It's All About Faith Pt. 08

"Mitch sure is taking this whole thing seriously," Anita said.

Wendy agreed saying, "If there is any hope for this mess, it has to be with him." Then she tried to needle Anita just a little by adding, "He's pretty good in bed too."

Anita smiled and answered, "I know I put him to the test last night and he passed with colors flying."

Anita was back at the apartment by ten, but Mitch was out somewhere. They found each other later and had lunch, and then it was just a matter of waiting. The prospective buyers were just late enough to make Mitch even more nervous, but when they appeared he settled down and received them saying, "Good to see you Mary...Jared and shaking her hand and then his, "Iced tea before we start or after?"

"We're ready to look now actually."

"Great." He showed them the sign at the gate and gave them that little speech and they walked down to the first condo. Then on down skipping the one that Winnie and Jeff had bought, and of course, Mitch mentioned that it was sold. They continued on to the townhouses and that seemed to be more what they were interested in so Mitch focused on them. He pointed out the one Rae lived in and said that one was occupied and on they went to the next one. As they came out of that one, Wendy and Rae came down the walk bare assed with Anita in her tiniest and smallest garb, and they were talking as though they weren't even aware that Mitch was showing the homes.

"Oh hi," Wendy said, "I didn't know you were here, Mitch."

"Hi ladies, meet you for iced tea later maybe?"

"Of course, see you there," and they went in Rae's townhouse and hugged each other and laughed. "So did we get their attention or what?"

Anita was glowing as she said, "That was so much fun. His eyes almost fell out of his head and she was very curious, or at least I think that's what I saw in her eyes."

"Probably trying to figure out why you were wearing slut heels while nearly naked."

"I wanted to give him something extra to stare at."

Mitch was doing a mental dance. His friends had come through for him once again and this time it was a triple threat move. "Well, unless you want to look at the smaller cottages, that's it. I'll go get the iced tea ready so you two can just look around and talk. Meet you up there whenever you're ready."

"We won't be long," Mary told him.

And it wasn't long before Mitch was told that they would take townhouse number nine, next door to Rae, and that's when he learned they planned to live there full time. The next encouraging event was when Mary enthusiastically stripped naked to try on garments as Wendy brought them to her. Mary was eager to get into the lifestyle and loved the free shopping, and Jared and Mitch loved watching her dress and undress. Anita upped the ante by making over Jared and coaxed him out of his clothes so he was now sitting on the leather sofa with his hard cock pointing up and Mary teased him as she tried on the panties.

Rae was excited about having young and nice neighbors, Wendy liked knowing there was another couple in the neighborhood, and Mitch loved getting the upped price for the townhouse. Of course, Faith liked seeing more cash coming in and no commission fees to be paid. Faith was the only real loser, but she wasn't seeing it that way.

Sunday at one, Ava and Dale arrived and the whole show began again. Wendy, Rae, and Anita toned it down because Mitch had said this couple might be just a little more timid, so they wore shorts and tiny skirts with their slut heels and made sure they were seen strolling up and down the street for their so called exercise. Dale could hardly follow what Mitch was saying, because he was busy staring outside to watch the women. That was okay, because Mitch was focusing his sales pitch on Ava anyway. Dale was sold on the idea of living there.

In the end they said they wanted to talk it over and talk to the bank, but Mitch still held out hope that they would buy before too long. It was getting close to time for Mitch and Anita to head home when they had surprise visitors drive down the square and stop near them. It was Jim and Delia.

After handshakes and hugs and kisses they sat at one of the tables with the other three women joining them. Jim started it off saying, "We just had a very interesting visit with Ethel and she was pretty animated when she told us about what you're doing. We knew you were working on selling some units, of course, but she went on like you were the second coming."

Mitch smiled and told them, "Anita and I had dinner with Ethel Friday night and we probably got a little enthusiastic as we talked."

"So you think you can sell all of this?"

"Well, we're off to a good start. Rae now has neighbors moving in soon, and another couple are here part time now, and another couple is impressed and giving it a lot of thought."

