The Millionaire Myth

by Jennifer Taylor

  I nodded. “No problem. I can check them out. You concentrate on finding an office, like yesterday.”

  * * *

  “What am I doing here?” Kami asked, as she struggled to put on the blue shoe covers that were by the front door.

  I giggled as I watched her stretch to get around her very pregnant belly. “Would you just sit down please? The last thing we need is for you to go into early labor over shoe covers.” I crouched down and put the covers over her bright white tennis shoes. I looked up at her. “What's with the shoes, track star? They don't really go with your ensemble.”

  She pushed herself up off the bench. “Hah! Ensemble my butt. Black leggings and one of Jack's old t-shirts?” She stretched out the orange fabric. “I look like a god damned pumpkin!”

  “A very cute pumpkin,” I added.

  “Quit trying to make me feel better. I'm wearing the shoes because my feet are swollen, and these are the only ones that are comfy. Besides,” She stuck out her belly even more, “I wouldn't be attractive to anyone looking like this, doesn't matter what I'm wearing.”

  I shook my head and stepped into the house. “You're so full of it. Jack is on you like white on rice, and you know it. I looked at her shiny hair and clear skin. “You look damn good, so quit acting like you don't.”

  “Talk to me about looking good when you're eight months pregnant,” She said as she followed me into the house.

  “Yeah, I'll get right on that. You know, as soon as I find a man.” I grinned at her. “That should be around the twelfth of never.”

  “Quit your bellyaching and answer my question. What am I doing here?”

  I stopped and turned to face her. “You,” I patted her stomach. “And you, little no-name, are here for perspective.”

  Kami swatted my hand away. “You know I hate that. Talk to her when she comes out. Right now, talk to me.” She pointed to her own eyes.

  “Alright, cranky. You are here because I'm previewing this place for a client. The wife is expecting, just like you are.” I grinned at her. “Though, she does complain a little less than you.” I giggled, and Kami tried to hit me in the arm, but I moved quickly enough to dodge it. “Just kidding! I really want your opinion on this place. Tell me if you think it's good for kids.”

  “So then you're saying you need me.”

  “Yes, Kami. I need you, I want you, I can't live without you!”

  “I'm taken.”

  “I'm crushed. Now come on, Mama, let's waddle around the joint and see what you think.”

  This time I wasn't fast enough, and she whacked me in the arm. “Shut up, Skinny.”

  We toured the sprawling one level ranch, and Kami gave it her stamp of approval. “This place is great. Level, fully fence yard, there's a bedroom close to the master for the baby. And this is my favorite part.” She reached out to play with the dimmer switch in the kitchen.

  “A dimmer is your favorite part?”

  “Absolutely! There are dimmers in the kitchen and the living room!”

  I watched her, still waiting for an explanation. “Uh-huh...”

  “For the baby!” Kami announced, like that made everything clear. She looked at my face and could see that I needed more information. “Think about it; you get up at midnight to feed the baby, you come into the kitchen, you can turn the lights on really low. That way you're not blinded, and the baby stays sleepy.” She walked into the living room as she continued explaining, “Or, you're in here walking around to get the baby to fall asleep. You can keep the lights low enough to help him sleep, but you can still have a little light so you don't kill yourself walking into an ottoman or something!”

  “I have to say, you are very into these dimmers. Do you want to buy the place?”

  Kami snapped out of her dimmer-induced fantasy and glared at me. “Are you kidding? I am not going to move when I'm eight months pregnant.”

  “It was a joke, Kami. Remember those?”

  “Yeah, I got it, you and your jokes.” She looked around. “I think this is a good one, Estelle. You should show it to them.”

  I nodded, satisfied. “Good deal. You up for looking at a couple more? They're not too far.”

  “I am on one condition.”

  “Yes?”

  “My little girl would like a chocolate milkshake.”

  “Huh. I find it interesting that I can't talk to her until after she's born, but she's capable of speaking to you from the womb.”

