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“I think your style is midcentury modern minimalist.”
“How about I take your word for it,” the doorbell ringing tells me lunch has arrived. “ I think that’s our lunch.”
“Oh no, Kruze, you fed me so much last time, I practically rolled out of here. I do not need to gain any more weight,”
“There is nothing wrong with gaining weight. Besides, you are perfect just the way you are. Come, let’s go eat,” I say quickly and head to the door to collect our lunch. This time we eat on the terrace, and Trinitee can’t help but work while we are eating. She wants to add a retractable screen system that will allow me to sit outside without being bit or harassed by bugs.
“Fine, add that to the list,” I give in. She could suggest a slip-and-slide down the middle of the house, and I would say yes.
“Here’s the contract and the cost for everything you’ve chosen today. If you decide to go forward, I can get the contractors here as early as Monday and begin ordering everything.”
I pull the tablet and stylus out of her hands and sign the contract. Then I pull my phone out, sign into my banking app and transfer the fee plus twenty-five percent for contingencies to her account.
“Call them and set them up to come on Monday,” I tell her.
“I did it while you were on your phone. Once we get going on this project, I will want to get started on your penthouse, if that is okay.”
“I want to get started as soon as possible on the penthouse. I will need a getaway once my parents are here twenty-four-seven.”
Laughing, she says, “I understand. Let’s schedule my walk-through there three weeks from today, same time. Does that work?”
I pull up my schedule on my phone, “I will make it work.”
“Great, thank you for lunch. I am going to get out of your hair and head back to my office to start getting things going.”
“All right,” I say, a little dejected. I want to spend more time with her, but I understand she has a job to do. I carry her bag out to her car and watch her pull off.
I am glad I have the office to retreat to during the day while the construction crew is at the house. The noise and messiness are not the best environment to work in, so I have been finding myself getting up and going to the office before they even get to the house. The foreman has a key, so he is able to let himself and the crew in and lock up when they are finished for the day. I appreciate that Trinitee has a cleaning crew come in daily after the crew leaves to clean up. I prepare to shut down for the day when my phone rings.
“Hello,”
“Kruze,”
“Hey, Miles, how are you?”
“Good, listen, I called to tell you the realtor called and made another offer on your house. This time she’s doubled it.”
“The DC location or Solomons Island?” I ask, curious even though I already know I am not selling either property.
“Solomon’s Island,” he tells me.
“You can tell her to stop calling. I have no intention of selling either of my properties.”
“What’s your plan for them?”
“I am not sure right now, but I can tell you one thing, it isn’t selling. I just got here, and I am not sure if I am going to stay or move back to DC, and until I do, I am not selling my houses.” I declare.
“So, you moved back home, bought two houses, and you are unsure if you will stay?”
“Yes, it’s an investment I am sure to recoup my money from. The interior designer is doing a magnificent job getting them updated. If I decide to move back home I will sell these properties for double or more what I paid for them and how much I spent on remodeling them,” I explain.
“Well, hell, who am I to question you? You have always had this freaky foresight when it comes to investment and forecasting what will be the new hot thing. Your intuition has made me millions.”
“It’s made us both millions,” I tell him.
“It’s made you billions. There were a few things you got into that I thought was fluff, and I was wrong. Like cybersecurity, who knew it would explode like it has? By the time I bought in, you had made billions. Now you work for other companies, trying to hack their systems to expose their vulnerabilities.”
“Semantics, right now it’s a seller's market, and a lot of the buyers are corporations. There is no way I will allow them to buy my house so they can triple the price and sell it to someone else. I’ll have my lawyer send them a letter on Monday,” I tell him. Miles and I talk for a while longer, getting caught up on what’s happening in DC.
