If I was being honest with myself, this idea had been percolating in my mind for well over a year, but I’d never given it much thought because I always knew that Jared wanted to stay in the city after graduation. Since I assumed that he and I would be together and working for my dad, my idea didn’t make that much sense to pursue at the time. But ending things with Jared gave my life a new beginning. The idea had immediately sprung back into my head after talking to Chance the other night. Ever since then, I couldn’t stop trying to work out the details so that they’d make sense for both myself and my dad’s company.
I wasn’t sure my dad would even agree to it, but I had to at least try. If he said no, I wasn’t sure what I would do. I’d be back at square one, but I decided to cross that bridge once I got to it. My phone rang in my hand, and I stared at my dad’s name flashing on the screen. I almost didn’t answer; that was how nervous I suddenly became.
“Hey, Dad,” I answered before forcing myself to sit down at the round kitchen table. Reaching for the pen and pad of paper I’d put there, I looked over my notes.
“Hey, kiddo. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s good.”
“That Carter boy staying in line?” he asked, pretending to sound threatening even though there was humor in his tone.
“He is,” I said, not wanting to get into the fact that we were on a break or taking time apart or whatever you wanted to call it.
“Good. So, what’s going on? I can tell by your voice that you need to talk.”
How did everyone seem to read me so easily? I never felt like the kind of person who was that transparent, but lately, I must have been.
“I wanted to talk to you about my future with the company,” I said, clearing my throat as my words caught.
“Okay. What about it?” His voice turned more curious than anything else, but I was relieved that he didn’t sound concerned.
“I’ve been thinking about the role I want to take in it,” I started to say, and he interrupted me.
“You still want to work here, right?” He sounded so sad.
“Yes. Of course, I do. Just in a different capacity, if it makes sense.”
“I’m listening.” He said. “What were you thinking?”
I blew out a long breath and started to explain my vision, hoping that I didn’t sound stupid or naive. “I’ve heard you talk about your high-end clients and how they want multiple properties in various locations. But you only sell them in New York. You basically give the rest of their portfolio away to other people without earning a commission or a finder’s fee.”
My dad laughed into the phone. “You’re not wrong. I do give away millions in potential profit because I simply don’t have the time to take on anything outside of the city. I’m just way too busy.”
“I know. Which is why I was wondering if we could open a division for those clients. We could be really hands-on and offer them a sort of white-glove experience, if that makes any sense. We would provide all the initial research for wherever they wanted to buy property and present them with a portfolio of options based on their preferences and needs. And then we’d work with the seller’s agent to negotiate the deal. Is that possible? I mean, can we legally do that?”
“Honey, anything is possible with the right amount of money.”
“What about international properties? I know it’s different than in the States, but I’m not sure how.”
“International doesn’t have agents like we do, where they split the commissions. It’s all based on negotiations.”
I hadn’t known that. “Okay.” I scribbled some notes. “What do you think?” I nervously tapped the pen against the pad, the thumping matching my heartbeat.
“And you would run that division?”
“I mean, eventually, yes. Once I have more experience and people trust me. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to that. Especially in the international market. But in the meantime, I was thinking of implementing a questionnaire for potential clients to fill out. The more clients we had, the better the questionnaire would become. It would be intuitive and create a report that would tell me exactly what they were looking for, as long as they knew. I’d go over it with them to make sure we didn’t miss any details, but that’d be something that I could do from anywhere.”
“I see.” My dad’s voice turned almost animated. “Does this have anything to do with your new boyfriend? Am I to understand that you won’t be coming home after graduation?”
“I didn’t say that, Dad,” I stumbled on the words, and we both knew I wasn’t telling the whole truth. “I just want options,” I admitted.
“The working from anywhere kind of option?”
“I mean”—I practically snorted from trying not to giggle—“kind of. Yes. Is that bad? I do think the division is a great idea, and I’d thought about it way before Chance was in the picture. And I could have an office in New York, so I could fly there to meet with our clients in person if they preferred that. Otherwise, we could do online meetings. But I know that a lot of your high-end clientele are traveling the majority of the time and aren’t in one place, so just coordinating time zones would be the biggest challenge.”
“You’ve done your research. I’m impressed.”
I smiled super big even though he couldn’t see it. “I’ve also created a mock questionnaire that I want to send you, so you can see how it works. And then I’ll send you a link to the report that it makes. I’ll also create a database as well, specifically for this division, which will be extremely detailed.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought then?” It was definitely a question and not a statement.
“I have. I’d really like to do it if you think it makes sense and is a smart direction for the company to head in. But I understand if it isn’t something you’re interested in. I just wanted to ask.”
“Sweetheart, I’d give you the world if you wanted it. And this is something I’ve mulled over at least a thousand times over the years. I just never had the time to pursue it, and at some point, I stopped caring about trying to expand my market.”
A defeated sigh escaped me as I interpreted what my dad was trying to tell me.
“Maybe I let the idea go because it was never the right moment. Life always seemed to get in the way,” he said, and I knew he was talking about Mom. “It seems like it might be the right time now.”
“Really?” I felt my blood pressure rise because this was something I was genuinely interested in and wanted to do. The idea of finding beautiful properties for people excited me, and I knew I’d be good at it.
“Really. If this is something you want to do, we should do it. We have nothing to lose.”
“Dad, thank you so much. I won’t let you down.”
He chuckled lightly into the phone, and I heard the sound of ice clanging in a glass through the line. “I know you won’t. But we’ll work it out. I really want to see the mock questionnaire you compiled, so send me that as soon as we hang up. And, honey?” He waited for me to acknowledge him before he continued, “It’s okay that you want to be with this Carter kid.”