“The kid is here,” Jason says just loud enough.
I smile, beyond grateful for Remington now. I snatch the koala off my desk and walk through the coffee shop to the tables. The little boy has three fingers in his mouth and is clearly crying, his other hand secured in his mother’s. She’s bent over, looking under a table.
“Excuse me,” I say, trying my best not to startle either of them. I have the koala in plain sight and the moment the little boy sees it he starts crying harder and reaches for it. Slobbery fingers brush against mine as I squat down to his level. He can’t be more than four. “I found him here last night. I cleaned him all up and made sure to keep him safe. I figured you were missing him.”
“What do you say, Seth?” The mom nudges his back lightly. Those fingers go back to his mouth and the koala is being squished against his chest.
“Thank you.” The words are mumbled and slurred around his fingers, but it is easy enough to hear the words.
“It’s no problem,” I say with a smile I hope is happy for him. The boy will never know how much that koala did for me in a short amount of time. The least I can do is repay him and his mom for the time I did get. “How about we go over here and get some hot chocolate? If it’s okay with Mommy?” I glance up and she’s smilingand nodding.
Seth takes his fingers out of his mouth. He still has big tears in his eyes but they aren’t falling anymore. “With mallows?”
“Of course with mallows,” I say happily. “That’s the only way to drink it.”
“You are a life saver,” the mom says as we walk toward the coffee bar. “Seriously, he barely slept a wink. That koala is his absolute favorite toy.”
“I get it,” I say. And I do. The three I have flash through my mind. I get the sentimental attachment to them. “It’s no problem. I was actually hoping you’d come back and claim him. He was going to become our mascot if not. I was going to let him sit in that window and have him wave to all the people walking by.” I get Seth’s attention and point to one of the three windows we have in the table area. The windows each have a little shelf at the bottom. Two of them have plants but the third is empty. “Do you want to go wait over there and I’ll bring your drink? Mom, what would you like?”
“Oh, no. It’s okay.”
“I insist, really.”
Jason is on break at the moment, since the afternoon rush for coffee isn’t as demanding. Amir knows how to make drinks, but Tyler hasn’t been trained yet. I set about making everything, losing myself to the movements. I’ve been here for two years as the manager and in that time, making drinks has become second nature.
I think about going to the store and buying my own koala stuffie since this one has officially been reclaimed. Pam-da, Berry, and Elle— a panda, bear, and elephant stuffie accordingly— could use a new friend. Especially if I’ll be getting more Little time. That thought alone has me smiling to myself as I slip on a glove and drop a few marshmallows into Seth’s drink.
“Order up,” I say after rounding the counter and bringing the drinks back out to them. “It’s still a little hot so be careful, okay?” I look to his mom. “I just used the hot water from the tap so it shouldn’t be too bad, but just in case.”
“Thank you so much,” she says in response. “Seriously, you have saved us from another sleepless night. Are you the manager here?”
“I am.” I take pride in that fact as well.
“Well, you have a great place here. Definitely a five star review.” I laugh at her joke and excuse myself to get back to my office. And my phone.
Austin
Koala was picked up today. Poor little guy cried when I brought him out so I made him hot chocolate. Thank you for bringing that this morning. Hope your meeting went well.
Chapter Four
RemingtonPropertiesisn’tthelargest property management business in the city, but we have a few decent clients under contract and several smaller ones. Enough to have our own office building in the city with a team of ten and contracts to other businesses in the area.
I use the excuse to see Austin once more on my way to work. I want to reach out and hug him, but he's at work, so I settle on gripping his shoulder. He looks more relaxed today than when I stopped by yesterday evening. Where there were tears yesterday, he's smiling today. I get my drink and turn to look for him, but he's already back in his office.
The meeting starts out with an itemized list, by property and even apartment dwelling because my assistant is the literal best woman ever, of the repairs that need to be completed. There are two urgent repairs but the rest can be scheduled within the month. With the colder months coming up, I also want to getchecks of furnaces and air filters before the three commercial buildings start cranking heat in the offices.
The second order of the meeting is past due payments and collections. It is my least favorite part of every meeting. I know that people fall on hard times and need help, but there is only so much that we can do as a company. Contracts are binding and the owners of these buildings are counting on us to uphold them. There is only one location that is past due this month.
“If they don’t pay at least the past due amount in the next fifteen days, we’ll need to send them a letter.” Everyone sitting around the table knows I hate doing that. I have a soft spot for people. I’m not greedy, I don’t do this job for the money. I do it because I like the honest work and making sure that people have a safe place to work and live.
“I’ll try to contact them this afternoon and see if we can work out a payment plan at least, Remington.” Clara, one of the two accountants on the team, says.
“Thank you, Clara. I appreciate it.”
I’m not a pushover. Not at work, at least. But I appreciate her offer to find a solution for the family. I’ll follow up with her on Monday about it. I jot down a note on my legal pad.
“The final thing we need to discuss is marketing,” Josiah, the supervisor in that department, says. There are three of them since marketing is a big thing for us. “We’ve been in talks with a few places, but there’s a networking business event at the end of the month that we’ve signed up for. So we’ll need to make a banner and some fliers. I wanted to bring it forward to discuss what should be included on it. Plus, Remington, we’ll need some more business cards made up.”
