Chapter 20 Warming Her Heart
WARMING HER HEART
Anya unlocked the door to her father’s business the next day to turn the lights on and get ready to show it for the first time.
She’d spent the night at Matt’s, having packed an overnight bag she’d left in her car.
The text last night requesting a showing for eleven today meant she had to leave early to go home, change and rush here.
She’d wanted to spend the day with Matt, but work called.
There was no way she was turning it down. Even if it wasn’t her parents’ business, she still would have made the time for a client.
“Hi.”
She whirled around when she heard the voice.
“Oh. Hi. Are you here for the showing or the store?”
It was two women who were holding hands and looking giddy. “The showing. Are you the listing agent? Calvin said we couldn’t get in without you. We wanted to come yesterday, but he’d said you were busy.”
She frowned. It was more like Calvin was busy because he’d never reached out.
As much as she wanted to throw him under the bus, it wouldn’t be professional. “There might have been a miscommunication there. I would have tried to squeeze you in if I could have. I’m Anya Emerson.”
The women shook her hand. “It’s okay. I’m Sally Smithson and this is my wife, Paula.”
“It’s nice to meet you both. Calvin should be here soon. I’m just turning the lights on and was going to do a quick walk through.”
“Do you mind if we follow you?” Paula asked. “This is a dream for us and we are so excited. The location is perfect. The price too.”
“Sure,” she said. That would teach Calvin to not be early. He’d run in fashionably late like he always did claiming he was held up with other clients.
The guy was a dick and always mansplaining everything to her. He wanted this listing and there was no way she was handing it over to anyone, least of all him.
“We are artists,” Sally said. “We’ve been looking for a gallery space and then realized it’d be great to have studio space with it.”
“Oh,” she said. “What kind of art?” Their enthusiasm was warming her heart.
“I work with several mediums,” Paula said. “Metals and woods primarily.”
“That sounds fascinating. What do you create?” She always liked to break the ice with her clients and this was no different in her eyes, even if she wasn’t representing them.
“Large statues and sculptures. Mostly private requested pieces, but it would be nice to display other pieces here,” Paula said. “It’s not that I think someone is going to walk off the street to buy one, but you never know.”
“I work in oils. The same with Paula, I’ve got a lot of private work for large canvas that you won’t normally see displayed in a store or even many galleries, but it’s not all I do.
We want to expand our businesses to have a place to come and work each day, then use part of the building to showcase our work. ”
“I love that idea,” Anya said. “And this location couldn’t be better.”
“Do you know much about the building itself? How long will it be before it’s empty?” Sally asked.
She smiled. “I actually do. This is my father’s business and building. He’s owned it for thirty-five years. He’s kept it up well. About ten years ago there was a lot of maintenance done on the structure. A new roof and the windows were replaced. The furnace and AC units were upgraded also.”
“Oh,” Paula said. “All the big things. We were going to ask about that. Calvin said he’d requested the information but hadn’t been given it yet.”
Her back teeth ached over that statement. Lying dick hadn’t talked to her about anything.
“Ask me whatever you want,” she said. She moved behind the counter, then a half wall. “The light switches are all here. The electrical is up to code. Work has been done on it over the years.”
“All these racks, are they secured to the floor and ceiling? And if not, will they be sold with the property?” Paula asked, moving over to look at one on the ground. “How easy would it be to move them?”
“They are only temporary fixtures. They could be removed easily enough. Most are just bolted in. The racks and shelving units could be included.” It was not anything she thought of and should have as the listing agent.
She answered a few more questions and laughed with the two women while the passion of their vision lit the room.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Calvin said, opening the door. “I was held up with another client this morning. I’ve been so slammed, it’s hard to keep up.” Calvin put his hand out to shake the women’s hands. “I’m glad to finally meet you and not just have all our communication over email.”
Anya did not know Calvin hadn’t met the women yet. Typical of him. Lecturing her how to handle new clients and he’d been lying through his teeth to them.
