Page 126 of Need You
They walked to the front of the lobby and Karen gave the valet her name. While they waited for the car, Delaney peeked at her phone, hoping that Colt might’ve had time to look at the link she’d sent him. Maybe the condo and its ocean-front access to world-class surfing would entice him to see the benefits of a long-distance relationship. Of course she didn’t know when he’d ever get a chance to come, since he was stretched so thin as it was. And if her days were anything like they’d been this week, she’d be lucky to find the time to e-mail him. The reality was so depressing, she lost all enthusiasm over seeing the building. The building that by all accounts would be perfect and just happened to be available during a commercial real estate shortage.
The valet parked Karen’s car at the curb and helped both of them in. As Karen predicted, they barely made their appointment due to the stop and go on the freeway. An agent took them through the building, painstakingly showing them every inch of space. It needed work, especially the front facade and the lobby, which hadn’t been updated since the nineties. But it wouldn’t take much. Exterior paint and maybe a chic awning with her company’s logo. Yeah, she needed to get one of those, along with a name. She’d change the flooring in the reception area from marble to something a little warmer, maybe do a television wall where they could loop video of her various collections. Plenty of room for possibilities, she told herself.
But her heart wasn’t in it. It was too busy pining for Colt.
“What do you think?” Karen asked softly.
“It’ll definitely work.” So why wasn’t she more excited? The prospect of finally getting her act together should’ve been thrilling and not filling her with dread. “Everything’s moving so fast, though. Would it be terrible if I took a day or two to think about it?”
“I’d hate for us to lose it,” Karen said. “But you need to be sure that this”—she spread her arms wide to encompass the building—“is your vision.”
What was she doing? Of course it was her vision. The location was superb; the price was right.Just bite the bullet, she told herself.
“You know what? I’m being a wuss. Let’s do it, Let’s sign the lease and put down a deposit.”
“Okay,” Karen agreed, and went off to search for the agent.
Delaney wrote a check and the agent said he would send the lease agreement to her lawyer for signing. It was done. And tomorrow she’d make an offer on the condo.
