Chapter 12
Closing out my email to Jonathan, I again sent an email to my realtor, letting her know I wanted to speak with her and to let me know if she was available. Her reply was almost immediate. “Call me now on my cell phone.”
She picked up after two rings. “Anna, I am so glad you called. We need to get together for at
girls night! Now tell me, what’s going on? I can teel something happened. You love that
house!”
“It’s a long story, Jenna. Do you have a few minutes?” I sighed. Jenna was not only my realtor, but a very close friend. We had met in University during a first year business class. We had
been assigned to work on a project together, and found we had a lot of common interests. We both had a quirky, dark sense of humor, and that cemented our friendship. She was a year older than me, but I had started university early, so she took it upon herself to look out for me.
I had been living with my mother at that point, had moved back with her upon acceptance at Dalhousie. Jenna spent a lot of time with us, since her own parents were divorced, and lived in another province. So we kind of adopted each other as family. When Mom died, Jenna was my rock. And when my grandparents died, she held my hand through everything. I don’t know
what I would have done without her.
“Anna, you know I always have time for you. So give.” she demanded in her bossy ‘big sister/oldest friend voice. ‘Please tell me you have come to your senses and are kicking
Adam to the curb!”
I couldn’t help but snort in laughter. Leave it to Jenna to figure things out. “I’m not only kicking. his ass to the curb, but I am having the trash picked up and taken to the dump. Between you, me, and the lamp post, yesterday morning I got home three days early from a business trip. Only to find him and Fiona in my house, in my bed, doing the nasty.”
I heard a gasp, followed by a few moments of silence. “Please tell me you went absolutely postal on their lying, cheating, trashy asses.” Her voice held a very quiet, very menacing edge to it. Jenna was a black belt in Tae Kwan Do, and had literally kicked a few asses in her lifetime. “If you didn’t, please let me do it for you.”
“That’s not the worst part, Jenna. The two of them, along with my sperm donor and his wife,
are planning on arranging an accident for me. In their words, ‘just like the one they arranged
for
my mother‘. Adam and Fiona have no idea I know about them. And they won’t know until I
lower the boom on them.”
“What are you planning, then?” she asked,
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“Well, to start with. I’m selling the house and moving back into the penthouse. I’m getting my personal stuff this weekend, and wonder if you could arrange for your company’s movers to come in on Saturday to pack up the household items and furnishings and take them to the women’s shelter charity. I also need to get all the keyed locks changed on Saturday too. We can sign the paperwork for you to list the house then too. That’s if you want to come over and help? Afterwards we can go back to the penthouse for a good long chat.”
“How are you going to keep this from Adam? Isn’t he living with you yet?” Jenna had never asked about my relationship with Adam. I now see why. She didn’t like the man. With good
reason.
“Funny that. My gut instinct must have been at work behind the scenes, because not only did I not let him move into the house with me, I also refused to sleep with him until we married. Good thing too. Apparently he had plans to baby–trap me. Sucks to be him, as he didn’t even get the chance to try out the play pen let alone get to put a baby in the crib!”
Jenna burst out into peals of laughter at my turn of phrase. “Oh, my, land, Anna. How the heck did you ever come up with something like that. You are hilarious!”
“I heard my grandmother say that once or twice about a young man that lived in our
neighborhood in Toronto. The poor guy couldn’t seem to ever get a girl to date him during his
high school and university career. Though last time I saw him, he was married with a couple
of kids. He and his wife seemed very happy.” I chuckled to myself as I thought about Greg. He
worked as an accountant in one of the Graystone International companies. He met his wife
the first day on the job. You just never knew what life had in store for you.
“Your grandmother was quite the lady. I see where you got your sense of humor. And just to let
you know, I may already have a buyer for your house. The couple that had bid against you is still looking. They called me just this morning asking if any houses in your area had come on
the market. I mentioned yours might be for sale and they were eager to put in an offer.
Mentioned they could now go above the price you paid.”
“Jenna, are you freaking serious?” This never happened, did it?
“I am. The only thing is, they want a fast closing. But by the sounds of it, that won’t be an issue for you.” Her voice now took on a professional tone.
“How fast? I plan on being out by Saturday evening if you are able to arrange the moving crew.
I’ll even pay
them a bonus. Say five hundred above their regular wage.” I didn’t mind spending the money if I could get this over and done with. “There isn’t a whole lot to pack up. One bedroom set, the dining table and chairs, living room furniture, some kitchen ware, and linens. I hadn’t had a lot of time to purchase more than the bare minimum since I’ve been on twelve
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business trips in the past four months.”
“When I say fast, I mean hyper fast. They have been living with her parents for the past few months, and from what they both said, it’s getting old, real fast. They have the funds in their bank account, so it’s a matter of signing some documents, doing the money transfer, and handing over the keys. That’s if we can get a lawyer to do the paperwork that fast”
“Can we use the same lawyer? If so, I am sure Tony would be glad to help. He handled the purchase for me in less than a day. And since he already has most everything already on file, it should be fairly simple for him to do.” Tony was one of the lawyers at the Graystone. Internation branch in Halifax. I know if I made the request, he would drop everything to look.
after it.
“Yes, you can use the same lawyer, both you and the buyers will have to sign a form regarding
that, but it can be done. If you’re serious about their offer, I can call them and get the ball rolling. How much above what you paid do you want to go?” Jenna was very much in professional mode right now. I could hear the wheels turning.
I thought for a few minutes, then grinned to myself. “Jenna, I know you are going to think I’m crazy, but you of all people know I don’t need to make a profit on this house.” And she did.
know that. She knows everything there is to know about me. She is one of very few people that know I am the hieress to Graystone International, with a personal wealth in the billions.
“Tell them one thousand dollars above what I paid for the house. And Jenna, I know you could
make a higher commission if I asked for a higher price, but I will make sure you come out
okay on this.” No sense in making that young couple pay through the teeth. I didn’t need the
money, I just want to get rid of anything tainted by Adam or Fiona. “Also, all the appliance and
window treatments are to remain. I have no use for them and it will help the buyers out.”
“Okay, I’ll send you the purchase and sale agreement for your signature if I have it before I see
you on Saturday. I’ll also email Tony to give him a heads–up, and I’ll get the moving team
arranged for Saturday, say at ten in the morning, if that’s good for you.”
“Jenna, that is perfect! I couldn’t be more pleased. See you Saturday at the house. Bring
coffee!”
