Chapter 7

The elevator doors opened and we went through to the lobby and back to the management office, where a reinvigorated Milo went at the developer's rep again. After a couple of minutes, he stepped back and waved me toward a corner. "What can you afford?"

"Not close to three hundred," I grunted. "Cash, maybe one-eighty."

Milo's eyes popped. "You can do that, cash?"

"Got the checkbook from my IRA in my pocket," I agreed. "I'd have to play some games -- lend money to the business through an intermediary..."

Milo pursed his lips. "IRS won't like that."

"I'm not the majority partner," I replied, "and if I loan money to you and you loan money to the business, the IRS won't bother to unravel it."

"How much of the business do you own?" Milo asked.

"Twenty-five percent, on paper," I replied.

"Okay, it's legal either way," Milo grunted. "I'll get a lawyer to write up two promissory notes. They're members? We'll have one of them sign for the business. It's an LLC, right?"

"Right."

"Cash is king. We won't do it all. Watch." Milo headed back over to where Darla was keeping the developer's rep busy answering questions. "We'll take both end units," he announced. We'll pay ninety five for one -- cash -- and you'll carry the note for the other -- ten years. If you fold, it's a wash and we end up with both."

"Ninety-five?" The rep looked pained.

"We'll do one-ten for the one being financed -- twenty percent down."

"I don't know..."

"How much are you leasing storefronts for? There's a stairwell to the far one, right?" Darla asked.

The rep looked cagey. "Three thousand a month."

"But owners get a break, right?" Milo pressed. "One year lease, fifteen hundred a month. First, last, and security."

"One hundred," the rep pressed.

"One-oh-five for the second, then," Milo replied. "You're getting six and a half percent."

The rep looked desperate. "Give me a minute." He headed for the back. Apparently the developer WAS in; there were sounds of a spirited argument.

"They need the occupancy," Milo assured me. "Wave your checkbook if he comes back acting stupid."

The rep came back. "What about... ?" I flourished my checkbook, stopped, and started to tuck it back in my pocket. He licked his lips. "Never mind." He gathered himself. "About the lease..."

Milo turned to me, "Do you think you need the whole storefront? I might move here and sublet half..."

I pursed my lips. "We really need to look at what we're getting..." I had NO IDEA what we were going to use a storefront for!

"Two thousand a month apiece gets you both a full storefront." The guy standing in the door was undoubtedly the developer. "Condos are a hundred apiece and I'll hold your note. Put it together, Howard -- we need occupants for those storefronts! You weren't kidding, were you?" he asked Milo. Milo just looked at him. "I need a realtor -- I'll give you a break."

"We can talk about it," Milo declared.

"How soon can you close?" The developer shifted his eyes back and forth between Milo and I.

"As soon as we can get documents. I've got a lawyer who should be able to turn this around fairly quickly," Milo told him. "Have your lawyer do the note for the second place and the sale documents for the first. We'll want the door in the hallway we talked about and maybe some other minor stuff."

The developer just waved it off. "Handle it, Howard. I want them in the stores and visible by the first, okay?" He swept us with his eyes. I nodded, wondering what he would think if he knew he'd just built himself a brothel. Ah, well...

Darla pulled me aside. "What's this gonna cost?"

"A month?" I asked. "I don't know."

Milo rescued me. "It's cash for the one condo, so no monthly payments, twenty percent down on the second is eighty thousand over ten years ... Nine hundred or so -- probably less. The lease is another two thousand, so a little under three grand."

Darla turned it over in her head. "We're doing better than that, right?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Maybe not yet this month above the table, but..."

"It's a lot of money, Donnie."

"Well, it's an investment," I replied. "The company will own the place and will have to pay me back over time. But I'll be living here, too..."

"Your accountant is gonna love you," Milo grinned. "unless the business folds."

I shrugged. "It's a service business. The products are always in demand." Milo nodded.

"What is it exactly?" he asked.

"Cleaning, catering, hospitality work," Darla supplied.

Milo nodded, eyeing Luz -- and probably making the connection. "We're probably profitable already, despite some startup expenses -- I need to look at the books. Or we were..." I muttered.

"Well, you get a couple of tax write-offs and a new place to live..." Milo shrugged.

"Yeah," I sighed. "The second part was the purpose of the exercise."

"It's a good deal," Milo insisted, a little loudly. The developer and his rep both looked up, sensing buyer's remorse. Neither said anything, but when they stuck the purchase and sales agreements in front of me a couple of minutes later, the price on the second place was ninety-five thousand and the lease was seventeen-fifty.

I looked them over; Milo did, too, and nodded. "And the condo association?" I asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're it," the developer replied. "Here is a list of basic services that are contracted for in the purchase. There are no rules, as yet; the older couple on the other end don't have much in the way of demands."

Darla eyed the list. "I bet we could work out something over pool cleaning and janitorial."

