The Hunter Ch. 01

She laughed and said, "I don't think a gym membership is going to sway our financial and living situation to either location. I am glad you are thinking about the future. It sounds like you are making some good decisions. Are you proposing that we move in together when we decide on this distance thing as you call it?"

I said, "I guess I am. It really doesn't make much sense to move halfway across the country and not move in together. But, is that moving too fast? Do we know each other well enough to move in together? Do you share those feelings? Is either house large enough?" I could see her bouncing again with excitement. I continued, "I have a small office, my clothes, my vehicle, a few tools and my gun safe. I have more room land wise if we need to remodel here. If we need to sell and get someplace larger, then housing costs would probably be less expensive here. I probably need about 400 square feet for my stuff."

She started, "I am so excited. I feel the same way. You figure cost for me moving up there. And I'll figure costs for you moving down here. I may need a little more space than that. I just use a laptop; I don't have an office. But I probably have more clothes and shoes than you do. I would probably need 600 square feet for my stuff. Realistically I have clothes, personal effects, car, a few tools and maybe some kitchen stuff that you may not have."

"Probably be a good idea to inventory kitchen stuff, no need for two sets of everything. I like that we are thinking positive and not having reservations and keeping an exit plan." I said. "It looks like we both have son thinking and planning to do. I am excited about making plans and moving forward in our relationship."

She said, "Get in the habit of logging in to the VC corporate website. That is where you will find contract openings when you are looking for work. They will not post pending jobs. Only jobs where contracts have been finalized. You will see a contract number, the final date to accept applicants, a location either domestic or international, and the number of positions negotiated for that contract. If you are interested, then call human resources. If you have not logged in before, then I recommend you log in and set up your user profile. Your VC indent number is on your badge."

I said, "Hey, I need a photo of you. Actually, I need two. I want one for my screen saver and I'll use the other for your contact photo. I'll let you decide how risqué you want the photo to be. Thanks for the info. It looks like I have a lot to do. I better get to it. I love you WaDo."

She seemed a little sad and said, "Please, send me a couple of photos too. I miss you, I love you WaDo." She ended the session, and my screen went blank.

I decided to go ahead and log on the VC corporate website and create my user. That took me about thirty minutes. I didn't see a domestic contract that interested me. I logged out and shut down my computer and went to bed. Sleep came quick thankfully I have a body pillow that will make do until Ashley returns to my arms.

I got up at my normal time (0430). I took care of business (TCB), got dressed in my workout gear. I do my morning routine of stretching. Today is just a run day so after my stretches I head out, I like to vary my pace, I try and sprint for about a quarter of a mile then slow back down for a while, sprint again, you know wash, rinse, repeat. It may not be how the runner's world says to do it, but it works for me. I find a comfortable pace and I am enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of the town waking up. There is little traffic and other than the occasional dogs barking, it is quiet. Making my way to the edge of town I notice the enticing aromas of cooking and my thoughts immediately change to breakfast. Someone is cooking cinnamon rolls, and they smell fantastic. The rest of the run is typical, the sky is starting to brighten as the night starts to loosen its grip on the world. Traffic increases as the early risers are getting up and about. I get home about 0530. 'Good run' I say to myself noticing that I have a good sweat going and my breathing and heart rate are elevated.

I am really looking forward to my shower. As I start to lather up, my stomach growls, reminding me breakfast. I exit, dry off and get dressed. I grab my phone and message Ashley 'Good Morning Lover, with a heart emoji'. Almost instantly she sends back a red lip emoji. I smile and remember our conversation from last night. I lay out my game plan to today. I need to get with Bill about a living will, I need to get with a realtor about possible upgrade to a 4 or 5 bed and 3 or 4 bath home, I need to contact a contractor to get an estimate for expanding my home, I need to mow and trim the yard. If I get all that done today, I'll be surprised. I make some peanut butter toast to munch while I check emails and such. Nothing of interest, so I clean out my inbox and close my computer.

