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“I knew that.” She put her hands on her hips.
“Then you should have said it,” I said before opening the next and finding it full of nothing but potholders. Who had this many potholders? “Question three. Where are your forks?”
Amanda sighed dramatically before she made her way to the counter. “To the right of the sink,” she said, pointing. “Does this mean you’re staying?”
Did she sound hopeful?
“Obviously. You need more help than you think.” I winked at her and laughed when she pouted. She looked even younger when she did that, as if the chicken nuggets she would have eaten didn’t do that already.
“You’re an ass,” she said, her voice breaking into a giggle when she snatched a fork from my hand. I followed her to the table with the container and the bag that held the rest of Thai food. Amanda watched me spread the containers out on the pressed wood surface.
“Why did you really come over with food?” she asked quietly while she shoveled forkfuls of fried rice into her mouth. “I told you I wasn’t hungry,” she finally said, recalling our conversation in the breakroom earlier.
I reached across the table, plucking a stray piece of rice from her tank top and setting it on the table in front of her. “If you say so.” She turned pink, looking away from me.
“Okay, ask me another question before I stab you with this fork.” Amanda said, stabbing the air with the utensil as if it made her more threatening.
I slid the container in front of me out of the way and grabbed her practice exam. “You’re so scary, angel. I’m shaking.” When she choked on the bite she took, sputtering and finally sitting back in her chair, I cleared my throat. “An appraiser is going to prepare a report for a thirty-year-old building with three storefronts. Which approach to value should they give the greatest weight?”
Amanda twirled her fork between her fingers, gnawing on her lip. “The gross rent approach,” she declared confidently. She looked proud of herself until I shook my head.
“Wrong.”
She huffed, dropping the metal silverware to the table. “Son of a bitch!” she shouted. “Property expense?”
I shook my head. “Wrong again. It’s the income approach. Do you know why?”
“Obviously not since I didn’t even know the answer!” Her voice was nearing shrill. Amanda picked her fork back up, scooping a bite of rice before dumping it back in the container and dropping it back on the table.
“You should know what kind of income a property generates to determine its value,” I explained calmly, even as her cheeks turned a darker red. “You do know it. You need to trust yourself.”
“Next question,” she demanded.
Before I could read it, Amanda stood up, grabbing what looked like a bundle of sticks and herbs from a tray on the shelf. She lit the end of the bundle on fire, waiting for the flame to go out, leaving the end of the bunch glowing with bright red embers. A thin stream of smoke floated through the air from her hand, and she rolled her wrist, making the smoke dance.
“What the hell is that?” I asked her when she took a deep breath and hummed.
Amanda moved around the table, waving the smoking handful of branches around. When she closed her eyes, I was sure she was going to run into something or trip on one of the chairs, but she flitted around the kitchen gracefully.
“It’s sage,” she said matter-of-factly, opening her eyes to look at me like I’d asked her a stupid question.
The smell of burning herbs surrounded me, almost making me lightheaded. “Why?”
“Because the energy in here needs some serious help. I’m cleansing it.” She circled the counter again. “It helps me concentrate.”
I crossed my arms. She couldn’t be serious. “How? All it’s doing is making it smell in here. You should be focusing.”
Amanda gasped like I’d said something to offend her. “Cleansing the energy in this room is going to make me focus!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and pointer finger. “Will you just put that out and get serious?”
She smirked at me with a devious glint in her eyes. “You need to relax,” she said. “Do you want to give it a try?” When she held out the bundle to me, I scoffed.
“No. I don’t believe in this voodoo shit.” I waved my hand to dismiss it, and she glowered at me. “Do you want to pass this exam or not?”
Amanda moved back to the shelf, putting out the embers and leaving the sage there. “Old guys,” she grumbled under her breath, shaking her head.
“Excuse me?”
