Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 32776 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32776 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
“Understandable…” I felt my blood beginning to simmer. “Are there any other issues?”
“Ha! Plenty!” She motioned for me to walk inside, and Chloe followed. “Look at this shit…”
I stared at the sight of the black mold covering her far-left wall and the lack of baseboards along the bottom of her floors.
The wooden doors throughout were warping faster than the floors, and before I could ask her why they looked slick like they’d been drowned in a river, I spotted why.
Water dripped steadily from the ceiling hallway, overflowing the buckets beneath it.
“How long have you been living like this?” I asked.
“Four years.” She smiled. “But look, even with the flaws, it’s a great place overall, and I love my balcony. If the asshole billionaire who owns the place could just fix the mildew and maybe cut back on some of the mold, that’d be enough to make us happy.”
“Right.” I sighed. “Thank you for letting me see.”
I looked around one last time, in utter fucking disbelief that people had been living like this under my name.
“Um, you’re coming back to fix something, right?” she asked.
I walked out of her place and into the hall, pulling out my phone.
I scrolled down to Paul’s name and immediately hit call.
“It’s still a no on the alley spouts, Mr. Hudson,” he answered. “I asked ten other engineers, just like you demanded.”
“This is about something else,” I said. “I need you to send a team to The Avon Complex now and just get to work fixing this bullshit. Start with 7B and check on every fucking unit, every shared room, and get the landscaping team out here to fix the tragedy of an entrance…”
“Right away, sir.”
Livid, I called Anthony next.
“At your service, unless it’s about that person I told you not to hire.”
“I need you to get to The Avon Complex and handle the expenses on a major maintenance project for me.”
“I’ll be there within the hour.”
I ended the call and saw Mr. Kline wringing his hands near the window.
“So, um…” He looked at me. “Am I fired?”
“You were fired the moment I stepped onto the elevator,” I said. “The longer you stand here, the longer I consider not sending you the final paycheck.”
His face paled, and then he slipped into the emergency stairwell.
I sent for the elevator and looked at Chloe.
“I had no fucking idea about this one...” I shook my head. “Did you?”
“Somewhat, yes.”
“Are the others like this, or is this the worst?”
The look on her face told me I didn’t want to know the answer to that question.
THE AGENT
CHLOE
Ididn’t know someone’s face was capable of turning crimson red until Dante stepped into the lobby of the next apartment building.
He also managed to show off a rather unique shade of red when we reached The Croft, but I think the current building—The Raven—had them both beat.
I covered my face with my hands as we entered the latest indoor pool area and came face to face with a bubbling bowl of swamp green and brown water.
“That’s it.” Dante hissed at the manager. “Pack up your fucking office and get the hell out. I’ve got it from here.”
“It was blue yesterday, sir, I swear!” the manager pleaded. “We were having a pool party and everything.”
“Bullshit.” He pointed to the door. “Leave. Now.”
I watched him make phone calls to other engineers, and for the rest of the day, we fell into a similar pattern of him cursing at managers and demanding change plans.
I considered tipping off the media to his plans—to get him some much-needed good press—but I held off.
This soon would be performative.
It needed to breathe for a few weeks…
By the time we returned to my place, it was a little after eight, and his Audi was untouched as promised.
“Maybe you should look at my place another time,” I suggested as we walked up my steps. “It’s been a pretty long day for you.”
“It’s just one more,” he said. “I’d like to see…”
I pushed the door open and was suddenly grateful for the imperfections and lack of upkeep.
Things were bad, but compared to what we’d seen today, my place practically looked luxurious.
Dante didn’t look impressed at all, but he followed me upstairs and tapped a few notes on his phone.
I opened my door and looked over my shoulder.
“You kind of have to duck past this first part so your head won’t touch the ceiling, okay?”
“Oh, and if you need to use the bathroom, we share the one out there,” I said. “Not in here.”
He gave me a blank stare.
I let out a sigh before letting him all the way inside.
He stretched out his hands, nearly touching both sides of my place.
“It’s pretty spacious for this part of town,” I said. “Any bigger and I’d have to pay an extra thousand a month.”
“That’s a twin-sized bed.” He pointed at my mattress. “How have you ever had company over with that?”