I grab the keys to the truck and head out for breakfast. There is a local diner and I really like their breakfast monster. Two large biscuits open with a sausage patty on each half, then two scrambled eggs on top of that, then add hashbrowns on top of that, then teach it how to swim in gravy. I usually eat half and take the rest with me. Today was no different. I gave Bill a call and talked briefly about my plan for a living will. He said he would be glad to help. He didn't have any appointments this morning so to drop by when it was convenient. I then called a local real estate company and told them I wanted to test the market. I was just trying to get a feel on how much I could get for my place and what I was looking for in an upgrade. The agent told me that she would put something together and set an appointment for 2:00 this afternoon. I called a contractor that has a good reputation and told him that I was looking to expand my existing house and I was wanting an estimate. He said he could come by first thing in the morning. My plans were coming together.

I went home and gathered the living will documents that I had printed last night. I got to Bills office about 8:45. He looked over what I had and told me that I had a good start. I can put this together and have it ready in 3-4 days. I can do it for $500, if that work for you. I nodded my head in agreement and left. I got back home about 10:30 and change into some work clothes. My house sits on about an acre and I have a small shop (20' X30') on the back property line. That is where I keep my lawnmower and tools. I fire up the lawn mower and begin my assault on the green monster that is my yard. It typically takes me longer to trim than it takes to cut the grass especially with my new zero turn mower. I finish about 12:45 which gives me just enough time to clean up and meet Betty and check out some real estate.

I got to the real estate office right at 2:00 and Miss Betty greeted me warmly. She said, "I put together about 4 properties. I have a mix of things trying to get a better feel for what you like. I have one in town on a side street, modern style, recently remodeled. The next is on the edge of town in a nice neighborhood, quiet with each house sitting on about 1/2 acre. I have and older house just outside the city limits. Two story needs some TLC with a mother-in-law in the back yard. It sits on about 21/2 acres and has great views. The last one is a little farther out sits on a hill has a full walk out basement. It has about ten acres and is mostly wooded."

I said, "Thank you for taking the time to put this together. Having hi speed internet and city water is a must have. So, if they aren't available to any of the properties, then we can cull them now."

She made a couple of calls to verify diving the addresses to the person on the other end. She said, "They all have city water available, however, the hill side property has satellite internet, which means, in bad weather, you will sometimes lose service."

"Well then we will put that one in the next time file, OK?" I asked. As we headed out, I explained about the possible change in status and why I was going through this exercise. She said that she felt this area of the country would compete favorably against Atlanta. She suggested we start downtown and work our way out. We got to the first property. It was on a corner lot, it reminded me of a Frank Lloyd Wright style of home flat roof, long vertical windows. The layout of the house was choppy with small rooms. Price was $250K. I liked the curb appeal, but that was about it.

The next property was a large house about 2600 sq. ft. It was priced at $325K. It is 4 bed 3 bath. It had a nice large walk-in shower just off a modest master suite. The master had a walk-in closet that was damn near as large as the sleeping quarters. The other three bedrooms were on the other side of the house opposite the master. A Jack and Jill bathroom was between two of the bedrooms. The third bath was just off the family room. This house would be hard to beat.

The third house was a farmhouse a beautiful two story Victorian style. I love old houses. The bottom floor had a living, dining kitchen and one bedroom and one bath. The upstairs had four bedrooms and one bath. This house would need a lot of work to make it what I was looking for. It had good bones and there was very little rot in the wood. I was thinking between $150K and $200K to get it where I would want it. Original hardwood floors throughout seemed to be in good shape. The mother-in-law was more modern and would make a great office or whatever. We would also need to add a shop or garage for lawn mower and tools. I almost choked when she told me the price was $125K. She said the owners had died and the family just wanted to get rid of it and move on.

On the way back to the office I thanked her for her time. I gave her my opinion on the houses and told her I would show my girlfriend the pictures that I had taken. Back at the office, she gave me the show sheets for the properties. She asked for my address to come and make an appraisal on my property. She told me that she would be by in the next couple of days. I thanked her again. We shook hands and I left.

