Tuesday morning, Conor was working his shift at Jackson's furniture, helping his teammate Ryan move a large sofa from the floor to the loading bay for a client when a familiar voice made him nearly drop the sofa.
"Hey, pay attention!" called Ryan, struggling to keep his end up.
Conor quickly lifted his end back up and maneuvered the corner into the back warehouse. Once the sofa was placed, Ryan demanded, "What gives? Have you gone spacey on me?"
"No, sorry, my ex-wife just happened to walk in."
"Ah, shit. That's rough. That hot chick with the guy in the fancy suit?"
Conor frowned and rubbed his neck, "Yeah, that one. Thanks for putting it that way."
"Want me to mess with them?" an evil grin spread across Ryan's face.
Conor chuckled, "That could be fun, but best to keep our heads down. That is Nyman Banks. I have a feeling he could likely cause some trouble."
Ryan recoiled, "Nyman? Damn, stiff competition that. Rich bastards thinking they can get whatever they want with money."
A few minutes later, Conor was back on the showroom floor when Nyman spotted him. "Ah, look who it is, your worthless ex. Come Jess, if they are willing to hire lazy people like him, then this store is not up to our standards."
Jessica gripped Nyman's arm, "Don't be a prick. At least he is trying to work these days."
"Don't tell me you still have feelings for that lout!" Nyman stared at her incredulously.
"It's not that. I have already caused... just let him work. He signed the divorce papers without a fuss."
Nyman's eye glinted as he flagged Mr. Matthews over. Jessica's eyes went wide, "Nyman don't!"
"Relax, Jess. You don't need to worry about being poor now that you are at my side." Nyman's spiteful grin chilled Conor to the bone. What was this jackass up to now?
Mr. Matthews hurried over to Nyman, "Ah, Mr. Banks, how can I be of service?"
"If you want your store to remain open, you will not let me see that man ever again," Nyman declared, pointing at Conor who stood near the warehouse doors.
Mr. Matthews wrung his hands nervously, "Umm sir, I understand you may have a personal issue with him. I can certainly make sure he is in the back from now on."
Conor appreciated that Mr. Matthews had not jumped to firing him for the sake of Nyman's demand.
"No, I want him gone. A store that uses my family for financing should not bother with such low-life workers. If you feel otherwise, well, I understand that the Benedicts will be taking over soon. I am sure my friend Kelan would be happy to make sure some management positions are rearranged," The venom dripping from Nyman's words made Conor clench his hands into fists, turning his knuckles white in fury.
Mr. Matthews sweltered under Nyman's stare, "I understand. I, well sir, I cannot just fire an employee without good cause. If you insist on following this up, I suppose I can make this his final two weeks."
Nyman grinned, "Well, I suppose we will return to do our shopping then, once he is gone." Nyman hooked his arm around Jessica's waist and led her to the door. Jessica glanced back at Conor, biting her lower lip, a look of misgiving etched on her face. Conor just stared after them as Mr. Matthews made his way over to him.
"Conor, I am sorry lad. However, I understand you may be close to the CEO of this Vokrizin right? Well, if you convince them to pick up my store in the next two weeks who am I to argue with a new boss's decision on who he does and does not keep on."
Conor looked up at Mr. Matthews, a glint of mirth in his eye. "I knew I liked you, sir." He reached out his hand to shake Mr. Matthews. "I do indeed have some connections. I suppose I now have two weeks to help you make that transition!"
Mr. Matthews shook his hand, "Good lad. Don't let those rich jerks keep you down. I still have to play their games, but I am happy to help where I can."
***
After he left Jackson's, Conor gave Anna a call on his way to the Spice Emporium. "Anna, can you see about speeding up things on the Jackson's purchase?"
"I think so. How soon were you hoping to move forward?"
"If it's possible, in the next two weeks would be great. Looks like Nyman is trying to get me fired from there."
"Really? Ok, let me see what I can manage."
"Thanks, You are amazing."
Conor worked his normal shift the following day, walking out to find Anna sitting in her car waiting for him. She rolled down the window. "Ready to go look at some apartments?"
"Sure, do you have some picked out?" he asked, sliding into the passenger seat.
"I found a few just around the corner from here, and one over by the spice shop. But, I do have some bad news."
Conor looked over at Anna, "What's the matter?"
"I am sorry, sir, I failed."
"What is this sir business all of a sudden?"
"Sorry, Conor, it's just, I tried to get the business account leveraged, but it was rejected outright. The bank is even trying to block any future investment avenues for Vokrizin."
"Nyman, that bastard."
"I am so sorry," Anna was near tears.
"It's not your fault that he is an arrogant prick. How are we doing on just cash to make such a purchase?"
"Right now, you could likely buy half. There are around 750,000 dragons in the account, but we would need 1,500,000 to buy out 50%."
"Ok, I will call Mr. Nuri later and speak to Miss. Wiess. Perhaps we can leverage Dreadnaught Investments to buy out the rest and then set up a long-term payoff to Dreadnaught. It would prevent us from needing to use the bank in the future if we can establish that precedent."
"That should be feasible. And Miss. Wiess will work with us for favorable terms. From what I was sent from Mr. Matthews, the numbers look good. It would likely take around three years to turn a complete profit on the business, which is within range. If Jackson's is able to expand its influence any, it could likely reduce that time even more!" Anna explained, cheering up.
"Very good. Well, let's go see these apartments and then I can deal with Nyman."
Anna drove them a short distance and stopped before several long row buildings, separated into two-story units. Most of the buildings had four units, each with its own garage. The apartments were nice, but overall not what Conor was hoping for. Anna felt sure there was something that would work for Conor on her list and continued to show him a few other options.
Anna eventually showed Conor to a loft style home tucked into the commercial district. It was just behind a tax shop across from the Spice Emporium. A door opened out onto the street, with a long hallway that apparently slipped between the small tax office on the right and an insurance office to the left. All in all, Conor thought, these neighbors would likely be quiet, and the shops closed at night. As Anna led him into the main part of the house, the hall opened into a large living room with a small fireplace. The kitchen had an island bar with two stools, and professional grade appliances. The whole area had tall twelve-foot vaulted ceilings. Conor looked around with mouth agape.
"The bedrooms are upstairs," Anna explained, pointing to a second-floor landing that looked out over the living room. "In total this is 140 square meters of space. 80 square meters are here on the main floor, with the guest bathroom. Upstairs there is a 22 square meter master bedroom, an additional 18 square meter master bath. The rest of the upstairs is a guest bedroom with its own bathroom." Anna led Conor up the stairs to the master bedroom where a sprawling bed had center space, the room looking out the back of the building where the rolling hill dropped off enough to provide a view of the city. The guest bedroom looked out over the market street to the front.
"I think this one will do!" Conor said, still staring in amazement at the apartment. "How much is this going to set me back?
"If we pay cash for it, it will eat into your personal account fairly drastically. Thankfully, this is not hard to mortgage. The price tag on this one is 300,000 dragons. However, I have a residential loan that we can get you that doesn't use the Banks family or Jinstain Bank and Trust at all. It would only be around 1500 dragons a month. The proceeds from the spice shop earning will cover that easily," Anna explained.
"Good. Let's do it! This should be a great space. Shame you are not going to be around to share it with me," Conor gave Anna a lustful glance.
"Oh, I may be able to help you break it in before I go," she replied with a wink.