Free Web NovelChapter 146: Breaking Grounds: Hannah
"Good morning, Mrs. Thaddeus," Nick greeted as he opened my car door. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"Good morning, but you can call me Hannah," I replied before hopping into the car.
I had spent all morning fretting over the very real possibility that we wouldn’t find a location that day. I so badly wanted to be able to cross if off the list and actually be able to start setting up.
As we rode into town, I couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate that I finally had a purpose. I wasn’t just moping about the house all day, praying to find a way to ease the boredom as time dragged on. I was doing something I cared about. I just hoped things went smoothly.
We pulled into the same parking garage as the day before, and my brows furrowed. "We should move to the other side of downtown, at least. The first location is really far away from here."
"Oh, sorry. Sort of zoned out. Still getting used to the morning shift," Nick explained, chuckling lightly.
We shared an awkward smile in the rear view mirror, but something once again didn’t feel right.
As we headed out of the parking garage, I noticed a black car heading out of the garage too. I really felt like I was going crazy as a wave of anxiety came over me at the sight of it. Wasn’t it the same sort of car that I had seen at the stoplight yesterday?
Get it together, Hannah, a voice in my head chastised. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands, of people in that city with the same make and model of that car. It was nothing special. Being paranoid would do nothing but make me miserable.
Besides, what did that say about how I felt about Nick? He seemed nice enough. Was there really any reason not to trust him?
I tried to tuck my concerns away and focus only on the task at hand. Find a building.
We headed to the outskirts of downtown and parked outside of what used to be a brewery. The only other car in the parking lot was that of the real estate agent. We got out of the car and headed over to meet her. Her name plate indicated her name to be Rhonda. Her hair was intricately braided, a lovely shade of purple lipstick matched her mauve pant suit, and she looked just as happy to see us.
"Good morning, Mrs. Thaddeus! I hope you found it the location with ease," Rhonda greeted.
I nodded and glanced up at the building. "It’s surprisingly in a great spot. I thought it was going to be further removed from downtown."
"That’s the great thing about this locale. It’s so close to downtown, just a block away, but has that uptown sort of feel to it," she chuckled. I returned the light laughter, but if I was being honest, I had no idea what uptown really meant when she said it that way. I guess it meant more residential? freewёbnoνel.com
She guided us toward the door but gestured up to the building. "This building may be on the older side, but it was just renovated about a decade ago. The bottom floor was a brewery and restaurant. The brewing equipment has been sold at auction, and all damages from the equipment being there have been patched up prior to sell. The restaurant is still intact, however, and is included in the price. If you don’t want a restaurant, then you could always sell the equipment."
"Oh, it would be put to good use," I told her, sharing a bit of a smile. "And what’s upstairs?"
"There are three floors of apartments. They are a bit dated, as the last time I think they were renovated was the nineteen nineties, but they all do have updated plumbing and electrical work," Rhonda replied.
"Oh, that’s almost too perfect," I stated, grinning.
"Let’s not leave you in anticipation, then," Rhonda chuckled. We headed to the doors and she opened them.
We stepped into a massive space. The ceilings was at least two stories high. The flooring was poured concrete, and most of the walls were exterior windows. It was so big, light, and open; it had to have been where the brewing equipment had been.
My eyes sparkled as we were guided on a tour. The kitchen was immaculately clean and had any equipment that my future cooks would have needed. It certainly was big enough to put on full meal services.
We then headed into the back section of the first floor, where there were offices and supply rooms. The place was just massive and had so much potential that I felt ready to make her and offer right then. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, though.
We were guided upstairs, and, as we made the journey, Rhonda explained, "There is an elevator; however, it hasn’t been serviced in a while. Better safe than sorry."
"Of course," I nodded. At least there was already one there! When we had first approached the stairs, it had been a worry to cross my mind; as we didn’t know the condition all the girls would come to us in. What if some were disabled? I took a mental note to ask Roman how to get an elevator serviced.
Rhonda walked Nick and me through the first floor of apartments. I was happy to see there were more apartments than I thought there would be, six on each side of the hall. Each apartment had three bedrooms. That meant, without sharing rooms, we could house just over one hundred women at a time!
Rhonda had been right, the units themselves were a bit dated, but just cosmetically. There was nothing that a coat of paint or some minor hardware updates couldn’t fix.
All in all, the only things that would really have to happen were erecting a few walls downstairs to make rooms for therapy and some minor updates. The place was perfect.
As we headed back downstairs, I asked Rhonda for the asking price and was elated to find they weren’t as steep as the places we had looked at the day before, despite the size. Location, location, location, I supposed.
Just before I stepped away to call Roman, I asked if it had been inspected lately. Rhonda then handed me an inspection form that had been completed just a couple months prior. It had passed with no major issues. I promised her I would be back shortly.
With Nick, I headed outside and I whipped out my phone. As the phone rang, I noticed the same sort of black car slowly rolling by.
I squeezed my eyes shut. There was no need to panic. I was just having a bad day. I was stressed, that’s why I was so paranoid.
"Everything okay?" Roman asked as he picked up.
Just like that, I was brought back to the present. Where I was excited about finding a location.
"Can you take a break from work? I need you to see this place," I asked.
I could hear him chuckle. "Send me the address. I’m heading down right now."
"Okay, love you," I stated before hanging up the phone. I quickly texted him my location and then just looked around.
This felt right. This felt like the place I needed to be. It was that exact feeling that I had been looking for the day before.
I waited anxiously for Roman to arrive. I couldn’t tell if I was shaking from jitters or the slight autumn breeze rolling through.
It was a matter of just a few minutes before Roman was pulling up. I smiled at him and hugged to his side as he looked up to the building.
"I think this is the one," I said. "It has fifty-four apartments, over one hundred bedrooms, and a full kitchen. The only things missing are some walls and paint."
Roman locked eyes with me, and, before anything was said, I handed him the inspection. "This is what you want?" he asked.
I nodded excitedly.
We headed inside and walked right up to the real estate agent. "Tell the owner we’ll give him fifty-thousand more than asking price if he will come get the paperwork done right now."
Rhonda blinked rapidly and nodded. "I’ll be right back. Just gotta make a quick call."
I peered up to Roman with curious eyes. "You don’t want to look around first? Make sure we agree it’s the right place?"
"This is your baby. If you think it’s perfect, then it’s perfect. Just have to get the paperwork done."
"You’re amazing," I gushed.
Hugging to one another, we looked around the open space.
This was it. This what the start of my own endeavor. All that was standing in my way was just some measly paperwork. I couldn’t wait to get things going.
Rhonda entered the room with an elated expression. "The owner will be here within the hour. I’ll go get the paperwork and we’ll seal the deal!"
I was so happy, I couldn’t help but clap. It was happening!