"Good for you."

"I bought both Alice's and the gift shop, plus of course, the apartments above."

"What will you do with them?"

"We're working on some ideas, but for now we'll keep them as they are. You two still own the place in New Renovo?"

"Leasing, not as handy as just walking down the street to work, but at the time we just didn't know where things were going."

"Well, this will never be a town again, but we hope to create something special just the same."

"So you have ideas."

"I have dozens of ideas, but only time and commissions will determine which of those we can follow through with."

"So what are they going for?"

"Well, it depends on the floor plan, of course."

"Okay, the largest condo. Everything else will be less than that."

"The twenty four hundred square foot condo is going for two sixty nine."

"Not cheap, that's for sure."

"That's damn cheap. That includes premium furnishings and accessories. Anywhere else, I could get over five hundred thou for it and sell them as fast as I could write the paper."

"Sure you could."

"Okay, I exaggerated, but I'll guarantee you they would sell."

"So you see it as at least as saving a couple hundred thou."

"At least, because there's no place else like this anywhere, and it's a hell of a deal and for the right couple the perfect environment."

"You're selling a lifestyle."

"Without a doubt, did you go through them at the opening?"

"We did and even studied them and talked to Faith about buying, but she had to have more than we were willing to pay. As it turned out our decision was a good one."

"No doubt about that."

"Where are Layla and Buck by the way?"

"Layla had to work so Buck stayed to keep her company and Anita came along to help me."

"You have very attractive help."

"I know," and Anita just smiled silently. "Wendy and Rae have been a big help to me as well."

"And to think on top of that you get a good commission."

"Life does have its moments. Want to go back and look around just for the hell of it."

"Why not."

"When we come back we'll see if we can find an adult beverage or two."

Delia stood up and stripped and threw her clothes onto the table saying, "It's been too long since I've been able to do this. Okay, I'm ready now," and they went straight to the first and largest condominium with the four women talking and Mitch and Jim taking the lead.

Chapter One Hundred Thirty Seven

After the tour, they went back and Wendy and Rae arrived with a pitcher of margaritas and glasses. The talking continued, as did the drinking, but Mitch had to stop after one because they had a long drive ahead of them and the clock was ticking. "Okay," Jim said, "Delia and I will take number one."

Mitch wasn't sure for a second if Jim was being serious, but then he smiled and shook their hands. "What made you decide to buy that fast?"

"We've loved that condo right from the first time we saw it, but we just couldn't swing Faith's lowest price. Now, as things have changed I'd say the fact that Faith is out of the picture encouraged us to go ahead with it. The rest, we're going not with Faith, but on faith. You will continue to screen the buyers to protect the community and you have our best interests at heart."

"Okay, then to celebrate, I'm going to have this half of Alice's turned into a recreation center. The checkout counter will be converted into a bar, and a small kitchen will be installed along with a pool table and game tables. The nice carpeted changing area, will become a conversation area. Then it will be up to the community to take care of it and pay the taxes on it."

"So we have to form an association."

"I'd say that would be the best way. The more the residents are responsible for the area, the more care and support it will receive."

"True enough."

Anita surprised everybody when she went over to Mitch and hugged him from behind saying, "I think he's doing a fantastic job and I just love him all the more for it." All of them smiled but they didn't know how to respond to her declaration of love for him. Anita chose not to notice and went up to make another pitcher of drinks for the group, but the phone was ringing as she hit the top stop. It was logical to assume it would be Buck or Layla so she very sprightly answered, "Hi."

"Yes...this is Faith, is Mitch there perchance?"

"Oh hi Faith, this is Anita. Sorry, I assumed it would be somebody else. He is here, so just give me a minute and I'll get him." She went halfway down the steps and called to him and said that Faith was on the phone for him and went back up to mix the drinks.

