Chapter 9

Looking at the employee referrals made by his PMs Ken interviewed a few people and hired Roy Stanfield for Fort Worth and three months later hired David Keifer for Houston as PMs. Roy had prior insurance adjusting experience and Dave worked for a contractor and was looking for a different position.

Ken would work as their trainer in teaching them what they needed to do to be successful. He didn’t mind doing this because it gave him opportunities to fly as well as increased the bottom line of the business. He was having the thought and he didn’t know why that was but he had the feeling that there could be problems if any more PMs were added to the staff.

In talking to his PMs they said the biggest challenge in them doing this business was in finding the right property to rehab. Even though they had developed contacts to find these properties it still took up a good portion of their time in finding these properties.

Ken bounced off them the idea of hiring persons to find these properties for the PMs. He told them if he did do that the cost of that persons’ salary would need to come from the PMs’ commission. To a PM they said they would find the properties.

Having this many loans at any one time Ken knew was pushing it and he needed to put a hold on any further expansion. In discussing this with Tracy he said the present number of PMs at seven is where they will be for a while before any more additions to the staff will be done. She agreed with Ken saying her part-timer now is close to working full time.

He was thinking that he should be keeping some of these homes they had rehabbed and he would lease them out. Over time homes appreciated and these homes would be a good long-term investment. With a realty management firm handling these properties, there wouldn’t be any involvement on his part in managing the homes. Maybe in time, he would be like Gil in owning income-producing properties, but instead of doing it with apartment buildings, Ken would do it with houses.

The concern he had with Sara being available to date only every other weekend was solved when she asked him if what was to be an off-weekend for their date if he could take her for a sightseeing flight. He told her that was no problem and he was happy to do it. She then asked him if she could bring a friend and he had no recourse but to agree to her doing that.

It turned out that her friend was a fourteen-year-old girl by the name of Jamie. Jamie had lost her mother because of a car accident and Sara was her “Big sister.” This was why Sara was not available those weekends because that was when she was with Jamie. It went without saying Ken was relieved to hear that news.

To say that Jamie was excited to go flying was obvious from how she acted. Ken after taking off headed south then west before making a big circle before heading back home. It was a two-hour flight in good weather with a clear sky. After landing, Ken asked if Jamie was interested in having a pizza and she was. He couldn’t help but think she in a way had been dealt some bad cards from the deck of life, maybe like what had happened to him. The high marks Jamie said she was getting in school should help her succeed in life. She said she wanted to be a nurse like Sara.

Ken’s relationship had progressed with Sara to where they were doing some serious kissy face but that was as far as it went. For some reason, Ken expected that would be the case and at the same time, he wasn’t overly disappointed with that happening. He was developing feelings for Sara and the way she acted with him was showing he was dealing with a lady that had strong feelings as to what occurs in expressing affection outside of marriage. The subject wasn’t discussed let alone the “L” word ever said but having those thoughts now were in Ken’s mind.

During a phone call, Sara told Ken that there was a critical shortage of nurses at hospitals in Puerto Rico because of severe hurricane damage. There was a request asking for volunteers to go there to temporarily staff those hospitals. She said she volunteered and would be leaving this weekend. It was estimated she could be gone for up to three months. Ken didn’t want to see her go but he understood why and was proud of her for volunteering to go there and help.

Ken’s social life as it pertains to female companionship now had a void with Sara gone. He would go to a lounge for a drink and check out the action that was there. Some of his friends might be there and if they were he would kibitz with them as to what is going on in their life and at the university. There were also some ladies there who were looking for a good time.

If Ken took a fancy to a young lady he thought he could ask her out to dinner at a very nice restaurant. Since most of the male students, couldn’t afford to take a young lady to a nice restaurant it would give Ken a big advantage to do this. He thought that ladies enjoyed dressing up to go out. Hopefully, the night would end with the young lady expressing her thanks for him doing this and would engage with him in making love.

He did meet a lady at the lounge that intrigued him. Her name was Tara Richman who was a student at UT and who he thought was one good-looking chick. He offered to take her out but she politely refused his invitation. He didn’t expect that to happen but he was not dissuaded. He continued to talk to her. Her long dark brown hair, a nice figure with good size breasts, and a pretty face were why he continued in his efforts.

In talking to her it appeared to him that she didn’t seem to be happy and it looked like there was something on her mind.

“I can’t help but notice Tara that there seems to be something on your mind. Is there something bothering you?”

“As a matter of fact, there is. I am in charge of the fundraiser for the sorority this year which is normally done by selling raffle tickets. I don’t have a problem with doing raffle tickets but I would like to do something other than there being a cash prize as it normally is done but I just can’t come up with anything.”

Ken was quiet for a minute and then he said, “How about if you offered a prize of two tickets to a Dallas Cowboys football game, Cowboys versus Steelers, along with a plane ride to and from Dallas to attend the game? I’ll even throw in a Uber from the airport to the stadium and back.

Tara was initially taken back by his offer but then he saw a big smile on her face develop.

“You can do that?”

“I can.”

“That would be great.”

It turned out that there were no problems in selling the raffle tickets. More tickets were sold than had been done in the past. The date of the game was in two weeks. The raffle was a huge success. It turned out the winning ticket was bought by a student who took his father to the game. Ken could see by what they said they enjoyed the plane ride more than the game.

Tara was the hit of her sorority and was grateful to Ken. She did go out to dinner with Ken and continued to express her thanks to Ken when she invited him to come into her apartment after dinner.

Tara did not hesitate to continue to express her thankfulness to Ken when she took him to her bed. She had a very nice body and was not hesitant in making love. He could tell Tara was not a novice to the ways of making love. She was what he would consider being borderline insatiable as she just wanted to make love. He was the one to suggest they go to sleep. In the morning they would have another bout of lovemaking.

Ken’s affair with Tara lasted for an enjoyable but a short three weeks. He ended abruptly when she started giving him strong hints that their relationship should become something more permanent. Ken liked her, he liked making love to her, but he didn’t love her. With her dropping those strong hints he stopped dating her. Because of her looks, he didn’t think she would have any problems in developing a relationship with other men and his friends later told him that did happen as she was quite popular.

One of Tara’s sorority sisters a little while later told Ken that Tara dropped out of school and was married. She didn’t know to who or what the circumstances were that caused this to happen.

Ken would periodically go online and check his investment account. When the cash balance increased because of the dividends and interest, he would either purchase a home or add the funds to an investment he already owned by purchasing additional shares.