"Cool, I'll send an email to the Realtor and see if he can meet me tomorrow evening after the sun goes down to show me some things. I've got my laptop in my car, I'll run out and get it and then head downstairs. Can I have the yellow room for my rest today?"
"Of course, I'll see you when we arise, then."
Chapter Six
The next few days went by in a blur and Kendra tried to keep busy. She met with the Realtor and found three possible locations, though none were perfect. The available unit that was easiest to use for her purposes would make the patrons who lived in the new dorms have to cross a very busy road, but the spots on the correct side of the road were either smaller than she wanted or larger than she wanted. Meanwhile, she'd put herself on the 'on call' list at all of Abbot's other establishments so when they were short someone she could go in and help. She didn't waitress, but she could do doorman duties and bouncer duties and was more than capable of managerial duties, of course.
So, five nights later when Abbot warned her that Eric would be coming at 8:00 the following night with his proposal, she made sure she was up and gone before he arrived. She had told Eric he was going to have to call her, and she meant it. She kept her cellphone in her pocket and on vibrate all night to make sure she knew if it rang, but it didn't. She was almost in tears when she headed home after helping to close up the restaurant she'd helped at that night. She went to her room and read for a while, finally deciding to check email just before dawn to see if the Realtor may have sent something before he went to bed for the night.
She was surprised to see an email from Eric.
I hoped to see you when I went to the house tonight, but you weren't there. Can we talk? Without you just disappearing on me again? I miss you.
She hit reply.
Sure, we can talk. I'll be going into TBR around 9:00 tomorrow night to help out since the regular manager's wife just had a baby. Sunset is at around 7:15 so I should awaken around 6:30 or 6:45 if you want to call me and tell me where you want to meet. I can be ready to leave the house by the time the sun goes down so I can drive somewhere to meet you, but I don't want to talk here at the house.
There, that let him know that she was going to have to work him into her schedule, but also told him she was willing to do that. She read it over a few times and finally hit the send button and then powered her laptop down and fell back into bed to think until the sun came up and she died for the day.
She awakened the next evening closer to 6:00 than she'd expected to. She took a quick shower and then checked her email. She saw something from Abbot, the Realtor, and Eric. She opened Abbot's first and saw that he liked Eric's plans and wanted to talk to his inner circle about them before he talked to Eric again, he was calling for a meeting the following morning at 4:00 at the house. She could do that, no problem. Next she opened the email from the Realtor, there was a unit that would be coming off of its lease in a month that he'd like to show her. She emailed him back and told him she could meet him the following night to look it over if that was okay. As Abbot's Realtor he was used to dealing with vampires and she knew he would email her back with an appropriate time.
And finally she opened Eric's email.
Please come to the marina. There is a trail that leads up the hill to a large rock outcropping overlooking the river. I'll bring a blanket so we can sit up there and talk.
Damn, he wasn't good at following instructions. She'd said he'd have to call her. And then she'd emailed him to call her. Since when is an email the same as a phone call? But, he did make the effort by sending her an email. She guessed that would have to be good enough, if she insisted on a phone call at this point she risked looking petty. She dressed for TBR but put boots on instead of heels, she'd carry heels to change into before going to TBR.
When she arrived at the marina he was standing below the parking lot at the water's edge, throwing what looked like dog food to the ducks. She got out and went to him and he handed her the bag. She took it and looked at it questioningly, "Dog food?"
"No, it's duck food. I buy it at a farm supply store so I can feed them something that's actually got some nutrition in it. Most people feed them crackers or bread and that's really not all that good for them." He gave her that magical little warm smile of his. "Toss the rest of that and we'll walk up the hill."
They made smalltalk as they walked up the hill. She told him she was looking for a place to put a small bar in down by the University, he told her that the whole vampire thing had given him a great idea for a project and he'd gotten permission from Abbot to write vampires into a video game. Abbot had told him he had to make some things wrong and had even told him a few of the things to make wrong and a few of the things he couldn't tell. Abbot wanted people to continue to think that stakes through the heart killed them, for instance, and he didn't want anyone to know how to successfully tie a vampire up with rappelling rope.