Anita listened to Mitch's side of the conversation as he listened and then said, "Just a sec Faith, and let me make some notes as we go." There was a long pause as he scribbled notes and circled some things and underlined others. Then he said, "Right, I understand, but this will give me something to think about as we head home....yes, back to Scranton in just a little bit." Another long pause and then he said, "I understand completely...no, I'll have to do some calculations before I can even say that. Okay...tell Peggy hi and thanks for her input...right...okay, I'll talk to you late tomorrow and give you a progress report...well, you have the advantage Faith, so I understand it has to be your way or no way...okay...okay...right, tomorrow afternoon...bye." Mitch hung up and stared at nothing in particular and then looked down for a second, "Holy shit."

"What's wrong honey?"

"I don't even know where to start."

"Well, what was that part about she has the advantage and it's to be her way?"

He smiled and said, "That was so much bullshit. I said that because that's what she wanted to hear, or, more precisely needed to hear. Nita honey...if I can come up with the cash, I'll be buying the whole damn place, every inch and every pound of this place, restaurants and all, even the frigging water tower."

"Oh my God, what will you ever do with it?"

"Develop it. Not businesses, but apartments. Nice good sized apartments facing the square...all across here with balconies overlooking the square. The backside of the buildings facing the road would be garages for those apartments, garages and storage. Well all except the rec center, of course."

"Mitch, don't make Faith's mistake and reach too far."

"The apartment development would have to wait for awhile, of course. Hell, right now I'll have to scramble to come up with the cash to buy the place. That includes that ten acres of land next to the condos too."

"How can you do it?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to look into it. Nita, I want it. I want all of it because I know I can make it work. I know I can make money with this because each element will add to the other elements."

"Mitch, I don't know much about real estate but you have to be talking hundreds of thousands of dollars."

"I am honey, but it's less than a fourth of its worth even for this middle of nowhere location. But, I have to stop spending for awhile. We need to do the basics of the rec room, because that will help sell the other homes. Other than that, I have to cool it until I can make a few sales, both here and at home.

Faith is hurting. I can hear it in her voice and I can feel it. Somehow she has gone through Max's fortune or at least enough of it that she's getting worried. Otherwise there is no way in hell that she would offer all of this to me for under four hundred thousand."

"God, that's a lot of money."

"I know, believe me I know."

"I'm afraid for you."

"You'll have to trust me, hon."

"What will Layla think?"

"We'll find out. Listen, go tell the others that I have some work that I have to do today yet before we leave for home. Tell them I'm sorry, but I'll catch up with them the next time I'm here. Honey, then come back okay? Please?"

"I'll be back." Anita gave them the message and made it sound like it had been good news, but she wasn't sure that it really was. That amount of money probably had a different meaning to Mitch than it did to her, but she was worried that Discovery was going to claim another victim. She was beginning to think it was possessed by evil spirits.

As soon as she went back up, he put his arms around her and they shared a kiss. "Mitch, you better do your work so we can get home."

"Honey, what I have to do is make love to you and nothing else. I need some time with you before we go back to Scranton." She smiled and they kissed again before he led her to the bedroom. They made fast and almost frantic love. Neither of them wanted to go home and the temptation to stay one more day was strong, but he had a lot of work to do and Nita had to get back to work as well. Before they left the apartment, she told him again how proud she was of him and how much she loved him. Buck and Layla's weekend together had been much more relaxed, but no less exciting to them. They didn't watch the DVD's because they didn't need to. The only problem they had all weekend was resting enough between their bouts of lovemaking, and just being as close together as they could be. Layla had to work and that forced them to rest, but as soon as both of them were home they were naked and close again.

Chapter One Hundred Thirty Eight

It took Mitch weeks to arrange the finances to buy the rest of Discovery. Then the first thing Mitch did was remove the Discovery sign. Now he was close to broke and his time had to be spread between his real estate offices and his project even more. Layla wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about the venture as Mitch, and in fact they'd had a few arguments over the whole concept, because she could see their financial security go out the window, or more accurately, into the high risk project. One weekend Anita went with Mitch for the weekend again and the next Buck went with him. During the week when Mitch wasn't working on something relating to Comstock, he was busy trying to catch up with his other office duties, so Layla wasn't seeing a lot of him. That whole thing was the cause of an increasing number of arguments between them. On the weekend, he would race to the project to what he had named Phoenix Lane, and show something to potential buyers, but his success rate had dropped to a much more realistic rate. He had three couples that were very interested, but were still vacillating and he'd been unable to entice them to take the plunge. But things were about the change for the better or worse, depending on the point of view.

