Samhain Publishing Ltd, Ebooks and Books in Print

Dutch drove by the mall and several strip stores and offices. “There it is.” He pointed to a building set back from the road with several painted parking spaces out front. A wooden sign stood, staked into the small piece of grass. It had “Stonington Real Estate” painted on it along with a large hand with its index finger pointing to the side entrance.

They walked along the sidewalk, bordered with a cat-piddly smelling boxwood hedge, to the office door. Dutch went in first and held the door open for her.

“Thanks,” she said. “You’re such a gentleman.”

He looked at her. She knew he never knew if she was serious or sarcastic—and liked to keep him guessing.

“May I help you?” the young woman at the front desk asked. Her badge said her name was Cherie Andrews. With her teased, messy blonde hair, puffy lips and black eye shadow, she was a perfect doppelganger of a famous pop star.

“Yes. Cherie?” Dutch spoke up.

“That’s me.”

Dutch continued, “I’d like to talk to a salesperson about purchasing property to make into an office.”

“I’m sorry, but all of the salespeople are out of the office. Showing properties, you know.” Cherie slopped her gum like a cow chewing its cud. Kate stared at the girl. Classy broad. Someone I’d like working for me in my shop. I don’t think so.

“Hold on now,” a male voice called out from behind a partially open door. “He can come in and see me.” The man pulled open the door to his office and walked forward, holding out his hand to shake Dutch’s. “Andrew Giamgello at your service. That’s Gee-am-jello. Nice Irish name, eh?” He chuckled. “Just call me Andy. I’m the broker here.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Dutch shook his hand and pointed to her. “This is my friend, Kate Bart. She has the interior-design store downtown.”

“Ah, yes, I know the place. Hello, Kate.” He shook her hand. “We could do with some of your design help around here,” Andy said with a wheezy laugh.

“Call me when you’re ready,” Kate said. She looked around the office. It was a mess. A motorcycle was in a state of repair with pieces of the engine spread out on newspapers scattered with nuts and screws of all sorts. The smell of oil made her head ache. She found it disgusting. She didn’t know why, but the old movie Casablanca came to her. “Of all the bars and gin joints in all the towns in all the world,” we had to walk into this one. She even heard the voice of Humphrey Bogart. She shook her head to clear it out and get back to the task at hand.

Andy’s desk was an old, recycled government issue from the 1950s, painted dark green. Probably picked up for pennies on the dollar at a sale at the Picattiny Arsenal. His credenza was a beat-up folding table and the clients’ seating was beige, folding chairs with small, fashionable accents of rust. Looks like the style is Early Military Rejects.

Dutch pulled one of the chairs out for Kate to sit on and settled next to her. “I’m looking for a place to open as my office,” Dutch began. “Maybe one of those small homes on the road near the hospital. I think it’s Magnolia Road.”

“So—what you’re really looking for is a building that’s in an area zoned commercial,” Andy stated.

“That’s right. I believe they’re all zoned that way on the street since the new hospital was built there. Doctors are taking over the houses and remodeling them.”

“Good, you’ve checked the facts, I see. I like to deal with people who’ve done their homework. They can make knowledgeable decisions without giving me grief. You’d be amazed at how stup…er…misinformed the public is.” Andy leaned way back in the old cracked-vinyl desk chair, clomped his worn boots onto the desk, and jerked as he almost went over backward when the chair snapped back. Almost lying flat, he chewed on the large cigar jammed in his teeth.

Whew, that was close. Kate laughed to herself. How is he going to take notes in this position?

Almost as a response to her, he slid his boots off the desk, heaved his fat belly forward and flopped into a sitting position as he pulled a legal pad out of a desk drawer. He folded the page on top over—it was covered in writing—to a new page. “Let me take your information and then we’ll look on the computer at the multi-listings. They’re all of the properties listed with real estate companies in this area in one place.”

Dutch moved his chair closer to the desk and gave Andy his name, address and phone numbers. He looked over at Kate with a wink.

“Cherie,” Andy yelled to the receptionist, “bring me in a file folder.”

The young girl flip-flopped into the office and dumped a folder on Andy’s desk. She blew a bubble with her gum as she walked by Kate. Lovely.

“Okay,” Andy said as he brushed his hair over his head because it had flipped off its course. He had the biggest comb-over that Kate had ever seen. It went from just above his left ear all the way over to his right ear. Why do men do that? They really look like idiots. His must stand up like a sail on a windy day.

Andy clicked a few times on his computer and turned the monitor so Dutch and Kate could see the screen. Several properties showed up on each page, including descriptions and photos. Dutch chose a few places to tour and inspect and made an appointment with Andy for the next day.

Earlier, Dutch had promised to help Kate move some furniture around in her showroom for the rest of the afternoon. Now ready to go to the store, they bade Andy goodbye and shook hands.