When I got home my stomach grumbled. I grabbed my apron and started to cook the fish. I was jones-ing (get it???) for fish sandwiches. I made a beer batter to dip the catfish filets. While the oil was heating, I put together a broccoli slaw. I sliced a potato and put it in ice water. I wanted some fries. I dipped the fillets in the batter and slid them into the oil. They were bubbling away in their bath of hot oil. I put some tartar sauce on both sides of my hoagie rolls along with some lettuce, tomato, and some sliced onion. Oh yea, my mouth started to salivate just thinking about my upcoming dining feast. I finished constructing the sandwiches while the French fries were cooking. I enjoyed the meal and cleaned up the kitchen.

I went to my office and was getting the computer up and running when a got a face time request. I accepted and my beautiful girlfriend's face and upper body appeared on the screen. Every time I see her face, she takes my breath away. We both started talking at the same time, then both stopped and laughed. I said, "I love you, and I miss you. I had a busy day today."

She was bouncing, I love her bounce, she said, "I love you and I miss you too. Tell me all about it."

I told her, "I went to see Bill today about a living will and her said it would be ready in 3-4 days. I worked around the house mainly yard work and got it back under control. I called a contractor and requested an appraisal for upgrading my house. He is supposed to be here first thing in the morning." Her smile was growing with each revelation. I continued, "I met with a real estate agent, and she took me around to different properties." I showed her the pictures on my phone and was explaining the pros and cons of each giving my opinion. She was bouncing and oohing and aahing giving her comments about each as we went through the pictures.

She started, "Well I didn't get as much done as you did today. I talked to Sophie this morning about my boyfriend situation. She commented that you were handsome and polite, and she could sense a connection. I told her I needed to talk to Roberto. I explained to her what I was thinking. She penciled me in for this afternoon. I was nervous, Roberto was not happy, he said that I was very valuable to him. Sophie had talked to him earlier and she would be willing to help where she could. So, he agreed to the change in principle, but to think about it and make sure this is what I wanted. He also called you a cradle robbing bastard. If I phrased it correctly, so you better be ready for some crap the next time you see him."

I laughed, "Cradle robbing bastard? Really? Does he know the differences in our ages?" I laughed some more and continued, "I am going to talk to Sue, my neighbor, about keeping an eye on the place when I am away. I'll pay her son to keep the place mowed. I need her to keep the mail picked up so the place doesn't seem empty. I've seen your place. I'll do a walk-through video of my place and send it to you along with my beef cake pictures."

She laughed, and said, "Speaking of pictures..." she held up her phone showing me some selfies. She scrolled through several talking about each one. I chose the ones I liked best, which were one of her in a bikini suit standing next to a wicker chair in her back yard and the other was her in a sexy LBD that she wore for dinner when we were together in Atlanta. "I didn't get any pictures today, mister. What's the prob?"

I laughed and explained, "Ok, I will send you a couple of beef cake pics tonight, I promise. I need to go so I can get up in the morning. I love you. I miss you. WaDo."

She blew me a kiss through the monitor, and I blew her one back. She said, I love you I miss you and I look forward to the time when we don't have to live on Facetime to see each other." I nodded in agreement and smiled. She continued with a wave and said, "WaDo." I could see her lean forward and the screen went blank.

I left my office and grabbed my iPad to take some selfies. I set it on a tv tray and aimed the screen toward the front door. I hit the reverse image so I could see the picture. I took one of me dressed in the clothes I wore today, Khaki shorts with a dark blue polo. I set up the next shot with me in my apron standing in front of the stove with a spatula in hand. The third one I set up in the bathroom. I wet my hair and stripped. I had a towel around my waist simulating coming out of the shower. I sent her all three with a message, 'enjoy - hope these are to your liking'. I got a ding indicating an incoming message. I opened it with a panting emoji with a message 'ooooh big daddy - mommy like!!! and a red lip emoji. I laughed and went to bed.

