As she boarded the private elevator, Tina’s attention shifted to Kelly.  She had a bad feeling about the situation.  That woman had a predatory feel to her. Once she would get wind of Bette being so close by, there was no doubt she would find a reason to hang around.   F*$#k! F*$#k! F*$#k! 

But if she dwelt on that, she wouldn’t be able to get anything done, she told herself.  Upon reaching the duplex, she decided to do a quick tour, looking at what was going on so far on the site.  She greeted the
carpenters amiably, and asked to speak with the foreman.  As he came over she mentioned that she wanted a quick rundown with him about what they’d done so far, and what they thought they could get through over the next few days. 

Tina dealt with crews like this all the time in her job, and she knew it paid to let them know that she was keeping tabs, and would probe about how particular issues were being dealt with.  Between her and Bette, she was the more experienced in this work, and, although she could be friendly, she made sure to let the crew and foreman know that she meant business every time.  This was their home, after all, and she wanted everything done to spec, and with the highest level of quality workmanship as possible.  The crew and foreman responded well to Tina, finding her calm and professional in her approach, and Bette to be somewhat more impatient.  Bette dealt well with the contractor, though, as he was empathetic to the vision in her head about how she wanted the house to end up being.  And he was more excited about this particular project, than others, because it really was a one-of–a-kind building, and would be something he and the crew would be proud of working on.  He thought he’d want to put the finished product on a brochure one day, if Bette would agree. 

As Tina went over the details of work to be done over the next few days, she asked the foreman whether she and Bette could meet with him and the contractor in a few days, so that they could all review the notes of the engineer and the construction manager when they were putting the building up, possibly glean from it critical information that would aid the reconstruction project.