Delilah gets repaired

Delilah was distressed to wake up to a chilly room. As she slipped a shapely leg out from under the fluffy gannet-down duvet a chill ran up her skin – evidently making for the warm regions further north. Brrrrr. After a few moments in planning she flung the covers back, leapt up and dashed to the door, where her fluffy dressing gown was hanging on a hook. She pulled in snuggly round her curvulaceousness and slipped her painted toes into a pair of fluffy mules. (She had originally intended to paint only her toenails but extreme haste had resulted in a more careless effect)
Thus besnuggled she was able to determine that, as she suspected, the boiler was not working. Delilah loved warmth, and so had the local heating engineering company on speeddial. She called them, her voice trembling with dramatic effect. Though it was a sunny spring morning, without her hot pipes she was shivering. She was in fact shivering so much that within her fluffy dressing gown parts of her upholstery were resonating gloriously.
The heating engineers were very busy – they had been obliged to take on extra staff. But they promised to get a man out to sort her out as soon as possible. She sounded so tragic that the person on the end of the phone suggested “I’ll get one of our new chaps to drop in quickly and just see if its something he can sort out there and then. If it’s a big repair though I’ll have to book you in another day”
Delilah thanked her and filled herself a hot water bottle to hug whilst she waited.
Sylvester arrived barely half an hour later, and Delilah ran to the door as fast as her mules would allow (they had speed restrictors). She opened wide to let him enter, gushing “I’m so glad you could make it! You’ve no idea how easily I get chilled”
“Soon have you warmed up, miss” replied Sylvester, noticing how the tight cord of her dressing gown showed off the soft bulges above and below.
“So, show me where it is”
Delilah though he looked like the sort of man who would know.
They stood in a little cupboard, before the boiler, its LED display advertising its failings.
The smallness of the cupboardular arrangements meant they were very close together
“Hmmm. See that code? It’s an E” he said thoughtfully, privately considering that Delilah probably was too, but he wouldn’t describe that as a failing.
“Is that bad?” she asked, and Sylvester smiled. He assured her that from every angle an E was not at all bad.
“Just let me get this off” he said, expertly levering the cover away to reveal the business within, “and get my tools out”
A shiver, this time of anticipation rather than cold, ran through Delilah’s body, generating the same resonance patterns as before and causing Sylvester’s hand to shake a little as he held his tool.
He worked away, unscrewing things, removing small bits and pieces, examining them and giving them a few tweaks with a tool before replacing them. Finally he stood back and explained
“I think that’s it. There was a bad connection in the ignition circuit. So there was a bit of a spark here [he pointed] but just not enough to get that there properly heated up”
Delilah nodded sagely, all the while thinking that the issue with the boiler could not be extrapolated to the current situation.
“So….there was a bit of a spark then you say?”
“Yes” said Sylvester, standing upright again (in every sense, as it happened) and gesturing with his tool “I see it a lot…lack of spark. Sometimes you can do something about it, there and then, but sometimes you can’t”
“And then what?” asked Delilah
“Well then its a big job. Often needs a complete refit. But don’t worry, that’s rarely the case with me”
Delilah smiled broadly, and gave a shrug of relaxation which started at her shoulders and worked its way down far enough to slightly loosen the dressing gown cord.
“Yes” he continued “I generally find I can get the spark going and get the whole thing fired up and nice and hot before I leave”
Although it was only a few moments since he had tweaked the spark, the room seemed to be warming already. He looked around
“Put your hand on there” he said “You can feel it already warming up”
She did so and smiled as she felt the heat coursing through under her fingers. The radiator was definitely working now.
“I think you’ll soon find the heat spreading throughout. It shouldn’t take long” he assured her. She nodded
“I can feel it already” she replied, “In fact I don’t think I need this any more” and she loosened the cord of her dressing gown
Sylvester agreed. He was starting to feel quite hot himself.
“Are you getting toasty now?” he asked and she nodded, the dressing gown working a little looser as she did so. It was loose enough for Sylvester to get a glance at the display, which definitely looked like an E.
“No more problems with your spark, I see!” he exclaimed. The heat was almost radiating off her. “No” she replied. “I’m very warm now. Shall we check the other radiators?”
He nodded, and they left the tiny cupboard. The rest of the house was cooler, but Sylvester soon confirmed that all the radiators were now working, and things were starting to heat up generally.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked, his hand still clutching his tool – in case he needed it again
Delilah said she thought he should do a general check for sparks, which he did. He found that despite seeing Es again, there was no problem this time with getting the spark to cause full ignition. He expertly levered away the covers to reveal the workings within, and got down to work with his tool. Delilah, always a practical person and keen to learn, helped by holding his tool and making suggestions. He was able to make tweaks to the settings and give her system a good flush through before getting a final burst of heat which left her cheeks flushed and beaded with sweat.
“Well I never!” she exclaimed. “Now I know why they say I should get serviced regularly!”