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Chapter 20
On Wednesday, Jalen arrived at the Horner property bright and early, already mentally prepared for the long day ahead. The guest house was so close to completion, and with Heidi's situation growing more urgent, he was determined to wrap it all up today no matter what. His team, however, wasn't exactly thrilled about working longer hours.
"Bruh, I get it," Marcus, one of his main guys, said, rubbing his hands together against the morning chill, "But an extra five hours, though? We usually wrap by five, and you talkin' bout workin' till damn near ten?"
Jalen nodded, already expecting the pushback. "Look, I know it's a long day, but I'm throwing in a bonus for everybody. Y'all know me, I take care of my people."
His crew exchanged glances, still skeptical.
"How much extra we talkin'?" Terrance asked, arms crossed.
Jalen gave a small smirk. "Enough to make it worth your while. I need this done today, and I trust y'all to help me get it there. I'll personally make sure everybody leaves here happy. What do you say?"
The team grumbled, but when Jalen gave them the numbers, their moods shifted real quick.
"Aight, man," Marcus finally said, shaking his head. "For that price? Yeah, we can grind it out."
"Yeah, let's just get it done," Terrance agreed. "Ain't nobody tryna come back here on Thursday anyway."
Jalen clapped his hands. "That's what I'm talkin' about. Let's get to work."
As the sun moved higher in the sky, the team went to work at full speed. Painting, flooring, finishing electrical work, every detail needed to be perfect before they called it a night.
Jalen barely took a break, moving between the different sections of the house, making sure everything was coming together exactly as planned. Heidi stopped by briefly around noon to check in, but per their secret agreement, they kept their conversation short and professional to avoid drawing attention.
The hours stretched on, but as the evening crept in, the finish line was finally in sight. By 9:45 PM, Jalen stood outside the completed guest house, sweat on his brow, hands on his hips, looking at what he and his team had accomplished.
It was done. Every detail was in place and perfect. Tim Horner had agreed to meet him at 10 PM to do the final walkthrough and sign off on the payment if he felt everything was satisfactory. Jalen waited near the front of the guest house, watching as Tim walked up.
Tim was looking like he had just come from some kind of social event, button-down shirt, dress pants, smelling like expensive whiskey.
"Well," Tim said, glancing up at the completed guest house. "I'll give you credit. You got it done sooner than expected."
Jalen simply nodded, keeping his face neutral. He wasn't about to give Tim any reason to second-guess paying him. Tim walked through, inspecting the work with a critical eye, checking all the details. Jalen already knew the work was flawless, so he stayed quiet and let him do his thing. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, Tim exhaled sharply and turned to Jalen.
"I'll admit," Tim said, giving a small nod, "you did good work."
Jalen didn't smile, didn't relax. He just held out his hand. "Appreciate it. Now let's settle up."
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