“Thank you, Grayson. I appreciate you giving me this opportunity.”
“You’re welcome.” The corners of his mouth curved upward. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
“I definitely will. I’m off to apartment hunt.”
“Why?” he asked.
“I live in a one bedroom and now with the baby on the way, I need a two-bedroom place.”
“Hold on a second.” He held up his finger while picking up his phone. “Thomas, it’s Grayson Rhodes. Are there any two bedrooms available? Excellent. I’m sending someone over now to have a look. Her name is Harper Holland, and she’s an employee of mine. Show her what’s available.”
He ended the call, picked up his pen, and wrote the address on a piece of paper.
“Ask for Thomas when you get there.” He smiled.
“Thank you, Grayson,” I spoke as I looked at the address.
I walked out of the building with a smile on my face and hailed a cab. I couldn’t believe how everything was just falling into place.
“Where to, lady?” the cab driver asked.
“250 West 50th Street, please.”
When the cab driver pulled up to the curb, I climbed out and looked up at the forty-story building. With a smile, I walked through the open door that the doorman held open for me.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, ma’am. Are you visiting someone?” he asked.
“I’m here to meet with Thomas. Grayson Rhodes sent me over to look at a couple of apartments available for rent.”
“Well then, welcome. I’ll let Mr. Burns know you’re here.”
“No need, Sammy.” An older gentleman walked over and extended his hand. “You must be Harper. It’s nice to meet you.”
“And you as well.” I placed my hand in his and lightly shook it.
“I have the perfect apartment that I just know you’ll love.”
I followed him into the elevator, and we took it up to the twentieth floor. Inserting the key into the lock, he opened the door and we stepped inside. My eyes widened at the large space.
“You have eleven hundred and twenty square feet of pure bliss with two bedrooms and two bathrooms,” he spoke.
Shit. There was no way I would be able to afford this. Even with this new job.
The walls were painted a light gray with a matching gray wood floor throughout. The modern style kitchen housed white cabinets with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances. The one thing that caught my attention was the fact that there was a large terrace off the living area. A place I could go sit out at night and enjoy the view of the city.
“And here, behind this door is the washer and dryer. There are only a few apartments in this building that have this included. The rest of the residents have to use our on-site laundry facilities. As you can see, the lighting in here is phenomenal. Because this is an end unit, there are more windows. You’re loving it, right?” He grinned.
“I love it. It’s perfect. But I’m afraid it might be out of my budget range. What is the rent?”
“You’re in luck. We’re running a two-year special of five thousand dollars a month including water, sewer and trash removal.”
“You’re kidding, right? Five thousand a month for this?”
“It’s a steal. I can hardly believe it myself. And I do have other people who are interested. But since you’re an employee of Mr. Rhodes and he personally sent you himself, the apartment is yours if you want it. And another thing, we’re waiving the first and last month’s rent. All you must put down is a security deposit of five hundred dollars.”
I stood there in disbelief. A place of this size in this area was at the very least over seven thousand if not eight thousand a month.
“I’ll take it!” I grinned.
“Perfect. Let’s go down to my office and get the paperwork started. You’ll be able to move in this weekend if that works for you.”
Chapter 13
Grayson
As Julius and I were walking into the restaurant, my phone rang. Pulling it from my pocket, I answered it.
“Grayson Rhodes.”
“Mr. Rhodes, It’s Thomas.”
“Hello, Thomas. How did it go with Harper?”
“It went well, sir. She’s taking the apartment. She was quite shocked at the monthly rent.”
“I’m sure she was. There was no way she’d be able to afford what it really costs with a baby on the way. Thanks for doing this, Thomas.”
“You’re welcome, sir. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“What the hell was that all about? What did you do?” Julius asked as he narrowed his eye at me.
Taking a seat at the table, we ordered our drinks and looked over the menu.
“I hired Harper today to work for me and she mentioned that she needed to look for a two-bedroom apartment, so I sent her to one of my buildings in Midtown with a reduce in rent, of course.”
He sat across from me and slowly shook his head.
“Are you crazy?”
“No. The first step is getting her to trust me. That woman and her baby are the key to my future.”
“You mean YOUR baby,” he spoke deadpan. “And how the hell are you going to pull this off?”
“Easy. We’ll date, she’ll fall in love and when the time is right, I’ll tell her about the situation with my grandfather. Now that I’ve helped her out, she owes me.”
“So you’re basically going to fuck with her life and emotions. Are you going to tell her it was your sperm she bought?”
“No. God no. There’s no way I’m telling her that. Once I convince my grandfather I’m in love with Harper and we’re going to be a family, he’ll sign over the company to me and then Harper and I will part ways. Once the papers are signed, and the company is mine, there’s nothing my grandfather can do.”
“You hired her to work for your company. What are you going to do? Fire her once you’re done with her?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. Regardless of what happens with our working situation, she’ll be well taken care of financially. I’ll see to that.”
“You’ve been my best friend forever and I’m sitting here across from you and I feel like I’m talking to a complete stranger.”
“Stop being a drama queen, Julius.” I sighed. “Everything will work out.”
“For you it will and at the expense of Harper Holland.”
The next morning as I was walking from the break room to my office, I saw Harper standing by Christine’s desk talking to her.
“Good morning.” A grin crossed my lips.
“Good morning.”
“Let’s go in my office. Would you like some coffee?” I asked.
“I’m good. Thank you.”
“Did you have a chance to go look at those apartments yesterday?”
“I did and I move in on Saturday.”
“Excellent news. I think you’ll be very happy there. I’ll show you around the office and your workspace and then I’ll let you go. I’m sure you have a lot of packing to do.”