I had lucked out in that the original employees I had hired for Pak Property Management when I was just a fledgling investor were still with me. But then, I compensated them well between their salaries and benefits. Along with a generous amount of time off so they didn’t burn out.
It also helped that their annual bonuses were more than what a worker paid minimum wage earned all year.
I learned early on to respect and appreciate my most hardworking employees. They, like real estate, businesses and stocks, were also an investment.
The right person was worth their weight in gold.
On that note, so was the right lover.
“Roe?”
I shook my head to shake myself back to the conversation. “Sorry.”
“Is something wrong?”
“I just wanted to make sure he was a valid tenant, that’s all.”
“No. With you.” Alicia was also very astute.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “Thank you for checking. I’ll bring one of those lattes you like from that coffee shop on the corner next time I’m in the office.”
A soft snort came from the phone. “You rarely come into the office anymore.”
“That’s because you, Mike and Abe are so good at what you do that I don’t need to.”
“That’s why you pay us the big bucks.”
The corners of my lips tipped up. Even though she was teasing, it was also the truth. “That’s exactly why.”
“Okay, let me know if you need anything else.”
“I need you to enjoy the rest of your evening with your family. I’m sorry for interrupting your family time.”
“I’d enjoy it more if you came and took my three wild heathens off my hands for the night.”
I laughed softly. “You would need to work for me for a whole year without pay for me to ever consider that.”
“So, you’re saying a locked cage in the basement would be cheaper,” she joked.
“I’m sure we have a vendor that could install one for you at a reasonable price.”
“Oops. I think the kids heard me,” she said on a laugh.
“They’ll get over it as soon as you break out the ice cream.”
“They don’t need to be hopped up on sugar before bedtime.”
I ignored that and insisted, “With sprinkles.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “Ice cream with sprinkles.”
My living room filled with the sound of her three kids cheering and shouting in the background about how they loved their Uncle Roe. That helped drive away some of the dread weighing on my chest.
With a smile, I ended the call, but the second I did, that smile slid off my face as I returned to staring out over the city.
Ronan (Then)
I slipped into the empty seat next to Tate, barely getting there before the lecture started. Dr. Louden had no problem calling out tardy students and I did not want to be his latest target.
I was a lot of things, but usually tardy wasn’t one of them.
However, I wasn’t in a rush to get to class today since I wanted to make sure my future husband had arrived first. This way I could sit next to him and maybe start some dialogue.
Over the past two weeks, I found it was easier to arrive after him than to get there first and hope he’d sit next to me.
We didn’t get to talk as much as I’d like because, even though we were in college and not Catholic school, I wouldn’t put it past our professor to get out a ruler and whack our palms for talking.
I needed my palms to be whack-free so I could use them for whacking off to my fantasy man whenever my roommate, Dominic, had a late night elsewhere. I stalked the calendar Dom had hung over his desk so I could schedule some “me time.” More like “me and Tate time.”
Only Tate wasn’t aware he was a participant.
My fantasy man hadn’t been late since the first day. Though, his backpack was still overstuffed with all kinds of things. Including snacks. And last Tuesday a condom had fallen out when he was digging for a pen.
A condom.
At least someone was getting some action. It certainly wasn’t me. Since I didn’t have “gay” tattooed onto my forehead, I was relying solely on my gaydar to scope out possible prospects.
My gaydar definitely needed some fine-tuning because it was failing me. If I wasn’t underaged, I’d hang out at some gay bar where I could be open and outright ask. I heard about one down in the Strip District called Real Luck Cafe.
Even if I could get my mitts on a fake ID, I had no way to get there to scope out the scene since I didn’t have wheels or even a friend with wheels. And forget money for a taxi.
I was working on the second and the third options. The problem with the second one was that I’d have to find a friend willing to go to a gay bar with me. The third option meant I needed to get hired at one of the many places where I put in an application. I was getting desperate since I didn’t have anything lined up yet.