Second Lives by Beatrice Gormley

Author:Beatrice Gormley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: midlife crisis, new england, cats and dogs, coastal town, dog fiction, animal lovers, cats adventure, training dog
Publisher: Beatrice Gormley

People and dogs are species that continue to play into adulthood.

Jennifer Arnold, Through a Dog’s Eyes

Chapter 18.

Josh was prepared for Rick’s “guy” to be a slicker version of Rick himself. But Ollie, as Oliver Griffith introduced himself, was casually but neatly dressed, with a mild, confident manner. They chatted about the weather and the Red Sox as Ollie ordered a round of drinks. Rick went on at length about local politics, especially as corrupted by Gardner Harrison—no surprise—but Josh also found himself talking more than he expected. Ollie seemed sincerely interested in Josh’s observations about the under-compensation of teachers and the cost of divorce.

The conversation turned naturally from divorce to real estate, as Josh complained about the current downturn in the Boston-area market. “It’s a shame, isn’t it?” Ollie agreed. He ordered another round of drinks.

“Still, my house is in a good school district,” said Josh. Except that the middle school isn’t as good as it used to be before Principal Voss, he added to himself.

Ollie nodded respectfully. “It sounds like you have a fair amount of savvy about the real estate market, Josh.”

“Not really,” said Josh modestly. “Maybe just west of Boston.”

“So you probably know about the legislation pending on Beacon Hill.” Josh didn’t admit that he had no idea what legislation was pending on Beacon Hill, and Ollie went on to talk about state subsidies, riding out waves of market fluctuations, and flipping properties. It seemed that an associate of Ollie’s, a developer, was in a position to get in on the ground floor, if he only had the initial backing.

At “initial backing” Josh’s guard went up. Sure enough, the next thing Ollie said was, “Once in a long while, an opportunity comes along that has the potential to leverage a minor investment off the charts.” He signaled the barkeeper for another round.

“Sounds like a Silicon Valley startup,” said Josh, accepting a fresh beer. “How about a new social media platform—maybe call it Facebook?”

Ollie pointed at Josh, chuckling. “Good one, Josh. Don’t we all wish we’d gotten in on the ground floor there? Who knew?” He went on seriously, “To tell you the truth, I’d never invest in tech, because I don’t know anything about it. What I do know is real estate.”

Josh, feeling that he should be more amiable with a guy who was buying him drinks, remarked, “And you know what Mark Twain said: ‘Buy land. They aren’t making any more of it.’

Ollie chuckled again. “So true.” He went on to cite examples of how a big opportunity had come along, but only one person had been smart enough to seize it.

And then, as Josh was waiting for Ollie to pressure him to produce cash for his developer, Ollie stood up and shook hands with Rick. He turned to Josh. “It’s been a real pleasure, Josh. A shame you don’t have access to the funds from the sale of your house yet—I’d love to see you take advantage of this opportunity. But anyway, good luck with your house.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.