Chapter 8

Ken phoned Gil Payton who was the owner of two apartment buildings. After explaining who he was and why he was calling he invited Gil to lunch at the Fire Branch restaurant. The FB was noted for its smoked BBQ. To be expected there was a good crowd there and Ken took a guess it was Gil when an older man walked in and seemed to be looking around. He waved at the man to come to his table.

The food order was placed and there was some general information exchanged as to what each of them did. After Ken explained what he did, Gil said he had worked for a large REIT and was involved in purchasing large apartment complexes for them before he retired. In doing that he came upon some apartment buildings that were good deals but were too small for his employer to be interested in purchasing. Gil and a friend put together funds and purchased these buildings and over time re-mortgaged them to purchase additional buildings. When Gil retired he and his friend divided the properties for one of them to become the sole owner. He said the incomes from his buildings are a nice supplement to his social security check.

Ken thought the important thing Gil said was, “Buying apartment buildings is quite different from what you are doing. You don’t buy an apartment building or complex, put some lipstick on it and then sell it. You are going to need to own it for a while before you can sell it because it needs to appreciate and that takes time. When it does appreciate maybe you will re-mortgage it and use that money as a down payment to buy another property, or maybe convert the building to condos, or like me owning it just for the income.”

That was the important information Ken learned from Gil about buying apartment buildings. There were other tidbits about the number of units saying the bigger the better and in general where the best locations were. He also gave Ken information on how to find leads on buildings that were for sale.

Ken thanked him and asked if he could call him if he had any questions. Laughingly Gil said only if he would take him out for more BBQ.

Purchasing apartment buildings was something Ken would think about doing while he was overseeing Brenda Reed’s development.

Ken flew down and discussed with Brenda what she needed to do to be a successful PM. Finding the right homes to rehab, doing the work within the estimate, and then finding buyers for the home all were discussed in her duties in being a PM. She was aware of all of this as Rudy had explained it all. Ken was impressed with her and thought she was a good hire.

Since he was in Houston he phoned Denise as to her status. She said that since this was Thursday she was off work today and Friday as she worked the weekend anchoring the news and Mondays and Tuesdays as a field reporter.

Ken asked her if she was available as he could be there this afternoon. Denise told him she would welcome his company and for him to give her a call when he landed and she would pick him up.

The flight to New Orleans was uneventful but that could not be said for Denise. She was eventful as hell. She met him at the airport and greeted him with a nice tongue-searching kiss. They brought each other up to date on what had happened in their lives. Truth be told it was more of Denise telling how things were going for her.

She gave him a short tour of the area before taking him to her newly purchased condo. It wasn’t that they were there long before he had her in bed and they were making love. Nothing had changed in that she was just as good of a lover as he remembered her to be. Underneath that polished business-like demeanor she displayed, she was one passionate woman who enjoyed having sex.

For dinner, she took him to one of the named restaurants New Orleans was famous for and then to Bourbon Street for a tour and a drink. He complimented her on being a good tour guide. Putting a hand on his upper thigh and giving it a squeeze she said that there still was more to come. It turned that back at Denise’s condo Ken had an enjoyable time making love with her in partaking of her charms.

After another round of lovemaking in the morning, he left her condo promising to visit her again.

On the flight back to Austin he thought about Denise and acknowledged that she was an intelligent good-looking woman. If she could get over that attitude of her thinking the world revolved around her it would make her something special. He hoped that would happen but the chances were it wouldn’t since that trait seemed to be entrenched in her.

After landing and parking the plane Ken made arrangements for it to be topped off with fuel. He stopped in Ted Harris’s office and asked how things were going. Nothing much was new but Ted did ask if Ken was thinking of moving up and considering having a bigger or faster plane.

Ken did have some periodic thoughts about doing that but all considered he was happy with the Cessna Skylane. For where he needed to go and how fast he needed to get there the Cessna served his needs. He was very comfortable flying it.

Maria continued to be an excellent housekeeper. The refrigerator and pantry were always filled with food and drink. The house was kept clean and his laundry was done. He had no complaints about her work.

Ken was not a fan of shopping but he knew he needed some additions to his wardrobe as some of his pants had seen better days and needed to be replaced. He had gone to the mall and had purchased two pairs of pants and while he was at it he also bought two shirts. He was walking in the mall heading for the exit when he walked past an attractive lady heading in the opposite direction dressed in jeans and a blouse.

A few steps past her he stopped because he remembered her and he turned around. He could see that this lady had also stopped and turned too and was looking at him.

Both of his arms were straight down by his side with one hand holding a bag with his purchases. He raised the forearm of his other arm and formed his hand like a pistol pointing at her and said, “The nurse!”

She mimicked his action and pointing her hand pistol at him said, “The appendectomy!”

They both laughed and moved closer to each other.

After asking each other how they were doing, Ken asked Sara if he could buy her a cup of coffee at the food court. He could, she said and they walked there.