“Of course you can,” I told her. “You have a rightful place within our club, especially after what you’ve just gone through.”
“It helps to hate him,” Addison said.
“Don’t we know it,” Shellene and I said in unison as we linked arms and walked out of the park.
THANE & DARCY
Thane
“Nice car. What is it?” I asked Julian. I was pretty good with my cars but had no idea what this one was. It wasn’t a Lamborghini or a Maserati.
“Koenigsegg. It’s Swedish,” Julian informed me.
“Sweet.” I gave a low whistle and got in the passenger side. Julian got us on the highway, then shifted into sixth gear. We went from cruising to going past the speed limit in mere seconds. The growly engine spurred to life, and I was impressed by its power.
“I’m taking you to the building that’s the furthest away, and we’ll work our way back,” Julian told me.
“I’ve received many emails from people interested in our offer,” I told him.
“You’re offering thirty thousand more than they would get if they sold it elsewhere, so they’re recognizing what a great opportunity this is,” he agreed.
“Putting an expiry on the offer was brilliant,” I said, looking at him.
Julian was focusing on shifting through the gears, but he was smiling. “We’re at sixty-nine percent right now. I’m sure after we go door-to-door today, we’ll be up to at least eighty percent or more, depending on how many people are home. We’ll start at the top floor and work our way down, then circle back and go down again because you never know who came home when we were on other floors.”
“There are twenty-one floors. How many should the new one be?” I asked, wanting a good return on my investment.
“At least forty floors,” he estimated.
“Wow, that many? I was thinking maybe thirty, but I like the sound of forty better,” I grinned.
We pulled up at the first apartment building, and I was shocked at how run-down it was. We stuck to our plan, starting at the top and working our way down, then going back to the top and working our way down again. By the time we were done, we were at 87 percent. We’d come back during the week and try to get those working during the weekend. Before we left this building, we had a few tenants we had to visit who were resisting the changes.
Julian knocked on the first door; an older lady of 61 who’d been in the building since it was built 40 years ago greeted us.
“Ms. Anna Henstridge?” Julian asked, circling her name on our list.
She looked him up and down, then took a drag on her cigarette, blowing the puff of smoke in his face. He coughed a few times, then put on his charming smile. I could almost feel Anna’s heart rate accelerate as a change came over her face.
“Yes, that’s me. Now, what I want to know is who are you?” She smiled, revealing black stained teeth, that is the ones she still had. Her voice was hoarse, and even her hair was stained yellow. I had to take a step back, so I didn’t smell her sweat. I felt nauseous.
Julian was amazing; you’d never know if he was offended by her. He just kept dealing out the charm; even I was convinced he was being genuine.
“Now, you know Ms. Henstridge—”
“Call me, Anna,” she said as she batted her eyes at him, then she rubbed her boobs, thumbing the nipples, and licked her lips. “Would you like to come in and show me why I should say yes?”
I felt like I was watching an episode ofThe Twilight Zone. The look on Julian’s face was classic, but he didn’t miss a beat. “I would love to do that, Mrs. Henstridge, but we have many other tenants to talk to today.”
She seemed to be alright with his answer but pouted. Julian presented her with the amount we were willing to offer, and her eyes doubled in size.
“That’s about sixty thousand over what anyone else would offer,” she said, smiling. I tried not to look.
“We want to make sure that you are properly compensated for your transition,” Julian told her sweetly.
“I would say that’s an understatement.” She looked at us both, scrutinizing us. “And I could get the money right away? I would likely start looking for a place immediately.”
“Yes, of course. As soon as you need it, it’s yours,” Julian promised.