Maggie's Story...

Maggie looked around at the dry, brittle landscape, wondering how her life had come to this.  Glancing at her hand, her thumb rubbed against the place where her engagement ring had rested just two weeks before.  Gone.  The ring was gone, just like her beloved grandmother.  And all the furniture in the house she’d shared with that sweet, kind, wonderful woman.  Everything had been sold off in order to pay for…well, for Maggie’s excesses. 

A tear slipped over Maggie’s lashes but she brushed it away, angry at herself for the tears.  The life she’d known was gone and tears wouldn’t change that.  She’d been a spoiled, obnoxious brat.  She’d become engaged to a man she hadn’t even liked, much less respected.  And she’d been living a lie. 

“You sure you want to do this?” Jeremy asked.

Maggie smiled, forcing an eagerness to her features that she didn’t actually feel.  Deep inside of her, it was terror.  Terror and fear because Maggie had no idea what she was going to do with her life.  Not anymore.

“Yes.  I have to leave.”

“You don’t gotta leave,” Jeremy argued. 

Maggie sniffed, lifting her chin.  “I didn’t know, Jer,” she told him, blinking rapidly to stop the tears.  “I had no idea that Gramma didn’t have the money.”

Jeremy pushed his big cowboy hat back a couple of inches, turning to look out at the old Texas ranch. “Yeah, I didn’t know either.  Your granny hid it from all of us.”

“It’s all paid off though,” she told the former foreman.  “You did a great job here.  And I’m glad that you found another position on another ranch.  I’m sorry that…” she stopped as the emotions choked her.  When she could speak again, she looked him in the eye.  “I’m sorry that I was such a brat.”

Jeremy smiled gently.  “You weren’t so bad, Maggie,” he said.  But she saw the truth in his eyes. 

“Yes, I was,” she countered.  “But I’m going to be better.”  She sniffed and lifted her chin another notch.  “I’m going to become someone that I like.”

Jeremy nodded.  “That’s a good goal.  However, I still don’t think you gotta leave in order to do that.”

Maggie sighed.  “It’s better this way.  I need to figure out who I am, away from all of this,” she said, gesturing to the grand house and the outbuildings that had previously housed prize winning horses, the fields dotted with cattle and lovely landscaping.  Her eyes flitted to the yellow roses, still in full bloom now.  Everything was gone now.  Everything sold off to pay the debts.  She’d even sold her cute convertible, trading it in for…Maggie didn’t bother to look at the ten year old car that would now take her…somewhere else.  Somewhere that would allow her to reinvent herself, to become someone that she liked and admired.

“Do you know where you’ll go?” he asked. 

Maggie shook her head.  “No.  I know that everyone heads to California to start a new life.” She grinned, feeling…lighter all of a sudden.  “So maybe I’ll do the opposite.  Maybe I’ll head east.”

Jeremy nodded, rubbing the scruff of his beard thoughtfully.  “Well, I’ll stop by the house every once in a while, just to make sure things are okay.”

“You don’t have to do that, Jer,” she told him, but she felt a singe of gratitude for this man.  “You’ve done enough already.”

He laughed, shaking his head.  “Just let me know if you’re gonna sell the old place.  I figure someone will want it.”

Maggie looked out at the land, the trees shriveling in the hot, summer sunshine.  “I don’t think so.  But until I know what I’m going to do, where I land, I’ll keep the house and the land.”

“The taxes are…”

“I know,” she interrupted, not wanting to think about that.  She’d get a job.  Somewhere.  That would give her the money to pay the annual tax bill.  “After selling off all of the cattle and horses, all of the furniture and my jewelry, I was able to pay off the mortgage.  So that shouldn’t be an issue any longer.”

“That’s a start,” Jeremy replied with a nod.  “But still…”

“I know.”  Maggie mentally sighed, wondering…no, she’d figure this out.  She’d spent too many years being irresponsible.  Now, she was taking a crash course in “adulating”.  “I’ll figure it out.”

Jeremy scratched his head.  “If you need anything,” he started to say, but left the end of the offer unspoken.

“Thanks, Jer,” she replied, smiling and, for the first time, the smile seemed to be genuine.  “I’m going now.”

“Let me know where you land, honey,” he told her, holding open the door. 

“I will!” she promised, then slipped into the driver’s seat.  Starting the engine, she pushed her sunglasses on over her nose.  Taking a deep breath, she put the car in drive and…headed towards a new life. 

Oliver’s story…

“It’s a dump!”

Oliver stared at the building, noting the problems as well as the potential.  “It’s not that bad,” he countered. 

Jared, Oliver’s best friend from college shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.  “You’re dreaming.  There’s no way that this apartment complex could ever turn a profit.  It’s in a horrible section of town, the doors are falling off of the hinges on more than fifty percent of the building, who knows what is wrong with the insides of those apartments and…just look at the parking lot?  It’s a mess!”

Oliver knew all of that.  But he also knew how to fix everything that was broken. 

Okay, maybe not everything.  But a lot of it.  He could do this, he thought.  He could fix it all up and…and, he also knew that another investment firm had bought up several of the buildings three blocks over.  The developer had a plan to gentrify this area, putting up several office buildings.  And what did office buildings need?  Workers!  Thankfully, all of those workers also needed a place to live during their off hours. 

That’s where Oliver’s plan came into play!  He could fix up all of these apartments, put in rudimentary repairs initially and, once he had twenty-five, perhaps twenty-eight percent occupancy, the rents on those apartments would pay for the upgrades on the other apartments.  Oliver calculated that, once he reached seventy-two percent occupancy, he could sell the place and buy something else.  Something bigger.

Or maybe he’d keep the complex for the property value.  In five, perhaps seven years, this neighborhood’s value would explode. 

“I’m going to do it,” he told his friend.

Jared scoffed.  “Good luck!” he laughed, heading back to his car.  “Count me out.”

Oliver didn’t mind that his college buddy wasn’t interested.  The owner of this complex had been trying to sell the place for the past five years.  He was asking one hundred thousand dollars.  Oliver had twenty-five thousand dollars saved from frugal living and working at least two jobs ever since he’d been legally allowed to work.  Owning the building by himself would allow him to make the changes without any interference from a second investor.