I get up the next morning at my normal time (0430). I take care of business (TCB), get dressed in my workout gear. I do some stretches and decide to run to the gym today. I get there and the usual early morning crowd is present. I scan my membership card and get a bottle of water. Julie is there and waves as she walks into her office. I smile, wave head over to the free weights. I do my usual free weight routine, bench press, one handed curls, two handed curls, squats, dead lifts, lats, leg raises, butterfly, seated leg press. I work out with ten reps on each exercise and do three sets. I Skip the last seated leg squats, running home will take care of that. I get home about 6:00. I hit the shower, anticipating the joy of water running over my body. I dry off, dress and head to the kitchen. I grab my phone and message Ashley, 'Good Morning Lover' adding a winking emoji with tongue hanging out. She quickly returned a message of red lips and a heart. I decide on English muffin sandwiches with sausage patties and eggs over hard. Yes, those hit the spot. I clean up the kitchen and think about what is on the agenda for today - need to talk to Sue, Contractor coming over for estimate, need a walk-through video of my home, any thing else? Maybe hear from miss Betty on an appraisal.

I start the walk-through video on the inside of the house, giving comments along the way. I then proceed out the back door onto the deck and video the back yard and the work my way around the house. I had just finished talking to Ashley and concluded the video when the contractor arrived. We did a walk around on the outside of the house. I explained what I was looking to do. We did a walk through on the inside of the house. He was sketching as we went through the house, and I helped him measure. We talked about adding bedrooms and bathrooms and upgrading existing bedrooms and bathrooms. He asked about keeping the existing footprint and going up or making the addition eat up more of the back yard. I didn't care, I am more interested in the cost. All said and done it was going to be rather expensive to upgrade, and honestly, I would probably be better off to start fresh of find something else. He would work up an estimate and it would be ready in about a week. I thanked him for his time and told him I looked forward to hearing from him. He left.

I noticed that Matt, Sue's son, had left for school. I went over to Sue's house and knocked on the door. She opened the door and smiled, "Good morning, Jed. How are you? Long time no see. Come in, Come in." I entered her house, and she closed the door behind me. "Would you like something to drink? I was just having a Danish and coffee. Would you care for one?" she asked.

"No. Nothing for me thank you. I hope it's not too early to visit. Please, don't let me interrupt your breakfast. I can come back later if you want." She sat down at the breakfast bar and continued with her breakfast.

"Don't be silly, I'm ok. What can I help you with this morning? She asked.

I told her, "I just took a new job that will require me to travel. I don't really have a sense of how long I will be gone until I report in. I was hoping I could get Matt to mow for me while I am gone. I'd be happy to pay whatever he wants, within reason, of course, and I need you to pick up my mail for me if you would. I'll leave a box inside the front door, and you can just drop the mail in the box. I don't have any pets or plants that need to be taken care of, but I don't want the mail to build up showing I'm gone. I'll let you know a few days before I must go. I'll leave you a key so you can drop the mail and check the inside from time to time. I would be extremely grateful. I hope I am not imposing too much. If it is too much, I understand, I can try and make other arrangements."

"I am flattered that you trust me enough to leave me a key to your house." she said, "I'm sure Matt would enjoy the extra money. I can get you mail and keep an eye on your place. It won't be a problem, hell, it's not like I must go across town." She stood up and gave me a hug. "Do you have any idea when this would start?" she asked.

"Should be within a week, hopefully in the next 3-4 days." I spoke. She nodded. I thanked her and told I needed to get going.

I had not been home long, I was going through emails and deleting junk mail and I got a call from Miss Betty. She was available this morning and was free to come and look at my house and give me an estimated value if I had the time. I told her the rest of my morning was free. She would be there within the hour. I continued to clear out my inbox, and when it was empty, I went to the VC corporate website. I noted a listing that wasn't there yesterday, so I called the 800 number. The phone rang twice, and I heard a female voice ask, "Valhalla Consulting, how may I direct your call?"

"Human Resources, please." I answered. I heard the phone ring twice and I heard a female voice, "Human Resources, this is Carol. How may I help you today?"