Unbreakable Currents

Chapter 4

His sandy blonde hair was spiked and the amount of stubble on his face looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days. His jaw line was tense and his face emotionless. He was beautiful. Now looking right at him, his demeanor seemed cold.

My many years of customer service taught me to be friendly to everyone, no matter how sexy or intimidating. I reminded myself, I had a job to do. Since the other girls were chatting up another resident, I smiled and greeted him.

I swallowed, hard. "Good afternoon. How are you?" I said as he walked with purpose past the desk area.

He glanced in my direction, making eye contact, nodded his head and that was it. Asshole.

He approached the elevators and, without looking back, got in. I guess I was right with the cold assumption. He could have at least acknowledged me.

I turned towards Natalie. "You saw him, right? Do you know who he is?"

"I've seen him a few times but don't have much info. Do you girls know?" Natalie turned toward the other two.

Sabrina spoke up. "I know his name is Nick from when he called down here one day and told me he was expecting a guest. He asked me to let him know when they arrived that he would meet them in the parking lot. I half wanted to tell him to fuck off and that I wasn't his personal secretary, but he hung up before I had the chance. When he came down to go to the parking lot, I told him to have a great day and he kept walking." Sabrina shrugged. "He seems like a dick, but most gorgeous men are."

Natalie chimed in. "Oh yeah, I remember you telling me that." She looked at me. "Apparently whoever this person was, of course she was beautiful and wearing hot pants."

We all giggled. "What are hot pants?" 

Natalie grinned and shook her head. "They are skintight pants that women wear to accentuate all of their features. They give you camel toe and you can't eat or sit when you wear them."

My laughter echoed throughout the entire entry. Sounds like she knew from experience.

Sabrina broke up my outburst. "It must have been his girlfriend or his flavor of the week. Who knows, but if my boyfriend told me to wait in the parking lot, I'd dump his ass within seconds."

I agreed with her.

Whoever this man was, he certainly made me excited and nervous at the same time. The last three times I had noticed him had left me with goosebumps and sweaty palms. But that didn't change how insensitive he seemed. And from the way Sabrina described the woman, I was right. He was out of my league. I had to agree with Sabrina that most gorgeous men are dicks.

I was snapped back to reality by my grumbling stomach. Lunch. I had to be on a call in less than two hours, so I needed to get moving.

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Precisely at two I shut my door and dialed in to the conference call. I had been on one as an assistant manager but just to listen. Now as the manager, I would be the one answering the questions.

Real estate investors tended to be smug and rude. They invested all their money with a management company and if the complex didn't make the money back, the investors were quick to breathe down their necks. I didn't know what this call would be about, but I was hopeful it wasn't because of a serious issue with our financials.

I heard my regional manager Sally's familiar voice come over the line. "Abby, thanks for joining us. I know you are just settling in, but the investors wanted to go over a few things. We have on the line Mr. Anderson and Mr. Finn."

My voice sounded a bit overenthusiastic. "Hi everyone! My name is Abigail Phillips and I'm thrilled to be here. What questions can I answer for you today?"

A deep and rough male voice came through the receiver. "Ms. Phillips, I am Mr. Finn. We need to address operating income. Right now, we are spending too much money on frivolous things and we need you monitor the costs for maintenance. It looks like four thousand dollars was spent last week alone on-air conditioners. Do the men working there just replace them without trying to fix them first?"

I didn't speak immediately, trying to choose my words wisely. I wasn't working here a week ago, so I had no idea the answer to his question. Not only that, he was rude. I hated men who had so much money they thought they didn't have to respect anyone. I was starting to understand why the old manager left.

I took a deep breath and started to speak. "Mr. Finn, I was not here last week as you are aware. I would be happy to have a meeting with my maintenance staff and address the issue right away. I can report back to Sally tomorrow. Once I have done so I will make sure to let the guys know how important it is to stay within budget and that all purchases must be run by me first. Will that suffice?"

Mr. Rude came back through the line. "I want a response by noon tomorrow. I have another call, but I will be in contact if I have any further questions regarding the matter." There was a loud click as he left the line.

Another male voice came through the phone, this one squeaky and high pitched. The tone was the complete opposite from the first.

"Abigail, this is Mr. Anderson. Please excuse Finn, he has had a hectic morning. He's a very straight to the point type of man. Most importantly, congratulations on your promotion to manager. I am sure you will do great things with the complex. We will be in touch if we need anything else."

He hung up.

"Abby, they really are decent guys, just a lot on their plates. They understand you haven't been there long. I know hiring you to run the complex was a great choice. Try to have that meeting with the maintenance staff before you leave today. Call me if you need anything." Sally's voice was soothing but I couldn't help but feel trampled on.

I tried to hide my trembling voice when I replied. "Thanks, Sally. I will track down the guys as soon as I get off the phone."

"Great. Talk to you later."

Whoever that Mr. Finn was, he should really take a vacation and relax. At least a Hi and Bye would do. Perhaps today was Every Man is a Dick to Abby day. I could deal with Mr. Anderson, at least he congratulated me. And I loved Sally. She was my boss but always made me feel like she was looking out for me.

I took a deep breath and headed out to search down my maintenance men. Natalie said she overheard them talking about having to check on a leak. She gave me the number and I headed up the elevator to condo 1001.