*
Jennifer Delgado was glad to be home.
It had been a hard day. She worked for a local real estate office and two of the other girls in the office had called in sick. There for four properties to be shown and Jennifer had to pinch hit and show three of them. The last prospective buyer had expressed a lot of interest in the house, which was good, but spent two hours inspecting the property, which was bad. It meant that She didn't get back to the office till almost 7:30. Her boss Ms Robertson, was the only one left.
"How did it go?" the elderly gray haired woman asked.
"I think we've got buyer. He's going to bring his wife down Thursday and make a decision."
Her boss smiled. She liked Jennifer. She was perhaps her best agent. She always seemed to sense exactly what the shopper was looking for and could showcase those details to the customer. It certainly didn't hurt that Jennifer was a stunner either. She had a voluptuous figure that she dressed to show off well without looking blatantly sexual. Men certainly liked looking at her; their wives appreciated the sense of style in which she dressed. Both liked her quiet sales confidence.
"Thanks for picking up the slack with Carol and Robyn out," Ms Robertson said. "I know the Trent house is my listing, but you've done all the heavy lifting on it. I'd like you to show it Thursday when the man brings down his wife."
Jennifer was surprised by her boss' offer. It wasn't usual at all for a listing agent to let another agent show a house when a purchase was this likely, but Jennifer knew she could close the deal. Her boss knew that, too. And the old biddy got her cut from a sale no matter who closed it.
"OK. He said it would be in the morning. I'll clear my calendar."
"Good," Ms Robertson smiled. "And since you worked so hard, why don't you take tomorrow off. Robyn promised her little one would be feeling better and she'd be in. Wednesday's normally your half day, so take the afternoon, too, with my blessing."
The younger woman smiled. Her boss could be nice sometimes. "I certainly will. Thanks. I can catch up on things around the house."
Her boss put her arm around Jennifer's shoulder as they walked towards the door. "Well, you earned it today. I appreciate your hard work. I really do... Now, you go on home and kick back. Just make sure you call deShondra tomorrow afternoon to confirm the appointment time on the Trent house for Thursday. I'll shut off all the computers, set the alarm, and lock up. I'm certainly going to have a restful evening."
"Me, too," the agent promised. "Goodnight."
Her boss waved from the door and watched her get into her Honda. Then she turned to close the office. She realized how lucky she was to have good help.
Once Jennifer settled behind the wheel of her Honda, she realized how tired she really was. Her feet ached (although she always wore sensible low heeled shoes when showing a property), her skin felt gritty from the long day, and her eyes when she looked at them in the mirror were bloodshot.
Bless Ms Robertson for that extra time off, she thought, as she started the car and headed home.
It was a quick twenty minute drive to her cottage. Jennifer lived on a quiet cul de sac that was far enough out of town to feel like the country, but not so remote that she couldn't pop over to a grocery store, a home care center, or a liquor store without driving forever. She was lucky to have the little place; it had actually been listed with Ms Robertson's agency and she'd gotten it at a good price. That was three years ago, right after her divorce. Jennifer had gone back to school and gotten her real estate broker's license. Her first job interview had been with Ms Robertson, she'd been hired on the spot, and bought the cottage three weeks later.
She pulled in to the driveway and shut off the car. For a couple of minutes she just sat there, glad to be home. Slowed by fatigue, she got out of the car and went up the front steps of the bungalow. The mailbox was empty. The afternoon paper was lying in front of the door where the delivery boy had tossed it. Jennifer wondered why she continued to subscribe to a newspaper. This was a morning paper and she never had time to read it till after work, so everything was old news. Besides, she could find everything she needed to know from the internet.