  Kami shrugged. “It's a mother-daughter bonding kind of thing. You wouldn't understand.”

  I opened the door to the third, and last house I wanted to show Kami. She stepped through behind me, slurping on a large chocolate shake. The house entered right into a large living room. I shut the door and flipped on the living room light. She looked at the switch and then back to me, her eyebrows raised. I sighed, “I know. No dimmers.”

  She nodded. “Exactly. The last one didn't have them either, remember?”

  “I remember, you told me about fifteen times, and then another five times in the car on the way here. Not every place is going to have dimmers. It's not written into the building codes or anything, but I bet you're planning on working on that.”

  “I just think they're a huge benefit for the-”

  “Baby,” I finished. “I got it! You know, there was a time when you'd see a dimmer and think it was great because it was so romantic.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Estelle, when you've got a crying baby and you haven't slept in days, nothing is romantic. Trust me on that.” She smiled. “But, if you have a calm environment that helps a baby sleep, so that you can sleep, then there are bedroom possibilities.”

  “Wow,” I said. Now that the lights were on I could see the living room carpet. It was in great shape, and spotless. It was also maroon. Yikes.

  Kami shrugged. “Ripping out carpet is easy. I don't think it's a deal breaker.”

  I led her through the living room and we made a right into the kitchen. The floor was a nice white tile. The cabinets were a light wood. Nothing fancy, but it was clean and in good shape. Beyond the kitchen was a sunken family room. I flipped the switch to turn on the kitchen lights, and whined, “No dimmer? I can't live like this!”

  She laughed and nudged me forward so that she could see the room. “Lots of cabinets, that's nice. Oooh, a wall oven! I've always wanted one of those!” She walked over and looked inside. “Something about a wall oven just seems so fancy to me.”

  “Yeah, this is pretty nice,” I agreed, waking down into the family room. There was a brick fireplace and a large sliding glass door that led to the backyard. We went outside to a large covered patio with more than enough room for a six person table and a grill.

  “I really like this,” Kami said from behind me. All this shaded area for the summer? How great is that.” We walked out from under the patio and checked out the large yard. It had a six foot wooden fence, and large trees that made it very private.

  “I love this backyard,” I said. “Can you imagine this much room? I could have a dog, even two of them. This is so great.”

  “You have my dimmer switch tone,” Kami laughed. “This yard is nice, bigger that mine even, and so private.”

  I looked down at the listing sheet in my hand. They're asking one hundred and twenty thousand. That's a pretty fair price in this market.”

  Kami leaned over my shoulder to look at the paper too. “That sounds fair. You could swing that.”

  Immediately I shook my head. “No! I couldn't! I don't have enough money for something like this. I'm just daydreaming, that's all.” I nudged her. “Come on, let's go back inside and look at the rest of the place.”

  We walked back through the kitchen and headed down a hallway. The first door on the right was a bathroom. It was fine. Nothing spectacular, but nothing awful either. Except for the border that ran along the top or the wall. Maroon flowers. Yuck.

  Further down the hall there were three bedrooms, the one at the back was the master
. It was big enough for a queen bed and some dressers. Kami opened a door. “Oh, master bathroom is kinda tiny.”

  I looked into the room to see a toilet, small pedestal sink and a stall shower. The only storage to speak of was a towel rack. “Yeah, this is pretty tiny, but it's got the basics, right? Besides, since there's a tub in the hall bathroom, you don't have to have one in here.”

  “There's that tone again,” Kami teased.

  “There's no tone, crazy. I'm just thinking of what to tell my clients.”

  “Maybe you should tell them that this place is off the market.”

  “Kami, I can't buy this place.”

  “Please stop saying that! I know you think you have to have twenty percent, but you don't. You're a real estate agent, for God's sake! Don't you know this?”

  I nodded. “Of course I know this. You can finance one hundred percent of the loan if you want, but then you have to pay the extra fees. It just seems like throwing money away.”

