The Auction House Deal: Bought by A Billionaire

Chapter 153: New Office: Hannah IV

I bubbled with excitement the next morning when I received a text from my real estate agent to stop by the agency, sign the lease, and pick up the keys for my new office location. Roman watched me with amusement and pride as I explained to him the vision of interior design ideas that Lori had helped me explore. I embraced my husband at the door before he began the process of leaving for work. He planted a lingering kiss on my lips.

"Bodyguard?" He asked me before we parted.

That sense of Roman being truly worried came back to me again, but his expression didn’t point to anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps it was nothing more than a habit he had picked up after all we had been through with The Auction House and threats of violence. Last night it was enough to put me a bit on edge, but my excitement for the day brushed it off as a simple question.

"I will be sure to take Nick with me everywhere," I promised Roman. He nodded his approval, kissed me on the forehead, and left for the day.

I poured myself a travel mug of coffee, danced around as I gathered my purse and slipped on a pair of shoes, and Nick and I hopped in the car for a follow-up meeting with the real estate agent.

She was waiting for me at the building itself, and the owner was with her. After we went over the remaining paperwork, she handed me the keys to my new office. It was hard to hold back my squeal of excitement, but I managed.

Before Nick and I left, my real estate agent reminded me to switch over the water and electric to my name so that we wouldn’t be without lights and running water while we were there setting up.

The street where my office was located had a few other small businesses and was only moderately busy as far as traffic. The pavement strip between the parking spaces and the sidewalk were dotted with robust and neatly pruned trees. We had parked right in front of the building, and, after stowing the papers back in the car, I smiled as I stood on the sidewalk and stared at it.

It had a beautiful brick facade with double glass doors and nice-sized windows flanking either side. The sun streaming in would make the space bright and inviting. I whipped out the keys and opened the door, stepping into the empty space. I wasn’t an interior designer, but I could see where Lori’s furniture could go!

The big meeting room would be the perfect space for group activities and gatherings, while the small rooms off to the side could be for individual counseling and privacy for victims in crisis. Of course, one of them would be my office.

From my spot in the center of the room, I turned to face Nick, who stood by the door.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

Nick shrugged. "It’s empty," he said. "Not much to think about it."

I scoffed good-naturedly, pulled out my phone, and dialed Lori’s number.

"Hey, sis, what’s up?" Lori greeted me.

"I’m moving in today!" I told her gleefully. "You’ve got to come see the place and help me get everything set up!"

"I can’t believe you’re already moving in!" Lori said excitedly. "I’ll be right there!"

While I waited for Lori to arrive, I noted that the rooms only needed a quick touchup as far as cleaning. I would need a broom to sweep the large front room, a small vacuum for the carpeted side rooms, and some cleaning wipes to dust the windowsills.

I had joined Nick near the front door to wait for Lori when I noticed a black car parallel parked at the end of the block.

Traffic was steady, coming and going as one would expect on a typical weekday, and people were parking their vehicles or pulling out of parking spaces. Again typical, no big deal, but something about this black car bothered me.

I felt like it was in the perfect position for a stakeout, particularly of me and my new office. Various movies and TV shows flashed into my mind of cops or bad guys parked near a building at night to observe their perp or their victim as the case may be.

But it was daylight on a busy street. What reason was there for me to worry or feel odd about a random black car legally parked at the end of the street?

I realized that I had been staring at the black car and turned away just as Lori pulled up. The distraction was welcome, and my excitement returned in full force. I swung the door open to permit Lori inside with a huge grin. Her face was alight with excitement that I was sure rivaled my own.

"What do you think?" I asked her as she stood in the center of the room just as I had done to marvel at the space.

"This is perfect," Lori said, "an amazing space to work with!"

"Isn’t it!" I agreed, before glancing at my bodyguard, who had his hands in his pockets. "Take notes, Nick. That’s an appropriate and supportive response when a woman asks you, ’what do you think?’"

He only smirked and shrugged.

My attention turned to Lori who was pulling the large shades down over the windows.

"I needed to get an idea of the difference in lighting with and without the window shades," Lori explained to me, and I laughed.

"This isn’t going to be an art studio," I told her, "but I really appreciate your creative vision." I pulled Lori into a hug. "Thank you for your help, Lori."

"Of course," Lori said to me as we broke the embrace but held onto each other’s arms. "There’s nothing else in the world that I’d rather be doing right now. Let’s go get furniture!" With that we left the office and I locked the door behind us, noting that the black car was still parked at the end of the block as we drove off to the furniture store.

I was much more confident in my decisions during this trip, likely due to the fact that I had the perfect space and was ready to get it looking magnificent. We chose the white desk that I liked, a matching shelf, some armchairs, a sofa and a coffee table. After a bit of discussion, we agreed to get a large table and chairs for activities and a small table to use for a constant supply of snacks and coffee for the victims who came for services.

Since each piece of furniture that we chose was available, the delivery crew was able to load it all up and help us move it into the office within a couple of hours. This gave us enough time to stop by the craft store for a few pieces of decor and then a quick stop for a broom and a handful of cleaning supplies.

When we returned to the office, I couldn’t help but notice that the black car was still parked in the exact same spot at the end of the block.

It just rubbed me the wrong way. Other people were coming and going and life was happening along the street at the other business, but the black car was just sitting there amidst it all. I could have sworn that whoever was in that black car was watching me. This time I couldn’t really shake the feeling.

When Lori stepped into the bathroom to give it a quick clean, I mentioned the black car to Nick, pointing it out at the end of the block.

"It’s been there all morning," I told Nick. "Do you think that’s odd?"

"Have you noticed anyone get in or out of the car?" Nick asked, examining the black car from where we stood at the window.

"No," I said. "But there could be someone sitting in there watching. It feels off to me."

"I’m sure it’s just someone’s car who works at one of the businesses around here," Nick said to me. "I doubt there’s anyone just sitting in there. I wouldn’t worry about it."

His words made sense, but they did nothing to assuage me. I felt the urge to walk over to the black car and peer inside, but that would be weird. And even more awkward if there really was someone in the car minding their own business. I left it at that and was delightfully distracted when the furniture delivery truck arrived.

Lori and I conducted each mover with a large piece of furniture inside for placement and they left the smaller tables and chairs near the door for us to shift about on our own. When the furniture was situated, we brought in the decor pieces and admired our work.

"Lauren has got to see this," Lori said, impressed and in awe of our work.

"Definitely," I agreed. "We can have an office warming party!"

We went out and grabbed some champagne and snacks while Lori invited Lauren to join us, giving her the address of the location. Lori and I set up the party supplies on one of the tables in the office and were pouring ourselves a drink when Lauren arrived. She stepped inside holding up two more bottles of champagne.

"I’m here for the office party," she said with a grin. I took the bottles and poured one for Lauren as she walked around the space complimenting and cooing over what Lori and I had done with the place. It was late in the evening and the traffic was lighter outside as the day wound down, but the black car was still parked at the end of the block, seemingly mocking me.