V. R. Dunlap

Crime and Punishment

Getting Wet

Bridget closed the door as the last person left and locked it soundly. It was finally over.

It had been a ridiculously long day, even for an open house. As a real estate agent, she completed more than her share of open houses, but none of them had been liked this. Most of them were for average homes in nice suburban neighborhoods not a gigantic mansion. Just a week earlier, her boss had handed Bridget her first high end property to sell — but there was a catch. She was only managing it for a week while he was on vacation. The asking price was $3.9 million dollars. That meant that if she could sell this house quickly, her part of the commission would be more than her entire income for the last two years!

She had been working tirelessly this week to get that sale. She had done showings, called every agent she knew that could be interested, scheduled a two day open house — everything she could think of. But today was the last day she had and her boss was returning tomorrow. She checked her phone for the fifth time in as many minutes. There was one couple that had come to the open house and seemed very interested. If they made an offer on the home today, she would be set!

But for now, she just had to wait. She started cleaning up and shutting down the house. It really was a beautiful place she thought as she looked around it again. It was hard to believe that her client, Dillon Fritz, had enough money to just buy and sell properties like this as investments. The house was more luxurious than the best hotel she had ever stayed at. The kitchen was granite and stainless steel, the living room was bigger than her entire apartment and the backyard was amazing. She went outside and looked around again. The backyard was an entire living area on its own. It was more luxurious than anything she had ever seen. Instead of a barbeque, it had an area that was decked out like a kitchen — everything from a running sink, under counter refrigerators and the most wonderful grill she had ever seen. While most people had a chair or two outside, this yard had three separate lounging areas, complete with tables, chairs and lounges. She threw herself into one of the soft cushioned chairs and just melted into it.

She just laid there for a little while, enjoying the warm sun and looked longingly at the in-ground pool. It was large and inviting, with a running waterfall, and a loose, flowing shape. She wished she could just jump in and relax for a bit in a pool like that.

When the phone rang, she was so surprised she nearly dropped it. She caught it mid-bounce and answered it trying to sound calm and collected.

“Hey Bridget?” the voice on the other side said.

“Melissa?”

“Yeah, it’s me. My clients decided that they did want to bid on the house. I’ll be sending you an offer letter for 3.5. I think it’s a fair price.”

Bridget was ecstatic. Even though the offer was $400,000 less than the asking price, she knew enough about her client, to know that he would make a deal. He had gotten the property in a foreclosure and her boss said he would be willing to go as low as $3.3 to make the sale happen, just to make sure it wasn’t sitting vacant too much longer. Not to say that he wasn’t going to make money — rumor was he had invested less than two in this property. Just the same, she might be able to get more.