“Are you here to fix my toilet?” a woman asked me. “If so, just give me and my kids twenty minutes to get out.”
“No, I’m not here to fix your toilet.” I tried to keep my voice flat. “What’s wrong with it?”
“I mean, it’s been broken for like a month.” She crossed her arms. “I’m tired of peeing in bottles and asking my neighbor to let us poo in hers.”
“Understandable…” I felt my blood beginning to simmer. “Are there any other issues?”
“Ha! Plenty!” She motioned for me to walk inside, and Chloe followed. “Look at this shit…”
I stared at the sight of the black mold covering her far-left wall and the lack of baseboards along the bottom of her floors.
The wooden doors throughout were warping faster than the floors, and before I could ask her why they looked slick like they’d been drowned in a river, I spotted why.
Water dripped steadily from the ceiling hallway, overflowing the buckets beneath it.
“How long have you been living like this?” I asked.
“Four years.” She smiled. “But look, even with the flaws, it’s a great place overall, and I love my balcony. If the asshole billionaire who owns the place could just fix the mildew and maybe cut back on some of the mold, that’d be enough to make us happy.”
“Right.” I sighed. “Thank you for letting me see.”
I looked around one last time, in utter fucking disbelief that people had been living like this under my name.
“Um, you’re coming back to fix something, right?” she asked.
I walked out of her place and into the hall, pulling out my phone.
I scrolled down to Paul’s name and immediately hit call.
“It’s still a no on the alley spouts, Mr. Hudson,” he answered. “I asked ten other engineers, just like you demanded.”
“This is about something else,” I said. “I need you to send a team to The Avon Complex now and just get to work fixing this bullshit. Start with 7B and check on every fucking unit, every shared room, and get the landscaping team out here to fix the tragedy of an entrance…”
“Right away, sir.”
Livid, I called Anthony next.
“At your service, unless it’s about that person I told you not to hire.”
“I need you to get to The Avon Complex and handle the expenses on a major maintenance project for me.”
“I’ll be there within the hour.”
I ended the call and saw Mr. Kline wringing his hands near the window.
“So, um…” He looked at me. “Am I fired?”
“You were fired the moment I stepped onto the elevator,” I said. “The longer you stand here, the longer I consider not sending you the final paycheck.”
His face paled, and then he slipped into the emergency stairwell.
I sent for the elevator and looked at Chloe.
“I had no fucking idea about this one...” I shook my head. “Did you?”
“Somewhat, yes.”
“Are the others like this, or is this the worst?”
