Page 27 of Zimyra

“Where’s the list?” I ask.

“You need me to turn it in?”

“Yes. You need to check off the items you completed and turn it in.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s my process.”

“I’m sure you have the list on your computer.”

“I do, but—”

“Then why do you need me to turn anything in?”

“Because that’s how you assure me that it’s done. I take your sheet, I go to my electronic version, make notes and close it out.”

He frowns.

Here we go…

“There has to be a better way to do that.”

“There is, but unfortunately, the higher-ups didn’t approve the maintenance upgrade to the website as I had requested, so this is what we’re working with.”

“What was the request?”

Ugh…so many questions. Axel has a habit of sticking his nose in business that doesn’t belong to him. Is hethatcurious, or does he like ruffling my feathers?

I say, “Going forward, when I hand you a report, I mean for you to check the box, write your notes, if any, and—”

“What was the request?” he asks, doubling down on his question and looking at me in a way like he dares me not to answer him.

My eyes narrow. “Are you always this demanding?”

“Yes,” he responds, his gaze fixed and penetrating.

I glance over at Mauricio. He quickly turns and looks away from me. He doesn’t want any problems, and he may not know a lot of English, but he knows when a woman is heated. That language is universal.

Deciding to answer Axel before he combusts, I say, “I requested a system where tenants could enter their requests online and once I assign it to maintenance, they would sync to the app. Maintenance would see what needs to be done for the day and mark it as complete after they update their notes. At the end of the day, I generate a report and notify the tenants of the completed work.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“I thought so.”

“Why do you think they turned it down?”

“For the reason companies turn everything down—money. They don’t want to pay for it, even though they’re charging fifteen hundred for a studio apartment, but I digress. Did you run into any problems with work today?”

“No. Everything was done and there were no issues.”

“Okay. I will notify the tenants. Did you lock the shed?”

“I did.”

“Good, then that will be all for today. Enjoy your evening guys.”

Axel turns to Mauricio and says something in Spanish. Mauricio leaves, but Axel doesn’t.

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