Chapter 8

At KAR Enterprises, it was Ralph and Jenny who were involved with the day to day operations as it pertained to dealing with investments, property management firms, and the various vendors. Kevin was kept appraised of what was going on by the conversations he had with them or the reports he reviewed that crossed his desk. That changed one afternoon when Molly came into Kevin’s office.

She was looking at a business card as she said, “There is a Della Rodgers from Rogers Realty out front who wants to meet with you. What do you want me to do?”

That name struck a bell with Kevin who said, “Give me five minutes, and then show her in.”

He pulled out a folder from his two-drawer file cabinet which he quickly reviewed it to refresh his memory.

Molly showed into his office a well-dressed lady, maybe five years older than Kevin who was wearing a light gray business suit. She was fairly attractive and if he had to classify her in racing terms, the term he would use would be “Thoroughbred.” She was of average height and weight with shoulder-length blond hair. With a smile on her face she extended her hand for Kevin to shake. He shook her hand and gestured to a chair for her to take a seat.

Sitting she said, “I am the owner of Rogers Realty, and I wish to talk to you about managing the large apartment complex you have in Dallas called “White Tail Trails.” We managed that property for you but you canceled that contract and I understand that you are going with another property management firm.”

“You do know why we canceled the contract don’t you,” asked Kevin?

‘Yes I do, it was because of that unfortunate incident where one of my employees was indicating two of the units were unoccupied but they were in fact occupied and she was pocketing the rent money. We did reimburse you for that amount. That employee has been fired and charges against her are presently pending. I would ask that you reconsider us managing that property for you.”

“First of all, it was my auditor and not anyone from your firm who found out what your employee was doing. If your firm had internal controls to catch what this employee was doing that would make it a different story. Secondly, we don’t know for sure how long this embezzling was going on or if it was being done with other units. Doing it could be hidden since there are one hundred and sixty units in this complex. Lastly, we have already made contact with another realty management firm to manage that property.”

Kevin thought that her losing the twenty-four thousand dollars a month management fee must have given a good hit to Della’s realty company’s bottom line for her to come here to try and maintain the business. In talking to her he noticed that she wasn’t sitting with her legs crossed but they were slightly spread. He could see right up her legs. He didn’t see any flash of white so either her panties were flesh-colored or she wasn’t wearing any. He couldn’t help but wonder if she knew how she was sitting and was purposely sitting this way.

“Since you haven’t officially signed the contract with one of my competitors, I was hoping we could go out to dinner tonight and I could persuade you to reconsider,” said Della.

Maybe Kevin was wrong, but in hearing her say that and how she looked at him when she said it, he would put money on it that Della would do anything to keep the management contract, even if it meant a roll in the hay to do it. While it would probably be an exciting and memorable experience to do that, it also showed him the type of a person she was and that was another reason he wouldn’t take her up on her offer.

“Thank you for the offer, but I have a date with my lady friend this evening to celebrate her birthday. We have committed to going with this other realty management firm and we will do it. Thank you for coming in and it was nice meeting you.”

He could see some disappointment on her face as she stood and walked out of his office with him watching her backside. He did have a few passing thoughts of how it would be to sample her charms. Laughing to himself he thought it would probably be pretty good but he would have in the long run regretted doing it.

Kevin walked into Ralph’s office and told him of the visitor he had just had, but he didn’t mention what his thoughts were about her. He did tell Ralph that Jenny was right in wanting to hire auditors because of the increasing size of this business and the need to verify what these realty management firms were reporting.

There currently were no earth-shattering events going on at work or in Kevin’s life. In checking with Molly, she said that there were no reservations currently for the house in Orlando. Kevin told his staff he was going there and that he would be in touch virtually with them. He did phone Jessie but his call went to her voicemail. He left her a message about his plans to be in Orlando.

After being dropped off by the Uber driver at the Orlando house, Kevin gave some thought as to what he was going to do during his time here. He knew he wanted to purchase a complete set of golf clubs and all of the other golfing equipment he needed to play the game which he would keep here. He also wanted to purchase a sufficient amount of clothing that he would also keep here, so he wouldn’t need to cart his clothes back and forth when he came here. He could keep those items in one closet and in a dresser here so as not to interfere when his co-workers were here.

The next day he accomplished some of what he wanted to do. Purchasing a new set of golf clubs, golf bag, golf shoes, and other golf equipment was done at a golf store. Casual clothing along with belts, underwear, socks, and other clothing items, were also purchased at stores in the mall. He knew he needed to purchase additional clothing as a suit, sports coat, shirts, shoes, and he would do that when he had the time. Kevin thought that shopping in a way was like work and wondered why women enjoyed shopping. He thought he could speak for most men in saying that he didn’t enjoy doing it.

In the evening, Kevin was on the internet looking and considering what to do when Jessie was available. He was interrupted in doing his thinking when she came in. She as to be expected looked good and brightened his day. In asking him what he was doing, he showed her the list he made of places he wanted to visit and things he wanted to do here. In saying that to her, he inferred there was one thing he wanted to do with her. She just laughed at him since she knew what he had in mind.