Dinner out for the four of them was becoming their primary social event and it was before one of those dinners that Mitch told them, "Well, I've managed to get myself into a hell of a mess. I have two agents out with that bug that's going around, I'm up to my ass covering for them, and other issues here, and all of a sudden I have four couples that want to see the homes at Phoenix Lane, two on Friday and two on Saturday. If I cancel those, I could very well lose a sale and that wouldn't be good." Layla didn't say anything, but she was having a hard time feeling sorry for him, because they had just had another argument. Buck and Anita felt caught in the middle because they could see Layla's point and felt sorry for her, but at the same time they admired Mitch for rolling the dice and going for what could be his ticket to early retirement, or his financial ruin. All they could do was try to be supportive of both of them.

They were finishing their meal when Anita asked Mitch, "Would it help, assuming I could get the day off and Buck says okay, for me to go up there for you? I know I can't act as an agent, but I could unlock doors and walk through the houses with them. I could even answer questions about the neighborhood or what it was like to live there."

"You know that might work, or at least be better than canceling. We could say I got sick at the last minute. I could send some data sheets with you that you could put on the kitchen counter for them to find, and that would answer a lot of their questions. At least that would buy me some time maybe."

"Nita," Buck said, "I couldn't go with you because I'm up to my ass in work too."

"I know, hon."

Layla told her, "I couldn't be there until sometime Saturday, so that wouldn't help you much. You'd be up there and on you own."

"Wendy and Rae would be there, and Theo would most likely be around somewhere."

"He's supposed to mow the wandering path in the back acreage for the walking trail."

"So I won't be so alone. Mary and Jared might have moved in by now too." Buck said okay, so all Anita had to do was get the day off and that turned out to be no problem. In fact she took Monday off as well, just in case another Sunday or Monday appointment materialized.

It felt strange to drive to Phoenix Lane by herself on Thursday evening. She stopped and had dinner at Ethel's, and as they talked Anita explained the temporary arrangement. Then she stopped for groceries and then went on to the apartment. The sun had just set, but the air was still warm as she unloaded the car and went up to the apartment.

She was still putting the groceries away when Wendy appeared, and they talked over a Coke while Anita explained the situation. "Well," said Wendy, "It wouldn't work for you to be naked or look slutty, but Rae and I can still play our game for you."

"I'll take you up on that."

"Mitch is really sticking his neck out, isn't he?"

"Yes he is. If he's right, he stands to make a lot of money, but it would be easy for him to lose everything too. All of this is taking a toll on Layla too."

"Well it has to, because she's taking the same risks right along with him. What does all of this do to your four way relationship?"

"Time will tell, but it is affecting all of us."

"Damn, it's like this place is just waiting to take off, but it just hasn't happened."

"Mitch is doing great looking ahead and planning for the future, but he's having trouble surviving the present." Anita's phone rang and it was Ethel.

"Anita would it be possible for somebody else to come see the units this weekend?"

"I'd love it, but Mitch has to screen everybody first."

"I remember that, but this is a former resident of Discovery."

"From how far back?"

"Oh...probably just before all of you came on the scene. His name is Dennis Maxton."

"Single guy?"

"Yes. He's sitting right here, would you like to talk to him?"

"Sure." They went through the part about Mitch screening all potential buyers, but Dennis talked her into listening while he told her about himself. "Dennis, let me make a call and I'll call you back there at Ethel's as soon as I can," and she hung up and quickly called Mitch and explained the situation.

"Nita, I'll leave it up to you. He's a former resident, so he knows the situation and especially so if he knows Ethel and she's recommending him."

"Okay, I'll call him and take him through whenever we can arrange it."

"Nita...I love you, babe."