“Not a problem,” Paula said. “Anya has been wonderful. We had no idea it was her father’s building and she’s answered all the questions we’ve sent you.”
Calvin looked at her, his eyes a little wide, his lips tight through his forced smile.
Caught, asshole!
“I’m glad you got what you were looking for,” Calvin said. He wasn’t going to admit he never sent those questions to her. Once a bullshitter, always one.
She never wanted to be like him.
“We did,” Sally said. “This place is perfect so far, but we haven’t moved from this spot other than glancing around.”
“Why don’t we take the tour now?” Calvin asked. “I’ve got it from here, Anya, if you want to stay upfront.”
“We’d like her to come with us,” Sally said. “She’s been so helpful and sweet. Is that okay, Anya? Or do you have somewhere to be?”
“I’d love to,” she said.
She walked behind them and listened to Calvin sugarcoat the building. He made it sound good but at least didn’t blatantly lie about anything. That’d be idiotic to do in her presence.
She found it funny that he’d been emailing Paula for weeks while he searched for locations for them and they’d found this one on their own. She didn’t know the game he was playing, but it was frustrating.
She spent another forty minutes answering questions about the building’s clearing schedule following a potential sale, and the speed at which they could close the deal.
“I’m glad you love the building. I can see your studios here along with a gallery up front,” Calvin said. “I should warn you, I’ve got a few other people interested in the place.”
Anya was going to need to see a dentist after this visit because she was damn sure she’d chipped a tooth with the way Calvin was treating the two women.
“Oh,” Sally said.
“Yeah, big names and with money to throw around. If you’re serious, make sure you’ve got your funding in place.”
“We are set there,” Paula said. “We told you that before. It’s deciding if this is the best location and how much money we’d have to put in to get it to the way we need it.”
“The price is competitive,” Calvin said. “Anya, if you could excuse us?”
“Sure,” she said, moving to the front.
He thought he was lowering his voice, but she still heard him say that she priced this for a bidding war.
That hadn’t been the intent. It was more about getting out from under it.
The last thing she wanted to do was take advantage of these two women just trying to live their dream. Just like her father had done when he’d bought the building.
Calvin walked the two women out and then returned.
“You shouldn’t have started without me,” Calvin said.
The charming bullshitter smile was gone and a derogatory one replaced it. His sneer was enough to set her back up.
“Then you should have been here on time. Or better yet, reached out yesterday when the two women said they wanted to see it. I didn’t have plans that couldn’t have been moved around.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, they said you told them I was unavailable yesterday and that was a lie. I would have made the time.”
“I wasn’t in town yesterday,” Calvin said.
“Then be honest and say that. Don’t cast the blame on someone else.”
He sent her a belittling laugh. “You haven’t been in the game long enough. Never take the blame for not meeting with your clients.”
“Oh. It’s better to lie than say you had something else going on?
Or to make up shit? How about the excuses of other people holding you up when you and I both know you’re hungover from being out last night and most likely didn’t want to get out of bed any earlier?
Paula said they had to rearrange their schedule to meet at eleven when nine would have worked better. ”
“You’re too nice and accommodating,” Calvin said. “That doesn’t get the deal done. If you last in this line of work, you’ll have to figure it out.”
She pulled the keys out of her pocket and moved to shut off the lights and lock up.
When they were outside, she turned to say, “I almost forgot. There is a retail chain interested in the building. They reached out to me on Friday. We’ll be talking tomorrow on a possible offer and contract.”
“Who is it?”
“Why would I tell anyone who it was before it was finalized?” she asked innocently. “Didn’t you teach me that?”
Calvin hesitated. “How serious are they?”
“I’ll find out more tomorrow. The faster close we get, the better,” she said. “So keep that in mind. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some things to do this afternoon.”
She left him standing there confused.
The laughter finally escaped when she pulled out of the parking lot.
What a wonderful twenty-four hours she’d had.