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“Oh, that’s awful. Does that happen often?” Sophie asked.
“Not usually. We know what the co-ops need to see, which is typically more money down, lower debt ratio and three years of funds in the bank to cover the monthly fees.” Caroline paused. “It wasn’t a money issue. Two of the people on the board know the buyer and don’t like him. So, they vetoed him moving in. That doesn’t happen often.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Sophie said.
Tessa spun around in her chair. She’d obviously been listening. “It’s beyond not fair. I’ve never had someone get declined just because they don’t like the person. It’s total BS. And now the seller is furious. He knows it’s not my fault, but he’s not happy and says if I don’t find a buyer in the next few weeks, he’s going to give the listing to someone else.”
“I’m so sorry, Tessa,” Sophie said.
“And I lost the buyer completely. I think he’s embarrassed and just doesn’t want to deal. He said he’s going to stay in LA and will let me know if anything changes. I don’t expect that I’ll hear from him again.”
“You might,” Caroline said. “He might just need to calm down.”
“Maybe, but I’m not holding my breath for that,” Tessa said.
“We should go for after-work drinks. I think we all deserve a cocktail,” Caroline said.
“I could definitely use a drink,” Tessa said grumpily.
“We can celebrate Sophie’s first listing,” Caroline said.
Sophie felt bad celebrating, given what had just happened to Tessa.
Tessa laughed. “Hopefully she’ll have better luck than I did.”
They decided to go to a dive bar on the way home from the office. It was dark and smelled a bit of beer and it suited their moods. It was crowded but not packed and they easily found seats at the bar. It didn’t seem like a fancy cocktail kind of place, so they stuck with basic things—Tessa had a vodka and soda water with cranberry, Caroline had a gin and tonic and Sophie went with a cosmopolitan.
Tessa’s first drink went down quickly, and she ordered another. Caroline and Sophie had barely taken more than a few sips of theirs.
“That helped take the edge off,” she said. “I still can’t believe this deal fell through. I thought it was so solid. It never crossed my mind that they’d reject him just because they don’t like him.”
“These co-op boards can be tough,” Caroline said. “It’s a gorgeous property, hopefully we can find someone else for it.”
Tessa nodded and launched into office gossip. “So, did you happen to notice that Rick gave Sue another referral? This time it’s an actual listing. I hate the way he plays favorites.” She took a big swig of her drink and looked mad at the world.
Sophie glanced at Caroline. “Does he favor people?”
Caroline hesitated. “I didn’t think so. Sue is one of the top billers and he rewards people sometimes with referrals that come in.”
“He handed her a three million dollar listing. Must be nice,” Tessa said bitterly.
Sophie could tell that Tessa was just miserable in general and that it was probably best to change the subject if possible.
“What are you guys up to this weekend?” she asked.
“I’ll be holding an open house on Sunday. Three of them actually, back to back. I need to get more activity going,” Tessa said.
“Are you doing anything fun, though?” Sophie asked.
“I don’t know. Cody mentioned something about dinner somewhere. I have no interest in food at the moment, though. When I get stressed, I lose my appetite totally.”
“I wish I did,” Sophie said. “I’m the opposite—a stress eater. I go looking for comfort food, mac and cheese, potato chips.”
“We have tickets to the Jets game on Sunday. I still have one open house though, at eleven and the game is at four,” Caroline said.
“That sounds fun,” Sophie said.
“I’ll probably spend the weekend at Cody’s. I’ll let him spoil me and try to get my mind off this horrible day,” Tessa said.
