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“Dad just sold the building our office is in. Someone offered him way more than it was worth, and he took it,” Rafferty was saying. From the side position, she could see him sitting in one of the chairs across from Anderson. He didn’t look as relaxed as usual.
“So now you have rent. I rent this place. It’s not bad, and you don’t have to worry about taxes and upkeep. When something breaks, you just call the management company, and it gets fixed.” Anderson tried to make it sound like a good thing, which it was. Maintenance was expensive on an old building.
“No, they want us out. They doubled the average rent price in the area. Dad is retiring, but I need the office. I don’t want to leave town, but I might have to,” Rafferty said.
“Maybe somewhere else in town?” Anderson asked.
“No luck. They own almost all the open rental space in town.” Rafferty leaned back and rubbed his eyes hard.
“I rent from M Johnson Inc., and I haven’t had any issues.” Anderson was leaning towards his friend.
Ruth looked in at the men who were talking about her without even knowing it. Howard Brooks had lied to his son. The building was up for sale and at below market value. Ruth had snapped it up the first day it was on the market. She had plans. They mostly involved forcing Rafferty and his father from town. It was a perfect plan.
“That’s who bought the building. We’ve been there since before I was even born, and now we are going to have to move,” Rafferty explained. She could hear the pain in his voice. It kind of made her giddy.
“Well, if your dad retired, maybe you’d want to join me over here,” Anderson suggested, and Ruth could tell he was smiling. She knew his smiles from any angle.
Ruth jumped up from her desk and rushed into Anderson’s office; things had taken a bad turn. “No way is he working here. I will be out that door if he comes in it. I will not spend my days working with him.”
“Ruth, it was just an idea,” Anderson stated, his eyes showing shock at her reaction.
“We could be co-workers, Angel. It would be fun. You, me, and Andy, a trio of insurance fun.” Rafferty grinned at her. He knew she would hate the idea.
“I will quit. In fact, why don’t you just think about how my quitting would affect you because I am leaving right now. Have a good weekend!” she yelled through the door at them as she turned off her computer without saving anything, which in itself said how mad she was. Then she stormed out the door.
Outside, she didn’t even feel the cold on the short walk. Stomping up the stairs to her apartment, she kicked off her shoes in the hallway and realized she’d forgotten her coat. It was twenty below zero, and she had forgotten her coat. Then again, if she needed it by Monday, she had a key to the office. Perks of owning the building.
After pulling her hair from its bun, she stripped off her clothes and yanked on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. Slipping on comfortable socks and slippers, she sat down on the couch and turned on the TV in the corner. She rarely watched it, but she was in no mood to write anything today. Anger was still coursing through her.
Rafferty Brooks was going to kick her out of a job. Rafferty Brooks gets everything, even though she had been working for years to take everything from him. Last month she had purchased the building he worked in to force them out, and now he was just going to take her job from her. How was it that he always came out ahead in a war that he didn’t even know she was waging?
It wasn’t even that she loved the job that much; she just liked to see people every now and then. In reality, she made more money from her rental properties than working for Anderson and more money from writing than working for Anderson and her rental properties combined. But she worked for Anderson so that she could see him five days a week.
Rafferty was going to ruin everything.
