to your home while you're gone." Leonidas assured her that everything would be in its rightful place when she returned from her supply run. Dr. Reid shut the door and cranked up the van. Leonidas took a few steps back from the running vehicle as the garage door opened and the driver's side window was lowered.

"I'll see you in a few hours, Leonidas!" Dr. Reid said before rolling up the van window and putting the vehicle in drive. Moments later she exited the garage and shut the garage door behind her, leaving Leonidas to begin his house-sitting duties. Leonidas took a sip of coffee from his mug and stretched his legs, then began walking around the perimeter of the garage.

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[Total Word Count: 1,482/2,500]

-Inside Dr. Reid's garage, one hour and two minutes later-

Leonidas had been patrolling both the house and the garage for a little over an hour and had not seen any signs of a break-in or other unsavory activity. He was currently walking along the left wall after exiting the mini-kitchen, where he set his empty mug down on the small square table so that he did not have to hold it in his right hand for the next three or so hours. As he was walking he spotted a large metallic shutter on the left wall close to the corner and walked over to it. He stopped in front of it and noticed a glowing keypad on the wall to the right of the shutter.

Leonidas saw the keypad and surmised that it was used to open the large metallic shutter. He briefly wondered what was behind it before quickly deciding that what was behind the shutter was none of his business. He resumed walking around the perimeter of the garage and made a right turn at the corner. He walked along the perimeter and listened to his footsteps echo through the nearly empty garage as he walked towards the top right corner. Once he reached it he turned and walked for the bottom right corner of the garage, paying close attention to the garage door as he walked by it.

It was still firmly closed and the bottom was against the ground.

Satisfied that the garage door was not being pried open or otherwise tampered with, Leonidas kept walking until he reached the bottom right corner, then began to walk towards the mini-kitchen. He walked towards the open doorway and when he got to it passed through it without breaking stride. He was about to go into the doctor's house and make sure that it had not been broken into while he was busy patrolling the garage.

-Inside the doctor's house-

Leonidas slowed down and carefully inspected the living room for anything that might have been out of place or might have gone missing. That would be an easy task because there was not a whole lot in the living room except for a single brown cloth couch and a wooden coffee table that was loaded down with magazines that looked like they had never been read. Leonidas stopped and looked around the living room and noticed that the walls were barren... there were no family pictures, no framed diplomas, degrees, or certifications, nothing to suggest that anyone lived here.

Satisfied that nothing was amiss in the living room, Leonidas walked forward and down a hallway with two closed doors; there was one on the left side of the hallway and another one straight ahead. There was an open door on the right side, so that was where the blond man focused his attention. He walked until he stood outside the open door, then peered into the room and soon got an idea of what room he was looking into.

He was looking into the doctor's bedroom.

Leonidas peered inside the room with beige walls and saw a single bed consisting of a mattress resting on a white wooden frame with a white headboard. On the wall beside the bed were hanging diplomas, degrees, and certifications in black frames that most people would display in their living rooms. Maybe the doctor just did not care to show them off and was content to leave them in her room.

Leonidas looked at the bed more closely and noticed that it had white sheets, but the sheets were covered in clothes that were neatly placed all over the bed and a few of them had been neatly folded up. It looked like Dr. Reid had been doing laundry before Leonidas showed up. Satisfied that nothing was amiss in the room, he turned away from the doctor's bedroom and walked back down the hall towards the mini-kitchen. He would take a brief break in there, then go back into the garage and walk around it again.

-Inside the garage, two hours and three minutes later-

It was a little over three hours into his house-sitting job and Leonidas had just wrapped up his latest patrol of the house. He walked through the mini-kitchen door into the garage, stopped just inside of it, and looked at the large garage door a good distance away from him. It looked to be firmly closed, but he would check it out more closely when he got to it. He walked over to the large metallic shutter and made sure that it was still closed. The shutter had not budged since the last time he was in here.

Leonidas turned away from the shutter and walked all the way across the garage to the garage door, which he inspected closely. It was still closed and did not show any signs of someone attempting to pry it open. Satisfied with that, he turned away from it and resumed his patrol of the garage. He wondered if Dr. Reid was getting everything she needed during her shopping trip.

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[Total Word Count: 2,332/2,500]

-In the mini-kitchen, four hours later-

Dr. Reid had returned three hours past her four-hour estimate and she had returned with enough food, water, coffee, and other supplies to last her three months. Leonidas had been in the garage when she opened the garage door and drove in. Once she came to a stop and turned off the van Leonidas helped her unload her supplies and put them into storage before the pair went back into the kitchen for a well-deserved break. Now they were discussing things over a cup of coffee or two.

"I'm sorry for the delay in getting back, Leonidas. I got caught in long lines in more than one of the stores and I had to wait and wait and... you get the picture." Dr. Reid apologized for taking a little over seven hours to get home despite giving an estimate of only four hours.

"It's no problem, Doctor. Sometimes things just don't go according to plan." Leonidas stated that he did not hold the doctor's late return against her. Dr. Reid smiled.

"You've got that right, Leonidas. Let me go check to make sure that everything's all right. I'm sure that you patrolled my house and garage from the time I left until the time I got back, but I'd like to see for myself that everything's all right." Dr. Reid said before leaving Leonidas standing in the mini-kitchen. Leonidas did not object to the doctor's departure and stood around drinking more Motor City Nitro while resting from being on his feet for the past seven hours or so. He waited patiently for Dr. Reid to return and after a few minutes she returned with a smile on her face.

"Everything's exactly where it should be, Leonidas. There's no signs of a break-in either. I'm glad that I hired you to watch over my house and laboratory for me." Dr. Reid informed him that nothing had gone missing and there were no break-ins. Leonidas lowered his mug from his lips and made eye contact with his hostess.

"The next time I contact you I'll have some better work for you. While today's job was minor, I really needed the help and you came through for me. I'm glad that we met today." The doctor added. Leonidas was pleased to hear that his client was satisfied with his work and that he would be considered for future work. He finished his current cup of coffee and debated whether to get another or stop after two consecutive cups of Motor City Nitro.

"I appreciate that, Doctor." Leonidas thanked Dr. Reid for her willingness to hire him again whenever she needed help with something.

"You're welcome, Leonidas. I'll be here for the rest of the day, so you can head home any time you want." Dr. Reid informed him. Leonidas finished the rest of his coffee, then turned around and walked over to the sink. He rinsed out his empty coffee mug and set it to the right of the sink.

"All right then, Doctor. I'll get going now. Thanks for the work. And thanks for the coffee too." Leonidas thanked the doctor for the job and for the coffee. Dr. Reid smiled at him.

"It's no problem, Leonidas. I'll see you later!" She cheerfully bade him farewell. Leonidas turned around and left the mini-kitchen, then walked into the living room and left the house through the front door. He gently shut it behind him, then set out for Capital Crocus. It was going to be a long walk to get home, but after two consecutive cups of Motor City Nitro he felt like he could run all the way to Capital Crocus without getting tired.

He needed to get a supply of Motor City Nitro for himself one day.

[Post Word Count: 632]
[Total Word Count: 2,964/2,500]