  “Well, what do you call renting? Look, when Jack and I bought our first house, we didn't have anything to put down.” She chuckled at the memory. “We barely had enough cash to cover the closing costs. And rates were so much higher back then.” She looked at me silently.

  “What?” I asked, her look making me self-conscious.

  “This isn't about money. I think you're afraid to move out of that apartment.”

  “I'm not afraid. What am I, six?”

  She shook her head. “Exactly, you're not six anymore. You're thirty-three years old. I think you have it in your head that you can't own a home without a husband, and that is simply not true. Why not do this on your own?” She walked back into the kitchen and out to the backyard, and I followed her. “Looks at this, Estelle.” She opened her arms in front of her. “Look at all this space! I think you were right, you would love it here. You could get the dogs you've been dying for, you could have a little garden, whatever you want. Why wait?”

  I looked at the yard, trying to keep my face from showing the excitement I was starting to feel. I could see myself living here. But I knew Kami was right; I'd always thought I would buy a house with someone. I wasn't sure if it was something I could do on my own.

  I took Kami's arm and turned her around. “Come on, we haven't checked out the garage.”

  Back in the house, we went through a door off the kitchen, and stepped down into the two-car garage. There were washer and dryer hook ups, and another door leading to the backyard.

  “Not bad,” Kami assessed, her voice echoing in the empty space. “Plenty of room for your car, and storage.” She looked at me. “How nice would it be to be parked in here when it's raining? Or when it's scorching outside?”

  I nodded. “It would be nice.” I walked toward the kitchen. “Come on, we've seen enough. Let's get you back home, and get those feet up.”

  Kami moaned. “That sounds good to me.” As she followed me out of the house she said, “I don't want to bug you about this, but I really do like this place. Aren't you the least bit tempted?”

  “I am. But I really don't think this is the place for me.”

  “Why not?”

  “No dimmers.”

  Kami laughed. “Have them installed. I'm going to.”

  I waved her outside, and locked the door. “What are you talking about?”

  She smiled. “I called Jack after we saw that first house. I told him to get to the hardware store.”

  “When did you call him?”

  “While you were ordering my chocolate shake.”

  I looked at her. “I thought you went to the bathroom while I did that?”

  “I did. I can multi-task.”

  Chapter 36

  “So, what do you think?” Gina asked, as we walked into the office. “I know it's not huge, but it doesn't need to be,” She continued, as she led me through. “There's room for four agents, plus there's a conference room.” She pointed to a large room to our right. “I think this will work great for a while.”

  I looked into the offices, all of them were small, but still had plenty of space for us. It had wood floors, and the walls were painted a nice cream color. It was bright, but not sterile. I loved it. “I think it's great!”

  Gina let out a breath. “I'm so glad you like it too! I think we can stay here for a long while. I'm going to be picky about who we bring on. I want us all to get along and have the same ideas about how we treat the clients, work ethic, all that.”

  I nodded. “I am so glad I'm working with you Gina.” I gave her a quick hug. “Honestly, you have no idea what you've done for me, encouraging me to get my license, trusting me to work with your clients. I can't thank you enough.”

  “You don't have to thank me, Stella. You're the one who's saving me, remember? You have kept this whole operation organized. Without you, I would have lost paperwork, and I would have lost clients.”

  “Speaking of clients,” I sang, so excited to tell her the news. “The Bradley's just signed the offer!”

  “They did? Which one?”

  “The white house on Maple. They loved the back yard and all the space. They're so excited!”

  “Me too!” Gina said. “I'm just so glad they found something before she has that baby. Will they be in before then?”

  I nodded. “Oh yeah. It's a thirty day close. She's not due for two more months, so they should get moved in and settled just in time.”

  Gina gave me a high-five. “Great job, Partner!”

  I was so glad that I made Gina proud. I was serious about how much she'd helped me. I was so worried that I'd get my license and be horrible at selling houses. The Bradley's were the fifth couple I'd helped get into a home. Not only did I love the job, it was looking like I was pretty decent at it too.

