In the first part of December, there were several days of heavy rain, and I found water damage to some of the interior walls where the roof had leaked. The insurance company referred me to a roofing repair company and a plaster/painting contractor in a week. Had the roof fixed in a day, but the contractor was unable to meet and begin until a week later. Turns out it's a small family operation, with father and son running the business. After going over the repair estimate, they showed up the week before Christmas. After the first day, the father informed me that he had another bigger job, and needed to try and finish before year's end. The son, Asher, would be able to continue working alone, but only half days (afternoons), after helping his dad on the other job first. While not pleased with the potential for an extended job period, I was okay with just having Asher there. He 's 25, with a very athletic built (turns out he wrestled in college and plays rugby), and demonstrated work ethics and ability to do a good job. His work uniform was essentially thin white tees stretched over his upper body, and well-worn white painter jeans that sported tears. Certainly very easy on the eyes.
After the second afternoon, I suggested to Asher that he could dress more comfortably, since the house was humid, especially in the afternoon. He was appreciative of the suggestion, and worked bare-chested after that, and I would see flashes of butt crack that confirmed his commando status. Then one day as I was working out in my garage, I heard a loud crash and some cursing from the living room. I got there to find Asher picking up the ladder, with the back of his jeans ripped from his waist to inner thigh, exposing his ass and balls from this angle. He quickly explained that the wide blade putty knife he usually sticks in his back pocket got caught on the ladder as he as moving stuff around. He laughed that these were his favorite pair of work pants that were probably ready for the rag pile, but thought they would last through this job. Since he was trying to hold the gapping hole with his hands, I offered to try and duct tape the tear as a "stopgap" measure, or that I could offer to let his use a pair of my jeans. He went with the duct tape, with some hilarious results, but said he was about done for the day.
It was then that I realized he was trying to avoid looking at me, as I was wearing only a pair of white compression shorts that had soaked through with sweat from my workout, so essentially transparent. I told him I usually workout in my makeshift gym with the garage closed, using free weights and a bowflex machine. I'd like to think he was curious about the setup more than my lack of attire, so I showed him the garage "gym". He related that he used to work out regularly, but the work schedule often interfered. As I was now his last job of the day, I told him he was welcomed to use the equipment anytime after he was done working. I suggested even now, if he wanted to just try some workout routine, he could, since he was done for the day. He hesitated and said he really wasn't dressed right now for exercising, especially with the torn duct-taped jeans. So I reached into a basket, and tossed his a pair of sweat cutoff that my nephew left the last time. Asher gave it a second, then turn around and stripped off his jeans and pulled on the cutoffs. [No comments from the peanut gallery about the view I got.]
For the next half hour, he tried the weights on different routines, and seemed quite comfortable with our interaction, especially when I had to spot him closely on the bench press for what I thought was too heavy a load. I could feel his heavy breath as I stood right over his head, waiting to catch the bar from him. By the end, he was covered in a layer of sweat like me, and begged off further efforts. After gulping a quart of water, he was ready to leave, although I offered to let his shower first. He said he appreciated the workout, and would consider bringing his changes for workout and showering the next time. Told him to keep the cutoffs until later. He's been off since then, for the Christmas holidays, and we'll see what happens when he returns to finish the job next week.