[originaltext]W: Hello, Tom. This is Mary. Sorry to bother you, but I’m having

W: Hello, Tom. This is Mary. Sorry to bother you, but I’m having a small problem with which I hope you might be able to help me.
M: Sure, Mary. What’s up?
W: Well, you know Susan and I move into an off-campus apartment in the fall on the west side of town. Anyway, we’ve been happy with it until the past couple of months.
M: Yeah. What happened?
W: Well, the dishwasher broke down. So we reported it to Ms. Black, the owner, and she said she’d take care of it. But a month went by and nothing happened.
M: Did you get back in touch with her?
W: I got a repairman to give me an estimate. Then I sent it to Ms. Black. When I didn’t hear from her for another month, I had the repair done. The next month I deducted the cost from the rent check.
M: So what’s the problem?
W: When the landlady called us, she was mad as a hornet. She said she could have gotten the repair done for much less money. Now she’s threatening to evict us for not paying the full rent.
M: Hold on, Mary. It does sound pretty serious. But I’m sure you can ail sit down and work this out.
W: Well, you are over at the law school. So I wondered if you would mind coming to join us in talking to Ms. Black. Susan and I are supposed to meet with her tomorrow night at eight.
M: Sure. I haven’t studied a lot about contracts but I’d be glad to help you straighten things out. Why don’t I stop by at 7:30 p.m.?
W: Thanks, Tom. You’re a lifesaver.