  After we'd celebrated our new office over dinner, I went back to my apartment. I was still so excited about the Bradley's that I didn't even notice the man leaning against my apartment door. When I noticed him, I jumped a little and took a step back.

  He stepped toward me, his face illuminated in the light.

  Charlie.

  “Hey Stella,” He said with a grin and he moved closer. “Been a while.”

  “Charlie? What are you doing here?”

  “I just wanted to say hello.”

  “Goodbye.” I said as I turned and headed back to my car. I refused to be trapped in my apartment with him again.

  “Hey, wait up!” He called as he jogged to catch me. “I'm not here to upset you. I just wanted to see how you've been.”

  I stopped and turned to face him. “I've been fine. I do have good news for you though, my secret's out. Everyone knows about my lie. I don't even work at that place anymore. So you can quit coming by here and threatening to out me.”

  “Now why would I want to make your life harder?” He asked, his voice full of innocence.

  “I have no idea, but that seems to be one of your favorite activities.”

  He shook his head. “Come on, I'm a nice guy. I just can by to tell you the good news.”

  I sighed, crossing my arms, and losing patience. “The good news?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. I'm getting married.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  He nodded. “Can you believe it? We met a few weeks ago. She's a great girl. She just got divorced. The guy was a real ass hole I guess, but he was loaded. She made out great in the divorce.” He gave me an evil smile. “I'm moving into her place. She said she's always hoped she'd meet a guy like me.”

  “Jesus. She hoped to meet someone like you?” I shook my head. All I could feel was pity for this poor girl he'd duped. I wished I could warn her, but there was nothing I could do. I just hoped that since she'd just gone through a divorce, that she'd have enough sense to have him sign a pre-nup.

  Charlie smiled at me. “Hey, don't be upset. I know you always thought it would be you and me getting married, but you'll find someone.”

  I chuckled. “Charlie, I'm not worried. I could be one of th
ose women who marries an inmate, and I'd still have a better husband that you'll ever be.” I patted his shoulder. “But good luck! I sure hope that poor girl comes to her senses before the wedding, but if not, I guess she can learn the hard way, like I did.”

  Charlie just laughed and shook his head as he walked down the sidewalk, away from my apartment. I hoped that I was watching him walk away for the last time, but I doubted I would be that lucky. Then something occurred to me. “Hey Charlie! Wait!”

  He turned back and grinned. “I knew you wouldn't let me leave yet. He sauntered back toward me. “Couldn't let me go without one more go round, huh?”

  I fought the urge to gag. “Get real, Charlie. I'm thrilled to let you go. But I did have one last question for you. How did you ever hear about that lie about the money? I thought Kami told you, but I know she didn't. So, how?”

  He grinned. “I have my ways, Estelle.”

  I groaned. “Come on Charlie! Just tell me!”

  “Well what's it worth to you?”

  I shook my head, disgusted. “Not that much. If you're looking for a handout go talk to your fiance.”

  He laughed. “Alright, I'll cut you a break. I was out one night having a drink and I heard a couple suits talking about their office. Apparently the receptionist there just came into a lot of money. They were betting each other that they'd be the one to sell her a house.” He shook his head in amusement. “Then one happened to mention that they worked at Lawson & Stone.” He tapped the side of his head with his finger. “Smart guy like me, it didn't take me too long to figure out they were talking about you.”

  I shook my head in amazement. I couldn't believe that I'd spent so much time worrying about how he'd found out. Turns out he had gotten the information in the same way he got everything: dumb luck. “I hope you and your new girl will be very happy Charlie.”

  He nodded. “Oh, we will be, don't you worry.”

  As he walked down the sidewalk I couldn't help but chuckle. It was amazing how much time I had wasted in the past months, worrying about Charlie and what he might do to my life. It had finally dawned on me that no one could do anything to my life but me.