The developer nodded. "I'll look at your rates. If they're better than the people I'm looking at..." Darla nodded back. "I'll send a kid over to talk to you about changes," he promised me. "Any idea what you'll want besides the door?"

"Not yet," I replied, "We'll need to look some more." I fished out my other checkbook -- the one associated with our new business -- and wrote a check for a thousand bucks, hoping the account could handle it. The cash drawer could, certainly ... The developer tossed me the keys to Units A and B and we headed back upstairs to take a serious look at things, Milo bringing up the rear.

The third floor had no hallway between the apartments -- there were closets in part of the space, and the other rooms just abutted one another. We could cut a doorway between them along a communicating hallway or even make one room double-size by taking out a wall. I wondered about the second kitchen, but Darla asked, "Do you think we'll ever do in-call? We may need to provide party refreshment facilities." I was reluctant to go there, but we decided that putting in a bar might be a good idea.

Luz sidled up to me. "Milo did good?"

I nodded. "He probably saved us fifty grand -- maybe more."

"Good." She went over to Milo, knelt rather ponderously before him, and started on his belt buckle.

Milo gave me a look. "What's this?"

"Part of the unlisted product line," I replied. "Luz has apparently decided to give you a free sample."

"She gets excited sometimes," Darla interjected.

By then, Luz had Milo's cock in her hands; Milo's head rocked back as she rolled her lips over it. "Aaaahhhh..."

"Do you want some, Donnie?" Darla asked. "You've certainly earned it..."

"You helped, actually," Milo croaked. "Asking about the storefronts opened up new vistas for them. Aw shit! She's AMAZING!" He started playing with Luz's hair.

I pursed my lips. "She can take anything you can dish out," I told him, "She was trained in a very harsh school."

"So, how... ?" Then Milo held up a hand. "Don't tell me now -- I won't hear anything..."

Darla and I watched Luz work; I reflected that guys made the most amazing faces when they were enjoying themselves.

The cell phone we'd picked up for Darla rang in her purse. "Maid's Plus. Oh, hi. How did you find us?" She paused, listening. "Really? What about... ?" She paused again, obviously getting answers, followed by, "I can imagine ... So why... ?" Another pause, ending with, "That's probably an explosive subject." After another short pause, she turned to me, "Can we take on another employee?"

"Huh?" I thought about it. "I dunno."

"She's been through the interview and the performance test," Darla insisted, adding, "It's Evelyn."

"Her and Ted break up?" I asked.

"No," Darla replied, "I guess they went back and forth a bit, but Ted doesn't make a lot of money, and if he wants her to be loose, anyway..."

"She can earn her own allowance?" I guessed.

"Something like that." Darla grinned crookedly.

"Have her come up to the old place. We can talk to her there," I said, adding, "When?"

"We're busy right now," Darla told Evelyn. "Want to get together later? Or can we talk tomorrow?" Darla listened, nodded, and ended the call. "Tomorrow," she told me.

"Fine," I agreed. About that time, Milo, hunched over Luz's head, emitted a unmistakable grunt, clutching her head to his crotch. After a few seconds, he let go and Luz raised her head and grinned at him.

"I have a feeling I'm gonna love my new location," Milo muttered.

"Let's go out to dinner and discuss all this," I suggested.

I spilled my guts to Milo over some great barbeque at a restaurant he recommended; needless to say, he was amazed. "So, let me get this straight -- you OWN them?" Milo asked.

"Until they figure out otherwise," I agreed. Since they were sitting right there, it wasn't exactly a secret.

"Boss is good man -- work for him is good deal!" Luz insisted. "Why go somewhere else?"

"So you're a pimp," Milo mused, shaking his head.

"I run a cleaning business," I argued. "If the girls decide to offer additional services on a case-by-case basis, I don't get in their faces about it."

"Uh huh," Milo retorted, amused.

"Besides, it's all we're good for," Darla added.

"I doubt that," Milo disagreed.

"It's what we're trained for, and the only profession I've ever been any good at," Darla insisted.

"From what I can see, you're already prepared to take on a management position, Honey," Milo replied, smiling.

Darla shrugged. "I can probably be a madam."

"I'm sure of it," Milo agreed. Turning to me, he asked, "So how do you handle things?"

"We have a list of services," I replied. "That's the official list. I never work off anything else. I keep the books based on that list, and make sure the girls have all the proper employment stuff and benefits. They have the unofficial list and they work it by themselves. Right now, our network is people we know and friends and acquaintances of people we know, so we've been pretty safe. For Darla and Luz, I hold their under-the-table money for the expenses of their upcoming births -- but they spend it however they want. The other girls can do as they please with their 'extras' money -- I don't even expect to see it. The client pays to have their place cleaned, or maybe some catering or wait-staff time -- and that's what goes on the books."