A brief story with no hard sex and no BTB. You have Michael K to thank for cleaning up my grammar. I would like to thank Vickie for her work on my last story. I forgot but please accept my belated thanks. All comments welcome. If you send comments privately, remember I can't reply if you don't give an address.
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I met my wife Jessica one Thursday while she was studying for her Master's of English Literature at SUNY. Until recently, I thought that Thursday was the luckiest day of my life. I'm a bit of a nerd as most people see right away but Jess, as everyone calls her, is a stunning brunette with sea green eyes and a swimsuit model's body.
I was at the University only to take an advanced Calculus course. Calc has always been my weak subject. I'm a day trader. Before you get the wrong idea, I make a good, if modest, living. I have my own trading algorithm that I developed over the last ten years. I was brushing up my skills at SUNY when I ran into the beautiful Jessica.
I mean that literally. I ran into her and knocked her over. As I helped her up off the University Quad, she actually smiled at the clumsy jerk I am. We headed to the Starbucks in the library building so I could make a meaningful apology. It was there that I got Jessica's reason for being in the Quad where she could be run over by clumsy me.
"I'm Jessica by the way," she said taking a seat.
"Matt, Mathew Turner," I replied.
Jess was a creative writing graduate from the University of Iowa. It is a very prestigious program, but eighteen months after graduation she was still getting only minimum wage job offers. Her dreams of being a writer fading, she had returned to school for an advanced degree that would allow her to teach. Instead this nerdy guy met the beauty who somehow managed six months later to talk her into marriage.
I did one positive thing for Jess' career, I got her into editing. I still believe that some day she will be a great writer, but I convinced her that freelance editing would be a good start for her career. I am proud to say that I was right. After we were married and she started freelancing, a small publisher noticed her work. They gave her full-time employment as a fiction editor.
Jess loves her job, and she has been getting some feelers for her own work. I guess that is where the trouble started. Jess had to spend a week in California, not really a big deal since we had been separated before during our five-year marriage. The problem was that it was the week in June that we had planned to attend some real estate open houses. The Condo where we lived was a rental in North Greenbush near to all the strip malls. The owner had relocated back to Florida in 09 but the real estate market after the crash was too poor to sell.
Now that the market had revived, the owner decided to sell the Condo, but his price was way more than we wanted to pay for a two bedroom on the wrong side of the river. Jess and I decided to look for a real house; one where we could start our family now that we were ready.
On Saturday morning with Jess in Los Angeles, I started the house hunt. The plan was that I would look at what was available and collect the information. Then Jess and I would go back and look over what seemed promising. I set out with my little home inspection kitβa pen light, small screwdriver, stud finder, and miscellaneous tools. Hey, I said I was a nerd.
If you don't know how these open houses work, there is usually a realtor or two present representing the owner. They will walk you through and then give you some free time to poke around while they grab the next prospect. I was in the basement/family room looking at a water heater installed in a utility closet.
"You know what you're looking for?" A tall, handsome fellow said.
As I turned to him, I was struck by how familiar he looked, but I could not place him.
"No, but I bought a book on what to check out when buying a home," I said showing him the little paperback.
"Frederick Hunter, but they call me Rick," He said holding out his hand.
"Matt Turner," I replied taking his hand.
We briefly discussed the merits of the home we were in and came to the mutual conclusion that it was overpriced. He had done some checking, and informed me it had been on the market a while.
"Over mortgaged I believe. It might be a good short sale prospect," he said.
We discussed the various aspects of short sales and the fact that my current needs made that particular approach impractical for me.
"Takes far too long. My wife and I need to move in three months."
"Well, I'm single, and while I have just moved here, I'm in no rush. I can put up with the cramped apartment for a year if I must. What I need is a good deal considering my cash situation," Rick said.
He asked where I was going next, and we turned out to have virtually the same list. Normally, I would not have taken up with a total stranger, but he looked so familiar, and a little bell seemed to go off in my head when I heard his name. I was sure that I had never met him, but yet I still felt that I knew him somehow.
At the next house we were shown around by a cute little blond. She had to be at least five years younger than me and my companion of the moment. I sensed more in the smile she gave my new friend than the standard agent come on. After the little tour, she and Rick split off so he supposedly could get some more financial information on the house.
The property was not huge. It was a three-bedroom starter house, but in a neighborhood with larger more recently built homes. The furnace was thirty years old, but I noticed immediately that the duct work was new. The homeowners had added central air conditioning.
You can pay thirty thousand for a new furnace or get the same for five. The difference is what you need with it. This house had all the extras. All it needed was a new heating unit. The old furnace was hurting the sale price, but realtors rarely advise a furnace replacement to sellers. I marked it as a definite for Jess to look at because the old furnace should get us a discount.
I found Rick exiting a half bath off the living room. The real estate agent was right behind him, and she was adjusting her skirt. It did not take a genius to guess what happened in that bathroom.
Rick and I looked at three more houses and then broke for lunch at a chain sandwich shop. As he sat across from me, I could not help, but ponder how I knew him. Rick Hunter had a significant physical presence with a sure and captivating manner. He was the kind of man women fell all over themselves for.
"What did you think of that little realtor this morning?" he asked.
"The one you had in the bathroom?"
"You noticed."